Sim Update 11/40th Anniversary Edition available now

[Paul K]

Jan Kees, I hope you'll again do the French Air Force C-47 repaints that you did for Manfred Jahn's model - the ones from the French Indochina War, please.

[ColoKent]

It's unfortunate that Asobo seems to boink up everything they touch regarding the third-party developer creations they buy. The DC-3 is okay (other than the stoopid default liveries...can't wait for a good selection from AH), and of course they apparently decided to cancel the "warmongering" C-47 (we all know why, but can't discuss it here)...and with the Beaver, they only seem to have the civilianized back windows version, not the standard U-6A/B configuration with the round window. And of course...apparently no paint kits are available for any of them.

I'm a HUGE MSFS fanboy....but it's unfortunate that everything Asobo does seems to be targeted for the 10-16 yo, non-aviation savvy gaming audience...

Rant over. On to trying to make the best of an (a-hem) "non-optimum" situation.

Kent

[Snurdley]

I'm of the opinion that Microsobo didn't have to do this, much less for free. So I appreciate what's been given to us. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But I'll enjoy it as is. If this opens the door for a payware C-47, that's great as well.

[manfredc3]

I agree with both. The liveries are not worth the mention, but we did get the DC-3 (amongst others) free of charge.

Now I'll have to keep an eye out for repaints from JanKees (PPPlease)

[DennyA]

So I took the helicopters for a few flights around Meigs. Certainly far more controllable/manageable than FSX and P3D helicopters! Two good landings (though not centered on the H!) and one set of bent landing skids out of three tries.


A couple of visual disappointments:

• There was another Bell 407 flying with me and rotors aren’t animated for multiplayer helicopters? Seriously? It looked amazingly stupid with its rotors locked in place.
• I flew down close to the water and nothing. In real life, rotor effects on water are awesome. Serious fail in the visual effects department. Though I guess not a shock given what a sad effort the current seaplane wakes are.

Wish MS/Asobo would hire a visual artist or two to spruce up the water stuff.

I'm a HUGE MSFS fanboy....but it's unfortunate that everything Asobo does seems to be targeted for the 10-16 yo, non-aviation savvy gaming audience...

Okay, that's just a silly and unfair accusation. Would they have hired the Working Title guys to do avionics if they were going for the teenagers? If that was the priority, we'd have something more akin to Ace Combat 7 missing all the fun parts.

They have some silly ideas around some stuff -- the weapons policy is ridiculous and unnecessary -- and they don't have the same priorities as a lot of us long-time simmers, but they most certainly aren't focusing on teens. Or even the Xbox crowd -- the Xbox support helps fund things for us PC folk, but doing stuff like working on WASM for Xbox is designed to let core, realism-focused sim pilots have the Xbox as an option vs a $3K PC.

[jankees]

what surprises me is that we get three seaplanes, but they still haven't bothered to give us any decent wake textures. OK, the H4 is not so bad, but the Goose?
What is the point of the Goose anyway, we already have two?
But the Beaver is nice ànd comes with some nice textures too.
I'm surprised they did not give us an aviators club texture for the Wright or the H-4...

[jmig]

Does this update do anything other than provide more airplanes and airports? I know it has gliders and helicopters, so I guess that in itself is an update.

Yesterday, it started updating on me as soon as I started MSFS. Took a couple of hours and then the splash screens were new. However, I haven’t seen if they fixed any historical issues.

[ColoKent]

DennyA...Looks to me like you and I are are basically in agreement on all points, although I admit that I shouldn't have used the sweeping generalization "everything" in my earlier post ("some things" would have been more accurate). Overall, I'm happy with the direction MSFS is going...Bottom line: I just wish they wouldn't water down third party add-ons that they acquire.

Cheers,

Kent

[wells]

I'm surprised they did not give us an aviators club texture for the Wright or the H-4...

Aviator's club, lol, that's funny

I suspect they wanted the Goose, since it was in previous versions of the sim

[Tom Clayton]

Downloading now, but as I look through some of the folders being installed, I see things that are making some previous purchases obsolete. They're doing a hand-crafted TNCM, but I already have that airport purchased a while back from the Marketplace - so I'll now have two versions of that airport in the Official folder. I'll uninstall the purchase and have a look at Asobo's, but I have a feeling I'll end up deleting theirs and going back to the payware version.

