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Found 7 results

  1. News! - Airbus A320-251N LEAP by Peters Aircraft Airbus's latest generation of A320 series aircraft is the NEO or "New Engine Option" of this one of the most popular modern aircraft ever built. There are two new engine options with the Pratt&Whitney PW1100G and CFM's Leap 1A, and both engines use the geared turbine (GTF) technology to get large bonuses in performance, range and of course the ever wanting better fuel consumption by their airline customers. But it hasn't been a smooth sailing ride for both of either the engine manufacturers in this highly specialised geared turbine technology era. The PW1100G has easily outsold the Leap 1A with airline preferences going to the PW in a 10 to 1 ratio on orders. But the engine is already having durability issues. The Leap has had a far smoother EIS (Entry into Service), but this engine also has had issues with coatings on the ceramic matrix composite (CMC) shroud in the high-pressure turbine have shown parts of flaking off and again durability issues have raised their ugly heads. Both engine issues have delayed Airbus deliveries and airline operations over the last six months, but this is all a very high-technology front and with all new very ground breaking areas, you will always get issues of short-term pain, of course airlines won't hear of such things, but in reality it is the nature of the forward progressive technology to not always be totally perfect and completely reliable. In X-Plane there is already a few aircraft with the PW1100G neo fitted and available with the JARDesign A320neo and Peters Aircraft A320-271 NEO PurePower Engine. Now Peters Aircraft have released the CFM's Leap 1A version on the same A320-251N airframe as his PW1100G version. We are already very familiar with the the Pratt&Whitney GTF and the LEAP is in many ways very much the same in mostly the size of the 81 in (206 cm), 20 blade fan diameter on the P&W. The Leap 1A is only slightly smaller fan diameter at 78 in (198 cm) with a Bypass ratio (BPR) of 11:1 were as the P&W has a BPR of 12:1. Thrust is -1A versions 30, 32, 33, 35 - 143.05 kN (32,160 lbf) and the P&W GTF versions 4G/22G - 107.82 kN (24,240 lbf) and so the 1A engine is significantly more powerful. One of the highlights is the Leap 1A sound. It is very different aurally from the P&W GTF and is excellent at engine startup and shutdown. There is no FMOD, but the sounds are high grade and overall are excellent and recorded from a real CFM Leap 1A engine. Cockpit is unchanged from the P&W GTF except for the underlying new Leap performance numbers. Peters Aircraft does note that all aspects of their aircraft is focused on performance and handling of the actual aircraft. So you can be confident the performance numbers are very close to the original aircraft. Lighting for X-Plane11 has been reworked and very nice it is, not totally adjustable as airbus cockpit lighting is complex, but still very good. There are some really nice liveries as part of the Leap A320neo package. With a wide variety of fifteen airlines and three great Frontier logo aircraft. The Pegasus livery is default. The aircraft is available in X-Plane11 and X-Plane10 or the package of both XP11/XP10 versions, which is an upgrade cost. ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the Airbus A320-251N LEAP by Peters Aircraft is NOW! Available from Peters Aircraft here : Airbus A320-251N LEAP Price is Euro €39.90 for the X-Plane11 version _____________________________________________________________________________________ News by Stephen Dutton 4th December 2017 Copyright©2017: X-PlaneReviews (Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
  2. News! - Aircraft Released! VFW 614 by Peters Aircraft Peter Hagar has done Airbus's for the last decade, and has now released a quite different type of aircraft in the: Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke - Fokker VFW 614! The VFW-Fokker 614 (also VFW 614) was a twin-engined jetliner designed and was built in West Germany. It was produced in small numbers by VFW Fokker in the early- to mid-1970s. It was originally intended as a DC3 replacement. Its most distinctive feature was that its engines were mounted in pods on pylons above the wing, to create a more shorter and sturdy undercarriage and less debris ingestion for operations from poorly prepared runways. Only three airlines and the German Air