New Virtavia freebies.
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Thread: New Virtavia freebies.

  1. #1

    Icon25 New Virtavia freebies.

    As Shessi pointed out (in another forum..) Virtavia has released some more of their old payware files for the FSX family, FS9, and Xplane.


    http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...a-new-freebies!

    For those of us who are unclean and fly FS9, read on.


    I only got skunked with the C-17 as I bought it (on sale) last year, but I was able to get "the ideal discount" on some files I had planned to buy, but was not in a big hurry.

    They are well-worth grabbing, so here's a quick review of what you can get for FS9:


    The C-17. This is a big, fiddly aircraft. Much like their C-5B but with more switches to play with. Still, a must-have if you're into cargo haulers and you have a fast CPU.

    The C-7 Caribou. The first plane on my "Yeah, someday.." list. You get two basic models, clean nose or a ray dome nose. The dynamics for FS9 are a little goofy due to the reversing props so you'll want to use <ctrl> E to get things running instead of "m + + +". This aircraft seems to be more developed for FSX so you'll want to do some small tweaks to the aircraft.cfg file (gear length) and spinning prop blade textures. One quick and dirty edit you'll want if you use ATC comms is to make the following changes:
    Open the aircraft.cfg file and locate the atc_type and atc_model lines in the [General] section below the individual entries. Change them to

    atc_type=DEHAVILLAND
    atc_model=DHC4

    and your voice comms will sound better. This seems to be a hold-over from the Alphasim days when people would think, "Phil must have taken care of that, right?"

    The CH-46 Sea Knight . Just the thing when you want a dual-rotor heavy lifter for your carriers and NAS scenery. My only gripe with this download is the internal sounds, which (IMO) are too quiet. Otherwise, it flies right and you get several texture sets from the mid-1960's into the 1980's.

    The B-29. To be honest, I missed this one when I read Shessi's post. I'll fix that tonight. I need another B-29/B-50 in FS9 like I need another hole in my head, I already have the freeware birds and the WOP B-29A. Which is the perfect reason to snag this download. (Update- Shessi, am I missing something or is this download ONLY for XPlane?)

    Saving the best for last, the SAAB J39 Gripen. To be honest, I intended to buy this one several times over the last 4 years but I didn't pull the trigger. For you virtual fighter jocks, think of the Gripen like a Mirage I and a Eurofighter had a child and promptly sent it off to boarding school in Sweden. Its light, its nimble, and its slightly under-powered compared to US and Russian fighter jets. Still, its a BLAST to fly. You get two basic airframes- single and dual seat, plus the option for an external fuel tank, clean, or missiles (AIM-120s and AIM-9s).
    The flight dynamics, as far as I can tell, are very honest for this plane. The Gripen is a top-line fighter if your air force has serious budget concerns. Load on the G's and you will QUICKLY lose air speed. This is one of those "with the right kind of pilot" fighters. Think of it like a Rafale with only one engine.
    The cockpit was what mostly kept me from buying this download. The virtual cockpit looked like maybe some stuff was missing. I'm glad to say I was wrong. While some of the switches (the MFDs) can only be used in the 2D panel, everything carries over to the virtual cockpit once its selected. Just be aware that the plane loads with the HUD turned off. After some initial fumbles, its quite easy to get it turned on and set up. After that, the HUD is really a stand-out feature. You get more than enough info plus an animated bore sight tracker.
    The sound folder is really good. About the only thing I would change is to add the "Unhappy Betty" gauge and sound files from the Lago F-16 to enhance the HUD warnings.

  2. #2
    Oops, I missed one.

    The SH-3 Sea King. I bought this download several years ago. You get a good collection of US and UK Sea Kings. Two stand outs are the recovery chopper for the Apollo moon missions and MARINE ONE (a separate MDL with a well-dressed flight crew) which can still be seen on the White House lawn. There are several MDL variations for stuff like ASW and SAR missions. A good, solid download for a ubiquitous helo.

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