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Overview &
Background
Just Flight are gaining a reputation
for innovative releases for FSX and Airshow Pilot, one of their latest,
is no exception. While the premise of Airshow Pilot is relatively simple
i.e. you are a display or Aerobatic Pilot, the implementation of this is
anything but. Now I don't mean that in a negative way, its more of an
acknowledgement that this is a very thorough add-on that has a huge
amount of depth and expansion possibilities.
Let me say from the outset that this
review will not tell you all there is to know about this product.
Airshow Pilot is career based and I am still in my infancy down that
path, but what I will endeavor to do is give you a glimpse into the world
of Airshow Pilot and how it works. The Just Flight website describes
Airshow pilot thus:
"Whether you want to perform Loops, Cuban Eights, Rolls and Immelmanns
in a dedicated aerobatic aircraft like the Extra, fly a fast and low
display pass along the crowd line in an huge Airbus or perform in an
Arrow or Diamond formation in a Hawk trainer, Airshow Pilot is
guaranteed to give you a whole new perspective on aircraft handling.
(The Hawk utilises the Learjet instrument panel.)"
This one sentence
sums it up really, and if you are like me and don't have a clue what
half of those things it says are, then you soon will along with a whole
lot more.
Installation & Documentation
I had the good fortune of reviewing
the DVD copy of Airshow pilot however it is also available as an instant
download from the Just Flight website. You'll also be pleased to know
that a demo of Airshow pilot has been released and this is a 19mb
download available on the Airshow Pilot product page
here. Installing Airshow Pilot was a
simple affair that required me to select my language, agree to the terms
and conditions and click go and after only a few minutes the process was
complete. Download customers will need to provide their product
activation key for an online activation. The files themselves according
to the box cover take up 1GB of space. Looking through my main FSX
folder after installation it was clear Airshow Pilot installs several
different folders across various parts of both the main FSX folder but
also other locations on the hard drive. The program files which consist
of the main Airshow Pilot interface and several development
applications, scenery items and sound for the shows and a special BAe
Hawk aircraft that has the ability to fly in formation with several of
its own kind are included.
Install Screen
Install Progress
Manual
The included manual, also available
as a separate download on the Airshow Pilot product page, is a hefty 76
page beast covering all aspects of the product. I didn't look at this to
begin with as I wanted to see how user friendly Airshow Pilot would be
but certainly referred to it as I spent time with the software both
during set-up and flying. Its well written with plenty of pictures
making it relatively straight forward to get going. My only note is
looking at the manual could lead you to think Airshow Pilot is allot
more complicated than it actually is, that was my first impression
anyway but after a few hours using the software things become pretty
clear.
Airshow Pilot is made up of five
aspects. 1 -Career Mode - This allows you
to select competitions and displays throughout a 12 month period and
build up points. This can include both offline and online events.
2 - Practice - Once you select an event you have the option to
practice the routine outlined for that even and you can also practice
each maneuver you will encounter at the air shows individually as well.
3 Competition - This is where you fly the routine and are
awarded points for successfully completing each part of the routine. 4 Creation - A set of tools that allows you to create your
own shows anywhere in the world. Here you can include as many routines
as you wish and also develop show 'scenery' and 5 Flight Recorder
- The utility that records your display routine, allows Airshow Pilot to
score you and also allow you to replay your flight in FSX. Lets look at
each of these in a little more detail as they form the basis that
everything happens in Airshow Pilot.
Menus & Your Career
Airshow Pilot runs as a separate
program and uses simconnect to 'talk' with FSX, so you start Airshow
Pilot first before entering FSX. Double clicking the Airshow Pilot icon
that was on my desktop I was presented with the Airshow Pilot interface
that consists of menu options to the left and details to the right
depending on what option you have selected. On first run I needed to
confirm the location of a few folders to save my events into and I also
chose to go directly to the tools option and set up my practice airport.
What this does is allow you to practice any upcoming event at an
airfield of your own choice rather than the one you'll be flying at.
After several hours of use I'm not sure that works as well as it could
because I found I preferred to get a feel for the environment I would be
in so I changed that. Having the option to change this is great and each
user will find out what works best for them. I also set up my online
presence as well so online events would then be added to the calendar so
I would have a choice of both off-line and on-line events to fly at.
The Airshow Pilot interface has 5
areas. The first is the calendar and here are listed the shows that you
can fly at. Depending on whether you set-up online events will determine
how many appear here throughout the year. Clicking any one of these
events opens up the event details and this is dominated by small images
of the routines that need to be completed for that show. This is where
having the manual handy is good so you can be clear on what is being
asked. Having said that one of the options on this page is to practice
the routine in FSX but we will look at that later. At the top are
details of the event and any training you may have completed, and if you
have flown the routine in the show proper your score will be displayed.
Filters are available once your career takes off to streamline searches.
You can also select what type of routine you will fly based on your
experience and preferences. There are 3 choices shown on screen as
either a green, red or blue pilot icon.
Green
is basic aerobatics, Red
is advanced aerobatics and
Blue are display flights
so don't involve aerobatics at all and are more focused on fly-past's.
The great thing is that each show has all three components and you do
have the option of flying one show type and going back later and trying
another. You can also print out the show program.
Event Menu
Event
Details
Current
Event Details
Evaluation
Training
Choices
Rankings
The current event
icon shows you details of, unsurprisingly your current event. Here you
will see the date you flew the show, how long it took, what aircraft you
used and your score. You also have the opportunity to view your
evaluation and look at each aspect of the routine and see how you
scored. You can re-fly the routine in FSX and watch how you did from
either first or third person (well look at this more closely later) and
if you have set-up online options you can upload your flight details and
compare your results with other people around the world. You can also
download their flight so if they have a good score i.e. better than
yours you can see for yourself how they did it. This screen also allows
you to see your ranking and this includes comparisons with others who
have flown it online.
