Flight Sim of the month review by Jay Slater
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They called her the ‘Mule’. An abnormal hybrid of the Bf109 with a propeller from the Heinkel He111, the Avia S-199 was bred to kick like a donkey, give attitude, and be plain awful. And now, thanks to Flight Replicas, it can be evaluated for its stunning looks as well as its inferior flight characteristics. The S-199 isn’t one for pleasure flying…
After WW2, Czechoslovakia was the beneficiary of several Bf109 production plants with an extensive supply of parts, and used its stockpiles of 109s to create its own fighter: the Avia S-199. When supplies of the original DB605 engine were exhausted, the Junkers Jumo 211F was fitted to the Bf109G airframe, altering the aircraft’s aesthetics dramatically. The Jumo also required an outsized propeller from the German bomber (imagine a comparison of a Mustang with a B-29 prop). The new marriage of engine and propeller resulted in a dreadful fighter. The engine was heavy and the huge propeller created too much torque. Landings and take-offs were infamous. Interestingly, it was the newly formed nation of Israel that blooded the S-199 in battle, in a brief conflict with neighbouring Egypt. Twenty-three of these deathtraps were sold to Israel, which was desperate for arms. In combat, Israeli pilots scored numerous kills including against Spitfires, despite cases where the S-199 gun mechanism failed, shooting off its own propeller. Does this sound like anything you’d want to fly?
Flight Replicas’ S-199 comes with four models: the S-99, assembled directly from Bf109G-14 parts with a DB605AS engine, but with some cockpit modifications; the S-199, an early version with a Jumo 211F engine, Erla canopy and under-engine oil cooler radiator; a standard production S-199 with Jumo 211F engine, bubble canopy on rails, new engine oil heat exchanger and modified wheel axles; and the definitive S-199.
The add-on comes with a highly accurate virtual cockpit, a Revi 16 gunsight, a drop tank that can be jettisoned, propeller blades that alter angle, functioning coolant flaps that act as landing flaps and working Flettner tabs on the rudder. It was said that Czech pilots could perform a 90° turn from the take-off run due to the momentum of the gigantic propeller and one can believe it once strapped inside this frightening machine. The S-199 looks the part with glorious graphics and animations; however, the add-on does not support FSX Acceleration and DX10.
System requirements FS2004/FSX (without FSX Acceleration)
Price €21.41 download/CD (27MB)
Rating ****
Rise of Flight
Rise of Flight will be released in May this year. For more information, visit www.riseofflight.com
Aircraft has seen the future of combat flight simulations, and it is Rise of Flight.
Combat flight simulations for WW1, a particular favourite due to their simplified interface, have been neglected for over a decade. The ageing Red Baron 2 3D and Flying Corps Gold are still supported by a hardcore few, whereas the WW2 sim is championed by IL-2, itself shuffling into its golden years. But WW1 is to be the focus point for the new generation of flight simulations, spearheaded with gusto and fury by neoqb's Rise of Flight. Currently being beta-tested by over 300 participants from 30 countries all over the world, Aircraft is proud to be there first. And our first impressions are: 'Wow!'
On paper, Rise of Flight is impressive. The whole of the western front of WW1 has been recreated on one map: that's 125,000 square kilometres of territory. Aeroplanes and vehicles have been designed from original blueprints and a brand new graphic engine, aerodynamic and damage model authenticate realistic effects and dynamics. And the list goes on. No combat flight simulator has ever been so complex and promised so much that it is a revolution and revelation. Rise of Flight offers not only tantalising eye candy with depth and promise — no flight sim has gone this far in creating a realistic world in such glorious detail.
