Review of the QW 146 Collection

[Rammit 0]

My first review, so go easy on me  :unsure:

 

Originally I was saving for the Majestic Dash 8 Q400, but being only a few pounds short and with payday a long way away, I picked up the 146 from Flight1, knowing their returns policy. After a bemusing purchasing system involving multiple online activations and many codes, I eventually got the order approved and installed the aircraft. In an effort to keep the file size down they only supplied the Quality Wings 'house colours', with many more available for download, a neat idea so as not to clutter the aircraft selection menu with unwanted liveries. The pack includes the Avro RJ-70, -85 and the -100 series aircraft, with the BAe 146-100, -200 and the -300 series being released later this year.

 

After installing some liveries that looked rather nice, I decided to take her for a flight. This being my first airliner of any type, the flight deck was rather bemusing, after me being used to vintage birds. I spent a good half an hour fiddling with switches and knobs which all had a satisfying 'click' to them, rather nice. I was then searching for some sort of control panel, hitting as many keys as I could think of to no avail, then, accidentally, I clicked on a black lever to the far left of the panel, this brought up the control panel, hallelujah!! Opening up the main door and extending the air-stairs, all lavished with smooth animations, I selected 'QWPAS' having absolutely no clue as to what it does, suddenly, I can hear the passenger announcements!! A very slick and immersive feature if I say so :lol:

 

After the short and logical start procedure, I decided to venture onto the taxiway, holding this beast on the centre line is a challenge in itself, having fixed the ground friction bug, she freely rolls of her own accord, some getting used to! Eventually, after extensive wondering left and right of the centre line, I managed to stumble across the active, setting the flaps with the rotation wheel on my X-52, I discovered my first bug, any movement of the axis activates the noise that should be for when the flap lever is moved position, so it creates a rapid clicking that is really quite annoying, but can be countered with some slight of hand when selecting the flaps. 18* down was the first selection, through to 33*, understandable once we consider the STOL capabilities of the 146, with the short Southampton INTL runway, MTOP was selected and I ran the engines up whilst holding the breaks. Whilst doing this I began to realize how spectacular the sound set is on this aircraft, truly something!

 

Having only skim-read the manual, with a false belief in my own flying ability, I released the brakes and accelerated down the runway, around 110kts I rotated, only to almost stall in the heavy aircraft, as with the real 146, the QW 146 requires liberal amounts of forward trim to keep flying on the straight and level, something that is learned rather quickly with this aircraft.

 

After a quick flight to Jersey, with a cruise at 20,000ft I decided to venture into the autopilot systems. Now, with this being my first modern 'tube-liner' the autopilot was quite puzzling to begin with, but actually turned out to be quite logical, and a very capable system when combined with the FMC. Whilst the FMC has nothing on the 737NGX, it is capable non-the-less, at that point not knowing too much about the operations, I selected the very useful feature that allows you to input the flight plan created by FSX's native flight planner, into the FMC. A rather clever and extremely useful system for us newbies :blush:

VNAV and LNAV work as advertised, although altitude hold is utilized more often than VNAV for sheer ease of use.

 

On the second flight I departed Boston to fly to Dulles, Washington. It was on this flight I attempted to use the ILS system. Having only vague guidance from the manual, as I neared I input the frequency into both VHF Nav radios as per the instruction from the manual, followed the default ATCs haphazard instructions and finally established on the localiser. Then hitting APP on the autopilot panel it proceeded to fly an automated, if a little low, approach into runway 19L. Then it stalled out. Unfortunately due to a combo of my incompetence and the less than ideal manual, I had failed to select auto-throttle and we stalled and crashed. Not my finest moment :unsure:

 

 

Conclusion:

A thoroughly enjoyable aircraft that has its own quirks, but once you know them, you can really fall in love. Whilst not having the complexity of Majestic software or PMDG, she has enough to be immersive and still feel like a full simulation. A versatile aircraft within FSX and in real life, she is a real treat to fly, and the enjoyment will increase with the addition of the BAe models, with older technology to make things a bit more challenging.

