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BernardoCasa

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  1. A310-304-CS - 2020-08-21 20.59.17.jpg

     

    Aircraft Review : Airbus A310-304 by CremonaSoft

     

    Aviation in the 80s experienced many changes like the addition of new aircraft and rule modifications, such as ETOPS or Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards. For those who don't know what ETOPS is, the shortest way to describe it is the maximum time in distance a twin-engine aircraft can be from an airport. Due to these regulations, most long-haul routes were dominated by quad and Trijet airlines, however, this started to change with the introduction of some fundamental aircraft. 

     

    In the late 70s, Airbus presented their A300, the first wide-body twin-engine airliner. Equipped with the JT9D or the iconic CF-6, it became a huge success especially due to its low fuel consumption when compared to the tri and quad jet airliners. A few years later (1982) the Airbus A310 made its first flight, being introduced one year later with SwissAir. Airbus produced the A310 due to a high demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, which resulted in a greater range when compared to its predecessor. One of the A310 main characteristics was the introduction of a two-crew glass cockpit, which was later adopted by the A300 newer versions and the Fly-by-wire technology. The A310 had two versions, 200 and 300, however, we will only talk about the 300, the version which was designed for X-Plane. Equipped with two JT9D or PW4000 or even the CF6, the engines could produce from 45,800 pounds of thrust up to 57,900lbf. With a wingspan of 43.9m and a fuselage length of 46.66m, the A310-300 can fly up to 5,150nm. Its capacity can reach 280 passengers in a 3-3-3 configuration, as well as 15 LD3 containers. The A310-300 has an MTOW of 164,000kg and a ceiling of 41,000ft.

     

    Older aircraft are starting to get more and more relevant in the X-Plane community, especially airliners. In the last years, we could see the improvement and releases of quite a few high-quality aircraft, like the FlyJSim 727 and 737v3, the new A300 by iniBuilds as well as the MD-80pro and the upcoming MD-11. CremonaSoft released their version of the A310 in October 2018, but sadly the product was way under the expectations. No review related to this add-on has been posted here and after some updates, we taught it was the right moment to post a review.

     

    Airbus A310-304 by CremonaSoft

    First of all, this aircraft, like many others, is still in development. You have to keep this in your mind, otherwise you may think this is a piece of crap. As always, let's start with the exterior modeling and textures, usually the first two things you notice when looking at an aircraft. As you can already tell, exterior modeling isn't the best part of this add-on, actually, it is quite under the average for an aircraft of its price. The modeling is good in some areas but pretty bad in others. You will spend, or at least should, more time inside the cockpit than outside cameras, so the exterior shouldn't bother you that much.

     

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    The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are well modeled, just like wings, which aren't the best in X-Plane but doesn't look that bad. The landing gear is ok, even though it could be way better texturized and more detailed, the 3D modeling doesn't seem to have any problem. It does have some metallic details, but as said before, the textures could be better. The tires modeling is quite boring, quite unrealistic too, as well as the textures, which are extremely basic.

     

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    The fuselage is quite complex, because in the same way I like it, I don't like it. I don't see any big problem with, excluding the very poor textures, it does have the shape of the A310 but there something that simply removes the realism. Maybe the connection between wings and fuselage, the weird shapes next to the stabilizers, or the weird lines all around the fuselage, which can be also found in the FF777. Sometimes, especially when looking from the front, the fuselage appears to be too large and rounded when compared to the real plane. I don't know why, but the fuselage seems to be missing something, there isn't any beauty in it, and that may be the problem.

     

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    The real plane, like I said before, could be equipped with three engine variants, two Pratt & Whitney options, and one General Electric. CremonaSoft decided to only model the GE engine, but this isn't a big problem because according to Planespotters.net, from all 37 A310 that are still flying, only 4 are equipped with PW engines. 

     

    The engines are fine. The modeling isn't perfect but manages to be a good replica from the real one. However, as you could imagine, the textures are far away from being good, especially in the pylon area. Generally, the engine is ok, but needs some improvements

     

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    Cabin

    The A310 by CremonaSoft does have a 3D modeled cabin, and its quality is quite controversial. The A310 cabin length is one meter shorter than the A321, 33.25m, and the same cabin width when compared to the A330-200, 5.28m. The A310 maximum capacity is 280 seats, but the average seating is from 190 to 230 seats. The cabin in the CremonaSoft A310 is modeled in a 3-3-3 configuration, with the last rows being 2-3-2 due to fuselage limitations.

     

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    The cabin has three major problems. First, the seats texturing is very basic, which makes the good 3D modeling irrelevant. Second and probably worst, there are no galleys, and this is a shame because cheaper planes like SSG E-170/195 and X-Crafts E145 have some pretty interesting galleys, while this aircraft has just empty spaces. The third is more sound-related when you get close to the walls the outside sounds replace the interior sound, making your life quite harder to set good cameras without hearing the outside sounds (at least for someone like me who likes to have passenger views cameras), but nothing you should stress about.

     

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    As I said in the first paragraph of the cabin section, the cabin quality is quite controversial, but until now I mostly talked about bad things. However, I must say that this aircraft has one of the most, if not the most, beautiful ceiling and baggage bins in all X-Plane. The modeling is extremely sharp and the texturing is very good in some areas like the seatbelts signs, which turns on and off, as well as in the bins. I was extremely surprised by the quality of those baggage bins. Another good thing in the cabin is the 3D modeling, which is simple but well executed.

     

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    As you could see, the cabin has some weak and strong points, however, due to the number and importance of the weak points, the good aspects are a little bit diminished . Probably the best and easier way to fix those problems is by adding high-quality textures in the seats, that combined with the relatively good modeling would result in a way more interesting cabin. Afterward, an addition of galleys would be pretty interesting.

     

    Cockpit

    Generally, the cockpit is quite good, especially when looking at the 3D modeling. It's a pretty faithful representation of the A310 cockpit, most switches, buttons and systems are in the correct locations. Just like the A300, the Airbus A310 is also equipped with a yoke, differently from the newer planes which are produced with sidesticks.

     

     

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    Most of the airliners today are equipped with the so-called full glass cockpit, but the Airbus A310 still uses the well-known steam gauges to monitor the engine parameters. As I said earlier, the A310 introduced the EFIS technology for Airbus which would be later adopted in the A300-600 and evolved in the A320. It's pretty nice to see the LCD screens working together with the gauges, the transition between two eras in aviation.

     

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    Like I said before, the cockpit 3D modeling is pretty nice, with sharp and accurate corners, however, the textures, like in all this add-on, are under the expectations. Even though we have a beautiful modeling and great reflections, the poor textures bring the whole cockpit to an inferior quality level. That's really sad because you can't find this sharp modeling in many add-ons, especially in this price range.

     

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    CremonaSfot has added two nice details their plane, the ability to open the cockpit windows as well as the interactive jump seat. In one of the recent updates, the Avitab compatibility was also added to the aircraft. In order to use the tablet, you will need to click in the small button which is shown in the photo.

     

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    One of the most important things in an aircraft is the systems, and sometimes designers who don't have an extremely beautiful aircraft, compensate that downside with high-end systems. Toliss is a good example, the modeling is far away from being perfect, but the top-notch systems give them the post of one of the best designers. The systems in this add-on are actually quite good, and despite the fact they can't be considered study level,  there's quite a system depth. In its release the systems were awful, but after some updates, the systems got way better. Even though they need improvements, the AP is completely functional, at least I didn't see anything missing, the navigation apparells are working as well as all the ECAM showing systems.

     

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    The way things happen here in the A310 is quite different from what we are used to seeing in an Airbus, especially in the overhead panel. However, I will cover a step-by-step tutorial later in this review. As you could see, there is a custom FMS, another great system feature of this aircraft. Generally, we can conclude that the modeling and systems are pretty strong points with this aircraft, but the terrible textures seem to take over the cockpit and make it look worse than what it really is.

     

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    Setting up the Airbus A310-304

    In this section of the review, I will show you how to basically start the plane. In order to learn all or at most of its functionalities you will need to read the several manuals that are included with the aircraft. There you will be able to learn most of the plane resources and features, as well as a startup process similar to what is done in real life.

     

    The flight that we are going to recreate is the Air Transat 125, departing from Calgary heading to Montreal. This route is now being operated by the new A321NEO, but today we are going to use the A310. 

     

    Beautiful sunrise here in Calgary, it's currently 7:25 a.m, and approximately 12°C. Today we are going to transport 176 passengers and 2.7 tons of cargo, resulting in a total payload weight of 20.1 tons, quite light for the A310. The estimated flight time is a little less than 4 hours, a considerable time to cross most of Canada. Let's start the procedures by entering the cockpit.

     

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    We won't follow the Standard Operating Procedures, SOP, manual step by step in this short tutorial, but you can easily access it by looking at the manuals folder. First of all, we need to power up the aircraft, so in order to do that, we need to turn all the three batteries on and use the external power. After that, you should turn your screens bright on and after set the three IRS switches to NAV position.

     

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    Now that your aircraft has stable electric power, you can turn on the required lights as well as the seatbelts signs and test the anti-fire system. Before heading to the FMS I suggest you to load the aircraft. This action needs to be performed by the X-Plane load tab because there is no aircraft menu. This would be a nice addition to the add-on, CremonaSoft could do something similar to the Toliss aircraft menu, there you can set the loading details as well as performance calculations.

     

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    Now that your plane is loaded, let's head to the FMS. If you are used to the Airbus FMS system in aircraft like the A320 and A330 families, you will notice that this FMS works exactly the same way. First, INIT page, there you should set your departing and arriving airports, as well as click in align IRS and set your cruise flight level. I didn't find any cost index information on SimBrief, so I will leave it as default 50. Click on Next Page and set your fuel/load information.  Sorry for the low-res photos but there is no way to make them look better.

     

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    Flight Plan page and now we must set our route. As this can take some time, I won't show you all the steps, but you can easily find many tutorials on YouTube, but don't worry, it's very easy and intuitive. Just be aware that, differently from an A320, you need set your STAR info by the last waypoint menu, not airport. With our route set, we need to go to the Takeoff/Approach page.

     

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    The Takeoff/Approach page is equivalent to the PERF page in the A320, however, you don't need to set any information here, they will automatically appear when you set your flaps to T/O position. Another feature that you can use in the FMS is located in the REF page, there you can open both passanger and cargo doors.

     

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    Well, route and performance ready, let's continue the startup process. Turn on your Yaw Damper, ATS and Pitch Trim switches, click in the electric pump green and start the APU. Make sure to have the fuel pumps on before starting the auxiliary power unit. After changing the APU switch to on position, the ECAM will automatically change to the APU page. Now you can click in the start switch, and after the APU is running, an Available light will appear. You can monitor all this information through the ECAM screen and turn on the APU bleed as well.

     

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    Before calling our pushback truck we must make sure that we have all doors closed, beacon light on, MAX auto brake, hydraulic pumps, anti-ice system and AP panel set. You can also set a desired flex temp. Now that we are ready, let's call it and then start up the engines.

     

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    Now that the pushback truck is connected, let's start the engines. Set your ENG Start knob to Start A or B, click in the START 2 button, wait for 25% N2 RPM and set the HP VALVE ENG 2 to on. Repeat the process with the other engine. In my opinion, the engines seem to start too fast, in less than 15 you already have them in idle, CremonaSoft should take a look at it and rework its performance.  Flaps 15, now you can see the v-speeds in the FMS, so you should the V2 + 15 in the AP. Taxi lights and transponder on, let's start taxiing.

