AVSIM Commercial Aircraft Review Alpha Simulations DH Sea Vixen XP924

I was never too aware of the DH Sea Vixen until I saw a news report of it on British Television. Two of the biggest news agencies in Britain, the BBC and Sky News carried a report on the sea vixen. The example depicted in this AlphaSim recreation had been restored to flying condition and was currently doing the rounds of the various UK airshows. The news reports gave the aging aircraft something of a celebrity status among the British public—not because it was an elderly aircraft that never reached its potential due to political interference, like so many British aircraft of the 1950s—but also because it was the sole surviving flying example of its type in the world. When I saw that AlphaSim had created it for us flightsim enthusiasts I had to get hold of a review copy.

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Installation + Getting Started

Installing the Sea Vixen is easy as ever as it's in a zip file. Simply unzip the file to the root folder of whichever sim you plan on using it in (CFS2 or FS2002/2000). If you're going to use the aircraft in CFS2, you need to install jet sounds for the sim. The simplest way to do this is to copy over the learjet file from FlightSim and put it in the aircraft folder. Then to save space, delete all the folders bar the sound folder.

So your impressions...

I was very impressed with the aircraft. There's a lot to like about it. The real aircraft has a very quirky design to it. It's almost like something you'd expect a schoolchild to design when he's bored in class.

It has an offset cockpit which is rather unusual, and is somewhat reminiscent of De Havilland's earlier Vampire with its twin boom, and highset tailplane layout. It's also unusual in that the booms run along the whole length of the wings. When I first saw the Sea Vixen in the news reports I remarked to myself on what an ugly plane it was, but the more I flew the Vixen, and grabbed shots of it I realized it was far from ugly. Its unusual sure, but its actually quite a handsome plane. It's very curvaceous and aesthetically pleasing.

Banked

Cruising along

Climbing Out

Test System Custom PIII 550 MHz Windows ME 256 Megs RAM Geforce 2 MX 400 32MB 32X DVD ROM Sound Blaster Live Value Logitech Wingman Digital 3D 17" Monitor Flying Time: 10 Hours over 12 Days The Sea Vixen's cockpit At idle At high altitude On approach Nice detail

AlphaSim have done a nice job between detail and frame rates with the aircraft. I have a lowly PIII 550 and having turned the Image Quality up to 5 within CFS2, I was expecting quite a bit of slowdown, but it never materialized. The aircraft animations are nice, and it has the usual round of animations, flaps, wheels, rudder etc.

It is as you can see from the screenshots a brightly painted plane, and while it's in no way a bad job, the paint scheme isn't up to the standards of some files we've seen lately. It seems a little flat and lacking in detail.

The cockpit won't win any awards for innovation or advancement, as it is basic, but it does the job, and it is the aircraft you're paying for. Many developers charge for the panel as an extra.

If your wondering why it isn't carrying any armament, it's simply because this version is of the one currently doing the airshows.

In terms of flight dynamics I think AlphaSim have done another good job here. It can be a sluggish old bird and I'd hate to be caught up in a dogfight in her, but having been designed for use aboard aircraft carriers this element of the aircraft really shows up superbly in its low speed handling. It really is an enjoyable aircraft to control on approach. In fact I think it may be unrivalled for its low speed handling for a large two engined jet. Stall speed I found to be about 85 knots!

Conclusion

The Sea Vixen represented here is another fine aircraft. It's unusual no doubt—it is unique in that it's the only one of its type still flying. It's a pleasure to fly. It could be better in certain respects and I hope they take the criticism from a constructive point of view and try to address my points. For the money ($5) it is a bargain, and is defiantly value for money. The product is available by download from Alpha Simulations.

Top down

Turning gently

Where's my camera?