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AVSIM Commercial Product Review
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PSS A330/A340
Review by Pardave Lehry
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Rating Guide |
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Check out those reflective textures |
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The contours look fantastic! |
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Publisher:
Phoenix Software Simulations |
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Description:
Airbus A330/A340 |
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Download Size:
Variable |
Format:
Executable
Auto Live Install |
Simulation Type:
FS2002 & FS2004 |
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Reviewed by: Pardave Lehry
- Avsim Associate Editor |
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Possible Commercial Rating Score:
1 to 5 stars with 5 stars being exceptional
Please see
details of our review rating policy
here |
Introduction
Flight
Simulator 2004 has been out now for
a number of
months
now,
and the first major release for PSS is now available. The Airbus
A330/A340 is the latest twin engine/four engine aircraft from the European
manufacturer, and is a common sight at most international airports.
Installation &
Documentation
In the
traditional PSS format, installation is accomplished live. When you make
your purchase, you download an installation program that then downloads
the files for you from the PSS server. On my broadband connection,
installation took about 10 minutes to finish for all the files (panel,
aircraft, and all the liveries).
The
documentation is available on the PSS website for everybody to download
and view. There are three files that make up the documentation. One
contains the background information about the aircraft, one contains lots
and lots of tables that contain performance figures and checklists, and
the third file contains all the information in regards to the panel, and
the aircraft systems. The manuals contain a lot of information, however
the write-up in the Systems manual are chocked full of grammatical and
sentence-construction errors. Being an Airbus aircraft, and if you’ve used
the PSS A320, you may be inclined to simply skim over the manuals and jump
right into flying the aircraft.
The Aircraft
If you
purchased the entire package, then you will quickly realize that this is
one really big package. While the A340 comes in two variants in the real
world, let’s not forget that the A330 has three engine types available for
installation in the real world. So in essence, you get 8 aircraft flight
models: the A330-200 and -300 with your choice of Pratt and Whitney, Rolls
Royce or GE engines, and the A340-200 and -300 with the standard CFM
engines.
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The level of detail is what you have come to expect from all
PSS
releases |
And more detail around the nose gear |
Leaving Heathrow on a foggy day |
The
A330 and A340 are physically the same fuselage and wing structure. The
major visual changes are two engines instead of four and a center landing
gear on the A340. Visually, the aircraft look great. Reflective
textures, detailed aircraft parts, see through cabin and flight deck
windows, and moving parts are all available. Wing flex is also available,
but they don’t flex as much as the real wings do. When in cruise, you can
see the flex, but during takeoffs and landings, the flex amount is subtle,
no where near the amount that the real wings flex.
Ground
handling is what you would expect from an aircraft this size. During
taxi, the aircraft will continue to roll down the taxiway with the engines
at idle, but will eventually come to a stop. The aircraft stays firm and
sticks to the ground during high speed manoeuvres whereas some other
flight models have a tendency to sway the aircraft, modelling the sloshing
of the fuel in the tanks a little too well.
For
users that downloaded the original release, the A340 engines were way too
powerful. The takeoff roll for a heavy aircraft was similar to a narrow
body aircraft. And during climb, the aircraft speed would increase way
too fast, allowing climb rates of 5000-6000 feet per minute, which are
totally unrealistic. The issue has been patched in the latest installer
and all new customers will not notice this problem.
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Test System |
Another problem that showcased during flight testing involved the
A330. For no apparent reason, in cruise flight, the A330 would start
to lose airspeed. It was a slow decrease, but it would continue to
decrease and eventually, Alpha Floor would kick in. Even that would
not cure the problem of the decreasing airspeed, and eventually the
aircraft would stall and the flight would end. Again, this problem
has been patched in the latest installer and if you buy today, you
will not experience this problem.
Other than that, the flight model recreates the fly-by-wire system
quite well. The aircraft cannot be stretched beyond the programmed
flight envelope, meaning you cannot over-bank the aircraft in either
the vertical or horizontal planes. Landing speeds range around
140-150 knots as well.
