Flight 1 ATR 72-500 review

This is a review of Flight 1’s ATR 72-500 by Jessica Bannister-Pearce.

In the beginning, there were the props. And so it was until the 1950’s. Then came the jets. Slowly, the jets took hold and by the end of the 1960’s, the golden age of prop liners seemed to be over. The Bristol Britannia, the Vickers Viscount, and countless others began to slip from our airports. The Jets had won. Or had they? Jets were complex, thirsty creatures, and it soon became apparent to many airlines that operating jets that were only filled with a dozen or so passengers was costing them a fortune. Jets worked well at high altitudes, but on a 30 minute flight they rarely reached full efficiency. There was a hole in the market for a more efficient aircraft that could cruise at lower altitudes. Suddenly, the props were back. Advances in technology produced a breed of props ready for the new feeder market and the ATR was there waiting.

The ATR72-500 is the latest version of this popular aircraft. With more than 100 operators worldwide using an incredible 600 aircraft, ATR can certainly be crowned the queen of the prop driven skies. The Aircraft itself is a twin engine turboprop offering speeds up to 250 knots and a maximum cruise altitude of 25000 feet. As already mentioned above, many airlines use these versatile aircraft as feeder services to their main hub on routes that jets cannot fill. So lets take a look at what we get.

Waiting for passengers. Note the tail prop.

The Box

The box and packaging, as you’d expect, contains the DVD and pre-flight briefing manual (strictly for installing the aircraft and a very quick guide around the basics of setting up the aircraft).

Preflight

As is the case with many add-ons these days, starting a flight is never as simple as just selecting the aircraft in FS and away we go. The ATR is no exception. Before even loading flight sim, you’ll need to run the ATR configuration program first. This can be found nestling in the Flight 1/ATR folder in the start menu. We run this for various reasons. Firstly, we need to set the number of passengers on board. You’ll be confronted with a top down view of the cabin, and by clicking on any of the 72 seats you can place a passenger. Along with individual seat assignments, you can also choose that passengers gender and age. One click places a man in the seat, a second click changes that person to a woman. A third changes that person to a child whist a fourth empties the seat. Each choice alters the weight of both the passengers and cargo hold. (Presumably, we women need more suitcases). Both the cargo holds can also be altered. If you don’t wish to spend time assigning each individual seat, there are options for both full and empty load outs along with a random setting for those of you who enjoy surprises. Strangely enough, there are no options to adjust the amount of fuel. This still has to be done within FS.

Also contained within the configuration program are tabs to select various interior options for the ATR, from the colour of the cockpit (older style brown to new blue) to the type of cabin fittings along with a choice of Cold and Dark set-ups to Full engines running. There are also choices for high quality cockpit panels or standard quality for those wishing to run the aircraft on an older system. There are also options for seating position for the captain along with 2D panel views from just the captains side to a slightly extended version to include the engine gauges.

Anyway, once you’ve made your choices and loaded the aircraft, click save followed by exit and prepare for FS.

On FS start up, you’ll need to load a default flight, like the old C172 at Seattle. Once it’s loaded, feel free to change locations and such before choosing the ATR from the aircraft menu.

Exterior

The ATR is an awkward looking bird if you’re use to jets. Still, you have to admire the quality of the model provided. Included are three liveries: one house colour set and two others. Although sparse, Flight 1 do direct you to their website were a wealth of repaints are available for free. If you are feeling artistic, you can also add your own custom liveries via Flight 1’s Text-o-Matic program. This can also be found for free on the website.

The Devil is in the detail with the exterior.

Interior

Up at the front, the 2D panels are nothing short of excellent. All are clearly readable and if you can’t quite see them there are various click points dotted around to allow the captain to get an up close view. The VC is also well detailed with just about everything I clicked working. (A pet hate of mine is a VC with non-working switches, especially if the same switches work in the 2D panel). Gauges run with fluidity and frame rates don’t seem to suffer to any noticeable degree. There’s also a nice touch. You can open the cockpit door in the VC and take a view back to the cabin. You’ll need to switch this feature on via the add-on menu.

Peace and quiet before the “self loading Cargo” joins the flight. The cabin interior is your choice though.

