Warbirdsim Mustangs For FSX!

[peter12213]

Cerberus mate, who cares? Have you got $75 for shadows' or bump maps, I know I havent normally when I see your name on here its for a free giveaway for some repaint or something, if you ain't got this bird then get it its class, but if you've got the fs9 version then its not worth shelling out the cash for this version. I mean I'm all for buying a better version of an fs9 aircraft if it doesn't perform or handle right in FSX but this is an exception, I'd rather save up and buy that meteor when it released or as every WW2 enthusiast want's at the moment that gogeous Lancaster from FCS!!

 

[Stickshaker]

OK then, here are some first impressions.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
<o> </o>
Installation: the installer could not find the path to FSX, although it was shown correctly in the installation program window. After contacting Warbirdsim and receiving an answer almost immediately, I installed the files in a temporary directory and then moved them to FSX. No further problems. This issue may be due to my computer configuration.<o></o>
Activation: no problems.<o></o>
Cockpit: looks excellent, although I am not a stickler for details. For example, the gauges may be 2D, but from the distance and angle I look at them they look fine to me. Much detail in the cockpit. The ring gunsight can be removed with a click, improving forward vision, which is as I remember from peering through the windshield of the real Princess Elisabeth at Duxford. The side windows can be opened, but that does not change the amount of lateral movement possible with TrackIR 4. This is the very first P-51B/C for the FS series with a VC similar to what I saw at Duxford and in line with photos I have seen. I did not check whether every bolt was in the right place, but in general lay-out the cockpit looks very good. The Malcolm canopy does not have a frontal frame. I don’t know whether this is correct but assume it is.<o></o>
Taxiing: I could not get the tailwheel steering to work by pulling the stick back. I don’t know whether this feature is included in FSX (didn’t read the manual yet).<o></o>
Taking off: I had only 14% fuel (with the range of the Mustang this is enough for a few touch & go’s), which made acceleration very brisk. If you give too much power she actually rolls over to the left rather violently, which I think is very realistic but have not experienced in other virtual Mustangs. Increasing the power after lifting the tailwheel pulls the nose downward and increases acceleration considerably. Rudder is very responsive and very well proportioned, without the jerkiness of many FS planes. Directional stability is greater than I would expect from a plane without the dorsal fin of later –B’s.<o></o>
Flight: in line with other FS Mustangs, but a bit more sensitive, really like a racehorse. Stick-rudder harmonization is very pleasant. I did not check whether she flies by the numbers, but the general impression in climb and turn is what I would expect. I think the real plane needs a bit more trim change when moving the throttle. There is relatively little warning of stalls, but the wing buffet should be enough warning in normal flight (perhaps not when landing). But I can imagine that in the stress of combat the buffet is easily overlooked. Spins usually stop after half a turn, as is correct I think. Recovering is thus not difficult, but I did not yet try high G accelerated stalls. Incipient spins are similar to normal ones.<o></o>
Approach: Speed, rate of descent and angle of attack seem to be correct from what I read in flight reports. Visibility over the nose is sufficient, partly thanks to the relative high (but not unrealistic) eyepoint. It is easy to keep the nose in the right direction with the rudder during small power adjustments.<o></o>
Landing: A three point landing is as I would expect. It is not difficult to avoid a stall, despite the laminar wing. Point of criticism: when making a wheel landing (often done during WWII) it is almost impossible to avoid bouncing, as in many FS planes, in my experience. Directional stability is again greater than I would expect.<o></o>
Exterior: Looks very good to me, with lots of detail and a nice shine.<o></o>
<o> </o>
All in all, en excellent plane, without major weaknesses and also without major innovations compared to other FS aircraft. I refuse to go into the question whether it is worth the money for two reasons:<o></o>
1: It is purely a matter of personal taste. I can imagine that, if you already have the excellent A2A Mustang or like the Accusim features of the A2A P-47 and want to wait for their new P-51D, you won’t buy the Warbirdsim plane. On the other hand, if you want not just any Mustang but the P-51B, with a cockpit considerably different from that of the P-51D, there is no alternative for the Warbirdsim plane. Whether some features are or are not better than those of other Mustangs is open to debate, that it is different is true for sure. I am a fan of the razorback Mustang and am glad I bought it.<o></o>
2: It is impossible to judge for me whether the price is right for what you get. That the price differs from what we are used to need not imply that it is not ‘right’. Perhaps the plane contains so much detail, only visible if you look much closer than I did, and hence took so much development work, that the price reflects this. Perhaps the market for the P-51B is so much smaller than for the P-51D that a higher price is needed, just like books for small markets are sometimes more expensive than those for large markets. Perhaps the development process was not efficient and cost more effort than necessary. That is not for me to judge; I can only say that the result is worth it for me, but many may decide otherwise. Perhaps the people at Warbirdsim want to retire to the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region><st1lace>Bahamas</st1lace></st1:country-region> with the money they make on this project. That is perfectly OK with me; why should sim plane developers make less money than other entrepreneurs or, for example, bankers? Of course, no one is under any obligation to support their ambition (while with bankers you are at their mercy once you’ve signed for that mortgage that you didn’t see the consequences of), but it seems a perfectly legitimate ambition to me. All in all, I have no judgment about the ’fairness’ of the price of this plane.<o></o>
<o> </o>
And now I’m off to fly some more above occupied <st1lace>Europe</st1lace>. My only regret is that I have no guns. But that means that the opposition has no guns either…<o></o>
<o> </o>

