Review by Mike Cameron. The information that I am writing here was gathered from the product web page and the Quick Start Guide.

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning set new standards and was hugely popular with the United States Air Force. During World War II, this fighter bomber was noted not only for its tri-fuselage construction, but also for its highly successful missions. After more than 70 years when they were first produced, there are only a few remaining flyable P-38’s left. In March of 2009, one of these flyable aircraft made its way to Salzburg, Austria and is home to the aircraft that is being modeled for this package, the Milviz P-38 Civilian Redbull Redux.

This P-38 has had a hard life until it was restored to gleaming perfection by the Redbull energy drink company. In September, 1945, P-38 F-56-6-LO, serial number 44-53254 was dismissed from the Air Force and registered as a civilian aircraft. It was acquired by air racing enthusiast J.D. Reed who worked on it to further optimize the speed of the aircraft. With pilot Charlie “Firewall” Walling at the controls, it came in second place at the 1947 Miami Air Races.

In 1963, this aircraft was acquired by Marvin “Lefty” Gardner who was inspired by the colors of the Confederate Air Force, opted for an exterior color in white with the nickname “White Lightning”. Marvin Gardner attended the Reno Air Races for decades where he would sometimes win two out of three races, however his greatest strength was Precision Aerobatics. In 2001, the White Lighting was being piloted by Marvin’s son Ladd when it suffered an engine fire and Ladd was able to land the aircraft in a cotton field in Mississippi. Ladd barely escaped with his life and the white plane was now black with substantial damage.

Eight years later after an extensive restoration at Ezell Aviation, this P-38 looked as if it had just left the factory floor with a shiny metallic exterior showing off the double cantilever body. Modern avionics and systems were also installed at this time to complete the restoration. The P-38 Civilian is the fastest modified World War II war aircraft available today. It can cruise at 335 miles per hour at 12000 feet.

Specifications:

Registration Number: N25Y

Serial Number: AF44-53254

Wingspan: 51.8 Feet

Length: 37.7 Feet

Height: 12.8 Feet

Maximum Weight: 17,527 Pounds

Maximum Speed: 360 Knots

Cruising Speed: 240 Knots

Engines: Twin Allison V1710-111/113

Power: 1475 Horsepower Each

Year Constructed: 1944

Service Ceiling: 40,000 Feet

Landing Speed (Extended): 175 MPH

Landing Speed (Flaps 100% Extended): 150 MPH

(Flaps 50% Extended):250 MPH

Landing Light Extended: 140 MPH

With 300-Gallon Drop Tanks Installed: 250 MPH

Installation and Documentation

Milviz provided an unlocked copy of the aircraft for review so installation is very easy. Milviz uses the Flight1 Wrapper system for purchase and activation, so if you purchase directly from Milviz you will need to follow that procedure.

The installation steps are to select FSX or Prepar3D, accept the License Agreement, verify the correct simulator location or “Browse” to locate and finally “Install” to install the aircraft into the simulator. The first time that you load the aircraft in FSX, you will be asked by the Microsoft Security System if you want to run the MilvizC310.gau file, select “Run” then “Yes” to accept that file as trusted.

Five PDF documents are included with the aircraft. A Quick-Start Guide, which is also available before purchase on the aircraft web page, the Garmin GNS430, 530 & GTX 330 manuals and the S-TEC Twenty/Thirty/Thirty AIT Pilots operating handbook. I love when a company includes documentation even for an aircraft priced under $20.00.

One document that is missing that would have been nice to have is some form of operating manual. The Quick Start Guide explains how to start the engines but not how to operate the aircraft after the engines are started.

Interior Features

If you like fancy interiors in your flight simulator aircraft, then the Milviz P-38 Redbull Redux is the wrong aircraft for you. This is an accurate reproduction of a restored single seat World War II fighter/bomber.

The interior color textures are white and light grey which is a little bright for my liking but I can live with it because this is what the real aircraft interior looks like. The various controls, the flight yoke and the base of the yoke stand are different colors and provide a nice contrast to the white and light grey textures.

As with all quality flight simulator aircraft, all of the interior details are three dimensional and labeling is clear and easy to read. I like that the pilot seat also has three dimensional features including the individual stitches on the seat cover. When changing your eye-point for close ups of the details on the right and left side of the aircraft, even the small lettering is readable. The clear canopy provides a nice 360 degree view though you are seated right in the middle of the wings so your left and right views are obstructed.

Exterior Details

This package only includes one aircraft, the Red Bull Redux paint job. A paint kit is available and when I last checked there were three repaints already available on the Milviz forum and others may be available from other web sites.  I love how the sun reflects off of the shiny aluminum exterior. The exterior details are outstanding with several alternate views to be able to see these details up close.

Everything is three dimensional including the small details, labeling and the Red Bull logo also look great. It is nice to see the detailed instrument panel from the exterior view. A realistic feature that I like about this aircraft is that the pilot is only visible when the engine is running. I have started seeing this in other aircraft and I hope other developers start doing this with their aircraft.

Panel & Systems

Because this is a single seat aircraft, the instrument panel is directly in front of you. I like that the instruments are large enough to be easily readable from the default virtual cockpit view and you can also adjust your eye-point view if you need a closer view.

The GPS units and avionics are positioned on the left side of the panel and for me this makes it easier to control the avionics. These GPS units use the default FSX navigation database and have the basic functionality of the FSX default GPS. I do not have a problem with this because I am going to replace the GNS 530 GPS with my Reality XP GNS 530 GPS unit. No instructions or support are provided for installing and using the Reality XP units. I will comment about my experience with installation later in this section but am not going to provide instructions. I will leave that up to the user to research on how to do this.

There are several alternate VC views so that you can get a close up view of the radio stack, left side panel and the right side panel. The radio stack view is the first view after the default and the first thing I would do was to adjust zoom level and the eye-point view so that I could easily control the GPS then quickly back to the default view. There is a switch on the lower left side of panel below the fuel gauge to hide the yoke for an unobstructed view of the panel. There is also a switch near the GPS units to switch to the alternate radio stack with 2D knobs and the default autopilot is added to this radio stack. I think this was the radio stack that was supposed to be used for the RXP GPS installation but I did not like how this radio stack looked even with the default GPS units. With this radio stack, the GNS 430 is partially hidden by the ADF radio and because I am not experienced enough at editing the panel.cfg to properly align these avionics, I decided not to use the alternate radio stack.

I replaced the default GNS 530 GPS in the default radio stack with my RXP GNS 530 and because of the 3D knobs on this stack, they look kind of funny but I prefer this look to having the GNS 430 partially hidden on the alternate radio stack. There is also a 2D popup window of the radio stack and I also replaced the default GNS 530 with my Reality XP one. I do not own the RealityXP GNS WAAS Unlimited Expansion Pack for the cross fill capability but do have the “LinkGPS=on” entry in the rxpgns.ini file and placed this file in the aircraft folder. Even though this does not copy the flight plan to the second GPS like cross fill, it does display the current waypoint information on the default GNS 430.Milviz also provides entry’s in the panel.cfg for the RealityXP GNS 430 & 530 WAAS – RXP Config Tools and the Reality XP Drop Stack as pop-up windows if you would like to use these. I did not enable them because I decided to manually add the RXP GNS 530 to the Milviz radio stack window.

The most interesting avionic on the panel is the S-TEC Twenty/Thirty/Thirty AIT autopilot. The Pilots Operating Handbook covers all three versions and I do not know which one is installed on this aircraft. Basically, the small dial on the upper left hand side of the unit controls the various functions and small lights on the unit are illuminated to indicate which autopilot mode the unit currently is in. The right mouse button turns on the autopilot & controls altitude hold, pushing the mouse wheel activates heading & altitude hold or if you have your GPS set to GPS mode, it will follow the GPS flight plan, adjusting the mouse wheel sets the autopilot heading and pressing the left mouse button turns off the unit. The unit also serves as your turn coordinator. 

I used my Saitek Multi-Panel to control the autopilot and could see the corresponding mode on the S-TEC unit. The unit is easy to use and works well but if you still would like to use the traditional autopilot, then select the alternate radio stack.

Sound, Animation and Lighting Effects

The Milviz P-38 has excellent sounds and animations. Engine sound effects were recorded from a real P-38 which I always like with a premium aircraft. I have to admit that I expected the engines to be louder and closing the canopy mutes the sound even further. I love that the tone changes when you adjust the propeller controls.

All operable dials and switches have an associated sound effect and these sound very realistic without being too loud. I love the sound that the canopy makes when it is opening and closing and this is also my favorite animation. The flaps & gear operations also sound very good. I love the small animations that are included with this product. Turning the dials for the interior lighting controls produces a realistic turning effect and I love the audible clicks that occur when turning the dials. The animation of the gear operation is also very good. The P-38 also has very good lighting effects, both interior and exterior.

Airfile

If you follow the quick start guide it is very easy to start the two engines even if you perform a manual start procedure. I just wish Milviz would have included some form of operating manual for after you start the engines. I printed the checklist so I had a rough idea on what to do next.

The hardest thing for me to do after engine start was taxi operations. Even though the P-38 has a nose wheel, just don’t expect it to behave like Cessna 172 nose wheel steering. The P-38 has a free castoring nose wheel so you will have to use a combination of left/right throttle and brakes to steer. I hope I am explaining this right because I am using trial and error to taxi. Because of the lack of documentation, I had to learn about the free castoring nose wheel on the support forum. If you do not have dual throttle controls and rudder pedals you may wish to turn down the realism settings in order to avoid some frustration when taxiing.

I own the CH Throttle Quadrant but do not own rudder pedals so I was able to make do, it just was not a very efficient taxi process. I had trouble controlling the speed and having the aircraft move straight after completing a turn. I did a lot of starts and stops but was eventually able to get to the active runway.

Takeoff, climb and cruise were uneventful and this aircraft performs wonderfully. This is a very fast aircraft and can cruise at high altitudes. I love using the automatic propeller controls so once I have this activated I just need to monitor them to make sure they operating correctly. The throttle and mixture controls operate manually but work as they should. I do not think system failures are built in with this aircraft but I would always monitor the systems for proper operation. This is a high performance aircraft that will use a lot of gas and all flight simulator aircraft can run out of gas so remember to monitor your fuel on those long cross country flights.

With all of my aircraft, I like to hand fly the aircraft until I get to my cruising altitude and then engage the auto pilot. This is a very fun aircraft to hand fly, I did need to use a little bit of right rudder while climbing and does this aircraft climb fast. I was able to maintain 1500 fpm at about 160 to 165 knots. For some reason I had trouble trimming the P-38 for level flight, I would eventually be able to trim for level flight but I would usually climb through my cruise altitude before becoming level. I guess I will need to keep practicing this and start to level off well before getting to the cruise altitude. Also, when hand flying at cruise the aircraft for some reason wanted to roll to the left so I had to use more right rudder & aileron then I would like.

If this is a real characteristic of the P-38 then I could live with it. Also, this could be a joystick calibration issue so I will have to look into that. I tried adjusting the rudder trim and on my system a setting of 5% helped with the hand flying workload somewhat. The autopilot works very well and will hold your altitude and will follow the GPS course or the heading that you have set without any issues. The autopilot also allows me to catch my breath after climbing and allows me to perform the cruise checklist and continue to monitor the aircraft systems.

The P-38 has a very fast cruise speed, at 40” manifold pressure, 1700 RPM at 13,500 feet; my indicated airspeed was 200 knots. This is a wonderful aircraft for those long cross country flights, I just had to remember to start my descent and slowing the aircraft down well ahead of my destination. Until I have more time in this aircraft I am going to perform straight in arrivals when hand flying the P-38 or use the Reality XP GPS along with the autopilot for practicing approaches.

My landings were sometimes not very good as I usually approached too fast but I was usually able to land on the runway without having to perform a go around. Until you get use to the performance of the P-38, I recommend landing at airports with long runways. Landing was still a much better experience for me then trying to taxi with free castoring nose wheel.

Bottom line, if you have all of your aircraft realism settings to the max position, the Milviz P-38 Redbull Redux can be a very challenging aircraft to operate in FSX. If you take the time to learn to operate it properly you are rewarded with a very satisfying experience.

Summary / Closing Remarks

This is the third Milviz aircraft I have as part of my virtual hangar (Cessna 310R & Beechcraft Baron 55), and Milviz has produced another outstanding aircraft with the P-38 Redbull Redux. This aircraft is an excellent value with a retail price of $17.95 USD. Granted only the one paint scheme is included but new free paint jobs are already available on the internet.

The interior & exterior textures are great looking, sound, animation & lighting effects are outstanding and this aircraft has a very realistic flight model if you have the realism settings maxed out in FSX. If this is the first aircraft with a free castoring nose wheel that you are considering purchasing it is a very realistic and challenging aircraft to taxi.

The only minor issue that I have with this product is that I wish Milviz would have included some form of operational guide besides the Quick Start Guide and the avionics manuals. Checklists are included but I had to learn about the free castoring nose wheel from the support forum.

I highly recommend the Milviz P-38 Redbull Redux for all virtual pilots who want to fly an accurate reproduction of a civilian Lockheed P-38 Lightning. I want to thank Milviz for providing the review copy of this wonderful aircraft.

What I Like About the Milviz P-38 Redbull Redux

• Realistic Flight Model
• Excellent Interior & Exterior Textures & Features
• Wonderful Sound, Animation & Lighting Effects
• Very Easy Aircraft to Start From a Cold and Dark State
• Great Aircraft For Those Long Cross Country Flights
• Low Purchase Price

What I Don’t Like About the Milviz P-38 Redbull Redux

• No Operational Manual is Included
• Very Hard Aircraft to Taxi with Maximum Realism and No Rudder Pedals and/or Dual Throttle Controls
• GNS 430 GPS is Partially Hidden by the ADF Radio on the Alternate Radio Stack with 2D Knobs

Introduction

Review by Benjamin van Soldt. There are airports in the world that appeal to everybody’s imagination. Sint Maarten would be one of them: a tight landing over that beach will even have aircraft haters go “wow” when a KLM Boeing 747 flies over them so low that you can almost touch the wheels (if you wish to lose your hands, that is).

There are other airports that don’t have that effect. To be more precise, these airports only appeal to aviation enthusiasts. Why? Because they are scary to land at for one or more reasons. People that hate planes will curse the day they land at one of these airports.

One such airport is Hong Kong’s old international airport: Kai Tak. In the AVSIM community, this airport has had the reputation of “hard to land at”, but I must say this airport isn’t necessarily hard to land at, it’s just spectacular. To fly low and (relatively) slow over downtown Hong Kong is simply “something else”. But if I had to point out a difficult-to-land-at airport, I’d much rather point at Toncontin International airport, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. THAT is difficult to land at. At the last moment you make a 90-degree turn while flying low over a hill, you slam down on the runway as soon as you can and brake like a madman in order not to fly straight into the shopping mall that was conveniently built on the other end of the runway.

Further south there is another airport that is just as amazing and combines the Kai Tak experience with the short runway of Toncontin. The airport I’m talking about is Rio de Janeiro’s Santos Dumont, SBRJ. This amazing little airport sits in the body of water that splits Rio into two and allows access to the Guanabara Bay. As you come into either one of the two runway 35’s, your eyes are greeted with the beautiful, white-as-chalk buildings of Rio, with the iconic hills scattered around like clutches of grass scarred around a snowy field. But when you get down there, make sure to engage those brakes, otherwise your plane will transform itself magically into a boat as you run out of pavement and find yourself submerged in Guanabara bay.

In order to fly to Rio though, you need a departure airport. One of the most famous routes in Brazil must be the Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro air bridge: a busy, commercial route between two of the largest and busiest cities of the country. And fortunately, we have both cities at our disposal in FSX thanks to Paulo Ricardo. That is what this review is all about: The Sao Paulo-Rio air bridge, using the sceneries created by Paulo Ricardo.

What this review is and what it is not

First, a word of warning. In the history of Avsim, a multitude of scenery reviews have already been published. I wouldn’t be myself, however, if I wasn’t a bit of a rebel, and as such I will do things differently in this review. Straight-on reviews that show every nook and cranny of a scenery are of course highly valuable due to them being packed with information, but in the end, most users will not see the detail on the gas station when 5km from the runway. Experiencing scenery, however new age that sounds, is much more important, in my opinion.

With this review I will do pretty much what I have done for OrbX airports in other reviews where I combine the sceneries and flights, thus experiencing the sceneries while reviewing them. What this review is therefore, is more of a story then a traditional review. As such, this review is NOT a full, in-depth account of every detail you can find in the scenery.

I sincerely hope that I will succeed in providing you with the info on details that all of you probably want to read, but in the context of an actual flight that utilizes the scenery rather than picks it apart to reveal every possible flaw. As a result, do not expect close-up shots of the famous statue of Jesus on one of the Rio hills. You will get to see it, but from the distance at which we are actually flying. Because THAT is what experiencing the scenery is all about in my opinion.

With all that in mind, I hope you will enjoy reading this review as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Installation and Documentation

Even if this review will be story-driven, some facets of a review can’t be transformed, such as this one. Documentation is there, but it’s minimal. There is a very rough description of what to download and how to install it, but that’s pretty much it. It would have been nice if some approach charts and such would have been included, but it’s not that necessary. You can get those in other ways, such as Navigraph’s services. Alternatively, you can try to get them by simply Googling them or seeking out the Brazilian VATSIM branch.

The documentation is written in English that is understandable, but it isn’t that good. For those whose English is not their first language, it might be an obstacle, but I had no trouble with it. Even if the documentation is not that good, Paulo Ricardo himself is easy to contact and you will find that he is rather responsive to emails. Of course it might take a day or two for him to respond, depending on where you live, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. I didn’t strictly need his help to install everything though, but when I had questions regarding the sceneries and their coverage, he was quick to offer help.

Starting up in Sao Paulo

Time to get into that cockpit! Today’s flight will take us from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro in the PMDG NGX 737-700 variant, in GOL livery. We find our aircraft in the cold and dark state at the gate at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport. This airport is part of the Sao Paulo scenery, and fits it very well: it’s in the middle of the city, so when you look around the plane, you see the buildings of Sao Paulo. From the ground it certainly is a nice view, and you get the feeling you are in a big, sprawling city.

There are buildings all around the airport, making for a nice view when at the gate.

The modeling and texturing of the airport itself is okay. It definitely gets the job done, but don’t expect over-the-top details such as in Fly Tampa’s and FSDT’s more recent offerings. Sao Paulo is already an older release, and it shows, plus the city itself is the main attraction of the scenery and not so much the airport.

As such, I’m forgiving with regard to the graphical detail of the airport, and I must say the performance is very good. What’s also nice is the transparent windows in the jetways and terminal building. You can see people standing inside:

People at the terminal.

The ground imagery is okay, but the overall look of the parking stands is a bit blurry when at such a parking stand. From further away it looks fine, and I must say the taxiways look quite good. The runway is your standard FSX texture, though. Some ground equipment would probably have helped “fill up” the airport, to make it seem busier. Right now it seems rather empty.

I raised similar points in correspondence with Paulo Ricardo, and he explained that at the time of making this scenery, computers were not the way they are now; since performance was his top priority, he couldn’t successfully add these objects without compromising the frame rate. Perhaps, though, Paulo will update the scenery with such features now that computers are quicker.

As we are preparing the plane for takeoff, the luggage is being loaded on board and the first busses with passengers are arriving. I can hear them stumbling into the plane on this warm Brazilian day, small children chattering away as their mothers shove them into their seats and cabin crew assists an elderly man up the steps. The engine’s fan blades spin in a gentle breeze that makes the 25 degrees feel like 23 degrees.

Passengers boarding.

Our route will have us fly along the coast of Brazil soon after takeoff, up to Rio de Janeiro, where we shall fly a short while over sea until we will turn left and line-up with the runway at Santos Dumont: an airport located right in the heart of the city which should give us a really nice view when on final approach. But that’s for later. Right now we enter the route into the FMS, take care of the last formalities, and we’re off. Cabin crew gives us the go-ahead, and we ask ground crew to prepare for departure. And so they do. Soon, we are pushing back.

Pushback.

Finally, we’re off. The engines have started successfully and are up and running, quietly humming at idle thrust. Quiet chattering comes from the cabin as people stare excitedly at the buildings moving past them outside. These buildings look quite nice, although the same general criticism that applies to the terminal applies to these buildings also. They tend to be a bit simplistic, but do a good job overall and the buildings are recognizable.

Like at the terminal, more detail, in the form of cars, would have been appreciated. Perhaps an update that will transform Sao Paulo and make use of the much more powerful hardware that is available these days, will add all kinds of cars, ground equipment and other “life-giving” objects. Note the quality of the imagery for the taxiway and the grass: this is quite nice! I wasn’t a big fan of the parking stands, but this actually looks nice.

Buildings along the taxiway, and taxiing onto the runway.

Two turns later and we’re on the runway. Sadly, the runway texture is a stock FSX texture instead of photoscenery (a stock REX texture, actually, but you get the gist: no photoscenery was used). That’s a pity, and it might be something to consider changing in a possible future update.

We rev up the engines to takeoff thrust. The plane starts moving, slowly at first, but soon we are rolling down the runway at thundering speeds. As I pull on the yoke, the nose lifts up into the air, and soon we are airborne. The plane races into the sky and the city of Sao Paulo comes into view in its full glory: flats along the horizon in all directions. Truly, this airport IS in the center of the city. As we gain height and turn to the right per ATC’s commands, we start flying our route to Rio.

Taking off and turning to the right over the city.

What I noticed pretty much immediately, is that the reason that I see so many flats, is because it’s pretty much only flats that were placed in this scenery. There are many smaller houses, but these weren’t added. I asked Paulo Ricardo about it, and he said he couldn’t really add too many smaller buildings, autogen or not, without compromising performance. This is definitely a point to improve upon in a possible future update. Don’t get me wrong: the way it is, is already nice.

The flats give the city a very business-like feel and where there are high concentrations, it does look stunning, but the gaps caused by the absence of smaller buildings do catch one’s eye when you first look at the scenery. One thing I think is really good is the overall quality of the photoscenery used through Sao Paulo. This looks quite stunning, and appears to be rather high-resolution.

Saying goodbye to Sao Paulo.

The plane keeps climbing, and we say goodbye to Sao Paulo for now. My impression of the Sao Paulo scenery is quite favorable, but it’s also clear that it’s an older product. Still, worth the money if it’s a regular destination of yours, and the performance is really good. As you can see at the top-left of all screenshots, FPS was at 23 all the time, out of the 23FPS at which the frame rate is locked.

The flying was smooth; all the more reason for an update to add all kinds of extra objects, to enhance the experience! I hope Paulo Ricardo will find time to do such a thing, as I’m sure it will be welcomed.

On the way to Rio

As we leave Sao Paulo behind, we enter another scenery add-on. In this area we find photoscenery that goes all the way to Rio, and there are even some small towns with modeled buildings.

We reach cruise altitude, and spend the next 40 minutes or so just looking around. The vistas are quite beautiful. The beautiful blue ocean on one side, and very nice, green hills and mountain rolling on the other side. The closer we get to Rio, the more mountainous and hilly the coastline gets, too, but it’s always a beautiful topaz-green hue which works really well with the dark-blue waters (which is a REX setting, by the way).

Climbing out of the urban areas surroundings Sao Paulo.

Admiring the view.

Notice how much crisper everything is from wing view.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that the photoscenery is perfect, though. It is blurry if you’re not flying that high, and it’s noticeably hazy. That’s something that probably should work in favor of realism, but I’d rather have saturated, in focus imagery all the way. I should add that once I did get to cruise altitude (which is not the case in the first few shots), and the closer I got to Rio, the better the overall look of the photoscenery was.

I should also make note of the fact that, as always, shots from the VC and the wing views are noticeable much better than those from spot view. I was told this has to do with the zooming in the view system of FSX. I don’t know the technical details, but the result is that shots from the wing views look a lot better. And indeed, you can see the difference in the shots above. As such, in the shots from spot view, the photoscenery is blurrier than those from wing view. Consequently, the shots from wing view look quite stunning, and those from spot view less so.

Getting closer to Rio.

As we get closer to Rio, we are told to deviate from our planned route and head over the ocean instead. The hilly, topaz-green shores are swapped with endless amounts of dark blue water. From the distance, we see how we are slowly departing from the shoreline, giving us a very nice view of the Brazil coastline.

The photoscenery looks really nice, and adds to the overall feel. I’m quite happy Paulo Ricardo decided to make this; it truly adds to the overall experience of flying the air bridge. The overall quality is good and is a welcome bonus!

Arrival in Rio

As I said, arrival in Rio starts out with a flight over the ocean. Fortunately it doesn’t take that long, as ATC directs us to turn to the left and align with Santos Dumont’s runway for a final, visual approach into the airport. This is one of those approaches that an FS enthusiast probably should do at least once in his life.

Flying in from the ocean, you are first presented with a spectacular view as you see the city rolling out over the hills and mountains, with characteristic hills in the city like huge, natural skyscrapers. And as you get closer, dropping flaps and limiting your speed in order not to overshoot Santos Dumont’s really short runway, you are amazed by the urban sprawl along the coastline, which is filled by beautiful, stark-white flats. It truly is an amazing feast for the eye and this add-on really does do Rio justice. Take a look:

First views of Rio: huge amounts of white flats tightly built along the coast with green hills almost twice as high as the many flats.

We fly ever closer and closer. From afar, FSX really doesn’t do the city justice, what with its limited rendering, but the closer we get, the more detail is introduced. The full resolution of the mesh is rendered and the textures become crisper and crisper. And that’s when the fun starts: I must say that the textures, for sure the ones on the approach path, are really high quality. And not just the streets either; the hills, filled with trees and little paths, look just as good as all the boulevards. See for yourself:

Beautiful textures and high resolution mesh make getting closer to Rio a wonderful experience.

It’s not entirely without problems, though. I noticed that the water mask acts up a bit at the beach. While it doesn’t reduce the Wow-factor at all for me personally, it would of course have been nicer if it wouldn’t have been present. See below.

On the other hand, the textures of the flats are so good, and the dense housing makes everything look so realistic, that I can easily forgive the water mask. Again, notice the high-resolution ground imagery.

Over the Rio beaches.

Soon we find ourselves close to Santos Dumont. After having cleared some hills that are immediately on the approach path, we can now safely and steadily get this plane down. Meanwhile, I keep admiring the city, both to the left and right.

The extent of the coverage is really good. Looking at how everything is modeled, I think this is the second true Kai Tak-esque scenery pack we have for FSX. To the left we see more and more flats, all with really nice textures. Also all kinds of boats and yachts are lying around in the marina. There’s also some car traffic on the bigger roads.

On final approach.

Flats and skyscraper on the left side of the plane.

The actual landing is thrilling and exciting. Santos Dumont has a very short runway, shorter than Kai Tak. It starts at the water, and ends at the water, so there really is no room for mistakes here. As such, you want to get your plane down soon and slow down quickly. Fortunately the landing went rather smoothly, and I felt satisfied as I taxied off the runway and contacted ground for a parking place.

Landing at Santos Dumont.

In the middle of the above three shots you might notice the cableway between two hills. This cableway is actually animated and is a very nice landmark to look at during your approach. In the third shot, you will notice that the distant hills also have photoscenery coverage. I wasn’t kidding when I said that coverage in this add-on is extensive!

Taxiing around Santos Dumont.

The scenery for Santos Dumont is generally better looking than that for Sao Paulo Congonhas. The buildings look better, even if the textures aren’t as crisp as they could have been. At least, that’s the situation for non-terminal buildings: the terminal looks nice. The textures are crisp, and the building looks quite detail. At least it’s obvious that more effort was put into the terminal than surrounding buildings.

The ground textures look okay. They are crisp enough for the purpose they serve, but I would have really valued an additional detail layer to add things like oil stains, cracks and the like. This seems to be a standard addition for airports produced these days, so as such I would have hoped that they might be added in an update.

Now don’t get me wrong: as the shots show you, such detail layer does exist to some degree. You will have noticed that parking spots feature an extra layer that introduces “tile” textures, so that it all looks like the parking stands are made up out of concrete tiles. So the detail is definitely there, but it seems restricted to the parking spots. It would have been nice to have a similar thing for the taxiways, for instance.

Parking the plane.

FSDT’s GSX helps me park my plane and unload all the baggage as busses come to pick up the passengers. This might surprise you: there are jetways, aren’t there? They do exist, but they aren’t animated. As a result, GSX doesn’t recognize them and brings me stairs and busses.

It’s a pity the jetways weren’t animated. I believe that in this day and age, it should be standard procedure to make sure of such FSX default technologies. I don’t think it’s a “big” problem by any means, mind you, but I think it has missed the chance to make a great product even better.

Parked at Santos Dumont.

So there we are: at Rio Santos Dumont, waiting for the plane to be prepped and ready to fly back to Sao Paulo. I look around the plane in spot view and notice the famous statue on the hilltop, the flats all over the place, etc.

The Sao Paulo Rio air bridge is a very nice flight to do. It’s relatively short, gets you in and out of two big, important cities, let’s you fly over some stunning terrain and challenges you with some interesting approaches. And the Rio scenery makes it all much more spectacular.

Flying back at night

I will not give full coverage of the way back, but I wanted to give an idea of what these cities look like at night, or at least, how their night versions are portrayed in this scenery package.

Overall I was quite happy with how it all looked. It is clear that Rio is a newer development, given the quality of the night lighting, which is not to say Sao Paulo doesn’t look good. I found Rio to be really quite beautiful at night; Sao Paulo less so. At least, it was less exciting than Rio was.

Sao Paulo’s night lighting does look quite impressive. Especially when approaching the city, and seeing the white and golden horizon, lit-up by all the buildings in the distance, is a thrilling time. That Rio is newer can also be seen when considering the airports. The 3D lighting effects at Santus Dumont look really nice and it’s a pity Congonhas doesn’t have them.

Below I’ve included screenshots from the night flight back to Sao Paulo. There is no extensive commentary, as it is meant to give you an idea of the night scenery only. Where there are special things to note, I did put in some text.

- Santos Dumont has beautiful 3D night light effects

- Prepping the aircraft

- Passengers boarding, courtesy of GSX

- Pushback

- Notice the cone-shaped lights, lighting the terminal area

- Another view of the night-time terminal with the cone-shaped lights. Strangely, it seems like they are placed too high?

- Ready for Takeoff

- Flying over Rio. Notice the palette of golden and silver lights. This mix makes Rio look much more alive than if it were just one color lighting

- The Jesus statue, with a beautiful moon-lit ocean in the background

- At this height, you don’t really see that the photoscenery isn’t high-res. That’s smart use of Level Of Detail (LOD) thinking

- Leaving behind Rio

- Watching the urban areas to our right

- Almost at cruise altitude

- Flying against a moon-lit background

- And again, different position

- Over Sao Paulo suburbs, turning towards the runway

- A highway intersection in the distance with nice night lighting. Does make you wonder if the real thing also only has lights at the actual intersection, and not beyond that it

- See the silverfish stuff way in the distance? That’s the Sao Paulo skyline

- Lining up with the runway. This view truly makes you appreciate how the city envelops Congonhas airport

- A highway intersection in the distance with nice night lighting. Does make you wonder if the real thing also only has lights at the actual intersection, and not beyond that it

- Sao Paulo suburbs. The photoscenery could have been a bit higher res I suppose, but I think it looks just fine

- Good view of Sao Paulo, with Congonhas to the left. Final approach

- Nearly there…

- Passenger view

- And we are down

- The colours of the taxiway are really wacky in the taxi/landing lights of the PMDG 737NGX. Don’t know why that is, but it’s something I have seen at a lot of airports

- Overview of the airport

- It’s quite amazing how close we are to all these buildings. Makes you wonder what happens when a plane doesn’t stop in time when landing…

- Taxiing to the gate. Something seems to be wrong with the taxiway textures in proximity of the plane; it’s all black

- Parked, ready for a new load of passengers and cargo

Performance

What about performance? I already dropped a hint about it previously, but in short, performance is great. At Sao Paulo, enroute and finally at Rio, FPS were always high. My FPS was locked at 23, and not once did it go below that. The result was a very pleasant and smooth flight that I really enjoyed.

In my correspondence with Paulo Ricardo, he noted multiple times how he tried to make performance a top priority; I think he succeeded! Note that of course mileage may vary.

Summary / Closing Remarks

In this review I flew from Sao Paulo to Rio. The add-ons cover Sao Paulo, Rio and the route in-between, thus you never leave a photoscenery-covered area. Performance was great along the entire route, even though I was using an FPS-heavy aircraft: the PMDG 737NGX.