Force operated VFW 614. The aircraft was initially prone to engine problems, and it was too expensive for the small regional airlines for whose needs it was designed. Three aircraft were flown but never delivered, and four airframes were later broken up before completion. The programme was officially cancelled in 1977, and the last unsold aircraft flew in July 1978. (wikipedia) This X-Plane version of the VFW 614 is designed from an aircraft at the Aeronauticum museum, located in Nordholz, just a few kilomenters south of Cuxhaven, Germany. Where it was extensively photographed and detailed. This aircraft can be used with the CIVA Navigation System which was used by the Luftwaffe VFW 614 version. And in a Peter Hagar first you get a fully modeled cabin and opening doors... ______________________________________________________________________ The VFW 614 by Peters Aircraft is NOW available! here : VFW-614 at X-Plane.org Price is $33 Images & Text are courtesy of Peter Hagar© Developer site : Peters Aircraft ______________________________________________________________________ Stephen Dutton 22nd October 2016 Copyright©X-Plane Reviews: X-PlaneReviews
  3. News! - New Liveries : Airbus A320-271N neo by Peter Hager Peter Hager from Peters Aircraft has added more liveries to his A320-271neo series. As more NEO (New Engine Option) aircraft join the world's fleets then more liveries are required for the newer bus. Peter Hager likes to match the engine version to the particular airline, so all the liveries presented here are for the Pratt & Whitney PurePower® Geared Turbine engines that are already in service or due for delivery this calendar year. The other neo engine option for the A320 of the CFM LEAP-1A engines will also be released soon by Peters Aircraft. The new liveries now include: The NEO launch (first in service) Lufthansa livery Spirit Volaris (Mexican) China Eastern LATAM (South America) - HK Express (hong Kong) Viva aerobus (Mexico) - Air Astana (Kazakhstan) All liveries are free for current purchasers of the Peters Aircraft Airbus A320neo series (not to be confused with the JARDesign version) Peter Hager does also note the new v7.3.5 version is not yet updated to X-Plane11. _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Airbus A320-Neo Pratt&Whitney by Peters Aircraft is available from the X-Plane.org Store : Airbus A320-Neo Pratt&Whitney Price is US$49.95 All the new liveries are currently updated at the X-Plane.OrgStore, so go to your account and download the v7.3.5 updated version. Features Detailed 3D cockpit Systems and procedures Detailed systems and procedures managed by plugins. As close as possible to the real aircraft systems Complete cold and dark procedure Airbus A320 Neo Liveries House Color, Lufthansa and Qatar Manual The Flight Crew Operating Manual comes with 196 pages of illustrated descriptions of systems and procedures. Fly by Wire and Auto Thrust The FBW system precisely simulates the normal mode, including all protections Auto Flight The Airbus autoflight system, including FCU, FMA and A/THR, is authentically simulated FMGS This model simulates FMGC, FAC, and two large scale MCDUs, to be displayed in a pop-up panel. The MCDU the flight plan aspects a lot more detailed and sophisticated, than XP does Custom Sound System Realistic sound effects recorded on a real aircraft newly created after recordings of the real P&W PurePower engine sound. Images & Text are courtesy of Peters Hager Developer site : Peters Aircraft _____________________________________________________________________________________ Stephen Dutton 10th January 2017 Copyright:X-PlaneReviews 2017
  4. News! - Updated - Peters Aircraft Airbus A380 and A320 Series Peters Aircraft have issued updates to his A380 and full A320 Series (A319, A320, A320-NEO, A321) aircraft. Airbus A380 The A380 has at this point just had a lighting update to cover the new X-Plane v10.40 lighting feature that allows for the lighting to widen or compress depending on the angle that you look at it. Also the A380 COM1/2 frequency selection of digits are also fixed, and finally the new SASL-plugin does not crash anymore in El Capitan. More significantly noted is that a more comprehensive update of the A380 is coming (Which is well overdue by current standards) that includes the ECAM or Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitor systems display. (at this point the current ECAM is limited to just a few