Navigation

The ATR is a fairly modern airliner, which means that we have the ubiquitous FMS to program. Personally, I’m still getting use to FMS. They can seem complicated, and they are. This one, though, is fairly easy to use, if a little light on features. As always you begin with out of date nav data. A quick trip to Navigraph solved that problem, so on to programming the route. As with many FMS in FS these days you can either enter the route manually or just import the FS flight plan. If you opt for the former you’ll be able to save your own custom routes via the FMS. I prefer to use the latter however. The Performance Init page is found under the VNAV button. Setting the Zero Weight Fuel and Ground Weight points are easy, you simply click on the corresponding button next to the reference point required, and this imports the figures from the load manager. Interestingly, the VNAV section is only an advisory. There’s no VNAV button on the autopilot panel, so you’ll have to navigate referring to the FMS to check you track, rather than just letting George get on with it. There are settings for SID/STARS to be used but there may be a few gaps, as the airport I flew out of didn’t have a SID selection, when I know it has. Still, it’s only a minor niggle.

The simplicity of the cockpit just adds to the ATR’s reputation.

Getting Going

These Add-ons are complex, and as such I recommend printing out the included Aircraft Operating Manual, supplied by Flight 1 and found in the start menu. At 481 pages, it might be an idea to only print the sections you need. Included in the manual are two tutorials, which help you work through the start up procedures right to the shutdown procedures at the other end.

The first thing you’ll notice when powering up is the lack of an APU. The ATR isn’t fitted with one. Power is supplied by starting the right hand engine in ‘Hotel’ Mode. This basically means running the engine, but disabling the prop. Following the check lists will lead you to push back time. And with clearance we’re taxiing out. One of the things that bother me with props, is the need to feather them, adjust mixture and needing to move up to six different engine controls. They just seem complicated. With the ATR though, I needn’t have worried. The props are feathered automatically via leavers next the throttles. They have four settings. Fuel shut off, feather, auto and overrun. Feather is fine to taxi, whist auto operates during takeoff and flight. You don’t have to constantly adjust the props, which is a relief.

Overhead is easy to read. See if you can spot the APU though.

Takeoff comes quickly, and the ATR can climb quite quickly. With the maximum airspeed of 250 knots, you won’t have to worry about exceeding the below 250 knots limit below 10000 feet. Although progress could be said to be stately, the ATR never feels slow. Yes, a jet is quicker, but below 10000 there’s no difference. The ATR also feels quite nimble, even at low speeds, which makes landings easy to control. The flaps only have two settings - 15 degrees and 30 degrees, and at full flaps, the stall speed is amazingly low, almost Cessna like.

Slow and steady with full flaps.

Conclusion

So, Has Flight 1 done a good job? Well, the short answer is yes. ATR themselves approached Flight 1 to produce this fantastic simulation, so the Flight dynamics are spot on. The company wanted a flight sim to help show off their great little plane. There are bugs however. Not with the sim, but with the Manual. If you follow the first tutorial there are files missing, which was a shame. Added to this is a confusing check list. For example, after starting the right engine for power, you’ll be told to extinguish the lights in the hydraulics section. They won’t go out though, not without both engines running with both props spinning and set to auto. You’ll need to select Ground power whist parked to run the hydraulics. Okay, its not a big issue, but a better explanation in the normal procedures section could clear this up. In both tutorials you’re given load outs to enter into the aircraft. With the best will in the world, I could not make the figures match without changing the passenger count away from the figures provided. Another thing I’d like to see, is a blown up chart of the cockpit panels, making it easier to find the required switches, gauges and systems. With every flight, you’ll learn the aircraft layout, but a chart would aid the newcomer, removing the overwhelming nature of such a complex add-on. These are only minor gripes though.

Can I recommend the ATR? Wholeheartedly yes. It’s a great aircraft if you like hopping on the busy commuting routes in the US and Europe. Many pilots transition through the ATR’s onto the big jets. Now you can be one of them.

Pros

• Complex and accurate thanks to ATR’s own input
• A gentle aircraft to fly before transitioning to the jets
• Plenty of liveries available online for free.

Cons

• Flight Manual isn’t clear enough
• No clear diagram of the cockpit and panels.

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