If you like old warbirds.....

[RollerBall]

...then you HAVE to get Golden Wings. It's not that they look better (they do)....they just look right







Bill Lyons is a genius. Not only has he done great things with the textures he's also added a whole bunch of new weather effects.

Get it for yourself to find out what they are (the one in the last pic is called 'Golden Wings Smoke Pall - 1930s Smoke')

D'ya get the idea I'm beginning to like this  :)

[Splash]

Oh I love old warbirds, and I love those pictures.
Cheers
Splash(Ed)

[BFMF]

Nice shots

[Daube]

GW also includes ground textures ? I have to check this.
Great shots by the way  8)

[Jakemaster]

GW is the greatest addon of all time.  IT makes flightsim so much better.  Now you can really fly VFR properly, and actually enjoy it.  I give it a 10/10, 2 thumbs up.  Best of all, its FREE, even though it could be sold for $50

THANK YOU BILL LYONS!

[ozzy72]

Stunning stuff Roger

[gryshnak]

Okay, I will admit to still being a newbie to FS.

What is exactly is Golden Wings?

Gryshnak

[RollerBall]

Thanks Mark - folks, what Jake is saying is SPOT ON

It's a great addon. In effect a new, different sim. Yes, Bill Lyons has redone ground textures and many other textures and effects to give it an 'old time' feeling. Colours are softer, not so harsh and he's taken the time to blend them as you can see from these shots. Ground textures are not just blotches of colour the way M$ left them in FS9 and they blend and merge with trees and such.

What I'm doing is moving ALL of my vintage aircraft out of FS9 and into GW3. They didn't fit in FS9, didn't look right and I hardly flew them because of it. The total opposite applies in GW3. They do look exactly right - I don't know how Bill Lyons has done it - he is very, very clever but somehow everything just ...... fits.

For those who don't know - you start with a second new fresh install of FS9, then you rename it GW3 and run the GW3 installer. This automatically installs new texture files (over 2500 apparently), new landclass files, adds a lot of new vintage AI and converts all of the original AI flightplans for them to use. You have to copy over a few files and rename your 'new' fs9.cfg (to fsgw3.cfg) but it's all pretty straightforward.

A gang of enthusiasts are now developing it and 'regressing' the modern aspects of FS9. The big, modern 'showcase' airports have all gone. Earlier today I went to KLAX - it's a field! I understand that Bill himself has done addons - and depending on the date you set GW3 to, the appearance changes. The further back you go, the newer they look. Amazing!

Not everyone's cuppa-tea I know that. But for me in just 1 day it's a real MUST MUST MUST have.

I can't recommend it enough.

[Sock]

I'm getting that!!  ;D

[gryshnak]

Thanks, downloading it now

Gryshnak

[Jared]

Yep, another satisfied flyer here..definately a must have for any vintage flyer..

[Jakemaster]

And one thing to keep in mind is that this was made so that we could HAVE FUN!  You can fly whatever you want in it, but not everything feels right.  In fact, right now Im doing hoplists in the aero commander.  It's not from the time period of the sim, but flying any prop plane just feels better in gw.  Bush flying is AMAZING in golden wings.  Yes, some major airports are gone, but you can still go to those cities and enjoy them.  Like seattle, there is nothing there, but its still a real nice place to fly.  

It is definately the best addon you can download.  I have tried millions of different textures for fs, but nothing comes close to bill's.  He redid clouds, ground, sky, and everything, and it beats any freeware addon, and from the screenshots Ive seen it is even on par, if not better than, payware textures like fsscene or BEV.  

But, if you are going to get it, dont be casual.  Make sure to READ THE README!  If you rush and are not careful, you could really screw up.  But belive me, it is worth the hassle.

Get it here: http://goldenwings3.com/pages/gw3pagedl.htm

And Golden Wings/Classic Flight Forums at the old hanger.
http://mainescenery.proboards24.com/

Also, to rollerball and everyone else, go to EDOF to see some UNBELIEVABLE ground textures.  Also, go to CDU3 (I think) to see the amazing autogen placement.

[Splash]

Everything that Jakemaster and Rollerball says and more.  Things can get screwed up real bad if not installed properly.  I put mine on a different drive as well, which is highly recommended
One heck of an addon, and getting better
Cheers
Splash(Ed)

[jordonj]

I plan to install it as soon as I can get a different install of XP...I use removable drives.

[Flt.Lt.Andrew]

Fantastic shots!
You're quite right, it does look right!
Is it a tricky installation?


A.