functions) The systems on the A380 are of course complex and the point of the ECAM is to reduce the system complexity to a visual overview that is easier to monitor all aspects of the machine or to troubleshoot systematic failures within the aircraft. Just adapting the A320 Series ECAM to the A380 is a far more complex job, but the results will be worth waiting for. Hopefully a more intergrated 2-D to 3-D cockpit input is also on the update list. The A320 Series (A319, A320, A320-NEO, A321) update is mostly on the APU start up procedures. The original APU START was simply the triggered OPEN FLAP and APU START. Now it is APU MASTER button triggers OPEN FLAP, the APU START button triggers APU START. As Peter Hagar notes why this operation is needed. "This is how it works on the real Airbus. So the pilot has the option to open the flap early, even some minutes before APU start. This is of advantage when the taxi time after landing is difficult to predict, since opening the flap does not burn fuel, but it shortens the entire APU start procedure by ~20 seconds. So the APU can be started shortly before reaching the parking position, thereby avoiding unnecessary running time of APU or worse, of main engines." X-PlaneReviews will keep in tune of any A380 update news and release dates. You can get the A380/A320 updates via Emailing Peter Hagar or checking your X-Plane.OrgStore Account. ______________________________________________________________________ Yes! the Full updated A380 Series by Peter Hargar is available from the new X-Plane.Org Store here : Peter Hagar : Airbus A380 Price is US$54.95 Includes 3-D Cockpit Peters Aircraft Site: Peters Aircraft ______________________________________________________________________ ECAM images are courtesy of Peter Hagar Stephen Dutton Updated : 11th January 2016 Copyright©2016: X-PlaneReviews
  5. News! - Airbus A319 (Babybus) is released by Peters Aircraft Peter Hagar of Peters Aircraft has released the next aircraft in the A320/A319 series with the A319 Series. As usual with Peter's aircraft the aircraft comes in many different variants and packages. There are two packages in BASIC and EXTENDED. In the BASIC Package there is : A319-114 with CFM engines and WINGLETS with liveries: Lufthansa, LAN, Air Canada, AirFrance, Delta, US Airways, Finnair, Finnair (One World), Easyjet (New livery) Easyjet (Old livery), TAP, TAM, Swiss, Germania, Iberia (New livery), Iberia (Old livery), Alitalia (New livery), Alitalia (Old livery), China Southern and Austrian . A319-112-15 with CFM engines and SHARKLETS with liveries American and Avianca. In the EXTENDED Package as well as the above package is: A319-115LR with CFM engines and WINGLETS which is a LONG RANGE version with 4 Additional Center Tanks (max. Range: 8250 km) AirFrance livery. Special A319-115CJ models with CFM engines and WINGLETS which is the AIRBUS CORPORATE JET with 6 Additional Center Tanks, max. Range: 11100 km which comes in five versions: Operator: Emirates, Luxury airliner & VIP charter and Large roof antenna for media & communication via satellite. Operator: DC Aviation, Germany, Luxury VIP charter. DC Aviation belongs to Mercedes Benz Group. Operator: Czech Air Force, Presidential aircraft of the Czech Republic. Operator: Italian Air Force, Presidential aircraft of the Italian Republic, Medium sized roof antenna for media & communication via satelite. Operator: French Air Force, Former presidential aircraft of French Republic. It has been sold to Senegal, where it also serves for the government. Special A319-115CJ models with CFM engines and SHARKLETS (range 11,500nm) Operator: K5 Aviation, Germany, Luxury VIP charter. Operator: Global Jet Luxembourg, Luxury VIP charter The Airbus A319-115 CJ and LR variants comes with a beta version of Engine Warning Display and System Display (ECAM) A first on Peters Aircraft designs. The A319 with IAE engines is noted as coming. Winglet version Corporate Version The Airbus A319-114 CFM by Peters Aircraft is NOW available from the New X-Plane.Org Store here : Airbus A319-114 CFM - Passenger Prices are noted as: Basic Package: US$54.90 Extended Package: US$68.90 Requirements Windows, MAC or Linux - 64 bit Operating System is required X-Plane 10 .36+ (any edition) running in 64bit 4GB RAM/1Gb VRAM - For more information go to Peters Aircraft Images are courtesy of Peter Hager Stephen Dutton X-PlaneReviews©: X-PlaneReviews Updated 11th Sept 2015 A319A19-115 LR and CJ-115 LR an
