Smokey Joe
July 18th, 2011, 19:49
44026
I love flying boats, especially the amphibian flying boats like the Albatross and the Goose, so when I saw that Golden Age Simulations had modeled the Douglas Dolphin, I had to have it. This plane has a lot of history. From Wikipedia:
The Dolphin originated in 1930 as the "Sinbad," a pure flying boat without wheels. The Sinbad was intended as a luxurious flying yacht. The Great Depression had curtailed demand for such extravagance, but Douglas managed to interest the United States Coast Guard who not only bought the Sinbad, but 12 Dolphins.
Undaunted by the lack of demand, Douglas improved the Sinbad in 1931 so that it was amphibious, and could land on water or land. The improved aircraft was named "Dolphin", however this did not represent the end of development, as many detail improvements were made, including an increase in the length of over a foot and several changes were made to the empennage, engine nacelles and wings.
Operational history
The first two were purchased by Wilmington-Catalina Airlines to fly passengers between Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island, becoming the first successful Douglas airliners. Subsequent examples were ordered by the United States Navy and US Coast Guard for use as transports and search and rescue craft. The US Army Air Corps ordered several under the designations C-21, C-26, and C-29. Many were eventually ordered for their original purpose as luxury transports. Owners included William Boeing, the founder of the Boeing Company, and Philip K. Wrigley, the son of the founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. William K. Vanderbilt bought two with custom interiors for use from the Vanderbilt yacht Alva as flying tenders.
One was procured by the US Navy as a transport for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although never used by Roosevelt, this was the first aircraft procured to provide transportation for the President of the United States
The Golden Age model comes with period appropriate scenery for the Wilmington and Catalina airports so you can make that historic flight which is great. The seaplane base on Catalina in that era is unique. This plane is a lot of fun to fly. It is not as powerful as the Grumman Goose, a plane younger by seven years than the Dolphin. Like the Goose, the Dolphin's was an 8 seat luxury flying yacht which was re-purposed when the Depression hit.
The real strength of this offering from GAS is extremely good engine modeling and flight dynamics. You see it particularly in the interplay between the prop pitch and manifold pressure. When you change the prop pitch, the plane shudders just a bit and the RPM does not go immediately to where you set it because the engine has to "find" the new RPM based on the pitch setting you give. Also, changes in manifold pressure will change the RPM setting. All of this is characteristic of these old engines. The high placement of the props also is modeled in the flight dynamics so that increasing throttle will cause the nose to pitch down somewhat. The plane requires smooth and gradual handling of the controls and a bit of thinking ahead and anticipation of its behaviors.
The sound package is also very good. There is a YouTube video of the last flight of a RW Dolpin and the model captures the sound of the engines perfectly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow7AmOkWC0Q
The autopilot is primitive, being only pitch and heading control, but they are correct to the plane and modeled well. The flight dynamics are very good. The plane climbs well, as the original did and cruises at about 150 knots. On a test flight from Miami Seaplane (X44) to Flying Bonefish, I checked the weather and there were two patches of turbulence on the flight path. When I reached those spots, the plane began to bounce around very realistically. Water behavior is very good. The only unrealistic thing about it is that it steers as if it has a water rudder and I don't think the RW plane had one, but if you've ever used a flying boat without a water rudder, you know what a PITA that is. If you're a realism fanatic, you can disable it in your aircraft.cfg file.
This is definitely a plane for those who have a taste for vintage aircraft, but if you are one of those, this is a fun plane that flies well and oozes with history.
The blue and gray plane depicted here, the Rover, was William Boeing's personal plane.
44028
44027
44029
I love flying boats, especially the amphibian flying boats like the Albatross and the Goose, so when I saw that Golden Age Simulations had modeled the Douglas Dolphin, I had to have it. This plane has a lot of history. From Wikipedia:
The Dolphin originated in 1930 as the "Sinbad," a pure flying boat without wheels. The Sinbad was intended as a luxurious flying yacht. The Great Depression had curtailed demand for such extravagance, but Douglas managed to interest the United States Coast Guard who not only bought the Sinbad, but 12 Dolphins.
Undaunted by the lack of demand, Douglas improved the Sinbad in 1931 so that it was amphibious, and could land on water or land. The improved aircraft was named "Dolphin", however this did not represent the end of development, as many detail improvements were made, including an increase in the length of over a foot and several changes were made to the empennage, engine nacelles and wings.
Operational history
The first two were purchased by Wilmington-Catalina Airlines to fly passengers between Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island, becoming the first successful Douglas airliners. Subsequent examples were ordered by the United States Navy and US Coast Guard for use as transports and search and rescue craft. The US Army Air Corps ordered several under the designations C-21, C-26, and C-29. Many were eventually ordered for their original purpose as luxury transports. Owners included William Boeing, the founder of the Boeing Company, and Philip K. Wrigley, the son of the founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company. William K. Vanderbilt bought two with custom interiors for use from the Vanderbilt yacht Alva as flying tenders.
One was procured by the US Navy as a transport for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although never used by Roosevelt, this was the first aircraft procured to provide transportation for the President of the United States
The Golden Age model comes with period appropriate scenery for the Wilmington and Catalina airports so you can make that historic flight which is great. The seaplane base on Catalina in that era is unique. This plane is a lot of fun to fly. It is not as powerful as the Grumman Goose, a plane younger by seven years than the Dolphin. Like the Goose, the Dolphin's was an 8 seat luxury flying yacht which was re-purposed when the Depression hit.
The real strength of this offering from GAS is extremely good engine modeling and flight dynamics. You see it particularly in the interplay between the prop pitch and manifold pressure. When you change the prop pitch, the plane shudders just a bit and the RPM does not go immediately to where you set it because the engine has to "find" the new RPM based on the pitch setting you give. Also, changes in manifold pressure will change the RPM setting. All of this is characteristic of these old engines. The high placement of the props also is modeled in the flight dynamics so that increasing throttle will cause the nose to pitch down somewhat. The plane requires smooth and gradual handling of the controls and a bit of thinking ahead and anticipation of its behaviors.
The sound package is also very good. There is a YouTube video of the last flight of a RW Dolpin and the model captures the sound of the engines perfectly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow7AmOkWC0Q
The autopilot is primitive, being only pitch and heading control, but they are correct to the plane and modeled well. The flight dynamics are very good. The plane climbs well, as the original did and cruises at about 150 knots. On a test flight from Miami Seaplane (X44) to Flying Bonefish, I checked the weather and there were two patches of turbulence on the flight path. When I reached those spots, the plane began to bounce around very realistically. Water behavior is very good. The only unrealistic thing about it is that it steers as if it has a water rudder and I don't think the RW plane had one, but if you've ever used a flying boat without a water rudder, you know what a PITA that is. If you're a realism fanatic, you can disable it in your aircraft.cfg file.
This is definitely a plane for those who have a taste for vintage aircraft, but if you are one of those, this is a fun plane that flies well and oozes with history.
The blue and gray plane depicted here, the Rover, was William Boeing's personal plane.
44028
44027
44029