chris
04-30-2005, 06:44 AM
I've recently purchased the SSTSim Concorde for FS2004 and I thought I might as well do a little review of it, and explain it a bit more thoroughly than the promo-site (www.sstsim.com) does.
There are a number of Concordes available for FS2004, all very different to each other. The freeware one is great for a freeware plane, but when realism is important, it is found without some important features. Another is said to have great visuals, but not be so accurate. This one however has great visuals, and it has incredible accuracy. For visuals, it is accurate as you'd expect, but also features a nicely done virtual cockpit, and even a fully featured passenger cabin for those who use the Active Camera package. The cabin features the famous Concorde information displays, and is particular to each airline. BA has the very cool dark blue leather trimmed seats for instance. The 2D panel is also finely detailed.
Firstly, this is NOT the plane for those who simply want to fly, without paying any attention to aircraft systems. This is an incredibly complex plane, featuring full hydraulic, electrical and fuel balance systems. To merely start the plane requires going through many procedures.
Pre-flight preparation is important, especially setting the INS correctly, since this plane replicates the real Concorde exactly and features no GPS auto-pilot guidance of any sort. You also need to do some calculations to work out your V speeds, depending on your fuel load. Once you've arrived at the runway, you'll then need to work the fuel system to achieve the appropriate centre of gravity for take-off. This might be around 53.5% or 54%.
Take offs are simply awesome. The engines erupt into a truly thunderous roar, and you'll love the afterburner effects - especially at night where the 4 huge blasts of flame look most spectacular.
But what is most special is the autopilot, or what is properly called automatic flight control system, or AFCS for short. Those used to the standard FS9 autopilot will be staggered by this AFCS. This is a very authentic replication of the item in the real Concorde. It will have you in amazement, especially since this sort of stuff in real life belonged to a plane whose development progressed through 1960's, and was launched in the 1970's. Incredibly sophisticated stuff, and it makes flying the plane quite easy once you are airborne. The system is particularly useful because Concorde by its nature, even in holding patterns maintains higher than normal speeds, and it lands at very high speeds.
You will note that you don't have a Vertical Speed adjustment dial. Instead, climbing to specific altitudes at specific climb rates is achieved by first pitching up to the desired rate of climb, and then pressing the ALT ACQ button on the AFCS. The VERT SPEED button will light-up, and the ALT ACQ button, along with the triangular light underneath it will also light-up. Once the desired altitude has been achieved, ALT ACQ and VERT SPEED will go off, and ALT HOLD button will light-up.
Achieving desired speeds is done by selecting the speed you want in KIAS, from anything between 0 up to a maximum of 400, and then pressing the IAS ACQ button. This function is used only for subsonic flight. So you must be thinking now, well how do we maintain steady supersonic speeds? Well, the AFCS has one of its most special and unique tricks for that purpose. :D
Once you are ready to go supersonic from FL290 and Mach 0.95, you will switch off the IAS HOLD, and even the ALT HOLD! You'll also use the complex fuel system to achieve a centre of gravity of 59%.
Now you will activate full throttle along with the afterburners. You'll then press the MAX CLIMB button.
You will then note the plane start to climb. You'll also note if you watch the gauge indicating rate of climb, that the rate of climb is always changing. And if you watch the Mach Meter carefully, you'll notice that the plane is accelerating close to the overspeed warning, but NEVER overspeeding. :) You will notice that it takes quite some time to go from Mach 0.95 through to Mach 1.3. This is normal. By the time 43,000ft has been achieved, the plane will have reached Mach 1.7 already, and it is time for the afterburners to be disengaged. The plane will still accelerate to above Mach 2.0 just on dry-power! The afterburners are only needed for take-off, and for acceleration between M 0.95 and M 1.30.
By now, you will have seen that the rate-of-climb has changed again, and that the plane is now accelerating very quickly. By 45,000ft, it has achieved around Mach 1.8, which is exactly as it is on the real plane. When it hits around 49,000ft, and Mach 2.0, you will see the MAX CRUISE button automatically light-up. This is indicating that the plane will automatically go into the "cruise-climb" mode. It will attempt to continue climbing as quickly as possible, while always maintaining the maximum cruise speed of around Mach 2.02. If the plane looks like overspeeding, it will climb more quickly. And if that won't prevent the overspeeding, it will temporarily engage MACH HOLD and throttle back the engines.