     

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    We will be departing in the runway 17L today, going direct to LOMLO. Quite a long way to our runway, this means more time to get the best, or at least try, angles for the photos. Just some few more minutes and we will be departing.

     

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    Clear to takeoff, N1 to 40% and TOGA. The engine fastly builds up power and in a few seconds, we are accelerating. The v-speeds in the A310 are quite higher than in other planes but the engines have a lot of power available. Actually, they have so much power that they seem to be a bit overpowered. I expect that CremonaSoft fix this little issue, which causes the plane accelerates too fast, even when it is loaded with the maximum weight. 

     

    Climb thrust and bye-bye Calgary, next destination, Montreal. The plane can easily keep a climb rate of 2500ft/min, so we shouldn't take much longer to reach the cruising altitude.

     

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    I've noticed two things in the wings during my test flights. First, there is no wing flex, even in stronger turbulences, I didn't notice any movement in the wings. Second, the wings doesn't go up. What I want to say is that usually, due to the applied forces, the wings flex up during flight, but in the CremonaSoft A310 they stay like in the ground. This gives the plane a strange look, especially during climb. Well, at least the sight from up here is pretty beautiful. A little bit more than 3 hours and we will be approaching Montreal.

     

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    Now that we've started our descent, we must make sure that some things are ready. Right now we only have to check our ILS frequency/course, as well as our vertical deviation. The FMS should now show our approach speeds, and you should select your approach flaps in the indicated switch. As we get closer to the airport we need our altimeter and auto brake to be set, and spoilers armed.

     

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    Runway at sight, we should already have our flaps and landing gear down. As we have good visibility I will also turn the autopilot off, just remember to hit the red button in the yoke in order to turn off the AP disc alarm. Final seconds before landing and the plane feels like a big aircraft, with slow and heavy movements, I like it.

     

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    And touchdown, welcome to Montreal. The plane is very easy to control, with smooth and slow reactions, perfect for a top-notch landing. Spoilers up and reverse open, it's now time to stop. Montreal is the second-most populous city in Canada and Air Transat operations base, situated in the province of Quebec, this city is in my "To be visited" list of cities around the world.

     

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    Clearly, the aircraft has its downsides, but I really enjoy flying it. Yes, it still needs some refinements, however, the path CremonaSoft is following has a good future. In my opinion, the engine performance could be reworked, they seem a bit overpowered, but the general physics are pretty good. If the next session I am going to talk about wasn't so bad, this plane wouldn't be as bad as people say it is.

     

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    Sounds

    Well, I'll be honest, the sounds are way under the expectations. Starting with the engines, sincerely, I am very disappointed. In case you found the ignition and spool up sounds bad, they won't get much better at full thrust. The APU sounds are the exact same from the default Cirrus SF50 engine, but at least you have them. Maybe the best sounds are the switches, knobs and buttons sounds, as well as the flaps. Despite that, the sounds could be completely redone. 

     

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    Lighting

    The lighting in the CremonaSoft is very simple but effective, you won't be impressed in the same way that you won't have any with it. Despite the fact that you have very few options, the only downside I can see here is the cabin light, which isn't adjustable and makes the cabin textures look a bit weird. 

     

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    The Storm switch intensifies the current lighting and also add the panel flood lights. I really enjoy using it.

     

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    Last but not least, we have the well-known dome light, which differs from the newer Airbus aircraft, the A310 has only one dome light position; and reading light, which can illuminate any desired location in the cockpit.

     

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    Moving on to the exterior lights, as you would expect from a payware aircraft, they are all there, landing, logo, taxi, strobes... Nice to see the individual runway turnoff lights, as I can remember they operate together at the A320. The external lights are actually pretty strong, so it will be quite hard to not see the runway during your approach.

     

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    Honestly, this aircraft looks pretty nice at golden hours, especially because you can still clearly see the 3D modeling but the textures aren't appearing that much. Here are some nice photos of these moments. 

     

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    Liveries

    CremonaSoft A310 has four more liveries, the classic Airbus house, AirJamaica, S7 Airlines and the Luftwaffe MRTT livery, which fits the A310 very well. The aircraft still doesn't have a paint kit, this means you can't create your own liveries, however, the designer said that this feature will be incorporated soon. I can't wait to see some nice custom liveries for the A310.

     

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    Summary

    Well, everything must end somewhere, and here finishes our review. CremonaSoft A310 is a quite complicated product with bad reviews on its back, and sincerely, it's really hard to recommend this add-on for you. Yes, it has some good qualities like the engine and cockpit modeling, as well as the system, which in my opinion, are pretty solid for an aircraft at this price range. We could all see that the designer spent a lot of effort into fixing and improving the systems, but all that isn't enough to make me say this is a good aircraft.

     

    Yes, this aircraft is under development by the author, and yes, they have made quite big improvements on it, but there are still many downsides. The Magknight 787 another plane under development, and even though it has its problems, I could easily recommend it for you. Differently from the A310, the 787, and even with a worse cockpit modeling, is funnier and more pleasant to fly. In my opinion that is caused due to the sounds, because many times good sounds make a bad aircraft enjoyable, so they might be the salvation for the A310.

     

    I know, it isn't easy to develop an aircraft for a simulator, especially a plane that is almost no longer in use, this usually means a lower demand resulting in a smaller budget for the designer. However, producing a product with so many downsides won't help you too much with sales. My suggestion to CremonaSoft is very specific: First, add some enthusiastic sounds for things like batteries, ext power, A/C, flaps and especially engines. Just this will make the aircraft way better. After that you can use current the good 3D cockpit modeling and apply better textures, they don't need to be perfect, just acceptable, your plane isn't that expensive. Leave the systems how they are, the way they are working is completely fine, even better than planes like JarA330 and FF777. After all that is done, your aircraft will be way better, and will start selling more, at least that's what I wish. Last, you should completely redesign the exterior, except the engines which are fine. It will take some time, yes, but if manage to do all that I've said before, your aircraft will be pretty damn nice. 

     

    Since its release, the A310 received many big updates, especially in the last 4 months. This is nice to see because sometimes designers release their products and simply abandon them by not releasing updates or significant changes. I can see a good future for this aircraft, however, it won't be easy, a lot of time is required to take this aircraft to a good quality level.

     

    Quite good interior modeling and pretty nice systems are the main highlights, however, the bad textures and sounds, combined with the poor general exterior modeling/textures attract more attention. The other main problem is the fact that it's very hard to spot an A310 flying today, this means that many people are no longer interested in acquiring the add-on. However, this isn't an excuse because FlyJSim 727 and 737 are even older in real life and very popular in X-Plane. My final answer is, just buy the CremonaSoft A310 right now in case you're a great fan of the Airbus in real life, otherwise, wait for a few more updates. I can see a good plane in the future, and it might not take too long.

     

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    The Airbus A310-304 v1.6.1 by CremonaSoft is available Changelog at the X-Plane.Org Store

     

    Airbus A310-304 by CramonaSoft

     

    Price is US$49.95

     

    Features:

     

    Flight Characteristics:
    • Accurate weight distribution.
    • Nice flight model.

     

    3D Model:
    • Accurate, high quality external models for fuselage, wings, stabilizers and engines- derived from measurements for the real aircraft.
    • All control surfaces (slats, flaps, ailerons, spoilers, rudder, elevators, THS) accurately animated.
    • Engine reverser animations.
    • Detailed landing gear with claw angle and full animation.
    • Open/close animations for both cockpit windows and all exterior doors.
    • Highly detailed 3D cockpit with super-sharp 4K+ textures and 3D lighting.
    • Detailed 3D gauges, counters, switches and knobs with animations.
    • Metallic surface and glass reflection effects in X-Plane 11 render engine.
    • Detailed flight control and throttle animations.
    • Crisp 3D cabin.
    • Super-sharp external textures.
    • Accurate 3D reproduction of all external aircraft lighting.

     

    Systems:
    • Custom APU start-up and running parameters.
    • Custom electrical system with AC/DC BUS simulation logic.
    • Custom pneumatic system with bleed-air logic.
    • Cabin temperature simulation.
    • Hydraulic system logic simulation.
    • Fuel system logic simulation.
    • Engine start and crank (windmill).
    • Complete exterior lighting control.
    • Slats/flaps operation with accurate timings.
    • Takeoff configuration test system.
    • Landing gear operation with accurate timings and gear status test.
    • Brake ‘Accu Press’ logic simulation.
    • Pitch (with trim wheel animation), aileron and rudder trim.
    • Weather RADAR.

     

    Engines:
    • General Electric CF6-80C2, with realistic performance and custom engine sound.

     

    Custom Electronics:
    • Airbus flight phase logic implementation.
    • Flight warning computer implementation, with aural warnings and decision height + altitude callouts (integrated into the flight phase logic).

     

    Changelog

    ChangeLog.txt

     

    Requirements

    X-Plane 11

    Windows only
    4Gb VRAM Minimum - 8Gb+ VRAM Recommended
    Current version: 1.6.1 (July 30th 2020)
     
    --------------------------------------------
     

    Aircraft Review by Bernardo Pierdoná Casa

    25th August 2020

    Copyright©2020: X-PlaneReviews
     
    Review System Specifications:
    Computer System: Intel Core I5-9600K 4,30GHz / 4x8 Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200MHz - Gigabyte RTX 2070 - 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

    Scenery and Aircraft

    -CYYC - Calgary International Airport by Canada4Xplane (X-Plane.Org) - Free

     

    (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)

     

    LogoHeader200px_X-PlaneReviews_Wide.png

  2. J1B - 2020-07-25 15.49.02.jpg

     

    Aircraft Update : Janowski J-1B 'Don Quixote' by FJMAero

     

    A month ago I've posted the complete review of this small and high-quality aircraft, showing you all its details. This week FJMAero released the v1.1 of the J-1B, contemplating a lot of improvements and new features, which in my view, should get an update review. Let's start the review and see what really changed and in case you weren't completely sure of buying it when it was released, this may be the time to add the aircraft to your fleet.

     

    Just like its predecessor, the J-1B still has those high-quality textures and beautiful 3D modeling, and by now you can already see some changes in both interior and exterior.

     

    J1B - 2020-07-25 15.52.12.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 15.52.12d.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 15.53.03.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 15.53.16.jpg

     

    Let's start with the exterior changes. As you can see, the J-1B received a brand new livery named Busy Bee, which had its design inspired by a honeycomb, at least that's what I think, resulting in the Busy Bee name. The Hirth F-33, Warp Drive propeller and landing received some animation fixes which can sometimes be noticed during your flight.

     

    J1B - 2020-07-25 16.27.45.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 16.31.14.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 16.31.32.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 16.34.24.jpg

     

    The J-1B received many other major changes, starting with the flaps. In this update, FJMAero included a 3 position, UP, 1 and 2, electric flap system which can be controlled by the flap selector unit on the panel. The FMOD actuator sounds for the flap motors were also added to the aircraft. The flap modeling is ok but the controller is pretty nice, good modeling and lighting.

     

    J1B - 2020-07-25 17.03.51.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 17.04.43.jpg

     

    Another major change was the addition of lights, this way you will be able to do some local night flights. The designer added landing, beacon, nav and flood lights, which can all be controlled by the lighting panel installed in the cockpit. All of them were very well modeled and implemented in the aircraft. Pretty nice to see them in darker hours of the day.

     

    J1B - 2020-07-25 17.16.24.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 17.16.57.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 17.23.21.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 17.24.12.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 17.26.42.jpg

     

    The interior didn't receive many changes, most of them are related to other systems like flaps and lights. Probably the most noticeable change is the addition of the Aileron trim and its instrument gauge right next to the pitch trim gauge. Now you also can enable and disable the canopy panel transparency by clicking at the compass.

