| AVSIM
Aircraft Review
Reviewed June, 1997 |
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Introduction: There are dozens, if not hundreds, of aircraft models uploaded to the net every month. We try to evaluate all of them and the best wind up in our reviews. However, because of the number of aircraft posted, we have been forced to eliminate "repaints" of existing aircraft designs from those that are candidates for reviews. Repainting does take a lot of work and they do add to the community's growing collection of aircraft, but simply because of sheer numbers involved, we can now only effectively review those aircraft that are original in design.
  The E2-A Hawkeye
By Terry Hill
We LIKE THIS AIRPLANE! If you like turbo props and military aircraft, this is a must have. We have looked at countless aircraft over the last year, and we are rapidly coming to the conclusion that Terry Hill is one of the best, if not the best, single effort aircraft designer out there. The modeling is immaculate, the paint job is tremendously detailed, and the fidelity is perfect! This aircraft is a joy to fly. Period. We took the E2 around the circuit a couple of times doing touch and go's and then we did two cross countries in auto pilot mode. In no scenario did we encounter any difficulties. In autopilot, the E2 was as stable as a rock at altitude did not exhibit any roll or pitch characteristics that we still see in so many models (especially those that do not convert well from FS5). We did not see any of the slow altitude traversing or strange yaw characteristics. This is a very stable aircraft in all normal flight envelopes. The E2-A will overspeed at 350 knots. Even in overspeed condition, this model will fly properly unless you try to do a wild manuver. Some aircraft models in auto pilot will do a roll at overspeed or near it, or if not a roll, then exhibit some very strange behavior. We took off at full throttle and quickly set the throttle back to attain a climb out speed of about 300 knots. In cruise, we tried various settings from 275 knots up to 325 knots. All worked fine in autopilot mode and the a/c was a joy to fly. The E2-A, in our short flying time with it, seemed to want to land with some power on. We tried three different approaches using different throttle settings. Our best approach was with an IAS of about 160 to 170 Knots. We also did a landing at about 220 and ended up floating down the field quite a distance (to be expected we suppose). Stall appears to be in the vicinity of 130 or there about with full flaps, but the handling characteristics at 140 to 150 on approach were just too mushy for our tastes. The paint job on Terry's E2-A is a work of art. It is of the Carrier Airwing Group CVW-11 of the USS Kitty Hawk circa 1965. CVW-11 is noteworthy, as it is the group that introduced the E2-A to the Vietnam theater of operations around that time. We do not have a reference on this aircraft to view, however, being ex-navy aviation and having stood next to one of these beasts at NAS North Island, Ca. on an occasion or two, we can vouch for the realistic and detailed rendering that Terry has provided. Summary: This is an excellent model and a great addition to your flying inventory. It is well behaved and will give you countless hours of flying pleasure. Give it a whirl and keep this aircraft around to measure other efforts against. (See Sneak Peeks for some info on another upcoming model from Terry!)
American Airlines MD-11 Rg. N1750B
By Kentaro Kaneko
We are suckers for heavies! Give us a 747, a DC-10, a 777, 767, 757 , or an MD-11 and we are happy! We look forward to all new releases of any heavy new-design and the excitement that comes with the first power up and take off. Kentaro's release of this magnificent MD-11 fulfilled our expectations. This is a great heavy to add to your inventory. We rolled it out and departed LAX for a quick touch and go and then on to SFO for some stability testing. We were not disappointed.
If you have ever flown in an MD-11, you will appreciate the "feel" of Kentaro's model. It flies just as you would have expected it to. When combined with the stereo sounds of a heavy, you would swear you are sitting there in coach sipping on your Bloody Mary. Kentaro's MD-11 is a real thrill to fly and one which we think all heavy enthusiasts will enjoy. Take off was easy. We punched the throttles forward and away we went. At Vr we pulled back on the stick and the response was instant. She pulled nose up and powered off the field. We climbed out on auto pilot and went out about 12 miles. We did a climbing turn to our reciprocal heading and leveled off at 6,000 feet. At a smooth 365 knots we proceeded downwind until we were 17 miles from LAX. Now with the Glide Slope indicating, we cranked it around to the 249 approach heading and started a smooth descent. Still on auto pilot, we corrected heading to get ourselves going toward an intercept. Got her lined up and fed her down the slope. Full flaps, gear down and we pasted her in. Pull the flaps back to the 2nd indent and full power. Take off....
