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Bear's Cave
The world of Flight Simulators
short reviews by Steve "Bear" Cartwright
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Another golden week of uploaded files here at the AVSIM library, bringing the total to over 7,500 individual files now! This was also a week where we saw a great deal of very high quality and yet quite diverse uploads; dozens of aircraft, bush sceneries, airport renderings, the latest in TerraScene2 (FLY) scenery files, aircraft repaints (FS98, FS2000, and Flights Unlimited III), plus some sceneries and aircraft for X-Plane, and the list goes on and on! So, my job gets harder and harder each week, but regardless, I think you'll like my choices this week! While checking our new file libraries for my picks, do check out the other files that are there, as there are a number of files I'm just not able to mention that you may find interesting and worth a look see!
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14-Jan-01
Douglas DC-3 'Airveteran'
by Jan Visser
dc3ohlch.zip
uploaded 11-Jan-01
3,805Kb
FS2000
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If someone using FS2000 was given a choice of only one single freeware aircraft to download, the most likely choice would have to be the Douglas R4D-6 NATS v4.0 made available early last year, by Bill Rambow, Roy Chaffin, and Jan Visser!
Since the release of that aircraft, Jan Visser has blessed us all with a highly detailed texture update for that aircraft, which was just a couple of months ago. Now Jan Visser has given us a completely new version of that same aircraft, completely new, inside and out!
For the first time, we now have an aircraft for FS2000 that is finished in photorealistic "high-polish" aluminum textures and it is beautiful! This aircraft's interior is also completed, including: fabric passenger seats and carpeted flooring. All of the interior is visible through the open passenger door, aft on the port side of the fuselage. There is even a rolling staircase for passengers to board or disembark this remarkable work of art!
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When you shutdown the engines, wheel chocks, control locks, RBF flags, and engine/air inlet covers (in red) appear and in addition this aircraft features sequenced and timed landing gear, precisely as is with the real thing! I lack the words to describe this aircraft, you must download it and enjoy it for yourself!
The exterior is painted in the dark royal blue striping of the "Finnish Airlines" livery, but it's the polished aluminum fuselage that is so striking..., you could just spend all day looking at an making screenshots of this beauty! Jan's package does not include a panel or sounds, so it does require that you have the original Douglas R4D-6 NATS v4.0 installed to make use of Bill Rambow and Roy Chaffin's extraordinary panel/sound files.
Another truly artistic work from Jan Visser... and I must add, thank you Jan, thank you ever so much for sharing your beautiful aircraft with all of us. ...Bear!
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14-Jan-01
Alaskan Commuter No. 3 "The Inside Passage"
by Dave Erickson
akcm3.zip uploaded 12-Jan-01
2,277Kb
FS2000
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Dave's last upload was the Alaskan Commuter No. 2 "The Outside Passage" and now he's giving us the Alaskan Commuter No. 3 "The Inside Passage" and it's a real winner! This scenery includes the locations of: Wrangle, Petersburg, Kake, Hoonah, Grizzly Gulch, Frog Lake, Destruction Bay, and Fog Rock, all in the Southeastern part of Alaska.
The majority of my simming is most likely flying into the back bush areas of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada and you will find that I have downloaded and installed just about every piece of bush scenery that's available, at least all that I've found. I must say though that Dave Erickson is quickly becoming one of my favorite bush scenery developers and he most certainly ranks right up there with Ken (WeBads) Nelson, Ron Ackerley, Don (Mr Alaska) Moser, Ron Vorak, Les Lloyd, Dale Baker, Dennis Waggoner, Jim Faircloth, and Jim Jackson (if I missed anyone you have my apologies).
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Dave's latest does include some very unique and very unusual 3D objects and scenery enhancements including: Container ships, fishing boats, and ferries, a small ghost town with a nearby mine (which has a rusting sheet metal stamping mill complete with mine shaft tailings), working lighthouses, static aircraft, trees, partially submerged rocks, and the list continues... wow that's a mouthful!
As usual, Dave includes a rather interesting story about his sceneries, in his readme files, and I particularly liked the story about the Ghost Town of Grizzly Gulch included with Alaskan Commuter No. 3! You must read these stories to get the most out of these sceneries, if nothing other than to learn the real history of the area. This is really nice work and I highly recommend Dave Erickson's latest, the Alaskan Commuter No. 3 "The Inside Passage"! ...Bear!
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14-Jan-01
Birmingham International Airport
by John Walker
bham2k_v1.zip uploaded 12-Jan-01
392Kb
FS2000
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John Walker, using Airport2.6, Abacus FSDS, and actual photographs he took back in 1999, has given us a very nice rendition of the Birmingham International Airport located about 75 miles Northwest of Heathrow, in the United Kingdom. I assume using FSDS, John has created some very nice and original 3D objects that set his scenery upload apart from the run of the mill scenery packages.
