Aeroplane Heaven Ctrl-Ezy?

[scianoir 610]

On 6/17/2020 at 12:38 PM, HighBypass said:

However, the externals look great

 

16 hours ago, Luis Hernandez said:

I saw the video yesterday, and I didn't like it at all. One thing is having a bad VC, but this is too much

I agree, the externals look great on the screenshots and video and so does the VC (what there is of it!!) but I wonder what frame of mind Aeroplane Heaven were in when they came up with their “3D panel” concept which is basically just a glorified 2D panel? When they originally announced theIr Ctrl-Ezy concept, I assumed they were producing a ‘lite’ systems version which I might have been able to live with, particularly if their visuals were up to the standard of their recently released Hurricane which I purchased a few months ago. However this lack of any cockpit surrounds at the sides or rear plus no view of the wings or engines from the cockpit is a complete deal breaker for me and will remain so for any future Ctrl-Ezy products which continue to incorporate this daft concept! I cannot see how  including even just basic non-animated cockpit surrounds would have added much to their development costs if that was their rationale. 

I am disappointed as I was looking forward to perhaps some interesting aircraft in this range in the future.

Bill

Edited June 18, 2020 by scianoir

[qqwertz 772]

Woops. Such an interesting airplane, I really was considering it, but with that cockpit....

I guess we will see if this Control-Ezy concept will work: if there will be updates to the model that include a reasonable VC, it did not work.

[Chock 17,769]

My Review of the Control-Ezy Pucara. Note there are some editing sequence oddities on this video (courtesy of P3D V5 constantly crashing and me having to redo things a lot), but it's still okay for a preview of the thing. When LM patch V5, I will re-do this video because it ended up being a bit of a mess thanks to all those crashes. So yeah, thanks LM for releasing a version of P3D which crashes more than a drunken joyrider, making producing a  cohesive video revue nearly impossible, and about as much fun as finding a hole in your lifeboat.

Short version of my conclusion on the Pucara: It looks good, works well, and has more features than you might think, but unless you 'must have a Pucara' there are alternatives for the same money, or even free, which make it a tad overpriced in my opinion even though I do like it. Being able to use CS's Weapon for FSX on the FSX version will probably make it more fun than in P3D, where the weapons are just eye candy. Still, if you want a turboprop to flirt around in which is very fast and looks different, then you might find a place for it in your digital hangar.

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by Chock

[scianoir 610]

Thanks that video review Alan and for taking the hit for the rest of us! It was very helpful to see the Ctrl-Ezy concept in action but IMHO it does seem a little like stepping back through a couple of generations of flight simulation! Unfortunately, if I were to get it, I feel it would be transferred to my inactive hangar or even to my ‘virtual boneyard’ pretty quickly. It’s a pity really because, as you say, it has a great external model, a good looking 3D panel and some excellent engine sounds but the inability to use a hat to pan around the cockpit coupled with the lack of anything to see once you pan beyond a certain degree would cause it to lose its novelty value (for me anyway) pretty quickly. 

Talking of sounds, assuming those in the Pucara are accurate, the Turbomeca Astazou sounds quite like the Dart. I think the only aircraft powered by the Astazou (apart from helicopters) that I ever saw in action was the Short Skyvan and that was so long ago (in the era when the sounds of Darts filled many airports) that I can’t remember what it sounded like!

Anyway thanks again for the comprehensive and useful review.

Bill

Edited June 19, 2020 by scianoir

[HighBypass 2,339]

Yes, thank you Alan 😎 I though that there was a view where you could pan around in a limited range of movement as well as the locked off view you used in the review vid. You appeared to have 5 views at your disposal: Chaseplane, Cockpit, Virtual cockpit only, Starting front cockpit and Flying front cockpit. My emphasis - what does that particular view do as opposed to the VC only please?

I wonder if they've modelled this aspect of the engines when you begin to run out of fuel? !! 😱

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhXXu31bpL4

Plane landed safely, but I believe the pilot feathered one engine prior to doing so. 

Quote

According to the pilot of the aircraft, he stated that the weather conditions were complicated with a temperature of 37º C and atmospheric pressure below 1000 hectopascals, which would have produced a compressor stall in both engines when ascending.

 

[HighBypass 2,339]

IMHO - Fun little aeroplane!! Just bought it from Just Flight this morning (See Bargain post).

 

The sound seems very good. Can't comment much on the flight model (not being a real pilot, nor having flown a Pucara) apart from it works -  positive, but controllable. one does need a bit of rudder input when hooning down the valleys! Kind of what I'd expect. I can pan around the VC with my hat switch and despite the full knowledge that the 3d cockpit isn't modelled it doesn't detract too much from the immersion on my monitor 

The Astazou engines put out a bit of smoke at full chat, and you can put the props into beta which is useful when landing and reversing into a parking spot  - she will go backwards with full reverse thrust.