 

Pros:

-Fantastic sound set

-Good flight model

-Good balance of simplicity and realism to cater for all

-Ideal starting platform for aspiring virtual airline pilots

-Good range of liveries available for download

-Good pricing for what you get

-Immersive passenger announcements

 

Cons:

-Buggy flap lever sounds (can get quite annoying)

-Not as complex as you would like in some areas

-Can be a bit of a frame killer

 

 

Price: $47.99 £31.57 (from Flight1.com)

 

Get it here: http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=qw146

[FloG 148]

Nice review! If I hadn't bought it already, this review would most likely convince me to do so.

[Rammit 0]

Many thanks!

[Don t moderate me this way 882]

Thanks. Truly a class of its own (the "airwayblocker" class  :lol:  ).

 

An aircraft with a personality and some very good value for money by QW (isn't there a cross-license for FS9 included?) - and you just reminded me of the fact that the classic BAe 146 model extension still hasn't been released ...

[ray hughes 165]

Nice review. Just a couple of pointers. Cross wind ILS Approaches are currently not flyable with any accuracy. The plane drifts off the signal and lands to the right or left (Depending on wind direction) of the main runway. Not sure if this is going to be fixed as the developer states it would take of lot of time. I have had instances where the displayed speed is much higher than the commanded speed.  This generally happens when you have strong winds. The 146 series  promised so long ago is still promised but a long time coming.

 

Still an enjoyable simming experience though but I have to say I fly the Majestic Q400 more often these days.

[Portia911 9]

Thanks Rammit, nice easy read and informative review. Sounds like an ideal first step into jets if one is coming from vintage or turboprop background.

[rsperge 182]

this is one of my favorites to fly, you have some nice systems, yet it does not go to deep into them.  About the only negative that I found is for the final update to be released, not much info coming out about that, kind of tight lip.  otherwise the plane is a joy to fly!!!

[PIC007 82]

 

 

Cross wind ILS Approaches are currently not flyable with any accuracy.

 

They are if you lose the AP and manually fly the approach, you know, like a pilot would  :-)

[Rammit 0]

Thanks for all the positive feedback  :lol:

[jkeye 159]

Nice review. Just a couple of pointers. Cross wind ILS Approaches are currently not flyable with any accuracy. The plane drifts off the signal and lands to the right or left (Depending on wind direction) of the main runway. Not sure if this is going to be fixed as the developer states it would take of lot of time. I have had instances where the displayed speed is much higher than the commanded speed.  This generally happens when you have strong winds. The 146 series  promised so long ago is still promised but a long time coming.

 

Still an enjoyable simming experience though but I have to say I fly the Majestic Q400 more often these days.

Hi Ray

Concur completely on the ILS capture fidelity or lack thereof.

I was under the impression there is no ILS capture/autoland on the Q400?

Cheers

Jay

[Christopher Low 5,425]

The QW Avro RJ is one of the best payware addons that I have ever purchased. The aircraft flies really nicely, and the sound of the engines is phenomenal. Anyone who has watched aircraft take off and land at airports for any length of time will know that the engines of the 146/RJ series have a distinctive sound, and QW have nailed it here.

 

On a side note, the only problem I have had with the flaps sound is that it doesn't play at all when extending them. The distinctive "Avro howl" is only audible when the flaps are retracted.

 

I do not have any problems with framerates in this aircraft. They are certainly no worse than the PMDG 737NGX, and very probably slightly better.

[ray hughes 165]

 

 

I was under the impression there is no ILS capture/autoland on the Q400?
Cheers

Nope that is wrong. ILS Capture does exist on the Q400. I have done multiple ILS Approaches.

There is however no AUTOLAND.

[jkeye 159]

Hi Ray

I am intrigued-what is the difference between ILS capture and autoland?

Excuse my ignorance

Jay :(

[pilottj 198]

Any word if there will be a freighter variant with the final update?  It looks like a great plane, I have some great memories riding on some old PSA BAE-146s back in the 80s.  The freight dog in me would love to see a QT version, :smile:

[FloG 148]

 

 

I am intrigued-what is the difference between ILS capture and autoland?

In a nutshell: ILS is an intrument landing aid, consisting of a horizontal (Localizer) and a vertical (Glideslope) beam, It gives the pilots guideance on whether their position is correct or not on an approach in bad visual conditions, and it can be followed either manually or by the AP. However, the pilot will have to disconnect the AP at least at minimums and fly the last meters of the final by hand unless the aircraft is capable of autolanding. This means the the AP is able to follow the LOC and G/S beam all the way down to the RWY - and that is a feature that is not that common at this time