Your first impression when in the cockpit is the sheer complexity involved — the days of simply pressing the E key to start the engine are over. One needs to warm and coax the engine to life before take-off, as well as taking into account the negative-G engine overflow. Also, it helps to program functions for rudder, radiator, fuel mixture, etc. Technically, Rise of Flight is as complex for the virtual pilot as IL-2 is in terms of the functions necessary to achieve flight and maximum fuel efficiency, but this is where it ends — Rise of Flight is seriously complex. Once in the sky, it becomes startlingly obvious that the aircraft cannot be mastered overnight; patience and discipline are key to achieve the basics, let alone true mastery. Even basic manoeuvres have to be performed with diligence — the physics engine buffets your mount realistically and the aircraft themselves feel as if they are made from wood and canvas. Caution is key; drastic and furious manoeuvres will be your endgame.
Graphically, Rise of Flight is a thing of beauty. Just sitting in the cockpit with Track IR engaged sees this artificial world become alive as grass swirls in the wind, birds sing and the piano resonates from the squadron hut's bar. Get in the air and it all changes; the roar of the primitive engine is profound, as if you can smell the petrol fumes and feel the air rustle through your hair. The gaming world is visually resplendent, real, authentic and a true challenger to FSX on high-spec machines (and no CRTs to report promoting fluid gameplay, unlike Microsoft's problematic bastard). If the mass, swirling dogfights with improved AI and complex world engine are to be believed, then Rise of Flight has all the hallmarks of a product that will take combat flight sims on to a very exciting level. If anything, it's the kingpin of sims.
But it's early days. Being a beta, there's much room for improvement and no campaign mode was on offer. Also, the simming community has expressed rational alarm that they have to be connected online to neobq's servers before they can play the solo campaign, and there is no evidence how rich and diverse that campaign is. After all, nothing has yet beaten Red Baron 2 3D's wonderful solo gameplay. That said, we have high hopes that neobq can do so. From what Aircraft has seen with this glorious beta, Rise of Flight could very well be the ultimate combat flight sim for the next 10 years.
Just Flight Saab Safir - £14.99 Close Read More
There's more to Sweden than meatballs and ABBA; it's a country whose beautiful people invented the Tetra Pak, milking machine, zipper, dynamite, turbo engine and the propeller. Sweden is also famed for the domestic hell that is Ikea and as home of Saab, maker of square, dull cars and rather more exciting jet fighters. The Saab 91 Safir was the manufacturer's attempt at a basic trainer, and it's a joy. Dripping with eye candy and wondrous aesthetic gloss, it is obvious from first impressions that the developers, the Swedish Sibwings team, have gone that extra mile to release one of the very best add-ons. The attention to detail is awesome, as is the flight model — in other words, an essential add-on.
Available as a 154Mb download, installation is a breeze and documentation excellent. The PDF manual at 45 pages is full of fascinating information on the Safir, including its complete history, as well as checklists and flight notes on how to perform basic manoeuvres such as loops, swings and hammerheads. The package consists of four civilian and military models and each has a dedicated custom virtual cockpit — detail differs as each of the four models are realised from aircraft that are rarely identical. For example, in the military version, the co-pilot's helmet is reflected on the opposite window and some versions show feet, knots and km/h. However, once you're strapped within the Safir, you realise what a beauty she is and what an accomplishment Sibwings have achieved — it's an audio and visual nirvana.
It would not be surprising if Sibwings stripped a Safir to the bare bones to understand how it works. Not only is the flight model a testament to their faith, it's the little details that have the definite wow factor. The gauges are ultra-smooth and detailed (refresh dependent on PC) and panel reflections shine and distort around the cockpit. Levers and switches have unique functions, and when the cover is taken off with the engine running, the finely detailed powerplant can be seen vibrating on its mount. The elevator will drop when the Safir is stationary and air vents move when the required level is activated. Sounds are recorded from actual Safir aircraft and the flight model and dynamics were tested by real Safir pilots for authenticity. The night light panel is accurate with highlight adjustment and the virtual cockpit — with this amount of functioning detail, a 2D cockpit was deemed to be superfluous — is bursting with fully-animated moving parts. Some models even have right and left wing fuel tanks that need to be switched on occasion or the Safir will list as one side will be heavier than the other — a nice and realistic touch.