We had previously loaded GPS and were ready for a heading to SFO. We climbed out and again went about 14 miles out from LAX over the Pacific. We then placed GPS in auto and climbed to our pre-established 20,000 foot cruise altitude. We set up our ILS for an approach to runway 28R at SFO and proceeded to test the MD-11 for stability at altitude and speed. Here is what we found:
Kentaro's MD-11 is a very stable a/c. At climbout, cruise or descent, we did not see any indication of yaw or pitch instabilities in normal operational settings. On our cruise to SFO, we put the throttle far beyond what we felt to be the "norm" for cruise configuration. As she approached 390 knots IAS, she did start to exhibit some yaw instabilities, which we quickly took care of by toggling the yaw damper on and pulling back throttle. Other than that little "burp", Kentaro's MD-11 is a jewel! We did a final to SFO's 28R, dropped our approach speed to about 160 knots and flew a very stable approach. We put her down on the numbers and decided that this aircraft is one that we will keep and fly for quite some time to come. Get it! You will love it!
American Eagle Fairchild Metro III
By Marty Baclawski and Tony Bolton
In our business life we have spent countless hours in commuters, and in all candor, we HATE 'em! As flight simmers, we could not do without them. They add that transition stage between single engine, around the county kind of flying, to long haul, international flights. Commuters every where recognize two aircraft immediately; the Fairchild Metro and the Beach 1900. You will find them at just about every major regional airport, and if you haven't had an opportunity to fly in one, go do it!
If you follow Marty and Tony's suggestions in their accompanying text file, this aircraft is about as realistic as you can get in your simulation. Pay attention to the temperature settings in your weather profile. If you do, you will add immensely to your enjoyment of the Metro.
We know we are probably guilty of over using the word "stable", however, we believe that the first thing a user is going to react to is the instability of an aircraft model. If it is all over the place, yawing and pitching with no rhyme or reason, the model will end up in the bin. If the wifey gets airsick looking over your shoulder, then you know you are in trouble. But, stable is what you get in the Metro III. No unexpected twitches; fly's steady as a rock in auto pilot as well as manual mode and is a beaut to fly. Simply stated, you won't feel like you are walking on a tightrope with this airplane.
Landing the Metro III is just as enjoyable. We flew her into CHO and started a direct in long final at about 10 miles, just to see how she would handle in maintaining the glide slope. Much to our surprise, once we got her setup in descent, we stuck right to it. Maintaining heading was not much of a challenge. A few tweaks here and there to follow the "line" and we were home. A real pleasure to land.
Get this airplane! You will love the added pleasure that comes from doing a commuter route or two and the challenge of keeping a schedule will give you a feel for what the real life commuter pilots go through.
The NASA X-50
By Jim Goldman
Experimental aircraft models are difficult to do and meet the expectations of most flyers at the same time (not to mention hard headed reviewers). They are generally a platform for the designer to experiment with model characteristics, performance alternatives and trade-offs associated with them and are released to the community for others to experiment with, and not necessarily as a finished product. Jim's X-50 is a design concept platform, or so we gather from his enclosed text and falls squarely in this category. He uses the X-50 to try different concepts and implements them as the model and flight goals will allow. We tend to rate experimentals on somewhat of a different curve than we do conventional aircraft, and the questions we ask ourselves include; did the designer meet his/her stated goals in performance, and were the handling goals achieved?
