Interesting!

 

http://www.alabeo.co...oduct&correl=77

 

FDE bt Bernt Stolle - $21.95 :good:

 

 

That one is looking good. I wished I was more capable of actually flying planes in an aerobatic manner. I mean, my landings sometimes look like I do, but that doesn't count, right?

So, how's gonna be the first to buy and tell us about it?

 

The price is very good, but the dollar is so freaking high right now in Brazil that I have to take it easy

I took the plunge. Seems to be pretty good in the flight dynamics aspect, very fun to fly. Looks and sounds good too. Great VFR touring aircraft with excellent speed and visibility. For the price, I think it is a good product.

A few hours after I posted the news my graphics card died on me so until I get home from work tonight and fit the new one (thank you FedEx), I won't know but this does look like a very well done add-on.

I finally got it and was trying to develop some talent on the aerobatics later. I've actually liked the default Extra but never really got into flying her in the way she was meant to be flown.

 

Now the Alabeo comes at a nice price, so the enhanced optics and the note that the FDE comes from Bernt made me think, and buy.

 

Absolutely no downsides on the optics. The reflection detail on the wings and the gauges is very nice and internals look like on the latest Carenado releases. The sounds are nice too, but I really recommend A2A's small AccuFeel to get the most out of it. You know, hearing some airframe stress and things. The switches come with a click sound though, so you aren't completely silent.

 

Now the flying. Me is no expert there, but she reacts very sporty, just as I've expected. The engine plus torque effects come in strong, so that's no news too. I've tried my luck on hammerheads, you know, working with the prop wash and the rudder, and I felt like succeeding. :Love: Maybe I'm naive though. :Hypnotized:

 

Getting the crowd upset with some fly-bys and rapid descents thanks to slipping also worked, while the wind sounds helped on the atmosphere. You can kill a lot of speed and altitude with slipping.

 

No problems with the framerates of course, there's nothing eating anything I think. A small popup window which lets you pick e.g. reflections on the canopy and instruments and some of the attachments on the plane acts as the way to customize the new purchase.

 

 

They've included some pdfs on how to fly manoeuvres, one of them is actually very well done, shows some nice artwork and also gives you some links to read on. Then there's a small list with the most common ones, plus some notes. The rest is the usual copyright read and some notes on how to set up FSX. With having in mind that the plane doesn't really stress the system, that one may be redundant.

 

Downside on the manuals. No checklist or explanation of the gauges. I think that an experienced simmer will have no trouble starting her, leaning the mixture and also reading the engine indications and warnings, but I'd have expected some small 'thanks for buying, here's a quick intro' doc of some sort.

 

I really like the views, the texture detail (get the free extra liveries) and the artwork. Not much system details to explore on that one, it's more that the FDE is the basis of fun here. Well, it's an Extra 300, right?

 

The price seems very reasonable and only gets beaten by such great offerings like the planes from Anthony. However, that's the only decent 300 there is and I think we can rely on Bernt's work and the artists at Carenado/Alabeo on this very basic plane.

 

I couldn't spot any bugs on the first attempts and flying inverted worked fine, with the second slip indicator coming alive and things. For the folks running some high AA settings, the smoke may eat some fps.

 

As said, check out A2A's AccuFeel too. It adds the sounds you may be missing here and there.

 

 

Going to give you some close-ups of the instruments, just in case. Plus the usual inverted screenshot of course.

 

Inverted details.

 

Nice reflections on the wings, actually showing the lines of the autogen.

 

La France in cruise.

 

From the outside, the cockpit is fully operational.

 

The green pointers are from my XPOI addon. Don't mind them, it just helps me finding my way around.

 

One note on the payment. The Alabeo webshop works like the Carenado one. So we're talking CC only if I'm correct. Don't know if other shops sell the plane too, like F1 or something. I've paid 22 Dollars.

 

Alabeo itself offers a refund policy. Just in case.

Satisfaction policy

We would like our customer have enjoyable experience since the moment of the purchase until they are flying our products. If you are not satisfied with the product we will refund your money immediately.

So, how's gonna be the first to buy and tell us about it?

 

The price is very good, but the dollar is so freaking high right now in Brazil that I have to take it easy

 

The dollar is going to get much higher, trust me. They keep printing money like there is no tomorrow.

 

Bob

I had some totally unproductive 2 hours yesterday, just flying fast over a runway, stalling, trying to fly the things which are in the docs and not gaining much on the actual distance travelled.

Some excellent detail in that aircraft CoolP.

Thanks, Clem. Sorry, can't text much, flying inverted traffic patterns. :lol:

I personally don't like to fly aerobatics but I do have to say this aircraft definitely has the looks and I almost want to buy it just for that, very well done.

I do have to say this aircraft definitely has the looks.

Certainly.

 

I must admit that I was looking into the other Alabeos too, which also offer very nice looking planes in the same regime of fun and aerobatics. But that Bernt Stolle FDE got me sold on the 300. I'm no expert on FDE 'feelings' in the sim, but his previous work was spot on for me and he's also able to explain certain circumstances and quirks.

 

Me says the only real downside so far is the missing data doc plus checklists. A wish may be some VC rain effect, but I think the Extra may not often see rain.

 

I'm currently running around the French Alps with her and, even with not being able to deal with complicated manoeuvres due to my bad pilot skills, she's a lot of fun to fly. My landings are bad though.

 

You have to slip her in to lose enough speed and the transition to actually landing isn't an easy part of flying for me. So his slight bumping in the video is the thing I aim for, but often fail. Me is bumping harder.

 

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Now the slipping action really needs AccuFeel for the extra sounds. Highly recommended. Same goes for Trackir on the views.