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Bear's Cave
The world of Flight Simulator
short reviews by Steve "Bear" Cartwright
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22-Oct-00
Alaskan Commuter No 1 - The McKinley Run!
by Dave Ericksen
Akcm1.zip
uploaded 21-Oct-00
1335kb
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The McKinley Run is neither fictitious nor is it Bush Country scenery as we are use to, but it is a nice add-on to the FS default scenery at five airports: Talkeetna (PATK), Talkeetna Village Strip (44AK), Montana Creek (21AK), Summit (UMM), and Nenana (ENN), all in Alaska! Dave's scenery adds trees, static, plus dynamic aircraft to each of these airports, which are located approximately 70nm apart on a flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks (the Talkeetna Village Strip is only but a stone's throw from Talkeetna, but it's a bit too short for even a light twin, though floats can generally make do with the river nearby).
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Now, for the most part, FS2000 renders the most of Alaska quite well, but their (Microsoft's) airports are a little bland... Dave's scenery brings some life to each of these 5 airports—simple, but effective! This scenery goes a long way toward improving the immersion factor of flying in these areas, but that's not what is most unusual. It's the quality of the static and dynamic aircraft Dave's included, as you'll recognize aircraft from the likes of Fred Banting (Beavers), Yannic (SuperCubs), among many others (Dave has a long long list of credits in his documentation). Alaskan Commuter No 1 - The McKinley Run is compatible with the latest textures, mesh sceneries, and the Alaska Plus add-on; and in fact Dave recommends these other add-ons as well... so do I! Looking for a nice afternoon trip with your just downloaded Cessna 185 Skywagon? Here's the deal. The McKinley Run from Dave Ericksen! ...Bear!
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22-Oct-00
Project 747 Boeing 747 United Airlines Version 1.8
by Melvin Rafi
p744ua18.zip uploaded 20-Oct-00
800kb
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There were at least 3 excellent "heavy" jets (all Boeing's) uploaded this week, so the choices frankly were difficult, but I decided that Mr. Rafi's excellent example of a United Airlines 747-400 was worthy of mention (I picked it out of hat... yea you try an pick between 3 great uploads?) This example of Boeing's biggest sports a 32-sided fuselage, 64-sided engines, and fully animated parts! (I also clocked the gear and it took 17 seconds to retract, which is much closer to the real thing than I've seen on many "commercial" examples of this particular Boeing aircraft.) The flaps are fully textured and are correctly sectioned and they rotate as well as extend, as do the wings slats. I didn't clock the flaps to full extension, but if I were to guess it probably took 20+ seconds from full up to full extension, again much greater accuracy. It also has a 3D nosegear bay, with really really round tires too—darn I hated those non-round tires so common back in FS98!
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The overall texturing/paint of this aircraft is very good and I would give it 4˝ stars out of 5, and of course this aircraft includes the full FS2000 night illumination (tail and fuselage splashes). Melvin gives Johan Dees full credit for the flight dynamics, and though I only did a couple of short flights out of Reno/Tahoe & Miami International, I felt it (the air file) was quite good, slow on roll response, heavy in the pitch feel, basically typical of what you would expect for aircraft of this size and weight! The sounds and panel are default only, but combine this aircraft with some of the excellent choices available in AVSIM's library and you have a good solid package! ...Bear!
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22-Oct-00
Darrington, Washington Scenery for FS2000
by Richard Goldstein
darrngtn.zip uploaded 16-Oct-00
234kb
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It seems I may have flown out of this airport at one time or another, but that would have been more years ago than I would care to remember. Richard has already given us some excellent scenery in his previous work "Davis, Oregon" and he continues with his rendition of "Darrington." Darrington is located just a short distance from the North Cascades National Park, so this makes a great jump off spot for you bush pilots or thanks to "Tailboom", us egg-beater aviators as well… hehehe!
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Richard points out in his documentation that his newest upload includes nearly 7,000 individual trees and a photo realistic airport with the surrounding roads! In addition, Richard mentions that this scenery works best with either Bill Lyon's or Lennart Arvidsson's textures and Eddie Denney's mesh scenery… I can tell you this is true... truly a must have scenery add-on, if flying something other than a Boeing or Airbus suits your fancy that is! Why are you still reading this review? Go to AVSIM's library and get this scenery! ...Bear!
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22-Oct-00
Cessna 185 Skywagon!
by John Cantwell
cess_185.zip uploaded 20-Oct-00
819kb
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We here in the flight simming community are blessed with many, many enthusiasts who, besides being fellow simmers, are also great artists at this wonderful hobby of ours and frankly I'm now going to include John Cantwell on my list of specialists/artists as well! I don't know if John has developed/designed other aircraft before, but I can't imagine that this would be his first try at rendering a FS aircraft? This is simply one of the best appearing aircraft ever released for any flight sim and with the addition of Steve Small's air file update (released on 22-Oct-00 and available here at AVSIM under the file name: C185_air.zip).
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This aircraft flies every bit as well as it looks... beautifully! When you peer through any of the side windows you'll note a pilot, fully rendered panel, and even a newspaper laying on the front seat! From the corrugated/textured flaps to the perfectly "round" tires, this aircraft is a virtual work of art and now it flies equally as well as it looks! Rather you're flying from a mountain glacier at 10,000 feet up in the French Alps (like I'm doing in one of the screenshots here) or flying into your favorite "Bush Country" scenery, this aircraft is most definitely holding a permanent spot on my hard drive! ...Bear!
Michael Verlin has once again given us a fine example of the Beechcraft King Air C90 (second time this week)—this aircraft is actually a collaborated project from a group of individuals whose names are very familiar with those of us using FS98 or FS2000! Aircraft Designer – Chris Lampard; Animation – Lee Hall; Paint – Michael Verlin Flight Model – Michael Verlin & Steve Small; Panel – Bill Walch & Michael Verlin; and Sounds – Aaron Swindle (which are also available separately). As is obvious this aircraft download is a complete package and it is a wonderful collaboration between all of these fine FS aircraft artists, giving us a smooth and accurate appearing and flying King Air C90!
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I have several of Michael Verlin's GA aircraft and have noticed that his flight models (most in collaboration with Steve Small) are very realistic—and give a far better feel than the vast majority of offers, rather they be freeware or payware! This latest from Michael & friends is no exception either, it's a really beautiful looking and flying aircraft. Even those of you with minimum flight experience should be greasing their landings with this aircraft! ...Bear!
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