     

    J1B - 2020-07-25 18.34.18.jpgJ1B - 2020-07-25 18.34.27.jpg

     

    Last but not least, the J-1B received a fix that turns the fuel pump on when you click at the "RUN" switch, previously it started together with the battery, this way the engine won't overflow while you set up the GNS430. The last change is related to the paintkit, the wing template was adjusted due to the addition of the flaps.

     

    Summary

    The Janowski J-1B by FJMAero was one of the best ultralights for X-Plane when released, reflecting the hard work of the designer. Now that it has received its first update, new features were added to the J-1B as well as some little improvements. Just like in its previous version, this little aircraft has no problems at all and it will be quite hard to note some possible improvements, maybe increase the details in the aileron and flaps area, but it isn't required.

     

    As I said in the first part of the review, if you weren't sure of buying the J-1B, this would maybe change your mind. Well, I've already recommended the aircraft in its release review, and wouldn't make any sense if I didn't do that after upgrades, so yes, I completely recommend this plane.

     

    FJMAero isn't very known as a designer for X-Plane, but I am sure that if the designer keeps this high-quality level, I am sure that they will get bigger and develop even better add-ons. The Janowski J-1B is for sure one of those little planes that will bring a smile to your face while flying it.

     

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    588c3ec720348_X-PlaneStorelogosm.jpg.d1898f535df455909b9ac093c00f7f58.jpg

     

    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)
     
    THE AIRCRAFT DIDN'T COME WITH A CHANGELOG
     
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     

    Aircraft Update by Bernardo Pierdoná Casa

    25th July 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

    -PHNL by Haui (X-Plane.Org) - Free

    -PHKO, I didn't find the link but I will look for it. It's freeware and can be found in the X-Plane.Org.

     

    (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)

     

    LogoHeader200px_X-PlaneReviews_Wide.png

  3. Ok, so I took the aircraft for a departure and I believe that I know your problem. I've set myself at 9,000ft with ALT hold and no A/T, should work fine with A/T, then selected the desired heading. After that I clicked at the HDG hold button and nothing, just like you described, however, if you unclick the hold button, leaving no light on, and click the SEL button in the HDG selector the plane should follow the selected heading. So, just click SEL and don't click hold.

     

    I expect that this post helped you.

    Casa

  4. 2 hours ago, DevFly said:

    Hmmm. Cannot get the a/c to follow the heading when Hdg and AP on, with LNAV off

    I believe that you mean AP. Well, when my AP is on I always select LNAV, so I never used HDG mode. The next time I get the opportunity to fly the 787 again, I'll take a look at the HDG mode.

     

    The LNAV works pretty well, so I don't see any reason for using HDG. If you want to use it during approach, try flying the plane by yourself, it is very enjoyable.

  5. J1B - 2020-06-19 19.26.59.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 15.15.08.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 15.16.08.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 15.15.27.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 15.16.31.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 15.43.43.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 15.44.13.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 15.44.50.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 15.45.31.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 15.46.24.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 16.05.25.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 16.05.44.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 16.06.42.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 16.07.29.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 16.14.04.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 16.14.32.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 17.17.02.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 17.17.27.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 17.17.46.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 17.18.00.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 17.22.22.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 17.22.51.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 17.23.32.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 17.23.54.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 17.24.38.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 17.25.28.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-20 18.05.30.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 18.05.04.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 18.05.14.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-20 18.04.37.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 18.34.45.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 18.51.06.jpg

    J1B - 2020-06-21 18.48.08.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.01.40.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.02.26.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.12.27.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.13.01.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.26.47.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.27.19.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.27.37.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.30.37.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.30.56.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.34.25.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.36.56.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.38.43.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.43.23.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.43.46.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.44.02.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 20.20.20.jpg

     

    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.

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 20.27.32.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 20.27.45.jpg

     

    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. 

     

    J1B - 2020-06-21 19.49.17.jpgJ1B - 2020-06-21 19.50.06.jpg

     

    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.

     

    ---------------------------------------------------------------

     

    588c3ec720348_X-PlaneStorelogosm.jpg.d1898f535df455909b9ac093c00f7f58.jpg

     

    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)

     

    LogoHeader200px_X-PlaneReviews_Wide.png

     

  6. b738_4k - 2020-06-05 23.37.jpg

     

    Scenery Review : KRDU - Raleigh-Durham International Airport by Departure Designs

     

    Located in the state of North Carolina, Raleigh-Durham International Airport is the 39th busiest airport in the U.S and the second in its state, just behind Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The airport started its operations with Eastern Airlines in May 1943, making flights to Miami and New York. Last year the airport had a passenger traffic superior to 14,200,000 (enplaned + deplaned) passengers. The airport has passenger city to 68 cities and an average of more than 450 flights daily. As you see by the title, the airport has international flights too, being London, Paris and Toronto the most popular international routes.

     

    X-Plane didn't have a payware version of the airport until mid-April, when Departure Designs released their KRDU scenery. In the last month, our friend Stephen wrote two reviews of Departure Designs airports, Fort-Lauderdale and Oakland. Both airports had their pros and cons, however, Departure Designs released a lot of products in a short time and this may have reduced the quality of them. Let's take a look at this replica of Raleigh-Durham Airport.

     

    Raleigh-Durham International Airport

    IATA: RDU - ICAO: KRDU

    FlightAware_RDU_APD_AIRPORT DIAGRAM.jpg

    05L/23R 10,000ft (3,048m) Concrete

    05R/23L 7,500ft (2,286m) Asphalt

    14/32 3,570ft (1,088m) Asphalt

    Elevation AMSL: 435ft / 132m

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-05 23.38.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-05 23.39.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-05 23.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-05 23a.jpg

    b738_4k - 2020-06-06 10.58.jpg

     

    The first thing I've noticed after installing the scenery were the trees and orthophoto. Departure Designs made an incredible job adding more trees, which gives you the feeling of a real forest. They also nailed the orthophoto, high-quality color graded satellite imagery, that when combined with the nice trees results in an awesome airport surrounding area. Pretty nice to see these during an approach.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-06 23.43.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-06 23a.jpg

    b738_4k - 2020-06-06 23.44.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-06 23.jpg

     

    The orthophoto quality is one of the best I've ever seen in X-Plane, showing almost every detail in the ground. The transitions between the runways/taxiways and the grass is pretty smooth and detailed.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-06 23s.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 00.04.jpg

     

    The most popular way to get in the airport is by car, and that makes sense because the airport between two Highways that connect the cities of Durham and Raleigh. The orthophoto is so good that Departure Designs didn't even have to use modeled roads.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 00.23.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 00.jpg

     

    The pickups and dropoffs zones in both terminals, as well as the parking lots, are very nice. The designer seemed to have worked pretty hard in the parking lots, adding 3D cars, being careful with details and producing a nice 3D modeling. In my opinion, the only downside related to the roads is the lack of animated traffic, however you wouldn't notice it in most of your departures and landings.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 00.24a.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 00.42.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 00.25s.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 00.25.jpg

     

    Even though Raleigh-Durham isn't a big airport, it consists of two terminals and three concourses, A, C, and D. You can navigate through the terminals using a shuttle bus or the moving walkway. Let's take a look at both terminals right now.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 14.jpg

     

    Terminal 1

    This terminal occupies the site of the airport's original terminal, which opened in 1955 and went trough many expansions. In 1982 the building received an expansion that would create a new terminal, which is known as the current terminal 1. The old part was demolished in 2016 due to expenses and lack of practical use. Nowadays, the Terminal 1 has 9 gates, named A1-A9. Until the end of March 2020, Southwest was the only airline operating in the terminal, using gates A5-A9, however, in April the gates A1-A4 were reactivated and are now operated by Frontier, Allegiant and Spirit Airlines. 

     

    When compared to other payware airports, or even terminal 2, the modeling is very basic. But this isn't Departure Designs fault, the terminal is actually a pretty good replica of the real one. 

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 15.59.jpg

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 16s.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 16.02.jpg

     

    Instead of having glass and a modeled interior like Terminal 2, this terminal has solid windows. At least the textures are quite nice and those columns between the windows give a nice perspective depending on the angle you look at them.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 16.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 16.01.jpg

     

    Even though the building is quite basic, Departure Designs inserted some nice details in things like the ground handling vehicles. Pretty nice to see them with the Southwest painting or Spirit and Frontier colors, and the fact that the vehicles are parked around the correct gates is nice too.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 16f.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 16a.jpg

     

    Terminal 2

    The terminal occupies the site of the old Terminal C, which was built between 1985 and 1987 and served as an American Airlines hub. In 2003 announced plans to expand and renovate the terminal, however in 2006 it was completely rebuilt. Designed under the philosophy of contextual regionalism, related to Critical regionalism, the terminal is divided into two concourses, C and D, and has 36 gates, which 4 can accommodate the huge 747.

     

    I may say that Departure Designs made a overall good job in T2, even though it has some quite strange problems. The 3D modeling is pretty nice, it isn't incredible but doesn't seem to have any problem.

     

    SSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17.jpg

    SSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17s.jpgSSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17a.jpgSSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17.30.jpgSSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17.35.jpg

     

    The glass is a problem in T2. The addition of a 3D modeled interior requires glass, which can give an airport insane visuals or ruin it. We saw that glass was quite a problem in KFLL by Departure Designs, and sadly this KRDU also has problems with it. Note that I tested many graphic settings and none of them solved the problem.

     

    It is quite hard to exactly describe the problem, which appears to be related to reflections and textures. While looking from outside you will notice that the interior textures seem to disappear, resulting in all silver objects and some strange blue and light green colors. Sometimes, depending on the angle you look at the interior, the colors change, resulting in a very weird effect. The reflections are quite strange sometimes.

     

    SSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17f.jpgSSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17.48.jpgSSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17sa.jpgSSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17.52.jpg

     

    Just like KFLL, when you are looking from inside the terminal it appears to have no glass. The interior is  very basic, but at least the textures are nice.

     

    SSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17.32.jpgSSGE-195LR_Evo_11 - 2020-06-07 17sad.jpg

     

    All jet bridges, in both T1 and T2, are equipped with SAM - Scenery Animation Manager. They are really nice, however, due to the fact that many jetways are to close from each other, it's recommended to connect the jet bridges manually. 

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 18.17.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 18.jpg

     

    If it wasn't by the problems related to the glass, this would be a very nice terminal. It has some good features like 3D modeling, textures and attention to detail. It would be nice if Departure Designs fixed that problem, but I believe that it won't be easy to solve it.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-07 18.22.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-07 18s.jpg

     

    Cargo

    Raleigh-Durham airport has two cargo areas, South and North. The North cargo area is used by cargo airlines, being the largest cargo operator FedEx and UPS. The South cargo area is used by commercial airlines with cargo operations.

