Introduction: Not everyone knows the name Burt Rutan. However, any die-hard Aviation fan surely knows his name, and his reputation for wildly creative, beautiful and innovative aircraft design. The Rutan Long EZ is a prime example of this creativity and innovation, and it's quite a ship to look at. Forward mounted canards and swept main wings, you might think it's some kind of space ship from science fiction. From its inception in 1979, the Long EZ has become a very popular home-built kit aircraft, with many representations flying today. The Rutan doesn't just offer sharp looks and sleek lines; it also has the ability to fly an unbelievable range of 1200 NM when properly outfitted. Another great performance feature of the craft, is its very nice cruising speed, making those long distances slip by. Being a rear swept wing with forward mounted canards, it definitely is a fun and different type of aircraft to learn to fly and become proficient in. Alphasim's team has magnificently captured this plane in every regard, and we'll look into that in more detail. Installation and Documentation: The installation procedure for this aircraft is a first for Alphasim; an included auto installer does all the work for both versions. The documentation is nicely detailed with instructions on how to find everything, how to fly the aircraft, and some very useful landing tips toward the end. The manual simply includes everything I typically ask for and want from a manual.
Decent checklists and reference docs are included, and can be found in the aircraft's main folder. However, to find the documentation itself , including the manual, look in the main FS9 folder for an Alphasim entry just below your main aircraft folder. Here it can all be found, including the manuals and a couple of nice movies that detail landing procedures. Aircraft: Upon first seeing this external model, I couldn't believe it. Just see for yourself if you think I'm merely talking it up, and I've got many shots for you to judge.
From the lines of the airframe, the landing gear struts and wheels, back to the extremely detailed engines and propellers; you won't run out of gorgeous detail, if that's what you love. The detail people will have a field day with this plane, as you don't run out of awesome things to see. Difference between the 0-235 and 0-320 variants are modeled, but a bit hard to notice. The wheel pants are more streamlined on the 0-320, and some rudder sizes are large and small on both 0-235 and 0-320 variants.
There are animations all over this model, including properly animated canards, rudders that are also outboard speed brakes with both wheel brakes applied, and realistic nose wheel animations. Even the suspension on the nose and main gear is nicely represented; taxi along and apply the brakes, and you'll clearly see the nose wheel compress without 'digging' into the concrete.
2D Panel: 2D panel is very simple and nothing special here is required due to the awesome virtual cockpit. A small 2D forward view of the very top of the cockpit is included, which shows no gauges, along with default GPS and Radio Stack pop ups. For this reason, I plan to spend most of my attention and time on the virtual cockpit section.
Virtual Cockpit: This virtual cockpit is one remarkable reason by itself, to justify buying this ship. From the radio clickability, to smooth and realistic gauges, to everything else being clickable, and excellent performance for detail; you won't be disappointed here.
One thing I want to mention right off the bat, and it may have been done before but I don't recall seeing this innovation. The radios: You can simply grab the inner and outer knobs and drag them to adjust your frequencies, just like a radio stack in real life. This makes adjusting your radios, in a bit of turbulence, remarkably easy. I used to have to keep clicking the VC radio click spot, and with active camera and turbulence, this had the potential to be a nightmare. You used to have to keep clicking the little tiny spot even with the VC clickable radios. Now, however, all you have to do is click, hold, and simply drag your mouse left or right. I haven't seen a virtual cockpit radio that is this easy to use in flight. Also, it's quite clearly legible, even back at 0.50 zoom.
Continuing on, everything I can see is clickable and functional, not to mention remarkably detailed. The modeling of each individual knob and lever must have had extra attention to detail paid to it, because it all looks very sharp. All of your basics are included and clickable, with extras included like the kneel switch. It's a bit hard to find at first, but once you figure it out, it's a neat feature. The only small downside I noticed for the VC of the Rutan, is that when you do kneel it down onto the nose gear, you can't see this from the VC. This must be a sim limitation of FS9. Gauges are very crisp and clear, although the Airspeed Indicator is a bit tough to read from further back. However, the flight gauges have small click spots near the top portion of the gauge where digital readouts can be posted for easier viewing. Another neat innovation that kept the simmer's preference in mind. Sounds: Sounds for this package are amazing, and for one main reason: Turbine Sound Studios did the sound package for this aircraft. Inside and out, it's just unbelievably like a real 0-235/320. You really get the sense that there is a hefty but small engine just growling away behind you. Throttle it up and climb up into the skies, and let your ears have some of the fun. Growling really is the best way to describe the aircraft on the ground, and inside, it's more of a muffled growling. It's always difficult to describe sound in words, but I do enjoy the sounds included in this package very much. Externally, I noticed that prop "Chopping" sound on the ground, as if the prop blades really are chopping through the dense, low-altitude air. That's a nuance I always pay attention to in a sound package, as I've heard it so many times at airports. Gear and other small sounds are included, but you won't notice these very much as the engine sounds are simply where the money is. Flight: My impressions of flying the Rutan from Alphasim are as follows: simply put, flying this ship is a small challenge that turns into a great pleasure.