With such features and more to be discovered, the Safir is a heavyweight add-on with more tricks up its sleeve than Harry Houdini. The Safir does what is what it was designed to do: a training aeroplane that is slow and forgiving, yet responsive, fun and pleasing to fly. It's an add-on that is an ideal compromise for the veteran and beginner who are new to the world of FSX — an aircraft that is easy to fly, yet rewards the expert with its agile ability and reserved grace. The Safir is a Scandinavian beauty whose photorealistic looks and hidden secrets make it an FSX bombshell. Just like ABBA's Agnetha Fältskog.
World Airports 3 — North America - £24.45 Close Read More
Just Flight returns to the World Airports series with the third instalment, which features airports in North America for FSX and FS2004. Featuring glorious and beautiful eye candy with thousands of superbly detailed objects — the terminal buildings are rendered to an incredible 5cm per pixel, for example — accurately placed with pin-point satellite photography, this comprehensive package focuses on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Georgia), Charlotte Douglas International (North Carolina), Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (Kentucky), Lynden Pindling International (Nassau, The Bahamas) and Luis Munoz Marin International (San Juan, Puerto Rico) with gusto and bravado. Not only that, two further airports, Kansas City International (Missouri) and LaGuardia (New York), can be unlocked at additional expense. What's not to like?
The level of detail is amazing — its visual aesthetics are jaw-dropping in their intensity and magnificence. Such details include an interactive docking system, 3D approach lighting and full ILS navigation, custom-built runways, fantastic night lighting and hundreds of airport vehicles and ground personnel are featured and aircraft can be found parked at custom textured parking positions. And there's more. Runways and taxiways are individually modelled with realistic concrete textures and full airport taxiway and runway signage. Just Flight have also gone to great lengths to feature custom parking AFCADs, perimeter fencing and intermittently placed security cameras as well as hangars, cargo and auxiliary buildings. And for those who enjoy zipping about and taking in the atmospheric buzz of a busy airport, a drivable 'Follow Me' vehicle is available (but hands off the duty-free).
Researched and developed with aviation coursing through their veins, Just Flight have produced a high-grade package that is hard to criticise, and one that other programmers can only aspire to. But is it an essential purchase? For the casual flyer, probably not. But for those who want the very best for their North American airports, World Airports 3 is where it's at. In other words, essential.
FSD International Commander 115TC - US$36.95 (download) or US$39.95 (CD-ROM, $8 for shipping) Close Read More
FSD International Commander 115TC
US$36.95 (download) or US$39.95 (CD-ROM, $8 for shipping)
Web site:www.fsd-international.com
It has been some time since FSD International released an add-on for Flight Simulator. For those unfamiliar with this developer, it has in the past always had a reputation for producing high quality aircraft for Flight Simulator, often specialising in less familiar types. Its latest offering is in fact a complete rework of its Commander 115TC package, now for Flight Simulator X Service Pack 2.
Installation adds eight Commander 115TCs to Flight Simulator X, along with a Load Manager module and no fewer than seven PDF-format manuals. Naturally, all FSX features are monopolised by this design, including bump-mapping and self-shadowing. Animations include control surfaces, undercarriage, doors and hatches. Unfortunately, for reasons not entirely clear, the registrations for each colour scheme are not only imaginary but often make use of very unrealistic fonts — a minor point, but it does spoil what is otherwise a very authentic look. A paint kit is promised soon, and I suspect that for some this may solve the problem.
Internally, though, this is another delight from FSD. Lovers of 2D cockpits will not be disappointed, with detailed versions of these coming as standard. Unusually, there is even the option to view fuller 2D panels from both the pilot's and co-pilot's positions. The virtual cockpits go even further and vary according to the individual aircraft. Each virtual cockpit comes with four different viewpoints including one each for the pilot and co-pilot. Included are a Garmin GNS 480 GPS, a Bendix KR87 ADF, an Apollo SL30 radio and an ST55X autopilot; helpfully, the workings of each are explained fully, as they all have their own PDF manual. In addition, via the Load Manager module, one can decide whether to have a standard or glass cockpit. A further extra is the Realism Module, which can be accessed from the cockpit. This enables you to adjust the realism of the Commander 115TC in a number of ways including the option to set the probability of various system failures; again, a PDF format manual explains the intricacies of this.