     

    b738_4k - 2020-06-08 14.20.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-08 14as.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-08 14.jpgb738_4k - 2020-06-08 14a.jpg

     

    General Aviation

    The airport has a quite big general aviation area, with some hangars and other facilities. Some of the hangars have their doors open, this means that you can park your aircraft inside them.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 14s.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 14.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 14.41.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 14.46.jpg

     

    Right next to the general aviation terminal is located the control tower. It's pretty simple, but at least it doesn't have any kind of problem.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 14.54.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 14sadf.jpg

     

    Military

    Raleigh-Durham Airport has a military facility located right next to the runway 32. There you will see some hangars and some other facilities. Sadly some of the buildings are under the ground, so I expect Departure Designs to fix that. Pretty interesting to see an easter egg in this scenery, which is the S.H.I.E.L.D jet, from the Avengers movie. I know that some people may not like things like that in a simulator, however, you won't even notice it unless you start searching for it.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.00.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.01.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15s.jpg

     

    Ground Textures

    Just like most part of the orthos, the ground textures in KRDU are very good. If you closer to the ground, you will notice that the textures have a really high-resolution. It's pretty nice to see so many details in the ground.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 15a.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15sa.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.22.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15as.jpg

     

    Even though the airport doesn't have 3D grass, the combination of the extremely good ground texture, high-density trees and awesome orthophotos results in a fabulous landscape around the airport. It's important to note that the airport comes with a custom mesh that will show you all the nice elevation changes.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 15ads.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15afffs.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.27.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.25.jpg

     

    Another pretty nice quality related to the ground is the reflections, which make the airport way more beautiful, especially during the sunset and sunrise. The reflections impressed me in a very good way.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 15adfs.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.29.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 15.37.jpg

     

    Lighting

    The lighting in KRDU is pretty average, and needs to be improved in some ways. When it isn't really dark yet, the lights are nice, however, when it gets darker the lights seem insufficient. The main parking lot seems very nice when illuminated.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 16d.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 16ds.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 16.07.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 16.08.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 16.08d.jpg

     

    As I said earlier, the lights seem to be insufficient when it's pretty dark, especially when you are away from T1 or T2. Apparently, the only good thing related to the night time in this airport is the interior modeling from the Terminal 2. I don't what is happening there, but at night the glass is fine and the interior doesn't have those textures problems I've shown you earlier. Even though, the internal lighting is pretty bad.

     

    Baron_58 - 2020-06-08 16a.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 16s.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 16.jpgBaron_58 - 2020-06-08 16.14.jpg

     

    ---------------------------------------------------------------

     

    Summary

    Raleigh-Durham International Airport by Departure Designs is an interesting scenery for X-Plane 11, offering many good features as well as having some problems. Generally, we can assume that this is a good airport that needed more love from the designer.

     

    Both T1 and T2 overall modeling are nice and even though they aren't outstanding, you won't be disappointed with them. Probably the only problem related to the terminals is that strange glass in Terminal 1, which appears to have issues with reflections, causing problems in the indoor textures and modeling.

     

    As I said earlier the ground textures are pretty good, with reflection, many details and high-resolution textures. The only downside related to the ground textures is the absence of wet textures for the taxiways and runways, which would give the airport a very nice visual while raining. The orthophoto is another good feature of the airport, with very high-resolution and colors that match the airport region really well. Those are probably one of the best features offered by this replica of KRDU by Departure Designs.

     

    The designer seems to have some difficulties with lighting, sometimes it seems insufficient. During the KFLL review, Stephen showed us that lighting wasn't very good there either. These little problems are the reason for KRDU not being a top tier airport for X-Plane, and they could be solved by paying a little more attention to details.

     

    As I said in the very first beginning of the review, Departure Designs released three airports in a short period, and that could have affected the quality of the products. After writing the review and analyzing the airport I could conclude that my affirmation was true, all the problems in the 3 airports could have been fixed with a little more time. KRDU is a beautiful airport and even though it has some problems, I liked it. I know that it isn't easy to make an airport, but if this scenery received a little bit more of love, it would be perfect.

     

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    588c3ec720348_X-PlaneStorelogosm.jpg.d1898f535df455909b9ac093c00f7f58.jpg

     

    The KRDU Raleigh Durham  by Departure Designs is available at the X-Plane.Org Store

     

    KRDU Raleigh Durham

     

    Price is US$23.99

     

    Features:

     

    • Heavily optimized Airport 
    • PBR Textures throughout Airport 
    • SAM Seasons 
    • Highly detailed Custom Animated SAM Jetways 
    • Custom WT3 support 
    • Custom Night Lighting 
    • color graded Satellite Imagery 
    • High Resolution 4K Textures 
    • Terminal layout circa Q2 2020 
    • Custom Mesh seamless with VStates North Carolina 
    • Ortho4XP Patch included

     

    Requirements:

    X-Plane 11

    Windows, Mac or Linux
    4GB VRAM Minimim - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended
    Current version: 1.0 (April 16th 2020)
    Download size: 3.5 GB
     
    Installation:
    Download scenery file size is 3.18GB
     
    Three folders are included+One manual
     

    Dep_KRDU - Raleigh Durham

    Dep_yRDU_Overlay

    Dep_zRDU_Mesh

     

    Final scenery size is 6,76GB, quite big.

     

    SAM plugin - Scenery Animation Manager - suite 1.2 is required for this scenery

     

    Documents

    One manual is included with the scenery package

     

    ->RDU Manual

     

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    Scenery Review by Benardo Pierdoná Casa

    06th June 2020

    Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews

     

    Review System Specifications:
    Computer System: Intel Core I5-9600K 4,30GHz / 2x8 Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200MHz - Gigabyte RTX 2070 - 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 or Aircraft

    Boeing 737-800 by Zibo (X-Plane.Org)free

    Default Baron B58 by Laminar Research

     

    (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)

     

    LogoHeader200px_X-PlaneReviews_Wide.png

  7. B7879 - 2020-06-01 09.jpg

     

    Aircraft Update : Boeing 787-9 Aviator v1.5.0 by Magknight

     

    A few days ago was released a new major update for the Magknight 787. This great update brought many new features and usabilities, as well as a lot of corrections from the previous version. The most awaited features that are included in the update are probably the ACARS support, the new Rolls Royce engines and flight controls changes.

     

    As in the older versions, you must have Java installed, if not, the plane comes with the installer. Just follow the installation instructions and you have any problem. If you don't have installed the Java correctly, a message will appear in the cockpit screen located on your left.

     

    Sem título.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-01 10.37.jpg

     

    The Magknight had issues with the Skunk Crafts updater in the past, and sadly this is happening again. You will need to download the update through the X-Plane.Org Store.

     

    ACARS

    The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System or ACARS is a digital data link system for transmission of short messages between aircraft and ground stations via airband radio or satellite. It can be used for many operations, such as weather reports, air traffic control, and others. In this update the 787 now supports a few tasks in the ACARS system, being METAR and TAF request one of them.

     

    The system is very easy to use. Make sure to have your Hoppie logon code and insert it in the ACARS section in the COMM page. It's important to note that you need to insert the departure and arrival airports in the MCDU, as well as the flight number. After that, you can head to the flight information page and there you will find some options. If you want to request the METAR, just insert your airport code, click in "send" and wait a few seconds. This way you can receive the METAR for the desired airport. Note that most functions work this way.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-02 12.42.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-02 12.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-02 sa.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-02 12a.jpg

     

    if you don't know what is the Hoppie code, just type "Hoppie ACARS" in google. This website should appear https://www.hoppie.nl/acars/, click in "get logon code" and just follow the given instructions.

     

    New Engines (Experimental)

    In the last version, v1.4.1, the beautiful GEnx engines were added to the aircraft, and now it's time for the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. Completely remodeled, they are a great addition to the aircraft. This new feature isn't a visual change only, it changes the sounds and performance as well. I don't know your opinion, but this was the greatest feature included in the update.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-01 13.59f.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-01 13.59.jpg

     

    The engine chevrons were a great improvement brought by the 787, which was later adopted by the 737 Max series and the Boeing 748. Alongside the many benefits related to performance and similar things, the chevrons give the 787 a very beautiful and distinctive visual. Pretty nice at the sunset. Be aware that new liveries are required to use the RR engines.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-01 20.25.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-01 20.jpg

    B7879 - 2020-06-01 s.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-01 20.23.jpg

     

    As I said earlier, the addition of RR engines also changes the performance of the aircraft. Accordingly to the information provided by Magknight in the Store, the Rolls-Royce engines have approximately 8% more power than the GE. It's important to note that TPR and throttle limiter are experimental features. 

     

    If you want to change the selected engine, you will need to head into the settings menu and change the option from GE to RR. The airplane will inform you that an aircraft reload is required, so you should reload it as said  by the given instructions.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-01 14.27.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-01 22.jpg

    B7879 - 2020-06-01 14.42.jpg

     

    The Magknight team made such a great job modeling the new engines, just like the GE engines in the last update. Now you can fully simulate 787 flights that use both GE and RR, just remember to download the new liveries.

     

    Custom Systems

    This update brought many changes related to systems, especially air conditioning and Fuel. 

     

    Starting with the air conditioning system. Many changes occurred here, such as the addition of Air EFIS graphics, which gives you the ability to monitor the air conditioning system. Sound and packs airflow changes are also listed in the changelog.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-02 09.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-02 09a.jpg

     

    The fuel system received some upgrades in many areas like fuel balance system, fuel feed on ground, central tank scavenge system and many other modifications which aim to make a better add-on.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-02 09.40.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-02 s.jpg

     

    Custom Flight Controls

    The Magknight 787 received many improvements and changes related to flight controls. Some people were having issues with the autobrake in the previous version, but now this shouldn't happen, the autobrake received corrections and should be working perfectly.  Spoilers and flaps were also improved, being the spoiler retraction and deployment as well as flap timing order good examples.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-01 20.41.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-01 20d.jpg

     

    There were many other improvements in this update, like the addition of FCTL and hydraulic system messages in the EICAS. The disabling of the roll tiller when the plane is above 45kts is another little improvement that makes the aircraft more realistic.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-02 18.43.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-02 18.jpg

     

    The aircraft performance and flight model also received changes in this update, aiming for a more realistic simulation of the Boeing 787-9.

     

    B7879 - 2020-06-01 14.jpgB7879 - 2020-06-01 14.412.jpg


    Summary

    This new update for the Magknight 787 brought many new features, as well as bug fixes and different improvements. Tailstrike protection, APU haze and texture corrections are some of the many changes included in this new version. As always, the changelog will be attached at the end, so you will be able to check and know exactly what changed in version 1.5.0.

     

    As you all know, the Magknight 787 is a plane under development, so don't expect it to be perfect by the moment, however you can affirm that it had a huge improvement since its release.

     

    Due to the fact that the 787 is becoming one of the most important and versatile planes in the real world, it has been chosen for both short and long-haul more and more over the time. This great representation of the incredible Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner shouldn't be missing in your hangar, especially after this nice update which includes those beautiful Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

     

    ______________________________________________________________________

     

    588c3ec720348_X-PlaneStorelogosm.jpg.d1898f535df455909b9ac093c00f7f58.jpg

     

    The Boeing 787-9 Aviator Edition v1.5.0  by Magknight is available in the X-Plane.Org Store here:

     

    B787-9 Aviator Edition

     

    Price is US$44.95

     

    Upgrade cost to the "Aviator Edition" from the original payware release version is US$10, see your X-Plane.OrgStore account for the upgrade.

