SSW Harrier

[Montie]

I am thinking of getting the SSW Harrier, as I have never managed to to get the Razbam Harrier to perform a decent VSTOL, it "flips and dips" heavily at times. Anybody got experience with the SSW model?

[Daube]

If your RAZBAM Harrier flips and cannot perform a correct VTOL, it simply means your aircraft is too heavy.
Ensure you are within the limits and the VTOL will work normally.

As for the SSW Harrier, 99% of the user feedback tells about a much more believable VTOL behavior.
The RAZBAM Harrier has better graphic quality, but the SSW Harrier has a much better flight model and is much lighter on the FPS.
I bought the RAZBAM Harrier only because SSW forces us to use PayPal, and I don't want to use it.

[Victory103]

If you have not already done so, take a look at this thread by "Deacon211", good read on the differences between the models and why he would pick one over the other:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ghlight=deacon

[kdfw]

razbam vstol does work, just need to be easy on the controls.

[StormILM]

I bought the Razbam model on sale late last year. In general it is nice but the STO/VL is certainly not as accurate as SSW's. One thing of note that is seen in the video, the thrust sounds (& power settings) do not correspond with where it should be (high rpm) while in a hover. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see a fix for the Razbam Harrier on this issue as I believe the options for fixing the issue are limited and the only true & workable system that's in the performance & handling ballpark is copyrighted & in the hands of SSW. Not a stab at either Dev at all. They both make good products I am proud to have paid my hard earned money to own their models. Just a pity there's no way any middle ground can be found on the matter. (and no, I DO NOT wish this to become a heated debate, no need!).

[DaveB]

I don't have the SSW model but seriously looked at it a while back. I dug out a report (think it might have been at Flightsim.com) and was a bit put off by the amount of reading it said you need to do. Shamefully.. I've become a 'jump in and fly' simmer!!

I do have the Razbam models as well as the Wilco model. I actually think the 'hover' is better on the Wilco model but for whatever reason.. it's heavy on FR's. I prefer the navy and GR3 versions too which is a shame. The Razbam model is surprisingly light on frames on my i5 but I'm not a huge fan of the Harrier/AV8 version so neither (Wilco nor Razbam) get flown much.
ATB
DaveB

[Dimus]

I received the SSW Harrier as a generous gift from SSW to the Greek simmers. It was very easy to start it and hover as well as transition from hover to level flight and vice versa, provided you watch your weight. The modelling is good, even though I like their work in the F-84F better, but I am really not entitled at all to complain. I do not have the Razbam version so can't compare.

[spins_vmfa321]

I have both Harriers!

SSW
Great flight model (ground handling and flight) and fantastic hover modeling.

-Hover control (the most important): If you've ever flown Dino's F-35B, the hover handing is similar to that aircraft, but you are much more hands on. You can perform most of the hovering and slow speed maneuvers, including the bow. You have to take in consideration water injection
as well as weight. You also get a smooth transition from hover to conventional flight, at any bank or pitch angle (from what I've experience).

-Ground Handling: Dropping on the gear from a hover gives you a really nice bounce (don't do it at too fast a rate/weight!). You have to activate nose wheel steering, which is cool.

-Conventional Flight: Pretty good! It flies realistically, from what I can tell. There isn't a whole lot of craziness you can really do, and it departs fairly decently.

-Graphics: The exterior model looks pretty good. The default textures could be a tad better, but they're not too bad at all. It definitely looks like a harrier. The VC is ok. The fonts in the HUD are a bit thick for my tastes, and some of the geometry is fairly simple and do the job.

-Animations: Lots of neat animations! Throttle position locks; Canopy that you have to manually slide open and close (with a cool unlocking animation). Exterior nozzles rotate and look cool. Flaps, all that jazz looks pretty good. And you get a refueling probe.

-Sounds: Sounds are pretty good! However, there a few tad off-putting sounds like a clip from the theme song of COPS that plays when you do something "illegal" in the plane. Typically it's pressing a button that doesn't work, I think, or some kind of wonky maneuver that causes the plane to do an unrealistic departure (which is rare). Also, you get heavy breathing from high "G" forces. I'm not quite a fan of that in planes, but I totally understand why developers put it in.

RAZBAM

-Great looking exterior and interior, with fantastic lighting, avionics displays and other niftiness.

-Ground Handling: Equally as good as the SSW, but no NWS toggling. The gear are also nice and beefy.

-Conventional Flight: Very nice! It also doesn't depart or handle unrealistically, except in certain instances where you're on the edge of post stall flight on the edge of the hovering profile. But, if I remember correctly, you kind of have to force yourself into anything crazy

-Hovering: I hate to say, nowhere near as nice as SSW or Dino's. It's really difficult to get it into a true hover, it tends to want to maintain some kind of forward momentum. The controls get very sensitive in this regime, as well as a bit clippy. BUT, if you do get into a hover, it's pretty fun! Alot of power management and intuition comes into play. And she looks pretty sweet hanging there!

-Sounds: Sounds are pretty awesome! Someone mentioned before about the strange sounds issues when you use the nozzles. It can get kinda confusing if you're trying to manage thrust via sound. But beyond that, sounds are pretty good!



I enjoy both, but I tend to fly around with SSW's more often. They're a small group, and they used to have (not sure about now) some fairly tedious purchasing methods, BUT, the product is definitely worth it for "out of the box" hovering sweetness.
Razbams' is killer as well. Flying the boat (moving) is a bit trickier with it because of the controls and twitchiness, but once you get used to it and can anticipate it, it's not so bad.

Jamal