But in general, it will manage speed entirely by itself, and manage altitude entirely by itself without your intervention. Another thing to notice is that if the plane starts to slow down below the maximum cruise speed, it will put the plane into a slight descent in order to maintain Mach 2.02. So in a typical flight, you'll notice the plane always climbing or descending slightly, depending on atmospheric conditions, and fuel load. As fuel load burns off, the plane will climb ever higher.
Depending on atmospheric conditions, temperature particularly, you may or may not achieve or exceed the optimal 60,000ft cruising altitude. A cold atmosphere will provide the conditions for the superior climb rates and cruise altitude, while a warm atmosphere will have a significant penalty on performance.
Why does Concorde do this, and not maintain one set altitude?
It is for fuel efficiency. It is more efficient to have the engines running at constant power, rather than have them throttle back and forth. And if the plane can climb to higher altitudes while maintaining cruise speed, it will also have better fuel efficiency. Concorde is one of the most fuel efficient jet aircraft in the world when it is in its principal operating regime of 54,000ft-60,000ft flying at Mach 2.0. It can also do this because no other planes regularly fly at those altitudes.
It is also because the special supersonic flight paths are designed to ensure that no two SST's should ever encounter each other going opposite directions since they always fly on specific "tracks". East bound planes use different tracks to West bound planes. If two were to theoretically encounter each other, you could be looking at closing speeds of above 4300km/hr!
In fact, all flights crossing the North Atlantic, including subsonic flights 30,000ft below Concorde utilise various tracks to ensure they fly safely across the Atlantic, and arrive on either side of the Atlantic in an orderly fashion.
When you are ready to begin descent, you'll engage the ALT HOLD function, and simply throttle back to idle, until speed has slowed to Mach 1.6, and the centre of gravity will be adjusted to suit. Only then will descent begin. If (at subsonic speeds only) ATC should request faster than expected descent, a feature called Idle Reverse is used. On the Concorde, this activates the thrust reverse buckets on the two inboard engines.
Now when you need to land, this Concorde has some other tricks up its sleeve. It has a rather sophisticated "Auto-land" system that will land the plane automatically. To intercept the ILS glide slope, you'll use the TRK HOLD feature with the TRK heading set to whatever reasonable heading you'd like to use to intercept the glide-slope path. At this point, the ILS is tuned into NAV 1, and the VOR LOC featured is primed, and ready to activate. Once the plane nears the glide slope, TRK HOLD will disengage, and the plane will turn onto the glide-slope! Then, with the 2nd autopilot engaged for redundancy, the LAND button can be activated, and the plane will execute an automatic landing. The pilot need only adjust the throttles, since the plane will even flare at the appropriate height.
Those landing manually will also appreciate the audible altitude call-outs at various intervals. These are in English or French, depending on where you purchased the plane. My one has someone sounding quite like Mike Bannister making the call-outs.
This surely must be one of the most sophisticated and advanced aircraft to ever be offered for FS2004.
It isn't perfect though. If you have a slower computer, or one with less memory, you'll be running FS in lower detail modes, or experiencing slow-downs. Overall, very much worth its price.
Pros:
+ Accuracy
+ Authentic AFCS
+ sounds
+ Looks
+ Authentic flight dynamics
+ Excellent support offered by its authors
Cons:
+ Not sold everywhere
+ Can run slowly on lower end computers.
Included airlines:
- BA current colour scheme
- BA previous colour scheme
- Air France current colour scheme
- Air France old colour scheme
Updates available:
- Service Update 2
- Update for INS version 1.30 compatibility
- Service Update 3 coming in the future, including bigger changes, and the British Airways/Singapore Airlines/Braniff Concorde G-N94AD/N94AD. (now better known as G-BOAD - its current registration)
Screenshots:
http://www.totalnfs.net/cpd/temp/sstsim_conc_cabin.jpg
Above: Concorde G-BOAD's flight deck seen from observers seat.
