For those who love the challenge of flying WWII fighters, you may have missed the release from Italianwings of a Macchi 202 Folgore (Lightning) on AVSIM a couple of weeks ago. This was one of the best Italian aircraft of WWII and very successful. If you haven't tried it - DO...c202_v01.zipIt is visually spectacular both in the exterior and VC and a lot of fun to fly. Lots of animations and effects, a very detailed cockpit and good sound set. But be warned - like the same developer's Fiat CR42 released about a year ago, it will bite you if you don't handle it just right. The FDE is maybe a bit quirky (inverted, flat spins are very easy to induce and not too easy to recover from) but it is great fun to fly and very immersive. And it's FREEWARE folks so give it a try - you have nothing to lose except hours of your time being addicted....If you enjoy it as much as I do, take it to Duxford (another AWESOME freeware release) and join the air show. Enjoy!Ian

Edited January 9, 201214 yr by kiwiflyer45

Kiwi thanks for the pointer. I DL'd Duxford just last week and it is indeed awesome (I'm damned if I can figure out how they got in so much detail, including moving traffic, without crippling the game's fps). I like the WW2 planes, but usually the Brit classics, however I will definitely give this one a go.

Really nice indeed .. :)

Edited January 9, 201214 yr by navtech

Really nice indeed .. :)

Great screen shots. If this doesn't convince a lot of people to try out this wonderful project, nothing will!!!ThanksIan

Excellent Aircraft, and Airport!No drops in FPS to speak of really!Thanks you for the tip!

Excellent Aircraft, and Airport!No drops in FPS to speak of really!Thanks you for the tip!

You're welcome. I always think it's a shame that some really outstanding freeware products don't get much notice... I guess people just assume that it's, well, "freeware." This is one of many that are as good as and sometimes better than many payware products so I'm glad to spread the word. You may want to try the CR42 from the same developer - it is equally as good as the MC202 and is a lot of fun to flyCheersIan

Thanks Ian!I'll give the CR42 a try. Always love good Aircraft.I agree with all you said. There is allot of good "freeware" out there that doesn't get enough recognition!

This is a superb aircraft, just installed it tonight and had a quick fly in it, to say I'm impressed is an understatement, beautifully created and fly's great, thanks for the heads up on this one Ian.CheersMartin. :Applause:PS. Duxford's great too, along with Wadington, Marham & Conningsby and a couple of others I can't remember right now.

Edited January 16, 201214 yr by mf_blues

You better be careful flying a Regia Aeronautica aircraft over those Kent airfields - there might be a ghost Spitfire or Hurricane out to repeat 1940 on you! LOL The poor old CR42 didn't do too well when they entered the Battle of Britain for a few weeks in October 1940!I'm really glad you gave the Macchi a try - it really does deserve all the praise we've given itIan

Actually Ian this plane feels a bit like the Hurricane to fly and its looks are similar to an extent of course, my favourite plane is the Spitfire, always has been but I do enjoy batting around the sky in any of the War birds, especially low and fast, that's really good fun and amazingly I didn't crash this one on my first rather fast and chaotic landing.Hats off to the developers for the best freeware I've seen yet, if you know of any others this good please let me know.CheersMartin

I downloaded the CR42 and have flown it a short distance. It seems like a very good Aircraft. I seem to have a slight problem I can't figure out, and was hoping you could tell me what I need to do. I was trying to start the Aircraft following the instructions, but even before I try and start it I am getting a "thud" sound that speeds up as I take off. It stops once I am in flight. I suppose I am quite ignorant on the proper starting procedure and doing something wrong. I usually have the aircraft started automatically. Can you tell me how I can stop the "thud" sound when sitting on the ground? Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I downloaded the CR42 and have flown it a short distance. It seems like a very good Aircraft. I seem to have a slight problem I can't figure out, and was hoping you could tell me what I need to do. I was trying to start the Aircraft following the instructions, but even before I try and start it I am getting a "thud" sound that speeds up as I take off. It stops once I am in flight. I suppose I am quite ignorant on the proper starting procedure and doing something wrong. I usually have the aircraft started automatically. Can you tell me how I can stop the "thud" sound when sitting on the ground? Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I can't solve the problem other than to tell you that I've had some similar things with strange engine sounds, including times when it won't shut down at all but keeps going "kerchunk." (I hate it when an airplane goes kerchunk!! I can handle some creaking and groaning and even some occasional hiccuping, but kerchunk is not good!) LOLThere are certainly some pecularities to the sound file or model - I'm not sure if it's a "bug" or if it really is telling us we're doing something wrong! :( Why don't you try contacting the developer? He may be more than willing to help... If you find out, I'd be interested to hearIan