I enjoyed this flight greatly and I think that anybody who flies regularly into these cities, or likes doing this flight, really should seriously consider buying these sceneries. The packages are quite pricey: Sao Paulo comes in about 30 Euros, and can be bought from Paulo Ricardo directly.

The Rio pack, which includes the photoscenery and an additional city (Natal RN, as well as its airport, not featured in this review), is about 42 Euros at SimMarket. Although the price is perhaps a bit high, what you get is top-notch scenery. Such dense scenery, with such high-res textures and such good performance, can be expected to cost a bit. I believe it is worth it.

This truly is two-of-a-kind scenery. Two-of-a-kind: the other being Fly Tampa’s Kai Tak. Both are similar sceneries in what they portray: amazing approaches into popular, widely known sceneries. The result is an amazing experience. I absolutely recommend the sceneries featured in this review for every Brazilian flyer, and those that frequent this city often.

What I Like About The Sao Paulo-Rio Airbridge

• Great performance.
• Packed with detail.
• Rio’s ground textures look good due to their high resolution. Sao Paulo a bit less so, but still good.
• Continuous photoscenery coverage from city to city.
• Inclusion of important airports (SBSP, SBRJ).

What I Don’t Like About The Sao Paulo-Rio Airbridge

• Lack of autogen in Sao Paulo creates flat “gaps”.

Review by Doug Horton. As indicated in the previously published article, and provided again as a refresher, a friend had been away from flight simming for awhile, and when he regained interest in the hobby, he recognized that his computer was quite outdated, with several out of date components, as well as a few software issues, including:

• Processor – dual core operating at 2.4 GHz
• Motherboard – older processor socket, unable to host newer processors
• Memory – older DDR2 operating at 800 MHz – about half speed of newer memory
• Graphics card – five year old technology, limited to DirectX 10 and two monitors per card
• Flight Simulator X installed with a very large number of add-on aircraft and scenery files – very slow to load
• FSX configuration file tweaked with many questionable parameter changes
• Older version of X-Plane installed, with interest in updating to version 10
• Operating three monitors, connected to older graphics card with older technology

Though I offered to recommend components and help assemble a new system, my friend decided to purchase a new computer from Jetline Systems, which offered a model with most of the components I recommended. Importantly, Jetline would also test the system and save BIOS profiles for default operation and overclocking the processor up to 4.5 GHz. This article reports on testing a sample Jetline computer that is identical to the computer purchased by my friend. You can read about the components in my previous article on AVSIM.

Jetline Systems specializes in building, testing, and selling computers that are intended to provide high performance for flight simulation programs. Jetline was founded in late 2006, coincident with the release of Flight Simulator X, by veteran U.S. Air Force flight engineer Greg Sanderson. His vision was to create a high performance PC company that would directly support the flight simulation pilot community, with research and accumulated knowledge of what hardware is really best for “top of the line” flight simulation computers.

Testing - Background

Most computer flight simulator users have learned that framerate (frames displayed per second) is a very important concern when a new system is purchased, along with use of compatible state of the art components. My benchmarking test results, published in several articles over the past four years, verify that for a given set of components and program settings, processor core speed is the most significant factor in producing acceptable framerates. In particular, for given components and settings, framerate performance is directly proportional to core speed. Accordingly, many users overclock their processors to drive higher framerates, or perhaps operate flight simulator programs with higher display settings and acceptable framerates – more on this subject below.

Benchmarking Framerate Performance

I’ve been using Gary Dunne’s free FSXMark07 utility for benchmarking over the past four years. It’s simple, dependable, and results are repeatable. There’s a similar utility that updates Gary’s utility with a different test aircraft, test flight, and settings, but it does not credit Gary for his earlier work, and it biases results higher by setting airline and GA traffic to zero, which is unrealistic for most users, so I’m ignoring the newer utility. Also, I can track results back four years by staying with FSXMark07, and that’s important when tracking trends in performance. File FSXMark07.zip can be downloaded from the file library at www.Avsim.com. Follow the simple instructions to get started with the simple procedure. You may also wish to consult my article about benchmarking, which was recently published in ASVIM Online.

Single monitor view at beginning of FSXMark07 test flight

Single monitor view after five minutes of FSXMark07 test flight

Single Monitor Tests

I began by testing the Jetline computer with a single monitor, a 40” LCD/LED TV at 1920 x 1080 resolution, with an EVGA GTX 660 Ti graphics card. I then set the motherboard BIOS to “Optimized Default.” I presumed this would allow the processor to run at its nominal speed of 3.5 GHz up to 3.9 GHz. Given the graphics load of FSX, I expected that the processor would actually run close to its highest Turbo Boost speed of 3.9 GHz. Subsequently, I overclocked the processor, using BIOS settings recommended by Jetline Systems, to run the processor at 4.2 GHz, and then 4.5 GHz. For the three selected settings, the results were:

The results of these three tests provided surprising results! By visual inspection, the results indicate that the framerate for the Optimized Default setting is much less than proportional for the presumed speed of 3.9 GHz. This suggests that the processor is not achieving 3.9 GHz for the five-minute test flight. To verify this conclusion, I added a fourth test; namely, modifying the overclocking settings to set the Turbo Boost for 3.9 GHz. At this point, the results, sorted by framerate, were:

Next, I graphed the results, using linear regression analysis to calculate the effective core speed for the Optimized Default condition, which was about 3.3 GHz, as shown in accompanying graph. The graph includes data labels, and in the upper right corner, it shows the derived regression equation, which I used to calculate the core speed. It also includes the value of R² – a measure of “goodness of fit” of the line – with 1.0 being a perfect fit. Clearly the regression line is a nearly perfect fit.

Spreadsheet graph of framerate vs. processor core speed,

With the Optimized Default BIOS settings, I presumed that the processor would operate close to its specified top speed of 3.9 GHz, but instead, it operated at about 3.3 GHz. What was happening? In consulting with Jetline Systems, and using the free GPU-Z utility to peek at the instantaneous core speeds during the FSXMark07 test flights, we concluded that there are probably two factors at work:

• The Default Optimized BIOS settings, in concert with Windows 7 settings, also include power-saving settings, which allow the core speed to vary between about 1.6 and 3.9 GHz, depending on the processor load, instead of 3.5 to 3.9 GHz.
• The graphics load during the five-minute FSXMark07 flight varies considerably, and it’s insufficient to keep the processor operating at 3.9 GHz.

Alternatively, using BIOS settings to specify (indeed, force) an overclocked processor clock speed of 3.9 GHz, with a Windows 7 power setting for Performance, kept the processor at this speed, and it increased FSXMark07 framerate test results by slightly over 12%.

Testing with Three Monitors

Using three 1920 x 1080 LCD/LED TVs as monitors, I set up Windows 7 for three monitors and then set up NVIDIA 2D Surround with the GTX 660 Ti graphics card. This provided a total resolution of 5760 x 1080. I then repeated the tests for the overclocked processor speed of 4.5 GHz. The result was that the average framerate, for five FSXMark07 trials, decreased from an average of 57.3 to an average of 46.5. That’s not bad, considering that the pixel rendering load increased by a factor of three, to produce a display resolution of 5760 x 1080.

For those who have not yet run FSXMark07 benchmarking, here are screenshots of the beginning and ending virtual cockpit view. Note that zoom is set for about 0.70 for correct perspective on three monitors at 45 degree angles.

Three monitor view at beginning of FSXMark07 test flight

Three monitor view after five minutes of FSXMark07 test flight

A framerate of 46.5 for the FSXMark07 Global High configuration is very playable, except with shadows enabled and with high AI traffic settings, particularly near airports with heavy scenery loads. This suggests the question: “What display configuration settings could be changed to increase the framerate with three monitors?” There are many combinations of settings that could be tried, and I made a few changes that I knew would increase the framerate, while not making much difference in the virtual cockpit view. Here are the settings I changed from the FSXMark07 Global High configuration, using the Options, Settings, Display interface, noting that two of the changes were made to enhance the simulation experience:

• Graphics Tab: Turn off lens flare.
• Aircraft Tab: Turn off aircraft shadows on ground and on itself.
• Scenery Tab: Set water to Low 2.x, and move Scenery Complexity slider from Dense to Very Dense – enhancing the scenery display.
• Weather Tab: Turn on Download Winds Aloft – to increase realism for other flights, but  has no effect on framerate performance because the FSXMark07 test flight uses preset static weather
• Traffic Tab: Change AI traffic sliders for Ships and Ferries, and Leisure Boats, from 35% to 15%.

The result is quite surprising! Making these simple changes resulted in the FSXMark07 framerate benchmarking test, with three monitors, increasing from a framerate 46.5 to 71.8! This is a profound result, in that a few simple display configuration changes, two of which improve the simulation experience, could be used to increase the framerate by 54%.

Performance with GTX 680 Graphics Card

For those who are inclined to presume that a newer, more expensive graphics card will increase their framerate performance, be aware that many reviewers have concluded that FSX is “CPU-bound,” with the more robust and expensive graphics cards not making much difference in framerate performance. To confirm this again, I repeated the three monitor tests with an EVGA 680 card in place of the EVGA GTX 660 Ti. Not surprisingly, with the same configuration settings, there was no difference in FSXMark07 framerate test results. Clearly, investment in processor core speed is the most important consideration in hardware selection, including modest overclocking of the processor, though, as shown above, a few changes in display configuration settings can have much greater results than overclocking!

Testing of the EVGA GTX 680 graphics card, in place of the EVGA GTX 660 Ti, indicated that with three monitors, there framerate performance was identical with the two cards.

Overclocking Settings

For the ASUS motherboard model P8Z77-V Pro, here are the BIOS settings recommended by Jetline Systems, for overclocking the i7-3770K processor to 4.5 GHz:

• During computer startup (POST), press F2 or DEL to display the UEFI BIOS setting interface.
• To ensure a consistent starting point, press the F5 function key to invoke the Optimized Default BIOS settings.
• Press the F7 key to change to Advanced settings.
• Use the left and right keyboard arrows to select the AI Tweaker tab, and make the following changes:

1. AI Overclock Tuner: set to X.M.P.
2. Asus MultiCore Enhancement: set to Disabled (see below).
3. 1-Core Ratio Limit: set to 45 (4.5GHz).
4. CPU Offset Voltage: set to +0.065
5. DRAM Voltage: will be automatically set by X.M.P profile.

• Now Select the DIGI+ Power Control and make the following changes:

1. CPU Load-Line Calibration: set to Medium.
2. CPU Power Phase Control: set to Optimized.

Note: as related to the recommended settings, I chose to explore two settings further:

• Why should MultiCore Enhancement be disabled, as it sounds like a desirable setting? It’s not clear what this setting is supposed to do, but with it enabled, FSXMark07 results for five trials were inconsistent. With this setting was disabled, results were more consistent, so disabling is indeed recommended.
• Jetline had suggested disabling Hyper-threading, which limits the processor to using its four physical cores and disables its four virtual cores. Yes, FSX only uses the four physical cores, but X-Plane 10 uses all available cores, and the forthcoming Prepar3D version 2.0 might also use more than four cores. Benchmarking tests with Hyper-threading enabled or disabled resulted in no difference in FSX framerate, so I leave this setting enabled.

Summary

Here are key conclusions from testing Jetline’s sample flight simulation computer with FSX:

• The Optimized Default BIOS settings were not optimal for FSX framerate performance with the tested motherboard and processor. Setting the processor to its upper specified clock speed, without overclocking, produced higher framerates than the Optimized Default BIOS settings.
• It was relatively simple to connect three monitors to either of two NVIDIA 600 series graphics cards, using the Windows 7 multi-monitor interface and the NVIDIA 2D Surround interface.
• Operating with three monitors, instead of one, reduced the framerate, but less than proportionately to the increased total resolution.
• With or without overclocking processor speed, and with one or three monitors, reducing a few display settings provided a significant increase in framerate performance – more so than overclocking.
• Changing to a more robust, higher cost graphics card did not increase framerate performance with FSX. On the other hand, newer graphics cards such as the NVIDIA 600 (and now 700) series allow connection of three or four monitors without the previous need for two or more cards in SLI or Crossfire configurations, or the need for external adapters.

Overall, test results for the selected hardware are excellent, and Jetline has done a great job with component selections for this mid-priced computer. At time of writing, Jetline was conducting testing in preparation for moving from a Z77 board, i7-3770K processor, and choice of GTX 600 series graphics cards, to a newer generation Z87 board, i7-4770K processor, and choice of GTX 700 series cards. I’m expecting to review their test data, and we might be reconfiguring the sample computer used for this review, to match the new recommendations, in which case I’ll expect to repeat some of the above testing for a future review.

Reviewer’s Note: Jetline Systems is a supporting advertiser of AVSIM Online and provided the sample computer system that was tested for this article. The author has no financial interest in Jetline Systems.

Introduction

Review by Rick Desjardins. Leeds Bradford International Airport, ICAO: EGNM is located near the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. The airport primarily serves the cities of Leeds and Bradford as well as the wider region of Yorkshire. When the airport originally opened in 1931 it went by the name of Leeds and Bradford Municipal Aerodrome or Yeadon Aerodrome.

Like many other airfields civilian traffic was halted during the Second World War between 1939 and 1945. An aircraft factory was built next to it and was connected via a taxiway meaning that aircraft built at the plant could be delivered and flown directly from Yeadon Airfield. Several years after the war ended, in 1947, civilian flights resumed and since that time has seen lots of growth and expansion in a number of areas such as destinations, airlines and facilities.

The airport which is served by a single runway 14/32 @ 7,382ft saw almost 3 million passengers pass through its gates in 2012.

Installation

The process is straight forward and only requires you to add your product keycode and confirm a few pieces of information before the installation takes place. During the installation process you will be presented with a screen that allows you to make some scenery configuration choices.

The installer will add the scenery to the FSX library and create a UK2000 Leeds Xtreme FSX program group from where you can access product related information including the manual and the Options utility

This is a screenshot of the Options setup screen. Most of the selections are self-explanatory however the manual does give some helpful information if you are unsure of how to proceed. Whatever choices you make they can always be changed by selecting Options – Configuration from the UK2000 Leeds Xtreme FSX program group.

Product Manual

The manual is a brief seven page PDF document that serves for both the FSX and FS2004 versions of the scenery. The document contains lots of good information, especially those parts dedicated to “Display Settings” and “Options Program”. If you are not familiar with UK2000 scenery products I highly recommend reading the document.

Scenery

Leeds Bradford International Airport is the latest in the continually expanding repertoire of detailed “Xtreme” UK airports that have been created by the scenery developer UK2000. The product coverage area is restricted to the airport and a minimal area surrounding its boundary.

Comparing this product with what you get by default with FSX, the overall enhancements are quite dramatic and clearly visible.

I do not own the recently released Orbx EU England product so I cannot comment on how well the two integrate.

Ground Textures

Base textures for the scenery consist of high resolution photo textures. Their use means that we see lots of details throughout the entire coverage area even when viewed from very low altitudes. To make the ground look even more realistic they’ve added volumetric grass and low shrubbery in the areas where you might expect to see these in real life.

Hard surfaces look very realistic as well. In the touchdown zones we see rubber stains and in high traffic areas and aircraft parking locations the effects of wear and dirt are visible and more pronounced as you’d expect.

This airport has a somewhat unique ground feature in having a tunnel for the A658 road to allow it to traverse the airport under runway 14.

Buildings

All of the structures throughout the entire scenery were consistent in their quality.  That is to say, very well done and quite realistic looking. To recreate them they use a combination of high quality imagery with additional discrete details to further enhance what is visible in the images. The high quality of these images allowed for some pretty impressive details that remained crisp and clear even when scrutinized from very close up.

In these images we could also see how the effects of aging and weathering took its toll on the many different surfaces. Accuracy of placement is an important factor as well and when photo ground textures are used any inaccuracies are usually very visible; at Leeds I didn’t see any problems.   

Buildings at this airport are concentrated in two main clusters one north of the runway and another south of the runway.

North of the runway is where you find the main terminal, control tower and fire station along with some other small buildings. This area is mainly used by commercial air traffic.

The largest airfield structure is the main passenger terminal and it is also the building with the most complex design. It is in a “u” shape with several jetways located in the central area and a long ground level extension that runs eastward along the edge of the main apron.

On the opposite side of the terminal is where we find the fire station, fuel depot and a small cargo building. Moving further west is a number of other small miscellaneous buildings. In each and every one of them you could see the quality of the developer’s work. I especially liked how great all the structures looked when viewed from a pilot’s perspective while seated in the cockpit.

One negative comment I have with regards to the main terminal, is that I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on the roof top detailing. Looking at aerial photographs the central roof area is cluttered with lots of ventilation ducting and HVAC units but the building here has none of these.

The second cluster of buildings is south of the runway and here we see a series of hangars owned by Multiflight Aviation Services. Along with the buildings are three aprons known as Multiflight East, Central and West. The area is used mainly by GA and business aircraft. Again they’ve added plenty of visual enhancements to give them a realistic look and also interesting to look at.

In addition to the airport structures they have also included some that are located immediately next to the airport. The most noticeable being the large warehouse/commercial building just north of the terminal.

Objects and Vehicles

Looking around the airport it quickly became apparent that this scenery developer had a good handle on what it takes to make an airport look alive and busy. It’s not only what types of objects/vehicles you add but also how many, where you place them and finally their quality. In this airport I felt that they found the right balance for all of these factors and combined that with outstanding visual quality.

By default they include all of the various objects/vehicles that you would expect to find in an airport environment however they also give you the option of adding even more if you so choose. Should you decide to select the optional objects of the Airliner and GA/Biz jet static models you will find that the airport is even more immersive. I found the quality of their static aircraft deserved special mention for both quality and variety. They include small single engine GA aircraft, biplanes, helicopters and business jets.

I chose not to select the Airliner option as I am running Ultimate Traffic 2 and didn’t want the static models to interfere with the AI traffic.

Like many of their previous releases they include an option to install 4000+ 3D cars. This is one option I highly recommend if your system can handle the extra load.

Although cars aren’t something that affect airport functionality they are important when considering how realistic the airport looks. It is for this reason that I think they are a great visual feature.

Also included to enhance the airport environment are a number of animations; they include road and airport vehicle traffic, a Marshaller at gate 8 and also a service fleet. Each of these can be enabled or disabled from within the options setup screen.

Night

Night time brings a whole new perspective to an airport and a totally different flying experience. Rather than relying on all of the normal daytime visual cues and clues we rely on the various types of lighting to help define the visual experience. Not much of a surprise here, they did an outstanding job.

Looking at the various types of ground lighting, building lighting and then overhead lighting each one was very well done. Light intensity and coverage areas were realistic. Especially impressive is the technique they use to illuminate the ground next to the taxiway/runway lights.

Summary

UK2000’s work keeps getting better and better with every new release and this is another very good product by this scenery developer. It is obvious that they take a lot of pride in what they create and we benefit by getting realistic frame rate friendly airports. I highly recommend this airport to anyone looking for an airport in the United Kingdom.

What I like about Leeds Xtreme

• Night lighting.
• Overall quality and variety of the objects/vehicles.
• Scenery configuration options to customize the experience.

What I don't like about Leeds Xtreme

• Nothing really. 

Introduction

I don’t think a plane has quite caught my eye the way the Alabeo Staggerwing did when I saw it for the first time in a screenshot on a forum. I was enraptured by the design of the aircraft and the “fast back” look I had always found catchy in cars, with the large slanted-back front window. The whole plane just radiates class and style. Plus it had a black and yellow livery, to which I just can’t say no.

I checked it out further on Wikipedia and was pleased to find it’s actually the precursor to another one of my favorite aircraft, the Bonanza V-tail (modeled by Alabeo’s sibling company Carenado). I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised as both planes feature unique design elements. I’ve been pleased with Carenado products in the past and had yet to try anything from Alabeo so I figured I’d give the Staggerwing a whirl.

Installation and Documentation

Default Installation

Installing the Staggerwing is a breeze. The installer finds the location of your FSX install (or P3D install depending on what you tell it), asks for your email and serial number to confirm purchase, and drops in all necessary files. Done. I personally prefer installers to give me the option to open the documentation after install, but this is not given to you at the end. Since there are no Start Menu folders created, you need to navigate to the install folder to open the included documents.

Custom Installation

If you’re like me and store your aircraft on another drive, the installer does let you change the folder to wherever you prefer. Note however that it will still install as if it’s going into the default FSX directory so you’ll get a SimObjects/Airplanes folder along with Sound, Effects and Gauge folders as well. Unless you want to move the non-Airplanes folder files to their proper place yourself, I recommend letting the Staggerwing install normally and then simply moving out just the aircraft folder, which is self-contained and doesn’t rely on any external assets for sounds and textures.

Uninstallation

Removing the Staggerwing can be done with the installer located in the install directory, or through the Control Panel. If you’re keeping track, you may notice some Sound and Effects files left behind after the uninstall but those are probably shared files – if you have no other Alabeo products you can remove them as well yourself (or with a program like Revo Uninstaller). Remember that if you moved the aircraft folder out of the original install location the uninstaller won’t find it and you need to delete it manually.

Documentation

A single PDF file with a page of statistics is all you get in the way of documentation for the aircraft. There’s no POH or even checklists to use with the kneeboard. While finalizing this review I found on the Alabeo product page a link to additional documentation including performance charts, the POH for the very-similar military version and a link to the Beechcraft Heritage Museum website. If that was there the whole time, I missed it while flying around for my review and I’m a bit disappointed it wasn’t included in a ReadMe file or something. But at least for the future (and this writing!) I have a better insight to how this craft operates/performs.

Aircraft Selection

If you have a large library of aircraft finding your new hangar addition can be challenging sometimes, scrolling through all the thumbnails, which is why using the three sorting options up top helps a lot when the publisher makes the effort to allow you to use them properly. I would argue that “Beechcraft” should be the proper term to use for locating the Staggerwing under the “Aircraft manufacturer” sort rather than “Alabeo” (which is what you’d look for, and properly find, under the “Publisher” sort). Thankfully this is an easy change in the aircraft.cfg file by editing the ui_manufacturer property of each fltsim.x entry.

Exterior Model

The craftsmanship that went into modeling the Staggerwing is extraordinary. The rivets pop off the surface, and the ribbing of the fuselage and wings shows off the modeling and texturing talent of the Alabeo team. The undercarriage of a retractable-gear aircraft is always one of the more complex areas of the plane and you can see everything down to the shocks and brake calipers, with the internal airframe showing in the gear wells. The textures are shiny and reflective but not over-done, and you can see areas that are actually a bit dull from wear/maintenance.

All control surfaces and moving parts are animated including landing gear, landing lights, flaps, ailerons, rudder, elevator, doors and you can even see I’ve deflected the trim tabs far enough to make them apparent on the bottom of the rudder and the inside of the elevators. The pilot also looks around, and you’ll even see him respond to all your control inputs (yoke, rudder, throttle).

When night falls or external lighting is otherwise required, the Staggerwing has a beacon, navigation lights and landing lights that can be controlled separately. The landing lights extend and retract with the gear, which is similar to most retractable-gear tricycle aircraft, except that there is one light located under each wing since there is no nose gear on the Staggerwing.  When it’s dark enough, you can see the internal cockpit lighting as well. If you’re a Shockwave3D user you will be out of luck here as all lights are attached to the model, not via the aircraft.cfg file.

To make it easier to enjoy the aircraft modeling, Alabeo included a good many external camera views for you to pick from.

Interior Model

Inside the comfy confines of the 4-seat cabin we see the attention to detail has not wavered one iota. Leather seats, wood accents, carpeting beneath our feet… this truly was a luxury aircraft of its time. The 3D-modeled instruments are all easy to see and read as well as fully-functional when it comes to things like setting your compass or your attitude horizon. One instrument I struggled with at first was the fuel gauge, until I thought to Google the model and found it online with documentation.

You can hide the yoke in the usual way by clicking on the column, but what I didn’t realize for some time (again, thanks to lack of documentation) is that you can also hide the support struts that cross your direct line of sight out the front window. The air vent near the base of the strut toggles the strut on and off, and if the mouse cursor didn’t change over the hot spot I doubt I would have ever stumbled across it otherwise. Removing the yoke and struts leaves a non-dynamic shadow of both features plastered on the control panel. I find it puzzling that the yoke shadow is there given the dynamic nature of a yoke  - why would you want a static shadow? If you want them removed, a forum member has offered up alternate textures.

When you need lights in the cockpit you have both cabin lighting and instrument lighting that can be controlled separately. The cabin lighting produces a soft red glow to retain your night vision and doesn’t cause any reflection off the window so you can still see well outside. The instrument lighting is a soft white light at the top of each gauge, which makes gauges that have to be read all the way around (like an altimeter) a bit hard to see fully while others like an amp gauge are fine lit like this. The Attitude and Navigation gauges are both unlit for some reason, but turning on the cabin lighting helps make them easier to read at night.

Pressing Shift+2 brings up the options window, which lets you open the passenger door (there’s no click spot inside the cabin) and also gives you the option to tweak the visual style of the cockpit. If you feel the tint of the glass makes things too dark you can disable it altogether, same for reflection mapping on the instrument glass if you find them difficult to read.

Instrument reflections off

Instrument reflections on

Windshield tint disabled

Windshield tint enabled

I always have tooltips on for new aircraft to find my way around at first, and the Staggerwing cockpit is well-labeled with the exception of the fuel tank selection controls, whose tips couldn’t tell the difference between the two valves, making things even more confusing since the labeling on the controls is difficult to read from the available camera angles. Also, the fuel gauge mentioned before would act up a bit from time to time, turning on when the Avionics switch was clearly in the down and off position.

Checklists and Reference

I built my own checklist and procedures basing off the FS9 Beechcraft A36, which for the most part worked out well and were refined as I flew. If anyone wants them, you can contact me.

The included datasheet PDF does have some V-speeds, but is missing a few vital ones including V_LE, V_LO and V_R – V_FE is noted on instrument panel. It’s not vital to know landing gear performance speeds as FSX will not rip off your gear if you exceed them but they are nice to have if you like to fly by the numbers. Thankfully you can find them with the documentation links mentioned previously.

Flight Model

Load and Balance

Above are the fuel and payload settings for the Staggerwing. As proper, you can top off 5 separate fuel tanks and add weight for 4 persons and baggage.

Now, thankfully I found the additional documentation while finalizing this review because I was completely lost on how to properly use the dual fuel  feed valves. For one thing, turning the upper valve straight down would sometimes cut the fuel flow, and sometimes not. So I thought that was a bug. Then I experimented with both fuel selectors set to a tank and noted only one fuel tank was drawing fuel. So I thought that was another bug. Finally I noticed neither the Right nor Left tanks would ever draw fuel regardless of what the fuel valves were set to. By now I figured the whole valve system was messed up!

Then I saw the way the fuel valves are hooked up in the POH above and everything made sense. Turning the upper valve straight down allowed fuel from tanks selected by the lower valve to flow to the engine, so only one fuel tank would ever be used at a time and if the lower valve was cut or one of the tanks it feeds from was empty, the engine would cut. That solved two of my problems.

The third problem does indeed seem to be a bug, as once I cleared the first two problems further experimentation revealed the Left and Right fuel tanks will not be utilized unless the corresponding Aux fuel tank is empty. The fuel feed diagram clearly shows the Left and Right tanks having their own feed, and are not fed through the Aux tanks.

Below I’ve labeled the valves with their corresponding FSX fuel tank. Again the Left and Right tanks will draw from the corresponding Aux tank until that tank runs dry, which is why I have them labeled “(Aux)”.

Preflight

Getting the Staggerwing up and running if it’s not already is as easy as flipping on the master battery, making sure you have a tank with fuel selected, setting the ignition switch to R, L or Both and pressing the Starter button to crank the engine. If you have the ignition set to Off and try the starter you’ll see the switch swing over to Both but the engine won’t catch unless you have it preset to R, L or Both. As expected, if you’re lacking fuel the engine won’t catch and if you’re lacking battery power it won’t even turn over and switching off the battery after the engine is running won’t kill it. Exercising the prop pitch will produce a change in RPM as proper but switching between L and R magnetos will not.

Be careful not to load the Staggerwing after flying with another aircraft. I would suggest starting a new flight as loading the Staggerwing after a flight in my V-tail produced some quirky (and repeatable) behavior in the magneto switch.

Takeoff

Getting out to the runway is always a tough endeavor with a tail dragger like the Staggerwing. I don’t have a lot of experience with tail draggers so I generally hop out into spot view. You could also lift up your eye level or slowly weave back and forth across the taxiway to see past your nose. The weaving technique with the Staggerwing has to be done at low speeds however because the suspension is very loose and even when you’re barely moving and try to turn you’ll notice the slant as you dip to one side. I’ve never driven an aircraft like this where I thought I was going to bury a wingtip the moment I started turning around. It’s not really all that bad once you get used to it, but it can feel like a lot when you’re not used to other aircraft models behaving this way.

The tail wheel can be locked via either the 3D cockpit control or the assigned hotkey, and it doesn’t take much of a roll at full throttle in still wind for you to get a good deal of rudder authority to keep you straight as you travel down the runway. The torque effect from the propeller is not as bad as it is on some aircraft. Soon you’re up on two wheels and pulling for the sky.

Cruise

Once you’ve climbed out and are ready to level off, the Staggerwing gives you more than enough available deflection in the trim tabs to get you level and keep you there as you push up to just over  200mph for cruise speed. Once you’re trimmed out and cruising the controls are as smooth as butter, and if you’re out to go sightseeing you can spend plenty of time gazing out the ample windows rather than on the instruments because this bird goes where you point it.

If you’re off on a cross-country trip and need some navigational guidance a single VOR gauge will keep you on track, slaved to a navigation radio alongside your single com radio. Both are your standard Bendix/King-type of electronics with dual frequencies and a swap button. You can use the digital fuel gauge to swap between the amount of fuel you’ve burned so far, the amount (total) you have remaining and the HH:MM until your supply runs out at your current burn rate. Above that you always see your fuel flow in Gallons Per Hour. There are two more options, but they don’t function as a GPS unit with an open flight plan is required.

The RPM gauge threw me for a bit while I was up and cruising around, because the needle would move in a complete circle and end up back around 1,000-2,000 RPM while I was at full power. When I looked closer I realized this was how the gauge was actually supposed to function, as once the needle circles back around to 0 RPM it’s actually reading 20,000 RPM. So the red line at 2,000 RPM is actually at 22,000 RPM. I’ve personally never seen an RPM gauge behave like this before. Yet another unique aspect of this aircraft!

Landing

The last tail dragger I flew for any length of time was for my review of the Sky Unlimited Texan back in 2011, so I tried to remember as much as I could when I began practicing pattern work and doing a few touch and goes. As mentioned before you have a lot of deflection available for the trim tabs, you can power down to approach speed and easily trim the aircraft out. I did a few approaches head-on and some with a side-slip. The Staggerwing handles well at low speeds as long as you think ahead of the aircraft properly. I had mostly two-wheel touchdowns although I did try for three-wheel and got better once I figured out the right angle to hold off my flare at. Remember the suspension is well-modeled on this aircraft so any braking will cause even more of a dip than you may be used to as you load up the shocks. I almost buried my nose on one landing braking too soon before my tail wheel settled. There’s no gear lock indicator so listen closely for the sound of the gear dropping and maybe hop out into spot view for a confirmation.

Shutdown

Once you’re parked just lean the mixture until the engine cuts. Or cut the fuel. Or shut off the ignition switch. There’s really no involved process to getting the Staggerwing ready for tie down. You don’t have any extra options with this model to display covers or chocks or anything like that.

Sounds

The sound set that comes with the aircraft includes all the sounds you’ll need to experience the Staggerwing. The audio is well-made and looping noises like the engine don’t have obvious hitches where the audio begins anew. I noticed a bit of a problem when shutting down the engine sometimes the proper shutdown noises would be a second or so delayed in kicking in, but this was mainly during testing when I was turning the engine on and off often, it wasn’t an issue I encountered during a normal flight with a single startup and shutdown.

Performance

Despite the outstanding model I didn’t notice any performance impact from the aircraft while flying around. I made several flights through areas around NJ I frequently fly my other aircraft and saw no difference in frame rate while behind the controls of the Staggerwing. Of course this depends on your system so check it against my specs to see if you might have any issues yourself.

Conclusion

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed an aircraft and in that time I have installed A2A’s Accu-feel program – I didn’t think about it until writing up this review but it was enabled the entire time I was flying the Staggerwing. I did a single flight recently with the program turned off and really couldn’t notice any difference worth mentioning. I think though for future reviews I will disable the program to get a more “standard” feel.