The Load Manager is a utility that runs outside FSX, allowing you to add new colour schemes, perform maintenance and adjust aircraft weights, although adding passengers via this module only adds extra weight rather than changing the visuals. Cockpits can also be altered, as mentioned earlier, and a manual in PDF format explains all.
Finally, the seventh PDF manual is the Pilot's Operating Handbook which covers operation of the aircraft, emergency procedures and the like. In testing the Commander we did find the lack of a schematic diagram of the instrument panels to be a small difficulty, especially when certain switches are mentioned which are not necessarily that easy to find, but still there is a huge amount of detail here.
The Commander 115TC is certainly great fun to fly, but be prepared to spend time reading the manuals to fully appreciate how all aspects of this aircraft work. Internally, it looks very much like the real thing and there are quite a lot of nice touches, such as working visors, which you may not appreciate immediately if you do not take the time to read the documentation. Without doubt, this will be a welcome addition to the virtual hangar of anyone keen on this type of aircraft.
In a variation from the norm, this month the featured flight sim product is not a piece of software but a piece of hardware... and, furthermore, its use is not limited to just flight simulation!
Exactly what is TrackIR, though? Well, to avoid a completely technical answer, TrackIR enables your PC to track the movement of your head (using infra-red light) and then mimic that on your computer. A simple software interface then enables this motion to be recreated in a huge number of games. To give a flavour of the variety of titles covered, here's just a sample: Colin McRae Rally 04, ToCA Race Driver 2, Future Pinball, Ship Simulator 2008, Trainz, Combat Flight Simulator 3, Condor, Falcon 4.0, Flight Simulator 2002, Flight Simulator 2004, Flight Simulator X, Il-2 Forgotten Battles, Lock On, Silent Wings and X-Plane.
We do confess to a little confusion about this product when purchasing it because there are various accessories that go with it which have similar names. However, Just Flight distributes TrackIR in the UK, and the Just Flight web site does explain clearly what your £149.99 will purchase. The package contains the TrackIR device, a TrackClip, a TrackClip PRO, all leads and relevant NaturalPoint software. Please note that the package does not include a cap or a headset, and one or other of these will be needed in order to use the TrackIR.
The TrackIR device itself is a small piece of kit which clips onto or sits atop your monitor. To track your head, you can either attach the TrackClip PRO to a headset or the TrackClip to the peak of a cap. The components are then connected together to your PC using a USB port, all of which is explained in the printed Quick Start Guides which come with the package. Running the installation software completes the process. The software interface is explained fully in an html manual which is added on installation, but this shows you how to set up your TrackIR for different software genres as well as explaining how to customise the head tracking as desired. We found the interface easy to use once we had read the manual and support is also available via the NaturalPoint web site.
For many games there is provided a 'Profile' which simply means a set-up specifically designed for that title. More profiles are being added, and these can be found in the Community section of the NaturalPoint web site. Elsewhere on the site, you can download the latest version of the TrackIR software.
In order to understand what TrackIR does, here's a small 'tech talk' on the six degrees of freedom (referred to as 6DOF by NaturalPoint) that TrackIR supports. You can move your head forward and backward, left and right, and up and down — you can also rotate your head about these three axes, giving yaw, pitch and roll, thereby resulting in the six degrees of freedom. What is clever (and initially takes a little getting used to) is that TrackIR can mimic all six of these in your sim!
So, there you are at 20,000ft flying along in your flight sim when you feel the need to look left or right out of the cockpit. In Flight Simulator in Virtual Cockpit view, as you turn your head, TrackIR will achieve the same thing in the cockpit. Need to look more closely at your instruments? Simply move towards your PC and TrackIR will move you closer in the simulation. Possibly our favourite is the ability to move up or down, so that one moment you can be looking at those areas of the instrument panel that are out of the way at the bottom or sides, and the next you can peer above the nose as you set yourself up nicely for landing! Of course, if combat flight simulation is your thing, you can use TrackIR to keep a much more careful watch on your enemies — far more realistic than having to use a keyboard to move the view.
