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Janowski J-1B 'Don Quixote' by FJMAero


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Janowski J-1B 'Don Quixote' by FJMAero

 

In the last week, FJMAero released their Janowski J-1B in the Org.Store, offering the X-Plane community another good quality ultralight aircraft. The Janowski J-1 Don Quixote, initially named as Prząśniczka ("Distaff"), is a Polish home build ultralight designed in 1967 focusing on the home build segment. The original prototype was equipped with a Saturn engine, which was composed of two motorcycle engines, producing 23HP. The J-1 could be also equipped with a Trabant engine (29HP), or a VW conversion which produced 48HP.

 

The plane I am going to show you in this review is the J-1B variant, with a fiberglass airframe and a Hirth F-33, air-cooled two-stroke engine that produces up to 28HP. The plane evolved for more modern variants like the J-2 Polonez, J-3 Eagle, J-5 Marco, and the J-6 Fregata. We don't have many good quality ultralights for X-Plane, so if you want a new ultralight aircraft for your collection, this may be the plane you were looking for. Let's check the review first.

 

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As you can see, the J-1B is an experimental single-pilot aircraft mounted in a conventional landing gear configuration. Even though the plane is mostly used for short scenic flights, it can easily handle light acrobatic maneuvers. With a very simple design, the J-1B has more equipment than you would imagine, including a battery, electric starter and even a Garmin GNS 430 unit. Differently from most aircraft, the J-1B doesn't have flaps, which aren't necessary since it doesn't weigh more than 200kg.

 

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FJMAero made a very good job in all parts of the exterior modeling. Even though the real aircraft is very simple, the designer managed to make a very nice exterior, adding many details and high-resolution (4k) textures. Pretty nice to see many details like the pitot tubes, the Garmin antenna and many other things.

 

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Personally, I prefer an aircraft equipped with a tricycle landing gear, however, the conventional landing gear suits this aircraft very well. As the rest of the exterior, the modeling and textures are pretty nice here.

 

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As you can imagine, the engine modeling is very good too. The Hirth F-33 is a mono cylinder two-stroke engine, producing up to 28HP. FJMAero made a incredible job with the engine, adding a lot of details like the pipes, cables, the cylinder cooling fins, serpentine belt, and many other things. The textures are really good too, giving the engine a used look. The J-1B is equipped with a two-way composite propeller, which also has a pretty nice modeling and textures application.

 

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Just like the exterior, the interior is very well modeled and presents very high-quality textures. In order to open canopy, you will need to click on the strap located on the right side of the seat. The cockpit is mostly made of plastic, but thankfully the seat that you will spend some time seated is upholstered and apparently comfortable. As usual in this aircraft, the seat has a nice modeling and good textures.

 

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As I said in the previous paragraph, the cockpit is mostly made of plastic, however, the joystick and throttle don't follow this rule, been made of beautiful wooden material. The rudder pedals are very nice, basic but very well modeled in this replica by FJMAero.

 

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Glass is sometimes a problem for designers, however, FJMAero nailed it, making it very realistic and even reflective depending on the light angle. You will better notice it after in the review when I fly the J-1B.

 

The Janowski J-1B comes with a very simple but beautiful and complete panel, even offering a GNS 430 unit. The textures on it are extremely good, giving a very natural used look to it. You won't be disappointed by the modeling either, very smooth and realistic. Pretty nice to see the reflections all over the cockpit, especially in the instrument gauges. If you want to hide the beautiful joystick, just click on the registration plate and it will disappear.

 

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As you could see, the cockpit is very basic, but well done, presenting high-quality textures, smooth 3D modeling and good reflections. However, the most important thing in an aircraft is the flying capability, so now let's take a look at how does it behave flying and how to make it happen.

 

Flying the J-1B

As you can imagine, starting the J-1B is very easy. The first thing you will need to do is make sure to have your canopy closed and parking brake set, which is located under your right leg, then look at the left side of the seat, right next to your head, and you will see the fuel valve, turn it to ON position. After that the aircraft will be able to send fuel to the engine, allowing you to start it. Make sure you have enough fuel for your flight, otherwise you may have some problems. Today I will make a panoramic flight in Seattle, departing from Auburn Municipal (S50) and arrive in the Boeing Field (KBFI), so 5.5KG of fuel should be more than enough.