In the end, I have found the Alabeo Staggerwing to be a great addition to my hangar and I love the craftsmanship and detail that have gone into producing the visual model. The flight model and systems are also done well enough to make this aircraft both challenging to fly and pleasing to look at.

What I Like About the Staggerwing

• Top-notch visual model and texturing with impressive level of detail
• Lack of performance impact for such a complex-looking model
• Easy installation/removal
• Functioning custom fuel gauge and unique RPM indicator

What I Dislike About the Staggerwing

• Difficulty finding documents did lead to some early frustrations/confusion with the aircraft
• Minor fuel-feed issue from Left and Right tanks

European
 

Highlights
 

Review by Marlon Carter. European was an airline best known for its classic fleet of BAC 1-11 aircraft. In addition to this aircraft, they also operated a fleet of 737-200s.
 

This DVD was apparently quite popular among fans of JP videos since it was sold out for quite a long time. This video takes us from Bournemouth to Italy, Switzerland, the UK, Spain, and Germany onboard the BAC 1-11 and the 737-200.
 

The BAC 1-11 is a classic aircraft which is sadly no longer in commercial operation due to its age and noisy engines. Having the opportunity to experience a flight in the cockpit of this aircraft may not be possible in real life, but this DVD captures the operation of this aircraft in all its glory.
 

We start off with a very thorough walk-around of the aircraft prior to our round trip departure to Turin, Italy. After the walk-around has been completed, the Captain takes the viewers on a very impressive presentation of the flight deck and various systems of the aircraft. During the flight to and from our destination, presentations were minimal by the flight crew.
 

Most of the interaction between the Captain and the viewers centered on basic information updates on the flight as it progressed. What made up for the lack of interaction however, were the amazing views from the cockpit and a brief look at the cabin service during the return leg of the trip. While this DVD was not filmed in HD, the presentation is still quite enjoyable.
 

For those of you who are much more interested in the operations of the 737-200, you will be happy to know that the remaining 8 flights will be featuring this amazing aircraft. Some of the highlights of this segment include more thorough cockpit and aircraft walk-around presentations along with stunning views and spectacular approaches to airports such as Stansted and Palma which you will not want to miss!
 

While this DVD was not very lengthy in comparison of other JP videos, it still provides just about 3 hours of entertainment that every aviation enthusiast can enjoy. If you are a fan of classic aircraft such as the BAC 1-11 and the 727-200, this is definitely a DVD for you.

Additional Information and preview video
 

Jet Magic
 

Highlights
 

Jet Magic was a Cork based airline that operated a fleet of Embraer 135s and 145s. Out of the entire JP video collection (that I know of) there are only a handful of DVDs that feature either the E135 or E145. This DVD gives us a closer look at the operation of these two unique regional jets as they take us to destinations such as Edinburgh, London City, Liverpool and Rome Ciampino.

Starting off at Cork, the Captain takes the viewers on a step by step presentation of the ERJ-135 cockpit and its displays. What was most noteworthy about this presentation was the thorough explanation of how the FMC is setup prior to leaving the gate which was a first for any DVD featuring this aircraft.

Throughout the flights that follow, the presentations continue in what seemed to be a rapid succession with each flight and each phase of flight. There was never a dull moment while flying with Capt. John Carpenter and his First Officer. The flight crew took just about every opportunity to explain various procedures and virtually every system and display of the ERJ-135/145. 
 

Out of all the DVDs I have seen from JP, this is perhaps the only DVD that features such a thorough and comprehensive presentation of any aircraft. If you are a fan of this aircraft, you are definitely in for a treat and you will be quite impressed!
 

Apart from the extensive presentations on various aircraft systems, there were many other highlights such as stunning air to air shots, cabin views, scenic views and an amazing night time landing at London City Airport. Each flight on this DVD is unique and equally intriguing and entertaining. For almost 3 hours, this DVD provides a priceless glimpse into the lives of regional pilots, their day to day operations and the complex aircraft that they fly.
 

In the end, I think this DVD is well worth your time and consideration even though it isn’t filmed in HD. The easy to follow presentations make this DVD a fun learning experience for all to enjoy. After just a few minutes of viewing, it will become quite clear to you why this DVD was sold out for quite some time and this may be your last opportunity to have it!
 

Additional Information and preview video
 

Florida Coastal Airlines
 

Highlights
 

Just Planes has decided to bring back this popular DVD so that many of you will have the opportunity to enjoy this rare opportunity to fly throughout much of Florida and the Bahamas onboard the Cessna 402 operated by Florida Coastal Airlines. What makes this DVD extra special is that this release was the final DVD format release by Just Planes. From this point on, we will only be seeing Blu-Ray releases which I think is a step in the right direction.
 

Our journey starts off with a round trip flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Marathon. The video footage focuses mainly outside of the cockpit window making this flight a scenic adventure. Flying at low altitudes over the city of Miami and the ever popular coastline was a definite highlight of this trip.
 

As the 402 approached Marathon, I couldn’t help but admire the lovely view of the Keys as the aircraft flew at what seems to be just about 2000ft above the ground. What made this flight even more memorable was the air to air footage that was filmed by another aircraft flying close by.
 

After an uneventful landing, it was time for our return trip which featured similar scenic views from our previous flight and was also quite entertaining. Following a short presentation on the St. Lucie Airport, we depart from Ft. Pierce to San Andros and then onward to Marsh Harbour, Treasure Cay and then back to Ft. Lauderdale.
 

These series of flights were especially interesting as they featured many highlights worth mentioning. For example, after landing at San Andros, our pilot gives the viewers a thorough C402 cockpit presentation which was very easy to follow. After the cockpit presentation, there was an equally interesting external walk-around presentation of the aircraft. The inspection of the aircraft was extremely thorough and our pilot spares no detail as he carries out his duties. If you are interested in learning as much as you can about the C402, this is definitely a segment you won’t want to miss.
 

The return trip to Florida was also quite exciting and it was filled with scenic views of Florida that you may not have the opportunity to enjoy a second time. Given the fact that filming US based airlines are becoming more and more difficult, this DVD provides a unique opportunity that you will enjoy to the fullest.
 

Additional Information
 

Summary / Closing Remarks
 

Once again, these DVDs were an absolute pleasure to watch and I think anyone who loves aviation will enjoy them. At a cost of $15-30 each, they are a bargain. These are perfect for days when you want to see or do something aviation related but also want to enjoy the comforts of home.
 

Just Planes has really stepped up their editing and production of their DVDs and I am sure we will continue to see more innovations in their future products.
 

What I like about this DVD

• Great scenery
• Creative editing and camera views
• Features very unique destinations and aircraft

What I don’t like about this DVD

• Nothing….

Introduction

Review by Marlon Carter. In recent times, a lot of focus has been placed on airliners and scenery by larger developers. Sometimes it’s easy to over look General Aviation, but Carenado has not. Carenado has put a lot their focus on this aspect of aviation and they are doing a fantastic job in stimulating interest in this type of flying.

Carenado’s latest offering is the SR22 GTSX by Cirrus and the CT182T Skylane G1000 by Cessna. What can we expect? Well here is a list of features for these aircraft taken from their website.

Cirrus SR22 GTSX

Special Features
Carenado G1000 Perspective (PFD and MFD) with GFC 700 Control Unit.
Windows lighting scratches effect
Dynamic propeller shines effect.
Lighting rendering system. Landing, taxi, strobe and beacon
illuminate objects and ground.
3D stereo sounds.
Knobs and switches sounds

Features:
Carenado G1000 Perspective (Primary and multi-function displays) with GFC 700 Control Unit

-Normal and Emergency Checklist on screen
-TAWS and TCAS with visual and audible alerts
-Fully customizable (AUX page included)
-Inset map with traffic, topographic and terrain awareness option
-3 different wind option display
-Special full engine section with fuel lean assistant
-MFD map with traffic, topographic and terrain awareness display option

HD quality textures (2048 x 2048)
3D gauges
Original HQ digital stereo sounds recorded directly from the real aircraft
Customizable panel for controlling windows transparency, instrument reflections and static elements such as wheel chocks and sights props.
Real behaviour compared to the real airplane. Real weight and balance. Tested by real pilots.
Realistic night lights effects on panel and cockpit.

Included in the package:
5 HD liveries.
1 HD Blank livery
2 models (1 and 2 pilots on board)
Carenado G1000 Perspective PDF
SR22T Emergency Checklist PDF
SR22T Normal Procedures PDF
SR22T Performance Tables PDF
SR22T Reference PDF
Recommended Settings PDF

Cessna CT182T Skylane G1000

Special Features
Carenado G1000 (PFD and MFD)
Lighting rendering system. Landing, taxi, strobe and beacon
illuminate objects and ground.
Separate dim light system for instruments, avionics and panel
elements.
3D stereo sounds.
Knobs and switches sounds

Features:
G1000 (Primary and multi-function displays)

-Normal and Emergency Checklist on screen
-TAWS and TCAS
-Fully customizable (AUX page included)
-Inset map with traffic, topographic and terrain awareness option
-3 different wind option display
-Full engine section with fuel lean assistant
-MFD map with traffic, topographic and terrain awareness display option
-Audio panel included

HD quality textures (4096 x 4096)
3D gauges
Original HQ digital stereo sounds recorded directly from the real aircraft
Customizable panel for controlling windows transparency, instrument reflections and static elements such as wheel chocks and sights props.
Real behaviour compared to the real airplane. Real weight and balance. Tested by real pilots.
Realistic night lights effects on panel and cockpit.

Included in the package:
5 HD liveries.
1 HD Blank livery
2 models (1 and 2 pilots on board)
Carenado G1000 PDF
CT182T Emergency Checklist PDF
CT182T Normal Procedures PDF
CT182T Performance Tables PDF
CT182T Reference PDF
KFC225 Autopilot PDF
Recommended Settings PDF

Technical Requirements:
Windows XP with SP3 installed, Vista or 7 (32 or 64 bits).
Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX with SP1 and SP2 (or Acceleration Pack) installed or Lockheed Martin - Prepar3D Flight Simulator.
Pentium V/3GHz or similar
Minimum 2GB RAM (Recommended 4GB RAM)
512MB graphics card.

From the list of features provided in these aircraft, it is clear to see that Carenado’s efforts to produce high quality general aviation aircraft is not to be taken lightly. While many may consider GA aircraft to be significantly less complex than most airliners, the experience that Carenado has created with these aircraft may have you thinking twice about GA aircraft.

As seen in the features list, these aircraft feature the Garmin G1000 which is a significant step ahead of your conventional T instruments. Other enhancements include HD textures which I found to be unrivalled among other aircraft and along with window and lighting effects that have been unheard of up until this point.

During this review we will examine some of the features of these aircraft and whether or not they live up to the standard that we all expect today.

Cirrus SR22 GTSX

Visuals & Systems

We will first take a look at the Cirrus SR22. The Cirrus SR22 is a single engine, four seat aircraft that was built in 2001 and it is the most powerful version of the Cirrus SR20. Currently the Cirrus SR20/22 is the world best selling single engine aircraft and it is well known for its Cirrus Aircraft Parachute System.

This emergency feature in itself is a huge selling point in the safety of this aircraft. Other aspects of this aircraft that set it apart from others in its class are the fact that it does not have a central yoke. The flight yoke is similar to the style of airbus aircraft which is situated to the left or right side of the aircraft.

In terms of instrumentation, the Cirrus SR22 was originally outfitted with the Avidyne Entegra primary flight display. In more recent times the SR22 came with an option for the Garmin Perspective flight display. Carenado has chosen the Garmin Perspective as the option available for their SR22 product.

Before getting into the details of the systems provided in this aircraft, we will first have a look at the external model and textures. As you can see from the screenshots below, the exterior model has been modeled to the highest fidelity. What is more, there doesn’t seem to be any shortcuts at all when it comes to even the smallest of details.

One of the features of the exterior model that I liked the most was the dynamic propeller shine effect that really adds to the realism of these propeller aircraft. Another feature worth mentioning is that the wheel struts are dynamic in that they react to how hard you land. This to me is a feature that can be easily overlooked but thankfully Carenado has chosen to model their aircraft to the highest accuracy not only visually but dynamically.

As you would naturally assume, the exterior model also features the option to open all doors and to have either 1 or 2 pilots visible in the cockpit. Another option is the ability to add wheel chocks and engine covers. All of these features are very helpful in creating an enjoyable and a realistic experience when flying this aircraft.

Moving on to the textures, the SR22 comes with HD textures at a 2048 x 2048 resolution. These HD textures can be well admired from the 5 liveries with various registrations that are included in this package. Here are a few screenshots that showcases the amazing textures on the exterior of the aircraft.

While on the topic of modeling and textures, it would be a good opportunity to talk about the virtual cockpit. My first impression of the virtual cockpit was literally “WOW!” This is perhaps the very first time I had to do a double take to ensure that this is indeed a simulator and not the real thing.

The lighting and textures of the virtual cockpit creates an authentic rendition of what it would be like to sit in the pilot’s seat of the real SR22. The seats, seatbelts, instruments, buttons, knobs and paneling are all modeled and textured to an unbelievably realistic standard that Carenado is well known for.

One of the interior features that I thought was innovative was the window light scratches. If every you have flown in a GA aircraft or even in older passenger aircraft, you might have noticed that at certain angles there are very light scratches in an almost circular pattern on the window. I never thought this would make it to the flight sim platform but Carenado has stepped up their game in bringing yet another level of realism that other developers may soon include in the future.

Here are a few more screenshots.

Now that we have covered the exterior model and textures, we will talk a little about the systems. As mentioned before, Carenado has opted to base their SR22 model off of the Garmin Perspective variant.

This unit has significantly simplified the overall experience of flying a typical single engine four seat aircraft. The work load has been significantly reduced with the introduction of a number of innovative and simplified methods of both reading and inputting information for the purpose of navigation and communication.

The manuals that come with this package included a walkthrough of the G1000 system and all of the multi-function features that have been modeled. At first glance it may seem a bit intimidating but I can assure you that once you have done your research there is hardly any chance of you returning to conventional instruments (unless the electronic ones fail of course.)

In order to control these G1000 display units you will also be happy to know that the control unit for these displays are also fully operational except for just a few features which are really irrelevant within FS. At first it may be a challenge learning how to use these displays to its full potential but nonetheless with a lot of practice you will be confident enough to enjoy them to the full.

The SR22 is also outfitted with a GFC 700 Control unit which is simply an autopilot unit. If you are familiar with the MCP or autopilot units of your average airliner, you should have no trouble getting used to the GFC 700. This unit is quite a convenience when flying cross country flights since it alleviates the work load that is common with flying similar aircraft in this class.

How does it feel?

One of the final areas I would like to mention and perhaps the most important is how well does this aircraft fly? Well to answer this question I decided to give the aircraft a complete work out which takes place on a flight from St.Thomas to St.Maarten and then onward to St.Barths. For this flight I decided it would be best to use real world weather which would create a realistic environment to test the handling of this aircraft.

From the very beginning it is quite evident that the SR22 is quite a different aircraft to what you may expect from a 172. Loading the flight plan from FSX was quite simple as this is the only means at the moment of loading flight plans into the G1000 display. Navigating your way around the instrument displays can be a bit tricky but with a little practice I was able to find my way around. If Carenado had provided a tutorial flight as part of their documentation it would have made things so much easier.

Taxiing the aircraft to the runway was quite a different experience. The Cirrus SR22 is equipped with a castoring nose gear which operates differently to the steerable nose gear applications we might be used to. In real life you have to taxi the SR22 by means of differential braking and this was also implemented in the Carenado SR22. Personally it is not my favorite means of “steering” an aircraft but it was modeled quite well and would be very easy to do if you own rudder pedals.

If you do not have a pair of rudder pedals then it may be wise to use FSUIPC to create a special profile for this aircraft and assign your differential braking to your yoke buttons or any other key commands that may be convenient.

After applying full throttle I was able to maintain the centerline by using the rudders which can be tricky if you do not have rudder pedals. Even if you apply the auto rudder setting it seems to make no difference in terms of using your yoke or joystick. Nonetheless, after some practice it got easier and easier to fly this aircraft the way it is really suppose to be flown.

After takeoff I immediately noticed that the control inputs were a lot more sensitive when compared to the C172. This may seem like a flaw if you are not familiar with the characteristics of the real world Cirrus SR22. From pilot reports that I managed to find at Plane & Pilot and other sources it seems like the Cirrus SR22 is well known for being a bit on the sensitive side when it comes to controller input. Again, with practice it will all be a walk in the park.

During the cruise portion I decided to experiment with just about anything that moved in the cockpit. The feature that caught me by surprise was the air conditioning switch. When I turned it on I was hardly expecting any effect but was pleasantly surprised to see or hear that the air was actually turned on. It sounded convincingly real and I applaud this small but functioning aspect of the aircraft. Another feature I decided to try was the electronic checklist which at first was quite difficult to navigate but after trial and error I eventually got the hang of it.

Going back to the handling of the aircraft, the weather outside was quite cloudy and turbulent but nonetheless the SR22’s autopilot managed to maintain our course and altitude quite effectively. Turning and altitude capture were all very smooth and I was very pleased with the performance of the aircraft during the climb phase of the flight. The engines onboard the SR22 are very high powered when compared to others in its class but Carenado did a fine job in simulating the performance of this aircraft.

Landing at St.Maarten is always a treat and I have to thank Fly Tampa for contributing a copy of this wonderful scenery package for the purpose of this review. I strong encourage you to checkout some of their scenery packages.

While on approach, I was particularly interested in how well the aircraft maintains and handles at low speeds. I found that while the controls were even more so sensitive at low speed it was still very stable throughout the entire approach. The landing on the other hand could be tricky if you don’t have a steady hand but nonetheless I was impressed with the overall feel of the aircraft.

The second leg of our test flight takes us from St.Maarten over to St.Barths where we will test the aircraft’s ability to land at extreme airports that either have a short runway or a steep approach. I thought that throughout this test the aircraft handled quite nicely. The only moments that were a bit tricky was the landing where I experienced a bit of ground effect but still managed to land safely.

Slowing down was also a challenge as I noticed that the aircraft braking power is a bit weak. Taking off from this short runway was no problem at all with this aircraft since it has a lot of power. While doing a touch and go closed circuit at St.Barths I decided to also test the handling of the aircraft when in a stall. I slowed the aircraft and pitched up and prepared myself for just about anything when the stall warning went off. Surprisingly the aircraft reacted as expected with a nose down attitude.

In the end, I have no significant complaints with this aircraft. Its handling is a bit different to the Cessna but this is also the case in the real world so this is not a negative aspect of the Cirrus. The overall package is well put together and I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in trying something different from the typical Cessna aircraft.

Cessna CT182T G1000

When it comes to general aviation aircraft, Cessna is by far the most popular and I am very excited to review this title. Since I already have a few hours in the real word flying Cessna single engine aircraft, I have very high expectations for this aircraft and how it handles.

For our test flight I decided to fly from my home country of Grenada to Carriacou and then onward to Mustique Island in the Grenadines. Once again, Fly Tampa has graciously contributed their Grenadines package for the purpose of this review and as you can see from the screenshots; this is quite a lovely package!

Departing from the Maurice Bishop International Airport (formerly Point Salines International Airport) was quite a nostalgic experience since this is the where I took my very first flight as a student pilot. Taxiing the C182 was significantly easier than the Cirrus since the nose gear is steerable.

Getting use to the G1000 displays didn’t take very long and I found it to be easier to use than the controls on the Cirrus. One of the features I absolutely loved about the G1000 display is the ability to run through your checklist. I was able to do this much easier so I made full use of it for each phase of flight.

The handling of the aircraft once airborne was so impressive that I abandoned my plan of using the autopilot. Hand flying the aircraft (which I will always encourage) was very smooth and there was no need to constantly tweak the controls to maintain level flight. Just as in a real aircraft, I was able to trim to C182 to maintain 3000ft with only minor adjustments due to the wind changes.

While in the cruise portion of the flight I decided to explore more of the G1000 features that were simulated and thus far it is quite impressive. Thought this is not a 100% simulation of the G1000, the features that have been implemented will definitely keep you busy. In fact, I doubt you may even use them all since what has been provided is sufficient to carrying out a basic flight from point A to B.

The approach and landing at Carriacou was uneventful thanks to the superb handing of the aircraft. Carenado did a fine job capturing the feel of the C182 at slow speeds which isn’t always the case with other add-ons. After a short turnaround it was time to explore the Grenadines and to test the aircraft even more.

After flying over Union Island and Canouan I decided to test the stall characteristics of the aircraft. To my surprise, it was very convincing how the aircraft responded when in a stall situation. The nose of the aircraft dipped immediately after the stall horn went off and you could almost feel the aircraft struggling to maintain lift. Overall this is a very convincing flight model and I think many of you will be pleased with this aircraft.

The final test for this aircraft was to perform a short field landing. I couldn’t think of a better destination for testing this than Mustique Island which has a very unique runway that is sloped on each side. Applying full flaps you can really feel the drag on the airplane as it slowly made its way to the runway. The landing itself was successful but slowing down was a bit of a challenge for some reason. All in all this is a fun aircraft to fly and I would definitely recommend it.

While we touched a lot on the handling of the aircraft I can’t neglect to mention that the exterior model and textures were of a very high standard. Throughout our tour of the Grenadines I took the opportunity to capture a few screenshots that nicely showcases the exterior and interior of the C182.

Since the avionics are quite similar to that of the Cirrus, we won’t go into the details on the G1000 again but I can assure you that I tested the autopilot on the C182 and it was rock solid.

Review by Doug Horton. Many users spend hard-earned money for new hardware in the vain hope that it will improve FSX framerate performance. Those readers who’ve read my recent article on AVSIM about framerate benchmarking understand how easy it is to run meaningful, statistically-based framerate benchmarks. If you haven’t read it, I recommend doing so before continuing with this article.

The series of tests described in this article is significant, because we were able to obtain three different models of NVIDIA based GTX 500 series graphics cards from EVGA and NVIDIA. The cards have differing specifications, such as clock speeds, number of cores, memory size, memory bandwidth, and price points. These cards have been succeeded by NVIDIA 600 series and recently, NVIDIA 700 series cards, but the information is still quite meaningful.

As an example, in my recently published article on testing a professionally built Z77 computer system, GTX 660 Ti and GTX 680 cards provided the same benchmarking performance.

We tested each card using the FSXMark07 framerate benchmarking procedure by flight simmer Gary Dunne, to assess how each affected FSX framerate performance. With this information, readers will understand that some hardware components improve FSX performance and some do not, sometimes in spite of high costs of various components.

Comparative Specifications

Here are comparative specifications for the three sample graphics cards, with the theoretically best value of each performance parameter in bold blue type:

* all cards are 4.376” high

** if registered within 30 days; additional warranty extension for fee

*** if registered within 30 days

**** from EVGA (rebate amount if offered)

Graphic Card Descriptions

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 FTW+ 1024 MB GDDR5

The “60” cards from the NVIDIA GTX 200, 400, and 500 series were designed to be low to middle price range products. The “FTW+” identifier indicates that this is not the base card in the 560 line, but rather, it is factory overclocked about 15%, compared to the NVIDIA entry-level reference model. For example, the FTW+’s core clock is 931 MHz, compared to the reference speed of 810 MHz, and the shader clock speed is 1862 MHz, compared to the reference speed of 1620 MHz.

With its siblings, this card supports the following key features: DirectX 11; and NVIDIA CUDA, PhysX, PureVideo, 2-way SLI, and 3D Vision Surround technologies. It will feed two monitors, with DVI and/or mini-HDMI connectors. With a second, identical card connected and enabled in SLI configuration, the two cards will feed three monitors. Note that from previous testing, FSX does not benefit in performance from two cards in NVIDIA SLI or AMD Crossfire configuration.

EVGA GTX 560 FTW+ graphics card and packaging

Edge connectors of EVGA GTX 560 FTW+ graphics card

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW 1280 MB GDDR5

With this card, which was released in late 2011, more recently than the other models tested for this article, EVGA has boosted the basic GTX 560 card from 336 to 448 processing cores, upgraded the memory to 1.2 GB, and they’ve added full support for NVIDIA 3-Way SLI, and as suggested in the product press release, “making an excellent card even better.” EVGA also provides very flexible connector options on this card, with one each full-size HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, as well as two DVI-I connectors, though as with its siblings, one card supports one or two monitors.

Interestingly, this card has lower core, memory, and shader clock speeds than the GTX 560 FTW+ card described above, but with the increased number of cores. We’ll see from testing if this makes a difference in benchmarking. I like the full size connector layout, in comparison to the other two sample cards, because users who connect to their monitors with DisplayPort or HDMI connectors, can use standard cables, rather than purchasing cables with mini connectors on one end and regular size connectors on the other end.

EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 graphics card and packaging

Edge connectors of EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 graphics card

EVGA GeForce GTX 580 1536 MB GDDR5

This high-end graphics card was released in late 2010, and at that time, it was claimed to be the fastest graphics processing unit (GPU) in the market. It includes 512 cores and 1.5 GB memory. EVGA produces several versions of this card, including cards with factory overclocking and up to 3.0 GB memory. At the high priced end of the product line, EVGA also offers several models that are set up for liquid cooling. Similar to the first card above, this card provides one mini HDMI and two DVI connectors, which are capable of feeding two monitors.

EVGA GTX 580 graphics card and packaging

Edge connectors of EVGA GTX 580 graphics card

Test Results

Though the three sample cards have variations of clock speeds, numbers of cores, and other specifications, benchmark testing with “big picture” tests showed that they perform in proportion to their prices. I think that’s good news, as no one would like to have lower performance for more money. As with previous benchmark testing of FSX with the framerate benchmark FSXMark07 standardized configuration settings and sample five-minute flight, there was no statistically significant difference in the performance of FSX with the three cards. As testing before has verified, FSX framerate performance in standardized testing is almost entirely dependent on processor core speed, assuming at least four cores are available. On the other hand, there is increased performance for the more expensive cards, when tested to common benchmarking programs.

Heaven Benchmark

According to its developer UNIGINE Corp, “Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced UNIGINE™ engine. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.” UNIGINE also claims that Heaven Benchmark is the first DirectX 11 benchmark in the world, with the original version released on the date of the Microsoft Windows 7 launch in October 2009.

User interface for Heaven Benchmark 4.0

The free version of the Heaven Benchmark, currently version 4.0 Basic Edition, is available at www.unigine.com). It’s a visual treat to run, taking the viewer through an amazing tour of a floating-in-air “steampunk” village, with accompanying music. Check out the meaning of “steampunk” at Wikipedia.org.

Screenshot of steampunk airship from Heaven Benchmark

It’s possible to run Heaven Benchmark hands-off, with or without benchmarking enabled by the F9 key, letting the program run, while you admire the steampunk scenery. Also, you can toggle the F3 key, to intermittently turn DirectX 11 tessellation off and on. This action allows you to see the remarkable difference in the textures of a cobblestone walk, stone wall, tile roof, dragon sculpture, and more, with or without tessellation. Heaven Benchmark produces an average framerate number and a numerical score, and in testing, both indices increased in approximate proportion to card prices.

3DMark^® 11

According to developer Futuremark, “3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world’s most popular benchmark for measuring the 3D graphics performance of gaming PCs. 3DMark 11 uses a native DirectX 11 engine designed to make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11, including tessellation, compute shaders, and multi-threading.” The program generates a Benchmark score and ratings for Graphics, Physics, and Combined performance. The three cards performed similarly for Physics, while the Benchmark score and ratings for Graphics and Combined performance increased in approximate proportion to prices of the cards.

Flight Simulator X and Prepar3D

We test FSX framerate performance with the simple FSXMark07 procedure developed by user Gary Dunne, as explained in my article referenced above. This simple procedure is available in file “FSXMark07.zip,” which can be downloaded from www.Avsim.com.

The FSXMark07 zip file contains simple instructions, and includes files for a saved autopilot flight in the default Bombardier CRJ 700 over the Seattle, Washington area of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The filenames are FSXMark07.flt *.fssave, *.pln, and *.wx files. The flight is standardized by loading the included FSXMark07 - Global High.cfg file, which sets 38 parameters in the FSX.cfg file. I also manually set Anti-aliasing to On and Filtering to Anisotropic, for consistency with previous testing and for a better look.

Starting position of FSXMark07 benchmark flight

The FSXMark07 benchmark flight in the CRJ 700 begins in the air, paused, at 1500 feet, auto-throttle set for 250 knots, and autopilot set to navigate and hold altitude on a flight plan that loads with the flight. Framerate is tracked by the freeware FRAPS program, which is available at www.FRAPS.com. The flight is run for five minutes during which FRAPS counts frames and logs results in a separate file for each run.

After recommended settings are made in FRAPS, when the “P” key is pressed, the flight begins and FRAPS begins counting frames. After the flight has progressed over a great variety of scenery, FRAPS stops counting frames and writes a data file the minimum, maximum, and average framerates for the flight. Following a few more instructions is necessary but very simple. We usually repeat the procedure for a total of about 3-5 trials, and then calculate the combined average of the separate run averages. We’ve also found that if we run FSX in DirectX 10 Preview mode, the framerates are more consistent.

*Average of five FSXMark07 trials for each graphics card

Summary

As highlighted above, in spite of better results with industry benchmarks for graphics cards, the results from running the FSXMark07 benchmark with all three graphics cards with FSX confirmed what we have found before – no statistically different framerate performance for graphics cards produced since FSX was released in 2007. This confirms that framerate continues to be principally related to processor speed. This is bad news for those purchasing more expensive graphics cards that will not produce a higher framerate in FSX! The good news is that modestly priced graphics cards “get the job done” with FSX. On the other hand, those running multiple high resolution monitors may have improvements in some FSX characteristics.

Framerate test results for Prepar3D version 1.3 (1.4 is now current) were similar, with no difference in performance among the three tested graphics cards. Fortunately, forboth FSX and Prepar3D, satisfactory framerate performance can be achieved for most users by compromising on demanding display settings, such as water, shadows, 3D clouds, auto-generated scenery, and AI traffic; and/or purchasing higher speed processors or overclocking processors.

Introduction

Review by Rick Desjardins. The island of Kastellorizo which is also known as the “Pearl of the Aegean” and its airport have been recreated in great detail for FSX by scenery creators FlightSim Development Group.

Not as popular as some of the larger well-known Greek islands of Rhodes, Crete or Kos it is still considered as a desirable destination by many. The island which is only about 6kms in length is the furthest away from the capital city of Athens and is the eastern most corner of the country. It happens to be just 2,000 meters from the coast of Turkey.  Also included are the much smaller neighbouring islands of Stroggilli to the east and Ro to the west.

The island’s airport; Kastellorizo, ICAO: LGKJ, like the island has been recreated in great detail. The airport has a single 2,321ft asphalt runway and as far as navaids go it is equipped with an NDB, it does not have ILS capabilities.

 In 2010 there were approximately 452 flights in and out of Kostellorizo to move just over 7,800 passengers.

If you are looking for an airport that provides you with a challenge this is one you will want to pay attention to. 

Besides the airport the only other designated aircraft landing site is a military helipad located above the village.

Installation

Installation is via the familiar Aerosoft installer but requires some basic information before it can do its job. You will be asked to enter your email address, registration code, the version of flight simulator you are running and finally they want to know if you have any terrain add-ons such as Ultimate Terrain Europe installed. After providing this information the installation will move forward.

The final step has the installer adding the scenery to FSX so the next time you open up your simulator it will be available for you to use.

Documentation

The product comes with an 11 page PDF manual which is also downloadable prior to purchase if you go to the product page on the Aerosoft website. The manual is available in both English and German.

The manual is well laid out, clearly written and very informative. Should you choose to read it, which is something I always recommend, you will be in the know about Kastellorizo X. There are lots of little extras included and by not reading this document I am afraid experiencing many of them will be hit and miss.

Configuration

There were no configuration options available with this add-on.

Scenery

The first thing I wanted to do was to have a look at the big picture and see what the obvious differences were between the FSX and Aerosoft/FSDG versions of the Kastellorizo area. As can be clearly seen in the screenshots both the overall shape of the island and the landclass are inaccurate in FSX.

FSX version

FSDG version

For anyone interested in experiencing one of the many beautiful Greek islands or if you simply love a challenging new airport, this add-on will definitely be one to take a peek at. The developers have put in a great deal of effort to make it detailed and realistic.

Combining custom mesh, high resolution graphic imagery and some pretty impressive detailing they have brought this tiny island in the Aegean sea to the world of FSX in style. 