  6. Peter Hager has released 3 new A380 Series versions besides his “British Airways” G-ALEA aircraft in July 2013. Unlike the usual situation where as you purchase an aircraft type and then you have a selection of liveries to chose from, Peter’s aircraft are a single model or version of a certain aircraft. The version is correct to type, rating and engines of that registration. Here are the four new versions: First is G-ALEA, which was the first of 12 aircraft to be delivered to British Airways on 4th July 2013. (LEA is under going route trials now between London Heathrow and Frankfurt). This livery is exceptionally good with fine detail and very good LIT (night textures) Second is A380-841 version 9M-MNE of Malaysian Airlines and it is equipped with 4 Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines. Third is a Thai Airlines A380-841 version HS-TUB and it is equipped with 4 Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines. Fourth is a China Southern A380-841 version B-6138 is equipped with 4 Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines. This is the first aircraft to be operated by a Chinese Airline. All these new versions come with a few updates to the A380 series, gone are those bland orange cockpit windows of which have now been replaced by a 3d clear view and now with two pilots of which are very realistic - Now flying late at night the glow from the 3d panels is very realistic. This change should be soon updated through out the rest of the A380 series as well. For X-Plane9 users there has been a Plugin update to configure the aircraft for the 9.70 version of X-Plane and a change over plugin folder is included with these versions. The issue seems to be the VC cockpit, so if you haven’t recieved the update from Peter then download the plugin here: http://petersaircraft.com The new additions are now Available. (all versions now come with the magnificent VC Cockpit installed (above) Airbus A380-841: British Airways - US$ 59.95 Airbus A380-841: Malaysian Airlines - US$ 59.95 Airbus A380-841: Thai Airlines - US$ 59.95 Airbus A380-841: China Southern - US$ 59.95 Or you can purchase the full A380 series (Collection Package): Airbus A380-861 House Color - First test aircraft - Bonus Plane Airbus A380-841 House Color (demonstration aircraft) - Bonus Plane Airbus A380-861 Air France (Alliance GP7200 engines) Airbus A380-961 Emirates (Alliance GP7200 engines) Airbus A380-961 Korean Air (Alliance GP7200 engines) Airbus A380-841 British Airways (Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines) Airbus A380-861 Lufthansa (Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines) Airbus A380-841 Malaysian Airlines (Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines) Airbus A380-842 Qantas (Rolls Royce Trent 972B-84 engines) Airbus A380-841 China Southern (Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines) Airbus A380-841 Singapore Airlines (Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines) Airbus A380-841 Thai Airlines (Rolls Royce Trent 970B-84 engines) - US$ 69.95 (includes future all updates) both single purchases and the collection package are now available from the .Org Store: Peter's Aircraft A380 Series Developer Site: Peter's Aircraft X-Plane Reviews: 2nd August 2013
  7. Freeware Releases Roundup September 2013 : Skyhawk A4 - Falcon7X - Airbus A380 In late August and September 2013 we had a really huge choice of quality “freeware” aircraft released. You could say be spoilt for choice in the range and high quality workmanship that became available on the .Org. Of the releases I have picked three of the best to have a fly around and comment on in the Skyhawk A4, Falcon 7X and Riviere’s Airbus A380. Douglas A-4 Skyhawk 1.7 This version was designed by Ben Harber, aka Mid7night and was for sale on the X-Plane .OrgShop site. But now the aircraft has been decommissioned by Nicolas Taureau and put up for freeware on the .Org downloads. The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a carrier-capable attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. The delta winged, single-engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated the A4D under the U.S. Navy’s pre-1962 designation system. The Skyhawk is a light-weight aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 pounds (11,100 kg) and has a top speed of more than 600 miles per hour (970 km/h). The aircraft’s five hard-points support a variety