 

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Now that you are ready to start the aircraft look behind the joystick, there you will find both battery and engine switches, turn the BATT switch first and check if the fuel pressure is at 30PSI, then turn the RUN switch on. Your electric system should be working and your engine ready for the start. If you want, insert your route in the GNS430 unit, this way it will help you reach your arrival airport and/or use SID/STAR procedures easily.

 

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Starting the engine is very easy, just hold the start button for a short time and the engine should be running perfectly. You will notice the pretty good FMOD engine start sounds while doing this.

 

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The Janowski J-1B is so basic that it doesn't have any kind of lights, this means that you only need to release your parking brake and taxi to your runway. Make sure to apply some trim because the engine height forces the aircraft nose down. While taxing you will notice that FMOD sounds aren't incredible, missing some things like switches sounds, but more than enough for this little plane.

 

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The combination of the Hirth F-33 engine and the aircraft lightweight results in a very short takeoff run. Just set your engine at full power, something near 2250RPM, and watch the fast acceleration of the J-1B which reaches the rotate speed very fast. In a few seconds, you will see yourself a few feet above the ground.

 

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The pilot inside the cockpit is pretty nice, extremely well modeled and texturised. While climbing you will feel the aircraft very well, which answers to your commands very quickly. A few minutes after taking off and we are flying over Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, such a big airport.

 

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Our cruise altitude will be 4,000ft today, more than enough for this flight. I am pretty sure you will enjoy flying the J-1B, it is that kind of aircraft that always require your attention for keeping a leveled flight. We can already see the huge Seattle city, which I expect to visit one day. Beautiful representation by Drzewiecki.

 

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In order to go back to our destination airport, we will need to make a turn, and this is a good moment to test the J-1B light acrobatic capabilities, and I may say that the aircraft handle this kind of flight very well. Now let's head to KBFI.

 

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Even though the Janowski J-1B doesn't have flaps, it can easily fly at very low speeds such as 40Kts. Stall speed is around 58 km/h (36 mph, 31 Kts), so you have a little space to work from here.You may need to practice some approaches and landings because it is very hard to lose some speed and land in the correct spot using this aircraft. However no plane is too hard for a good pilot, so you will be able to easily land it after a few flights.

 

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Once parked at your ramp, just shut off the fuel valve, then turn off the RUN and BATT switches, after that just make sure to set the parking brake. 

 

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The Janowski may require a little bit of practice for landings and approaches, however, after you learn how to control it you will see how fun to fly this little aircraft really is.

 

Summary

Well, it seems that everything ends here. During the review, I tried to show all the aircraft details for you, and we can conclude that the Janowski J-1B by FJMAero is a pretty nice plane. Honestly, I didn't find any problem related to it, just qualities like superb 3D modeling, both external and internal, and high-quality textures. The sounds are pretty nice as well, and even though they can be a little improved, they are more than enough for the J-1B.

 

This is the first FJMAero product released in the X-Plane.Org Store, a pretty good first release. I know that the Janowski J-1B is a very basic plane, however, I may say that FJMAero did an extremely good job with it. It would be nice if the designer released an update for the J-1B or even a new aircraft with the same high-quality level.

 

Ultralights aren't very common in X-Plane, even for me, however now I see how fun and enjoyable they are, so if you are looking for an ultralight and a different plane for your collection, which is under US$20, this may be one of the best options.

 

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The Janowski J-1B by FJMAero is available in the X-Plane.Org Store here:

 

Janowski J-1B

 

Price is US$19.95

 

 

The J1-B is a home-built aircraft design originally conceived by Jaroslaw Janowski and Witold Kalita in the late 60’s. The design featured a high-wing single-seat configuration with rearward mounted engine on top of the wing.
 