The Airport

As airports go this one is small and about as simple as it gets; it is little more than four buildings and a runway. But this simplicity doesn’t mean that it isn’t an interesting location to frequent. They’ve made sure of that by giving it extra attention.

Surface textures serve as a base and so they are important in setting the stage for whatever is in that location; in my opinion they are exceptional. There is visible cracking in the asphalt and fading and wear of the painted markings.

The way the airport is situated it appears to have been dug into the side of a mountain. The rock surface that is exposed is rugged and realistic looking. All of these stand up to close scrutiny and retain their crisp and clear details.

The few buildings that are at Kastellorizo have been recreated in a level of detail not often found at most FSX airports. I was especially impressed with the imagery they used. The hot sun and weather has a definite effect on the building’s painted surfaces and we see that through visible fading and cracking. The accumulation of dirt on some surfaces such as door panels is another testament to the quality of the imagery.

Another area where the quality of their work shines is with the 3 dimensional aspect of the structures. Windows and doors are recessed which is nice to see and they’ve taken that an additional step by including window sills.

They’ve added lots of discrete objects such as surface mounted conduit, air conditioners, electrical wires, etc. Roof tops are also populated with antennae and a variety of other objects. The main building has a wooden pergola in front, this has been included and the shadow it casts from the sun is clearly visible on the wall.

To complement and enhance this small airport there is no shortage of objects from the ground lights to the fire truck. Nothing appears to have been forgotten and each object appears to have been created with the same eye for detail and realism as the other parts that make up the airport.

The proximity of the ends of the runway to the edge of the island and the sharp drop offs and high rock wall on one side plus the fact that it is equipped with NDB only and you have the ingredients for a challenging airport for even the most seasoned pilots.

The Island

Flying around the island I was very pleased with how the combination of custom mesh, high resolution ground imagery and discrete objects gave the entire island such a realistic look. The majority of the island is pretty barren with very little in the way of vegetation and the majority of the island’s inhabitants live in and around the town of Kastellorizo.

It is easy to see why people choose to come here and escape to the beauty and relaxed pace of life found on the island.

The port town of Kostellorizo is a beautiful little town located on the northern coast of the island. They’ve captured the look of this sea side town filling it with many small residential, commercial and historic buildings. Its port is populated with brightly coloured fishing boats and the Meis Express ferry boat. To the south is a mountain that makes for a very picturesque backdrop. This was one of my favourite parts of the scenery package.

Located just south of the town of Kastellorizo is a small military installation where we see some military style buildings and vehicles as well as the military helipad which also happens to be the only helipad on the island. Other signs of the military presence can be seen near the highest point of the island with some hardened shelter access points.

Flanking the island of Kastellorizo on either side are two smaller islands; Ro to the west and Stroggili to the east. Each is uninhabited and basically barren with the exception of a few small buildings and a helipad.

Extras

To make the scenery even more interesting they’ve included some extra animations and sounds that are specific to the island. There is a ferry service known as the Meis Express and it can be seen travelling several times a day between Kas Turkey and Kastellorizo. Additionally, there are small fishing boats and a luxury yacht that travel around in the nearby waters.

In addition to the boat animations, they have added some realistic audio enhancements such as local church bells and the Muezzin calls that originate from Kas Turkey but are clearly heard on the island.

To help you get better acquainted with the islands they include five flights; three on Kostellorizo and one each on the islands of Stroggilli And Ro. These last two are to the helipads.

Night

Being a small isolated island with a small population and a single runway airport you might think that night time would be uninteresting. Night time was a totally immersive experience and one I enjoyed. This was thanks in large part to the great quality of the night lighting techniques they incorporate into their scenery add-ons. From ground lighting at the airport to overhead street lighting throughout the island it is all extremely realistic.

Stroggilli has a lighthouse that includes a functioning rotating white beacon. This was a nice feature and very well done.

Performance

I had no issues with performance. I flew this scenery with all my scenery sliders maxed and never experienced any visible stutters.

Summary

The world of FSX has been enriched with this add-on. You can enjoy the beautiful rendering of yet another Greek island paradise and an airport that even a seasoned pilot would find challenging.

To sum up; I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this package and I give it my highest recommendation.

What I like about Kastellorizo X

• Amazing amount of detailing.
• Challenges your piloting skills.
• Location specific sounds and animations are a nice touch that enhance the scenery.

What I don't like about Kastellorizo X

• Can’t come up with anything.

Introduction

Review by Marlon Carter. British Aerospace began its development of the 146 during the late 70 early 80s with its’ first flight taking place in 1983. As the years rolled by, it was evident that the 146 could be improved and its lifespan extended by upgrading a number of its features.

In 1992 the Avro RJ was born as an improved version of the 146 with an improved cabin, more efficient LF 507 engines and upgraded avionics. It’s a well known fact that the 146/RJ series from BAe is by far the most successful British civilian aircraft. This being the case it is sure to be a favorite among flight simulator enthusiast.

QualityWings has become a rising presence in the FS world ever since its release of the 757 collection. At the time of its release (and perhaps even today) it was regarded as one of the best 757 products available. This label wasn’t due to in-depth systems simulation, but it was due to the value and the balance of system simulation which won the hearts of many.

A few years later we are now seeing their second release which is the 146 Collection. What can we expect from their latest offering? Well since the release of the 757, QW has made significant strides in their modeling and systems programming. Here is a list of features as published on their website.

The QualityWings Ultimate 146/Avro RJ Collection is a payware add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 (FS9) and Flight Simulator X (FS10). The FS9 and FSX versions of the product are AVAILABLE NOW, but only include the Avro. The BAe146 versions will follow as a FREE update. For more details, please check out our Product Release Plan. Product price information is also available on that page. Please keep in mind that your current purchase ONLY includes the FS9/FSX Avro version. Stage 3 will be FREE Updates as was the Stage 2 release that introduced the FSX Version.

Choose between 6 Highly accurate and detailed models.

• British Aerospace BAe146-100
• British Aerospace BAe146-200
• British Aerospace BAe146-300

• British Aerospace Avro RJ70
• British Aerospace Avro RJ85
• British Aerospace Avro RJ100

Key Features:

Exceptional attention to detail and typical characteristics of the BAe146 and Avro RJ
High resolution texturing
Multi-Stage super detailed night lighting
NAV lights and Strobes cast light splashes on the ground
Over 100 realistic Animations, including:
• Shock Strut Compression controlled by XML (no tire sinking into the ground)
• Realistic XML controlled Wingflex, reacting to turbulences
• Realistic XML controlled Flap system
• XML controlled detailed Airbrake and Liftdumpers ( depending on Hydraulic Pressure )
• XML controlled rudder (locks at low speeds to simulate Tiller control)
• All primary and secondary Flight Controls including tab-controlled aileron and elevator
• Working two-speed wipers
• Super Smooth Gear animation
• Realistic Nose Wheel Steering
• Moving Pilots
• Animated Air-stair
• Entry/Cargo Doors with CORRECT animation (controllable by the Qualitywings Control Panel)
• AOA Sensor
• Wheel Chocks
• Engine Covers
• Remove Before Flight tags
• Ground Power Unit

Flight-deck

• Detailed 2D Cockpit featuring both Widescreen (16:10 aspect ratio) and Standard (4:3 aspect ratio) resolution bitmaps
• Detailed 3D Virtual Cockpit with parallel functionality as 2D environment. If it works in the 2D, it works in the 3D
• Autopilot with VNAV, LNAV, Flight Level Change and Auto-land capability
• Thrust Rating Panel
• Full simulation of Electric, Fuel, Hydraulic and Pneumatic systems
• Transponder with FSINN / Squawkbox compatibility
• Traffic Collision Avoidance System with aural warning sounds
• Customizable Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) with FULL Altitude Callout. You choose which callouts you want!
• Standard and LITE panel modes available on the fly via the QualityWings Control Panel. Standard mode balances realism and simplified approach. Optional LITE mode available for those who REALLY want things SIMPLE.
• Options Galore (Available via Config file)
• Two different Flight Management Systems depending on variant selected (GNLU910 or GNS-XLS)
• Over 200 Enunciators
• Master Warning and Central Status Panel
• Selectable Landing Flap Datum
• Steep Approach mode (inhibits GPWS warnings)
• Speed card giving you the correct reference speeds

Flightdynamics:

• Realistic but balanced Flight Model
• Developed according to original documentation and under real life Avro pilot assistance

Sounds:

• Authentic Sound-set for the Allied Signal LF-507 engine
• Optimized to eliminate phasing sounds
• Flight-deck Environment Sounds (Equipment Cooling, FSB/NS Signs, etc.)
• Aural Warnings (Chimes, Horns, etc.)
• Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS)
• Realistic Click-sounds in the Cockpit
• Characteristic Flap extension / retraction wind sounds (howl)

Liveries:

• Over 60 High Quality liveries to choose from. Every livery is created with exceptional attention to detail.
• Detailed but easy to use repaint kit

System Requirements

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Flight Simulator 2004/FSX
2.0 Ghz Processor
1.8 GB of disk space
2GB RAM
256 MB Video Card
Windows XP / Vista / Win7

RECOMMENDED:
Flight Simulator 2004/FSX
3.0 Ghz Processor
1.8 GB of disk space
4GB RAM
512 MB Video Card
Windows XP / Vista / Win7
These are only recommendations. More powerful PCs may be necessary to cater to your Simulation expectations.

                    
NOTES:

As you can see the list of features are quite extensive and we are going to examine them in detail to see whether QW has truly stepped up their game this time around. This product only includes the Avro RJ series of aircrafts at this point. In the future, the 146 series will be released as a free upgrade to persons who have purchased the 146 collection. Personally, I don’t think this was a bad move on the part of QW since the RJ is quite widely used today as verse the older 146.

QW Ultimate 146 Collection video

Before diving into the review, I thought it would be beneficial to have the developer tell us a little about this product. I was fortunate enough to have Lars Roennig give us a bit of information on the development of the 146 Collection.

What made you consider the 146?

The 146 has long gone unnoticed by FS Developers, although it was a pretty popular plane especially in Europe. We were looking for a plane that we found interesting and thought would sell well.

Since it was regularly mentioned on forums and there was no competition on the horizon, we quickly went for it.

Who is the 146 targeted at?

As with the 757 our aim was to develop a product for the average simmer that is looking for a certain level of complexity without having to spend more time on learning rather than flying.

The auto-flight and aircraft systems offer all the functionality you need to commence a full flight from cold n dark startup to shutdown. If you're looking for a full fetched procedure simulator including abnormal operations, then this product is not for you. With the optional “lite” mode we also offer an alternative for those who really want to have things simple and to operate the Avro almost like a default plane.

Systems approach in comparison to the 757:

The Avro offers a lot more complexity than our 757.

We learned from our customers that they were wishing for more functionality, which is what we did for this product. Especially for the core systems such as electrics, fuel, hydraulics, air and pressurization we stepped things up. Nevertheless we stuck to our 'complexity simplified' slogan.

4) Which features are you proud of the most?

I don't think it's possible to pinpoint one specific feature. I'm very proud of the atmosphere that we were able to convey in the Virtual Cockpit and especially at nighttime with the annunciator test active which looks just breathtaking. Also the overall sound immersion is great. I think I'm talking for the whole team when I say that the complete outcome of this product is how we envisioned it and that we're very proud of it.

After such a fine introduction to this product, let’s have a more in-depth look at the Avro.

Installation & Manuals

The installation of the 146 Collection was very seamless and I doubt anyone will have any problems doing so. The documentation that is included consists mainly of a 300+ page manual, a 50+ page Quick Start Manual. I found that both manuals were very well written and very easy to follow. Sometimes it’s very easy to be “lost” when reading manuals that are very extensive but 146 manuals are an exception.

The flight tutorial is a must read item and it is very helpful in getting you started. The 146 may not be as straight forward as you might think and there are a number of steps you will have to get use to in order to fly this aircraft properly. With that said, It is very important that you make yourself familiar with the documents that are provided.

Exterior Model & Textures

The package we will be reviewing features the Avro RJ70, 85 and 100. This is not to be confused with the 146-100/200/300 which is slightly different. With regard to the overall design of the Avro RJ series, I found that it is one where you can either love it or hate it. Personally, I think it is a lovely design but I have never been able to find a simulated model that comes even close to the real aircraft.

QW is well known for its team of expert modelers and texture artists and I am happy to see that we finally have a model that has done justice to its real world counterpart.

One of the problem areas for similar models is the cockpit and nose area. While the QW model isn’t PERFECT, it is much better than what we have seen before. The tail section was spot on as was the modeling of the rear air brake which is a signature feature of this aircraft. The engines were also correctly modeled and given its unique shape I am assuming that a lot of time went into capturing the correct dimensions.

Other aspects of the aircraft including the landing gear, wings and flaps are all designed to a very high standard. On a final note you will be happy to know is that the Avro RJ series features the option to open doors, cargo doors and lower air stairs. These options can be utilized by the QualityWings Control Panel which allows for individual door control as well as a selection of several options for the QualityWings Panel. The screenshots below showcases this model nicely.

When it comes to textures, the Avro gets a passing mark. Normally the textures that come with a new product may be “good” but not “the best.” QW has taken a similar approach to their 757 product by creating an exterior texture set that is of a very high quality. Since these aircraft are not new you would obviously expect the exterior to show a bit of wear and tear.

QW has managed to produce a number of liveries that nicely showcases an aircraft that has seen a lot of action over the years. While some of the liveries may show dirty, it is not excessive or unappealing. They have managed to find the perfect balance in showing what an aircraft in heavy use should really look like.

Finally, when it comes to textures I have noticed that some developers may cut a few corners when it comes to small or seeming insignificant areas of an aircraft. Let’s take for example the wheel wells. In an area like this it is easy to take a shortcut and use textures that are of a low quality. QW has not compromised at all in this area and in nearly each portion of this aircraft they have used very high quality textures to enhance the realism of the model itself.

Virtual Cockpit

When it comes to the virtual cockpit, most simmers are very critical and rightly so since this is where you will be spending most of your time. The virtual cockpit of an aircraft also has a significant impact on your overall virtual flying experience. I am not sure if this expression will make much sense, but a virtual cockpit can either make you feel like you’re in a video game or a high fidelity simulator.

While the RJ doesn’t boast to have the fanciest of cockpits, QW has done a fairly good job at recreating the experience of what it would be like to sit in the cockpit of the RJ. Nearly every square inch of the cockpit has been modeled and the textures that were used are of a very high quality. It also goes without saying that all switched and knobs are 3D and the cockpit itself shows signs of wear and tear which is another realistic feature.

The digital displays are as close to the real thing as FSX will allow but at times they can be a bit difficult to read. For this reason, QW has also made it possible to have most of these displays to be viewed in a pop up window. If you are not the type that enjoys being in the virtual cockpit you will be happy to know that the Avro RJ series comes with functional 2D panels.

The virtual cockpit also allows you to open the side windows in order for you to hear the APU start up more clearly. Also, when it’s raining you will be happy to know that the wipers in the virtual cockpit are also functional (not that it makes much of a difference in improving your vision from the cockpit). The night lighting in the virtual cockpit is also very impressive.

Most lighting options can be operated individually and some that vary in intensity can also be adjusted to suit your preferences. This is something that many developers cut corners on, but I am happy that QW has opted to allow the user to choose just how much light they want in their cockpit! 

The screenshots below nicely showcase the virtual cockpit in all its glory. (Screenshots that show the Captain Sim Weather radar is not a default option. This can be retrofitted to the RJ panel quite easily.)

Systems

When it comes to system simulation, QW is well known for taking a balanced approach as is evident with their previous 757 release. This time around things are a bit different as there is an option for “lite” systems and a standard version. After close examination, I found that the lite version can almost be compared to the full standard version of the QW757. This means that the new standard that QW has set is significantly higher.

The systems that are provided in the 146 Collection are both a mixture of complex and easy to use functions. The manual that comes along with the aircraft has a very extensive breakdown on some of the systems of the Avro RJ which will give you an idea of how each essential system works.

Some of the systems that have been fully simulated include the Fuel, Hydraulic and Pneumatic system.

The Hydraulic system of the RJ is a rather complex system but in a nutshell, it consists of the yellow and green system which share common components. The schematics of this system are shown in the screenshots below.

The fuel system of the RJ consists of some seven to nine tanks. These tanks are the Center, Wing, Feed (2 Inner and 2 outer), Surge and Auxiliary Tanks. Even though the fuel system is quite complicate, it is more or less a set it and forget it system. While I would love to provide a detailed description of this system and how it is used, the manual that comes with this package nicely covers this topic and I would encourage you to read it as it is very detailed.

The Pneumatic and Electrical system of the RJ has also been fully simulated and they are very complex. Using these systems however, are not at all taxing to the brain as it is to understand their inner working. The manual provides an endless amount of information on these systems and you will quickly realize that with a little practice, operating them will be a breeze.

While the major systems of the RJ were the Electrical, Fuel and Pneumatic systems, this is far from all that the 146 Collection has to offer. Other systems that are included in this package are the Ice Protection, FADEC, Avionics, Brake Fan, Lighting system and much more! From the list of these additional systems, we will talk about the Avionics/Autopilot and Lighting system mostly.

The FMC that is provided with the Avro RJ series is not 100% functional but it is also not a joke. The FMC has many of the basic functions that you would expect and would actually USE on a basic flight. Other functions that can be considered “cosmetic” are not simulated since (I am assuming) they are not functions you will be heavily depending on to carry out a successful and realistic flight.

The CRT displays function in a realistic manager and due to its small size, QW has made it possible for each display to be enlarged by clicking on them. The engine instruments are very similar to the 737 classic displays and can be easily read. While on the topic of engines, another feature that was nicely added was the Thrust Rating Panel. This panel allows you to accurately set your takeoff power and V-speeds for any given weight of the aircraft shown on the speed card. The speed card is always updated so the figures will always be accurate from takeoff to landing.

The lighting system of the RJ is quite a surprise. Typically, for a company that develops products that are “balanced” as far as systems programming goes, one would have expected the lighting systems to be of a balanced or even default nature. As you will see however, the virtual cockpit lighting systems are far from default. They allow you to have full control over the level of light intensity in some cases while in others you simply have the option of on or off.

The exterior lighting was also a talking point as it featured lights that reflected on the ground and 3D landing and taxi lights. Overall, the lighting systems were very impressive and I think you will be satisfying with what QW has offered.

The autopilot of the RJ is more or less fully functional. VNAV and LNAV can be used during every phase of flight and is very stable and accurate. Tuning and adjusting altitude, heading or even radio frequencies are made easy by being able to use the mouse wheel to do so. This may sound like a trivial point but you have no idea how convenient it is to be able to do this while flying by hand and talking to ATC.

A feature of this product which I enjoyed and I am sure you will make full use of is the 146 Dispatch utility. Through this utility it is not only possible to install/uninstall liveries for each RJ variant, but it is also possible to accurate set your fuel and payload for any flight. At different weights, the handling of the RJ becomes noticeably different. At times the aircraft has the tendency to be very “bouncy” on landing or very sluggish on the takeoff. These flying characteristics demonstrate that a lot of attention to detail was placed in the programming and fine tuning of the FDE and this nicely brings us into my thoughts on flying this aircraft.

The Flying Experience

I had the opportunity to fly the RJ series for nearly 3 months on various routes in order to test its handling and performance. My overall impression is in harmony with the statement made by QW which says that the flight model is balanced and realistic.

When choosing to fly the RJ for the first time it’s likely you will attempt the famous RJ/146 operations in and out of London City airport. This airport is notorious for its steep approaches and the RJ has become quite popular operating in and out of this airport.

After jumping into the cockpit, you will notice immediately than unlike your typical Boeing or Airbus aircraft, the procedures you would normally take to power-up and start the aircraft are slightly different and a bit more involved. If you are unfamiliar with the systems of the Avro, I would encourage you to read the manual which has a very well written tutorial that I found helpful in getting around the cockpit.

Taxiing this aircraft was quite an easy task and it didn’t have the feel of other aircrafts that required a lot of thrust to get moving. Once the aircraft started to roll, it kept its momentum without having to constantly add more power. The turning performance on small ramps and runways was also quite impressive and I don’t think you will have any trouble maneuvering this aircraft at all.

During the climb portion of my flight from Amsterdam to London City, I noticed that the RJ was very stable while flying by hand. I was also impressed with the stability of the autopilot even in windy conditions. After takeoff, there is never a dull moment with this aircraft.

Given the fact that the RJ is very unique, there are a few procedures you should always keep in mind. During the climb, the APU AIR has to be turned off after takeoff and the remaining bleed switches for engine 1, 2 and 3 have to be turned on. I initially found it a bit difficult to remember these procedures, but with practice it will become second nature. During the cruise portion of the flight there wasn’t much to do but monitor the instruments and other systems of the aircraft.

The landing at London City airport was quite a challenge. At slow speeds, the RJ demands a lot more concentration to maintain your speed and glide path. My first landing at EGLC was a bit on the rough side and when looking at the landing from the exterior view, I was surprise to see how realistic the hard touchdown and the effect it had on the wheel struts were. The landing gear showed a slight compression due to the hard landing which is consistent with many videos of the 146/RJ landing you may see online.

By now most of you are aware of the fact that the RJ does not have reverse thrust on its engines. So how do we slow it down? Well one of the well known features of the RJ is the airbrake system at the rear of the aircraft. Upon landing I found that it was very effective in slowing down the aircraft in harmony with the wing spoilers. Apart from the airbrake, it is obvious to say that you will have to depend heavily on your brakes to aid in slowing down the aircraft.

Overall, these were the most significant observations and in a nutshell the aircrafts handling can be generally be described as being normal but different in comparison to others.

The final observation I would like to note pertains to the amazing soundest. While you may not consider the sound of an aircraft to be related to the flying experience, I have often found that without the right sound package you can never really have the full sense of what your aircraft is doing. With that said, the sound package that comes with the 146 Collection is of a very high standard. From start up to shut down you will be amazed at the quality of these sound files and I hardly see there being any need for a replacement.

Sound Demonstration

In the end, while I have never flown a real RJ, I was very impressed with the handling of the aircraft. Judging from the videos/DVDs I have seen on the 146/RJ, the flying experience seems spot on. The flying experience to me doesn’t only entail how an aircraft feels but also the workload involved with flying the aircraft. While this is not a 100% simulation of the real 146 (after all no aircraft can hit the 100% mark) it is balanced enough to give you an appreciation of what it would be like to fly the real aircraft.

Bonus Preview!

As a special bonus for the readers, Quality Wings was gracious enough to send me a preview copy of the BAe 146 which is soon to be released! Here are a few screenshots that show what you can expect from the next phase of this great product! *

*Please note that some screenshots were taken with ENBSeries activated.

Conclusion

To conclude this review, I am sure many of you are wondering whether this product will take a toll on your PC resources. While I don’t have the best PC out there, I have never experienced any drop in frame rates while using the 146 so I am doubtful that you will have any problems. 

What about the price? Well the 146 Collection will cost you $47.99 for download and $54.95 for the DVD version. Some may say that this is a bit pricey but I consider it a bargain since you get not just one aircraft, but the ENTIRE 146 collection.

While at the moment the RJ variants are only available, the entire 146-100/200/300 fleet will be release free of charge to owners of the 146 Collection and as you can see from the preview, the 146-200/300 will be worth the wait.

As far as liveries go, the default installation of the Avro does not come with additional liveries but QW has provided an abundant supply of high quality repaints through their website. In addition to this, there is a very helpful community of 146 users who may be willing to paint your favorite airline livery.

When I reviewed the QW757 some years ago I nominated it for an Avsim Gold Star award. That award was based on the quality of work and the overall package value that was made available. QW has since then outdone themselves in the aspect of quality and value, so it is obvious that I would also recommend this package for an Avsim Gold Star.

This is perhaps the highest quality simulation of the BAe 146 family that we may ever see for a long time to come. The hard work and dedication of the QW teams is clearly evident and I am eagerly looking forward to their next project. Job well done!

Introduction

Review by Werner Gillespie. The Dash 8 built by Bombardier is obviously a twin engine turboprop airliner built for short to medium range hops for the regional airlines. They were actually introduced by De Havilland Canada, but are now being produced by Bombardier Aerospace, the same company that roles out the legendary Lear Jets.

The Dash 8 was developed from the Dash 7, but being optimized with extremely short take off and landing performance (STOL). It was also intended to have improved cruise performance and to reduce operating costs. It utilizes the Pratt & Whitney PW 100 series engine. The -400 is obviously the fourth variant in the Dash 8 line.

(Wikipedia)

This has also been one of the most widely anticipated releases this year. Let us dive right into it and look at what Majestic Software pulled out of the hat on this one!

Installation and documentation

Right, so the package is 372 MB large, and is contained in a single installer that you double click to get it going. You will be required to provide Majestic with your registration information which was provided to you by Majestic upon completion of the purchase which also entails product validation and activation via internet - nothing new in this day and age then.

Installation is quick and painless with no vices that I can report. Once the installation is complete, you can find the following documents inside your SimObjects\Airplanes\mjc8q400\doc folder:-

• A cockpit preparation card, which lists all the steps needed to prepare the aircraft for the first and subsequent flights of the day and also to prepare either an air start or an APU start, 2 pages and colour coded making it easy to follow;
• Control panel guide, 12 pages long, giving you the low down on how to work the control panel, which is a very nice addition to the aircraft, but more on that a little later;
• FMS quick reference chart, a 1 page read, explaining in short and concise language how you would achieve a certain function on the FMS, and believe me, as you will see later, this FMS is very different from Boeings and Airbuses, so you will spend a bit of time studying it;
• A supplement about how to get the latest navigation data for the FMS from Navigraph;
• A normal checklist card, 2 pages and also colour coded taking you through a normal flight cycle, both for normal flights, a first flight and also which sections should be read aloud and responded to by the other crew member;
• A 3 pages long special features supplement for you to see what Majestic has added to the package;
• A speed card in imperial units containing the information required to plan the various take off speeds for your weight and flap settings, and also another 2 pages long card in metric units containing the same information, but in metric units; and
• A systems description, which is nothing more than a 126 page main operating manual for the aircraft.

All the documents are of very high quality, they read very well, and they have been compiled to exceptionally high standards. I would really recommend you spend a bit of time in the manual and the other documentation to get you going in the right direction, especially if you don't have too much experience in flying turbo props!

The documentation is represented in a thoroughly professional manner, and they are easily understood. The documents are also presented in a graphically very attractive way which is very easy on the eye!

Full marks!

Preliminary

Now first of all, please take note of the fact that there is MORE THAN ONE package to choose from! What package you choose will eventually be governed by the amount of depth that you want and the amount of money that you will be willing to spend.

There are no less than THREE packages to choose from:-

• The Pilot package, which is what this review utilizes and is also the most basic of the three packages. This will set you back E 49.95
• The Pro package, which has slightly more features and will set you back E 74.95
• Finally there is the Training edition which has the full set of features but is almost double the price of the Pro package at E 149.95

Before you make your decision, have a look at the product page to see what you want.

One of the other brilliant little things that come with the aircraft is that it has a CPAN (Control Panel) which does several things for you:-

• It allows you to set your EFIS to imperial or metric units and to pick how fast your VC updates as opposed to the instrumentation for varying the juice it requires from your hardware;
• You can set the timing source and select if you want the FDE to sync with FSX or not, depending on your frame limit inside FSX, whether you have it limited or unlimited. This is important, follow the instructions or your experience may become a bit choppy!

• You can calibrate your flight controls and engine controls, but FSX must be running and the Dash 8 must be the active aircraft. Thereafter you must restart the simulation;

• Sound options, although only in the more expensive packages; and

• Finally, and most importantly, a loading utility for loading passengers and cargo into the aircraft. You will soon discover that this portion of the CPAN is quite complex actually, and you need to go to the manual to explain some of the more complex issues surrounding the loading utility.

The CPAN works immaculately and greatly adds to the immersion and realism of loading up the aircraft. You can also see from this that there is an immensely complicated system running underneath that you cannot see!

You will also notice that there is no direct way of selecting a cold and dark state for the VC, but it starts by default in the way that you would find it after the engineers have set it up for you. Lovely!

Exterior

The exterior of the aircraft looks really good, not the best I have ever seen, but it is really well modeled! You get two moving pilots upfront, looking as if they are performing their duties. The propeller blades are all angled correctly.

The tyres, the wheel wells and the braking and other systems making up the wheel and gear assemblies are done to a very high standard. Particularly noteworthy is the riveting at the back of the aircraft near the rear pressure bulkhead. Very nice!

There isn't anything to indicate that the aircraft has been in service and it looks like it just left the showroom to be honest. If you connect the ground power unit (which we will get to a little later), the ground power unit shows up after a while and gets physically connected via the correct apertures, again, very nice!

All in all, a job well done, and there is not much if anything that I can really gripe about, very well done! As usual here are a few screen shots for you:

Interior

At the business end you will find a beautifully modeled VC, truly a work of art; it cannot be described with any other phrase! Although there are no signs that the aircraft has seen at least some service, the displays have a glint of dust on them as you would expect and it is clearly visible at the right angles with the lighting from the outside falling in at the right angles.

Everything from the circuit breakers behind the pilots to the main panel and in particular, the overhead, has been modeled to a level of detail that one will find in the likes of the PMDG B737NGX. It really is exquisite!

The Pilot package does not come with a 2D panel so I cannot comment on what that would look like. If you want that, you have to cough up so more dough, however, this also goes to show why some developers have said outright that they do not want to model the 2D stuff anymore since it pushes up the price of the package in the end and this is a very clear example of that statement!

Every switch, every dial, every light every display, they all reflect the real aircraft to an immensely high level of accuracy. The proportions in the cockpit look about right from my vigorous YouTube search for cockpit videos.

Now, this obviously means that you may have to zoom into certain areas of the VC from time to time, especially in the overhead panel, but you can also switch views by simply pressing the A key on the keyboard too.

When turning the aircraft, the reflections play over the instruments and displays to increase the sense of photorealism that you have in the cockpit. Marvelous! When switching the CDU's on, the display gets change in colour in it before anything is displayed, clearly indicating that the display is now lighting up.

The pedestal is done equally well, and here you can see about the only signs of wear and tear on the aircraft, the throttle levers.

Below that are your radios which are digital units that can be switched on or off. They can also be tuned with the CDU's.

The AFCS also looks the part and certainly acts the part as we shall see later. So as can clearly be seen, keen attention to detail has been paid in the compilation of the VC. It is extremely flyable, and although some of the systems are not modeled (remember this is the Pilot package), all the switches can be flipped, pushed, pulled, turned or whatever they need to do. When you are sitting in the VC flying this aircraft, you will truly feel as though you are in fact sitting inside and at the controls of a Dash 8.

This is a masterpiece of VC design and I really cannot fault it, simply amazing job!

Again, some screen shots for you to show you what I am talking about:

Sound

The sound package that comes with the aircraft is magnificent! It has the rolling sounds on takeoff and landing, it has the sounds for the switches and dials, and it really has some beautiful sounds for starting up and shutting down those turbines!

What I also like is the straining sounds made as the aircraft turns during the various phases of flight which I found quite delightful, since I have hardly ever come across this! There are also announcements that are made by the cabin crew and the pilots during the different phases of ground operations and there are aural push back dialogues. These are automatic and you do not need to activate them manually, the computer handles that for you. Excellent!

Last but not least, it has some excellent soundtracks for when the aircraft is boarding, varying from Bach to more modern compilations. This I found particularly intriguing and pleasantly surprising.

All in all, wonderful sound pack and one that really seems to capture the feel of the aircraft.

Flight Dynamics Engine (FDE)

Okay then, the business end. Now, what I will do is explain to you how you COULD fly the airplane and then how I am GOING to fly the airplane. As I explained to you a little earlier, the full procedures are available for you to run through should you wish, and yes you can in fact make full use of these procedures.

However, since is a slightly lighter version of the aircraft, I will follow an abbreviated version of the checklist which you can find in the sample flight folder inside your Majestic aircraft folder. It is a simple text document which can be easily printed out or used on a tablet or iPad which is what I will be doing.

So let us start...

On the abbreviated checklist, my preflight consists of just checking that the DC panel on the top left hand side has the batteries switched to on, the main bus tie switched on and if you are using the external power, we switch that on as well. This is done by working through the FMC options and selecting the GPU (ground power unit) to be connected to the aircraft via the "SERVICES"menu inside the FMC. Neat!

For the air conditioning we switch on the bleed air on the top right hand side of the overhead and that is followed by the recirculating fan switches that are turned on.

Next we set the parking brakes to on, we open the doors and we switch on the FMC. This is done by clicking on the power button on the FMC. Then follows a very well modeled effect - it looks like the FMC screen changes colour for a moment before it switches on and the diagnostics start to run to check out the FMC unit to make sure that all is in good working order, which we find that it is today.

Again, an excellent bit of realism, since these screens do warm up a little before the unit fires up and I can start using it. Full marks to the developers in that regard! Once this is done, we press the large button to the top left of the FMC to align the navigation system.

Once this is going, the PFD and ND will go blank for a while, giving the usual warning signs that you would receive once the process is in progress. To align takes about ten seconds or so, so a bit of realism has flown out the window there, however, given that the entire preflight takes about 2 minutes, this is not a bad idea by the developer!

Okay so now the aircraft is powered. We can now proceed to our before start items. And yes, I could have followed the full checklist; it does work, although some of the items are not modeled as I indicated above, so I do not bother with that.

Right, so our passengers are aboard and we are ready to get started and get underway. Yes it is time for the before start checklist. We simply close the doors, turn the passenger signs on in the lower center part of the overhead, switch on the anti collision beacons to red, and since we are using the external power today, we don't bother with the APU bleed section of the checklist.

The controls have to be locked on the pedestal by flicking the lever over the throttle quadrant downwards. We can then proceed to call for the pushback, which is also an option that can be access through the "SERVICES" section of the FMC. Again, exceptionally neat! We turn off the parking brakes when instructed to do so by the ground crew and set our speed bugs.

Now a little bit more on the speed bugs...

Right next to the PFD (primary flight display), there are a little row of knobs. On this set of knobs, there is a knob to let you select the V-speed you want to set, which will then change the colour of that speed indication on the PFD and we turn the knob to set the value. These values we have to be obtained from the documentation that came with the aircraft.

How accurate are these speeds? Well, I will tell you when we get to that part of the flight! As soon as the one value is set, we select the next speed to be entered. Today my V1 speed is calculated at 105 KIAS. Once this has been done, the V1 value turns back from a blue colour to a normal indicated colour on the PFD. This is repeated for the VR and V2 values. The system performs without any glitches.

We now move to our engine start portion of the checklist...

We are instructed to ensure that the power levers are at the DISC position and provided we did not tamper with the power levers during the preflight phase, it should be there. We are now instructed to place the condition lever into the Start & Feather position, so we do that. We start the engine now by selecting that we want to start engine number one in the overhead and then following that by the start switch in the overhead.

So how does the engine "feel" and look during the startup process? The answer is that I was blessed with what I believe is a very accurate startup! The engine takes time to spool up and none of the FSX native runaway can be detected, it is absolutely believable. Excellent so far, no vices or surprises, except for the pleasant ones that I have mentioned!

We now repeat the process for the other engine, and presto, we are done. Now all that is left is to set the lights and the anti-ice systems. A quick word on the anti-ice - make sure that if you have the option on for icing, you have to manage the icing systems and your exposure to ice very carefully!

What the developers have done, or claimed they had done, is that they have modeled the icing effects very carefully with all the nasty little things that can go wrong, like the balance of the propeller being disturbed and propeller runaway etc. Take my word for it, this does in fact happen!

It is very well modeled and gives you quite a sense of urgency when you encounter such a situation. I was once again pleasantly surprised by yet another substantiated claim. I think it should be clear at this point that this quite a deep simulation, despite it being the lightest one in the lineup!

Once we have done all this and we are ready, we can begin taxiing to the runway. At this point I follow the taxi checklist. I push both condition levers to 1020 RPM, which is a smooth process as we set the levers into that detent on the throttle quadrant. We switch the autofeather on, we hit the auxiliary fuel pumps to on, and then we check that the flight controls operate correctly.

We also ensure that the nose wheel steering is engaged, the TCAS is switched on and we hit two notches of flaps to push them to 10 degrees extended. Right so let us get moving to the runway then.

Time to feel what it is like taxiing the aircraft around the runway. Now, before I go there, I just need to fill the reader in on my turbo prop experience. Just about the only one that I have spent considerable time on, is the Flight 1 ATR 72-500, which in my opinion is one of the finest add-ons ever produced for the flight simulator platform. My logbook reveals hundreds of flights and roughly 1 800 flying hours with the aircraft. So I am fairly familiar with what such an aircraft feels like when it is on the move, both on the ground and in the air.

Now, the ATR used to be a bit of a mission in the sense that as soon as I apply the smallest amount of power, the propellers would "bite" into the air immediately and I would have to be on and off the throttles the whole time to keep the aircraft under meaningful control and to keep the ground speed in check, and I got used to dropping the RPM on the props for the taxi, and then push them to the take off power setting when I reach the runway.

So how does this one feel? The answer is just brilliant! None of that excessive "bite" of the propellers are present! I can apply a fair amount of power and taxi in a very relaxed style. The aircraft has a tendency to "lean" a little around the corners and the general feel is very realistic. Based on my real world experience of taxiing aircraft like C-172's and smaller light sport aircraft around the aerodrome, the feeling is very accurate.

Oh, and another thing - the nose wheel steering in this aircraft is connected to the ailerons, not the rudder pedals, so you have to move your joystick as you would the ailerons to go left or right. I rather liked this! The braking is effective and what you would expect for an aircraft this size.

Right, we are at the runway and we begin our take off checks. We turn our anti collision lights to white, switch on our landing lights and our bleeds to minimum. We turn the anti-skid switches to on, we switch our pitot heaters on, and check that our caution panel is black which it is, apart from the parking brake light that I have on since I always do my checks with the parking brake set so that I won't discover I have inadvertently started rolling down the runway, or as can sometimes happen with the Dash, backwards!

Another quick word on the caution panel - the quality is just beautiful! It is crisp and clear, a little small, so you might have to zoom in occasionally, but an amazingly well done piece of equipment in this aircraft!

We now lift the control lock off of our throttle quadrant by pushing it forward. We make sure that our steering tiller for the nose wheel is at zero degrees, and we are done. We can now advance the power levers to RATING, which will then give us our take off setting.

The rolling rate and acceleration of the aircraft is what you would expect from this type of aircraft. It just feels right! At this stage you will also discover the remarkable STOL capabilities of this aircraft! Before you know it you are airborne. As the aircraft does not have contra-rotating propellers, a healthy amount of opposite rudder is required to keep her going straight down the runway. That said however, you will be quite surprised at how stable it is and how easy it is to find the right balance here.

So about those V-speeds... They are as accurate as you will get them for any atmospheric, weight and runway length condition - another fine example of the accuracy of the flight dynamics engine of this bird!

On rotation the aircraft is a joy to fly straight away! The controls are smooth, not overly sensitive and again, what you would expect from an aircraft this size - remember, this aircraft does not have direct control links like a C-172 for example, it has a full set of hydraulics, so if you put your mind to it, you can sort of predict what it should feel like and it certainly meets those standards!

Right so we are airborne, what next? Now we retract the gear, and we switch the autopilot on. As long as we ensure that the navigation source is set to FMS1, we will follow our flight plan. Yes, the aircraft is fully capable in the lateral navigation. How about vertical navigation? The answer is yes. The autopilot operation is smooth, no surprises. You can select the navigation to on at any intercept angle and it will intercept the flight track without any hitches.

We now manually work the pitch of the aircraft (or you can use the vertical speed option if you wish) until you have it nicely trimmed at the speed that you want and then you engage the IAS (indicated air speed) option on the autopilot which will then fly the airspeed that you selected that autopilot option on. So if I am flying at 180 KIAS and I am in VS mode, and I proceed to engage the IAS mode, the aircraft will keep the thrust setting, but will automatically adjust the pitch to maintain 180 KIAS. Nice!

We are now instructed to reduce our propeller RPM to the CL 900 detent, which goes smoothly and easily. Again, the engine response is wonderful! You really get the sense of flying a turboprop aircraft here. We then switch the bleeds to normal.

Up to this point the aircraft has performed absolutely flawlessly and I am extremely impressed. We now climb to FL250, 25 000 feet AMSL. We do not touch the power settings, which means the condition levers and the thrust levers again until we reach the cruise altitude. For speed settings for different weights and what speed you want to climb at for what weight is determined from studying the tables in the documentation. The climb is actually surprisingly efficient! The performance was much better than I expected.

In the climb we further switch the PTU switch and the standby hydraulics off, which is on the center pedestal just below the engine indicating instruments. Yeah I know, took me a while to find those too, don't feel bad!

So now that we have done all of this we sit back and relax and take in the scenery, just occasionally monitoring that the autopilot is doing what it is programmed to do and that the engines are operating normally. A word of caution here - please DO check the engine RPM etc. I have had the occasional situation where the one engine did have much higher RPM's and temperatures. I had to play around with the bleed and power settings to eventually stabilize it. You really need to watch the aircraft and the systems very carefully folks!

I love that about this aircraft, in the big iron we sometimes become complacent, especially when flying the PMDG 747 for example when we have all the failures turned off and we are 99.999999% certain that the autopilot will keep it going as it should, but this aircraft requires you to be a little more vigilant than on the Queen with 100% reliability enabled. You have been warned, don't abuse the systems and the engines and monitor them properly.

As we reach our cruising altitude, the aircraft gently eases into the cruise, flawless transition between the climb and cruise phases. Marvelous! At this point we set the cruise power by reducing the cruise condition levers to CL 850, and we make sure that we do not exceed 265 KIAS. If we do, we have to reduce the power levers a touch. If we don't need to, we do not move the power levers at all during the climb and the cruise.

We then perform the more mundane functions, like switching off the seatbelt signs. Now we relax, sit back and enjoy the flight until shortly before the descent point. During cruise the autopilot does the flying and does so magnificently! The automated systems on this little gem is really a joy to operate and will have no vices provided that you operate them like they are intended. Even when you encounter more adverse conditions, the automated systems will handle the job perfectly. It is clear that an enormous amount of time was spent to get the automation working properly.

Once we are about 40 odd nautical miles out from our descent point, we make sure that we set the aircraft up for the descent and landing. We have to feed the FMC a target initial descent rate (which I usually set for about 1800 feet per minute based on my ATR experiences) and then, if all the other parameters, like the STAR and ILS approach is properly calculated with the right height restrictions set, the VNAV will FLY THE DESCENT FOR YOU! That's right, unlike the ATR the VNAV is directly linked to the automated systems and it flies the descent and approach for you, and not just give you recommended vertical speeds to follow like the ATR would.

So this is Boeing or Airbus in a bottle if you will! Unlike the Airbus of the Boeing though, there are two modes in which you can do this:

• VNAV TO, which according to the manual is the simpler of the two; and
• VNAV ENROUTE.

Now, how the FMC is programmed for the approach will depend on which of the two you choose. The VNAV TO will allow you to set a waypoint with an altitude and descend directly from your current point to that waypoint. When using VNAV ENROUTE, you will have a flight plan that looks similar to what you would see in the A or B team's FMC, and this is what you require to fly a proper descent and approach. So this is also what I would use. Now how does this work?

Well it is really simple...

Well first we have to make sure that all the waypoints have the right altitudes assigned to them. Just run through them on the legs page and have a look at them. In my case, on my test flight they aren't so I have to set them up properly. When using the ENROUTE function, I find that the vertical speed is now automatically calculated. This means that I don't have to go and set the desired target vertical speed in the FMC. Neat!

We reduce our power levers (for the first time since take off) to 5% torque, tune our radios as required (no, the Dash does not auto tune it for you like the Boeing 747 for example), and that is it! Now we monitor speeds and descent rates etc, making sure that we stay on course with the profile planned. During the descent, the aircraft performed marvelously well, with nothing that I did not expect, BUT...

Please note that this is a very different aircraft from what you are used to when flying other turbo prop aircraft or the big jets. Get to know the systems. When you know the systems and are comfortable with them, they won't surprise you. Still getting to know them? Well, there may be a thing or two that catches you out! Please take the time and read the manuals.

Before we know it, we are about to intercept the ILS approach for the runway that we will be using today. We run through the before landing checklist...

We ensure that the landing lights are on, that the ILS frequency is tuned, and VERY importantly make sure that the autopilot source for the navigation is set to ILS1. If you don't do this, well... Do I need to even say this? You won't intercept the localizer or the glide slope for the approach!

Next we have to tell the autopilot that we want to intercept the ILS. How do we do this? Simple, we engage the APPR mode on the autopilot. We then set our decision altitude (I already did this before departure) and increase the prop levers to CL 1020. There is a bit of a response from the aircraft when doing this, which is obvious since the props are spinning much faster than they had previously done.

We now switch the auxiliary fuel pumps on again, and head down to the panel just above the throttle quadrant. Here we set the standby hydraulics and PTU on, which is announced with a green light. Furthermore, we ensure the passenger signs are on and once we start to reach 200 KIAS we can get ready for the deceleration and flap extension.

Now, according to the checklist once we start to drop our speed below 200 KIAS, we can select our flaps to 5 degrees. I usually wait until the nose is around 4 degrees up before extending the next notch of flaps, so at around 185 KIAS, I extend flaps to 5 degrees. The effect of the flaps is noticeable too!

I stay in this configuration decelerating now to 180 KIAS and keeping it there. The localizer intercept is very smooth. At one dot below the glide slope, I extend my landing gear; I slow to 160 KIAS and set flaps to 15 degrees. We are also instructed to set the bleeds to minimum, so that we can extract maximum power from the engines if we need to do a go-around.

Today we have selected our flaps 15 degrees for landing, so this pretty much completes our landing checklist. The interception of the glide slope is just as wonderfully smooth and occurs with no drama. The approach down the glide slope is smooth and goes without any surprises.

At around 500 feet above the ground, I disengage the autopilot, and start to fly the aircraft to the runway. The controls are again smooth and precise. They are not oversensitive and they do not surprise me in anyway. Even with the relatively strong wind that I am flying this approach into, the aircraft is stable, and although I have to work the rudder a bit as you might expect, the approach is smooth and coordinated.

Now for the difficult part. The flare of the aircraft is a relatively difficult maneuver. Should you overdo this, you will stall and crash, you have been warned. I had to practice a few landings in this aircraft from the circuit to actually get it right. I always add a bit of landing speed to compensate and use the ground effect to land the aircraft. I mean that I float for a bit sometimes, but makes sure that the actual touchdown is safe and acceptable! Once you have the feel for it though, you relish the challenge to land the aircraft and it becomes second nature really.

The aircraft has a nice sense of inertia and you have to work the rudder a bit to get it leveled out and going down the center of the runway once you are down. Remember that the propellers are also pulling to their own direction and it makes the landing rather interesting! That said, it is actually surprisingly easy to do this and you get the hang of it very quickly.

Slowing the aircraft is not a problem either. Once we clear of the runway we engage the control lock again, toggle the anti-collision lights again, pull the flaps up, switch the auxiliary fuel pumps off, switch the landing lights off and the taxi lights on. Done!

Taxiing the girl in is just as easy as getting it to the runway. Although, this time around, power changes are a little more sensitive since the aircraft is of course much, much lighter and therefore less thrust is required. After the mandatory temperature stabilizing period has passed, I usually reduce the prop RPM to a nice low setting for the taxi in to reduce workload a little.

When we reach the gate, we shut the aircraft down by engaging the parking brake, switching the PTU and auxiliary hydraulics off, retarding the power levers to DISC and the condition levers to the START & FEATHER position. We then disengage the steering tiller, request the GPU to be connected again via the FMC, and after waiting 30 seconds for another temperature stabilizing period, we shut the fuel off and we open the doors. Done!

My experience from flying the Dash 8 was one of immense satisfaction and immersion. This is a study sim, and even though it is a lighter version of the most complex version offered by Majestic, this is one majestic simulation!

When I take a look at the amount of hours spent testing this little gem, my logbook recounts 56 hours of flying time over about five weeks. During this time in the cockpit I have completely fallen in love with this simulation and will continue to fly it on active commuter service.

The final verdict on the FDE is that it is remarkably accurate, very stable and really captures, for me anyway, the feel of the Dash 8. This is not just my opinion either. If you have a look at the forums you will find an abundance of very satisfied customers all flying the Dash 8.

So will this satisfy the Dash 8 real-world pilot? Don't know, I am not a real Dash 8 pilot and I would love to get some comments on this by the folks who fly this for real. Will this satisfy the simulation diehard? An absolute yes - it has completely won me over!

Performance

I tested this on my Q9550 Core2Quad system with the GeForce 480 GTX with 768 MB RAM and 6 GB system RAM. The performance was smooth as you like! Even in denser, more complicated scenery the aircraft performed remarkably well, never dipping below 30 fps, even on the ground when ready to taxi. Just make sure that you do observe the little note about the CPAN settings I outlined above or your experience may be a little undesirable.

Conclusion

So what then remains to be said about this one? I love the three different versions that you can choose from, depending on your simulation and budget requirements and restraints. I love the overall package, it really comes together tremendously well. It really captures the feel and the immersion that we have come to expect and sort of take for granted these days!

In terms of systems simulation, the full package will no doubt have the PMDG touch on it. It is a tremendously deep simulation. Eye candy, the cockpit textures come very close to the NGX for me as well. So in short, this is the NGX in turboprop aircraft if you are looking for one.

Flying it is a joy, whether it is done by hand or by autopilot, you are going to love it. Overall, this is a 10/10 for me, I love it.

So, the obvious question would be as to whether putting down your hard earned cash for this is worth it. A resounding yes from me! The full package is remarkably pricey I must add, especially comparing it to the PMDG add-ons, but they are well worth the money in the end.

If the Dash 8 is your niche, get this one, you won't regret it one little bit!

What I liked about the Majestic Software DASH 8 Q-400

• Beautifully modeled exterior
• Lovely interior and VC
• Amazing systems accuracy
• Realistic FDE
• The three packages you can choose from
• Monthly updates on the navigation cycle for the FMC
• All the little extras like the soundtracks played upon boarding, the ground services, etc
• The CPAN utility
• Highly customizable with a loading utility

What I didn't like about the Majestic Software DASH 8 Q-400

• A touch pricey!
• Not much else really!

Introduction

Review by Werner Gillespie. Weather and its implementation in our beloved hobby has always been an issue! It has long been an issue that when I use high altitude winds in flight simulator, it seems to have the most horrifically unrealistic effects on the FDE's of most aircraft.

I also found that gusting winds and turbulence are far from realistic either. It has gone to a point where one needs to actually disable high altitude winds to have anything near a realistic cruise experience.

Many third party developers have created add-ons for the flight simulator platform to try and combat the issues related to the weather issue inside flight simulator. Most of them have been rather successful in some areas, and less so in others, each having its strengths and weaknesses, as we have had to accept over the years due to the obvious flaws and limitations inside the flight simulator platform.

Recently though, FS Global have released their latest program, FS Global Real Weather, claiming to be a very realistic solution to all our flight simulation weather needs, not only that, but right across the platforms, from FS9 to FSX and P3D as well!  

I simply had to get my hands on this piece of software to see what it behaves like, especially after the hype about it in the forums. From what I could see, customers were very happy with the end result. So let us take a closer look...

Installation and documentation

The installer you download from their website is around 7.30 megabytes large, so it is a small little program. When you download it you can either use it as a trial mode which allows you to explore a limited amount of the program features, or you can purchase a license key and get on with it!

If you have a license key, you simply need to activate the program. I shall get to that in a moment. So, first of all I run the installer and it takes only a few seconds to install. The program itself operates via a graphical interface outside of flight simulator or P3D, which is something I like very much! So this means that all the settings are done within the GUI (graphical user interface) that operates like any normal Windows application.

You can install the program to any folder on your hard disk, no need to install it to the flight simulator or P3D folder.  Good so far.

Now to the documentation...

I installed the program to my Program Files (x86)\FSGRW folder (yes I run Windows 7 64-bit).  Inside this folder are numerous .dll files, and three folders: data, log and manuals. When I go to the manuals folder, I find the following inside:-

• Manual_de, which is the German version of the PDF manual;
• Manual_en, which is the same manual in English; and
• Manual_fr, which is the French manual.

Since my German is very limited and my French non-existent, I head to the English version of the manual. It is a 12-page read, and when you scroll through the manual, it becomes apparent that operating the program itself cannot require a software mastermind programmer extraordinaire! The explanations regard the functions of the program and how to tinker with the settings inside the program.  

The manual is well written, easy to follow and will get you up and running with the program in about 10 minutes or so. The only graphics inside the manual are the Pilot's logo and the Facebook logo.

If you follow the manual it will take you through the program very quickly, no problems! It covers the three different simulation platforms with the pitfalls of each to be observed. Other than that there really is nothing more to say about the manuals. They get the job done!

Preliminary

First off, as I had indicated you get to experience the program by way of a limited demo. This I really like, because you don't have to wonder what you are getting, you can find out first hand before purchasing.  This is an incredibly effective marketing tool as far as I am concerned.  So what can you do in the demo?

If you are running the unregistered version, that is you don't have a license key that you registered with after installing the program, you get what is referred to as 20 evaluation points.  How does this work?  

Each time you download or load a weather file (more on that later), one point is deducted. So this means that I can download ten weather files and implement them into flight simulator or I can download one weather file and use it in the simulator nineteen times. This is more than enough to give you the feel of the program. Oh and one other thing, you will be limited to File Mode, again more on that later.

As I said, the program itself is a GUI which you can run like a normal Windows application, and to date, I have not had one CTD (crash to desktop) under Windows 7 64-bit. The program also has to run in the background to communicate with flight simulator whilst you are flying the flight.

The program is highly customizable as we shall soon see. Furthermore, if you have a registered version of FSUIPC, and remember that at least a freeware version is required to access many of the program's features, you have to disable all weather and wind settings inside FSUIPC in order for the program to work properly.

Finally this is one of a dying breed of programs catering not only for FSX and P3D, but also for FS9 (2004), which I think is wonderful!

So let us then take a look at the program and its options in more detail...

Getting to know the FS Real Weather

When the program starts, you are faced with the welcoming screen, which gives you the following options:-

• Load a weather file - this gives you the opportunity to select a previously downloaded weather file from FS Real Weather and inject (their term, not mine) it into your flight simulator.
• Static weather download - this downloads weather into the program only once, and does not update it again. This is similar to the static weather download in flight simulator itself.
• Dynamic weather download - this function download the weather in the program for injection into flight simulator and then updates it continually every five minutes. Again, similar to the dynamic weather download within flight simulator itself.
• Download weather file - the option allows you to download a weather file from the program's server, and then to use it on another computer if you wish.

So having said that, it is clear that the program downloads weather from its own servers and then you can implement or inject it into flight simulator. The weather download does take a while, but the amount of data that you get is amazing as we shall see a little further on.

So now let us look at the top left hand side of the program menu and you will find the following drop down menus:-

• File - contains a minimize and a quit function, no explanations required there!
• Tools - this is the heart of the program. So let us look at it a little closer.  The first submenu is Settings, which contains the general program settings, irrespective of the simulation platform that you are running. If I select the general settings, I get another screen which offers me the following options:-
  • Weather depiction realism - this option allows you to set whether you like a more visually realistic or more weather related realism in your simulation. The higher the slider is set, the more realistic the simulation of the weather conditions within the simulator. The lower the setting, the more visually attractive the clouds become.
  • Automatic weather refresh on the ground - this in option that you can tick or deselect based on your preferences. If it is selected or ticked, the weather will be automatically refreshed every ten minutes for as long as the aircraft is on the ground and not moving. If disabled, the program will only update the weather dynamically after takeoff and you will only have the initial weather conditions which were injected into the simulator when you started the program whilst on the ground.
  • Natural wind movement - again, this is a feature which can be selected or deselected based on your personal preferences. Enabled, the program will create natural wind changes in speed and direction for you. This prevents those sudden unexpected and horrific changes we are used to in default FSX weather, and yes, it works like a charm!
  •  Program version and updates - again, select or deselect according to your preferences. If enabled, the program will automatically check for updates to the program and advise you thereof when you start the program, allowing you to download and install the latest version.
  • Data exchange - again, select or deselect, enable it if you are using third party tools that require data exchange to be activated.
• FS2004 - a menu allowing you to set specific program options for FS2004. In this menu I have the following sub-menus:-
  • Common - this allows you to set only one option in FS2004, the weather radius. This defines the area around the aircraft where weather loaded will not be updated. The lower the value is set to, the more current the weather, but you may have difficulties with ATC as your weather may differ from theirs, and you may see sudden cloud formation changes occurring.
  • The Visibility option takes you to a different screen with the following options:-
    • Enable visibility control - this allows the program to smooth the changes between the various different cloud layers making the transition more realistic.
    • Limit maximum visibility to 240km - this will limit visibility depending on your slider setting to a maximum of 240km. This will be determined by performance issues of the simulator itself of course.
  • High altitude weather - this option takes you to another screen with the following options:-
    • Transfer high altitude winds and temperatures - Enable or disable according to your preferences. If enabled, this data will be injected into your simulator using every available weather station.
    • Transfer high altitude turbulence - again enable or disable according to your preferences. It will also inject the turbulence at any given level into the simulator.
    • Reset AI traffic - this is a nifty little feature! This will reset the AI traffic to prevent any departures or arrivals in the wrong direction after the initial weather was downloaded and injected into your simulator.
    • Network - if you are using a network the program will work across the network with the proper settings. Please note that I do not have a network setup so I did not test this feature!
• Under the Tools and FSX/P3D menu, mostly the same settings are available for FSX/P3D as for FS2004, with one or two important exceptions:-
  • Under the Common settings, there is either standard of fast mode that you can activate. In standard mode, you might get a few more white flashes when the weather updates, however, you will get the effect of the clouds moving with the wind. In fast mode, you get a few less white flashes, the weather updates faster, but the visual effect of the clouds moving with the winds are lost.
    
    Should you engage fast mode, you can also set the cap on the visibility distance that you want. As with the FS9 similar setting, the lower this value, the more current the weather, but could cause differences between what you have in the sim and what ATC will have. They recommend leaving it at 130nm. I leave my options set to standard mode in any event.
  • Under visibility and clouds you have two extra options, and the previous two you had for FS2004 is a little different:-
    • Low visibility cloud layer - this option if engaged, will create an overcast stratus cloud layer below the lowest visibility layer. This sounds complicated, but isn't! What this does, is eliminate the default type effect that you get of only being able to see a cloud layer once inside it, and trust me, this has amazing results!
    • Smooth visibility layers - this will load the layers as indicated at that particular weather station and then provide a gradual visual change instead of instantaneously as we have become used to, again very nifty!
    • Limit maximum visibility - the same as for the FS2004 version, and again the higher the visibility, the better the visual effect, but could have an impact on your FPS. You will have to find the right balance for you. I have mine set to 180km.
    • Improve stratus overcast - this completely changes the visuals you get when both flying through or above or below stratus clouds and the effects are just wonderful!
• The options under high altitude weather and AI settings, and the network settings are the same as for FS2004, so I won't discuss that.
• The last difference is the one extra option for FSX/P3D which is the data exchange function for users of Pro ATC/X support. I don't own this, so I cannot comment on that.
• Now for something different. Under the tools section, regardless of which version of simulator you use, there is a flight planner option. Take note that this can also be accessed after injecting the weather into the simulator from that particular screen. From here we can either open or download weather files. This will assist you in planning your fuel usage based on high altitude temperatures and winds. How does this work I hear you ask?

Very simple really...

All I need is to create the flight plan I want in either FS2004 or FSX .pln file mode, and the program even supports flight plans compiled by FS Commander! So, once I load this into the program, I have to create a weather report as per usual. I would then need to select my departure and destination, and give a cruise altitude value. For now, I will pick KORD-KDFW, 725nm.  

Next, I have to select an aircraft profile. I ask the program to perform its calculations based on the B737-800 profile. I select my cruising altitude as FL370, which I have to enter as 37 000.  Lastly, I select calculate flight plan! for it to start doing it's magic.

If I now look to the left top of the program options, I select weather forecast. This tells me everything I need to know about the weather at higher and lower altitudes along every waypoint and station along the way. Excellent!  And yes, you can print this out if you wish to!

If I now click on the final option to the top left, it shows me all the waypoints and tells me the altitude overhead, the distance to travel to the next one, the flight time, the course to the next waypoint, the wind for that particular point in time at that altitude and the temperature as well.  I can also see what turbulence I can expect if any.  Folks this is magic, just wonderful!  I will cover this in a test flight a little later.

• The only tab left is the help tab, which is pretty self explanatory, and where you would go to enter your program key once you have registered it.

As you can see, there is an enormous amount of depth in the program that is made very simple and intuitive to use, for which we as end user can be very thankful for! The graphical interface is as I said, extremely intuitive; wonderfully user friendly and you won't find any trouble navigating it at all.  Full marks to the developers for tha.

Point of the review?

Right, so let us get one thing straight right off the bat here - this program does visually enhance your flying experience due the realism of the weather environment, but does not have any textures. That means it uses whatever textures you already have installed, and in my case, I have default FSX textures which is actually quite relevant as we shall soon see!

But visual reality is not the point of this software. No sir, this is not a piece of scenery, this is what the developers refer to as an atmospheric simulator, that's it. It addresses the issues that other developers may or may not, and by just enhancing the realism of the weather, it greatly enhances the visual experience and immersion you get from the flight, both visually and in terms of the actual feel of flying into certain weather. So with that said, let us jump into some test flights and see what this is all about then!

Test flight

So for this test flight I will do a B737-800 flight from our virtual airline for a few reasons, firstly, since I will be using the B737-800 profile that comes with the FS Global package and secondly, it will be the PMDG NGX version of the aircraft which means I will be testing the package on a few different levels.  The first test will comprise the accuracy of the profile predictions. Secondly, I will judge how an ultra-realistic simulation with a separate FDE from FSX will respond to the weather simulation, and thirdly, what sort of impact on performance one can expect when running this FS Global package when using high end add-on aircraft.

Okay, so let us look at the flight we will be taking...

We start from KORD (Chicago O'Hare International Airport), and end at KSLC (Salt Lake City International). This is around a two hour flight and I love this flight. Not only is it a favourite leg of flying for me, but it also gives us a chance to see what sort of weather the program can generate when flying in conditions where there is a fairly flat city on one end and a mountainous terrain on the other side.

The reason I am interested in this comparison is that we all know that interesting, challenging and sometimes downright dangerous weather conditions occur in and around mountains. Without going into mind bending details, mountainous terrains causes due to their very nature, changes in atmospheric pressure, temperature and orthometric height in a current of air caused by vertical displacement.

This can be presented by orographic lift when a wind blows over a mountain or a mountain range, or by wind blowing over an escarpment or plateau, or even upper level winds deflected over a thermal updraft or cloud street.

These are called lee waves, since they always occur on the lee side of a mountain. This results in a turbulent vortex, with its axis of rotation parallel to the mountain range. When created along the first trough it is called a rotor wind. The strongest lee waves are created when the lapse rate has a stable layer above the obstruction with an unstable layer above it and below the obstruction (Wikipedia).

So in short then, as many of us simmers and the real guys out there who have to fly for a living around these areas can testify, will know, mountainous terrain can have an upsetting effect on an aircraft, and in particular in FSX where the weather engine in general tends have shortcomings which becomes more obvious with complex add-ons like the PMDG and other high end developers' FDE's.

What I will further do is to show you at the various different points of the flight how the weather is simulated by FS Global in the form of screenshots.

So here we go, then KORD to KSLC...

Okay, the weather forecast for the take-off from KORD is the following:-

28 km visibility, winds 350 at 7 knots, no precipitation, 22 degree temperatures few clouds at 5500 feet, broken at 25 000 feet, altimeter 30.06.

When I look at the skies around me, first using default FSX weather, it looks like this...

Now I inject the weather indicated in FSGRW package into the simulator.  Look at this...

Look at the difference in the cloud layers and the limitation in the visibility as you would expect! When looking at the waypoints in the profile I generated for the flight, this is what it says...