     

    Features

    General
    • Brand new flight model built for X-Plane 11.40+
    • Improved wingflex
    • Custom IRS simulation, with quick align
    • Auto-update for the lifetime of X-Plane 11
    • LED exterior lights
    • Revised font for cockpit textures
    • New yoke model
    • Revised cockpit textures
    • Pause at top of descent and jump to waypoint
    • 3D cabin

     

    • New: Multiple engine choices
    • Choose from the mainstay GE engines, or the new experimental RR engines
    • Each engine has different flight characteristics
     
    • New: Custom flight controls
      • 5-setting autobrakes with RTO capability
      • Dynamic flap timing and order
      • Roll spoilers based on speed and wingforce
      • Surface droop on hydraulics loss
      • Surface fadeout by speed
       
    • New: Hoppie ACARS integration
      • Intergration with the Hoppie ACARS network
      • Allows uplink of pre-departure clearances and weather information
       
    • FMOD soundpack by audiobirdXP
      • Fully custom FMOD soundpack for the GENx engines
      • Extensive integration with systems
      • Cockpit switch and button sounds
       
    • 3D cabin and fuselage
      • Ground-up exterior fuselage model including optional tinted windows
      • 3D cabin with optional seating
      • Cabin is optional, configurable in EFB for performance
       
    • Custom electrical system
      • Designed from the ground up for the 787
      • Ground power unit
      • Custom anti-ice, simulating the resistance in each mat
       
    • Liveries
      • Blank livery included by default
      • Other liveries available at https://magknight.org/liveries
      • Liveries from before 1.4.0 will not be compatible due to change of engine and fuselage models

     

    Auto-Updater
    • Uses the Skunkcraft Updater for Automatic updates

     

    Requirements:

    X-Plane 11 Fully updated

    Windows, Mac or Linux
    4GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM recommended
    Download Size: 1 GB
    Current and Review version : 1.5.0 (May 24th 2020)
     
     
    ______________________________________________________________________
     

    Aircraft Update by Bernardo Pierdoná Casa

    2nd 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

     

    (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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  8. header.jpg

     

    Scenery Review : CYVR - Vancouver International Airport by GloballArt

     

     

    Vancouver is Canada's third biggest city, with the second busiest airport in the country. Often described as a trans-Pacific hub, it has more direct flights to China than any other North American airport. YVR is in being an important hub for Air Canada and WestJet, as well as a relevant operations base for Air Transat. This huge airport enplaned and deplaned more than 1.1 million passengers in March, with more than 17,650 aircraft runway movements in the same month. Vancouver airport also had more than 1,860 non-runway movements, which includes floatplanes, charters and helicopters. This incredible airport didn't have a payware version for X-Plane, until GloballArt released their version of Vancouver International Airport.

     

    GloballArt is a well-known scenery designer for X-Plane, being Toronto Pearson International one of its most famous products. A few days ago they released their replica of Vancouver International Airport, a great addition for the X-Plane community.

     

    Vancouver International

    Airport    

    IATA: YVR - ICAO: KFLL     

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    08L/26R - 9,940ft (3,030m) Concrete

    08R/26L - 11,500ft (3,505m) Asphalt/Concrete

    13/31 - 7,300ft (2,225m) Asphalt/Concrete

    Elevation AMSL 13 ft / 4m 

     

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    The airport by itself almost occupies all the small island called "Sea Island". It is divided into three terminals, which are the Domestic, International and South terminals.  

     

    Domestic Terminal

    This is the first terminal we are going to talk about. Divided into three concourses, A B C, the terminal has 49 parking positions, most being equipped with jet bridges. All concourses will receive expansions, which will increase the terminal capacity.

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    Concourse A

    Concourse A is the smallest of the three. It has few jet bridges, so most of the aircraft parked there need to planed and deplaned outside the building. 

     

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    Concourse B

    Many airlines operate in concourse B, Westjet, Sunwing and Air North are some examples. Differently from concourse A, this one has jet bridges in almost all gates.  

     

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    All airport jet bridges are very nice, very similar to the real ones, which also have "HSBC" wrote on them. GloballArt uses AutoGate plugin to animate the jetways, this means you have to install it if you want them to work properly. 

     

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    Concourse C

    Concourse C is the biggest concourse in the domestic terminal, with Air Canada being its main operator. It has more gates, with and without jet bridges, than the other concourses in the Domestic Terminal. As well as the others, Concourse C will receive a major expansion planned in the Master Plan 2037.

    Even though the airport doesn't have interior modeling, the external details of the building are quite nice.

     

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    International Terminal

    Compared to the Domestic one, this terminal is quite bigger, and unlikely the other terminal, there are 2 concourses instead of three.

     

    Concourse D

    Used by all international flights from Vancouver, this concourse has 15 gates, all being able to handle wide-body aircraft. Seven of the gates are fitted with 2 jet bridges, two which can handle the enormous Airbus A380, operated seasonally by British Airways.

     

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    As well as all the other concourses, Master Plan 2037 includes an expansion for concourse D, named Pier D, which will be the first expansion to be concluded. As you can see, the main structure of the new building is almost ready. GloballArt has modeled it, and a very nice construction site too.

     

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    Concourse E

    The last one is Concourse E, which is the US preclearance area and has 21 gates, 17 being equipped with jetways. The majority of US-bound flights operate from Concourse E; the only exceptions are flights from an international origin (Cathay Pacific's Hong Kong—Vancouver—New York and Philippine Airlines' Manila—Vancouver—New York flights), or flights that depart after 8:30 p.m. (e.g. Delta Air Lines' Vancouver—New York flight).

     

    The gates E75 to E78 can accommodate smaller wide-body aircraft, and are swing gates which can be used for international departures, as gates D75 to D78. It is good to note that gate E95 accesses both the E95A and E95B stands.

     

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    Differently from all other four concourses, the E one will receive two building expansions. The first one, Pier E, will give Concourse E more space for operations, while the Pier F/East Concourse will create a whole new wing for the airport. The of the Vancouver Airport Authority said that this expansion will start shortly after the conclusion of the Pier D.

     

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    South Terminal

    The South Terminal is a portion of the original pre-1968 terminal which is still in use. This includes the floatplane terminal. It also houses the corporate headquarters and main base of Pacific Coastal Airlines and Harbour Air. The South Terminal serves regional airlines that fly mostly within British Columbia, in addition to helicopters and chartered flights.

     

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    Surrounding Areas

    Here I will show all the buildings and features near the South Terminal, which mostly consist of General Aviation aprons and private hangars.

     

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    As I said earlier, this area has the General Aviation aprons as one of its main characteristics, and GloballArt make sure to add them. There are many places to park your plane, helicopter and even sea-plane. 

     

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    There are many hangars here too, and most of them are the same as the real ones. Million Air, Signature Air Support, London Aviation and Shell are some good examples. All hangars are custom built and very realistic.

     

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    The surrounding areas of the South Terminal have a very unique thing, which isn't found in most airports. Noise management is one of the main focus of the YVR airport, and post-maintenance engine test produces a lot of noise. With that in mind, YVR airport constructed an Engine Testing Facility, which was modeled by GloballArt.

     

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    East and Northeast Areas

    These two areas of the airport majorly consist of cargo hangars and ramps. The airport most noticeable features in the East region are the Purolator and FedEx cargo facilities, as well as Air Canada and Jazz Hangars.

     

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    In the NorthEast area of the airport, next to the runway 26R is the UPS building, very nice and detailed. A few meters from the UPS facility is located the huge Canada Post building.

     

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    Main Terminal

    There are many interesting things in the Main Terminal or very close to it. Starting with the control tower, which isn't incredible but has some details like the lights and antennas.

     

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    Vancouver Airport has two, of many, characteristics features, the Skytrain and the Fairmont Hotel. The Skytrain station is pretty nice, very good modeling, and connects Vancouver to its Airport. The fact that GloballArt included a moveable train is very nice.

     

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    The Fairmont Hotel is a very beautiful and iconic construction at the airport. Located on the East side of the building, in front of Concourse E, the hotel has 386 rooms, and if you be lucky, you may get a room facing the beautiful airport.

     

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    De-icing zone

    Vancouver airport has 10 communal de-icing bays and more than 20 de-icing trucks, which are extremely necessary during the cold weather. GloballArt has already implemented this feature in the Montreal Airport, and it worked with most aircraft. However, in this airport only the VDGS works, no de-icing trucks, this way you can only simulate the de-icing procedure with de-ice included aircraft, like the Zibo 738. Note that the VDGS shows the indications for all supported aircraft, so if you want, you can stay there for a few minutes and imagine that your plane is being de-iced.

     

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    Mesh and Custom Buildings

    The package also includes a mesh, even though the areas around the airport are mostly plain, and a few custom buildings. These buildings a nice, however they don't have winter textures, differently from the airport.

     

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    Ground Textures

    The ground textures are very good, during both day and night. There is a wide variety of surfaces, especially in the taxiways and runways, and they are all very detailed. The taxi lines textures are pretty nice too, with some showing usage cracks and others seem to be new. The runway textures are beautiful, which gives you the feeling of a used runway.

     

    A very nice detail that GloballArt inserted in their product is the smooth and high-quality textures transition between taxiways and land, making the airport way more immersive. If I am not wrong, you can apply this by using the well-known decals in your Orthophotos.

     

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    GloballArt also included a very nice feature related to ground textures in the airport, wet ground textures. These files add the wet appearance to the ground, which gives the airport extra realism. Even after the rain stopped, the ground remains wet and shows many puddles.

     

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    The airport includes 3D grass, but just like the real one, it isn't present in most parts of the airport. This occurs, most of the time, because the snow covers the land for a considerable time during the year, killing it.

     

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    Lighting

    Probably one of the most important things in an X-Plane airport, the lighting in Vancouver airport is pretty nice. No lights are missing, runways, taxiways, roads, terminals, etc... Are all illuminated. 

     

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    The lights around the gates are pretty good, making it very easy to see and maneuver your aircraft.

     

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    The lighting at the South Terminal region is pretty good too, as well as in the main terminal and its surrounding areas.

     

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    The only downside related to the airport lighting is the textures, especially the ones from the Main Terminal. They don't look as good as during the day.

     

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    Summary

    CYVR Vancouver International Airport by GloballArt is a solid airport, delivering what you would expect from it. This airport is the type you like and doesn't get disappointed at all, even though some things could be improved. 

     

    The modeling is pretty good, especially in certain areas like Pier D. Ground textures are very nice as well, with a great variety of surfaces and beautiful textures, including wet ground textures. GloballArt included winter textures and custom mesh in the airport files, as two different folders. 

     

    The fact that the airport doesn't have a modeled interior is one of the downsides. The addition of this feature would make the terminal way more beautiful for two reasons, being the first and most obvious, a modeled interior, and the second transparent windows. Having transparent windows would remove the current textures, which could be better, not just in the Main Terminal building, but in all objects around the airport, like jet bridges.

     

    It is very important to note that the airport has Stop Bars, a light system located in the runway holding position. I couldn't show you this because it only works when you are connected to a server like IVAO and VATSIM. This system consists of red and green lights, controlled by the control tower, that show the pilots when they should enter or not the runway.

     

    As I said earlier, one of the main features of the airport, when compared to others, is the de-icing system. Right now it only shows information in the VDGS, but we all expect it to be like CYUL, with the operational de-icing trucks Maybe in the next version. Probably many people didn't notice that the airport is already at version 1.1, which became available one week after the initial release. This update brought many improvements, such as lighting fixes and FPS gains.

     

    If you always wanted to fly into Canada's second busiest airport, but never found an X-Plane version that was good enough for you, then this airport is the one you were looking for. I am sure that GloballArt gave their best at this airport and even though it is far away from perfection and has some downsides, it has many good qualities. If you are not sure if you should get this airport or not, trust me, you won't be disappointed with the solid airport.

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    The CYVR - Vancouver International Airport by GloballArt is available at the X-Plane.Org Store.

