Browsing: Aircraft

I am a fan of older airplanes. I think they are more fun to fly. That’s also why I find it a pity that few developers have decided to develop older, or “classic” jetliners. I am now thinking of planes like the Boeing 707, 727, 737-100/200, but also the DC-8 and DC-10. Sure, Some of the planes I have mentioned have been developed, and some even in stunning detail (the Dreamfleet 727 comes to mind). Most of the classic jetliners have never even seen the light in FS, however. Some have seen the light but with a systems simulation that is not what some people (me) would like to see. One of those is the DC-10.

The DC-10 is an interesting plane. It is one of the last tri-jets, for their operating costs became more than what airlines would have liked to spend, plus, there was a viable solution: the twin jet! Yes, the A300 set an example for how the new generation of airplanes would be like, and there was no room anymore for tri-jets. Well, there is one exception: The MD-11.

The MD-11 is a plane that has a long history. It started with the DC-10, which then get a complete overhaul to make it a more modern and capable aircraft in these modern time, and thus it was transformed into the MD-11. Finally, some DC-10 aircraft received a MD-11 cockpit and where aptly named “MD-10”. Sadly, there are few models available of the MD-11 (with full VC, that is). Sky Simulations has done one and, of course: PMDG. It is the PMDG MD-11 I will be looking at in this review. Will they have managed to make another winner? We’ll soon see!

The Fly Sim Server version of a 1966 (Old School) Cessna 182 K is unique it sounds and looks like it is just about to fall apart or once airborne make contact with the ground multo-rapido! It looks old and battered, but flies very well and it has its own sounds which were made for this plane. I have never experienced the sound effects we have here and will discuss these later in the review, suffice to say that they help with the simming experience.

Addictive Simulations have released a Pitts Special S1 which is a light aerobatic biplane designed for FSX and FS2004. This is a biplane single seater, tail dragger racer. This is a stunner of a reasonably fast manoeuvrable aerobatic and even acrobatic racer. It is a very nice model, very crisp lines and some nice animation touches. It is great to fly and coupled with Just Flight’s Airshow Pilot it certainly gave me hours of fun and excitement during the review. I want to park one of these next to my car and take-off down the street – imagine the looks on the neighbour’s faces. I only reviewed the FSX version.

In this second part I will take the plane for a short hop across Germany and show you how that went. Rest assured – I did many more flights than only the one I’m telling you about.

FSADDON have released another WWII Fighter ie the GLOSTER GLADIATOR, designed specifically for FSX. This is a biplane (the last built for the RAF) but was quickly superseded by the superior monoplane designs, eg Spitfire and Hurricane. FSADDON have given us 3 variants, the Mk 1, the Mk II with a more powerful engine and the latter also powered another variant called the SEA Gladiator, which was used on various aircraft carriers in WWII. This is a nice collection of a now defunct war bird that not only looked good and was also very easy to fly.

This is the VirtualCol version of the Cessna T303 Crusader twin airplane. It is reasonably well modelled with clean lines and you get 3 repaints in the package (plus a repaint package). In general the instrumentation is reasonably good, nice and clear and functional, as are the default Baron sounds (internal and external), and it flies extremely well.