Edited January 17, 201214 yr by kiwiflyer45

Actually Ian this plane feels a bit like the Hurricane to fly and its looks are similar to an extent of course, my favourite plane is the Spitfire, always has been but I do enjoy batting around the sky in any of the War birds, especially low and fast, that's really good fun and amazingly I didn't crash this one on my first rather fast and chaotic landing.Hats off to the developers for the best freeware I've seen yet, if you know of any others this good please let me know.CheersMartin

Hi MartinThe really good news is that several of the best freeware aircraft that I know of are British!!! LOLRick Piper's HS748 and Andover (His Jet Provost is older work but still pretty good)David Maltby's BAC 1-11 and Comet IVMilton Shupe's DHC-7, Beech 18 and Beech AT-11Restauriva's Fouga Magister, Mystere IV and VatourDeane Baunton's Fletcher/NZ Aerospace FU24And most astonishing of all -- an incredible contribution that equals any pawyare I know ofMirage III Swiss Air Force by "ISRA"Other than some helicopters and the DreamFleet 727 and recently, the iFly 737NG, I probably spend more time flying these freeware aircraft than most of the other payware I have sitting on my hard driveThere are many other noteworthy freeware aircraft but for me those are the ones that really stand out from the crowd, with excellent virtual cockpits, flight models, sound sets (in most cases) and systems modelling in several of them... They should keep any FSer a happy camper for hours at a timeCheersIan

Edited January 17, 201214 yr by kiwiflyer45

I can't solve the problem other than to tell you that I've had some similar things with strange engine sounds, including times when it won't shut down at all but keeps going "kerchunk." (I hate it when an airplane goes kerchunk!! I can handle some creaking and groaning and even some occasional hiccuping, but kerchunk is not good!) LOLThere are certainly some pecularities to the sound file or model - I'm not sure if it's a "bug" or if it really is telling us we're doing something wrong! :( Why don't you try contacting the developer? He may be more than willing to help... If you find out, I'd be interested to hearIan

Thanks for the reply Ian.The "Kerchunk" or "thud", ( sounds like someone beating on the fuselage with a baseball bat), is aggravating!I'll contact the developer, like you suggested, and see if they reply! I'll let you know.If not I'll look for another sound set for the aircraft.

Hello Ian & everyone,I have contacted the developer and waiting on a reply.In the meantime I tried a search for another sound set, and have came up empty on this model..so far.I did find some info on the sound set ... The min volume of the ground roll sounds are set a bit high so they dont shut down properly.Open the sound.cfg (located in the sound folder within the FIAT CR-42 FALCO_COMMON folder)Scroll down to [GROUND_ROLL] and change/lower the minimum volume to something like 6000.I actually changed both min and max for myself, but only the min volume change is necessary.[GROUND_ROLL]filename=touchcdminimum_volume=6000 ///26000maximum_volume=10000 //32768minimum_speed= 10maximum_speed= 60minimum_rate=0.8maximum_rate=1.6link=GROUND_ROLL2I tried doing that and the thud disappeared, except it got too loud, (for my taste) while taking off.I lowered it again to this...[GROUND_ROLL]filename=touchcdminimum_volume=3000maximum_volume=7000The thud sound is completely gone now.I'm playing around with the [WIND_SOUND]filename = wind_opencockpit.wavnow. I'm attempting to get a lower wind sound when I fly.I didn't think the "thud" sound was coming from the Ground_Roll setting since I got it at a stand still...but apparently I was wrong.I'll let you know what the developer says if he contacts me. If you want the link to the info I found IM me and I'll send it to you.I'm not sure if I am suppose to post links in here or not!I hope this helps someone else!The plane flies very well!