Opinions on Glowingheat Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird...?

[UrgentSiesta]

I had thought BlackBird Sims nee MilViz would have released their version by now, but alas, it remains in purgatory...

In any case, this addon seems to have been updated to take advantage of P3D v5, and from the spec's & images seems like a decent quality addon.

I can't really find any reviews on it, tho, so if anyone has personal experience or links to info, I'd greatly appreciate it!

 

 

[CO2Neutral]

I purchased and wanted to like it, but it’s got too many issues/bugs and weird flight characteristics … assume they guessed at how they thought it should fly?

[Daube]

2 hours ago, CO2Neutral said:

I purchased and wanted to like it, but it’s got too many issues/bugs and weird flight characteristics … assume they guessed at how they thought it should fly?

I'm surprised by the negativity of this comment.

Not saying you're wrong or anything, since I have no idea about how the real SR71 flew, of course. But from what I remember, the author of that addon was quite passionate and well informed about it, so I would expect it had quite a high level of fidelity in its flight model...

I had bought it at the time, but I have used it maybe only once or twice in P3Dv4, because I didn't like this addon. The virtual cockpit had too much non-clickable things. Not sure if subsequent updates had rectified this, but my impression was that this addon was essentially about the flight model and not so much about the 3D model or the systems, but that was quite a long time ago so my point of view is most likely outdated.

[CO2Neutral]

16 minutes ago, Daube said:

I'm surprised by the negativity of this comment.

Why?  Oh wait, I don't want to know ... you probably think I have some sim BIAS, I don't ... I say it like it is not what is popular.

One issue was specific fuel load would place the aircraft with the nose off the ground and tail dragging.

Other issue is it had no depth of systems, based on the video's I've seen from real world pilots that flew this aircraft and those that maintained it, there is consider "work loads" need to fly this aircraft ... almost none of which were simulated.  It felt more like a 3D model of SR-71 that had it's flight parameters adjusted so that it could go fast (hence the odd "characteristic" just sitting on the ground).

I bought it because they claimed PBR textures ... if they were, they didn't seem to be working well.

BTW, I have seen SR-71 in person here.

[Daube]

3 hours ago, CO2Neutral said:

Why?  Oh wait, I don't want to know ... you probably think I have some sim BIAS, I don't ... I say it like it is not what is popular..

I explained in the next sentence. Next time, try to read the whole message before replying, kid.

[CO2Neutral]

48 minutes ago, Daube said:

try to read the whole message before replying, kid.

Yikes, life is treating you miserably or something? ... snide remark followed by another snide remark. 

Your next sentenced explained nothing that would trigger such a comment.

 

[Zylx]

I fell in love with the SR-71 when I was a kid, I even built a model rocket designed as the SR-71 plane and it glided through the air on it's way down.

I never tried the Glowing Heat plane because I read somewhere that it didn't have any systems.  I'm not against aircraft that don't have much system depth but I think it's a bit overpriced for an aircraft with hardly any systems modeled.

[UrgentSiesta]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:12 AM, Daube said:

I had bought it at the time, but I have used it maybe only once or twice in P3Dv4, because I didn't like this addon. The virtual cockpit had too much non-clickable things. Not sure if subsequent updates had rectified this, but my impression was that this addon was essentially about the flight model and not so much about the 3D model or the systems, but that was quite a long time ago so my point of view is most likely outdated.

Appreciate your feedback!

Given what you and others have shared, I'll stick with the vSkyLabs version in X-Plane for now. It has some limitations, too, so not looking for more of the same. Overall good experience, tho. 👍

When (some day!), Dutch & Blackbird Sims can bring their Hi Fi version to market, I'll likely add that to the collection instead of taking a chance on Glowing Heat's rendition.

Edited May 19 by UrgentSiesta

[Zylx]

2 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Appreciate your feedback!

Given what you and others have shared, I'll stick with the vSkyLabs version in X-Plane for now. It has some limitations, too, so not looking for more of the same. Overall good experience, tho. 👍

When (some day!), Dutch & Blackbird Sims can bring their Hi Fi version to market, I'll likely add that to the collection instead of taking a chance on Glowing Heat's rendition.

vSkyLabs makes good affordable aircraft though some of their offerings are a bit too unique for my personal taste.  I do really enjoy their aircraft that I have flown in X-Plane though.  I haven't tried their Blackbird yet but I plan to.

[UrgentSiesta]

On 5/19/2025 at 12:22 PM, Zylx said:

vSkyLabs makes good affordable aircraft though some of their offerings are a bit too unique for my personal taste.  I do really enjoy their aircraft that I have flown in X-Plane though.  I haven't tried their Blackbird yet but I plan to.

Agree!

Their "F-19" is one of my Guilty Pleasures. Totally made up airplane, but still has a lot of "what if" realism built in.

And who else would dare bring a Pond Racer with turbo props to market...? 😎

I like that they're not afraid to build experimental aircraft, or just the odd one-off passion projects like the He-162.

[Rogen]

I have the Glowingheat Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

The outside is pretty good, however the inside is very lacking.

It also fills up the P3D logging with gauge errors which I raised with the author although he was fairly uninterested in reviewing the raised issues.

It also uses some sort of gauge illumination method that breaks under P3D 6, he raised the gauge illumination issue on the P3D website where the P3D dev crew (yes actual dev crew) requested code samples (which were supplied), unfortunately despite his further followup requests there was no further response from P3D devs.

And that's where it's at.

Cheers

[UrgentSiesta]

1 hour ago, Rogen said:

I have the Glowingheat Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.

The outside is pretty good, however the inside is very lacking.

It also fills up the P3D logging with gauge errors which I raised with the author although he was fairly uninterested in reviewing the raised issues.

It also uses some sort of gauge illumination method that breaks under P3D 6, he raised the gauge illumination issue on the P3D website where the P3D dev crew (yes actual dev crew) requested code samples (which were supplied), unfortunately despite his further followup requests there was no further response from P3D devs.

And that's where it's at.

Cheers

Appreciate the first hand perspective!

The cockpit is the most important part, so if that's not working well, then it's a no go for sure.