 

[Stickshaker]

Cerberus mate, who cares?

Obviously, Ceberius does.

 

[gajit]

Wow - 2d gauges?! I would have been really hacked off if I had found that out

 

[gomslork]

Not really thinking about the price, I ordered this 2 days ago, but warbirdsim has not yet managed to give me the link to the download. How long is that suppose to take? Whats the rests experience with this company?
Peronally, I'm very disapointed. Would think for that price they would behave a bit more professional and deliver it instantly like the rest of the addon developers.

 

[SpaceWeevil]

Not really thinking about the price, I ordered this 2 days ago, but warbirdsim has not yet managed to give me the link to the download. How long is that suppose to take? Whats the rests experience with this company?
Peronally, I'm very disapointed. Would think for that price they would behave a bit more professional and deliver it instantly like the rest of the addon developers.

Did you check with their support? Very quick turnaround (minutes) here.

 

[jankees]

But no paintkit I fear....


unless you can use the FS9 version??

 

[ErnstF]

Taxiing: I could not get the tailwheel steering to work by pulling the stick back. I don’t know whether this feature is included in FSX (didn’t read the manual yet).<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

You must push the stick forward to unlock the tailwheel

 

[tigisfat]

Warbirdsim has a really cool and well put together website.

 

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you everyone for sharing your views of the product. Hopefully it shows well Warbirdsim's commitment to the P-51B/C series in getting it right. Note that besides just the fuselage, the wing is different to that of the D model, the landing gear is especially different, and the nose, over the top, features the distinctive 'hump' that was no longer present when the D model was developed. Other details that you can notice that are different to the D, is that the elevators are fabric covered, instead of aluminum, the gun access door shapes are strictly accurate to the B/C, and careful attention was made to getting every other panel line and rivet in their exact spots.

Between having the FS2004 and FSX designed aircraft within FSX, there is a distinct difference. While the FS2004 release employed graphics to make it look as realistic as possible in that sim, these were greatly adjusted to hopefully make the FSX version even more photoreal than before. The canopy framework throughout the cockpit was completely rebuilt, and new details, missing from the FS2004 release, were added. Besides this, the flight dynamics were tuned specifically for FSX, as was the sound, and like Warbirdsim's next, upcoming product, it has been held with high esteem by acquaintances of mine in the world of warbird restoration and operation.

Here are a few screenshots that I took throughout development that hope are some fun to look at...

 

[ErnstF]

Thank You Bomber, the Mustang is a wonderful aircraft and flight dynamics feels very good :ernae:. But I think perhaps the effects of the rudder are a little weak?? She is difficult to sideglide in crosswind landings.