     

    CYVR - Vancouver International Airport

     

    Price is US$24.95

     

    Features

     

    ✓ Accurate replica os CTVR – Vancouver International Airport, updated 2020.
    ✓ Precise modeling based on original references, photos and others researchs.
    ✓ Customized runways, lines and taxiways, with ambiente occlusion included in the textures.
    ✓ Sun reflections effects on pavements.
    ✓ Fingers Auto Gate with VGDS 
                o By Marginal
    ✓ Static objects, vehicles and aircraft are present in this scenery.
    ✓ Avenues and streets with personalized and standard vehicle traffic.
    ✓ HDR lighting with custom night textures.
    ✓ Custom textures with ambient occlusion.
    ✓ Animated ground traffic and default aircraft traffic.
              o Plugin Ground Traffic by Marginal
    ✓ Custom Approach Lights (ALS) systems.
    ✓ Included taxi routes for aircraft, "taxi route"
    ✓ Taxi routes configured to WT3 plugin.
    ✓ Airliners configured Ramp Start.
    ✓ De-Ice Signboard best configured to ZIBO 738 (complete) an other aircrafts (Signboard).
               o Use Auto Gate plugin datarefs - by Marginal
    ✓ Winter texture - only the Airport area.
    ✓ Stop Bars lights.
              o Online flights only.
     
    Included in scenery package
    ▪ CA-CYVR-A-Vancouver Intern Airport G1
    ▪ CA-CYVR-B-Vancouver Mesh G1
    ▪ CYVR Winter Textures
    ▪ Instruction Manual (English and portuguese BR)
     
    Requirements
    X-Plane 11
    Windows. Mac or Linux
    4 GB VRAM Minimum. 8 GB+  VRAM Recommended
    Download Size: 1 GB
    Current version: 1.1 (May 22nd 2020)
     
    Installation
    Download scenery file size is 1GB
     
    Three folders are included+2 manuals
     
    • CA-CYVR-A-Vancouver Intern Airport
    • CA-CYVR-B-Mesh
    • YVR_Winter-Textures
     
    Final scenery size is 3.5GB
     
    AutoGate plugin - AutoGate is required for this scenery
     
    Documents
    One manual in two languages English and Portuguese(BR)
     
    ->Manual-CYVR-English
    ->Manual-CYVR-Portugues
    _____________________________________________________________________
     

    Scenery Review by Benardo Pierdoná Casa

    27th May 2020

    Copyright©2020 : X-Plane Reviews

     

    Review System Specifications:
    Computer System: Intel Core I5-9600K 4,30GHz / 2x8 Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200MHz - Gigabyte RTX 2070 - 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

    Scenery or Aircraft

    Boeing 737-800 by Zibo (X-Plane.Org)free

    737-700U by Captain Kitten (Threshold)free

     

    (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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  9. Hi,

    I would get the A330, even though the A319 is way better. I don't have the A320, and won't get it in a while. Payware add-ons here are almost 6x more expensive. But I have the A330, which is one of my favorites. If I was you, I would get the A330, because it is different from both A319 and A320, which are very similar. 

    One thing is for sure, you need to buy the BSS sounds, independent of the aircraft. Your simulation will get WAY better.

  10. 5 hours ago, Bob. said:

    Hello Bernardo casa again. This is a great update overview and I think it’s time for me too get one of these. 

    I already have FF A320 ultimate. 

    Which one should I get? I think I’m leaning to a319 because has BSS pack for cfm and iae.

    thank you, keep up great articles.

    Hi Bob, 

    Thanks, I am really happy to know that you are liking my articles.

    Both aircraft are extremely good. Personally, I like the A319 more, especially with the IAE sounds, don't forget that you need the CFM too. Independent of your decision, you will be extremely happy.

  11. Logo.jpg

     

    Aircraft Updates : Airbus A319 and 321 by Toliss

    A few days ago Toliss released updates for both A319 and A321, changing and improving many things in the aircraft. Systems were the main focus, adding new features and usabilities. Let's check out what changed.

     

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    Airbus A319 v1.4 by Toliss

    The A319 is ToliSS's first add-on for X-Plane 11, which was released in early 2018. This  update brought some improvements for the aircraft, like the addition of the Secondary Flight Plan, Fix Info page and a complete rework of the flight path. This last feature resulted in a more accurate computed path.

     

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    The A319 received other new features which made the aircraft even more realistic. The most noticeable are the cockpit door, which can be opened now, and the addition of a standby whisky compass. This compass is very well made, giving you now the option to show or hide it. Another great change was the ISCS, it was reorganized to be more intuitive. Now you can change the performance calculator between the Active and Secondary, as well as use TOGA thrust.

     

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    Most people that own the A319 already used the ToteDeMacs textures, so Toliss decided to include them as default in the new version. They are pretty nice, even though I prefer using a grey cockpit texture replacement which will be linked at the end of the review. The PFD colors were reworked, as well as the landing symbology, increasing realism.

     

    Toliss also made a few minor additions and changes. For those who don't use the incredible BSS sounds, Toliss reworked the sound balance for better immersion. Brake pedal function with a single axis is now allowed, Pause at T/D now pauses the simulation one minute before T/D, FD and AP now have smoother behavior in managed descent. Small changes to make your simulation better.

     

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    Airbus A321 v1.03 by Toliss

    One of the most popular and awaited add-ons for X-Plane now receives its third update, which includes a few minor improvements to make it a better aircraft. Most of the new features are the same as from the A319, smoother FD and AP, reworked PFD colors and a warning, to prevent you from using Experimental Flight Model.

     

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    The A321 received a few exclusive features like the Tailstrike Warning, which shows up in the PFD during landing. The Engine EPR indication was improved (IAE engine), as well as many other improvements related to the engines.

     

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    Summary

    Toliss proved to be one of the best add-on producers for X-Plane, first with the A319 and now with the longer A321. Updates are very important, they prevent the aircraft from getting outdated, at least buys you more time, and always improves it. Both A319 and A321 both received mostly very similar features and improvements in this update, and even though they weren't big or many, they manage to make the add-on better.

     

    Probably the main additions in these updates are for the A319 to reflect the changes on the more modern A321. Opening cockpit door, functional compass, better textures and the systems changes that were were awaited for a while, and the wait was certainly worth it. All these features are very nice and make the overall simulation more enjoyable.

     

    Now that Toliss has been around for a good time and proved to have very high-quality products, there is no reason for not having one of these incredible birds in your hangar, they are 100% recommendable.

    ________________________________________________________

     

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    Both Airbus A319 v1.4 and Airbus A321 v1.03 by Toliss are available in the X-Plane.Org Store here :

     

    Airbus A319

     

    Price is US$69.00

     

    v1.4 Changelog

     

     

    A319_changelog.txt

     

     

    Airbus A321

     

    Price is US$79.00

     

    v1.03 Changelog

     

     

    A321_changelog.txt

     

    ______________________________________________________________________

     

     

    Aircraft Update by Bernardo Pierdoná Casa

    19th May 2020

    Copyright©2020: X-PlaneReviews
     
    ToteDeMacs - Grey cockpit mod for A319 and A321 (Threshold)
     
    (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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    Aircraft Review : Embraer ERJ Family by X-Crafts

     

    There is almost a year in that our friend Stephen posted a quick overview of the ERJ Family. Today I will make a complete review of this fabulous aircraft developed by X-Crafts, which had an update a few days ago.

     

    The Embraer Regional Jets were the first jet engine commercial aircraft produced by Embraer. Continental Express took delivery of the first EMB 145 (later renamed ERJ 145) on December, 27 1996. With more than 2200 units delivered, the ERJ family is considered to be one of the most successful regional aviation aircraft ever. Today, its main operators are Envoy Air and ExpressJet Airlines, with respectively 108 and 96 aircraft. An interesting fact is that even being a Brazilian aircraft, no commercial ERJ is operated by a Brazilian airline.

     

    Powered by two AE3007 turbofan engines, producing from 7,201 to 8,985 lbs thrust each, the 135 variant can carry 37 passengers, up to 50 in the 145. The 145XR variant has the biggest range of all five aircraft (2,000), it also has an MTOW of 24,100kg and can fly at M 0.80, faster than M 0.78 from the other three commercial aircraft. The business version named Legacy 650 can fly up to impressive 3,900nm, at M 0.80 and a maximum operational altitude of 41,000ft.

     

    I will base my review in the ERJ 145, which is the most popular variant.

     

    3D Modeling and Textures

    Probably, one of the main qualities of the X-Crafts ERJ.  Unparalleled visuals, that's what X-Crafts says about their products, and I can't deny that, the textures and 3D modeling are exceptional. 

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 12.21.28.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 12.20.39.jpg

     

    Exterior

    The ERJ 145 from x-crafts has one of the best exterior modeling of all aircraft available for X-Plane 11. The fuselage, wings and engines are full of details, the 4K textures are incredible, especially in the fuselage, and impressive reflections. The landing gear is very detailed, as well as the antennas and lights around the aircraft. Pitot tubes, door handles and windshield wipers have a really good 3D modeling, giving the aircraft even more details.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 12.45.56.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-13 12.45.30.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 12.47.30.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-13 12.47.51.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 12.46.39.jpg

     

    Interior

    With such a good exterior, the interior 3D modeling and textures couldn't be bad, and that is true, the interior is very impressive. The overhead is simple but very well done, one of the best 3D modeled overhead panels in all X-Plane. In the cockpit almost every button and knob works, both windows can be opened, the screens have awesome reflections and the textures are incredible. X-Crafts has done such a good job with the textures that they may be the best in all X-Plane, being a great difference when compared to most aircraft. Even with those high-quality 3D modeling and textures, this add-on won't take many FPS from your system.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 13.29.19.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-13 13.27.03.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 13.28.15.jpg

     

    There is a 3D cabin in the unusual 2-1 configuration. The fact that you can turn the ceiling lights on and off in the control panel located next to the main door is very cool.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-02 11.14.36.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.17.11.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 13.29.33.jpg

     

    Flying the ERJ

    Even though it is a smaller plane, the way it flies isn't very different from a 737 or E195. In this short flight from Chicago ORD to Louisville SDF I will tell you my experience while flying the aircraft. 

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 15.04.24.jpg

     

    The startup process is very simple and x-crafts implemented a complete and detailed checklist to help you. The first thing you should do is turn both batteries to auto position, connect the GPU and press both avionics master buttons. This will start the electricals and automatically align the IRS. After this you can switch the emergency lights to armed.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.24.22.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.25.20.jpg

     

    After turning on the electricals, the next step is programming the FMS. X-Crafts uses the Tekton FMS created by Steve Wilson, which at first glance appears to be very confusable and tricky. Even though the FMS needs some improvements, it manages to create a useful route and performance calculations. 

     

    Take note that I will show you the way I program it and there are many other ways to do it.

     

    The first thing you should do is insert your callsign, which today is Envoy Air 4076, your initial and final altitude, 31,000ft in this short flight, and press initialize FMS. After that you can head to PERF 1 page by pressing MCDU INDEX and PERF. There you will set the number of passengers, payload weight and fuel.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.28.19.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.27.04.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.29.08.jpg

     

    Now you need to insert your departure and arrival. Go back to MCDU INDEX and press DEPARTURE. On that page you will select your departing runway, SID and transition. Then press ARRIVAL and insert your runway, STAR, approach and its transition. The next thing you need to do is head up to the route page. There you will need to add any waypoint required in your route, it is very easy, just insert the required waypoint and its altitude. After all that your route should be ready. Note that if you will use airways the process is a little different.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.29.21.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.31.11.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.37.36.jpg

     

    Now that your route ready, go to your PERF 2 page. You will need to set your cruise speed, make sure that both altitudes are right, and last but not least, insert the average wind. After that, press the EXEC button, this way you will validate all the information you've inserted and activate the route. To check your progress simply click in the progress and flight plan button.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.33.24.jpg

     

    At this point the FMS is ready, so the next step is to turn on the fuel pumps, start the APU, turn on the A/C packs and APU bleed, and lastly the windshield ice protection. Now that the APU is running, the GPU can be disconnected. It is very important to set your altitude and heading in the autopilot panel, hit the NAV and FMS buttons, and set the altimeters.