There are a number of Concordes available for FS2004, all very different to each other. The freeware one is great for a freeware plane, but when realism is important, it is found without some important features. Another is said to have great visuals, but not be so accurate. This one however has great visuals, and it has incredible accuracy. For visuals, it is accurate as you'd expect, but also features a nicely done virtual cockpit, and even a fully featured passenger cabin for those who use the Active Camera package. The cabin features the famous Concorde information displays, and is particular to each airline. BA has the very cool dark blue leather trimmed seats for instance. The 2D panel is also finely detailed.
Firstly, this is NOT the plane for those who simply want to fly, without paying any attention to aircraft systems. This is an incredibly complex plane, featuring full hydraulic, electrical and fuel balance systems. To merely start the plane requires going through many procedures.
Pre-flight preparation is important, especially setting the INS correctly, since this plane replicates the real Concorde exactly and features no GPS auto-pilot guidance of any sort. You also need to do some calculations to work out your V speeds, depending on your fuel load. Once you've arrived at the runway, you'll then need to work the fuel system to achieve the appropriate centre of gravity for take-off. This might be around 53.5% or 54%.
Take offs are simply awesome. The engines erupt into a truly thunderous roar, and you'll love the afterburner effects - especially at night where the 4 huge blasts of flame look most spectacular.
But what is most special is the autopilot, or what is properly called automatic flight control system, or AFCS for short. Those used to the standard FS9 autopilot will be staggered by this AFCS. This is a very authentic replication of the item in the real Concorde. It will have you in amazement, especially since this sort of stuff in real life belonged to a plane whose development progressed through 1960's, and was launched in the 1970's. Incredibly sophisticated stuff, and it makes flying the plane quite easy once you are airborne. The system is particularly useful because Concorde by its nature, even in holding patterns maintains higher than normal speeds, and it lands at very high speeds.
You will note that you don't have a Vertical Speed adjustment dial. Instead, climbing to specific altitudes at specific climb rates is achieved by first pitching up to the desired rate of climb, and then pressing the ALT ACQ button on the AFCS. The VERT SPEED button will light-up, and the ALT ACQ button, along with the triangular light underneath it will also light-up. Once the desired altitude has been achieved, ALT ACQ and VERT SPEED will go off, and ALT HOLD button will light-up.
Achieving desired speeds is done by selecting the speed you want in KIAS, from anything between 0 up to a maximum of 400, and then pressing the IAS ACQ button. This function is used only for subsonic flight. So you must be thinking now, well how do we maintain steady supersonic speeds? Well, the AFCS has one of its most special and unique tricks for that purpose. :D
Once you are ready to go supersonic from FL290 and Mach 0.95, you will switch off the IAS HOLD, and even the ALT HOLD! You'll also use the complex fuel system to achieve a centre of gravity of 59%.
Now you will activate full throttle along with the afterburners. You'll then press the MAX CLIMB button.
You will then note the plane start to climb. You'll also note if you watch the gauge indicating rate of climb, that the rate of climb is always changing. And if you watch the Mach Meter carefully, you'll notice that the plane is accelerating close to the overspeed warning, but NEVER overspeeding. :) You will notice that it takes quite some time to go from Mach 0.95 through to Mach 1.3. This is normal. By the time 43,000ft has been achieved, the plane will have reached Mach 1.7 already, and it is time for the afterburners to be disengaged. The plane will still accelerate to above Mach 2.0 just on dry-power! The afterburners are only needed for take-off, and for acceleration between M 0.95 and M 1.30.
By now, you will have seen that the rate-of-climb has changed again, and that the plane is now accelerating very quickly. By 45,000ft, it has achieved around Mach 1.8, which is exactly as it is on the real plane. When it hits around 49,000ft, and Mach 2.0, you will see the MAX CRUISE button automatically light-up. This is indicating that the plane will automatically go into the "cruise-climb" mode. It will attempt to continue climbing as quickly as possible, while always maintaining the maximum cruise speed of around Mach 2.02. If the plane looks like overspeeding, it will climb more quickly. And if that won't prevent the overspeeding, it will temporarily engage MACH HOLD and throttle back the engines.