 

[alehead]

Of course it is a wonderful looking package, as it is in FS9. I still fire up FS9 to punch holes in the sky with the P-51B and C from time to time. I was looking forward to the release of the FSX version, but am a little surprised to see no reduction in price for the owners of the FS9 version. OK, so this is nothing new (PMDG MD-11)...
I'll be giving this a miss in FSX. There are a couple of great warbirds in FSX now, and I don't really need the Mustang so badly as to shell out €50+ for it, when I could pick up the Catalina by Aerosoft almost twice for the same cash...
I think the policy of charging for repaints is one of the biggest marketing mistakes of all time in the FS world, particularly if you attempt to restrict some of the most talented repainters out there by not supplying a kit or attempting to force them per EULA or similar not to upload any repaints they make, with a paint kit they create themselves... interesting copyright issue there...

I would be interested to know from someone with legal experience as to whether this restriction of self-made artwork with a self-made paint kit is actually within the law...

It is almost like a photographer banning others from taking any photo of a P-51 from a specific angle, "because I have already taken the picture"...

Andrew

 

[SpaceWeevil]

Interesting point about the (lack of) a paintkit and selling repaints. Icarus did that with his Gladiator - granted that was at the other end of the market but it still seemed .... mean? Cheeky? I'm not not sure, but I expect we'll see more of it as devs struggle to cope with rising costs and falling revenues by squeezing every last penny out of each release. I'm sure the ones that do this weigh up what they might gain in $£ against the inevitable loss of goodwill and possibly some sales.

Do we know for sure that there's not doing to be a paintkit for the FSX WBS Mustang? There was talk of selling repaints for the FS9 version but I understand WBS relented. Of course it's kind of academic if Jankees doesn't buy it - maybe we should have a whip round for him?

 

[DaveQ]

As far as I was aware the issue of publishing free repaints was resolved at least for the FS9 version and a few have been put out on SOH. I'd like to know if the FS9 repaint kit will fit the FSX version because my hobby is based on painting as much as flying so, like others, I can't justify another £45 for the FSX version right now especially without a paint kit. Neverless it's clearly a masterpiece by any standards IHMO.

Best of luck to all involved

DaveQ

 

[jankees]

Interesting point about the (lack of) a paintkit and selling repaints. Icarus did that with his Gladiator - granted that was at the other end of the market but it still seemed .... mean? Cheeky? I'm not not sure, but I expect we'll see more of it as devs struggle to cope with rising costs and falling revenues by squeezing every last penny out of each release. I'm sure the ones that do this weigh up what they might gain in $£ against the inevitable loss of goodwill and possibly some sales.

Do we know for sure that there's not doing to be a paintkit for the FSX WBS Mustang? There was talk of selling repaints for the FS9 version but I understand WBS relented. Of course it's kind of academic if Jankees doesn't buy it - maybe we should have a whip round for him?

Don't worry about me, I haven't bought it yet. Maybe I will, maybe I won't.
A paintkit would indeed make me buy it, but I fear it is not to be...
The original warbirdplan for FS9 was to sell repaints, and not allow others to paint it, but in the end they changed their mind. Maybe that will happen here too. We'll see.

As for Icarus, he sold repaints himself, but he did allow repaints by others, he even posted a few of mine on his website, so if Albert doesn't allow repaints, there's a difference there.

 

[jankees]

OH NO! What did I do....

 

[gajit]

LOL - nice.

 

[SpaceWeevil]

Glad to see that the list of fellow [LINESTRIKE]suckers [/LINESTRIKE][LINESTRIKE]sufferers [/LINESTRIKE] [LINESTRIKE]victims [/LINESTRIKE] [LINESTRIKE]idiots[/LINESTRIKE] puchasers is slowly growing. I was always going to buy this, regardless of what I might have posted, but may I ask what changed your mind? And WBS, now J is on board, where IS that paintkit?!

 

[gajit]

Im still resisting having already spent £140 over the last 3 weeks on FSX products!!

 

[jankees]

Glad to see that the list of fellow [LINESTRIKE]suckers [/LINESTRIKE][LINESTRIKE]sufferers [/LINESTRIKE] [LINESTRIKE]victims [/LINESTRIKE] [LINESTRIKE]idiots[/LINESTRIKE] puchasers is slowly growing. I was always going to buy this, regardless of what I might have posted, but may I ask what changed your mind? And WBS, now J is on board, where IS that paintkit?!

curiosity got the better of me....oh, and I wanted to reward John for all he did for us
but your first line does describe a bit how I feel now

OK, here's a quick one, just for fun: