Stephen Posted May 17, 2017 Report Share Posted May 17, 2017 Helicopter Review : S-92 Sikorsky XP11 by DMO After only a week behind Dreamfoil with their Bell 407, here comes another X-Plane11 compatible aircraft in the DMO S-92. That is great news for the lovers of helicopters and it means more diversity in your vertical flight flying. DMO's version of the S-92 Sikorsky came out in 2014 after two years of development and was a excellent from the start (review : Sikorsky S-92 by DMO Flight Design). This is a heavy helicopter and it takes a few flights to adjust to it's particular flying dynamics. Once you feel and get the right controllability then it is a great machine to fly. I did however approach this X-Plane11 upgrade with a little trepidation. My first forays into X-Plane11 helicopter dynamics were to say the least a little wonky... mostly on takeoff (aircraft trips badly very quickly to the right) and of course landing. But you quickly iron out your rusty feel and learn the new way of countering the forces. I think the new feel is because X-Plane11's thrust ratios are different, but more importantly is that flight model responsiveness is different as is the mass and scale. You have to of course adjust to these new parameters but the XP11 S-92 has also been adjusted to the new modelling as well. But get used to the new feel and it is more realistic. My fears in the end needed not have been so large, because the S-92 does fly and can be flown far easier, more realistic than the X-Plane10 version... in other words it is easier to fly. The DMO' S-92 comes with a huge amount of variants, in fact there is five in the: S-92 S-92 SAR (Search and Rescue) CH-148 (Cyclone) S-92 VIP VH-92 (Marine One) S-92 The standard S-92 is the most popular for passenger or mainly Oil Rig transfers with15 seats. S-92 SAR (Search and Rescue) The SAR version has a NightVision Camera and NightSun Searchlight. The interior is medical with hoist. CH-148 (Cyclone) This is the Canadian multi-role shipboard helicopter CH-148. equipped with devices to search and locate submarines during ASW, and is equipped with countermeasures to protect itself against missile strikes. This version has the SAR interior, but with a console position as well with working (moving) camera display. S-92 VIP The VIP is the executive version of the fleet. Club chairs and lots of nice wood dominate. VH-92 (Marine One) This is Trump's coming new toy. The POTUS is upgrading from the current SH-3 Sea King's to the new VH-92. The interior is very Presidential. X-Plane11 Version The S-92 looks far better in X-Plane11. The textures and maps have been redone to bring the best out of the aircraft. It does look sensational, but the cockpit is still a little dark. Rotor blur has been improved and is more realistic and on rotor slowdown it has been improved with a new plugin function. As noted in the notes... "A new plugin increases the effective strength of the rotor brake, allowing the brake to “stop” the rotors from spinning while the main engines are at idle. Props seem to never quite stop completely in the sim, but they will now slow down to less than 2% of the designed rotor RPM with the rotor brake applied and both engines running." Some engine parameters are now different in XP11, the flight models have been adjusted (namely the starter) to work under these new parameters. as the engine starter from version 1.3 will not successfully start the engines in XP11 Glass is excellent and more highly realistic as also are the metal parts of the aircraft (note the door slider). The APU (single) exhaust appears now on only the left side of the aircraft. There are a new gear deployment sounds, low rotor alarm, master caution alarm if you can hear them above the rotor noise. All new sounds will move to the newer FMOD sound engine as X-Plane11 progresses to the even more better sound to come. The old 2d panel is gone. In reality there is not much use for a 2d panel in helicopters, you need to move and see down (or up) for landings and winch work, so in a way a 2d panel is useless and in reality X-Plane has moved on from 2d panels. As noted it is a very dark cockpit in the S-92, but XP11 features do bring in a little life in here. note the lovely metal switchgear but you do miss the shiny display panel and glass reflections that is on most aircraft now. New XP11 FMS (below) has been installed and the panel pops out... Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) coupled with the Flight Director (FD) is very good (above right), if a little difficult to slip into and then switch out back to manual flight. But you learn and easily master it, it does however save a lot of wrist RSI. The upgraded S-92 also takes in the new XP11 "destruction on crash" feature... “Buying the farm” is now more dramatic than ever... when you go down now, you really go down... if you know what I mean. These big machines are always very dramatic and there is with this version a nice if more complete wholeness feel about the helicopter. Side and rear ramp doors open, but no GPU, which would be nice. Summary In most areas this is a cosmetic overhaul to meet the new X-Plane11 features, as basically the main aircraft, systems and features stay the same. But in noting that the S-92 does feel a lot more fresher, more complete and flies far better as well. X-Plane11 is good to the aircraft and that is not a bad thing at all and that alone should attract more users to fly the machine and undoubtedly enjoy it. I certainly felt more involved with this S-92 far more than I remember with the original. There are a lots (loads) of different variants and liveries (no new liveries in this upgrade), but also no menus or pop outs we use as normal, if you want a certain function you change the aircraft and don't go to a menu... it is that sort of deal. But a menu would be nice as would reflections on the instrument panel displays as both are part of the norm today. Like most new upgrades to X-Plane11 there is an upgrade price if you already own the older versions. In this case the upgrade to X-Plane11 is US$15 and if you look at your original S-92 invoice at the store there is a coupon code to get the upgrade deal. Is it worth the upgrade cost. Well certainly it is as it is a great machine to fly in X-Plane11, to me personally it does feel better in the new X-Plane environment than it did before, so not only is it better in XP11 but I feel you will get more flying use out of the aircraft as well... so that has to be an all round good deal. ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the S-92 Sikorsky XP11 by DMO is now available from the new X-Plane.Org Store here : S-92 Sikorsky XP11 Price is US$24.95 Previous X-Plane10 owners can upgrade to this new XP11 version for only $15. The coupon code for the discount can be found in the original DMO S-92 invoice on your account at the X-Plane.Orgstore. More detailed S-92 details can be found on the original 2014 X-PlaneReview Release Review here: Sikorsky S-92 by DMO Flight Design Features New X-Plane 11 Model Optimized for XP11 Incorporation of the new XP11 FMS New object shading and normal maps, utilizing the new PBR capabilities of X-Plane 11 Added functionality of the searchlight/camera operator's station (in SAR model and CH-148), including an animated camera gimbal and video display in the cabin New and improved alert/warning sounds and landing gear cycle sounds Wreckage objects and crash capability; crashing will now result in flaming wreckage Small 3D object improvements and more efficient texture map references to help maintain fps 5 Variants of the S-92/H-92 Airframe Offshore/Air Taxi, Search and Rescue, VIP/Corporate, CH-148 Cyclone, VH-92 US Presidential Helicopter Features Custom Sounds, Featuring Real Interior and Exterior recordings of S-92 Engines, Rotors and APU. Many Liveries: See Pictures Album Animated Flight Controls, Rotor Hubs and Control Surfaces 3 Variations of Animated Pilots Emergency Floats Detailed 3D Cockpit and Cabin with Animated Switches, Knobs and Levers Interactive Light Controls for the Cockpit and Cabin Animated Landing Gear Retraction and Strut Compression Custom Airfoils Based on Sikorsky Blade Design Realistic Flight Characteristics Anti-Ice Systems and Ice Build-up on Windows in 3D cockpit Animated Cargo Ramp Custom Instrument Panels FMS/GPS - Autopilot Requirements: X-Plane 11 (this model is not compatible with XP10) Windows, MAC or Linux Current version: XP11 v1.4 (last updated May 12, 2017) Installation : Download file size is 221.30mb to your X-Plane - Helicopter Folder. Installed file size is 782.20mb. ______________________________________________________________________ Review by Stephen Dutton 17th May 2017 Copyright©2017: X-PlaneReviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions) Review System Specifications: Computer System: Windows - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - GeForce GTX 980/SSE2 - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD Software: - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.01 Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose Soundlink Mini Plugins: None Scenery or Aircraft - KRSW - Southwest Florida International by Aerosoft (X-PlaneStore) - US$24.95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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