But in general, it will manage speed entirely by itself, and manage altitude entirely by itself without your intervention. Another thing to notice is that if the plane starts to slow down below the maximum cruise speed, it will put the plane into a slight descent in order to maintain Mach 2.02. So in a typical flight, you'll notice the plane always climbing or descending slightly, depending on atmospheric conditions, and fuel load. As fuel load burns off, the plane will climb ever higher.
Depending on atmospheric conditions, temperature particularly, you may or may not achieve or exceed the optimal 60,000ft cruising altitude. A cold atmosphere will provide the conditions for the superior climb rates and cruise altitude, while a warm atmosphere will have a significant penalty on performance.
Why does Concorde do this, and not maintain one set altitude?
It is for fuel efficiency. It is more efficient to have the engines running at constant power, rather than have them throttle back and forth. And if the plane can climb to higher altitudes while maintaining cruise speed, it will also have better fuel efficiency. Concorde is one of the most fuel efficient jet aircraft in the world when it is in its principal operating regime of 54,000ft-60,000ft flying at Mach 2.0. It can also do this because no other planes regularly fly at those altitudes.
It is also because the special supersonic flight paths are designed to ensure that no two SST's should ever encounter each other going opposite directions since they always fly on specific "tracks". East bound planes use different tracks to West bound planes. If two were to theoretically encounter each other, you could be looking at closing speeds of above 4300km/hr!
In fact, all flights crossing the North Atlantic, including subsonic flights 30,000ft below Concorde utilise various tracks to ensure they fly safely across the Atlantic, and arrive on either side of the Atlantic in an orderly fashion.
When you are ready to begin descent, you'll engage the ALT HOLD function, and simply throttle back to idle, until speed has slowed to Mach 1.6, and the centre of gravity will be adjusted to suit. Only then will descent begin. If (at subsonic speeds only) ATC should request faster than expected descent, a feature called Idle Reverse is used. On the Concorde, this activates the thrust reverse buckets on the two inboard engines.
Now when you need to land, this Concorde has some other tricks up its sleeve. It has a rather sophisticated "Auto-land" system that will land the plane automatically. To intercept the ILS glide slope, you'll use the TRK HOLD feature with the TRK heading set to whatever reasonable heading you'd like to use to intercept the glide-slope path. At this point, the ILS is tuned into NAV 1, and the VOR LOC featured is primed, and ready to activate. Once the plane nears the glide slope, TRK HOLD will disengage, and the plane will turn onto the glide-slope! Then, with the 2nd autopilot engaged for redundancy, the LAND button can be activated, and the plane will execute an automatic landing. The pilot need only adjust the throttles, since the plane will even flare at the appropriate height.
Those landing manually will also appreciate the audible altitude call-outs at various intervals. These are in English or French, depending on where you purchased the plane. My one has someone sounding quite like Mike Bannister making the call-outs.
This surely must be one of the most sophisticated and advanced aircraft to ever be offered for FS2004.
It isn't perfect though. If you have a slower computer, or one with less memory, you'll be running FS in lower detail modes, or experiencing slow-downs. Overall, very much worth its price.
Pros:
+ Accuracy
+ Authentic AFCS
+ sounds
+ Looks
+ Authentic flight dynamics
+ Excellent support offered by its authors
Cons:
+ Not sold everywhere
+ Can run slowly on lower end computers.
Included airlines:
- BA current colour scheme
- BA previous colour scheme
- Air France current colour scheme
- Air France old colour scheme
Updates available:
- Service Update 2
- Update for INS version 1.30 compatibility
- Service Update 3 coming in the future, including bigger changes, and the British Airways/Singapore Airlines/Braniff Concorde G-N94AD/N94AD. (now better known as G-BOAD - its current registration)
Screenshots:
http://www.totalnfs.net/cpd/temp/sstsim_conc_cabin.jpg
Above: Concorde G-BOAD's flight deck seen from observers seat.