of missiles, bombs and other munitions and was capable of delivering nuclear weapons using a low altitude bombing system and a “loft” delivery technique. The A-4 was originally powered by the Wright J65 turbojet engine; from the A-4E onwards, the Pratt & Whitney J52 was used. The Navy issued a contract for the type on 12 June 1952, and the first prototype first flew from Edwards Air Force Base, California on 22 June 1954. Deliveries to Navy and Marine Corps squadrons (to VA-72 and VMA-224 respectively) commenced in late 1956. The Skyhawk remained in production until 1979, with 2,960 aircraft built, including 555 two-seat trainers. The last production A-4, an A-4M of Marine squadron (VMA-223) had the flags of all nations that operated the A-4 painted on its fuselage sides. A-4 Skyhawks played key roles in the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Falklands War (Argentina). There are four versions of the A-4 available in the 107.60mb download package. Blue Angels - flight demonstration squadron. It was formed in 1946. And the A - 4F Skyhawk was the demonstrator aircraft between December 1974 – November 1986. The aircraft design is very good and well done but it is now showing its design age in the modeling and liveries department. The cockpit (on all versions) is 3d and very well created with an opening canopy and dropping tail hook. On the Blue Angels aircraft you can pick your own number on the tail by changing the liveries. A-4F Jester - The aircraft of “TOP GUN” fame. Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM) training brought on with the establishment of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) in 1969, the availability of A-4 Skyhawks in both the Instrument RAGs and Composite Squadrons at the master jet bases presented a ready resource of the nimble Skyhawks that had become the TOPGUN preferred surrogate for the MiG-17. Here the air-brakes are activated with split wing and fuselage opening air-brakes. Lady Jessie - Recreation of historical aircraft. This is the Naval version of the Skyhawk, with the humpback blister and wing fuel tanks. The tanks were designed for a wheels up landing, and most Skyhawks carried them. Note - the excellent forward leading edge spoiler, and the air-brake/flap arrangement that drops down under the wing. BAE - Recreation of experimental model. You can feel how agile this aircraft was to fly, you are just a finger and thumb on the stick and it will just maneuver by just your light touch and feel. No wonder pilots could feel part as one with the aircraft and the reason for its longevity and success. If you like killing things you can arm the cannons and fire away, but your supplies don’t last very long. Overall a great aircraft and one savor and now available for a free download: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk 1.7 Dassault Falcon7X The Falcon7X by after, Won the "Best Aircraft of September" on the .Org monthly Poll. This is a great version of the Personal Jet that is almost payware quality. It is not a completely new file but an updated version for X-Plane10 from v9.510. The Dassault Falcon 7X is a large-cabin, long range business jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It is the first fully fly-by-wire business jet. It is also equipped with the same avionics suite, the Honeywell Primus EPIC “Enhanced Avionics System” (EASy), that was used on the Falcon 900EX and later on the Falcon 2000EX. The Falcon 7X is notable for its extensive use of computer-aided design, the manufacturer claiming it to be the “first aircraft to be designed entirely on a virtual platform” using Dassault Systemes’ CATIA and PLM products. It is also unusual in having an S-duct central engine, and is one of only two trijets currently in production, the other being the Dassault Falcon 900. It was also the first production Falcon jet to offer winglets. First Flight was on the 5 May 2005, The first 7X, MSN05, entered service on June 15, 2007. Maximum speed: 953 km/h (515 knots, 593 mph), Cruise speed: 900 km/h (486 knots, 559 mph), Range: 11,000 km (5,940 nm)8 passengers, Service ceiling: 14935 m (51,000 ft) At first glance the Falcon 7X feels like a very good payware project. It was updated from the v9 aircraft and quite considerably so for X-Plane10. Outwardly the design work is excellent and the modeling is first-rate. The cockpit (3d) is excellent and very functional, the centre console is as good as anything else