HI Timers 15,I'm sure Tim didn't mean to upset you. Tim's father was a Spitfire ace in WW2 and Tim himself is obviously a hands-on flying enthusiast so his reaction to your post was sort of understandable.To answer your question, we mention in the flying guide (which you can download and read from the RealAir Site without purchasing the Spitfire first), that we hoped everyone would fly her manually because this is what we designed her for. And though we have in fact used the autopilot channel as a vehicle for some special effects by diverting the a/p keypress to an automated effect response, you can in fact use this keypress to obtain basic autopilot functions, but you'll have to find out the FS9 shortcut a/p keys to do so.I hope that explains it for you, and again, I'm sure Tim wasn't intending to upset you.Kind Regards,Rob Young - www.realairsimulations.com

Thought I'd leave it a couple of days to test before posting my thoughts on the RealAir Spitfire.Fantastic.Everything about it is amazing, especially the VC! Framerates are superb (35-45fps in VC mode) gauges soooooooooooooooo smooth!Combined with the West Malling scenery, Spitfire AI and VFR Photographic scenery it certainly is "as real as it gets"The best FS aircraft addon so far. So advanced. No competition.Phew!RegardsAdam MooreJAR PPL(A)IMCEGKB

Hi,What can I say that hasn't already been said many times over except thank you RealAir Simulations, thank you! :)Best regards, Mike

>What can I say that hasn't already been said many times over>except thank you RealAir Simulations, thank you! :)>>Best regards, >MikeHi Mike,You are welcome sir, I'm glad you are enjoying the Spitfire so much. It makes all the work we put in so worthwhile!CheersTimSpitfire Chief Test Pilothttp://members.chello.nl/t.westnutt/realair.gif

Forget to mention...Had the neighbours complaining about the noise of the Griffon engine last night:)Didn't try to explain what the noise was (they thought I was playing with a racing car in the front room!)Fabulous sound:)))))))))))))))))AdamAdam MooreWin XP Pro - Dell Dimension 4500P4 2.54 GHz - 1GB RAMHiTech Radeon 128MB 9800Pro IceQ19" CRT 1600x1200 @ 100hzAudiophile 24/96FS2004 + UK2000 1/2/3/4/5/6/EGLL PROUK VFR Photographic Scenery 1/2/3/4UK VFR Terrain MeshUltimate VFR : RealAir SF-260Ultimate IFR : PMDG 737Ultimate FUN : RealAir Spitfire

>Forget to mention...>>Had the neighbours complaining about the noise of the Griffon>engine last night:)>>Didn't try to explain what the noise was (they thought I was>playing with a racing car in the front room!)>>Fabulous sound:)))))))))))))))))Hi AdamThats a good one! I've had many complaints and strange looks myself from neighbors and passers by during testing! My next door neighbor asked me what the noise was in my house the previous night and she never batted an eyelid when I said I was flying a Spitfire!CheersTimhttp://members.chello.nl/t.westnutt/realair.gif

Rob,Thanks for the answer. Tim W is apparently very excited about this, maybe overly so. Anyway, I'll head on over and buy the plane :)

I couldn't keep myself back and I bought it today though Im having some financial problems because of some activities I do for fun :D It really is a winner! The gauges ofcourse are amazing and all the sound and stuff is awesome. There is just one thing I noticed - the external sounds are not so "cool" like the inside ones, not so roaring and kinda quiet. Is it only with me or is it normal?

HI Georg,Yes the spot view sounds are a bit less strident. We wanted to capture the in-cockpit dynamism of the sounds, so it is only relative volume. You can always turn up the overall volume, but you might suffer ear pain in the cockpit!Kind Regards,Rob

Aha well no worries! Im anyway mostly in the cockpit, but the reason why I asked is that I miss the amazing passing sound with ActiveCamera flyby view as the sounds are kinda quiet :) But yes, always the speakers can be turned louder.

Sorta grows on you, especially when you give it some 'whellie!'Well done RealAir!!!Aint it abart time you had your own forum, sure qualifies for one with all your splendid planes and all!Alan

HI Alan,We have a policy of no dedicated forum for the moment (and we are always ready to respond to general points on public forums like this one). The reason is that we respond personally and usually within hours, often within minutes, to every customer e-mail we get, without exception, unless of course the customer has a spam blocker which is quite annoying and makes the customer think you are ignoring him!We may review this policy in future but for now, the vast majority of our customers have told us they like our way of supporting them.Kind Regards,Rob Young - www.realairsimulations.com

> I think that much of the feelings about the relative price> increase to the Americans out there is justified in one way.> Many of us look at the price of the BASE sim, in this case, > FS2004, and compare it to the price of the addon. We see> a complete package, meaning many aircraft, scenery, the > game engine itself, etc, as being priced at $65 US when > it was released. Now, these days, you can find it for> $39.99 at most retailers in the USA. And for 29.99 at some on sale. But, I also think of it like this, FS9 was _not_ developed to be sold at $65... It was sold at a much cheaper price 20 years ago. Then the price climbed over the years. Some bought their first copy for $65, but those who have been supporting it for years, paid $39, + 39, + 30 + 45 + 49 + 49 + 49 + 49 + 49 + 59 + 65 + who knows what in the future . . . .. Sooo after paying that much for FS9 - $24 doesnt seem so bad for a first issue aircraft. But, after all that, still cant afford it now with Christmas coming, and 6 Kids + 19 Grandchildren + 5 siblings to purchase gifts for... But, it will still be available when I recover. :-) For one, I am GLAD they did not add machine guns, after serving time in Korea for two tours of duty with the 5th Regimental Combat Team + six months extention, never want to hear another machine gun. Shooting with a real one, is nothing like "make believe". Dont watch cop shows or murders, and MD programs on TV either. Ive seen enough blood & guts to last me more than my lifetime. Give me an Extra or Pitts, and I'll do airobatics with the best of them. If the Spitfire is better, then will have loads of fun with it. Try a Barrel Roll on approach, and roll out lined up on the centerline... :-yellow1 Bob P.S. RED is my favorite color . . . ..

I was lucky enough to be the first customer to download the fantastic RA Spitfire, and even though I have all of the other RA products I find the Spitfire quite outstanding!I have had a grin from ear to ear since the first flight.Well done to all the RA team ! Much appreciated!Paul

Hi Paul,Congrats on being the first Spitfire customer. I trust Rob gave you a discount!CheersTimhttp://members.chello.nl/t.westnutt/realair1.gif