I did find it took a while to get used to this means of running a simulator, but there is, helpfully, the F12 button to press if you lose your bearings — this will centre you again nicely in your cockpit. Background lights can affect the TrackIR sensor, though the manual explains how to resolve this, and, if you are running Active Camera in Flight Simulator, this will need to be disabled or you may witness some very unpleasant visual effects in the simulation. Profiles can be edited in all sorts of ways, and I recommend copying the default ones before altering these since it is not always that easy to restore them to the default values.
Overall, though, this is a superb extra which will make a considerable difference to the realism of your flight simulation, combat flight simulation or racing game. You may never want to be without it once you have a TrackIR!
Just Flight Traffic X - £24.99 (download version), £27.99 (DVD-ROM) Close Read More
Just Flight Traffic X
£24.99 (download version), £27.99 (DVD-ROM)
Web site: www.justflight.com
For many flight simulation enthusiasts, Just Flight's Traffic X add-on for Flight Simulator X has been one of the most eagerly-awaited releases of 2008. Installation adds more than 150,000 Artificial Intelligence (AI) scheduled airline and cargo flights, all operated by aircraft in correct liveries. In addition to airliners, there are around 180,000 general aviation, 21,500 business and 20,000 military flights, and even clandestine CIA rendition flights. The 99 different aircraft models painted in the colours of more than 400 operators produces a staggering total of more than 1,700 individual AI aircraft added!
In addition, AI aircraft make use of FSX's advanced animation features so that pushback tugs, baggage lorries and docking jetways will interact with the aircraft. A 'Follow Me' vehicle and a pushback truck also enable you to move around airports, observing the AI traffic.
Much of the functionality of Traffic X is controlled by the Traffic Control Centre (TCC), module which is a separate piece of software run independently of FSX. The TCC enables you to view airport, airline and aircraft data and to customise much of this so that, for example, new airlines can be added. With the Flight Planning section, you can decide which aircraft and airlines are to appear in FSX — this permits you to 'turn back time', for instance to the 1980s to see Concorde in operation again, or even to preview the future where Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s reign. Further to this, you can add your own flightplans, and reference to the illustrated Traffic X Manual will prove very helpful in achieving this.
Several other features of Traffic X are worth noting. It comes with 'Spotty', an aviation enthusiast, who can be moved around airfields to view the goings-on. 'Spotty' comes with a radio for listening to Air Traffic Control, a clock, a map and a GPS. A 46-page Spotter's Guide provides photographs or illustrations of the Traffic X aircraft and explains how to use the 'Spotty' feature. You can watch the AI traffic from the perspective of a control tower, with four different sizes available. Inside, there is the option of a 2D or virtual rendition of the tower view, complete with working radar, wind and air pressure display and communications panels.
In initial testing we found the traffic to be non-existent due to an incomplete uninstallation of another AI traffic product — something to watch out for. Then we still found traffic volumes quite low until we installed the 'Traffic Levels Hotfix' available from Just Flight's web site. In both cases, the Just Flight forums came up with the answer, and indeed Just Flight has now opened a dedicated Traffic X web site at www.justflight.com/trafficX-home.asp. But once Traffic X was up and running, it turned out to be an excellent product which will certainly offer a whole host of possibilities as regards customising the AI traffic in FSX.
Some of the aircraft models don't quite look like the real thing (although with TCC you can replace these with other AI models if you wish) and we also found a bigger hit on frame rates in comparison with another AI traffic product, but there is plenty of scope for tweaking FSX to ensure that this does not become a problem. Overall, however, this has certainly been worth the wait and not surprisingly this is already the top-selling Just Flight add-on according to its web site.
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