[ColoKent]

Downloading now, but as I look through some of the folders being installed, I see things that are making some previous purchases obsolete. They're doing a hand-crafted TNCM, but I already have that airport purchased a while back from the Marketplace - so I'll now have two versions of that airport in the Official folder. I'll uninstall the purchase and have a look at Asobo's, but I have a feeling I'll end up deleting theirs and going back to the payware version.

Oh my...all of that has me wondering what this latest update might have messed up...

Kent

[ak416]

My overall impressions after spending basically all day yesterday trying out the new aircraft and other features.

The aircraft are a bit of mixed bag. My favourites so far are the Beaver, the Cabri G2 and the 407. I really wanted to like the DC-3 but it just isn't there for me. Lots of issues with the 3d model and textures aren't great either. I think dvj summed it up pretty well, it's very much in line with what AH has putting out for MSFS. The Goose and the Spruce Goose are fine but they just aren't really my cup of tea. The Wright Flyer, the Jenny, and the NYP are nice but not super practical for much of anything aside from recreating historic flights. The NYP 3d model is spectacular though, I'm happy to have such a faithful recreation in the sim. I don't like gliding so I didn't enjoy the gliders but they seem very well made and I had no issues with the towplane or winch.

The new heliports are also a bit of a mixed bag, but the custom ones I've seen like the Needles lighthouse and some of the skyscrapers in Dubai and Hong Kong are excellent.

The missions are just so incredibly disappointing. No voice acting, no custom scripting, no custom 3d models, you are basically just instructed to fly from point A to point B while a robot talks to you. I saw someone mention on the official forums that at least one of the missions used the voice acting from previous games, but so far I've heard nothing but text to speech. There's no intercepting UFO's, no rescue missions, no flower bombing, no slingloading, nothing that made the missions in previous games standout is there. I would have rather had 5 excellent missions than 24 poorly made ones.

Considering everything is free, I'm not going to complain too much, there is a lot of stuff in this update that I really enjoy but I really wish they had added a little more structure in the missions as I was really looking forward to them.

[Tom Clayton]

Updating the main stuff and getting the Content Manager updated took 62 minutes - not too bad. And not one d/l loop! I droned around the Asobo TNCM to look around and I think I'll stay with that one for now. I may change my mind. They're both in the Content Manager since I bought the addon in the Marketplace a while back. Also, if you have the PMS50 GNS530 package, there's now a Workingtitle GNS430-530 package available in the Marketplace for free. I picked it up, but haven't tried it out yet. I also did a circuit in the Spruce Goose, but I'm a little disappointed. I don't see any real way to manage the engines, nor did I find a way to get rid of the yoke so that I could see the basic instruments. It also feels much too light for its size, but that may just be me.

Just to free up some space, I'll probably go in and uninstall several of the new aircraft, depending on how much space they take up on the disk.

[Dangerous Beans]

I'm having fun with the update so far, it seems to be more stable, no crashes or other anomalies yet but time will tell.

I've only flown the Guimbel helicopter so far and am having a lot of fun with it, it did take a bit of fiddling to get the controls set up but I'm used to using FSUIPC for my controls so the standard UI is unfamiliar to me.

I also got a couple more updates today in the content manager one of which was for UK photogrammetry. It might just be placebo and although its still not perfect London seems less melty to me. I do wish they would delete the tower cranes though as their the worst offenders.

[Javis]

I also did a circuit in the Spruce Goose, but I'm a little disappointed. I don't see any real way to manage the engines, nor did I find a way to get rid of the yoke so that I could see the basic instruments.

You missed the yoke's dust bag on the floor..

It also feels much too light for its size, but that may just be me.

Did you fly it in external view mode ?

Did that initially because there's indeed nothing much to do in the cockpit. Just floored the throttles and watched it build up quite a nice waterspray ( now,now,finally then ! Not so hard éh ? if you put some effort in it.. ;-) and then magically and majestically lift off, actually like i kinda expected it to do ( kind of a Howard Hughes fan, have just about all docs and movies about him. What an interesting and remarkable person ! ). Flying it from external view i very much DO get a good feeling about it's size and weight. Kinda love flying it like that ( i setup a waterbase at the San Diego bay area alongside one of the carriers) If Mr. Hughes was still alive i bet he'd love it too !

In my MSFS book it's just for fun, nothing serious, i think that's how the creator ment it to be as well. Still a great tribute to an extraordinairy aviator and an extraordinairy aeroplane. I'd say well done MS/Asobo !

[Javis]

Tom, what may be the reason again i cannot seem to edit my post ?.... All i get is a blank paper...

I wanted to add how much we really do need a Fly-By camera ( yeah, just call me Jan 'Fly-By' Visser ) Now we can only imagine how extremely wonderful it would be to see this magnificent iconic aeroplane take-off, fly and land in Fly-By View. I think it's ashame really that we still can't !

[HFBHercules1280]

I'm a member of the Hercules Flying Club on Discord. We're trying to get the Hercules as close to life as we can. So far we've figured out how to get it to hit basic performance marks in the Hughes Flying Boat Manual which was put together by Hughes Aircraft and the Department of Defense. Should be noted it's modeled as the prototype on November 2nd, 1947, so it's not a production aircraft. There were many changes to the aircraft after it's flight. As the pilot on that flight there is very little to do honestly. You can map your propellers and throttles but the flight engineer did most of that. She was very light on the only flight so we don't have good data on what it would be like with weight. NACA did extensive testing on models and most of the information in the manual came from these tests. Some of those tests can be found on the NASA website today. There is so much data done in scale on this aircraft. In addition to his "eccentricities" Hughes made sure the work done for the hydro and areo dynamics were the best he could get access too. It really is a fascinating story. But on to the virtual model. There may well be an update in the future. Right now I'm doing landing tests to check it's stall and flap speed characteristics, as well as getting an idea of how it flys in the virtual sphere as opposed to what the papers says it should be doing. I've spent hours doing that today. Full flap landings are tough. It's a ground effect vehicle with full flaps and fifty feet from the water. Control your altitude with power and your speed with pitch. It'll stall in a heartbeat if you don't' stay ahead of it. I've put several in dry dock just today. Glad to be here on SOH.

[Javis]

Welcome HFBH ! And thanks very much for your interesting comments !

I haven't seen much of our 40th Anniversary present yet also because i can't seem to stay away from the Hercules !

If taken into account that it would most probabely be outside the scope of this amazing MS/Asobo freeware anniversary gift to present us with a full blown, 'study level' version of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, from a graphics point of view it is quite a fantastic rendition both internal and external. Having seen both the movies and documentaries about Howard Hughes multiple times i felt immidiately familiar with what i was presented with once the MSFS Hercules model loaded for the first time. Wow ! That is it !!

And not only that, seeing it take off (with very nice water spray effects! (Thanks for that too Microsobo ! ;-) reminds me very much of this iconic movie footage of the real Hercules' take-off and flight. I do very much think that the developer of this model really managed to get 'the Hughes Spirit' into his creation.

Once again thanks for your interesting comments, HFBH, i'll certainly be looking forward for more !

[FlameOut]

I have yet to fly this big ol' girl. She sure is a looker though.

@ HFBHercules1280, glad you've come over to the SOH and delighted to hear you are part of the team that helped to develop her.

@ Javis, I have the same sentiments about the "Fly-By" view as you do. That "Replay" Mode in MSFS is OK, but it takes up too much time to set up. We flight simmers wanted a simple one keystroke, hit several times, thing to get us into the "Fly-By" mode.

As far back as I remember, FS98 to the present, and also in P3D, we always had the "S" key to take us to "Cockpit", "Virtual Cockpit", "Spot", "Locked Spot", and "Fly-By", "Top-Down", "Nearest Tower", "Facilities Tower", "Facilities Runway", views.

Also, we had another single keystroke "A" to move you to pre-defined positions inside the virtual cockpit .... Co-pilot, overhead panel, throttles, radios, GPS stations and the like. IIRC?

Here are the [CameraDefinition] sections from my FSX or P3D days around 2014-2015: These have my edits to them and do not apply to the current MSFS.

[CameraDefinition.001]
Title = Cockpit
Guid = {B1386D92-4782-4682-A137-738E25D1BAB5}
Description = This is the description of the cockpit view
Origin = Cockpit
ShowPanel = Yes
SnapPbhAdjust = Ordinal
SnapPbhReturn = True
PanPbhAdjust = Ordinal
PanPbhReturn = True
Track = None
ShowAxis = FrontOnly
AllowZoom = TRUE
InitialZoom = 1.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = TRUE
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Cockpit
HotKeySelect=2


[CameraDefinition.002]
Title = Virtual Cockpit
Guid = {C95EAB58-9E4A-4E2A-A34C-D8D9D948F078}
Description = This is the description of the virtual cockpit view.
Origin = Virtual Cockpit
MomentumEffect = Yes
SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel
SnapPbhReturn = False
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel
PanPbhReturn = False
Track = None
ShowAxis = YES
AllowZoom = TRUE
InitialZoom = 0.8 //----->>>> 0.7
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ZoomPanScalar = 1.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = TRUE
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Cockpit
PitchPanRate=30
HeadingPanRate=75
PanAcceleratorTime=0
HotKeySelect=1


//[CameraDefinition.003]
Title = Spot
Guid = {BCA3FDD1-FB83-4BBA-8407-4922A7F0D00C}
Description = This is the description of the spot view.
Origin = Center
SnapPbhAdjust = Ordinal
SnapPbhReturn = False
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel
PanPbhReturn = False
Track = FlatChase
ShowAxis = No
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 1.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = FALSE
Transition = Yes
ShowLensFlare=TRUE
Category = Outside
ClipMode = Spot
PitchPanRate=30
HeadingPanRate=75
PanAcceleratorTime=0


[CameraDefinition.004]
Title = Locked Spot
Guid = {BCA3FDD1-FB83-4BBA-8407-4922A7F0D00D}
Description = This is the description of the spot view.
Origin = Center
SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel
SnapPbhReturn = False
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel
PanPbhReturn = False
Track = FixedChaseLocked // ----->>> FlatChaseLocked
ShowAxis = No
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 1.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = FALSE
Transition = Yes
ShowLensFlare=TRUE
Category = Outside
ClipMode = Spot
PitchPanRate=30
HeadingPanRate=75
PanAcceleratorTime=0
HotKeySelect=3


[CameraDefinition.005]
Title = FlyBy
Guid = {6B79DD49-9B4A-439D-BF40-ACBF157B0BA0}
Description = This is the description of the fly by view.
Origin = Center
SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel
SnapPbhReturn = False
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel
PanPbhReturn = False
Track = FlyBy
ShowAxis = No
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 10.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = FALSE
Transition = No
ChaseDistance = 500
ChaseHeading = 15
ChaseAltitude = 10
ChaseTime = 20
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Outside
ClipMode = Tower


[CameraDefinition.006]
Title = Top-Down
Guid = {A2849229-938A-448f-8AC6-01EF2291C171}
Description = This is the description of the map or top down view.
Origin = Center
SnapPbhAdjust = Orthogonal
PanPbhAdjust = Orthogonal
Track = None
ShowAxis = Yes
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 256
MinZoom = 0.7
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = No
XyzAdjust = FALSE
Transition = No
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Outside
HotKeySelect=4


[CameraDefinition.007]
Title = Nearest Tower
Guid = {60BC0819-BD04-4AF6-8954-8FC8AA3545FF}
Description = This is the description of the tower view.
Origin = Tower
SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel
SnapPbhReturn = False
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel
PanPbhReturn = False
Track = Track
ShowAxis = No
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 8.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = FALSE
Transition = No
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Tower
ClipMode = Tower
NoSortTitle = True


[CameraDefinition.008]
Title = Facilities Tower
Guid = {AA8C80C0-9EE2-4284-A1C2-B20CD3F5F3D9}
Description = This is the description of the tower view.
Origin = Fixed
InstancedBased = Yes
SnapPbhAdjust = None
PanPbhAdjust = None
Track = Track
ShowAxis = No
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 8.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = FALSE
Transition = No
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Tower
CycleHideRadius = 7
ClipMode = Tower


//============================== This Oringinal Is Commented Out ================================




// [CameraDefinition.009]
Title = Facilities Runway
Guid = {607C4520-CA6F-4135-AE10-8BF28838068F}
Description = This is the description of the runway view.
Origin = Virtual Cockpit
InstancedBased = Yes
SnapPbhAdjust = None
PanPbhAdjust = None
TargetCategory = Fixed
Track = TrackBank
ShowAxis = Yes
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 1.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = FALSE
Transition = No
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Runway
CycleHideRadius = 7
ClipMode = Tower
CycleHidden=Yes


//================================================== ============================================




[CameraDefinition.009]
Title = Facilities Runway
Guid = {607C4520-CA6F-4135-AE10-8BF28838068F}
Description = This is the description of the runway view.
Origin = Fixed
InstancedBased = Yes
SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel //----->>> None
SnapPbhReturn = False //----->>> This entire line did not exist, I added it
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel //----->>> None
PanPbhReturn = False //----->>> This entire line did not exist, I added it
TargetCategory = Container
Track = Track
ShowAxis = Yes
AllowZoom = Yes
InitialZoom = 1.0
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0
ShowWeather = Yes
XyzAdjust = TRUE
Transition = No
ShowLensFlare=FALSE
Category = Runway
CycleHideRadius = 7
ClipMode = Spot
CycleHidden=Yes




//== With the default 'move about key combo's' i.e. Ctrl/Shift/Enter/Back, you can move your camera anywhere you want. Ctrl/Space will stop camera movement. Shift/Enter moves the camera Up, Shift/Back moves it down.


- Don

[wells]

I'm a member of the Hercules Flying Club on Discord. We're trying to get the Hercules as close to life as we can. So far we've figured out how to get it to hit basic performance marks in the Hughes Flying Boat Manual which was put together by Hughes Aircraft and the Department of Defense. Should be noted it's modeled as the prototype on November 2nd, 1947, so it's not a production aircraft. There were many changes to the aircraft after it's flight. As the pilot on that flight there is very little to do honestly. You can map your propellers and throttles but the flight engineer did most of that. She was very light on the only flight so we don't have good data on what it would be like with weight. NACA did extensive testing on models and most of the information in the manual came from these tests. Some of those tests can be found on the NASA website today. There is so much data done in scale on this aircraft. In addition to his "eccentricities" Hughes made sure the work done for the hydro and areo dynamics were the best he could get access too. It really is a fascinating story. But on to the virtual model. There may well be an update in the future. Right now I'm doing landing tests to check it's stall and flap speed characteristics, as well as getting an idea of how it flys in the virtual sphere as opposed to what the papers says it should be doing. I've spent hours doing that today. Full flap landings are tough. It's a ground effect vehicle with full flaps and fifty feet from the water. Control your altitude with power and your speed with pitch. It'll stall in a heartbeat if you don't' stay ahead of it. I've put several in dry dock just today. Glad to be here on SOH.

Cool! I was going to try and do something similar myself. Now, I don't have to, heheh They are modelling it with only 4 engines, so each one would have to be 6000 hp, instead of 3000. Then, the prop diameter needed to absorb double the power would need to go from 17'2" to 19.72'. I would start there, then fix all the geometry errors ( wing area, tail surface areas, etc ), Then, start test flying. Looking forward to it.

[HFBHercules1280]

Although basic there is some surprising depth to the model. The developers are in contact with Evergreen folks and it shows. You can do a cold and dark stat and I've done a short video on that. A few notes though. In reality you'd be tethered for start and run up. There are pages in the manual devoted to the process. From what sort of anchoring and mooring facility you need to the checklists. The APU's were a pretty big deal. The massive electrical system needed 1450 rpm or the batteries would be depleted. Generators where on engines 1,3 and 7. So any idle time over 15 minutes required the use of the APU's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g7w89xpK5A

[Tom Clayton]

Tom, what may be the reason again i cannot seem to edit my post ?.... All i get is a blank paper...

That's because even one non-standard character will crash the edit function. In this case it was the "é" that did it. A workaround when you get a blank editor is to go back and copy the entire post, click Edit, the paste everything back in so that you can make the changes you need.

As for the yoke, I posted over at the official form and got a fairly quick response. I hadn't even thought to look down when I was flying it.

[Paul K]

So far, so good with this new update. All the new aircraft are very welcome, especially at the price. I'm enjoying the DC-3, though it does have that same short take-off characteristic as previous A.H. models I've owned. It also has problems when using the POV hat-switch, but I'm sure that'll get fixed. Overall, I really like it. The DHC2 is very nice too, and will get a lot of use. First impression of the A-310 is that it's going to be very enjoyable, but currently a frame-rate killer (Inibuilds are looking into it - possible some WASM related issue, they say). Haven't tried the others much, other than to have a look round them. It's the gliders that interest me most, however. They are going to be a voyage of discovery, without a doubt.

[K5083]

Having spent a few hours with the update, some further thoughts.