and well detailed. Most of the upgrade work has centred on the displays and systems, and the central display is fully functional. Quite comprehensive in their detail are the center screens, the lower upper tabbed screen shows you your Nav, Trim, Engine, Electrical, Bleed, ECS and Failure options. The lower screens main layout is your FMS settings and Navigation Inputs. And then Fuel status and consumption. The next two tabs are the same as the upper screen in Engine and Trim and finally there are three MAP/GPS positions in MAP, FR (France) and USA (Local). The systems are quite deep in operation and the aircraft is excellent just for these systems alone. The Cabin is well fitted out as well with club seating and tables (a, la, Challenger 300) and the front door opens back on Terra Firma. It flies very well as well. Nice to the controls, fast with an enormous range of which you can cross any ocean or continent and in all counts it is an excellent aircraft. But the Falcon7X doesn’t reach payware quality yet, as it just falls short... But however this is a project still in progress and still bound for payware and to reach that goal then some issues will have to be reviewed. Like the main cockpit panels are a mixture of sharp and fuzzy labeling that annoys after awhile. You would put up with this in XP8 or XP9 for payware, but you want to feel it needs to be better than it is, even now with such a lot of considerable detailing and screen functionality already completed. The outer aircraft design are parts beautifully done (like the leading edge and rear flaps systems), but let down by the poor tires that make the aircraft wobble as it taxi’s around the taxiways and the lighting shows through the panel work. The Falcon7X displays the differences of quality that is needed to become payware, the gap is “oh so small” but it is still a gap to be crossed and as a lot of the work already completed by “after” does show the quality is in there to bridge that gap - It just needs that final polish and realism touches to be a really worthy contender. You can download the : Falcon 7X V9.510 for X-Plane V10.22 Here. Airbus A380 If you have been around X-Plane for a few or so years the name Christian Riviere will be well known to you. In fact Christian’s work is significant and varied throughout many versions of the X-Plane simulator. So when he releases any aircraft it will certainly catch your attention as his skills are very well regarded. The surprise is that it is the Airbus A380, Yes Christian Riviere has done airliners before but they tended to be iconic aircraft and old propeller dogs from the 1950’s. But lately he has gone all modern Airbussy in the A350XWB and now the big daddy in the A380. The outside modeling on the A380 is superb, with a high 3d quality that is very well crafted and detailed. From this aspect it is payware quality and very well done. Detailing in the engines (Wide chord fans are excellent) and well created and detailed landing gear. Flap arrangement is also very well done and so are the leading edge spoilers. and comes with a great selection of liveries : Emirates, Air France, British airways, China southern, Korean air, Lufthansa, Malaysia airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Thai. The doors open and inside there is a first class section with chairs and fittings. And then we will get to the cockpit. I will admit I have had many hours on A380’s in X-Plane. The best at the start was the EOLE-CREATION & VALERIAN BAYLE version which was not half bad and quite well done. But you soon realised it was not configured correctly in the fact it would not fly over 33,000ft and a stopover for fuel was required (LON-SIN) in Chennai to fly the last leg to Changi did not look good on the copybook. Peter’s (Aircraft) A380-800 is the deal to have, but it is costly (cheaper now than when I purchased it), but you soon understood why you have to pay for quality. If you follow Peter’s (extensive) guidelines, you soon become quite proficient because the basics are correct. And that is an important point to note, because if you hit the correct targets (height/weight/speeds) and the aircraft does what it is supposed to do, then you fly and learn much better. In other words “good data in” will produce “good data out” by your flying skills. If the aircraft tuning is not correct then you have “bad data in” and so “bad data out” in the fact the aircraft won’t do what it should do in