Bear's Cave The world of Flight Simulators short reviews by Steve "Bear" Cartwright Here we are already into the second week of October and the files just keep coming in! This was a true golden week in interesting and quality files for the users of FS2002, as we have really great new aircraft and very interesting scenery files! Lets take a look at what I found last week!   Naval Aircraft Factory N2N-1 Canary by Steven Grant n3n.zip uploaded 6-Oct-2002 1,429Kb FS2002 Aircraft For some time now, Steven Grant has been designing some really terrific aircraft, starting back in the early days of FS2000, and usually his aircraft designs are of the Bush Flying variety (often in partnership with Fred Choate). With his latest release, Steven has changed over to include one of his first military designs. It wasn't a very long trip, as Steven has come up with a NAF N3N-1 Canary floatplane, an aircraft very similar to a Grumman Duck. Steven's model features 32bit textures and does contain a fully dynamic virtual cockpit along with the standard 2D panel. The N3N (the real-world original models were available in both a land and seaplane version) was used as a primary trainer for the US Navy beginning in 1934 and this little aircraft served in that capacity until 1961, when it was retired from active duty. This is a particularly nice FS design from Steven Grant and I do highly recommend that all you biplane-seaplane fans out there take a look at this upload! ...Bear! B-24D Liberator by David Needham - Lindsay Watt fs_lbg.zip 8-Oct-2002 9.966Kb FS2002 Aircraft With the help of several people, David Needham has put together a really terrific example of the famous B-24D Liberator bomber of World War II vintage. Not as famous as its Boeing cousin, the B-17, the Consolidated B-24D was still a highly effective and formidable weapon which carried out thousands of sorties over the continent of Europe during the war. Even though having a shorter range than the B-17, the B-24 was capable of carrying a 50% higher bomb load. This FS model is a complete package, with custom 2D panel, virtual cockpit, opening bomb bay doors, photorealistic exterior textures, and custom sounds, so if warbirds interest to you, then do not let this one slip by! Outstanding work by David and his many contributors, so be sure to read the credits in David's readme file. ...Bear!           Storch 582CL by Stefano Vele 582cl.zip uploaded 10-Oct-2002 8.822Kb FS2002 Aircraft The Storch 582CL is an Italian ultralight aircraft, powered by a Rotax 582 (hence the model number) and this FS aircraft is modeled after Stefano's real Storch! Designed using the new Abacus FSDS 1.6 aircraft design studio program, with the panel designed using FS Panel Studio, Stefano has created a very interesting ultralight for Flight Simulator. Having nearly all the FS2002 animations and lighting effects, this little aircraft is a joy to fly and equally as fun to look at. The cockpit views are all highly detailed photo realistic examples and the panel is very realistic and accurate to the real thing. (Stefano supplies real photographs for you to compare this FS version to.) A unique and interesting aircraft download and deserving of my 'Bear Approved Stamp'! ...Bear! Honorable Mention! Gmax Transavia PL-12 - Caravelle III v2 by Mike Stone spl121.zip scarav32.zip uploaded 10/11-Oct-2002 234Kb/810Kb FS2002 Aircraft Mike Stone is at it again, this time uploading two completely new aircraft, the Caravelle III and the very unusual appearing Transavia PL-12. The Caravelle III of Mike's has already shown its popularity by the number of downloads, but I believe many may have missed the Transavia PL-12, so you just may wish to check out this exceptionally unique aircraft design.           Corsica, France by Christian Santoni calvi.zip uploaded 7-Oct-2002 1,106Kb FS2002 Scenery With a history stretching back to the 16th century, Corsica is a French island of unique European history and traditions. Christian Santoni has captured its look and feel quite well and I highly recommend you check out this beautiful scenery package for yourself.           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