They however aren't as opened so it's like a surprise package.
Gabe, what questions do you have, pertaining to the Warbirdsim Mustangs? I'm completely open to answering any. I have talked at great length, in the past on this forum, about the various Mustangs covered by Warbirdsim, so-much so, that I feel that if I continue, it will just push people away.
The difference between say sitting in the cockpit of the Warbirdsim Mustangs, and any other Mustang for this simulator, or any other simulator, whether already produced, or in production right now, is that what you see is really what there is/was, with nothing made up, and nothing done without research, using original production drawings, photos, documents, manuals, etc. (from what I have seen on all other P-51D productions, either already made or currently in production, that simply cannot be said, for many reasons). For instance, I dare you to simply find another P-51D with correct fuel gages (correct gage backings, correct gage housings, and correct mounted-positions in the cockpit), and a correct assortment of gages for that matter (no more/no less than what was originally installed, and of the correct types). If as simple of details as these, cannot be reproduced correctly, what does that say for the rest of the aircraft? When you view the windscreen and canopy framing from within a Warbirdsim P-51D cockpit, it is all properly proportioned, with all of the right dimensions - the windscreen isn't vertically or horizontally stretched, as you may very well find on any other example (the FSX Acceleration P-51D is one the of the worst in this regard - though I won't name names of others, almost equally so), leading to a distorted/wrong impression as to what it is to be, seated in the cockpit, with the framing structures correctly modeled per the real thing as well, with no made-up screws/rivets/holes, etc., as you will continue to find in other productions. This same level of care continues to the shaping of the instrument panel shroud, which is also purely of the original form, and thus when you look at the forward view in one of the Warbirdsim P-51D cockpits (they are all accurately different, depending on which variant you fly) the combination of the windscreen design, instrument panel shroud design, instrument panel design and layout, is all strictly accurate and authentic, making it the only flight sim Mustang out there that you can fly, in which the views are all spot on to the real thing. And this carries through to no-matter where you look around the cockpit, either out the left or right sides of the canoppy, or deep down into the cockpit, or even back around and behind the armor plate, to the fuselage fuel tank, radios, battery, fuel gage, etc. The canopy assembly itself was all built and assembled using the original blue-print drawings, like many components throughout the cockpit and exterior models. The smallest details, like the correct type-face for all of the internal stencils and placards, or the inspection stickers and stamps throughout the cockpit on electrical panels, found on all production P-51's - these types of details aren't being reproduced by anyone else, and it is one of those things that feels very much like a responsibility of mine to make sure is incorporated.
On the exterior, the very same holds true. If you take a photo of a real P-51D, and if you are able to recreate the exact angle/zoom in the sim, you will find that every detail and contour lines up...that is why I am completely at ease, posting screenshots like this one below. It wasn't until the release of the Warbirdsim P-51D's that you could find a Mustang, straight from the developer (without
my 3rd-party repaints or paintkit being used), with all of the correct panel lines, fasteners, and rivets. The same could be said about correct/authentic stencils, silver-painted wings (as all P-51D's had, leaving the factory), multiple canopy-forms (based on production location, production block, and/or restoration), correctly articulated landing gear (remember when so much attention was given to just getting that right, and almost no one seemed to be able to?), and the first to have a properly animated aerial antenna wire, removeable exhaust shrouds, fully accurate and fully reproduced gunbay, 108 and 110 gallon drop tanks, accurate and fully-modeled P-51D wheels, a total of
four different authentic propeller types, correctly recreated landing gear doors, etc...the list goes on, and on, with other firsts, such as small details like the static-wire and relief tube hose along the bottom of the tail - installed on most all P-51D's, but never seen before on any other production. All of these things you simply could not find on a P-51D for flight sim use, until the Warbirdsim P-51D's were released, but you can now start to find 'some' of these being incorporated on another company's P-51D in the making (despite the fact that they insist they do not make decisions based on other's work, though those items were not incorporated on that company's product before Warbirdsim introduced them). Some of the points I am most proud of, however, is being the first to truly capture the correct contours of the nose, belly scoop, and tail, and the first to actually incorporate the original laminar airfoil into the wings, just as they really are - it's any wonder why such an important detail of the Mustang was never reproduced before - based on how others have modeled the Mustang, it simply shouldn't have flown like a Mustang in the sim.
I have to stop myself short of posting side-by-side comparisons, between my work and other's work, and that of the real thing, and how they stack up, as that would be frowned upon by many, I suspect...that is something that can be done by anyone else, though there seems to continue to be a reluctance to do so... While I have actually read comments by some, along the lines of, "companies only choose to continue to produce the P-51 for flight sim because it sells well", the one and only reason why Warbirdsim and I ever got involved with the P-51, was to finally provide ourselves, and the community, the opportunity to have a flight sim reproduction of the aircraft, that was unlike all the rest, and thus fixed all the problems we saw continuing to be made with other examples. This attitude really took off when we began work on the P-51D's. Some like to use the letters "YAM" to describe any flight sim P-51, as "yet another Mustang", however I don't believe any of the Mustang products released through Warbirdsim could be grouped into that, but if there is little concern for what I have described above, with all that has gone into these aircraft, and how they are so different than all of the rest, it is understandable. The fact that the products are sometimes priced as they are, is simply due to getting returns that allow us to invest the incredible amounts of time on these aircraft, that we otherwise, without compensation for, would not be able to do, as I know from my end, it is very much a full-time commitment.