     

    Everything is ready, so you can call the pushback truck and start your engines. Packs off, beacon on, hydraulics auto and engine selectors start position. Wait until the engines finished the startup process to turn on the bleeds and packs. Don't forget to turn off the APU and its bleed. Set your flaps and thrust rating to T/O position, and you are now ready to taxi.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.45.09.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.45.54.jpg

     

    Chicago O'Hare is a very big airport, so taxing to runway 10L should take a while, this means more time to admire this aircraft. After entering the runway, set your power to about 50%, wait a few seconds and then increase your throttle to T/O power. Note that this plane doesn't have any kind of autothrottle, just a power limitation, so you will need to check the power during all flight.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.52.03.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.54.28.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.55.32.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.57.15.jpg

     

    V1, VR, V2 and here we go. Due to the fact it's a smaller and lighter plane it should take off at slower speeds and climb faster than other aircraft. Right after taking off you should bring the gear up, select climb thrust rating and turn YD on. If you want, the AP can also be turned on. As we start to gain speed, the impressive O'Hare starts to get smaller. Right now we just need to check the power and wait until the aircraft reaches cruise altitude. Again, we can use this time to admire this beautiful aircraft.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.57.55.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 14.58.55.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-13 15.15.09.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 15.23.40.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-13 14.58.33.jpg

     

    We've reached cruise flight level, now we just need to set our thrust rating to cruise and wait for the TOD, in few minutes we will start our descent to Louisville. 

     

    The weather in Louisville isn't very good, drizzling, a little strong winds and very low clouds. This won't be the easiest landing, but the ERJ will handle this.

    A few feet from the ground we reduce the power to idle and just wait for the wheels to touch it. The shell-type reversers aren't very common these days, giving the aircraft a nice distinction from others. And now I want to welcome you to Louisville International Airport, most known as UPS hub.

     

    Editado.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 15.52.54.jpgE145 - 2020-05-13 15.49.58.jpg

     

    Other Features

    X-Crafts made a very complete add-on, this means it includes things like checklists and interactive menus.

     

    Checklist

    The aircraft comes with an exntensive and complete checklist. All procedures are listed there, from the first to last step.

     

    4.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 18.11.11.jpg

     

    FAQ

    This is a very useful tool, especially for people that are still learning how the plane works. Even though this is very very, X-Crafts is one of the few designers that included this feature with the add-on.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-14 17.59.39.jpg

     

    Ground Ops

    This is a very nice feature implemented by X-Crafts. It comes with beautiful engine covers, pitot tubes and antenna protectors, cones, GPU and chocks. 

    E145 - 2020-05-14 17.55.01.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 18.03.14.jpg

     

    Pop-outs

    Personally, I don't use pop-outs during flights, but if you want to, X-Crafts implemented an FMS pop-out, which can be accessed by clicking in the modeled one in the cockpit, or the fast menu in the bottom left corner of the screen. The cockpit screens can also be popped-out, revealing a unique 3D pop-out.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-14 18.40.54.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 18.38.14.jpg

    Lights

    The interior night lighting is very beautiful. The characteristic Embraer All-White lights give the plane a modern feeling. One nice thing is that you can dim or brighten the cabin lights in the control panel next to the main door, just like the real aircraft.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-15 00.00.17.jpg

    E145 - 2020-05-15 00.00.36.jpgE145 - 2020-05-15 00.01.01.jpg

     

    Sounds

    One of the things you most notice while flying an aircraft is the sounds, and the ERJ sounds are one of the best in X-Plane. The first thing you normally do before entering a plane is opening the door, and this simple animation very good sounds, recreating the hydraulics very well. After reaching the cockpit and turning the batteries on, you will hear the avionics, electricals and alarms working. The APU startup sounds are very nice and accurate, giving you a lot of immersion. After the APU reaching 100% you can turn on its bleed and turn of the packs, this way you will hear the nice A/C sounds.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-14 18.58.24.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 19.06.32.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 19.46.42.jpg

     

    If you connect the GPU, you will hear it starting up and running, which is very nice when you have your window opened. Another nice thing is that types of knobs, switches or buttons have a different sound. A good example is the landing lights switches, which have a different sound from the navigation lights switches.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-14 19.19.04.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 19.20.45.jpg

     

    Probably the most important sound of an aircraft is the engine sounds. They are very accurate and recreate the real sounds very well, especially in the cabin, where they get louder and clearer. We can easily say that the are extremely good, especially when compared to other planes. Take in mind that a single plane costs only US$50, so the sounds are exceptional for this price.

     

    E145 - 2020-05-14 22.04.02.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 22.04.59.jpgE145 - 2020-05-14 22.07.52.jpg

     

    Variants

    The aircraft comes with 5 variants. The one I've been showing you is the 145, the most popular one. It has a longer range version, the XR,  and a shorter version named 140. There is an even shorter variant named 135, which can carry 37, instead of 44 from the 140 or 50 from the 145.

     

    E145XR - 2020-05-14 22.40.46.jpgE140 - 2020-05-14 22.34.01.jpg

    E135 - 2020-05-14 22.43.09.jpg

     

    There is a fifth variant named Legacy 650, which derives from the ERJ135. The Legacy 650 is Embraer biggest business jet, excluding the Lineage 1000(derived from the E190).  This is one of the most beautiful business jets in the world, which can carry up to 14 passengers and fly 3,900nm. 

    X-Crafts modeled a completely different interior for this aircraft, giving you the maximum immersion you could get from one of the best business jets for X-Plane.

     

    Legacy - 2020-05-14 23.21.58.jpgLegacy - 2020-05-14 23.22.25.jpg

    Legacy - 2020-05-14 23.22.37.jpgLegacy - 2020-05-14 23.24.13.jpg

     

    Liveries

    The included liveries are the same from the release. Blank, Alitalia, American Eagle, American Eagle Stripes, ExpressJet and United Express.

     

                        E140 - 2020-05-14 23.43.34.jpgE140 - 2020-05-14 23.43.44.jpgE140 - 2020-05-14 23.43.54.jpg                    E140 - 2020-05-14 23.44.04.jpgE140 - 2020-05-14 23.44.14.jpgE140 - 2020-05-14 23.44.24.jpg

     

    Update

    The ERJ family by X-Crafts had a major update (v1.3.0) at the end of April, and a small update (v1.3.10) containing some fixes a few days ago. I will list in sections the most important things from the major update. Note that the changelog will be attached at the end of the review.

     

    PFD

    Airspeed and altitude indicators further debugged and enhanced to more closely represent the real aircraft.  Digital displays have been corrected and the overspeed zone modified to adapt to be correctly sensitive to altitude and Mach number.
    Glideslope indicator presence now reactive to source selection as well as NAV radio frequency selection.
     
    MFD / EICAS / Stanby Instruments
    • Further updated, revised and debugged displays to be closer to actual aircraft.  
    All indications on the MFD should now switch between KG/LBS units where needed. Units now correctly persist from session to session.
     
    Other General Enhancements and Bug Fixes
    The No Smoking and Fasten Seatbelts manipulators reversed.
    Added code to match the throttle position to the reverse thrust condition when using joystick buttons or keys to toggle max reverse thrust.
    Increased the size of the manipulators that are in the centers of the autopilot control knobs – HDG synch, MACH/KIAS toggle (SPD), ALT sync for easier control in VR. 
     
    E145 - 2020-05-15 13.45.36.jpgE145 - 2020-05-15 13.45.49.jpg
     
    APU
    Enhanced the APU indicator on EICAS to match video of actual aircraft display elements. 
    Completely reconfigured the APU startup/shut-down manipulators, and added custom systems code to reflect the way in which the APU controls are supposed to be used in the real aircraft.
    APU fuel use now reflected in the MFD fuel totalizer, drawing from the right tank.
     
    Graphics
    X-Crafts converted all texture to .dds files, preparing the aircraft to X-Plane 11.50. 
     
    ERJ Settings
    Added FMOD cockpit engine volume control.
    Added a temporary checkbox to disable the overspeed warning. 
    Added a check box to hide the Easter Eggs that appear in the cockpit.
     
    FMS
    The FMS had many fixes and improvements, making it a more complete and better system.
     
    E145 - 2020-05-15 14.02.06.jpgE145 - 2020-05-15 14.03.03.jpg
     
    The version 1.3.10 brought improvements to prevent crashes in many situations, as well as solving the inability to load the Linux version of the aircraft.
     
    Summary
    The ERJ family by X-Crafts is an incredible add-on for X-Plane. Very nice textures, 3D modeling, sounds... For sure one of the best aircraft available in the X-Plane.Org Store. The Tekton FMS may be the only downside, even though it manages to make the aircraft work perfectly, it could be more realistic which would recreate a fabulous simulation of the Embraer Regional Jets. 
     
    The updates brought some improvements, as well as many fixes. The textures conversion to .dds is very important, preparing the aircraft to X-Plane 11.50. The FMOD cockpit engine volume control is a nice addition to the plugin.
     
    X-Crafts did such a great job with the ERJ family, and even though it needs a few improvements, you will be very satisfied with the aircraft.
     
    ______________________________________________________________________
     
    588c3ec720348_X-PlaneStorelogosm.jpg.d1898f535df455909b9ac093c00f7f58.jpg
     
    The Embraer ERJ Family v1.3.10 by X-Crafts is avalable at the X-Plane.Org Store
     
    Embraer ERJ Family by X-Crafts - Includes all five variants
     
    Price is US$89.85
     
    Embraer E135 by X-Crafts - Includes the ERJ135
     
    Price is US$49.95
     
    Embraer E140 by X-Crafts - Includes the ERJ140
     
    Price is US$49.95
     
    Embraer E145 & E145XR by X-Crafts - Includes both ERJ145 and ERJ145XR
     
    Price is US$49.95
     
    Embraer Legacy 650 by X-Crafts - Includes the Legacy 650
     
    Price is US$49.95
     
    Features:
    • UPDATER - You can easily check for new updates right inside of X-Plane and you will automatically get the latest version. It literally takes 3 clicks of a button!
    • On-screen CHECKLIST plugin
    • On-screen HELP SHEET with FAQ and useful info which will get you going real quick and will solve 90% of issues that users usually ask on the forums.
    • On-Screen Control menu for door control, ground objects, GPU and engine covers.
    • Pre-configured systems like on the real plane
    • Realistic Avionics Startup
    • Realistic flight dynamics based on real pilot input and feedback
    FMS
    • There are two FMS units installed on the pedestal: Custom TEKTON FMS© by Steve Wilson  (More details  below)  and the X-Plane FMS by Philipp J. Münzel 
    • Please note that these are not replicas of the FMS units usually installed on the jets.
     
