As promised, here is another issue of my Bear’s Cave column and this week I will be presenting some very interesting files available from the AVSIM library, but this time from the more recent past. You’ll notice my mini-reviews this week will be more toward those FS aircraft that are designed for use in FSX, but I’ve also included a really outstanding scenery file for FS9 as well. If any one of these files interests you, jump in and download it, then let me know what you think! #1: The Bristol Beaufighter During World War II, the British redesigned their Beaufort Torpedo bomber into the “heavy fighter/Strike” aircraft, the Type 156 Bristol Beaufighter. An aircraft that served with distinction throughout the entire war and was an aircraft that was used in all theatres of that conflict. Slightly over 5,500 of these aircraft were originally built during the war, and due to their engine internal design, with sleeve valves rather than poppet values, the engines were unusually quiet as they approached. Prompting the Japanese to refer to them as “Whispering Death”. Dave Garwood designed this FS model of Bristol Beaufighter and provided the 9 different texture sets (all included with the original file download), in addition to the excellent sound files that were provided by Lawdog. This FS aircraft is for FSX only and does work fine in FSX with SP2, so no worries there. Dave has included many unique features beyond just the normal expected FSX models, including droppable bombs. Having never seen, let alone having flown, a real Beaufighter, I can’t answer to the accuracy of Dave’s flight modeling. But I can tell you this FS aircraft performs just like the manual says and seems to have the same flight characteristics I’ve been able to pull from the history books of those that flew it during the war. So that’s good enough for me. The bottom-line is, I like this FS bird; it looks realistic, sounds great, and has a very good 3D virtual cockpit with smooth operating gauges, what more could you ask for from a freeware add-on aircraft? If warbirds are your thing and you would like a freeware add-on aircraft for your FSX aircraft folder, one worthy of a payware model, then look no further than Dave Garwood’s excellent version of the Bristol Beaufighter! Observed Performance: Cruise Speed @ 15,000 FE: 174kts IAS AVSIM Filename: beaufsx.zip
#2 Horten HoIVa: According to the readme file of this FS add-on aircraft, it was a design made by the Horten brothers of Germany during World War II and apparently they built 4 of them, but only two survived, with one being in Southern California (at the Planes of Fame Museum) and the other survivor back in Germany. Of the two surviving Hortens, one was used in the early fifties at a couple of National Soaring events and according to the record books, placed quite well, thank you. David Rowberry has authored a number of gliders for FSX and though I’ve seen little in the various forums (specifically the AVSIM screenshot forum) showing screenshots depicting David’s work, I’ve got to tell you, he is terrific. This is a sharply detailed FS aircraft and, if you happen to download it, pay particular attention to the sharpness of the 3DDVC gauges, even to the point of including color-coded wiring, absolutely outstanding. Observed Performance: It’s a Glider! File Name: hoiva.zip
#3 Piper Archer III The Piper Archer III is one of the many model lines based on the original Cherokee available from Piper. Today, the Archer is more or less your base model with fixed landing gear and a fixed pitch propeller. Rien Cornelissen has put together several FS Piper models for FSX (and FS2004, too) and this is his version of the Piper Archer III, which is compatible with FSX SP2. It uses default sounds and such, but it is modeled very well and includes an accurate 3DDVC and considering it's freeware, it looks pretty good to me. If you missed this one, check it out in the AVSIM library. Observed Performance: Cruise Speed @ 7,000ft FE AVSIM Filename: fs_x_piper_archer_iii.zip
#4 Gee Bee Air Racer In the late 1920s and early 1930s, listing the fastest air racing aircraft of that period certainly included the Granville Brothers Gee Bee Model Z air racer. Despite their notoriety for being a pilot killer, Jimmy Doolittle managed to not only stay alive while flying one of these, he managed to also win the Thompson Trophy along the way. The Gee Bee Model Z air racer #4, “City of Springfield Massachusetts”, won the 1931 Thompson Trophy (National Air Races at Cleveland, Ohio) at a record average speed of 236.239 mph, but on that day, the pilot was Lowell Bayless. In 1931, the Bendix Trophy was run from Burbank, CA to Cleveland, with the finish line being the front grandstands at the Cleveland aerodrome as part of the National Air Races. The Thompson Trophy was the closed course race held in conjunction with the Bendix Trophy Dash cross-country race. In 1931, while Lowell Bayless was winning the Thompson Trophy at Cleveland in the Gee Bee Model Z, air racer Jimmy Doolittle won the Bendix Trophy flying a Laird Super Solution at an average cross-country speed of 223.038 mph. Also at the 1931 Cleveland air races, Lowell Bayless set a 1 mile top speed record of 267.342 mph. Later that year, while testing for the Air Races in Detroit, Lowell Bayless was killed in the “City of Springfield Massachusetts” Gee Bee Model Z when the front fuel tank cap came dislodged and penetrated the canopy, striking Lowell in the face and killing him instantly. The City of Springfield Massachusetts Gee Bee Model Z was destroyed in this accident. This excellent FSX aircraft model was developed by our old friend, Warwick Carter (in the readme file he claimed it required Rick Piper to drag him kicking and screaming to come to grips with FSX and frankly, I believe it was quite worth Rick’s effort). I know that a lot of you forget about reading the “readme” file on many (most) of your downloads, and don’t worry, I’m at times guilty of this as well. But this is one time I suggest you do glance over the included readme file, as Warwick gives quite a few tips on flying this true pilot killer. Having 750 hp available on an aircraft designed after a raindrop and having a fixed pitch propeller, believe me, you can run into trouble real quickly with this little speedster. It is very satisfying to learn how to land this aircraft smoothly, but it will require practice. Observed Performance: Top Speed: 255 mph AVSIM Filename: geebeez.zip
#5 Pellston Regional Airport This is about as good as it gets with freeware scenery! For somebody living in Europe (Leipzig, Germany), Matthias Rauh has a real handle on developing a scenery add-on package for the area of Pellston, Michigan. Matthias gives local guru, Arno Gerretsen, quite a bit of the credit, as well as Lar Hoyer, for many of his scenery objects used in this FS2004 add-on. But it was Matthias that gets the full credit for putting this all together. Personally, I’ve never been to Pellston, but somehow I feel I have after using Matthias’ scenery for a starting point or destination for my VFR FS flights. This scenery download isn’t just a simple update of a MSFS default airport, but is a complete rebuild of an entire area similar to what you would expect with a payware download or add-on. This scenery includes such items as; thick surrounding forests, animated highway vehicles (some of which pull in and park in the airport parking lot), and if you look closely enough, you’ll notice that this scenery is only slightly dated as the price of gasoline at the Marathon service station is only a buck eighty three for 87 octane! Boy, I remember those days, lol! Probably some of the more interesting features are the seasonal textures, especially the winter ones. There are snow piles around the parking lot areas, which is a nice touch. Any scenery add-on that improves your immersion level while at the same time, contains enough special little features leading one to explore the area on the ground, well, that freeware add-on gets a raving vote of recognition from me. Take it from me, this scenery is well worth the cost of $25, oops sorry, keep forgetting, it's FREEWARE! AVSIM Filename: kpln_fs2004.zip
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