Avsim front page shows the Constellation by Aeroplane Heaven is available for download over at Just Flight. Anyone biting yet? Screens look great and the price seems reasonable.http://www.justflight.com/product.asp?pid=288cheers,Thaellar

I wonder if it is as complicated as A2A's Stratocruiser, and I would like to hear a couple of opinions on the specularity of the bare metal, as it looked a little flat in the picture. But that is the most beautiful airliner ever made, in my opinion, and a decent package would be hard to resist.

I wonder if it is as complicated as A2A's Stratocruiser, and I would like to hear a couple of opinions on the specularity of the bare metal, as it looked a little flat in the picture. But that is the most beautiful airliner ever made, in my opinion, and a decent package would be hard to resist.

You keep practicing your touch and go's @ Saba Mister!!! Don't worry about the big airliners just yet!!! lol j/k Tim :(

Just bought it, I'll let you know the score in a little while chaps.Al

Okay, took it out for a quick spin. Looks like quite a complex simulation of the thing to me. Full engineer's panel, all switches appear to do things (I'm not the world's Constellation expert here by the way, but it seems that way to me). So I don't think this is a 'leap in it an off you go' aeroplane. I started it with Control+E just to get in the air, but I suspect that there is more I needed to do to have the engines behave properly. The manual (56 pages) shows you how to do a Cold And Dark startup, and that has to be done the proper way, with you jumping to the Engineer's panel to get the inverters on and all that malarkey, so there's all that stuff in place if you like that kind of thing.It's quite clearly meant to be flown from the VC, and that's a good thing, because the VC is very smooth and nicely created, looks pretty accurate to me, but keep in mind I'm not the world's expert on Connies so there could be things in the wrong spot, but it didn't look like it to me.The cabin is modeled, and there is even a 3D model of a woman passenger in there, who moves her head about to look out of the window and around the cabin (don't worry, she is not like the shiny bimbo in the Wilco Citation, she's in a period late fifties outfit and not in the least bit shiny). The cabin is very well modeled too. There are preset wing views as well.There are several attendant vehicles you can display, power cart, steps etc, with a control panel to get them to show up.With regard to shininess of the bare metal on the external model, here you go with three screenshots of the eminently shiny TWA Connie...Dunno what you guys reckon, but that looks okay to me. I think it's pretty good for 20 quid, especially since you get several different Connie variants in the package, and quite a lot of paint jobs too.Oh, by the way, the audio is excellent, the brakes squeak when you operate them and all that sort of stuff and the engines sound really cool, and you will think you are on fire when the engines start up, because you can probably see the cloud of smoke from orbit.Al

Sounds like a winner. Thanks for the mini-review AlThaellar ps. of course, we'll need to see it with Atlantic Bridge livery when you get it integrated into your Air Hauler fleet. :(

That's a good point, however, I'm not sure it is that well suited to Air Hauler. I just bought it because I love the older stuff. Incidentally, I stuck a few more screenies of the thing in the screenshot forum. It's a bit of a handful in a crosswind by the way.Al

Found This, Flying with Arthur Godfrey (Part I) (1953) http://www.archive.org/details/Flyingwi1953

Thanks, Al. Does look good. I just bought African Adventures and the Bush Hawk to go with it, plus a ton of other stuff recently, so I am going to exercise restraint for possibly as long as 24 hours.

Yeah, you might struggle to get the Connie down on some of those African Airstrips.Al

Thanks for the review...I purchased it but where's the manual?Thanks

Yeah, you might struggle to get the Connie down on some of those African Airstrips.Al

Yes, I've already made my acquaintance with some of them! Loads of fun. Okay, one more question about the Connie. I don't know if it the angles of the pictures I've seen or what, but I'm curious if it really captures that distinctive curved back and slender lines accurately... this one looks a little chubby somehow in the shots I've seen so far. Well, one more question: can you fly it without being a full-time flight engineer, too?

Thanks for the review...I purchased it but where's the manual?Thanks

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Just Flight\ConstellationOr you can get to it from the Windows Start Menu, look under 'Just Flight'If you have the Just Flight Duchess, don't confuse the folder with that stuff in, which is 'JustFlight' without the space, the Connie stuff is in a 'Just Flight' folder, i.e with a space in between the words, so you might have two Just Flight folders in your FSX main folder.Al

Okay, one more question about the Connie. I don't know if it the angles of the pictures I've seen or what, but I'm curious if it really captures that distinctive curved back and slender lines accurately... this one looks a little chubby somehow in the shots I've seen so far. Well, one more question: can you fly it without being a full-time flight engineer, too?

I've not taken a tape measure to it, like I would if I was doing a proper AVSIM review of it, but it looks like a Connie to me, i.e. very pretty.With regard to the flying of the thing, I imagine that there was probably a bit more to it in real life, after all, flight crews really earned their money in those days with no automatic systems, but you do have to do a bit of Flight Engineer stuff, not too much though, so I'd say it was more in the nature of 'interesting' rather than 'tedious'. Here's the bit from the manual about the kind of stuff you have to play with on the Flight Engineer's panel:So, not hugely complex, but you do have to do it to put the throttles to the correct settings for the phase of the flight or you will have trouble flying and maintaining the correct speed. A bit like the Captain Sim B707 if you ever had that thing, i.e there are things you have to do on the FE panel, but it's not as if you have to leap to it all the time to twiddle things constantly.Oh and I discovered another cool thing on it - wait till you see the windscreen wiper animation, it's fascinating to watch the things, all the mechanical links and stuff move as it goes back an forth, it's really well done. and yes, I know how tragic I am to be impressed with that LOLAl

Got to give kudos to aeroplane heaven . They built it I think and it is definitely their best plane yet. Frame rates are good also. I love the Connie. Actually flew in one when I was a kid (through a storm no less) and if any here are near Penndell PA say 15-20 years ago, they would remember the restuarant. It was in the middle of town and on top of the place sat a Connie, they used it for a lounge or bar or something. It was taken away years ago, I think to help put another Connie back into the air. Heres a link to a pic.http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/284894...2de38b5.jpg?v=0Larry