The temperature gauges don't appear to work - they just go to full deflection it seems. Nor do the fuel flow gauges although the digital quantity remaining seems to work.

I'll have to find out what the warning lights mean - I'm quite sure that feltro saturado doesn't mean "saturated felt" in the context of this aeroplane 

There is a little "easter egg" on one of the switches - made me laugh - nice one Aeroplane Heaven!  No spoiler from me... yet, in case there's more than just me and Chock who've bought it. 

I sense a couple of repaint requests for fantasy PMC COIN roles.. all plausibly denied by the CIA of course.. 

I will have to investigate CS's Weapon for FSX especially if it can be setup for the 4 Browning 7.62mm machine guns and the 2x 20mm cannons, or is it more of a generic - "have a machine gun or a Gatling cannon" affair?

 

[Chock 17,769]

You can download the manual for CS's Weapon for FSX prior to purchasing it to check it all out if you are curious. I did try it in P3D; it installed and you can add the weapons panel to the Pucara, but there is no round count and the release/fire buttons don't appear to be recognised in P3D, so it's probably a no-go although I haven't quite given up yet on experimenting with it. If on the other hand you have FSX, then I know it works on that, and is great fun. I highly recommend that add-on to anyone who likes warplanes and uses FSX.

I'm gonna assume that it's a typo and should be filtro saturado, as in warning about a filter no longer functioning owing to a blockage, perhaps icing or some such, although being someone who wears hats a lot, I do like the idea of it warning you about your felt hat potentially getting wet or some such, as that would be cool. 

I'm in the process of redoing my Channel's review of this soince it was a bit all over the place owing to the instability of p3D V5 prior to the Ho0tfix 2 patch and that reflects unfairly on the product. I noted too that my comment concerning 'about 12 quid being a fair price for it' seems to be reflected in the price it is at Just Flight, so that's a comment I'll update in the revised review.

I think given that price, it's not a bad add-on on to have and I wouldn't begrudge Aeroplane Heaven just over a tenner for it, since you can't even get a round of three drinks for that kind of money these days, or at least that'd be true if the pubs were open.

Incidentally Mark, if you are interested in a good book about COIN stuff during the Vietnam War, using a similar aircraft to the Pucara - the OV-10 Bronco. This book is a fantastic read - very well written indeed, full of action and insights into that kind of stuff. Definitely one of the best combat pilot memoirs there is and it is unusual in being one about flying reconnaissance and FAC strike missions, rather than dogfighting.

[HighBypass 2,339]

4 minutes ago, Chock said:

I'm gonna assume that it's a typo and should be filtro saturado, as in warning about a filter no longer functioning owing to a blockage, perhaps icing or some such, although being someone who wears hats a lot, I do like the idea of it warning you about your felt hat potentially getting wet or some such, as that would be cool...

LOL! It may mean you've peed your pants just missing that tree on a low level pass... If it is a typo then it's on their instrument panel and not me. There's two of them and they light up when you firewall the throttle, thus implying that it is indeed something to do with the engines. Similarly bomb something-or-other illuminates when you go to idle... 

8 minutes ago, Chock said:

Incidentally Mark, if you are interested in a good book about COIN stuff during the Vietnam War, using a similar aircraft to the Pucara - the OV-10 Bronco. This book is a fantastic read - ..

Thanks Al, I'll have to check that out. Amazon also throws up two other Bronco pilot books too..

I've got a few books written by pilots about their times in Vietnam, both fixed and rotary winged.. 🍻

[HighBypass 2,339]

On 6/30/2020 at 12:38 PM, HighBypass said:

The temperature gauges don't appear to work - they just go to full deflection it seems. Nor do the fuel flow gauges although the digital quantity remaining seems to work.

To clarify  - it's the Tuyere temp gauges I'm on about,the ones above the fuel gauges and not the combined temp gauge on the right of the panel for engines 1 & 2 which does work and those temps go to about 600 deg.C in the green zone. Tuyere refers to a nozzle, so I presume it's either inlet or outlet temp in this context?

Not sure what the Comb. gauge is at the bottom right with the crossed needles - those needles go to full up when engines are running....

 

EDIT - Comb. means Combustible which is Spanish for FUEL!! FFS! Slaps dumb English forehead hard.. Its an Analogue fuel gauge for left and right fuel tanks. 

No wonder I'm not a real bloody pilot! 

Edited July 2, 2020 by HighBypass