Next local legend 10 revealed. Wow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AYyw9VJaJ4
Latecoere 631
- Thread starter dvj
- Start date
Gregory Paul
Charter Member
Nice little write up on the real aircraft here
Latécoère 631 Flying Boat Airliner | Old Machine Press
Latécoère 631 Flying Boat Airliner | Old Machine Press
Gregory Paul
Charter Member
Not that many were built 10 plus the prototype. Reading the Wikipedia page it had lots of accidents and incidents for only having 10 aircraft built.
Must say that'll be the understatement of the week as far as i'm concerned, dvj...
After seeing the video i can't help but to go for WOW!!!! AND HOLY MACKEREL!!!
But thanks for the HU naturellemt !!
I say again WOW!!!If i'm not horribly mistaken this should be and must be the final antidote for the debacle of a certain other flying boat release earlier i still can't get out of my mind.
What about that ol' tug boat towing that beautiful sea monster to its take-off area ? Says it all, doesn't it. That's heart and soul, dedication and passion all over.
Say, do i see a coffee maker there in cockpit ? A cockpit as gorgeous and inspiring as the external model !
Must say i have a thing with Latécoère. Era's ago i recorded a French TV series about this Frence aeroplane developer on the first ever Philips video recorder. That's gone forever of course but i can still play parts of it in my mind's eye.
Thank you Microsoft/Asobo for bringing this amazing piece of flying boat history to MSFS !!
And thanks again, dvj ! Made my day actually !
Bomber_12th
SOH-CM-2023
BlueMesh sure do some stunning work! They were also responsible for the MSFS P-51A, Hughes H-4 Hercules, and Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis". I love the interior visuals (including the light coming through the skylight windows), and the tugboat and exterior visual effects from the water are fantastic.
simtech
Charter Member
Definitely a gorgeous aircraft. I wonder if the developers will include the walk arounds in the engine nacelles and back of the engines. That would be a great treat just to wander around that lovely beast. There's a tremendous potential for uncompromised immersion in this one. If it's done right, could command more than $20 typical LLs.
Not clear from the teaser if there is much study sim to this. But the motor startup with flash and smoke, with good looking prop disks seem very well done. Nothing of the passenger cabin shown. Guess it's a wait and see for the June drop. Does seem curious that we continue to get seaplanes while the water/wake effects still suffer a bit. The boat tender is a very nice touch.
DennyA
SOH-CM-2023
God, I pray it's not a study-level aircraft, thank you. This was not a plane designed to be operated by one untrained person sitting at a desk. I'll settle for "realistic, convincing, with authentic handling and performance," thank you very much. 
When we get multiplayer operations on a single plane, then y'all can have your 1940s behemoth flying boats be study level, when you can have four players up front and one or two guys to crawl back up behind the engines to fix things in-flight!
When we get multiplayer operations on a single plane, then y'all can have your 1940s behemoth flying boats be study level, when you can have four players up front and one or two guys to crawl back up behind the engines to fix things in-flight!
Thanks Greg ! A wonderful and interesting read !
Despite being a 'monster' it certainly is a graceful and elegant monster, isn't it..
Don't forget the Wright Flyer, John.
Remains to be seen if any other MSFS dev could've done a better job on this extremely important piece of aviation history. Not only the Wright Flyer itself but also the Wright brothers working ground at Kittyhawk/Kill Devil Hills from which they conducted their first test flights have been meticulously recreated in MSFS by BlueMesh, including the memorial. Highly recommended for anyone who hasn't done so already to have a look. Just put 'First Flight' into the airport search window.
Fully agreed on the interior visuals. The mid pedestal with the trimwheels reminds me of something coming right out of a Jules Verne submarine. The whole thing breeds a bit Jules Verne, doesn't it. He's French too. ;-)
Big fan of BlueMesh, have a lot of confidence in their upcoming flying boat extravaganza.
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I always wondered if access to the engines of an aircraft during flight would really have any use. I figure only the back of an engine could be accessed this way ?.. And what about the firewall ? Would it really be possible to change a dirty sparkplug ??...
Well, maybe we'll get to know all about that soon won't we...
Btw, what is 'LLs' ?...
Like with the Boeing Clipper it's not like photos of the Latecoere 631's internal accommodation are easy to come by. On ze contrary i'd say. Here's what i found so far :
Not much, huh...
