Reviews

This is a review of the Learn the Mad Dog training DVD by Jessica Bannister-Pearce.

Books are old school man! I mean, like, who wants to read all those pages. And, like, think of the rain forests. Surely there’s, like, a better way.

Happily, there is.

We all know that flying the big iron is hard work. I literally have shelves that bow in the middle from sheer weight of flight manuals. Just the thought of having to sit and study these massive files can strike fear into the hardiest pilot. But as I said, these days there is another way.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid…..

All Hail The DVD

In recent years, DVD’s have become a familiar sight around the home. The great thing about DVD’s is that they’re cheap to make, easy to duplicate and take up little room on the shelf. So knowing this, it wasn’t long before the flight sim community began to take notice. First to come out was Angle of Attack productions for Level D’s 767-300. This proved the benchmark by which all others should be measured. So with this in mind, how does the “Learn the Mad Dog” stack up?

Ground school was never this easy

What’s A Mad Dog?

I’m ashamed to say, that until recently, I hadn’t heard of a ‘Mad Dog’. In fact it wasn’t until I reviewed Flight 1’s Super MD-80 that I knew much about the aircraft itself at all. Since then however the ‘Mad Dog’ has gone on to be a fleet favourite with me, so when Larry Foltran offered me the chance to review His ‘Mad Dog’ Training DVD, I jumped at the chance. Larry is know as the Chief MD-88/90 Test pilot at Delta Virtual Airlines, and has worked hard to bring us this DVD. The first thing to point out is that this DVD is based on Leonardo’s ‘Fly the Mad Dog 2006′. So to get the best from this DVD, you’ll need this version, but if you fly flight 1’s Super MD-80, you’ll find a lot of crossover information. So don’t restrict yourself.

Follow the onscreen instructions to the path of knowledge

Knowledge is power, and power comes from…

Like AoA 767 DVD is split into two parts. Part one covers each system and switch onboard the aircraft. Whist part to takes us through the pre-flight all the way to shutdown. And Like AoA’s DVD, Do not sit and watch this in one go. At over 3 hours you’re brain will melt. (Trust me, mine did, but I am Blonde.)

The amount of information contained in this DVD is simply astounding, but perhaps its best feature isn’t the information, but the production values. Each section is presented in turn by two professional voiceover artists, one male, one female. This is a great feature as, if you want to watch more than one section at a time (You brave Person), you’ll find the change of voice helps to wake the mind back up, so you can learn. But it doesn’t stop there, the pointers on screen are clear and concise and the information is never delivered dryly.

The Study guide will help you cement what you’ve learned

But wait, there’s MORE

Had that simply been it, then the ‘Learn the Mad Dog’ DVD would have been a great buy. It successfully raised the bar set down by AoA productions. But as the title above suggest, there is more. Larry Foltran seems to be a man on a mission. To that end, He’s produced a study guide to accompany the DVD. At nearly 50 pages it’s a great addition to you’re learning and it includes 75 (Yes 75!) study questions to help with your knowledge. Also included in the guide is a full section on the weather radar onboard the MD-80, a section that had to be cut from the DVD. At $23.99 it can seem expensive. But if you’re buying both together then it’s a steal at $38 (Compared to $32 for just the DVD).

You will become a better pilot. Honest.

Conclusion

So how do I rate this DVD? Well, this has taken the bar and raised it not just a little high, but into a whole new category. The information is delivered without ever feeling heavy, though it is best to watch in bite size pieces. And the optional study guide really is a must if you really want to get to grips with the MD-80 (Or if you really want to show off you’re knowledge to other pilots). DVD’s really are the way to learn our favourite aircraft systems. But perhaps the best news of all is that Larry is going to be working With Chris Palmer at AoA on an upcoming project. So imagine what that DVD will be like. Either way you look at it ‘Learning to fly the Mad Dog’ is now much easier. So why wait?

This is a review of Aerosoft’s Mega Airport Brussels by Jessica Bannister-Pearce.

Airports. Where would we be without them? Quite rightly, they make up half of our sim experience. In theory, as long as we have a runway to aim at and a place to park, we should be happy. I can still recall thinking how realistic it was as I lifted off from Meigs field to see the wire framed skyscrapers of Chicago appear in flight sim 4 (I was young!) And so, over the years, airports became much more realistic. Grey asphalt and concrete runways began to greet us. Patchwork fields surround the area, but airport buildings seemed to have changed little since flight sim 98. So the Add-on scenery market began to produce specific airports for us to fly in and enjoy. These days, however, the quality of add-ons are such, that the difference between the real world and the sim world is blurring. One of the best blurrers are Aerosoft. So enter Brussels National Airport, and be prepared to be blurred.

Lights, Camera, Reality

Available as a boxed set or 40+mb download, the airport is cheap and easily available. A real bonus is that if you buy the FSX version, you also get the FS2004 version for free. The box set contains every chart you’ll ever need whist the download provides links to the charts online, all of which are free.