the real world. Here Peter’s A380 excels because if you look at the real world data, the aircraft will hit those numbers perfectly (The low and approach speeds are simply outstanding) and flying these big A380’s is more an art form than a sum of total procedures, so if the numbers are right then you can fly them closer to the mark. The art in motion part is that this aircraft is very heavy, and flying long distances means getting the weight and climb performance right, 33,000ft is the go to number before losing weight to go higher. Running the Riviere A380 version the same procedures as Peter’s A380 version out of London (to Frankfurt) and at first it feels the same, but then it does not. No doubt that flying Peter’s Aircraft demands very precise points in the changes in speeds (you can set it to auto/FBW, but that is missing the fun) and V/S, so you are very busy in there compared to the Riviere version. For a start Riviere’s version is really only the default X-Plane cockpit setup, no FBW (Fly-By-Wire) or Airbus Logic Law. and the cockpit layout is very different from the real aircraft. Riviere's A380 Cockpit version Peter's Aircraft A380 Cockpit version If fact Riviere's cockpit feels really odd, the shape and the front windows is more Concorde with the visor down than an Airbus, The panel is crammed together and not very wide either? The basic controls are all there, but most of the detail is missing and the overhead panel is a standard Riviere item of a photo background with a few switches on it. Jumping over to Peter’s version and it feels like home again. All the switch gear is correctly placed and works. The wide windows feels far more realistic, but the much needed wipers are still missing (they are on the 2d cockpit, but are very poor). The only really frustrating annoyance is the (mostly the Autopilot) manipulators are impossible to find, I have missed many an approach in just trying to adjust my speed?... drives me simply nuts. But there is a difference in style. The Riviere version is not bad in many aspects, from climb to the FL330 ceiling but it is in the subtle differences you notice the more tighter programming that makes the difference if you are doing a serious simulation profile. Leaving London (EGGL) I ran both versions at MTW over the same route. At VOR “CLN” moving into the serious point of the climb (I call it the “lift”) the Riviere version is struggling to keep it’s speed and the V/S (Vertical/Speed) is down to 1200fpm. Peter’s version however is at the correct speed (285knts) and lifting at V/S 1600fpm with ease and with plenty of power in reserve (N1 is at 61%). Past 25,000ft I usually pull the A380 into a climb of 500fpm and reducing it down again to 300fpm as the climb goes past FL300. With a full load you have to adjust for wind strength with the V/S and watch for the limits before the nose starts to stall. Landing at EDDF (Frankfurt) I found Riviere’s A380 hard to perform at slow speeds and worse it wouldn’t turn past the 5º turn angle to align for runway (top). (odd because it would turn correctly at other points). and I missed the approach by a (country) mile and then had to do a complete (slow) 180º turn to realign with the runway. The speed dropped away badly as well and the A380 came close to a stall. Flying into EDDF (from the opposite direction) Peter’s version (lower) was rock solid on 185knts, and the degree turn was directly in line to the correct approach alignment. And the aircraft was so much more precise on how it performed. The question is “Is it fair to compare a Freeware aircraft with an expensive Payware Aircraft”? Well really “no” is the answer. But the point is this is simulation and the aim is recreate the aircraft’s systems and its flying abilities. There is no doubt that Christian Riviere has done a really great piece of work with his A380, but the constraints of just using the default X-Plane tools to build the aircraft shows in the performance, and you really miss those FBW systems. And that is the interesting part because Airbus Aircraft are built around these complex logic systems and that at the end of the day is what you pay for when buying a payware version of an aircraft. You can download Rivere's A380 : Airbus A380-800 for XP9.70 Here. (43.31MB download) You can buy Peter's Aircraft A380 : Airbus A380 X-Plane .OrgShop. Here - Price is US$59.95 Stephen Dutton 4th October 2013
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