What seems to be available in more or less abundage however is a series of Latecoere 631 paintings :
Very remarkable, yes ! Well, BlueMesh did the Hughes H-4 as well and the waterspray effects there are very good, atleast compared to the cheesy, not to say non-existent, default water muddle. In the video it looks like a good start also.
Absolutely love it ! I'd buy it for this wonderful feature alone already !
The video shows a good start already, don't you think Jan Kees ?.. The waterspray effects on their H-4 is very well done too.
Yeah, on one hand it's great to see a not that well known flying boat around the waters of MSFS, on the other hand why not go for one of the more or less famous and well known flying boats like the Sunderland, Sandringham or Short Empire. I think the most famous of them all is the Boeing Clipper of course but that's already done.... Personally i wouldn't mind if Blue Mesh would take a look at it as well..
Sundog
SOH-CM-2024
The video shows a good start already, don't you think Jan Kees ?.. The waterspray effects on their H-4 is very well done too.
Yeah, on one hand it's great to see a not that well known flying boat around the waters of MSFS, on the other hand why not go for one of the more or less famous and well known flying boats like the Sunderland, Sandringham or Short Empire. I think the most famous of them all is the Boeing Clipper of course but that's already done.... Personally i wouldn't mind if Blue Mesh would take a look at it as well..
Or a Catalina. Of course, that has guns, so they (MS) probably wouldn't make it. I'm really happy with this choice, though, as it was so good looking. I read up on some of it's routes and the problems they had with them. Hopefully, they won't be modeling the wing flutter problem.
blanston12
SOH-CM-2024
The video shows a good start already, don't you think Jan Kees ?.. The waterspray effects on their H-4 is very well done too.
Yeah, on one hand it's great to see a not that well known flying boat around the waters of MSFS, on the other hand why not go for one of the more or less famous and well known flying boats like the Sunderland, Sandringham or Short Empire. I think the most famous of them all is the Boeing Clipper of course but that's already done.... Personally i wouldn't mind if Blue Mesh would take a look at it as well..
I agree that i would rather see the Short Empire but on reflection I can see an argument.
Late 631 - 10 built in service 1947 - 1950
Boeing 314 - 12 built, in service until 1939 - 1948
Short Empire - 42 built, in service 1936 - 1947
While the Short was clearly more successful, in comparison to the 314 the numbers don't look that bad, but the Empire is clearly the most successful.
In reviewing the default aircraft past versions of the sim, there was a pretty clear American and British bias in the aircraft that were selected, I can find only one aircraft that was not at least a joint project with a British or American manufacturer. Asobo/Microsoft seams to be trying to correct that.
simtech
Charter Member
Javis: LL = Local Legends The ability to access the engines in flight in not totally foreign as I believe the engines on the B-36 also were accessible. I seriously doubt that the engineer would attempt to change out any spark plugs.. there's over 330 of them 
. I remember being told many years ago, that they would take extra oil barrels and pump oil into the oil tanks because some engines would go through oil like **** through a goose. Just think what unleaded gas would have done for those engines.. Would've saved a lot of spark plugs...
. I remember being told many years ago, that they would take extra oil barrels and pump oil into the oil tanks because some engines would go through oil like **** through a goose. Just think what unleaded gas would have done for those engines.. Would've saved a lot of spark plugs...
Check out this peculiar video. It's about this book that portaits more than 30 different French militairy flying boats that were used during WWII alone. https://youtu.be/16Oo6BIkTzo
No shortage when it comes to inspiration about non British/US flying boats. I would maybe give them all up though for a fully fledged all singing and dancing version of the Boeing 314... (just like what i hope to see when i'll get my dirty hands on the Late 631)
Ah, of course, thanks!
The ability to access the engines in flight in not totally foreign as I believe the engines on the B-36 also were accessible. I seriously doubt that the engineer would attempt to change out any spark plugs.. there's over 330 of them
Really ?... 4 on each cylinder ??....
I remember being told many years ago, that they would take extra oil barrels and pump oil into the oil tanks because some engines would go through oil like **** through a goose. Just think what unleaded gas would have done for those engines.. Would've saved a lot of spark plugs...
It is said that if needed the aircraft could fly on either the 3 port or starboard engines only or even just 2. Also that part of the firewall could be folded away to get better access to the engine. I guess it would still be only the back of the engine... Pity there seem to be no photos of what it all would look like to a no doubt very courageous mechanic...