HotStart Challenger 650 First Impressions

[jarmstro 2,402]

Does this use Gizmo and if so is Gizmo compatible with XP12?

[Bjoern 1,151]

7 minutes ago, GoranM said:

The FBO is an alternative to an EFB. But we have it on good authority by the 650 pilot we have consulted with, that the refueler does, indeed come into the cockpit for a signature, often times interrupting the captin while he's going through his checklists.

Judging from the stream I saw, you also implemented that.

 

7 minutes ago, GoranM said:

Obviously, we can't share source code, but, short of showing it to you, I can assure you, there is a lot of math and flight physics going on under the hood of the Challenger.  We couldn't have done what we have done, otherwise.  Everything in the Challenger is custom.  The only thing we need from X-Plane is the flight environment.

I got that impression, yes. Still, I'm wondering if the underlying code can be parametrized enough to be adapted to other (turbofan) aircraft because you people really knocked the ball out of the park.

 

7 minutes ago, GoranM said:

A REGA paint is in the works, and a REGA cabin will be made available for free in the coming weeks.  All materials/documentation for the paint and the cabin are provided by REGA themselves.

Oh come on, I almost lost interest here and my bank account already breathed a sigh of relief! 😂

 

3 minutes ago, Janov said:

Björn,

I have spent the last 25 years of my life flying passengers and cargo through Europe and the world as a First Officer and Captain for a major airline.

Never have I paid a single fuel bill.

Never have I signed a single transportation contract.

Never have I seen any code or physics simulation behind that operation.

Never have I flown a single medevac flight (though there were plenty of people on board that I wouldn´t consider completely healthy).

I have an unattractive job. 😐

Come on, you're a real pilot and I'm a thirthy-something engineer in front of a computer screen! I can do whatever I want in the sim and because of that it feels kind of pointless without any degree of progression to keep me hooked. And everything you probably loathe about flying in X-Plane because you experience it for real day in, day out from the flight levels (passengers, photoreal ground, using ATC, other aircraft, bad weather, procedures) is what makes it interesting to armchair pilots like us in the first place.

 

3 minutes ago, Janov said:

PS: You don´t really think that they would let you take a look at their code, do you? 😅

 

It was a 50/50 chance. My preferred reply would of course have been "We also include a 'making of', detailing how everything works under the hood" and that would have made me click "Buy" faster than you could have imagined.

[GoranM 3,762]

6 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

Judging from the stream I saw, you also implemented that.

Correct

6 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

I got that impression, yes. Still, I'm wondering if the underlying code can be parametrized enough to be adapted to other (turbofan) aircraft because you people really knocked the ball out of the park.

No. The code is completely interwoven through all the other systems. Everything the engines do depends on everything else. It’s very much a sim within a sim. 
 

6 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

Oh come on, I almost lost interest here and my bank account already breathed a sigh of relief!

I thought that would get you. I was going to do it for free anyway, but one of the conditions for REGA’s cooperation was that we offer that variant for free. 

Edited January 11, 2022 by GoranM

[Andistio 44]

12 minutes ago, jarmstro said:

Does this use Gizmo and if so is Gizmo compatible with XP12?

Yes, it uses Gizmo. Not sure about the X-Plane 12 compatibility of Gizmo.

[jarmstro 2,402]

9 minutes ago, Andistio said:

Yes, it uses Gizmo. Not sure about the X-Plane 12 compatibility of Gizmo.

Well I'll have to wait it out to see.

[Andistio 44]

Finally purchased it yesterday and the immersion is immense. The FBO is completely optional but a nice addition, especially when it comes to business traveling. Due to my job I'm exposed to business travelers and the "terminals" that are private and for VIP travelers. The couches, the reception desk, the atmosphere, it captures it nicely. For this add-on and its purpose I think it was a great idea to included the FBO but not make it mandatory to use.

