Not massively in depth, but it is a new flight simulator, and it goes on sale in two weeks...

 

 

Is this an April Fool's joke? 

I mentioned this previously. Seems it might not be quite so new...... 

 

No its not new, Aerosoft having being previewing it for a while now its only very basic and designed to get children into the passion of flight in general and flight simulation.There isn't anything in this sim that will interest 99.9% of us here on AVSIM, but it may well bring a fresh batch of kids and young people into the genre. Who knows in ten years time they could be on AVSIM looking for tips on P3D V7 and X-plane 14 asking when 128bit will be available     

Kudos to Aerosoft for making way for the next generation to get started at a young age

Oh I feel like a fool.  I now remember hearing about this over at the Aerosoft forums, but I never made the connection.  At first glance, it looked like an offshoot of FSX (no offense to the creators), so that's why I reacted as I did.

To clarify what it is. It was originally scheduled for release in October of 2016, when it was provisionally named Euro Flight Simulator, but Aerosoft decided to tweak it and change a few things, so it's now due for release in two weeks (April 13 2017), renamed as Ready For Take Off, Aerosoft deciding that was a more appealing name. It is developed by Caipirinha Games, which also made a fairly mediocre Island Flight Simulator game, so it's not Caipirinha's first flight sim although it will hopefully be a bit better than their previous effort with Aerosoft directing the development brief. Aerosoft have said Ready For Take Off is aimed at appealing to anyone who is new to flight sims and interested in them, from age 7 upwards, so if you have kids who find your FSL A320 interesting, or a friend who likes the idea of it but is put off by complexity, then this might appeal to them, as an introduction to 'realistic' flight simulation (i.e. following proper procedures), but without overwhelming them with having to read the numerous tutorial PDFs of a more complex treatment of the A320 or Beechcraft Baron.

So whilst I don't think it's going to have FSL quaking in their boots, particularly since that isn't where it is aimed, it is nevertheless of interest to all flight simmers for a couple reasons: First, it uses the same models Aerosoft used for their FSX and P3D airports and A320 and Baron, so whilst it does bear quite a resemblance to them, it isn't based on the ESP sim platform. This means that being a modern (presumably 64 Bit) simulation, it will be interesting to see how those models run, particularly since the terrain is all satellite imagery and there are nine detailed airports (all in Europe). Another thing worth noting is that it does do something which neither FSX nor P3D do; whilst many FSX and P3D add on aeroplanes have animated pilots, these are usually looped animations on the external model or occasionally they function in the VC. On some of the more sophisticated FS models, such crew move their hands to the throttle or yoke, but I don't think I've seen one in FSX or P3D which goes to the various switches on the MCP and pedestal when going through checklists or more complex flight operations, and it looks like those 3D pilots do actually do that in this new sim, which would be a feature that was undoubtedly useful in a more complex simulation.

In any case, I think it's a worthy effort from Aerosoft, along the lines of DTG's Flight School in what it aims to achieve, so I'll certainly be interested to see it in action, not least to see what a sim which uses FS models but not with the 32 Bit-based ESP can do performance-wise. Given that when ACES closed down and MS Flight came out, which was a fairly dire period in Flight Simming, Aerosoft mooted at the at time that they might make a flight sim, so this is at least indicative that they have the motivation to have a stab at doing so, and it might be the precursor to a more seriuos effort, or even something which can have more complex flight simulation stuff shoehorned into it, since it is clearly able to simulate ATC and co-pilot interactions, which at present is more than AeroFly FS2 can do.

Definitely something to watch.

Very interesting. Looks like Aerosoft found another use for their bus. Co pilot looks healthy but not sure she does anything,,,she did wink at me though :)

Yup, It's a good job the A320 has a sidestick controller given the size of her assets. If those hit the yoke on a Boeing 737 it would bring an entirely new meaning to the phrase 'level bust'.

Maybe they should have used a Boeing then she wouldn't be able to stall it.  

Jim

CYWG