Bear's Cave The world of Flight Simulators short reviews by Steve "Bear" Cartwright In this "special edition" I wanted to honor two outstanding authors, Richard Probst and Paul Golding, for their fantastic panel uploads this Labor Day holiday (in the U.S.). They'll be included in my regular "Bear's Cave" installment for August, but these are just "too good" to await completion of my picks for the month. August was a tremendous month for files uploaded into the AVSIM library and making my choices has never been this difficult!   B727-227 Panel by Richard Probst rp727pn3.zip uploaded 31-August-2002 8,150Kb FS2002 Panel Richard Probst is no mystery to those of us that have been flying any of the Boeing aircraft in Flight Simulator and it was Richard's (along with design partner Chris Arington) that he had previously designed Boeing 727 and 707 panels (best known as the CARP panels) for Flight Simulator. Starting some time ago with FS98, Richard and Chris were providing some of the very best in freeware panels and with each subsequent edition of Flight Simulator, their panels were updated or modified for use in FS2000 and FS2002 (mostly by other panel designers). Now what we have is a completely all new 727 panel design from Richard and it is truly a new landmark in 2D panel design. Just when the rage is for the dynamic 3D virtual panels, Richard reminds us that the old tried and true 2D panel is still superior in many ways. With authentic working systems, unique panel sounds, photorealistic subpanels, full cockpit (authentic) views, and even a short height landing panel (referred to as a VFR landing view), why even the auto-pilot (Sperry SP-50) is true to its origin and works exactly as it was designed. You'll also find that the fire handles function correctly right along with the FD-108 flight director, but don't look for auto throttles or speed control, because those aircraft (727s) didn't have them! It is freeware panels of this quality that will make the commercial guys rethink how they can justify charging any price for theirs! This panel more than rates my Bear Gold Award and it almost seems that my Gold Award is not nearly enough! Absolutely outstanding work Richard! ...Bear! BAC 1-11 Panel by Paul Golding pgbac111.zip uploaded 01-Sept-2002 5,758Kb FS2002 Panel Paul Golding has been an accomplished FS panel designer for several years and his prior panels for FS98, FS2000, and FS2002 are all designs of legend, especially his MD series (MD-81 and MD-87)! For a bit of a change of pace for Paul, he has now designed up an outstanding 2D panel for the British Aircraft Corporation's One-Eleven small jetliner and it is quite good! Featuring 3 different forward views; conventional, pilot's, and VFR landing, Paul has also included two variations of the cockpit lighting. Though somewhat lacking in the area of system duplication or operation (as compared to some other recent releases), this is still an outstanding example of the little One-Eleven's panel. With this panel download, Paul has also thought to include a Project Freeware BAC 1-11 (Bahamas Livery) that has had the FDE designed by Ron Freimuth, which makes for an outstanding package. Paul once again receives my Gold Award for his outstanding work. ...Bear!   Tell A Friend About these Reviews!   Standard Disclaimer These mini-reviews above are a subjective assessment of the work of the authors. There is no connection between the product authors and the reviewer, and we feel these reviews are unbiased and truly reflects the performance of the product in the simming environment. This disclaimer is posted here in order provide you with background information on the reviewer and connections that may exist between him/her and the contributing party. © 2002 - AVSIM Online All Rights Reserved