F.C.S - Vickers Wellington
For FSX (Reviewed) and FS2004
by Nigel C Martin
(Edited by John Allard)
March 2009
Introduction
If you are into aviation or possess a passing interest in aviation, I am
sure you will have heard of the Vickers Wellington – the Wimpy. It is
iconic, one of the first of the purpose-designed bombers; a mighty beast,
perhaps not in stature or payload, but in the sense of its role. The
Wellington played a major part in the opening days of aerial bombing in WWII
- it was, in fact, to be seen in the air in the first wave of British
bombing raids.
So versatile was this incredible steed it was also used to great effect in
the Coastal Command role, where, equipped with radar, it sounded the death
knell of many an enemy ship or submarine. Because of its incredible
versatility it was also used for clandestine ops. The Wellington sure became
one of the aircraft to hold a well-deserved iconic status.
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I read a very interesting book about this aircraft and without doubt it was
loved by its crews. It may have been a little under-powered, but the
handling and above all, the safety aspect of her construction, were held in
high esteem. |
Many a crew survived, and more importantly returned home, due to the
Wellington’s construction. This can be seen to great effect on the exterior
and interior detail within the aircraft in FSX and ACOF.
I could wax lyrical about this incredible aircraft, but I will not. There
are many dedicated sites that will do a better job than I can of extolling
its virtues.
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Packaging
The Single CD is held securely in a black Plastic DVD case. The inlay
card has a fabulous picture of the Wellington in its maritime role and an
insert screenshot of a more conventional camouflage paint scheme.
On the reverse is the usual ‘spattering’ of historical info and of course
the tech data. There are 5 in-set photos, further tempting you. I have to
say these look pretty impressive, so rip open the cellophane protective
covering and open that CD-ROM tray and install!
Worthy of note, on the inside front cover you will find a manual covering
some basic information. Ensure you do not lose this as there is a Serial
Code number on the lower left front cover. If you have to re-load the
program at a later stage for whatever reason, this number is vital to enable
the subsequent installation.
What Is Included?
We get four versions of the Wellington in the distinctive liveries of
the most notable Squadrons, drawn form Bomber Command and Coastal Command.
To add a little more authenticity, also included is the scenery of RAF
Station Driffield in East Yorkshire, UK. Driffield was the home of many
Wellington Squadrons and an ideal place to start you sortie. If you are
using FSX, you actually have TWO sorties included. I have flown both - they
feel authentic and are fun to complete.
If you are eager to fly some more sorties within FSX, more are available
free as stated in the accompanying info booklet page 4. They can be found on
the First Class Simulations site;- www.firstclasssimulations.com... or are
they? This seemed a nice gesture, or so I thought, until I looked on the
website, contacted the tech desk and was informed via e-mail that there are
not any expansion missions as yet (currently being worked on -anticipated
download availability in Feb 09). Odd that, especially when we are told
there are some more missions to download from the website.
Installation
I have now had the privilege to review a number of First Class Simulations
software packages and the installation procedure is fairly typical. It
consists of loading the CD and following the simple instructions. Voila, you
have another aircraft in your private hangar.
Worthy of note here, guys, is that you have the option for installation in
BOTH FSX and FS2004. I have both installed so I was thankful for this
feature. It worked and all the aircraft and scenery were successfully
installed.
Walk Around
In the first instance, I have selected FSX to best appreciate the detail
offered. So, with RAF Station Driffield selected, you instantly note the new
war time scenery, which actually is rather good.
I selected the Wellington from the on-screen aircraft selection and pressed
OK. After a second or two, there it is. I acknowledged the settings and was
ready for a sortie. But before we take to the skies, let’s have a
walk-around.
Standing back, you will notice the excellent effects, including authentic
and accurate colour schemes and excellent roundels and lettering on the
wing, fuselage and tail. On first glance you may feel the colouring is
slightly odd, not the same intensity as if applied to a metal substrate. Do
not panic - as mentioned, this aircraft had fabric applied over an aluminum
frame, (engine nacelles are an exception) so the colours reflect this,
actually to good effect.
I did feel that the exhaust staining of the upper wing surfaces did not take
on the lighter grey effect that typically resulted from a high level of lead
in the aviation fuel of the time. I do not have an accurate pictorial
reference, so I may be misguided, but all other aircraft of this era had the
light grey staining evident on the fuselage or upper/lower surfaces of the
wings, not rust-coloured staining. This only a personal view and may not be
factually correct.
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Moving rearwards, the engine nacelle intakes are on show with some
lovely front-of-engine detail in evidence. I would have to say the
spinners looked a little odd in terms of the colour - more about
that later. |
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One of the most important features of an aircraft is the crew. In all of the
aircraft types on offer you will see a pilot, a bomb aimer and a tail gunner
- all are excellently rendered.
All control surfaces move accurately; the flaps have some lovely frame
detail once in the deployed position.
My overriding opinion is that the AC looked accurate. I simply loved the
Perspex reflections from the cockpit, nose astrodome and tail (reflection
effects were great in FSX).
Take a good peek on the side of the fuselage - look through the side
windows. You will see some tables and various equipment on show. Such is the
detail on offer.
With the engines running you can see the prop ‘haze’. This looks very good
indeed. [In FS2004 I got a strange green haze that looked totally wrong. On
investigation from the tech team, it was stated some other customers have
identified this issue, and they are working on it. A possible resolution has
been offered: ”you have to set the mip map level to maximum in FS2004 to
solve the haze effect’’ so, there we have it.]
