Honestly, I probably know less about the Stirling than any other British heavy bomber, but once I saw Virtavia was releasing on MSFS finally, I bought this with only a cursory look at the description. I know their products well enough from previous platforms to know the plane would be worth the reasonable 25 Euro price from Simmarket. And it’s just what I expected!
I’ve only flown for a few to get a general feel and grab some screenshots to share, but overall I’m really pleased. If you think textures and polygon counts are what makes for a great flight sim experience, please save yourself the money and save us the complaints. If, on the other hand, you find the chance to get some sense of what it was like to fly interesting historic aircraft, with realistic flight models, can compensate for the terrible realization that you’re in a simulation, keep reading!
Shots below, but some quick impressions:
- Visuals are mid-range quality, but a definite notch up from Virtavia’s P3D work. Full PBR, nice details, instruments look good.
- Sound is awesome. Full WWise, deep radial rumble that feels in line with what I heard on my B-17 flight many years ago, and yes, audio changes when you open windows.
- Most important to me: Flight modeling and handling feels good. The plane feels heavy, and I’ve only done short, low flights so far, but initial impressions are that the performance and handling are in-line with what I’d expect from an early WW2 heavy bomber.
- VR support is good. Scale feels right, everything is reachable, all instruments are fully 3. Feels really convincing as you look at the ground approaching through the foot-level window on the right side of the cockpit.
- Modern radios are available in a pop-up
- 3 models included, including a late-war model used to launch gliders; that one has a glider release in the cockpit. Maybe someday MSFS will get to the point where one of us could fly this and someone else could fly a Horsa being launched behind it.
Only negatives I’ve noticed so far:
- Flap indicator doesn’t seem to work (but I haven’t even cracked the manual yet, so something might be set wrong on a runway start)
- There’s one horrific texture at the back of the cockpit that’s going to trigger folks who are visuals-focused.
- The exhaust stacks could be more convincing with better paintwork, as could the exhaust streaks on the camo. Hopefully the repaint folks will enhance those.