Without using the stock available macros, John has designed a very simple, attractive, yet unique airport that is very easy on the frame rates and is a rather small download at only 392Kb. There are numbered gateways, tinted corridor windows, jet fuel tankers (static), fuel storage tanks (complete with spiraling stairways), cyclone style perimeter fencing, jet blast barriers, and so forth. John has even applied sound abatement walls behind the jet blast barriers and cyclone fencing. All done in a nice realistic appearing texturing, adding to the realism when arriving here.
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Having never been to Birmingham International Airport myself, I can only assume how true to life John's airport scenery is as compared to the real Birmingham International. Regardless though, if flying in the United Kingdom is your thing, then I suggest you take a look at John's excellent little scenery package and give it a try on your harddrive. You should be impressed... as I was! ...Bear!
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14-Jan-01
FSD Pilatus Porter Pc6 B2-H4 Extended Range Ski Version
by Goldman, Small, Rensen, Medel
fsdpc602.zip uploaded 12-Jan-01
6,021Kb
FS2000
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The boys at Flight Sim Developers have released yet another version of their very popular upload, the Pilatus Porter PC-6ER (Extended Range) outfitted with "ski" wheel attachments and sporting an all new and wild paint-job! In addition, Steve Small (the FS airfile guru) , has worked at perfecting or tweaking the airfile ever so-much again, to match the aircraft up with its ski attachments. This aircraft contains the most sophisticated airfile ever developed for a FS aircraft and as with the prior models, it even supports full prop-pitch reversal while in-flight! Required take-off and landing distances needed for this aircraft are very short in deed! When you think STOL (Short Take Off & Landing) aircraft, the first aircraft that should come to mind is the Porter PC-6!
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Other outstanding features of this aircraft include one of the most realistic panels ever rendered for a PC based flight sim... utterly beautiful... and with an as true a pilot's perspective as is probably possible with MSFS!
The term "...one man's ugly is another man's beauty..." really fits quite nicely here! To some, this aircraft is as ugly as a Alabama Tick, while to others its sheer ruggedness is as beautiful as a M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, so when the going gets tough, bring up a Porter PC-6—you won't be disappointed! This aircraft is every bit as rugged as the area's of the world it's designed to fly into, rather that be down in Antartica, the top of the Swiss Alps, or in the backwoods of the Klondike up in Alaska. There simply is no land too tough, mountain too tall, or now; snow too deep! ...Bear!
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Kirk Olsson has given us the first truly realistic appearing C-17 available for FS2000 and it's a real beaut' too! This is one of many very nice appearing aircraft that have been uploaded recently, that have been designed using the Abacus Flight Sim Design Studio Pro! Strickly on appearance this aircraft is fantastic, simply a screenshot waiting to happen! The exterior texturing is.... well it's gorgeous an very realistic and judging by the number of screenshots that have appeared today in the screenshot forum, I would have to say that I'm not the only that feels this way.
The roll-yaw feel is of a very heavy aircraft..hmm – no surprise here... hehehe! Flying and landing this aircraft does require some practice and as is probably similar to the real thing, requires that you increase all your distances. Approach to landing must be done from much further out (increase your approach distance by at least 50% as compared to the default 737 for example) so that you can set-up your rate of descent and to slow to the proper landing speeds. Turns will also require much more sky room than with aircraft of average or medium size and/or weight. Back in the 1950s there was a popular country-western song titled "Give me 40 acres and I'll turn this rig around;" well the same applies here, only the song should be titled; "Give me 40 square miles of sky and I'll turn this rig around"!
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There have been a couple of individuals in the AVSIM forums that have commented that they felt the flight modeling to be somewhat unresponsive on trim adjustment (yet another felt the trim was too responsive), I guess you can't please all the people all the time. Personally I thought it was balanced about right, considering that in real-life this aircraft's GTOW (Gross Take Off Weight) can approach 400+ tons, so it should be a bit on the heavy side, at least you would think? Overall I'm very pleased with Kirk's work, this is a nice aircraft and nice addition to my FS fleet!
Also, I would highly suggest that you do a search, here in AVSIM's library, for the excellent C-17 Globemaster panel by Paul Schwerdtfeger to add to Kirk Olsson's C-17 aircraft upload! Just look for the file c17pnv12.zip!
Now, where ever you decide to take-off from or land at, make sure you've picked a runway with sufficient length for an aircraft of this size and weight, least-wise you may find yourself doing a quick runway extension with this FS aircraft's landing gear...! Try it, you'll like it! ...Bear!
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