I have not mentioned the sounds as yet. Why? No real reason. I say they are
excellent and add much to the overall effect. In fact, I would say good
sound sets are pivotal to the success or failure of any offering. Here, my
friends, they work exceedingly well.
Lighting? OK, it does not have incredible strobe lighting, nor-should it.
What it does present looks authentic - nav lights, other wing tip white
lights and a great port-side, under-wing, downward-facing light which works
very well in low light conditions, showing you the approaching ground.
Under-fuselage identification lighting, looking from the outside, is good.
The cockpit has a red glow, not disproportionate, and actually the effect
works very well.
Interior
Often the disappointment of many a package, I am glad to report the interior
is simply lovely. There is great attention to detail showing off the frame
structure and instruments on offer. Many are inter-active. One feature that
is so important when flying in FSX is the VC mode instrumentation. These
have to be presented in an easy to read format. The instruments look
authentic and perform well. (in FS2004 the same applies to 2D & VC modes)
One feature I felt looked a tad out of place was a number of large screws
running across the top the instrument panel. These looked, well, ‘hurried’.
If they are there at the correct scale as presented, attention to getting a
seamless round outer edge would not have gone amiss.
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I would end this section by saying the overall effect is excellent, and
looks and feels like a bomber of that time.
Take To the Skies
Let’s assume I have been to pre-flight briefing, patted the obligatory black
Labrador good bye, settled my mess bill, ordered my breakfast to be waiting
upon my return from my ‘daring-do-mission’ and have been dropped of at the
dispersal point by a manic driver of a jeep, where I have been hanging on
for dear-life…. (We have all seen those films!)
With the magic of pressing a button, I am placed in the left seat (just as
well not the right, because there is not one!). Both engines are running and
warmed up in preparation for taxiing to the active. I select a constant rpm
to get moving and start my taxi to the active, noting differential braking
is available and works. I line up on the RAF Driffield grass strip, deploy
some flaps, hold the brakes and increase the throttle levers gradually to
100%. As the propellers begin to bite, I release the brakes and hold the
nose straight with the rudder, as it is a ‘tail-dragger’. As airspeed
builds, I add in some nose-down pressure - just a tad to get the tail wheel
off the ground, but not so much as to give my poor bomb aimer a heart
attack! The speed increases and a gentle back-pressure rewards me with
ascent into the air.
Above tree height, the gear comes up - a whine is heard. Airspeed is
increasing and in come the flaps - speed increases further as you would
expect.
At 6,000’ AGL let’s have a play. I tried all control surfaces - all
performed in what I can only assume to be acceptable limits. The responses
certainly felt like a ‘heavy’. It did not turn like a Spitfire, or climb
like one, which is a good thing! From the cockpit, I took a look out of each
window. I loved the sound effects; when tracking from left to right the
sound changes - nice detail.
One thing I noticed that stood out was the spinner detail. The effect was
not convincing at all. The colour of the rotating spinner just looks odd.
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I think the effect is trying to emulate a ‘weathered’ spinner, i.e. paint
missing from it. What ever the aim, it has not worked. BUT it is a minor
issue, and does not detract from the other 95% of loveliness. |
A quick point here, I am running a fairly quick machine and I decided to
view the aircrafts progress from the exterior. As the Driffield scenery came
into view I noted a specific slow down in frame rates while still some
thirty to forty miles away from the airfield. If this is unique to my
machine so be it, but on a slightly slower machine it seems likely that this
slowing down could be quite pronounced.
At long last, ESTABLISHED. Gentle reductions of throttle gave me a decent
and accurate rate of descent. Gradual increases gave me additional height
when I demanded it. Over the threshold, cut the throttle, full flaps – I
sank to the ground and made contact. Gradual braking resulted in a
controlled full stop. Once off the active the flaps come up and I have a
gentle taxi back - lovely.
One of the many external views you can opt for shows off the detail when
taxing. I noticed that from time to time the main wheels appeared to be just
off the ground. This may be due to the FSX/ACOF and not the aircraft
software being reviewed, however, I have to say it was the scenery provided
in the package for FSX, RAF Driffield.
Conclusion
I simply adore any aircraft from this period, especially RAF Bombers. I was
extremely eager to have a ‘play’ with this beauty, the Wellington.
The scenery included is actually very nice, and does, without doubt, add
some 1940’s atmosphere.
As to the issues identified, the green prop haze in FS2004 is not a constant
feature, but a periodic annoyance. The fix mentioned above may well resolve
the issue. There were no additional missions for FSX when I looked despite
being informed there are some available, though these may materialize soon
enough.
The scenery slowdown while some way out on the approach was not something I
expected on a commercially available product, especially as many freeware
offerings are excellent and flawless. This could unique to my machine, but I
doubt it.
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Personally, I feel the cost is spot-on; if you have FSX and 2004 you will be
able to install on both resulting in excellent value.
If you like aircraft from this period, especially the RAF types, this simply
has to a part of your collection. OK, in my opinion it is not 100%, because
of some minor detail areas, but, I’ll bet you would be hard pressed to find
an offering with so much detail and accuracy any where else.
I have a feeling many more sorties await me!
Cost: $ 29.95 £ 20.37
Onwards and Upwards,
Nigel. C. Martin.
Tested for approx 10 hours. (8- FSX 2- 2004)
System used:
AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core
2.60 GHz
2GB Ram
Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX & FS2009
G-Force 9500GT
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