FLIGHT PLAN:  KORD – KSLC

KORD         668 ft

T/C        33,000 ft   116 nm    00:19  262°  262°/ 46 kt   -38 °C  S

IOW        33,000 ft    52 nm    00:07  262°  260°/ 45 kt   -39 °C  L

DSM        33,000 ft    92 nm    00:13  268°  276°/ 31 kt   -39 °C  M

OBH        33,000 ft   212 nm    00:29  271°  284°/ 23 kt   -40 °C  M

LBF        33,000 ft   110 nm    00:15  260°  274°/ 22 kt   -40 °C  S

EKR        33,000 ft   332 nm    00:45  262°  240°/ 21 kt   -42 °C  L

RACER       33,000 ft    44 nm    00:06  273°  224°/ 22 kt   -42 °C  -

MTU        33,000 ft    57 nm    00:08  273°  219°/ 28 kt   -43 °C  S

THISL       33,000 ft    50 nm    00:07  269°  212°/ 30 kt   -43 °C  M

SPANE       33,000 ft    15 nm    00:02  269°  212°/ 30 kt   -43 °C  M

LEEHY       33,000 ft    7 nm    00:01  296°  212°/ 30 kt   -43 °C  M

T/D        33,000 ft    11 nm    00:01  296°  212°/ 30 kt   -43 °C  M

FFU        32,348 ft    2 nm    00:00  296°  212°/ 30 kt   -41 °C  -

DRYVE       29,022 ft    10 nm    00:01  330°  205°/ 19 kt   -33 °C  L

PITTT       24,713 ft    13 nm    00:02  354°  205°/ 20 kt   -22 °C  -

MAGNE       22,704 ft    7 nm    00:01  355°  197°/ 15 kt   -18 °C  L

QUIPA       22,417 ft    1 nm    00:00  355°  197°/ 16 kt   -17 °C  L

RROYY       14,303 ft    27 nm    00:04  355°  210°/ 18 kt    3 °C  L

KSLC        4,333 ft    27 nm    00:06  163°  123°/ 14 kt   21 °C  -

KSLC        4,227 ft    0 nm    00:00   0°  122°/ 14 kt   21 °C  -

                1,185 nm    02:47

AVG TRIP WIND:        243°/ 24kt

AVG CRUISE WIND:       242°/ 25kt

AVG HEADWIND COMPONENT:     17 kts

AVG TRIP TEMPERATURE:      -36 °C

AVG TRIP TEMP ISA DEV:      11 °C

AVG CRUISE TEMPERATURE:     -41 °C

AVG CRUISE TEMP ISA DEV:     10 °C

As you can see there is an enormous amount of very useful information in there! If I look at the first waypoint, it is indicated that I can expect some turbulence as I fly overhead. Now let us look at the most impressive feature of this software...

The weather is updated via every single available weather station as opposed to the standard method that we are used to which does a global update! That's right. This means that I can set my visibility to the maximum as discussed above, and see the weather as it is coming from the stations around me.  

Practically then what does this mean? It means that should I be able to see weather building, for example a cloud formation, over a long distance if visibility permits, i.e. I can now see a CB cloud building as I approach it! No more popping up of unexpected clouds as I approach it.  I can also simulate the high altitude weather, visibility, temperatures and winds properly. We will look at this as I approach the first waypoint.

So how about the effects of the wind on the aircraft then? As I climb out to my cruise altitude, there are obviously some changes in the wind. For example, I check the closest station to me, which is now KCWI, about 14nm out from my current position. I am now at FL247, and if I crosscheck this altitude with what the wind speed and direction should be at the station currently, it should be 292 degrees at 16 knots.  Here is a screenshot of what it is saying inside the cockpit of my B738...

Nice isn't it?  And the effects of wind changes? Extremely realistic! It isn't jerking the aircraft all over the sky as I was used to in FSX default weather! There is another feature of realism for you?

So what is my TAT at FL280? It is 6 degrees! The OAT is now -26 degrees. Another level of realism then!  This just keeps getting better and better!

I am now at FL310, nearest weather station KDVN. Visibility is reported to be 28km. Look at that misty effect from the different layers and what that does to the maximum visibility...

Okay so now we approach the first waypoint, IOW, and if I look at the above weather information, it seems as if I may be expecting some turbulence! How does this affect the aircraft? Quite dramatic, as the turbulence is quite severe and I reduce my cruise speed to Mach 0.74 as is procedure. Though the effect is severe, it doesn't make the aircraft do silly things, but you get a sense that there is turbulence and that it is quite bad. It doesn't throw the aircraft into the convulsions that we are used to seeing in default weather.

What I have described above and what I have shown you through the various different screen shots is true for every single waypoint! The simulation of the weather and the effects thereof on the aircraft is simply mindboggling in terms of how realistic it is, from flying through various different cloud formations and layers, to the effect of the wind on the aircraft, to the effect of turbulence.  

What I can add to this is that a whiteout is exactly that, a whiteout! You are no longer playing a game of now you cannot see me at all, now you suddenly can with the runway (I have included a YouTube video for you at the end). If you get a whiteout that takes you down to a category IIIB minimum that is what you will get, the simulation of the cloud layers are simply astounding! The effects of what goes on inside a CB cloud and what it will do to the aircraft is simulated as well as I think you will ever experience it in FSX! To take it further, I never thought this kind of realism possible inside the flight simulator environment.  

The rest of the cruise passes, checking each and every waypoint against what the weather is giving in the program, and each and every time the turbulence, the visibility, the winds etc, they all conform to what the program is giving me. Just marvelous! I have some more random shots for you that I took during the cruise part of the trip, just look at that...

Now for the interesting part, the descent into KSLC...

The weather at KSLC is the following:-

Wind is 140 @12 knots, so we are using runway 16L for the landing. There is no precipitation, 29 degree temperature, 73km visibility, a few clouds at FL 190, and altimeter is 30.04. Bit disappointing, no real turbulence to see what will happen on a more adventurous day, but that said, let us get on with it!

I now pass FL 192, look to the right, visibility is now about 28km, and with KSLC still being further than that away, I obviously cannot see the few clouds at FL 190 as in the forecast...

Now, as we are within the visual range, there we go!  Look just above, the few clouds at FL190!

Now the visibility becomes 73km so, look at the clarity around us, and some more of those few clouds above us at FL 190...

On the final approach now, and the forecast is a stable wind which should be 140 degrees @ 12 knots now, no gusting, so how do we look?  See for yourself...

Close enough, remember that we are still just above the ground here, the closer we get to the runway, the closer to the actual prediction it will become. Today the mountains caused a little bit of choppiness, but right in accordance with the weather forecast, nothing dramatic, and that is how the aircraft performed on the way in.  Nothing more needs to be said!

Okay, so today's weather for this flight was good, but how about some bad weather then? For your pleasure I have randomly placed us at another airport to give you a good look at the simulation of the weather in this product.

Here is GOOY (Dakar, Leopold Senghor International Airport), East Coast of Africa. The weather is:-

Wind 10 degrees @ 3 knots, light rain, 27 degrees temperature, 9 000m visibility, few clouds at 900 feet, broken 13 000 feet QNH 1010 HPa. Look at this...

The wind and altimeter settings match perfectly and as the weather report was the air was very stable and the cloud cover simulated nearly perfectly!  

In closing off, here is one video of someone who has flown into a fogged in Sydney (YSSY), which gives you an indication of what that looks like.

Folks, this simply is the most complete atmospheric simulator available to us flight simulator enthusiasts, period! Nothing that I have used previously compares to this as far as getting genuinely realistic weather effects modeled into the simulator. Sure, there are others that can do more visually, but as I have explained to you before, this is not the point of this software.  

You will get the odd white flash here and there, especially if you go for the ultimate realism as explained in the options of the program, but does this in anyway make the simulation less enjoyable? Certainly not!

If you are a realism “nutter” as far as weather is concerned, this is the program, look no further!  

Performance

Right, so all this must cost you an arm and a leg performance wise then right? Right? Wrong! I run an Intel Core2Quad Q9550 at 2.83GHz and 6 GB RAM, with a GeForce 480GTX with 768 MB RAM. As you saw, I operated the NGX and I did not reduce my settings for the displays or cockpit textures or modeling.

Usually, without it being a fresh FSX installation and without massive airport add-ons and further textures for clouds and weather installed, I get a comfortable and consistent 25-35 fps. When running this software with settings maxed out, I lose no more than 2 fps at any given time! This is just marvelous!

So yes, adhere to the system specifications; play around with the settings on your own machine. Find what works for you, but from what I have experienced, you will not pay a severe performance penalty if you already run a fairly modest system with a balanced FSX setup.

In conclusion?

What is left to be said? Not much to be honest! I think what needs to be said can be read and seen above. This is quite simply the ultimate simulation of atmospheric conditions, period. It would be nice to get some comments from other users having used similar products from other developers and then started using FSGRW to see what they have to say though.

How much will this set you back? E 39.99. This may seem a little steep, but as you may have gleaned from what I had to say about it in the above passages, you will find it worth every penny! Oh and of course, you don't have to take my word for it - download the demo and have a go at it for yourself! If you don't like it, don't buy it, but I have a feeling that after you have used it for a few minutes, you will understand why I now have a permanently fixed broad smile on my face when I deal with real weather inside of FSX!

For X-Plane users, if you look on their site, you will also find that they are in development of the X-Plane version of this software to.

What I liked about FS Global’s Real Weather:

• Very easy and user friendly GUI;
• Extremely intuitive to use;
• The extra features, like the flight planner and waypoint weather predictions;
• The seamless integration into FSX despite having to be run outside of FSX;
• Ultimate realism in simulating atmospheric conditions;
• The wind smoothing and turbulence effects are realistic and has realistic effects on highly realistic add-ons like the PMDG 737 NGX not causing huge upsets to the aircraft like the default weather;
• Weather forecast and simulation of the forecast matches nearly perfectly;
• Even with default cloud textures, the simulation of the various layers and their effects on the visibility aspect of the simulator is astounding;
• The massive level of customization to set it up to your likes and this tinkering does not require you be a rocket scientist!

What I didn't like about FS Global’s Real Weather:

• Nothing to list here folks!

Review by Doug Horton. There are several means of increasing the speed with which computers read and write files. In the simplest case, hard drives have generally included small memory caches, evolving from about 8 MB a few years ago to 64 MB on newer hard drives. Some hard drives incorporate faster rotation speed. Presently, there is increasing use of SSDs for operating systems, applications, and data storage, and until SSDs take over all storage tasks, there are several means of using SSDs to cache large hard drives.

From Webster’s online dictionary: “CACHE – a computer memory with very short access time used for storage of frequently or recently used instructions or data —called also cache memory.”

In this article we test three caching Solid State Drive (SSD) products, which merge an existing hard drive on which the Windows operating system and/or other programs are installed, with a small, fast SSD, by means of software that also manages the caching function. Testing includes sample SSDs from Corsair, Crucial, and OCZ, all of which use brand-related versions of Dataplex software from NVELO to facilitate and manage the caching process.

Corsair Accelerator Caching SSD

The Corsair Accelerator product is offered in three sizes of SATA II SSDs: 30, 45, and 60 GB. The Corsair 60 GB product, which was tested for this review, has 55.9 GB available for caching, which is close to 1000 times greater than the 64 MB furnished on newer hard drives.

Corsair’s Accelerator 60 GB caching SSD

The Accelerator packaging is quite compact, and as with competitors’ models, it’s furnished with a 2.5” to 3.5” adapter bracket. The package includes compact instructions in multiple languages, though I was disappointed to note that the Dataplex key code is located on one side of the SSD, in very small type, and the instructions suggest you write it down. That advice should be followed, because if you mount the SSD to the bracket, the key code will be hidden because the screw holes are only on one side of the SSD.

Crucial Adrenaline Caching SSD

The Adrenaline caching SSD product is produced for the Crucial brand of SSD manufacturer Micron. This product is offered in a nominal size of 50 GB, with a SATA III interface. It’s provided in a two part package with the SSD and Dataplex key in large print on a separate card in one box, and in the second box, a 2.5” to 3.5” adapter bracket, screws for the bracket, and a SATA cable.

The Crucial Adrenaline kit includes SSD, Dataplex key on card,
mounting bracket, and SATA cable.

Crucial suggests that you: “Upgrade your Windows® 7-based PC with Crucial Adrenaline to start up twice as fast and boost data access speeds by up to 8 times.” Using a stopwatch and PCMark Vantage, we’ll see what results we obtain with a recently constructed test system.

OCZ Synapse Caching SSD

The OCZ Synapse SSD series includes both 64 GB and 128 GB SATA III models. According to OCZ, the Synapse SSDs are optimized for caching applications, to provide users with SSD-level performance across the entire capacity of the Dataplex-linked hard disk drive (HDD). It’s interesting that only about half of each Synapse SSD is available for caching, as indicated in this statement from OCZ: “In the case of the Synapse SSD, 50% NAND flash “over-provisioning” is used to accommodate performance and software features.”

OCZ Synapse 2.5” SATA III caching SSD

Caching SSD Installation with Dataplex Software

Because the three reviewed products all use Dataplex software, the installation procedures are the same for each. Following instructions in the product packages, go to the manufacturer’s websites to find additional instructions, if provided, and then register the software with the key numbers provided with the respective SSD. Then, initiate downloading the latest version of Dataplex software in a Zip file that is customized for each manufacturer and its product(s).

Unzip the Dataplex software into a convenient folder, and then find the Install.exe file in that folder. Right-click the Install.exe file and click Run as Administrator. After introductory and EULA agreement screens, you’ll see a screen on which to enter your key.

Dataplex installation user interface 1

That will be followed by a screen with list boxes that display the choices of target and caching drive. The Cache Drive list box shows the SSD memory available for caching, which in this case is 59.6 GB, though the nominal capacity of the Crucial Adrenaline SSD used in this example is 50 GB.

Dataplex installation user interface 2

After pressing Next, Dataplex software will be installed, the SSD will be merged with the HDD, and the next screen will provide a Finish button to press. After rebooting, the caching drive will begin to accumulate cached files.

Dataplex installation user interface 3

Test Platform

Here is the computer hardware test platform that was used for trying out the caching SSDs for this article:

• Lian Li PITSTOP DIY test bench – in place of enclosed case
• Intel DX79SI Extreme motherboard, with SATA III connectors
• Intel i7-3820 socket LGA2011 processor, overclocked from 3.6 to 4.0 GHz
• Intel Thermal Solution (liquid cooler) model RTS2011LC
• Corsair Vengeance 2 x 4 GB 1600 DDR3 memory
• EVGA GTX 560 graphics card
• Hitachi 1.5 TB SATA III hard drive

Test Results

The three caching SSDs were tested separately for five test runs each, using the simple FSXMark07 benchmarking procedure, which was highlighted in my previous article on AVSIM Online. Additional tests were also conducted, and the complete list of tests for each SSD follows:

• Windows boot time, from pressing computer On button, until main desktop screen appeared
• Time to load the FSXMark07 test flight, from clicking a taskbar shortcut to the FSMark07 flight file, until the cockpit and scenery appeared on the monitor.
• FSX framerate performance, as measured with the FSXMark07 procedure and FRAPS for counting framerates, as described in readme file for FSXMark07.zip, available from the AVSIM Online file library
• PCMark Vantage: Gaming Test
• PCMark Vantage: HDD Test Suite

Test results for caching with Corsair, Crucial, and OCZ products are shown below. Data in Bold Blue type indicate the best performance for each test of each product.

Corsair

*Best times in blue

Crucial

*Best times in blue

OCZ

*Best times in blue

Caching Performance Summary

There are measurable improvements in Windows 7 Home Premium booting time, though the change is not very much because part of the booting time is the fixed time of the Power-On Self Test (POST), which is unaffected by caching. For FSX, there was a 37-41 second reduction in startup time to load the FSXMark07 test flight, though as expected, there was no increase in FSX framerate performance.

The lack of improvement in FSX framerate performance is explained by the fact that FSX is well known to be “CPU-bound” by the large number of ongoing calculations the processor must make during flight, and caching can only improve file reading and writing. On the other hand, with fewer processing tasks, such as in the PC Mark Vantage benchmarking tests for Gaming and HDD (hard disk drive) test suites, there is a significant improvement from file caching.

It is surprising to see that for one of the sample SSDs, results after run three are slightly less than for run two. I did not do enough tests to fully explain this, though it may be related simply to statistical variance.

Availability

At time of writing, some of the products reviewed above seemed to have limited availability. This may be due to continual decreasing prices of larger capacity SSD’s that might be used as primary drives, in place of hard drives. With an SSD as the primary hard drive, higher read and write speeds are built into the SSD, so supplemental caching is unnecessary. However, according to a representative of one of the companies providing samples for this review, their caching SSD was simply a standard SSD with caching software.

NVELO Dataplex Software

Here are more details about Dataplex caching software for readers interested in the technical aspects of the combined hardware/software solution described in this article. The Dataplex software is from NVELO, and according to their descriptions, there are two Dataplex options for use in client computing:

“For professional video and graphics production, software development, CAD/CAM, and gaming, Dataplex utilizes a “Write-Back” caching policy to deliver maximum performance and endurance for heavy end-user workloads. In this mode, both system Reads and Writes are cached, and the ideal MLC or SLC-based cache SSD would typically be in the range of 32GB to 128GB depending upon use.

“For notebooks and tablet computing, Dataplex uses a “Write-Around” caching policy, which caches system Reads, and can utilize MLC-based SSDs with as little as 16GB capacity for cost reduction, while still delivering 4-5x performance over HDD’s, and maintaining multi-year endurance requirements.”

In terms of compatibility, NVELO indicates that Dataplex caching software supports:

• Any Intel and AMD platform
• No Chipset limitations
• All SATA modes: IDE, AHCI, RAID
• Existing drivers: MS AHCI, Intel SRT, and AMD
• SATA2, SATA3, mSATA, or PCIe Interface
• SLC or MLC SSDs
• No SSD capacity limitations
• Write-Back and Write-Around cache policies
• Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) tested

In earlier versions, Dataplex would only cache the boot drive. With later versions, Dataplex adds support for caching a secondary target drive instead of the boot drive. There are caching SSD products from at least two other SSD suppliers that also use Dataplex software to enable hard drive caching, including EDGE and Mushkin. Details can be found on NVELO’s home page.

There’s one other important concern to discuss. During my testing of SSD caching with Dataplex software, I experienced two “blue screen of death” (BSOD) crashes of Windows 7 Home Premium. On startup from such interruptions, the Dataplex software is designed to intercept the computer re-start, offer choices on how to recover, and manage the recovery. I did not have good luck with this process when using an earlier version of Dataplex, and in one case, I had to recover the hard drive from a backup drive, using my Norton Ghost backup.

Dataplex version 1.3.0.0 was current at time of writing. Here are the release notes, with descriptions of incremental revisions. In December 2012, NVELO was acquired, becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Subsequent to the testing above, I’ve tried out Intel’s Smart Resource Technology (SRT) as a method of SSD caching of hard drives. The SRT feature is native to many newer motherboards, such as with Z77, Q77, H77, Z87, Q87, and H87 chipsets. After experiencing BSOD or other Windows crashes on a few occasions after enabling SRT caching, the SRT feature intercepted Windows restarts and managed orderly recoveries from the crashes. There’ll be more on SRT caching in a subsequent article.

Review by Doug Horton. When it was unclear whether Microsoft would resume development of its Flight Simulator product line, many users hoped that a new flight simulator product might appear on the horizon, and I shared this hope. Though it was comforting to learn that Microsoft had assembled a team and announced the new Microsoft Flight product in 2011, I learned about the same time of Lockheed Martin’s Prepar3D® (pronounced “prepared”) flight simulator software. Many Flight Simulator users have wondered what this product is, and how it compares to Flight Simulator X.

The simple answer is “very similar, yet different.”

Background

A few years after Microsoft Flight Simulator X was released in 2006 and updated in 2007 with SP1 and the Acceleration Pack that includes SP2, Microsoft made the decision in early 2009 to disband the ACES studio and cease their further development of the product. Flight Simulator fans, including this reviewer were highly disappointed. At the time, it appeared that any further evolution of the product would have to be made by add-on developers, though it was well known that the basic structure of FSX would limit evolution in many ways, not to mention possible licensing and trademark issues of any third-party modifications of the product.

When “Microsoft Flight” was announced in 2011, Flight Simulator fans were hopeful, but in early 2012, the flight simulation community was surprised, no, shocked, to learn that Flight was truly a computer game, not an updated version of the Flight Simulator product series. More surprising was learning about some of Flight’s limiting features:

The product was downloadable at no cost, but initially, it provided only very limited scenery (the big island of Hawaii) and a few aircraft. Users needed to accomplish tasks to earn and/or pay to download additional aircraft and scenery. Even after a few additional aircraft and scenery became available, flying was limited to the Hawaiian Islands.

The file structure was completely closed, there was no SDK, and the product was closed to the large community of free and commercial add-on developers that had been fostered by Microsoft and Flight Simulator fans.

There was no backwards compatibility with aircraft, scenery, or any other features of previous versions of Flight Simulator.

It was no surprise to learn only six months after its release that Microsoft discontinued development, marketing, and support of the Flight product, though at time of writing, it appears the product can still be downloaded.

Fortunately, during this period, another product was being developed as an evolution of Microsoft’s commercially licensable ESP™ product, which was a development platform based completely on its sibling FSX. With recognition that Lockheed Martin had been licensed to update and evolve ESP in the form of Prepar3D®, and the subsequent announcement of alternative licensing and pricing categories, Prepar3D might be the “virtual successor” of FSX for some users.

Though many of its users think of Microsoft Flight Simulator as a hobby-oriented program, many users are also student and certificated real pilots. This audience is aware of the large commercial market for hardware and supporting products that work with government agency approved aviation training devices. There are many types of these devices, with different levels of approval for training credit, including separate approvals for different countries.

Many flight training devices that are not approved for credit are still quite valuable and have been proven to help with flight training experiences and progress, in many cases shortening the time required for training in real aircraft. Professional, private, and student pilots can use Prepar3D to rehearse flight plans anywhere in the world and in any kind of weather. Pilots can also use Prepar3D for flight training, to practice aircraft procedures and to safely evaluate the effects of their decisions.

Prepar3D default startup flight, in Mooney Bravo G1000, virtual cockpit view, lined up on Norfolk Naval Air Station (KNGU) runway 10

Licensing Issues

A significant issue for manufacturers, purchasers, and operators of aviation training devices is that Microsoft Flight Simulator X is licensed only for personal use. To provide a commercial development platform, Microsoft adapted FSX and released their ESP™ product, which was described at the time of its release as “a visual simulation platform that brings immersive experiences to training and learning, decision support, and research and development modeling for government and commercial organizations.”

The difference between FSX and ESP was that ESP could be licensed for commercial use, such as for use with approved aviation training devices. At the point in time when ESP was released, it was FSX by a new name and licensing agreement, minus many of FSX’s features, such as downloadable weather and many of the default aircraft, for which there were separate licensing issues.

Though release and licensing of ESP seemed to solve the licensing issue of FSX for commercial and government use, dissolution of the ACES team at Microsoft removed technical support of ESP as well as FSX. What to do? The answer was provided by Lockheed Martin’s Global Training and Logistics business unit, which supports many government owned and government approved training devices and programs of various types. Thus, Lockheed Martin’s license allowed further development of an ESP-based product, such as adding the new water features, with rights to distribute the product for aviation and related training.

Features

In operating Prepar3D for this review, I found the product to be very closely related to FSX, though there are many changes. The product website, listed these initially provided features:

• Living World (highway traffic, boats/ships on lakes and oceans, livestock, wild animals, etc.)
• Customizable, data driven graphics and models
• Whole Earth WGS-84 model - the reference coordinate system used by the Global Positioning System.
• Accurate topography with regionally and culturally appropriate textures
• Modifiable real-time weather system, continuous time of day, seasons, and a variety of lighting effects (but not downloadable weather – static or dynamic)
• Realistic Air Traffic Control (ATC)
• Expandable library of vehicle models

The list above reads almost the same as the feature list of FSX, but there are a many notable upgrades and updates, including:

• Expanded hardware controls, allowing up to 32 axes and 128 buttons
• Updated 10 million 1 km land class tiles
• Added high-resolution Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. area
• Upgraded user interfaces, for richer user experiences
• Increased screen size of user interfaces, for improved viewing on increasingly larger displays
• Added multichannel support, to provide a wider field of view with multiple displays and memory of multiple monitor settings (discussed in Part 2 of this review)
• Added sensor view capability
• Added global bathymetry, to provide water depths
• Added global dynamic water surface, including seeing through the water surface
• Upgraded panels and gauges system – C++ gauges now support DirectX
• Enhanced SDK documentation and code samples, including Visual Studio Developers Guide and DirectX gauge sample

Aircraft

There is a growing number of aircraft in Prepar3D. In the initial release, these flyable aircraft from FSX were provided:

• Maule Orion: two models in eight liveries
• Mooney Bravo: two models in three liveries, including G1000
• Piper J-3 Cub: in three liveries
• Robinson R22 Beta II: in three liveries

As a new concept for Prepar3D, the following vehicle was added:

• I.W.E.B. Neptune SRM (mini-submersible), in one livery - see Underwater Operations section below.

The accompanying image shows the improved and larger Select Vehicle user interface.

Select Vehicle interface, showing Manufacturer list and thumbnails of multiple selections

Prepar3D also includes several FSX aircraft, as non-flyable (AI) aircraft in the original release version, which fly preprogrammed flight plans, similar to the same feature in FSX:

• Beech Baron 58, in four liveries
• Beech King Air 350, in four liveries
• Bombardier CRJ 700, in four liveries
• Airbus 321, in four liveries
• DeHavilland Beaver DHC2, in three liveries
• DeHavilland Dash 8-100, in three liveries
• Grumman Goose, in seven liveries
• Lear 45, in two liveries
• Piper Cherokee 180, in three liveries

To have a look at the provided AI aircraft, I selected Las Vegas McCarron airport KLAS, and then I slewed to the general aviation and maintenance side of the airport. The AI aircraft are obviously very similar with what we’d see in FSX.

AI aircraft in Prepar3D, at Las Vegas KLAS McCarron airport

Lockheed Martin has continued to pursue licensing of aircraft for operations in Prepar3D, and additional aircraft have been added in update release versions 1.1, 1.2, and 1.4, to be described in subsequent articles in this series.

One of the reasons for a reduced number of default flyable aircraft and other vehicles in Prepar3D is that many commercial and government training organizations develop their own versions of training vehicles, whether for operation in the air, on land, or in water, including underwater!

Compatibility

Prepar3D is fully compatible with default and add-on aircraft and scenery from FSX, and on a case basis, from earlier versions of Flight Simulator. To test compatibility, I tried and successfully added a few FSX aircraft and scenery to Prepar3D:

• I copied the Bombardier CRJ 700 files from (my FSX folder)\SimObjects\Airplanes, to (my Prepar3D folder)\SimObjects\Airplanes, overwriting as necessary, to convert this aircraft from AI only in default Prepar3D, to fully flyable. Though I have not confirmed with all aircraft, this will likely work for all aircraft that are flyable in FSX but initially AI-only in Prepar3D.

Bombardier CRJ 700, copied from FSX to Prepar3D

• I used the Scenery Library Editor in Prepar3D, to add free scenery and parked static aircraft for my home airport, Chicago, Aurora Municipal (KARR), from developer Kevin Burns’ website.

FSX scenery for KARR, by Kevin Burns, added into Prepar3D Scenery Library

• I copied the FS2004 Cessna Skylane 182S from (my FS2004 folder)\Aircraft to (my Prepar3D folder)\SimObjects/Airplanes.

Cessna Skylane 182S, copied from FS2004 to Prepar3D
(in livery of reviewer’s partnership airplane)

• I copied the FSX Cessna Skyhawk 172 from (my FSX folder)\SimObjects\Airplanes to (my Prepar3D folder)\SimObjects\Airplanes

Cessna Skyhawk 172, copied from FSX to Prepar3D

Note that when copying aircraft folders from FSX to Perpar3D, it will be necessary to move gauges if these files are in the \Gauges folder. Some gauges are in the aircraft container folders and are moved with the aircraft.

Many add-on developers have made their products compatible with Prepar3D, often providing dual installers for FSX and Prepar3D. The accompanying image shows the AI aircraft screen image as above, except that FSDreamteam KLAS scenery is installed and enabled for comparison.

AI aircraft in Prepar3D, shown at FSDreamteam’s Las Vegas KLAS McCarron airport

Underwater Operations

An interesting new capability in Prepar3D is operating vehicles underwater, such as with the furnished Neptune submersible. As a former U.S. Navy submarine officer, who became a flight simulator and private pilot many years later, this is a very interesting feature!

To explore “flying” the furnished Neptune submersible, a saved mission is provided, with customary interface, though there are no mission prompts or dialog. There is control panel in the Neptune, though the mission interface does provide a keystroke guide for controlling the submersible. Think of the provided view as riding in the submersible with your face looking through a view port, with your hands out of sight, operating the vehicle’s controls.

The mission experience begins with the Neptune on the sea floor about 200 feet underwater. Increasing the speed and pitch attitude causes the sub to lift from the bottom, and if you climb toward the surface and head in the correct direction, you can see the bottom of the host ship above. There’s a wrecked ship on the bottom somewhere in the vicinity, though I haven’t found it yet.

This is a fun new way to “fly” and it provides a very different view than is possible in other aviation simulation products. It’s also very different from my experience many years ago as a submarine officer for 10 years, as there were no view ports to allow viewing the ocean around us.

Neptune submersible on ocean bottom at beginning of mission

If you drive the submersible to the surface, you’ll see an interesting view, which sets the water modeling in Prepar3D apart from the water in FSX. It appears that the external view moves up and down, above and below the surface, by simulated wave action, allowing you to alternately see the top of the submersible above the water and the lower parts of the submersible underwater. Interesting!

Neptune submersible viewed from above glass-smooth water, showing both reflection of upper structure and water transparency

Neptune submersible viewed from slightly below water level,with reflection under the water surface

Part 2

Part 2 of this review will published on AVSIM Online a few days after Part 1 is posted, to include the following sections:

• Operation with Multiple Monitors
• Water System and Settings
• Other Observations
• Performance
• Planned Graphics and Performance Upgrades
• Summary

Introduction

Review by Marlon Carter. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to review the Airnav Systems RadarBox, which is really a home based radar device that allows you to track flights in your immediate area. For a fee, you are also able to connect to a network that displays information from other RadarBox users. Since then, Airnav systems has released RadarBox 3D which is much the same as RadarBox Pro with the exception of having 3D flight tracking, a Google Earth interface and has over 600 models/liveries included. This is the review I wrote of RadarBox.

Building on this concept, Airnav Systems has recently released RadarBox24. What is RB24 all about? To answer these questions and more about this tool, I had the opportunity to have a short interview Andre Brandao who is part of the development team at Airnav Systems.

AVSIM - What is RadarBox24 all about?

Andre –Basically RB24 was developed by Airline Pilots and other aviation professionals. It is our objective to bring aviation related features including FIR overlays and other technical flight information to a world where there are already too many flight tracking websites. This way we really hope this brings some difference and innovation to the current online flight tracking solutions.

We believe this has been a success as over 10 thousand accounts have been created in just 3 months.

RadarBox brings some unique features:

- Real-time flight information including flight number, origin, destination, altitude, speed, heading;

- Aircraft photos and history (latest flights done by a specific tracked airframe);

- Over 30 layers including cloud coverage, airspace boundaries, airways, runways, airports and navigation facilities;

- Real-time alerts: every time an aircraft squawks an emergency code it is automatically detected by our system and shared with users on the site and on our Facebook page;

- Area Events: automatic alerts for any aircraft landing or taking off from any airport worldwide.

AirNav Systems (the company behind RadarBox24) has been in the flight tracking world since 1997. 5 years ago we released the first fully integrated (all solutions, software, network and hardware in a single package) ADS-B flight tracking solution. It was named AirNav RadarBox. 5 years later we have RadarBox available on the web and soon on tablets and mobile phones as RadarBox24.

Our company is a leader in flight tracking software and hardware with over 30 thousands customers, from airlines to airports and aviation enthusiasts.

There are currently over 10 thousand ADS-B units streaming data to RadarBox24, from all over the world. We offer free RadarBox units for areas not yet covered but also accept non-RadarBox ADS-B unit owners the possibility of sharing data with our servers.

AVSIM - What prompted AirNav Systems to develop Radarbox24?

Andre –We want to have a centralized flight tracking solution available in all platforms: iOS, Android, Web and PC.

In addition we also develop the decoding hardware. This enables us have a serious quality control over our product as we are the owners of all the stages of the flight tracking systems: hardware decoder, network processing and client software.

AVSIM - What are the benefits of using Radarbox24 vs. other services available online?

Andre –Unlike other already available online and mobile flight tracking solutions, RadarBox24 has been developed by aviation professionals: this means that we wanted to add a professional side of things to the system. In addition RadarBox24 belongs to AirNav Systems ecosystem of applications where all were developed by the same team thus guaranteeing data accuracy.

AVSIM - What future develops are in store for Radarbox24?