Welcome to Europe

I’ve not been to Brussels since I was little, and even then it was via the ferry at Ostend, so I really knew little about Brussels National. Not knowing what to expect certainly made the trip interesting, especially the approach. From there you really begin to appreciate the level of detail that goes into these airport add-ons. The first thing I noticed was the raised approach lighting that gently guided you down over the threshold and on to the runway. But that’s just the start. From there you get to gaze around the beauty of the main airport.

I’m not quite as good as I’d like hitting that centre line. Still the lights look good

As with all the Mega Airport releases, you can appreciate the time and effort that’s gone in to producing such a fine add-on. For starters, the airport has been created entirely in Gmax. (My knowledge of flight sim creation is not vast, but I know that’s a good thing.) Basing the airport on real photo’s helps to blur that line even more. But the best features are not the accurate positioning and rendering of the many airport buildings. No, the devil, as they say, is in the detail. Everything from the high standing runway and taxiway lights to the working aircraft docking system to the myriad of little vehicles that trundle along the airport. Every detail, no matter how small, looks great. But does this come at a price?

From the taxiway lights to the beautiful modern terminal, Even the grass look good!

Beauty and the Beast?

With so many things scattered around the airport, you’d have to worry that the trade off would be made via the Frame Rate. Well, think again. Aerosoft use various tricks to keep the frame rates up without the loss of detail. For example, they only render things you can see around you. Anything outside of a mile is not rendered until you’re much closer. This keeps the screen moving at a flyable rate. (Just don’t expect more than 15 fps+ taxiing around)

For those who distrust the EU, Perhaps the best way to view Brussels. Bye.

Conclusion

What can I say that hasn’t already been said above. Aerosoft is quite literally redrawing the world, and the result is astounding. One by one the major airports of the world are joining us within FS, and with increases in processor and graphics card power, the real world will soon be available to us all. The lines really are blurring, and that can only be a good thing.

This is the first time I’ve done this for an add-on review, but this one is something special, so I thought I’d treat you to some screenshots from Digital Avitaion/Flight 1’s splendid Fokker 100 coming in to land at the Isle of Man.

A full review will follow soon, but for now, enjoy the pics

This is a review of Aerosoft’s Flight Tales 1 by Jessica Bannister-Pearce.

Whenever we think of missions, we’re transported to a world of fast jets, big guns and targets needing destruction. These days, of course, things are different. With the inclusion of missions in FSX, we discovered the fun of flying, from landing on a moving bus to soaring like an eagle, to running out of fuel over the Indian Ocean. The missions are a great distraction from the monotony of a long haul flight, or simply to relax in a spare half an hour. When Microsoft first mentioned the mission system, there were those that claimed that FS was being ‘dumbed down’, taken away from its true simulation heart. I prefer to think of it as a way of opening up flight sim to a wider audience, And I think it’s working. As if to prove a point, just in the last few months, several developers have released their own add-on mission packs. Just Flight has Rescue Pilot, whilst Aerosoft has released ‘Flight Tales 1′. And boy, is it fun.

Meet your best friend here. He’ll guide you through the Tutorial

The Package is available as a boxed set or a download of some 90+ Megabytes, and once installed, you’ll find 10 shiny new missions in the FSX mission listings. Selecting the ‘Aerosoft flights’ section from the pull down menu brings up all 10 without the need to rummage around the whole list.

Each mission has a skill level, beginning with Beginner and ending with a rather interesting Expert level flight that will certainly test your skill as a pilot, but more on that later.

Starting at the beginning, your first mission is a tutorial flight; this simply takes you through how missions work, how to navigate and how to spot failures like fuel and oil leaks. The real beauty of the Mission system is that they come with scripted dialogue to make you feel like the co-pilot is really there chatting away before… Well, you get the picture. Aerosoft has done well here, though for a few flights, the regional accents can be hard to make out, so it’s best to keep the kneeboard open in case you misunderstand what the co-pilot/ATC or narrator tells you.

Easy now, don’t hit the others!

Once the first mission is out of the way, then it’s on to the serious stuff. The missions are all based on the default FSX aircraft, and Aerosoft have used as many as they could. This can be fun by itself, as several of the aircraft I hadn’t yet flown. The question then becomes what do you fancy. How about a job in the mail room, delivering letters in Alaska to a variety of small airstrips, or perhaps a few hours soaring in Australia (I have a soft spot for gliding, having completed a solo flight back in the early 90’s) This is the longest mission, as it’s open ended. If fun flying is your thing, then how about some aerobatics at Oshkosh, or a thrilling air race at Monaco. The choices are varied and you’re guaranteed to find something you enjoy. The most fun to be had, though, is the unpredictable nature of some of the missions, at least the first time you fly. There are built in failures, poor weather that only gets worse, and a cracker of an in flight emergency to deal with on one mission. I just wish there were more.

Who’d be a postman in this weather?

So, what else can I say about this great package, The missions are challenging, but there really is something for everyone, from the barnstormer, to the rescue pilot through the heavy iron pilot like me. Every mission comes with detailed charts, briefing and even designer notes for you to browse afterwards. All in all, a superb package only ever so slightly let down by a few thick accents, but for little more than €20’s it really represents great value. After all, how much fun can you really have at that price. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a DC-3 in Peru, and it’s raining.

It never rains….