It doesn't seem to have broken, or be broken by, any of my scenery, add-ons, or legacy port-over planes, which is nice. However, SU11 did break Simconnect. The apps I run through Simconnect - Little Navmap, Axis & Ohs, and Where Are My Aircraft - are all broken to various degrees. In general, they work for the first flight of a session, but on subsequent flights exchange date with the sim only while in Active Pause. This is a widely experienced problem and MS will have to fix it.

As far as the aircraft:

DHC-2: This is the pick of the litter for me with the systems depth, tablet control, handling, and appearance.

DC-3: Better than expected. Performance matches the numbers quite closely. Handling lacks a little of the authentic inertia feel. I guess that's a factor of control input lag and non-linear response not being tuned quite to my liking.

GOOSE: Nice plane but only a little different, not better, compared with the Big Radials. You can get nice skins for the Big Radials. And the OZWookiee free G-21A still adds value with the retracting floats.

RYAN NYP: Surprisingly fun. If you try this plane, you might find it is not one that you'll just fly once or twice. It is great looking and the performance and handling are enjoyable. Despite the obstructed forward view and near useless periscope (which I'm sure is authentic), it is not too hard to fly looking through the side windows with TrackIR or, I imagine, VR. I wouldn't try it without one of those. But with those, I can imagine showing up at some multiplayer fly-ins with it, especially since everyone else will have the plane and be able to see what I'm flying.

JN-4: A little disappointed in this one. I find the performance more anemic and the control less coordinated than I expected. Maybe I'll get better at it, but not a favorite at the moment.

WRIGHT FLYER: Doesn't feel right. Too easy to control, for one. Also, too little power for sustained flight. I'm not sure the Wrights would be credited with the first "powered, sustained flight" if the Flyer had only enough power to stretch a glide after being catapulted into the air. I guess the point is to make it impossible to fly more than a few hundred yards, but the reason that was true of the original wasn't inadequate power, it was that the thing was too uncontrollable to fly for more than a minute or so or to handle any change in wind direction. Does anyone else remember the 2003 "First Flight" sim package which included a Wright Glider, Flyer, and Model B? That felt better than this. A Model B, something just a little more airworthy than the Flyer that could actually do circuits in Ohio or France, actually would be a nice addition to the sim. You can get a little of that feeling by spawning the Flyer 1,000 feet or so in the air and circling down to land. I wonder if you can catch a thermal in it and fly around a while.

SPRUCE GOOSE: I'm of two minds about the fact that this plane jumps off the water and flies around like any big boat, versus Hughes being barely able to pull it off the water in real life. Or was it really that underpowered? If they were going to mass produce this thing, it would have to fly at empty weight a lot more like it does in the sim than the legends we have heard. Anyway as with the Wright and Ryan, I can't help feeling that too much work has gone into this to just try it once, shrug "OK" and move on. It would be nice if there were more designated water runways around major coastal cities, which don't exist any more but once did, so that we could treat this plane like a big Clipper and fly between major destinations.

GLIDERS: Enjoyable. I had the Discus and soaring is occasional good fun. The towplane deal is cool. I can't figure out how to turn off that annoying descent-rate tone.

HELICOPTERS: More fun than I expected. Reviewers like Into the Blue have said that the chopper physics and controls seem to be dumbed down, and I agree. I never could get the hang of the egg beaters in FSX and P3D, but here they are quite easy to control. Maybe too much so to feel realistic and challenging. But it's fun to be able to fly right up to the scenery and get a good look. I tried the intro helicopter flight from lower Manhattan and enjoyed darting between the buildings and landing in Central Park. If one of the publishers were to do some of the wonderfully hideous classic piston choppers for the sim, like the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Mojave, or Flying Banana, with more realistic physics, I'd give them a try.

A310: This is the one I haven't tried yet. I'm not a tubeliner guy but I understand that this is almost a payware grade airliner, which is great for those of us who would never pay for such but might want to try one someday. I feel like I should learn the A320 with its simplified systems before I try this.

HISTORICAL AIRPORTS: Fun having Meigs and Kai Tak in the game. Lining up in a steam gauge 172 at Meigs is the ultimate "How it started / How it's going" meme for MSFS. As long as they can be disabled in CM, I have no issue with MS giving us more of these.

[DennyA]

BTW, AH posted on their FB page that the enhancement pack significantly ups the texture detail in the cockpit. The lower-detail "stock" textures were to keep performance up on the Xbox and lower-end PCs. So if you want your cockpit to look crisper, make sure to grab it.