Taxiing is a bit different if using the 180 degree castoring nose wheel, which I have chosen. However, by default, it is set to 40 degrees for ease of taxiing. The manual mentions clearly and concisely, how to change these settings through the aircraft.cfg files in the main Rutan aircraft folders. Taking off may require some heavy rudder movements, and even a tap of differential brakes here and there; keep in mind, I'm using the fully castoring nose wheel. I believe with the default nose wheel configuration, crosswind takeoffs would be a breeze. The ship's maximum crosswind takeoff speed is 15 KIAS, and I would not recommend attempting it in any stronger a wind. One thing you will notice right after taking off, is the fact that the ship simply slips through the air, rapidly gaining speed. You'll also feel for the first time, what I call a very complex and realistic flight model. I haven't flown a Long EZ, but people who own them were involved in the development, so I believe the flight model for both ships is quite thoroughly done. Landing this ship is not unlike dragging an old F-86 in. What I mean, is landing this ship is a fresh new challenge, but easily accomplished after reading the manual and giving it a shot. This ship is extremely aerodynamic and doesn't have flaps, so slowing it down for landing is different. Once below VLE, drop the nose wheel and continue to bleed off speed. Once below 90 KIAS, you may drop your speed brake to reduce speed even further. The speed brake will help you slow, but also adds a touch of lift like a giant belly flap. Be ready for that "Sabre" approach I mentioned. You'll have to watch your speed and keep it between stall and Max Speed brake extend. Setting down on the rear mains at 70 KIAS wasn't difficult after only a few attempts. Just read the manual and avoid the hot approach. My first approach was way too fast, and I had to take back off and go around. Basic in flight maneuvers are always fun to talk about. This ship doesn't specifically side slip all that well, but it can do the rest of the basic flight maneuvers with ease. Steep turns are a joy once you get the hang of the pitch in the turn, and others basics are quick and easy to learn. One thing I noticed about the EZ, is as the manual said; the ship has an extremely docile and forgiving stall. It almost doesn't seem to stall, but just kind of maintains a high angle of attack while in a descent. No violent nose dip or wing over in a stall, just a very pleasant stall, actually. The EZ is also capable of some basic, but very fun aerobatics. I was doing loops, Split-S's, and high speed knife edge turns within a day or two of flying. I even attempted a hammerhead, but was unsuccessful due to the ship's lack of extreme rudder control. Once you have the pattern down cold, take her up a few thousand feet and start playing. All in all, this plane is a little tricky at first. I personally believe, not having flown an EZ, that this representation effectively mirrors the real world flight performance of the EZ. Real world owners assisted on the flight model, and it seems very nicely done. I preferred flying the 0-235 variant, and the only difference to the 0-320 variant during flight was that it could go a bit faster. Once you have mastered the few little intricacies of flying a unique plane like this, you're going to have some good fun flying the Rutan Long EZ. Performance:
Performance on my end, especially for the level of detail, is spectacular. Everything is remarkably detailed, while maintaining a clean and simple appearance. Every knob and switch is 3D modeled, but looks as simple as a knob or switch. On my system, I did not lose more than approximately 3-5 FPS. I'm running on unlimited frames for my photoreal scenery, but the FPS average is around 25-28. I'm losing no more than 20% of system performance, which for this package, is great. Summary: A good buddy of mine recently started flying FS9; he's not too into aviation, he just likes flying. He went out and bought the peddles and really decided to get into it. I sent him a screenshot of the new plane I was starting to review, and he thought it was one of the coolest looking aircraft he'd seen. On my recommendation, he literally went to Alphasim that night and bought himself a copy. That's why there are so many formation shots included in this review. That's not the recorder module, that's actually him and me flying these awesome ships around our hometown and Southern California. He loves this plane as much as I do, and has already gotten more flight hours in it than me. So, to conclude the review: I jumped at the opportunity to review this ship for FS9 as soon as I heard it was in development. As soon as I got it, I couldn't wait to fly it. Now that I have, and have enjoyed it as much as I have, would I recommend it? Would my friend recommend it? We both do, absolutely. Even to those who may not know of or like Rutan's different designs. However, if you're a fan of Rutan, and you don't have this package for either FS9 or FSX, please go get it. I don't think this ship can actually disappoint.
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