BARGAIN Just Flight weekend sale

[Chock 17,769]

A few items at Just Flight discounted this weekend. Note that some of the 'FSX only' add-ons do actually work in P3D V4 (Spitfire Mark IV for example, which can be installed in FSX and then copied and pasted into P3D and this works just fine), but don't assume they all would if you intend to use them in P3D, check first.

www.justflight.com

[Jude Bradley 659]

I hadn't even heard of the Spit Mk IV before today. 

Strange looking bird.

Edited August 24, 2018 by Jude Bradley

[Chock 17,769]

The Mark IV was built as a proof of concept for installing the RR Griffon engine into the Spitfire airframe, which of course later happened on some production versions. The six cannon armament was another concept it trialed. It's an interesting one to have for P3D or FSX because it's very fast and manoueverable, gets stellar frame rates and is currently less than a tenner. It's improved considerably with the addition of A2A's new Accufeel add-on incidentally.

Personally, I think the Griffon-engined variants of the Spitfire, whilst being a bit longer and more sleek looking, are not quite so pretty as the Merlin-engined versions, but a Griffon-engined Spitfire was the first type of Spit I ever sat in, so I've got a bit of a soft spot for them.

[keithb77 308]

Only the HS748 and Hunter (both P3Dv4 ready) are specifically in the weekend sale, the others have been discounted for a while so should be available a while longer 🙂

Cheers
Keith

[scianoir 610]

Was the Hunter developed by the Just Flight in-house team or by AH?

Bill

[Chock 17,769]

21 minutes ago, scianoir said:

Was the Hunter developed by the Just Flight in-house team or by AH?

Bill

It was developed by AH. It's pretty good actually.

[scianoir 610]

Good to know thanks. I might give it a go at the sale price although the last thing I need is yet another aircraft!

Bill

[vc10man 732]

Alan ,is the JF Sit on par with A2A's or DCS' models?

[Chock 17,769]

8 hours ago, vc10man said:

Alan ,is the JF Sit on par with A2A's or DCS' models?

In all honesty, nope, or at least not without help, because much of it can be considerably improved with a little help from A2A if you have their Accu-Feel add on. As I'm sure you know, A2A pretty much sit up at the top of the tree of FSX/P3D add-on developers, and DCS is a base platform which can do more than either FSX or P3D, so to say something doesn't quite match those two is no disgrace, especially when you can pour a bit of A2A magic over things anyway, courtesy of AccuFeel.

The two items which are specific to this weekend's JF sale (their Hawker Siddeley HS 748 and Hawker Hunter F.6/FGA.9) are both fun things to have. I actually did a review for Avsim of the Hunter, but its never been published (dunno why), in it I went into a lot of detail about the Hunter and its good and bad points, so I know it very well indeed.

And there are lots of good points to it. It is a pretty detailed simulation of the Hunter's systems, including the power systems for the flying controls (which means it can simulate jack stalling among other things), although being an early generation daylight jet fighter, admittedly the systems are fairly basic on the real thing, so don't expect a million system switches, the real thing didn't have those either. It has good texturing which stands up to very close inspection, a good model shape externally and internally for the VC (two models actually both internally and externally, with some variations in among those, encompassing the fighter version and the ground attack version). There are very good sounds and a pleasing flight model which makes it great fun to chuck around the sky. It even does the famous 'blue note' of the real thing on fly by views. You can load it up with ordnance if you like and can even customise it to have nose wheel steering if you don't like the default free-castoring nosewheel which the real thing has. It's certainly worth that discounted fifteen quid price tag if you want an extremely aerobatic and very pretty trans-sonic jet fighter.

The HS 748 is also nice to have for that price, although again, be aware that the real thing is not an especially complex airliner in terms of systems. HS were basically attempting to make a turboprop replacement for the DC-3 when they designed the 748 (that was in 1958) and that's basically what the 748 is, so don't expect a lot of complicated avionics although it does have a GNS 430 in its Just Flight incarnation. It's worth noting too that - as is the case with a few of JF's airliners made for them by Aeroplane Heaven - the VC textures are in a style not to everyone's taste; they have a somewhat 'cartoonish' appearance to them, which I don't mind personally even if it is a bit on the 'clean' side, so check the screenshots before you buy because I know some people don't like that look at all. Sounds are good (RR Dart engines have a unique sound and it captures those well), as is the flight model and the 3D modeling is good too, so if you want a simple, early incarnation turboprop airliner, then it is recommended.

Having said all that, there are quite a few Aeroplane Heaven/Just Flight add-ons which are very worthy of note for one reason or another. A few to consider are...

Aerospatiale/Socata TB10/20 Trinidad and Tobago - A fairly recent JF in-house development, this is among the best GA aeroplanes you can get for FSX/P3D, coming fairly close to rivaling even A2A's Piper PA-24 Commanche (especially if you add AccuFeel to it). Has a working Stormscope if you have Active Sky, has working circuit breakers and is good value too given that you actually get two aeroplanes in the package. Oddly enough, AH, who didn't develop this one, are currently working on making the TB10/20's predecessor, the Rallye/Socata MS.893 180 Commander/Gaillard.

Grumman F3F-2 - this one is by AH, but is also sold by JF. It's a fantastic little aerobatic inter-war years biplane fighter. If you like high speed aerobatics in your flight sim, this one ticks all the boxes for that.

Boeing B17F/G Flying Fortress - Another one made by AH but also sold by JF, this is a fantastic rendition of the classic WW2 daylight bomber. This bodes well for the forthcoming AVRO Lancaster the same team are currently adding the finishing touches to, and for the Heinkel He-111P2 which they are also making, as they seem to have the knack for making pretty good WW2-era military aeroplanes.

Supermarine Spitfire Mark 1A - AH made this exclusively for JF, and it comes pretty close to rivaling A2A's Spitfire (yes really), and even closer now there is the potential to have AccuFeel on it in P3D.

Piper PA28 (various versions: Cherokee/Arrow/Warrior/Archer etc) - Another in-house JF development (actually a few of them since JF have produced damn-near every PA-28 variant there is lol). It is on par with their Trinidad and Tobago in terms of quality, i.e. it is among the best GA aeroplanes available for FSX/P3D and is perhaps only eclipsed by those of A2A in terms of the subtle nuances which A2A are master of. That said, these PA-28s are the JF add-ons which shocked a lot of people by how good they are and highlighted the fact that JF's in-house developers had seriously upped their game and continue to do so, not least with their recent Cessna 152, which is another one to look out for. It's worth noting that this same in-house team are currently making a Beechcraft Duchess Model 76, which is probably going to be another good one.

[vc10man 732]

Thanks for that very in-depth reply, Alan.

I too do have the HS748 as I worked on them while in the RAF but have not flown it in P3D, as I found their use in FSX caused nose-dives after take-off, so hangared it for keeps. Waste of money, even little.

I have a number of A2A add-ons, including their Spitfire, and you are right, they do sit at the top of the tree.

Generally, I feel that the majority of JF's output is a bit flaky on top, but that's strictly IMHO. Others may like JF products a lot, but each to his/her choice. C'est la vie.