The FJMAero J-1B is representative of a fiber glass airframe powered by a Hirth F-33 air-cooled two-stroke engine producing up to 28 HP, with design loads of +6/-3G. The J-1B is flapless and comes with a fully movable elevator trim to compensate the effects of the high-thrust line above the center of gravity.

Our J-1B is a designed to provide the virtual pilot with an aircraft that is easy to handle, offers excellent visibility and exhibits interesting flight characteristics for those that enjoy stick and rudder, seat-of-pants flying. Ideal for short scenic flights, cross-country VFR and is light aerobatics capable.
 
Features:
  • Highly detailed 3D interior and exterior model with many fine details to discover
  • High-resolution (4K) physical based rendering (PBR) texture sets to showcase surfaces ranging from painted resin, spray paint, metal, seat fabric, dust effects, all the way to leather for the dust cover at the base of the control stick
  • Animated controls, control rods and surfaces, canopy, fully articulated rudder pedals with differential braking and cockpit switches
  • Custom XLua driven ignition panel to provide a robust engine and avionics start-up, including custom commands that can be assigned to joysticks or other hardware peripherals. Open the fuel valve, turn on the battery bus, switch the ‘Run’ button to on and press the starter to bring life to the Hirth F-33 and the ‘Warp Drive’ propeller.
  • High-resolution flight instruments designed from the ground up to maintain clarity at all viewing distances. Includes a highly detailed 3D face for the GNS 430 (X-Plane 11 native)
  • Full-bodied FMOD sound set that includes (but are not limited to):
    •  Hirth F33 engine sounds
    •  Buttons and switches, including the GNS430
    •  Engine starter and fuel pump systems
    •  Wheel sounds for impact, rolling and sliding
    •  Cockpit shake/vibration noise based on ground roll
    •  Wind noise on the canopy based on airspeed
    •  Sideslip air noise on the airframe and canopy
    •  Custom stall horn providing incremental feedback based on angle of attack
    •  Realistic sound attenuation when closing/opening the canopy
  • Custom Clark Y airfoil. Flight model tested with standard and experimental flight model (11.41+), with the latter being preferable for those that enjoy stick and rudder flying.
  • Four liveries including ‘Fire Red’, ‘Blu’, ‘Moon’ and ‘Blank’. While the first three come with custom PBR textures for each paint scheme, the Blank scheme has a neutral PBR set to assist with repaints. Each livery features its own unique internal textures
  • A unique tail number repaint texture that allows customisation of the fuselage tail numbers, the pilot name under the canopy, as well as the number plaque on the instrument panel without having to repaint the entire aircraft. An easy to use registration Photoshop file is provided. Customise your J-1B and make it your own.
  • Paint kit designed from the ground up to be easy to repaint (external and internal), including colour coded layers in Photoshop with instructions to preserve PBR materials, as well as UV island guides to assist livery painters (see manual for more details). The following diffuse paint sets are provided:
    •  Fuselage
    •  Wings
    •  Cockpit
    •  Instrument pod (excluding instruments)
  • Fully detailed pilot in external views with custom headset and aerobatics-ready harness. 

 

Requirement

X-Plane 11

Windows, Mac or Linux
4 GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended
Download Size: 410 MB  (paint kit is 675 MB)
Current version : 1.0 (June 12th 2020)
 
______________________________________________________________________
 

Aircraft Review by Bernardo Pierdoná Casa

21st June 2020

Copyright©2020: X-PlaneReviews
 
Review System Specifications:
Computer System: Intel Core I5-9600K 4,30GHz / 2x8 Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200MHz - Gigabyte RTX 2070 - Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master - Kingston A1000M.2 SSD 240GB

Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane  11.41

Addons: Logitech Pro Flight Yoke/Pedals/Throttle Quadrant - Logitech Extreme 3d Pro Joystick - Sound: Samsung Home Theater System J5500WK

Plugins:  Environment Engine v1.13 by xEnviro US$69,90 Traffic: Traffic Global by JustFlight US$52.99 Ground textures: ALES US$15.99

Scenery and Aircraft

-Seattle City by Drzewiecki

-Seattle Airports  by Drzewiecki

 

(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)

 

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