    3D MODELING AND TEXTURING
    I'm a VFX artist in real life, so I'm used to creating photo-real assets. Although I am limited by the XP rendering capabilities and your hardware, I tried to make it look and perform as good as I could :)
     
    EXTERIOR
    • 4K High resolution textures (more important is the resolution of the actual fuselage which is 75000pixels per on meter squared)
    • Highly detailed landing gears, Flaps, lights, gauges, antennas... everything :)
    • Realistic wingflex animation
    • Pilots in external view
    • All doors are animated and controllable from the plugin menu. Main and service doors can also be opened by clicking on the levers.
    INTERIOR:
    You'll find that there is an amazing level of detail, for example dust particles on the screens visible when light shines on them, finger prints on buttons, and if you zoom in really close to the screens you will even see individual pixels on the actual screens. I tried to make sure that the cockpit looks realistically worn out and used as it would based on how much these jets are used!
    • High resolution PFD, MFD, EICAS displays
    • All text around the cockpit is crisp and clear with any rendering options
    • Intuitive cockpit manipulation - I have always taken great care to make the cockpit as easy to use as possible. This means all clickable areas in the cockpit are very big so that you can easily click on any button, knob or lever in the cockpit
    • Each switch, lever, knob, and handle is animated
    • All cockpit lights are controllable exactly as on the real jets, even the screens shine light on their surroundings
    • Includes baggage bay door light
     
    POP UP INSTRUMENTS
    • 3D (not movable, ideal for VR) pop-up panels of the FMS, Radio panel and Thrust Rating Panel.
    • The FMS also has a 2D pop up window mode that stays on the screen and you can move it around, so you can simply choose which one you want to be using based on your preference.
    • Pop Up screens of the PFD MFD and EICAS
    OTHER FEATURES
    • Realistic Exterior Lighting: NAV, Strobe, Beacon, Left/Nose/Right landing lights, Nose taxi lights, Inspection lights, Logo lights, Courtesy lights, Baggage door light. They all cast light on the surroundings.
    • Audible Alert System
    • Awesome 3D sounds, many of which have been recorded on the real jets!
    FULLY VR COMPATIBLE
    These jets have been made, fine-tuned and tested for a flawless VR experience!
     
    LIVERIES
    There are 5 liveries included compatible with the ERJs (White, American Airlines, American Airlines Old, United Express, ExpressJet,and 3 for the Legacy. There are dozens of other liveries available on the forums.
     
    TEKTON FMS© Features
     
     Custom MCDU Interface
    • Initialization page on system startup
    • Easy to navigate paging system
    • SID, ROUTE and STAR waypoint lists are treated as separate editable items
    • Color keyed data presentation
    • Scratchpad data entry
    • Interactive feedback messages
     
    MCDU PopUps
    • Both 2D and 3D popups are available for easy access.
    • Direct Keyboard Entry (DKE)
     
    Departure and Arrival Procedures
     
    • SID and STAR procedures from X-Plane stock or third party custom data
    • Zipped “Custom Data” folder provided
    • Altitude and airspeed constraints for procedures
    • Automatic procedure altitude calculation
    • Flexible STAR element selection and re-selection and editing
    • Default visual departure and approach waypoints
    • Ability to easily edit SIDs, Routes, STARS and the loaded FLT PLAN
     
    • AIRWAYS Selection
    • Progress Monitoring
     
    Performance Flight Planning:
    • PERF 1 page providing preflight and takeoff data
    • PERF 2 page allowing route fuel planning 
    • PERF 3 page for approach data
     
    Additional Features:
    • Thrust Rating Select page (TRS) accessed from PERF 1
    • FMS reset function
    • Simplified manual waypoint altitude entry
    • Company route load and save functions
    • FLT PLAN page now automatically advances with destination waypoint
    • 8.33mhz tunable radios
    • Comprehensive Status Page
    • The stock X-Plane MCDU is also provided as an alternative for users that prefer it.
     
    FMOD
    An amazing 3D sound package comes with the jets. Everything from different knob sounds, door sounds to realistic engine sounds. Many of the sounds have been recorder on the real jets which makes the experience extra immersive! 
     
    Requirements
    X-Plane 11
    Windows, MAC or Linux - 
    4GB VRAM Minimum. 8GB+ VRAM Recommended
    Current version: 1.3.10 (May 12th 2020)
     
    Update Log v1.3.10
     
     
    ______________________________________________________________________
     

    Aircraft Review by Bernardo Pierdoná Casa

    15th May 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 - 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

    Scenery and Aircraft

    - KSDF by Zero Dollar (X-Plane.Org) - Free

     

    (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)

     

    587ee6e4e26a9_LogoHeaderX-PlaneReviews200px.jpg.6de88e831eeb704fa5525e0891976641.jpg

     

  13. 2 hours ago, Bob. said:

    hello, i think this review is great, but i have  another question. is the jar330  better than the 777? which one is better, and which one should i get (first,  might  get both)? thank you very much.

    Hi Bob. Personally, I like the A330 more than the 777. Both aircraft has its problems, textures, systems, etc... But no one is bad. You won't disappointed with any of them. 

    Just note that both aircraft get way better with the BSS sound packs.

    Probably, the best thing you can do is buy the one you like more in real life.

  14. 1 hour ago, CX_Fan said:

    Thanks, I have a really old iMac, only 2GB of VRAM... Can run the 777 and JAR330 quite well, along would ff767. I’ll get 777 extended then think about the 350.

    Probably you won't have any problem with the 777-300er. If you can run the 767, the A350 shouldn't be a problem. Note that the 767 minimuns are 3GB Vram, and the A350 only 2GB, this way the A350 should work just fine.

  15. 15 hours ago, CX_Fan said:

    Hi, it’s me again. I’ve used the 777 on a few flights now, and I’m very happy with it. I love the -300ER from Emirates and Cathay the most, so I’m looking to upgrade to extended pack. But I’m considering buying the 350 as well, because CX also operates that. How does the frame rate of the 350 compare to the 777? Thanks!

    Hi, most of time the the 777 has a higher frame rate. Actually, frame rate won't be a big problem with both aircraft if you have a good PC, but the 777 is a little more FPS friendly then the A350, especially in the cockpit.

  16. Definitivo.jpg

     

    Aircraft Review : Glasair Sportsman 2+2 by GHansen

     

    Glasair Aviation is one of the most known companies in the Experimental Amateur-Built Aircraft industry. Founded in 2001, the company is located in Arlington, WA. The Glasair Sportsman 2+2 is their main product, offering many customizing options. It can be built in a tricycle landing gear and conventional landing gear configurations, as well as amphibious floats or tundra tires.

     

    The Sportsman 2+2 is a very versatile aircraft, being able to carry 4 occupants, a useful load of 1,000 lbs and an impressive 140 kts cruise speed. The fuselage can be made of fiberglass or carbon fiber, and the wings and empennage are made of metal. It can be equipped with a 180 hp Lycoming IO-360 engine or a 210 hp Lycoming IO-390 engine. There is a third option that features a Thielert Centurion 2.0S diesel engine.

     

    Sportsman 2+2

     

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    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 20.24.41.jpgSportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 20.27.53.jpg

     

    The exterior modeling is very nice, being a good representation of the real aircraft. The nose spinner has very nice reflections, the props, landing gear and wings are very nice too. All the fuselage is reflective and full of details.

     

    Interior modeling

    The cockpit may be one of the main for buying this aircraft. It has high-resolution textures and very good 3d modeling. It is very important to note that the aircraft has both IFR and VFR panels modeled, this way you can select that best one for your flight. You can change the panels by accessing the aircraft menu, which is very simple and intuitive. The aircraft has Avitab integration.

     

    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 22.28.44.jpg

    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 22.22.39.jpgSportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 22.56.47.jpgSportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 22.57.46.jpgSportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-28 00.34.04.jpg

     

    Sounds

    It is very important to note that the aircraft has FMOD sounds, which gives you a lot of immersion. There are custom sounds for doors, switches, engine, and many more. Note that the external engine sounds change when the doors are opened. You won't be disappointed with the sounds while flying the aircraft.

     

    Flying the Sportsman

    Today I am going to make a very short regional flight from Jundiaí (SBJD) to Campinas (SBKP). Starting the Sportsman is very easy, batteries on, engine start and avionics on, simply like that. 

     

    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 23.41.18.jpg

     

    Here we go for another flight. The Sportsman is very beautiful and has an outstanding performance for its category. This short flight shouldn't take more than 15 minutes.

     

    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 23.55.40.jpgSportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 23.46.51.jpg

     

    Another successful landing. This is a really fun aircraft to fly, especially when you don't use the autopilot. It gives you the feeling of flying the real aircraft.

     

    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-27 23.53.31.jpgSportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-28 00.13.13.jpg

     

    Other Features

    Here I will list and show you things that are included with the aircraft.

     

    Lights: The aircraft has the minimum lights you would expect, navigation, strobe and landing lights. The interior is very beautiful at night.

     

    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-28 00.26.53.jpgSportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-28 00.27.33.jpg

     

    Variants: The aircraft contains 3 variants, conventional landing gear, tricycle landing gear, and conventional with tundra tires. All three are very nice and unique.

     

    Sportsman_Conventional - 2020-04-28 00.44.54.jpgSportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 00.47.18.jpg

    Sportsman - 2020-04-27 21.22.09.jpg

     

    Menu: The aircraft comes with a small menu. There you can open the doors, set weight and passengers as well as the static elements.

     

    Sportsman - 2020-04-28 11.57.22.jpgSportsman - 2020-04-28 11.59.42.jpg

     

    Liveries: The Sportsman comes with 7 different liveries, plus a blank one. All of them are very nice and well done.

     

    Sportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.09.33.jpgSportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.09.42.jpg

    Sportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.09.52.jpgSportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.10.02.jpg

    Sportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.10.13.jpgSportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.10.25.jpg

    Sportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.10.35.jpgSportsman_Trike - 2020-04-28 12.10.44.jpg

     

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    Summary

    The Glasair Sportsman 2+2 by GHansen is a very fun aircraft to fly, especially when you use a joystick. It is very powerful, resulting in an outstanding performance for its size, meanwhile, it is very easy to fly. Probably this is one of the most versatile aircraft in its category, being able to carry a lot of weight, takeoff in short runways and fly in exotic locations. It would be very nice to see a variant equipped with floats and a 3-blade prop.

     

    For the price of only US$20.00, this is one of the best plane you could buy in the X-Plane.Org Store. High-quality textures, FMOD sounds, interactive menu and three different variants are its main qualities. At first glance it may seem too simple, but I can assure you that this plane is very fun and nice to fly, this way you will always want to fly it more and more. Even though it could have some little improvements, it is a highly recommended purchase.

     

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    The Sportsman 2+2 by GHansen is available at the X-Plane.Org Store.

     

    Sportsman 2+2

     

    Price is US$20.00

     

    Features
    • Three versions included! Conventional gear, Tricycle gear and Tundra gear.
    • Accurately modeled Sportsman 2+2
    • 200+ animations for an accurate simulation
    • Fully VR compatible with preset seating locations for all four seats.
    • Realistic modeling and texturing
    • Ground equipment including chocks and tie-downs
    • 4096x4096 textures to produce the high quality textures
    • PBR (Physically Based Rendering) materials
    • Detailed normal mapping with down-to-the-rivet precision
    • 3D virtual cockpit, instruments are constructed fully in 3D with smooth animations
    • Dimmable cockpit lighting
    • Realistic and accurate flight dynamics based on real-world performance, handling and input from pilots
    • Authentic sounds, created using X-Plane's FMOD sound system
    • Custom sounds for switches, Doors, Engine and more, featuring accurate location placement of sounds in the stereo spectrum, 3D audio effects, adaptive Doppler,
    • exterior sounds spill in when doors or windows are open, different sound characteristics depending on viewing angle etc.
    • Adjust your Weight, Fuel load, ground equipment and passengers via in cockpit clipboard
    • AviTab integration

     

    Requirements

    X-Plane 11

    Windows, Mac or Linux
    4GB VRAM Minimum - 8GB+ VRAM Recommended
    Download Size: 671 MB
    Current Version : 1.3 (April 14th 2020)
    ------------------------------------------------
     

    Aircraft Review by Bernardo Casa

    28th April 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 - 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

    -SBJD - Jundiaí Aiport (X-Plane.Org) freeware

    -SBKP - Campinas airport (AxScenery)

    -SBSP - Congonhas Aiport (AxScenery)

    -Mega São Paulo (X-Plane.Org Store)

     

    (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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