It uses the W-A-S-D method for moving around even outside the FBO. Walkarounds are nice and a must now, I feel like. Have to make sure all doors and latches are actually closed and locked. It uses the persistent-state system. Have not done a flight yet, just powered it up, configured the controls.

As with any simulator and add-on for me, the immersion and system simulation is the main selling point. This add-on makes me truly feel like I'm in the actual plane, it's difficult to describe the feeling. It's still a polygon model, and textured like so many other add-on but the immersion is so well done.

[Janov 2,383]

39 minutes ago, Bjoern said:

Come on, you're a real pilot and I'm a thirthy-something engineer in front of a computer screen! I can do whatever I want in the sim and because of that it feels kind of pointless without any degree of progression to keep me hooked.

The point I was trying to make is that a lot of jobs in aviation are - once you get over the initial thrill of flying an airplane - pretty limited and repetitive, like many other jobs, too. While I am lucky to have a diverse and varying network of destinations to fly to, there are many pilots that spend most of their lives flying ONE type of aircraft between half-a-dozen destinations...day in and day out.

Can you point me to some other aircraft add-ons for X-Plane that allow this type of diverse career and business interaction you look for?

[GCBraun 2,390]

On 1/10/2022 at 10:22 AM, Bjoern said:

Is there a bit more to "career" mode instead of just setting up the aircraft for the next flight, such as having to earn money to pay for fuel and repairs?

Seems like OnAir would be something for you. It is a subscription service, but relatively cheap. There are multiple tasks to accomplish and I find its economic simulation the best one available in flight sim. 

[jon b 2,041]

3 hours ago, GoranM said:

But we have it on good authority by the 650 pilot we have consulted with, that the refueler does, indeed come into the cockpit for a signature, often times interrupting the captin while he's going through his checklists.

Haa , yes this is true for all aircraft and types of operation, I’m sure they’re trained to hide and wait until the most inappropriate time before barging in.

Things are now moving more predominantly to a fuelling App on the iPad for airline ops, in a move of real world aviation mirroring pc flight simulation.

It’s a little sad because it’s faceless technology, where as  the fuellers are normally quite colourful characters who always have some gossip or opinion to share when they come onto the flight deck.

[alexcolka 183]

I too, took the plunge and bought the thing. I spent all my addons budget for this month. Developers: please don't surprise us with another hit this month... be kind and gentle with our wallets 😁

Anyway, won't discuss about quality and systems because at this stage almost everybody involved already know how good it is.

Being myself a bit lazy sometimes and more study guy some other times, I must confess that I'm extremely surprised with myself instead of the plane that I was able to do a first flight squashing all the warnings lights and extinguishing any EICAS messages by finding the source of the event and was able to finish without a major issue a complete first flight from cold and dark, skipped the FBO too, I'm lazy. So wow ultimate quality here! Congratulations to the guys from Hot Start.

[pots 10]

13 hours ago, Andistio said:

Yes, it uses Gizmo. Not sure about the X-Plane 12 compatibility of Gizmo.

Thats interesting. CL650 is supposed to work under Linux but Gizmo supported  only Windows and MacOS (at least in past).

[Andistio 44]

Gizmo is available for Windows and Mac. According to the official Gizmo64 website, Linux is not supported at the moment.

[akatham 9]

Well, not tried it, but Gizmo has linux binaries. And the Challenger install folder has a linux installer.

[rjack1282 315]

Hot Start/X-Aviation have promised a free upgrade to XP12...it's stated right there on the purchase page.  This implies any underlying systems being used (i.e. Gizmo, etc.) will also be made compatible with XP12 if they are not already.

[Mike44 22]

I don't think it uses Gizmo. The developer uses Ubuntu and developed the plugin from scratch for the TBM.

Goran are you doing the Citation X for xp12? The screenshot in the other thread looks superb:

https://twitter.com/XPlaneOfficial/status/1475931699255169026/photo/1

Edited January 12, 2022 by Mike44