Andre – In 2 months we will release RadarBox24 iOS apps (iPhone and Ipad), after that Android. We also have many new ideas for the web version of RadarBox24. In addition we've just entered the professional market using our brand new "RadarBox24 Professional Fleet Manager"

Here is a presentation on the features related to Radarbox24 Professional Fleet Manager

While the interview was not very lengthy, I think that most of what RB24 does is summarized quite nicely. If you would still prefer to find out more information about this service, have a look at the chart below.

As shown in the chart above, this is quite an innovation service and by the end of this review/commentary, we will see whether or not this service will be of benefit to you the readers.

Summary of Service

From the moment that I first saw RB24 I wondered; how does this really work? It may seem complicated from your initial viewing of the website, but really it is quite simple once you understand the way in which RB24 works. One of the first questions you may have about RB24 is whether there are any fees or monthly subscriptions. Thankfully, RB24 is available to the public free of cost. In fact, you can enjoy more of its features by creating your own free account.

A point of interest is that RB24 does not cover only the USA. AirNav Systems receives flight data from both RadarBox ADS-B receiver stations and directly from the FAA Radar System and is allowed to display this data on flight tracking devices. Data coming from the FAA (green aircraft label) has a 5 minute delay and ADS-B Data is real-time (yellow aircraft label). You can see the level of worldwide coverage anytime.

This link not only shows the areas that are covered, but it also shows the location of Real-Time sharing stations around the world. It may be quite surprising to see just how many stations there are and how diverse the locations can be. Bear in mind however, that this does not show ALL RadarBox users. It simply shows RB users who are online at present.

Given the fact that RB24 also displays data from the FAA, it means that there will never be a boring moment due to a lack of RB users being online, and there is no traffic to be displayed. Even with a 5 minute delay, the information is still very much useful. One of the features of RB24 that I liked the most is the period updates that display when aircraft from around the world are in an emergency situation.

For example, if a flight is showing a squawk code of 7700, this means that an aircraft is experiencing a Medical or Technical emergency. Features such as this are useful to enthusiasts who are eager to stay up to date with the operations of airlines around the world. What is even more useful is that you can receive these updates via your Facebook page by connecting to the radarbox24 Facebook page.

A few weeks ago, when there was a tragic incident involving a 747 cargo aircraft, the alert on RB24 was quickly posted. This shows that RB24 is very dynamic and very active and up to date with what’s going on around the world.

An interesting feature of RB24 is that data can be accessed through your Iphone or Android device. This is an extremely handy option since most of us are always on the go and are not always able to sit for more than 5 minute to simply log onto a website to track flights. For hard-core enthusiasts and perhaps more so for professionals, a lot of time can be saved by using these options as a means of tracking flights.

Finding your way around RB24 is very convenient in that you get to filter the data that is displayed on your screen. The first filter allows you to select flights based on altitude, speed or ADS-B aircrafts only. The Map can also be adjusted to filter aircraft labels, animation of aircraft icons, flights on the ground and much more. As far as the map layers are concerned you will have the ability to display Clouds, weather radar, ATC boundaries, NAVAIDs, Waypoints and Routes for various regions of the world.

By clicking the 3 white stripe icon to the top right of the screen, you are able to access more options to RB24. Some of these options include links to the forums, and further information on RB24 and apps that can be used with mobile devices. The apps section is not complete at the moment but as soon as these apps are available, information on this option will be made available in this section.

To sum up this review, I am sure you may be wondering whether or not this is all relevant to FS enthusiast. The short answer to this question is yes depending on the level you are at. RB24 was developed by aviation professionals to allow users to have easy access to flight information and to track flights worldwide. If you are the type of FS enthusiast who relish the thought of completing a realistic flight based on a real world operation, RB24 may be helpful in finding information on flights you would like to fly.

This means that you will even be able to find information not only on commercial flights, but on just about ANY flight you can think of once tracked by RB users or the FAA. The accuracy of the information you will be obtaining is of the best available but if you would like to go even further than gathering basic information, I would recommend that you check out AirNav FS Live Traffic which allows you to have real world flights displayed in your flight simulator.

This product isn’t a record of flight information that is constantly repeated, rather it is a live display of all traffic whether the flights are on time, delayed or cancelled. The subscription for this service may be a bit pricy but if you are bent on having the ultimate real world experience, it may be worth your while.

All in all, RB24 is a great service and it is well worth your time checking out. Whether you are patiently awaiting their mobile apps or you join their Facebook page, RB24 will surely keep you up to date with what’s happening with aviation traffic world over. Why not check it out yourself? 

Review by Doug Horton. I was particularly interested in reviewing these controls because I fly a real Cessna Skylane 182S airplane. I wrote this article a few months before rejoining AVSIM Online, and noting that Ray Marshall had previously reviewed Saitek’s Cessna controls for AVSIM in March 2012, I questioned whether publishing my review made sense.

Fortunately, Reviews Editor Robert Whitwell suggested, “Any hardware review will be welcomed with open arms, even if it's a revisit of something we covered last year. There are always new readers and our dedicated readers who appreciate a view from different eyes.” So, here it is.

Saitek Pro Flight Cessna Yoke

In comparing the Saitek Pro Flight Cessna Yoke, Pedals, and Trim Wheel with the real controls in my partnership airplane, Saitek has done a great job in modeling the look and feel of the real controls. There are some similarities and some differences in the buttons and switches between the Saitek and real yokes, but these are likely because of differences in real Cessna yoke options in different airplane models and generations. Happily, there are enough buttons and switches on the Saitek Cessna yoke and accompanying throttle quadrant to satisfy most users. There are also some small differences in size between the real and flight simulation products, but these are not an issue.

Saitek Pro Flight Cessna Yoke

According to Saitek, their Pro Flight Cessna Yoke System “is engineered to meet the exacting needs of the most demanding flight simulation enthusiast, providing a smooth, authentic, and realistic flight simulation experience.” Features include:

• Accurately scaled yoke handle, as found in Cessna light aircraft
• Durable stainless steel shaft with precision bearings, to provide smooth and predictable elevator and aileron control
• 8-position POV Hat Switch; 3-position Mode Switch; 3 axis levers on throttle quadrant; two buttons, and other switches, as shown in the accompanying diagram

The Pro Flight Cessna Yoke and Throttle Quadrant include many realistic buttons, levers, and switches.

In comparing the Saitek Cessna with a competitor’s model that I’ve been using for years, there’s a great difference in the construction, as well as the “look and feel.” One of the greatest differences has to do with the yoke shaft and bearings, which seem much better engineered in the Saitek product, as well as the shaft being polished metal with the Saitek product, compared to plastic with the competitive model.

Saitek Throttle Quadrant

The Saitek Cessna Yoke package includes the three-lever throttle quadrant, the features of which include:

• Additional switches to configure any combination of throttle, flaps, mixture, or prop speed/pitch
• All three control levers have detents for minimum settings, with below-detent contacts that can be set for actions such as thrust reversing or prop featuring.
• There are also three two-way switches below the quadrant levers that can be set for various functions.

The Throttle Quadrant included with the Cessna Yoke product appears to be identical what has been available separately for purchasers of the original to Saitek yoke product. It’s provided with levers, and its authenticity depends on what model of Cessna airplane is considered. For example, Cessna aircraft such as the Caravan and Citation models do have lever controls for throttle, prop, and mixture, but the numerous Cessna 172, 182, and similar models have push-pull controls, some of which, such as prop and mixture, also have Vernier adjustments.

Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant

Saitek’s TPM product, which is discussed below, might be a better choice for those who prefer push-pull controls, but I’ve kept the lever-type product connected because I simulate flying many different aircraft. With the lever controls, I particularly like using the included switches. I have the throttle’s below-detent switch, instead of default F2 key, set for reverse thrust [Throttle (decrease quickly) in the controls settings], and I have the prop lever’s below-detent switch set for Propeller (feather), which does not have a default setting. The three rocker switches below the levers are easily programmed for landing gear and flaps, among other options.

Saitek Pro Flight Cessna Rudder Pedals

Saitek’s Cessna Rudder Pedals are inspired by designs found in Cessna light aircraft. Construction is solid and robust, and authentic except for slightly smaller size than in real aircraft. Features include:

• Authentic Cessna pedal design
• Self-centering pedals, with adjustable damping
• Independent braking axis for each pedal, for precise control when braking, and for differential braking

Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals

Saitek Cessna Trim Wheel

According to Saitek, their officially licensed Cessna Trim Wheel “brings flight simulation enthusiasts closer to reality than ever before, using the actual trim wheel found in Cessna® 172 Skyhawk and 182 Skylane aircraft.” Well, not quite, but close, as described later. Its features include:

• Unique, two–position desk clamp keeps the trim wheel securely fixed, no matter how extreme the flying conditions,
• Nine turns of revolution, to recreate the genuine Cessna control movement
• Trim Wheel can be mounted either on top or in front of desk or table. it can be attached below and outward from the throttle quadrant, sharing the throttle quadrant’s bracket

Saitek Pro Flight Cessna Trim Wheel

Though the Pro Flight trim wheel is similar to the real Cessna trim wheel, it lacks the pointer and scale found on real elevator trim wheels in real Cessna aircraft. The pointer and scale are important, particularly prior to takeoff, to ensure that trim is set in the proper, marked range. Otherwise, the aircraft might be inadvertently trimmed nose up, which might be left over from a nose up trim setting for landing. If not reset to the indicated range of trim for takeoff, this might contribute to a power-on stall on the next takeoff.

The good news is that the default Cessna 172 in FSX, and the Cessna 182S from FS2004, which can be copied to FSX, have fully functioning and realistic trim scales and operating pointers displays in 2D and virtual cockpit views. In my FSX installation, the elevator trim pointer moves appropriately in both 2D and virtual cockpit views when I move the Pro Flight Cessna trim wheel.

FS2004 Cessna 182S, operating in FSX, with elevator trim wheel, pointer, and scale highlighted

An added bonus is that the Saitek Pro Flight Cessna trim wheel connects with other aircraft models with pitch trim indicators and/or trim wheel displays, such as with the trim wheels of most FSX default aircraft, including with the Boeing 737-800 throttle quadrant, as shown in the accompany image. Moving the Saitek trim wheel causes the 737’s dual trim wheels and pointers to move. Note the green sector for the allowable take-off trim setting.

FSX default Boeing 737-800 throttle quadrant, showing dual pitch trim indicators in the green sector for take-off

Cessna Controls Settings

All Saitek Cessna series controller are compatible with FS2004, FSX, X-Plane, and most other flight simulation programs. They are all compatible with Windows 7, Vista, and XP, 32-bit and 64-bit.

Both the yoke and pedals include an installation disk and brief installation instructions, which include installation of applicable drivers, as well as optional installation of Saitek’s Smart Technology software, which allows precision calibration of the Cessna controls products.

After installation, you’ll find icons for each of the controls in your Windows Notification tray, on the right-hand side of your Taskbar, if you’re running it at the bottom of your screen. Right-clicking each of these will enable you to open controls interfaces for each respective controller, which provide for testing all functions, such as shown in accompanying image for the yoke and throttle quadrant. Note that the throttle quadrant plugs into the yoke and shares its USB connector; hence, a combined settings display.

Controller test interface for Saitek Cessna yoke and throttle quadrant

My real yoke has a microphone press-to-talk button on the front of the left hand grip, and there is a corresponding button on the Saitek Cessna Yoke that could be set for this purpose. In slight contrast, there are two differences on the left-hand grip, from my real yoke, as the Saitek Cessna Yoke has a small eight-directional hat switch, which of course is not part of real Cessna controls, and there is a 4-way rocker switch that could logically be used for control for two axes, to simulate my real yoke, which has only a two-way (fore and aft) rocker switch that is used for elevator (pitch attitude) electric trim control. The Saitek Yoke has both left/right and fore and aft rocker switches on the right hand grip, while my real yoke only a mic button, with no switches on its right-hand side.

I’m very impressed with the designs, functions, and quality, which is very welcome at the current selling prices. Setting up the controls for FSX was simple, because installation of yoke and pedals drivers added appropriate controls settings sections to FSX's Standard.xml file, which were immediately utilized by FSX. On the other hand, I needed to download a driver from the Saitek website for the Trim Wheel, and after running the driver setup file, I verified that moving the wheel was visible on its Game Controllers setting display. Using the usual procedure to set a control axis function, I was unable to see the trim wheel pitch axis detected and appearing in the settings box. Finally, I found an FAQ for setting this function, in the Support section of Saitek’s website, which suggested the following procedure:

• Connect the Pro Flight Cessna Trim wheel and launch FSX.
• Go to Settings > Controls > Control Axis.
• Select "Cessna Trim Wheel" in the Controller type drop down menu.
• Scroll down to "Elevator Trim Axis" and click on "Change Assignment."

So far, so good, and this is the point in the procedure where I was not seeing results. The key is the next step:

Rotate the trim wheel 3-5 times in the same direction until the word "Trim" appears in the assignment box, and then click Okay.

My problem with this setting was that I was moving the wheel up and down, without continuing in the same direction for 3-5 times. After I moved it downward a few times, it registered “Trim” in the assignment box, I clicke Okay, and I was done – another confirmation that it pays to “read the manual,” or in this case, “read the FAQ.”

The FAQ continues with “Depending on how your previous axis assignments were configured, you may need to make additional changes, like making sure that there is not a key assigned or a joystick function assigned to the same axis, (and) delete any conflicts as needed” though I did not need to change or delete any assignments

Saitek TPM System

For those concerned with the accuracy of levers versus push-pull controls, Saitek sells a so-called TPM (throttle, prop, mixture) System. Its push-pull controls seem to be slightly larger than the real controls, and they lack a fine screw (Vernier) adjustments on the prop and mixture controls, as found in real Cessna airplanes.

The TPM also includes nine toggle switches, labeled G1 through G9, which share and extend the control enclosure. I wish that some of these were rocker switches (On-Off-On) instead of toggle switches (On-On) to allow more flexibility in settings, such as for gear and flaps.

Saitek TPM (throttle, prop, mixture) System

Because the TPM System sells for about 75% of the price of combined Cessna Yoke and Throttle Quadrant package, at time of writing, the latter would likely be the choice of most users, particularly in view of the detent and rocker switches that are provided with the quadrant product. An alternative would be for Saitek to package and sell the Cessna Yoke in two versions – one with the throttle quadrant and the other with the TPM.

Summary

The Saitek Pro Flight Cessna line of controls, including yoke and throttle, pedals, and trim wheel, are well-designed and very well constructed assembled. The “look and feel,” as well as the steel shaft and bearings on the yoke shaft, are significantly better than on the long-popular competitive yoke. There are an abundance of buttons and switches on the yoke and throttle quadrant, which can be programmed as desired. I particularly like the detent and associated switches that are activated by moving the throttle, prop, and mixture levers below the detents. These can be programmed easily for setting features such as thrust reversing and prop feathering.

Though it may not have been intentional in the design of the yoke, the flat surface on top of the yoke enclosure is great for placing a mini or even full size keyboard on top. My only wish, as related to modeling accuracy of the trim wheel, would be that Saitek had provided the pointer and scale function that is provided with the real Cessna trim wheel. These are extremely important for setting the proper range of elevator trim for takeoff and other flight regimes. On the other hand, the fact that the Saitek trim wheel operates trim wheel displays in other FSX cockpits, is an added bonus.

Joint review by Doug Horton and Marlon Carter. From the very moment we installed FSX on our PCs, it may have been quite clear that something was amiss. After spending years and hundreds if not thousands of dollars to achieve the best performance on FS9, the performance of FSX brought many “new” PCs to their knees due it’s its heavy use of PC resources.

In a nutshell, we had all moved back to square one and the cycle of constantly upgrading our PCs continued.

While Microsoft was helpful in releasing 2 service packs for FSX that greatly improved the performance, FSX was still plagued with performance issues that went unattended for quite a long time. It wasn’t until a few years ago that a few knowledgeable contributors and members of the FS community began posting “tweaks” and other tips to improving the performance of FSX on even the most average of computers.

Applying many of these tweaks required a somewhat intimate knowledge of FSX and computers in general, but once instructions were followed, the task of applying these tweaks became easier over time. Does this mean that everyone can tweak their own FSX to achieve the best performance? To answer this question there are a number of things we all have to keep in mind.

First of all, many tips and tweaks that are out there were tailored to the contributor’s PC and you or I may not exactly achieve the same results when they are applied to our own computers. Therefore, while many tweaks are available, they may require some adjustments to suit our needs.

To some in the FS community, making these adjustments may be quite easy but if you are an average PC user and you are not familiar with the inner workings of FSX, adjusting your FSX configuration files may pose a challenge to you. 

This is where FSX Booster 2013 comes into the picture. FSX Booster is a utility that automates many of the adjustments needed to achieve the best performance for FSX on YOUR computer. Here is a list of features as provided by the developers.

Features

• Extra Frames from 30% up to 200%
• Ultimate smoothness.
• Blurries Elimination
• Stutters Elimination
• Fibers speed increase
• Terrain textures speed control
• Extra Lod Radius
• Control of High Definition Textures
• FSX messages control
• Hyper Threads CPU’s control
• FSX Process Priority control
• FSX Process turbo control
• Windows Aero Fix
• Backup of original fsx.cfg file
• Free updates

Minimum Requirements:

Windows: XP SP3 / Vista / Win 7 / Win 8 – 32 or 64 bit

256Mb RAM

Flight Simulator X – Service pack 2 or Acceleration pack

Mircosoft's NET Framework 3.5 and above

Latest Version of FSUIPC by Peter Dowson. (Registered or unregistered)

Direct X 9 or later installed

Up and running internet connection for activation of the product.

PDF viewer application for reading the manual.

In addition, here are a few screenshots of what this product looks like and what is has to offer.

Given the fact that the topic of FSX performance is of a sensitive nature with each holding fact to various viewpoints as to what works and what doesn’t, I thought it would be a good idea to interview the lead developer of this product to find out more about its claims and promises.

The following is a brief interview with Babis Delagrammatikas who is the lead developer at Flight Simulator Platform Solutions (FSPS).

1. What lead you to develop FSX Booster?

FSX Booster 2013 is a direct descendant of FSX Booster (now at version 4.x) which started development in September 2008. Since then, PC hardware changed so much that FSX Booster 2013 had to be re-written from scratch in order to be compatible with all current hardware configurations. FSX Booster's (old) main development reason was to finally give an automated FSX tweaking solution to all FSX users.

2. Who is this product targeted at?

It is targeted to all FSX users that don't want to mess with fsx.cfg and spent precious flying time with tweaking, testing, re-tweaking, re-testing and so on. Time is too precious for those who want to really enjoy their Simulator hobby to the max.

3. Given the fact that there are mean helpful tips and free services to optimize your FSX.cfg available, what makes FSX Booster the best choice for FSX users?

There are many forums that mention tweaks for the fsx.cfg file. Fact is that none propose the same values with the other and the reason is obvious: For every user the optimal tweak value is different due to the different hardware. Time consumed in tweaking - as already mentioned - is priceless. Another advantage is that the privacy a locally installed application offers, as there is no reason to report here and there the exact hardware you have.

4. The manuals made mention that FSX booster does many other functions behind the scenes when started before started FSX. Can you tell us more about what these functions are?

Main thing is that the software analyzes the computer's hardware; computes the optimal tweak values, and what their values will be. Running at the same time with FSX also set the threads run correctly, plus some FSX memory hooking we apply in the system. There is also more happening 'back there' but we don't like to comment on these, at this time.

5. What would you say is the cause of persons using this program and not seeing any improvement in their FSX performance? are there other factors to a person’s computer that influences the performance of FSX?

There are only two possibilities:
 

1) User had already applied the correct tweaks with their correct values after many days - even weeks or months - of trial and error procedures and continuing search at forums and sites. So... FSX Booster 2013 cannot do, naturally, something really noticeable...
2) fsx.cfg is so damaged or 'broken' by the continuing tweaking or by misuse , that the application cannot read it correctly in order to apply its own tweaks.
 

As for other factors that influences the (bad) performance of FSX... where to start? Silly AntiVirus suites that slow down your PC in each step, old hard disks with fragmented FSX data, heavy loaded registry that slows the whole PC down, custom FSX traffic applications with sometimes unreal traffic, ATI users that set anti-aliasing from inside FSX and not from ATI Control Panel... The list is endless...

As we can see, FSX booster is really tailored to a specific crowd of people who may not be very knowledgeable or confident in tampering with their FSX settings by themselves. While I do not profess to be an expert on all things hardware and software related, I am thankfully proficient enough to make changes to my fsx.cfg with a measure of confidence in order to test FSX Booster’s automated functions against manual alterations to the FSX settings.

In addition to my own testing, Doug Horton will also be sharing his comments on FSX Booster 2013. If you are not familiar with Doug Horton, he is well known among Avsim members as the “hardware guru.” Given his extensive knowledge of FSX and benchmark testing, Doug will be taking the lead on this subject and will highlight the various tests that were performed in order to determine the validity of FSX Booster’s claims.

At the end of Doug’s comments, I will also offer my own thoughts and experiences while using FSX Booster 2013 and whether or not this is really suited for you. Let’s get started shall we?

We will first of all have a look at Doug Horton’s benchmark test results using FSX Booster 2013.

Review by Doug Horton

To test possible frame rate performance improvement with FSX Booster 2013, I used the popular FSXMark07 frame rate benchmarking procedure. Learn more about this statistically accurate test method by reading my recently published article on AVSIM.

Here's a brief recap of my testing, with the Jetline computer.

Test 1:
- Generate default FSX.cfg, and modify slightly: Turn on AA and Anisotropic, Unlimited frames, trust two added dll's and change wide view aspect setting to True.

- Run five trials of FSXMark07. Average frame rate 36.6

Test 2:
- Start booster and follow instructions in its manual, choosing recommended settings, including almost all Yes's for scenery and traffic mods

- Run five trials of FSXMark07. Average frame rate: 67.7

So, it works, but at what "cost" in terms of display? Inspection of settings indicates:

- Aircraft not casting shadows on itself

- Possibly fewer trees
- Possibly fewer buildings
- Less traffic for ships and ferries, and leisure boats
- Lower water setting

Test 3:
- In booster, say no to scenery modifications, so FSX.cfg is back to default except for tweaks that don’t change display settings.

- Run five trials of FSXMark07. Average frame rate: 37.5 - nearly same as the default performance without the booster settings of 36.6.

Summary of Frame rate performance tests:

The booster offers a convenient interface with which users can make a variety of changes to their FSX.cfg file, including “tweaks” and modifying a few display settings. These changes nearly doubled the tested frame rate in our tests with the FSXMark07 benchmarking procedure.

Though the booster can facilitate an increase in frame rate performance, all of the increase can be attributed to the modified and reduced display settings.

None of the frame rate performance increase is attributable to the FSX.cfg tweaks (not to include changes in display settings). In testing FSX with the tweaks only, there was a slight increase in frame rate performance, but the difference was only 2.5%, which is not statistically significant.

The easiest means of increasing frame rate, in fact, nearly doubling it in this example, is to back off on display settings, such as disabling airplane shadows on itself, reducing the water setting, and reducing the density settings for AI ships and ferries, and leisure boats.

The fsx.cfg tweaks (not including the booster’s changing of display settings) inserted by the booster might have other benefits for some users, such as reducing stutters, but these are qualitative issues, which cannot be evaluated by quantitative measurements such as frame rate performance. For example, some users believe there is benefit in adding the “Memfix” tweak, which is accomplished by the booster. In my testing, there were no stutters or other occurrences that needed to be remedied, possibly because of using an SSD for Windows and FSX, the latter providing very fast loading of scenery elements.

"There's no free lunch" when it comes to increasing FSX frame rate performance. For a given set of computer components, particularly including a given processor speed, increased frame rate performance is achieved by selective reductions of display settings.

Listed below are the tweaks and display settings changes accomplished by the booster if the user follows recommendations in the FSX Booster 2013 manual.

Note that parameter settings denoted by an asterisk (*) are available in the display settings UI, and settings denoted by a double asterisk (**) can be adjusted in six increments in the Autogen density settings on the Scenery tab.

[GRAPHICS]

STALE_BUFFER_THRESHOLD=2147483647 - Added

HIGHMEMFIX=1 - Added

*AC_SELF_SHADOW=0 – default is 1

[Display]

MAX_TEXTURE_DATA=1442 - Added

[Main]

FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.33 - Added

HideInfoText=0 - Added

ProcSpeed=10276 - Added

[PANELS]

VIRTUAL_COCKPIT_TEXTURES_SCALE=1.0 - Added

DEFAULT_VIEW=0 - Added

[TextInfo.2]

AverageFrameRate=1,2 - Added

[DynamicHeadMovement]

HeadMoveTimeConstant=0.000000 – default is 1.000000

[TrafficManager]

*ShipsAndFerriesDensity=7 – default is 40

*LeisureBoatsDensity=5 – default is 40

[TERRAIN]

**TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=1233 - Added

**TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_TREES_PER_CELL=1541 - Added

LOD_RADIUS=5.000000 – default is 4.5

*WATER_EFFECTS=4 default is 7

[BufferPools]

RejectThreshold=126976 - Added

Poolsize=49000000 - Added

[JOBSCHEDULER]

AffinityMask=84 – Added

Here are the changes that users could make in display settings, to have about the same impact of changes made by the booster:

Aircraft tab: uncheck aircraft casts shadows on itself

Scenery tab: change water effects from default of 2.0x Max to 2.0x Low, and reduce Autogen density as desired

Traffic tab: change Ships and Ferries setting from default of 40% to 7%, and change the density of Leisure Boats setting from default of 40% to 5%

Test Rig

Except for the graphics card, the computer system used for this testing is the same as described in the article “Anatomy of a Z77 Computer - Professionally Built for Flight Simulation”.

Previous testing indicated that there was no difference in FSX performance between using an EVGA GTX 680 4GB DDR5 graphics card and the EVGA GTX 660 Ti 3GB DDR5 card described in the article.

ASUS P8Z77-V Pro

Intel i7-3770K, overclocked to 4.5 GHz

Zalman LQ-310 liquid CPU cooler

Kingston Hyper Beast 2 x 4GB 1866 DDR3 memory

EVGA GTX 680 4GB DDR5 graphics card

Samsung 840 Series 250 GB SSD
PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk II 750 Watts PSU

Three Samsung 40" LCD TVs, in NVIDIA 2D Surround, with total resolution of 5760 x 1

Comments by Marlon Carter

The comments and observations made by Doug are pretty much in harmony with my own findings. For my own test run, I was able to test FSX booster using 3^rd party products such as the PMDG 737 NGX, MJC Dash 8 Q400 and Aerosoft’s Diamond DA-20.

My approach was more from the view point of someone not familiar with making changes to their FSX.cfg or to their PC hardware. The conclusion was much the same as Doug’s in that when using all of the functions and features of FSX Booster, there is a very obvious increase in performance but it comes at a cost.

If you are imagining that FSX Booster will deliver killer graphics and performance simultaneously, then you may be in for a rude awakening. In order to give your seemingly slow PC new life, you will have to sacrifice a few display options. Will this sacrifice make the FSX experience unbearable? Not at all.

If you are not fussy on the amount of trees, buildings or traffic that is displayed and you just want FSX to run a bit smoother then FSX Booster may be the tool for you.

The interface provided with FSX Booster makes “tweaking” your settings a simple task that should appeal to those of us who are not confident in making the relevant fsx.cfg changes by ourselves.

While it’s clear that FSX Booster does work, I would like to address the issue where many have complained that they haven’t seen any performance increases. In my interview with the developer, he mentioned a few possible reasons.

One of the issues that was highlighted and I can indeed confirm, is that if you have already tweaked your FSX.cfg file using tweaking tips found on various forums or even using Bojote's automated FSX Tweaking & Tuning Service, there will hardly be any further increase in performance.

On another note, you may want to ensure that your PC is functioning at an optimum level prior to using this product by ensuring you have no viruses, spyware and that you defrag your PC every so often.

In the end, at a cost of $15.75 (13.24 w/o VAT) FSX booster is an affordable and convenient way of tweaking your FSX if you are not comfortable doing so yourself.

At the time of writing our final review, FSX Booster was updated with a few new features but neither Doug nor I had the opportunity to test any changes. FSX Booster may be a good product but it may not be targeted at everyone.

What I Like About the Review Title

• Convenient way of boosting FSX performance without having to tamper with FSX settings on your own
• Easy to use interface
• Well written manual
• Reasonably priced

What I Don’t Like About the Review Title

• While the product works, it comes at a cost due to the reduction in display options. The reduction doesn’t necessarily ruin the FSX experience, but one should not expect to gain the best performance and the best graphics simultaneously with this product.

Review by Mike Cameron. Information for this section was gathered from the aviationconsumer.com & Cessna.com/single-engine websites and the Carenado Quick Reference document. Please forgive me if anything is incorrect because I sometimes found conflicting information depending on the source that I was looking at. 

Cessna’s biggest fixed – gear piston single engine aircraft is really three models, though they are all essentially the same airframe. The 206 family of aircraft was first introduced in 1963 as the 205, with two doors up front and a small rear door on the left side. The engine on this aircraft was a Continental IO-470 and was essentially a fixed gear version of the recently upgraded Cessna 210. The 205 remained in production for two years and 577 aircraft were delivered. 

In 1964, Cessna responded to demand for more of a utility aircraft and introduced the U206 (U for utility) Super Skywagon, with a 285 horsepower Continental IO-520A engine, redesigned wing and included one door for the pilot and big double doors on the rear right side. This aircraft was designed to be a flying pickup truck so even the seats were optional. The 205 became the P206 Super Skylane in 1965 with the “P” referring to “passenger” or sometimes “personal”. The P206 had the same door configuration as the 205 but with the same engine as the U206. The U206 was the more popular of the two. 

In 1967, the U model’s takeoff weight was increased and received a new engine, a 300 horsepower Continental IO-520F while the P206 kept the same engine. Turbocharging became an option in 1966 for both variants utilizing the Continental 285 horsepower TSIO-520C engine. In 1969, Cessna introduced the 207 with a more powerful engine and other upgrades. The P206 was discontinued in 1970 and the remaining U206 and TU206 aircraft were offered as either a utility or passenger model and were renamed Stationair. The 207 was discontinued in 1984 and the 206 in 1986. 

Between 1966 and 1986 the 206 saw many different variations starting with the 206A and culminating temporarily with 206G in 1986. A total of 7000 U206 by serial number entered the market during the production run along with 647 P206’s, the previously mentioned 577 Cessna 205’s and 788 207’s.  

In the mid 1990’s, Cessna decided to start making single piston engine aircraft again. After starting production of the 172 and 182 series of aircraft, the 206 was reintroduced in 1998 as the 206H Stationair. These first aircraft were powered by a 300 horsepower Lycoming IO-540-AC1A engine and was later upgraded to a 310 TIO-540-AJ1A engine and the aircraft was now available as either a non-turbo or turbocharged aircraft. 

The first reintroduced aircraft featured a panel with steam gauges and today the 206H is sold with a modern Garmin G100 glass cockpit system.  The aircraft with the base package is based on the turbocharged aircraft with the steam gauges. The G1000 paneled aircraft is now available as an extension pack for this aircraft. I am going to include the G1000 Extension Pack as part of this review.

Specifications:

Length: 28 feet, 3inches

Height: 9 feet, 4 inches

Wingspan: 36 feet

Seating Capacity: 6

Baggage Capacity: 180 pounds

Maximum Takeoff/Landing Weight: 3600 pounds

Useful Load: 1281 pounds

Maximum Payload: 1264 pounds

Usable Fuel Capacity: 87 gallons

Powerplant: Lycoming 310 horsepower TIO-540-AJ1A turbocharged engine

Range: 703 nautical miles

Takeoff Distance: 1740 feet

Ground Roll: 910 feet

Landing Distance: 1395 feet

Ground Roll: 735 feet

Maximum Operating Altitude: 25000 feet

Maximum Climb Rate: 1050 fpm

VNE –Never Exceed Speed: 182 KIAS

VNO -Maximum Cruise Speed: 149 KIAS or 164 KTAS

VA – Maneuvering Speed:

3600 pounds: 125 KIAS

2950 pounds: 120 KIAS

2300 pounds: 106 KIAS

VFE – Maximum Flap Extension Speed:

(10 degrees): 140 KIAS

(10-20 degrees): 120 KIAS

(20 degrees-full): 100 KIAS

Stall Speed: 54 KIAS

VX – Best Angle of Climb: 69 KIAS

VY – Best Rate of Climb: 89 KIAS

Installation and Documentation

Installation of Carenado aircraft is very easy and should take less than a minute to complete. My installation copy was provided by Carenado and your installation procedure may be different from this one. After purchase you will be sent an email with your account download link, account email and the product serial number. I recommend copying the serial number then pasting it during the install process to avoid typing errors. 