Admittedly, Jim's X-50 experimental aircraft is a speed freak's dream come true. This aircraft will lay your ear's back and challenge all of your flying skills to stay at speed. In our opinion, Jim needs to go back and look at the model again. This is not to say that the average pilot won't get a thrill out of this craft, but it does exhibit some wild characteristics at the end of the performance curve where Jim has stated that he would like to see this model perform.
We took the X-50 around the track a couple of times and then did a full throttle take off and straight run out from LAX. Here is what we have to report on this model:
At about 50% throttle, you will zoom along at 500 knots. Taking off at full throttle will blow the barn doors off, and you will be off the ground in about 30% of the runway (in the case of LAX) or less. One setting of flaps is all you need. Be prepared to very quickly trim the X-50 to the flight profile you want. Trim in this aircraft is all important. Once airborne, pull flaps up and gear up and get on that trim setting. If you don't, you will go into a near vertical climb and be at 30,000 feet before you know it (assuming you leave full throttle set that is). More rational folks would pull the throttle back and do a sane climb out at say 450 knots or so (sometimes we just have to let things hang loose!).
In autopilot mode, the X-50 will do a snap roll at about 700 knots. She does so consistently. Pulling back on the throttle and letting her settle back will generally get you back to normal flight profile, assuming you have the altitude to do so. If not, adios amigos. In manual flight mode, we were able to get the X-50 up to Mach 1.8 at 33,000 feet. At 1.8 plus a smidgen, she started to gyrate in the pitch axis. In very short order, the pitch amplitude grew tremendously and eventually, it went out of control. We never were able to get the X-50 above 1.82 or thereabouts. We were never able to recover from that one either. FS6 thought the a/c was varying between 5 and 65 thousand feet, and before it could make up its mind, the X-50 actually found out where 0 feet was. Splash one X-50.
On a retry we decided to let sanity prevail to see what her approach and landing characteristics were. We found out very quickly. You need to fly this a/c to the ground. We did a long final into LAX on the ILS and followed the GS down from about 15 miles out. She tracked the Glide Slope wonderfully and we were able to jockey around with the throttle to keep her there. Careful though; throttle nudges are in order. If you are heavy handed, you could find yourself doing 500 knots on final and no way is the controller going to let in the pattern at that speed.
At 250 knots we made a smooth approach and though just a bit long on touch down, we made what we thought was a pretty cool landing. Energized reverse thrusters and we almost got thrown through the windscreen. She will come to a screeching stop quickly using reverse thrusters. All in all a neat little plane to land. So, some hints about the X-50. When you see pitch start to go in to vertical gyrations, pull the throttle back and possibly even deploy a little speed brake. At take off, don't apply full throttle - 60 percent should do just fine. If you want to use autopilot, keep your throttle set below 60 percent in normal cruise. If you are a sane person, you will give yourself plenty of room for an approach and use a long final to get there.
If you like the challenges of staying horizontal at speed and learning the vagaries of the fine touch with an experimental a/c, we recommend you give this one a try.
Have a GREAT flight!
Staff's Pick: The creme de la creme! A must have. The best rendition that we have ever found for this configuration. GREAT! A classic design implementation that will forever be modeled and included in every AVSIM enthusiast's inventory. May even end up in the base line inventory of Microsoft's next release. This aircraft would have to be perfect in every way. We haven't seen too many of those, so don't expect to see this rating often (though we are open for nominations by our readership!).
NO RATING: This one is a dog and not worth your download time. If you do download it, it should be your virtual "hanger queen" (everyone needs at least one "queenie"!). Will surprise you at the least provocation. May not make it off the runway. You would need to have God as your co-pilot AND be his favorite pilot to live through this experience. Don't ever energize Auto pilot - you won't survive!
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Two Stars: Average. Good implementation but needs work to get higher rating. Usually this results from flaws in paint or texture scheme or could be handling issues. Could also provide surprises in normal flight envelope. Add to inventory and be assured that you can take your hands off the yoke in Auto pilot.