Finally, the sounds are superb. Mike Hambley has done a fantastic job
with them as with all the sounds that he has produced. The CFM sounds
are quite authentic, having heard them from up close on the real
aircraft. |
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Computer:
AMD Athlon XP 3000+
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard
512MB PC2100 RAM
Sapphire Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB Video
Microsoft Sidewinder FF Pro Joystick
Panasonic SL9019" Monitor
Windows XP Professional
Flying Time: 20 Hours
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The Panel
For
those that have used the A320, the A330/A340 panel is exactly the
same. The background coloring, the gauge placement, the ND, PFD, ECAM
displays, along with the features in the MCDU is all pretty much the
same. The views that are available are also the same. You have the
option to view the complete panel, which is ideal for cruise flight or
if your heart desires a complete ILS approach. You also have the
option to view the traditional panel, showing only the top half and
giving you a good outside view. And finally you have the virtual
cockpit, which is functional and can be used to fly the aircraft.
Having reviewed the A320, I already had a good idea of what the MCDU
was capable of, and what to look for in the panel. Going over the
manuals, I realized that there were no new features to look for in the
MCDU or the panel. The only differences are that the displays show
four engines if you’re flying the A340, and having to enter different
weights when compared to the A320.
The
panel provides a lot of information and is very colourful, just like
the real panel. The lower ECAM screen can display information about
all the aircraft systems, and display them just like the real aircraft
does. The screens can be undocked from the panel, giving you a larger
display, just like the A320 panel.
The
overhead panel also is an exact recreation. While there are many
static switches, there are also many switches that work, such as those
that control the various systems. You will still need to use the
overhead panel to perform functions like starting the APU, activating
bleed air, and turning engine and APU generators online. You can also
use the overhead panel to perform a manual engine start. Even though
the aircraft is capable of starting the engines itself, if for
whatever reason, you need to perform a manual engine start, you can do
so, just like you would with a traditional Boeing product.
Tying
everything together is the MCDU. The MCDU is the central
processing unit and the main interface for communicating and flying
the aircraft. Through and through your flight, you will bring this up
on the panel many times. Programming starts with entering the
aircraft route on the INIT page and aligning the IRUs. Next, you
enter the aircraft weight, and the total fuel on board. This gives
you the gross weight of the aircraft, and, after referencing the
Tables and Charts part of the manual, you can enter the required
speeds. Once the preparation of the aircraft is done, enter the
flight plan into the MCDU, and you’re done. If this is your first
Airbus product, then learning how to use the MCDU and being able to
fly the aircraft around the MCDU is imperative. While you could fly
the aircraft simply by entering a flight plan and having the autopilot
fly it, setting up and utilizing the MCDU both in the beginning, and
during each flight will provide you with a lot more enjoyment.
Although the MCDU has enough features implemented to give you an idea
of how the real aircraft functions, there are a lot of other features
that are not modelled. Some of them are understandable, such the
maintenance interrogation system, which cannot be programmed simply
because of limitations of Flight Simulator, but others, such as the
Secondary Flight Plan part, should have been included this time
around, considering it wasn’t done in the A320.
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The virtual cockpit is fully functional and can be used to fly
the aircraft |
From a different angle |
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This is the view you would use for cruise flight. There’s plenty to
do for us desktop pilots |
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Just like the A320 package, the main ECAM screens can be undocked from
the panel |
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Users of the A320 package will be completely at home with the A340
MCDU |
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The flight deck is exactly the same as their A320 product, except for
the necessary changes between the aircraft type |
Conclusion
I guess
the one problem that stems of producing Airbus products for Flight
Simulator is that once you have created one type, then there’s not much
room left for creativity with the other types. With a Boeing product, the
flight decks are unique to each type of aircraft. The Boeing 747 flight
deck is different from the 767 flight deck, which is in turn different
from the 737 flight deck. And when producing these products, you have a
different aircraft to work with along with different procedures. With the
Airbus aircraft, while the aircraft flight dynamics are different and
their handling characteristics are different, their flight decks are
pretty much the same, which allows for one pilot to fly any of the Airbus
aircraft. And the same holds true here. If you have flown the A320, then
you won’t find anything new here except for the aircraft and the
differences that come with the A330/A340 over the A320. The flight deck,
the features, the MCDU, and the way they all work together are all just
like the A320. And that’s not a bad thing against PSS. They have done a
good job this time around of re-creating another successful Airbus
product. Even though there were a few flight model flaws in the original
release, the team have rectified them in the latest installer and if you
purchase now, you will get a top notch product.
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