After downloading and unzipping the product folder, double click the “CE2100X” and follow the self-explanatory install process. The file name for the G1000 Extension is “CE2100EPX” and must be installed after the Base Pack because that aircraft is required. Ten PDF documents are included and are located in the “Carenado” folder in the FSX root directory. These documents are the Autopilot KFC225, Carenado GNS530 User Guide, the Emergency & Normal Procedures, Performance Tables & Quick Reference documents for the CT206H, GPS Annunciation Control Unit, Operational Tips & RealityXP Integration, Recommended Settings and the Carenado Copyright.

The Extension Pack includes an additional four documents, the CT206H G1000 Emergency Procedures, Normal Procedures, Performance Tables and a Carenado G1000 Users Guide. One document that is missing that would be helpful for new or inexperienced flight simulator pilots is a panel layout document with a brief description & FSX operation for the non-basic instruments that were not already covered in the above documents. 

I printed out the Autopilot, Normal Procedures, Quick Reference, Recommended Settings and GPS Annunciation Control Unit documents so that I could refer to them when installing and operating the aircraft. For the G1000 Extension I printed the Normal Procedures because the G1000 Panel has different procedures & switches then the steam gauge panel. Even though I think the G1000 Guide is exactly the same as the one included with the TBM 850, I printed it again so that I could reference it with all of the other documents for this aircraft. 

I did not adjust the FSX & aircraft realism settings because I already have them adjusted to my preference. The first time that you load one the CT206H aircraft in FSX you will be prompted to “Run” or “Don’t Run” by the Microsoft Security Alert System, select “Run” to install the gauge then select “Yes” in the next dialog window. Repeat this process as necessary. Also, the first time that you load each of the aircraft a descriptive window will be displayed explaining knob & switch operation.  

Service Release 1 has just been released to address some post release issues, log in to your Carenado account to download. If you purchased and downloaded after June 9^th 2013, the update is included in the installer. If you purchased the aircraft from another vendor contact them about the update.

First Impressions

Normally this is where I would review the interior features and will still comment about them here but decided to rename this section because I want to try to comment on what my first impression of this aircraft is after loading it into FSX. 

This Cessna 206 has a nose high attitude so unless you adjust your eye point position you will not be able to over the top of the panel when seated in the pilot seat. Also, from the default view you can barely see the top middle left seat but the right front seat is not obstructed and the right middle seat is only partially obstructed when viewed from the pilot seat. I have heard this may be a characteristic of the real 206 and if it is, I can live with it. 

If you are interested in adjusting the default view so that the seat is raised slightly visit the Unofficial Carenado Forum for instructions. I normally do not like to make changes to the aircraft until after I complete the review but will probably apply this one so that I can see over the panel. 

The quality of the seats is the usual Carenado impressive.  I love the tan and brown color of the leather seats and they look very realistic. I just wish Carenado would have included some variety; all of the aircraft have the same seat colors. It also would be nice if there was an option to remove the seats and display cargo in the rear since the 206 is still considered a utility aircraft. 

Interior details are excellent with clear & easy to read labeling, everything is three dimensional, the Operational Handbook is visible in the pilot side pocket and there are some “wear” textures on the rudder pedals and the shoulder harness. Interior lighting is also very good and I like that there are controls for both the cabin and the cockpit.  One alternate interior view is included and is the view from the middle right seat.

Exterior Features

Before moving on to the exterior features, I want to comment on an exterior feature when looking forward from the pilot seat. There are noticeable dings and marks on the rear of the propeller, I like that this is included because it shows that this aircraft has actually been used and is not brand new from the factory. It looks like the propeller is going to need to be replaced in the near future. 

Five liveries are included in the package plus an all-white for aircraft painters. Two additional liveries are included with the G1000 Extension. All of the aircraft are presented in high definition 2048x2048 textures and look fantastic. I like how the sun reflects off of the aircraft exterior. 

Now is a good time to comment on performance. I do not like to post frame rates because everyone’s system is different and a smooth panning operation is more important to me than frame rates. You would think that the T206H with steam gauges would have better performance than the last Carenado aircraft the TBM 850 with its Garmin G1000 glass panel. Unfortunately on my system which is below the recommended CPU setting of 3 GHz, performance was the same or maybe slightly better than the TBM 850 and the recently released G1000 Extension. 

I was still able to pan smoothly around the cockpit unless flying into weather with heavy cloud coverage or operating at an airport that also has a performance impact. I love all of the exterior details that Carenado provides with their aircraft, from small ones like the labels on the prop to detailed gear assemblies, 3D airframe details, and a realistic pilot.

My favorite features are having some engine detail behind the cowling, the detailed filter on the front of the aircraft below the propeller and the option to remove the wheel fairings for landing at unpaved airstrips. All of these things add to the realistic look of the T206H.

The G1000 Extension adds two more aircraft; unfortunately they released this aircraft with a couple of texture issues. The worst issue was severe shimmering from the exterior rivets and on one aircraft the paint does not line up on both sides of the tail for an uneven look. Hopefully a patch is soon released because this degrades the quality of the overall look of the aircraft. 

The static elements that can be displayed by activating them with the Toggle Control window and having the parking brake on are the pitot cover, sights prop and chocks. Another nice feature is when the rear doors are open, you can see the detailed seats. Less realistic and a feature I wish Carenado would start including with their aircraft is to only have the pilot visible when the engine is running instead of at all times, even when the aircraft is parked, engine off and the static elements in place.

Panel

If you like your instrument panels with fancy details such as wood toned trim and other luxury details, then you will be disappointed. After all this is a Cessna single engine high winged aircraft so the panel on the T206H is very basic but very functional. 

From the default view, all of the instruments are large enough to be clear and easy to read. Most labeling is large enough to also be legible except for the very small lettering which is as you would expect. If you zoom in close on the small lettering, though not as clear as the larger lettering is still very legible.

There are four alternate VC views (Right Seat, Power Knobs, Switches and Middle Panel) and two 2D windows (GPS530 & Autopilot) available to use. If you hide the yoke, everything is easy to operate from the default view so I did not use most of the alternate views and windows. The exception is the right seat view, I would zoom in on the GPS to make it easier to operate but it is still close enough in the default view to operate without issue. For the most part the switches on my Saitek Multi-switch panel worked with the T206H but the battery switch would sometimes reset itself which could be a problem and the fuel pump, pitot heat and prop de-ice switches did not work at all. 

This is not a problem because with the yoke hidden all of the switches are within reach when in the default view. Also, the switches are still obstructed by the yoke when using the alternate switch view. I had to adjust my eye point down for an unobstructed view and wish Carenado would have used this view then the one they provide.  

The default GPS530 is a modified version of the default FSX GPS500 and uses the outdated FSX database and procedures. The default GPS and radios do a good job at VOR navigation and ILS approaches.  Navigation tracking and ILS glide slope will be displayed on the VOR 1 indicator and worked as it should.  I might be wrong but before the service pack was installed I thought the VOR 1 indicator would also display the autopilot flight director GPS flight plan track.

I love that the VOR indicators are right next to the radio stack. There is also a NAV2 radio that controls the VOR 2 indicator. If you like more realistic GPS flight planning & procedures, own the RealityXP GNS 530 GPS, Carenado provides an easy way to replace the default GPS with this GNS530.  Simply run the “RXP530” file located in the Carenado CT206H Stationair folder and that is it.  I had two issues after doing this, one minor and one major. 

The minor issue is that there were very small areas for using the knobs on this GPS. This would be especially frustrating in flight. The major issue that I am having is that FSX would randomly crash when entering a flight plan into the RealityXP unit installed. I have a support ticket submitted to Carenado and posted the problem on the support forum. Carenado responded but could not reproduce this issue. I found a workaround for the FSX crash issue, I installed the RXP GNS530 using the RXP tool to add this GPS as a popup window, I then added LinkGPS=On to the rxpgns.ini file to have the flight plan display on the default GPS. Also, after installing the RXP unit, the VOR 1 indicator started displaying the GPS flight plan tracking information. 

A couple of experienced users on the Carenado forum suggested trying to install the GPS into the panel again now that FSX is stable to see this fixes the problem. I did this and FSX did not crash during flight plan entry for the first flight which is good but crashed during flight planning with my next flight which is not good. I even tried rebuilding the FSX.cfg and manually added the GPS to the panel but FSX would still crash during flight planning, usually when trying to find the correct spots to turning the knobs. 

If you do not like instrument panel reflections, this can be turned off with the Toggle_Control window.  You can also turn off the VC windows using this control panel.  I turned off the instrument reflections but left the VC windows activated.

G1000 Panel

Before commenting on the G1000 displays I want to comment on the layout of the G1000 panel.  Because of the large LCD screens that cover most of the panel, some of the switches are located in different areas. 

The electronic displays require individual bus switches to control the avionics instead of a single master avionics switch. These two switches are supposed to work independently but on the Carenado aircraft they operate together. This may be an FSX issue but it would have been nice if the worked independently for realism. 

Similar to the Base Pack, the yoke can be hidden and there are several alternate views for easy viewing of the various controls. I like the G1000 panels that are included with the newer aircraft, the textures & performance are better than the original FSX default aircraft and Carenado has added some functionality over the default G1000 displays. I also like the size of the LCD screens because I can easily understand what I am looking at from the default VC View. 

The G1000 system consists of two screens a Primary Flight Display (PFD) on the left and the Multifunction Display (MFD) on the right. Not all of the real world functions are modeled with this aircraft but there are enough for plenty of entertainment in FSX. The PFD display screen presents a graphical flight instrumentation display (attitude, heading, airspeed, altitude and vertical speed) and replaces the traditional flight instrument cluster.

Across the top of the display are navigation & communication frequencies and the flight plan information. The selected altitude, altitude & vertical speed tape and current barometer setting are displayed on the right side of the PFD display. The center consists of an arrow for the aircrafts current attitude and if a flight plan is loaded, another arrow representing the flight director indicator.

Below the arrows are the heading display and the CDI below that with indicators for GPS, NAV1 & NAV2.  Across the bottom are the softkeys that may have several different displays. 

Also if activated there are small windows that display the dialed heading, course (these have very small lettering and is difficult to read), glide slope, wind information, map and nearest waypoint insets and informational displays. Other than the wind display, I tried to keep these other windows to a minimum for an uncluttered display. The left side of the display contains the airspeed tape & trend, vertical speed and true airspeed displays. Along the left and right sides of the display are various buttons and dials for controlling the various displays as well as the auto pilot controls. 

Carenado only provides a brief description of the PFD controls and displays so if you are new to this type of panel you will need to do some web research.

The Multifunction Display (MFD) primary function is to display a large moving map. The MFD is my favorite part of the Garmin G1000 system. I love that I can actually read the waypoint codes on the map.  The display is large enough for me to see the map information from the default VC view but I like to zoom in on the MFD from the right seat view to make controlling the MFD easier. There are also 2D windows of both the PFD and MFD if you prefer to use them but I like using the VC views if possible. 

The top part of the display contains the navigation & communication frequencies and flight plan information similar to the PFD. The left side of the display contains critical system information that is very easy to read from the default view or my adjusted alternate view. On the left and right sides of the MFD are the controls for dialing the radios, setting the altitude, heading, course & barometer settings, adjusting the map range and for moving between the various pages using the FMS knobs on the lower right side of the MFD. 

Carenado has included the animated knobs feature with this aircraft and is useful but I still had to mouse hunt to find the small + and – in order to use the inner and outer knobs which takes away from the animation usefulness.  Also on the right side of the unit are the buttons for flight planning and the menu page. 

The menu page is supposed to allow you to set the default display settings for the map, traffic, aviation and airways. I would like to have the wind and the topographic map display every time so you would think this where you would setup these defaults. The Carenado G1000 MFD does not remember these settings, you have to set them every time that you load the aircraft which is a waste of time or a bug that I hope Carenado fixes with a patch. 

Across the bottom of the MFD are the softkeys for displaying the various map displays and alternate pages of the G1000 MFD. After selecting one of these primary keys a new selection of softkeys will be displayed for more display options within that group. There is always a “Back” softkey to go back to the previous set keys. 

The default softkeys are Engine, Map, DCLTR (declutter) and CHKLIST. I am not going to comment on all of these settings but am going to concentrate on the various map displays and the digital checklist feature. The Map page contains has several options, Traffic, TOPO, Terrain and Airways. If you have already setup these displays using the Menu button mentioned earlier the labels for these keys will already be highlighted on the MFD screen, if not select one of the softkeys then if available one of the available options. All of these display options may have an impact on performance so you have to determine what is important to you. 

I liked to have the topographical map and the traffic displayed, and on my system there was a slight drop in performance but not enough to not use these display options. I did not like displaying the airways because it cluttered up the map and I preferred the look of the VFR topographical map instead of using the terrain map option. The DCLTR key is useful if you think too much information is being displayed and could also improve system performance. An issue that I had with the Terrain display is that the only way that I could turn it off was by turning off the TOPO display instead of just selecting the Terrain key again. 

The Carenado G1000 MFD includes a digital checklist that you use the FMS knobs and the “ENT” key to use. This is a nice idea but I found it to be more awkward then useful. When you load the checklist, the checklist items that need to be performed are cyan in color. After performing the action in the aircraft, highlight that entry using the FMS knobs then press the “ENT” key. The line item changes color to green and a small green checkmark will also be displayed next to the line item. I personally like to use the printed checklist rather than fumbling around with the FMS knobs in the simulator.

G1000 Flight Planning

Carenado includes manual flight planning with the G1000 Extension but if you are expecting a current real world navigation database then you will be very disappointed. Carenado only uses the default FSX database which is now several years old and they do not provide an option for using the navigation database services that are available today. 

It is pretty easy to use for simple direct to flight plans or maybe a VOR or two in between the departure & destination airports but an issue that I have with the flight planning function is that you have to enter your starting airport first, this is a GPS unit and you would think it should know what airport you are starting from. One thing that I do like about the manual flight planning feature is that after the first character of the waypoint is displayed you can use your keyboard to finish the entry instead of using the FMS inner knobs. 

An even more frustrating issue with flight planning is using the instrument approaches. Again this is using the outdated FSX database so you may be looking at a newer approach plate but you will not be able to load it into the flight plan. Also, Carenado allows you to delete a waypoint in the flight plan but if you have an approach loaded and you try to delete the destination airport from the original flight plan or any waypoint on the approach, it deletes the entire approach which is not very useful.  If all of your aircraft use the FSX database and you normally only fly VFR flights then you can probably live with these issues and you now own a Cessna 206 aircraft with a G1000 panel. 

The Carenado MFD also does a pretty good job for flying an ILS approach using the navigation radios provided that you use an FSX ILS approach. Also, if you can find an external flight planning program that will export to FSX you will possibly gain some updated waypoints. 

As I recommended with the GNS530 GPS above, if you are a serious flight simulator pilot who would like to practice real world instrument procedures, install the RealityXP GNS 530 GPS as a popup window using the RXP Configuration tool and place the LinkGPS=ON in the rxpgns.ini file in the aircraft folder.  This sends the accurate waypoint information to the Carenado PFD and MFD.

Sounds & Animations

As with most Carenado aircraft, the T206H has some impressive sound and animation effects. The engine sounds are impressive; I have not been around the real aircraft so I have no idea how realistic it is. I love that you can still hear the engine in flight (no noise cancelling headset) and that the tone changes when increasing/decreasing the throttle & feathering the propeller.  All of the operable switches have an audible sound effect and I like the subtle sound when operating the flaps.

Animations are equally impressive. My favorite animations are when you open and close the doors. The door handles and hinges move when the doors are opening & closing and look very realistic. The window visors are also animated but are of little use because there are only two positions, up and the exact opposite position which only covers the top portion of the windshield. It would be nice if there was a middle position which covers more of the windshield. 

Carenado also includes the impressive volumetric side view prop effect that allows you to see the animated propeller when viewed from the exterior side view.

Flight Model

I am not a real world pilot so I will be approaching this section from the perspective of a flight simulator enthusiast point of view. It is recommended that you load the CT206H after the default FSX Cessna 172 has been loaded to avoid any lingering settings from a previous aircraft. My default flight is the Cessna 172 parked at Orbx freeware Bowerman Field in Hoquiam, Washington. Carenado provides a wonderful tool that allows you to select the startup state for the Stationair for your convenience. These are cold and dark, ready to fly and no action. 

If I have the time I like to start flight simulator aircraft from a cold and dark state by following the checklist procedures. This is a Cessna single engine aircraft and the startup procedures are very easy, most pilots should be able to memorize the procedures in no time. For the most part everything worked as it was supposed to. 

The G1000 startup procedures are slightly different and I did have some issues with the startup procedures with these models. Some of the instrument readings did not correspond to what the Normal Procedures document said.

This is a very easy aircraft to taxi because of the tricycle landing gear; the only minor issue is the default VC view which was mentioned earlier your eye point needs to be raised in order to see over the cowling. The takeoff and climb procedures are also fairly straight forward but I did have some issues with obtaining the correct settings for takeoff and climb. According to the Normal Takeoff checklist you are supposed to reduce mixture in order to obtain a 34GPH fuel flow. On my system with full power, the fuel flow indicator only displayed about 25GPH so it would be impossible to achieve this figure. 

According to the Climb checklist with manifold pressure set at 30 inches and 2400 RPM, the aircraft should be at 95 to 105 KIAS but on a couple of flights I was only able to reach about 90 KIAS with only about 700 fpm climb rate. On some other flights the airspeeds were within the correct range so maybe something was influencing the airspeed. Also the fuel flow was also incorrect during climb, the checklist said it was supposed to be 20GPH but with the above power settings I was only able to achieve about 17GPH. 

I like to manually fly to my cruising altitude and the T206H is a wonderful aircraft to hand fly. If you like to have the autopilot do the work for you, the installed autopilot works very well and my Saitek Multi Panel also works with this aircraft which I like. I did not have any issues trimming for level flight (maybe a little too sensitive) but like most aircraft you probably will have to make minor trim & yoke corrections to adjust for changing conditions. 

The T206H Stationair has a fast enough cruise speed (my flights it was around 140KIAS) for those short to medium cross country flights and I am truly enjoying flying this aircraft. This aircraft slows down nicely when starting your descent for approach to your destination and I did not have any issues landing this aircraft. I had a lot of fun with short field operations; I just had to remember to take off the wheel fairings. 

This is the first Carenado aircraft in some time that has not had major complaints about the flight model on release. Most people seem to be happy with the flight model. The issue that is being reported is the attitude of the aircraft in flight and experienced users are already making aircraft modifications to fix this issue.  If you are interested in this modification, here is the link to the support forum. Just remember to back up the original files. 

As stated earlier, I am not a real world pilot and have not been in a real Stationair so I do not know how realistic or not realistic this is. Personally, I really have not noticed this attitude issue and am enjoying the aircraft as released other than the default view adjustment to be able to see over the cowling. I usually do not like to make flight model adjustments during the review because I am reviewing what Carenado provides but may use the modification after the review is completed.

Summary / Closing Remarks

I am very glad that I had the opportunity to review the Carenado CT206H Stationair and the G1000 Extension. I have always liked the Cessna high winged single engine aircraft because I was around them more in the real world than other aircraft. When my father was a pilot he preferred these aircraft, I did some private pilot training in Cessna 152s and 172s and when I was a cadet with the Civil Air Patrol our squadron mostly had Cessna aircraft.  So when a new single engine Cessna becomes available for FSX, I need to have a look. 

The Carenado CT206H Stationair certainly does not disappoint. It has the expected quality textures, features, sounds, animations and the flight model is very good on release. The only reported complaint about the flight model is the nose high attitude on the ground and in flight. If you are interested in an updated flight model, visit the Carenado support forum. 

This base package aircraft have steam gauges so system performance is pretty good but oddly it was about the same or slightly better than the Carenado TBM 850 and the G1000 Extension Pack on my system. Unfortunately, I did have some issues with this aircraft. The major issue is that FSX would crash after I installed the RealityXP GNS 530 into the panel with either the supplied Carenado installer or by manually editing the CT206H panel.cfg when entering a flight plan into the GPS. Other users and Carenado could not reproduce this problem so it must something on my system which is a bummer. The good news is that when I installed the RXP GNS 530 as a popup window using the RXP tool, I can enter a flight plan without FSX crashing. 

The other issue that I had with the flight model is that some instruments did not match what the checklist said they were supposed to indicate with proper power and propeller settings. I am not a real world pilot and if outside factors are influencing airspeed then I can certainly live with this. The one instrument that was consistently wrong was the fuel flow gauge; it was always lower than it was supposed to be. 

Even with these issues, the Carenado CT206H is a wonderful aircraft that I am proud to own. I am less impressed with the G1000 Extension Pack. There were some external texture issues and I had some issues with the startup procedures. Also if you prefer a glass paneled cockpit over a steam gauged panel the overall cost is expensive because the Base Pack is required for the G1000 installation. It is still a nice product but it seems that it was not fully tested before release. 

I want to thank Carenado for providing the review copy of the CT206H.  

What I Like About The CT206 Stationair

• Interior & Exterior Textures
• Window Control Panel for Controlling Doors, Instrument & Window Reflections, Static Elements and Wheel Fairings
• Good Sound Effects & Animations
• Good System Performance
• RealityXP Integration

What I Don’t Like About The CT206 Stationair

• FSX Would Crash During Flight Plan Entry with the Reality XP GNS Installed in the Panel (This is only on my system but still prevents full functionality of the aircraft)
• Very Small Areas on the Panel Installed RXP GNS 530 For Turning the Knobs
• Fuel Flow Indicator Always Displayed Lower GPH Than What Checklist Said it Should Be
• G1000 Extension Pack External Texture Issues
• Some Errors with G1000 Startup Procedures

Test System

Computer Specs: Asus G72GX Laptop, Intel Core2 Duo 2.53GHz, 6GB DD2 Memory, 500 GB Serial ATA HD(5400RPM), Nvidia GeForce 260M Video Card with 1GB GDDR3 Memory, 17.3” LED-Backlit LCD Screen, FSX with Acceleration, Opus FSX Weather, Ultimate Traffic 2, Real Environment Extreme Essentials + Overdrive, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick, Saitek Pro Flight Switch Panel & Multi Panel, CH Throttle Quadrant

Flight Test Time: 25 hours

Review by Marlon Carter. So what exactly is UTEM? Well UTEM is the University of Temecula Press Inc. And they specialize in Aviation procedure manuals for aircraft such as the 747,757/767, A320 and 737 Classic. UTEM is operated by Capt. Mike Ray who was an airline pilot for many years.

Previously, I had the opportunity to review some of Mike Ray’s manuals and they are quite useful in teaching simmers how to achieve the most realistic experience while flying their favorite aircraft.

This time around we will be looking at the 737 NG Training Syllabus. With the release of the PMDG 737NGX this training manual will be an invaluable tool to those who already use the NGX and others who are beginners to the world of complex aircraft.

To get a bit more background on this manual I had an opportunity to interview Capt. Mike Ray on his latest 737 NG offering.

1. What prompted you to develop the 737 NG Training Syllabus?

I was motivated to develop the “737ng Training Syllabus” by the almost fanatical interest on the part of the Flight Sim community for this particular airplane, the Boeing 737NG. It seems to me that the arrival of the PMDG 737NGX offered a unique opportunity for ordinary garden variety simmers to experience this airplane with an extremely well researched and presented package for the MSFX and P3D environment.

The iFly version was another beautiful surprise, and although it doesn’t have the same depth as the PMDG product, it represents a terrific opportunity for the flight sim guys to “get their feet wet”. However, the actual operation of the airplane (and simulation) materials and literature on that subject seems unavailable to flight simmers.

Oh sure, those excellent .pdf manuals that come with the sims are filled with great technical stuff and even contain valuable information about some common operational situations; but for me, I thought that there was room for some additional conversation about how it all comes together in the real world. So I tried to introduce some additional material in a way that would lead the sim-pilot through what would happen in a “real world” situation.

2. How accurate is the information presented in this manuals?

The material that is presented in the book is predicated largely on my personal experiences in flying the 737-345 (and other airplanes). The technical details come from actual flight manuals and other reputable sources. The information that I try to pass to the simmers is ALWAYS as accurate as I can make it. What is presented in the “737ng Training Syllabus” is targeted at a “Check-ride” scenario at a Big Airline Training Center. All this stuff does not usually happen on an ordinary flight; but during the check ride … anything can (and does) happen.

3. What aspect of this manual would you like readers to pay particular attention to?

The reader or simmer is invited to address the issue of “what would I do if this happened”. The actual emergency (in the book I use an explosive de-compression at altitude) is not as important as what you do next. There is a whole thought process that brings into play everything that you know during the resolution of the problem. My goal is to address that issue and expose the reader to that thought process.

A flight simmer has ALL the tools in the PMDG simulation and bare-bones MSFX/P3D program to successfully handle any irregular or emergency situation that they can encounter. It is not the specifics of the problem (such as how to shut down an engine) … but the whole situational awareness envelope involved in successfully resolving the situation and getting the airplane safely shutdown on the runway.

4. Can these manuals be of any benefit to real world pilots?

ABSOLUTETY! I would have no problems recommending my book to a “new” 737NG pilot on any airline in the world. While I have directed the MSFX/P3D section towards the flight simmers, in no way would I detract from the realistic and accurate treatment of the problem. What is in the book is what a real pilot would be expected to do!

As always it was nice conversing with Capt. Mike Ray and it is clear to see that he has a lot of interest in simmers achieving the best results from using a flight simulator. This manual is not an unfounded opinion of one man but it basically sums up 37 years of experience within aviation and the major airline industry.

Next, I will be discussing some of the highlights of this manual and whether or not it will be useful to YOU.

Highlights

In a nutshell, the manual is divided into three parts. The first part is more so targeted at beginners, the second part is targeted at advanced simmers who are thrusting for more and the third part focuses on the check ride segment that’s will test your proficiency.

To start things off, Mike Ray talks about the controversial topic of what is “Reality Based Simulation?” One of the statements I couldn’t help but applaud was the fact that default aircraft can only be classified as “Fantasy” based simulation. Since default aircraft (737) will never emulate the realistic systems and operations of the real thing, it would be unfortunate for anyone to think so.

Another area worth mentioning is the concept of light versions of aircraft systems. I couldn’t help but agree that in some respects a light version is pointless (other than the reduced cost) since you may as well stick to the default aircraft if you are not up for the challenge of learning more. He also advises that if you don’t intend to learn how to make full uses of high end reality based programs then you shouldn’t waste your money buying them.

The NGX is by far a very high end reality based program and it is the basis from which this manual was written. With that said, if you fly a default 737 or a 737 with “light” systems then this manual may not be very beneficial. This manual is more so for individuals who are undaunted by challenge of digging deeper in order to learn aircraft systems and flying procedures.

Level One

Level One is aimed at beginners and it focuses on the basic setup of the 737 NG. At the beginning of this segment you will learn how to navigate your way around the NGX cockpit and to set up other features that are contained in the FMS such as fuel.

The next portion discusses many of the displays of the 737 and what each indication means. I personally found this to be beneficial as even experienced simmers may forget what various symbols and indications mean.

Other areas that are covered include the MCP and FMS. The section that covers the FMS should be of particular interest to everyone since it is a feature that many cannot do without. If you are a beginner and a little bit intimidated by the FMS, Mike Ray does a fine job at breaking down the operation of the FMS and also provides an example of how to load a flight plan.

Following this segment you will also learn how to properly setup the 737 cockpit. This includes added details on how to use the (Mode Control Unit) MCP and the ECU (EFIS Control Unit). To conclude Level One, Mike Ray takes us through a thorough tutorial the following:

• Level One Pre-Takeoff Checklist
• How to Takeoff
• TOGA
• Takeoff protocols
• Passing 1000 feet
• At 3000
• Approach Ref CDU page
• Tune both radios
• Arm Auto-spoilers
• Arm Auto-brakes
• Set Lower altitude
• Slow down-Extend Flaps
• Gear down- Flaps 40
• Arming the Autopilot for Auto-land
• Managing the touchdown

The tutorial itself is not very long since it only comprises of a takeoff and landing at YSSY. While this may seem VERY short, it is sufficient to learn the list of concepts listed above. In the end, you will definitely feel more confident to take on the challenges that lay ahead in Level Two.

Level Two

Level Two focuses on an in-depth Tutorial flight from YSSY to YMML. Unlike the short flight in level one, we will be starting off with the aircraft in a cold and dark panel state. This may sound scary if you have never fully set up an aircraft before, but this manual assumes that you are up to the challenge of learning!

The first segment tackles the topic of flight planning in a very comprehensive manner. You will learn how to correctly setup your flights from selecting the airports to route planning (through FSX flight planner) and how to source the necessary charts for your flight. Another important part of your planning is gather weather data.

This manual recommends using REX for all your weather related needs and I am in agreement with this recommendation since REX has proven to be a very good product.

After the planning is complete, it’s now time to bring the NGX to live. The next segment focuses on starting the NGX from a cold and dark condition. If you are not sure on how to select the Cold and Dark option, the manual nicely explains how to do this by means of picture illustration.

The Cold and Dark setup may seem a bit intimidating but through picture illustrations, Capt. Mike Ray will walk you through each step of the Power Up Checklist. After this has been completed, we move on to the Cockpit Preparation Checklist.

For the benefit of those who are not yet quite familiar with the cockpit of the 737 NG, there are graphical illustrations that group and identify various sections of the cockpit and instruments. If you know your way around the virtual cockpit you will be at a tremendous advantage and you will definitely move through this section quite quickly.

As we move through the checklist, I was quite pleased that Capt. Mike Ray was able to provide some commentary on how each checklist item should be carried out and what indications you should look for. One should note however, that the graphical illustrations presented in this manual MAY look different to what your NG cockpit looks like.

This isn’t a shortcut on the part of this manual but it simply is based on the fact that various airlines have different layouts of their cockpit. The PMDG NGX is a very dynamic aircraft in that you can select many of these options to customize your cockpit to suit various airline options. With that said it shouldn’t be difficult to match your simulator cockpit to the ones presented in this manual if you wish to do so.

After the preceding steps have been completed we more on to the loading of the CDU/FMS. In this section you will learn how to access the CDU, CDU Flows, Loading the MENU, IDENT, POS INT and ROUTE pages and a host of other tasks including SIDS, PERF INIT and N1 LIMIT page. To put it bluntly, you will learn all these is to know about the CDU in order to feel confident in using it.

The pushback checklist that follows is very easy to follow and it provides a detailed review of the entire checklist and the flows required to carry them out. Areas of interest that many of you would appreciate are the actual engine start and take off procedures which are very detailed. The “meat” of these lessons come with the after takeoff procedures which extend from After takeoff through Climb and Cruise all the way to Landing.

These sections were extremely informative and I guarantee that you will learn many things you perhaps never knew before or would have taken for granted. Nearly each system of the autopilot is discusses and not just in a “what does this do” method of explanation, but a “how can I utilize this” method of teaching.

One of my favorite sections of the manual discusses how to calculate descent. I have always found this topic to be quite intriguing because in my earlier years of using a flight simulator, I would almost always be too high on my approach or far too low. Even though the NGX has the ability to calculate a TOD (Top of Descent), it is always encouraged that as pilots/virtual pilots you should be aware of how to fly an aircraft manually at any given phase of flight. The descent is a very crucial part of flying and the methods and calculations presented for doing this correctly are spot on!

If you are not comfortable trying it manually, you will also learn how to setup the FMC in a way that will give you radius rings around an airfield or any other fix in order to properly plan your descent. An interesting point that is discussed is the use of VNAV and LVL CHG and when is the appropriate time to use either of these AP functions.

Another point of interest was the section on Extending Flaps. When approaching an airport and you see the UP, 1, 2 indications on the PFD, some have mistakenly thought that this means flap one should be lowered when the speed matches the “1” indication. If this is your understanding of the matter then you are incorrect.

The “1” indication actually shows the MINIMUM speed at which you should operate the aircraft without Flap 1 already selected. The NG manual is filled with interesting facts such as this and it will definitely help you to fly the NGX more accurately.

A final topic that I found interesting was the section on Emergency Descent. While this is not a common occurrence in the simulator, in the real world there may be situations that warrant an emergency descent. I was very pleased to see this topic discussed in great detail since it provides a procedural approach to handling this maneuver with the aid of the autopilot. Other related topics you will find interesting are the discussions on Engine Out procedures, In-flight Engine Shutdown, In-flight Re-start and Diversions.