The next option is practice and this
lists all of the display types and gives you the chance to learn how to
fly them and practice. This also gives you a score. The next menu item
is Competition results and lists what awards you have gained. You can
display either off or on-line results and select what category you wish
to view, Sportsman, Advanced or Display. A filter is provided once your
season starts to fill up and you can also search for an individual.
Set Up My
Information
Adjusting
Colors
Adjusting
Fonts
The last menu item is Options. Here
you select your training airfield, can adjust the colors and fonts used
in Airshow Pilot and what specific folder you use to save personal
creations. You also have the ability to adjust the flight recorder
options from here as well.
Training
For my first
flight I selected to do training for the display at Antalya (LTAI).
Because it was practice I started at Wanaka so in Airshow Pilot I
clicked the fly new flight button and Airshow Pilot moves into the
background as the flight recorder goes into action. FSX auto loads and
then I needed to set up a flight at Wanaka in my aircraft of choice. For
this flight the Extra300 was the recommended aircraft, however I
selected the P51 Mustang initially before changing that to the Red
Checkers CT4 air trainer. In FSX the routine is presented visually in a
circle of floating balls which represents the routine flying zone. I was
instructed through on-screen messages similar to airport ATIS that I
initially needed to climb to 1500 feet and enter the zone. Luckily the
balls sit at the right altitude with the middle of the three at the
selected altitude. Once I entered the zone I was required to fly
horizontally and when ready tap the brake button to start the routine.
The first gate appeared and I was off. Man it was hard. I was all over
the place like a giddy goat seeing these 'paper darts' all over the
place and trying to follow them and end up in the right place to fly
through the routine end gate. To say the learning curve was steep is an
understatement, however an important early learning was the recommended
aircraft is given for a reason, hence why I swapped out of the P51 to
the CT4 as the mustang couldn't handle the hard banks I needed to do and
I knew the CT4 would be closer to the Extra300. Airshow Pilot does make
it as easy on you as possible though. I missed several gates and I got a
message saying I had done so and would it like me to move the gate? I
said yes and bingo it appeared directly in front of me. By this time I
was well outside the display zone but Airshow Pilot took pity on me and
we eventually got the routine completed. Once each phase of the show is
done you hit the brake button again and the next phase is set up. Each
gate will make a 'bong' noise when you fly through it indicating that
portion of the routine has begun, if its a flat dull 'bong' that means
you actually missed the gate and need to either turn around and try
again or shift the gate in front of you, however you do loose points if
you do this. Audio cues pop up throughout routines and are a great help
in letting you know how you go. All of this happened very smoothly and I
was impressed with the overall performance in FSX with FPS holding
nicely around the 24-30 mark. Once the display is completed you land,
shut down FSX and then Airshow Pilot and the Flight Recorder have a chat
and provide ranking details and an evaluation of your flight.
Visually the way
Airshow Pilot displays the routines in practice mode is pretty
impressive. Initially the entire routine is displayed but once you start
only the current aspect of the display is shown, so what can seem like a
hugely complicated mess becomes manageable. However your flying skills
will be tested, I came away from my first sessions feeling totally
inadequate as a pilot but that reflected it was my first time, and even
though Airshow Pilot had been gentle with me it can't compensate for a
lack of flying skill.
The
Routine
Right Hand
Turn
Flying
Level
My initial feeling that my first
sortie was a disaster was confirmed in my evaluation. I opted to review
the flight in FSX and as part of this I could choose to display freeze
images. Basically this is the aircraft that was used to fly the display
shown in FSX at every 1 second interval. This will fill your sky with
hundreds if not thousands of the same aircraft as it was captured
performing the flight. This will kill your FPS however if you use slew
it makes for very interesting viewing and for some amazing screen shots
as you can see below. I also had the option to watch the display in
first person view so I could sit back and watch and still use the
various FSX views, or I could use third person and watch me fly the
display in real time from the ground or even following. The playback
options are easy to use and you can rewind or fast forward any part of
the routine, you can also set it to loop the performancee so it keeps
playing if you wish. The flight recorder can also be used as a stand
alone tool, though I haven't tried it as yet but from what I have seen
in Airshow Pilot it appears to be more reliable and powerful than the
inbuilt FSX recorder.
Flight
Evaluation
Playback 1
Playback 4
Playback 3
Playback 5
Playback 6
Playback 7
Flight
recorder Options
Creating your Own Airshow's
The other great
feature with Airshow Pilot is the set of tools that come with it to
allow you to create your own Airshow. These can be built anywhere in the
world and are made using three tools. The first is the Flight Program
Designer. This tool lets you select what makes up the display
routine and allows you to select any easy or difficult aerobatic routine
as well as more standard display routines. The cool thing is you can mix
and match though you do need to be mindful of what aircraft you are
displaying in as it is reasonably unviable to have a Catalina doing a
loop. You can set these up either in the tool itself of you can have
some real fun and do it inside FSX. Options are the key word because you
have plenty of them when setting up a display. Two click boxes in
particular control what is displayed visually in FSX as you build your
display, the first is 'Create figures in flight simulator'. This will
display the start and end gate for each display and you also have the
option of determining how far away an aircraft should be to start its
run and what altitude. I personally found just setting an altitude was
enough and dint worry about distance from airport. The second tick box
is 'Create example flights' and this is where the aircraft you have
selected as your recommended aircraft will be displayed performing the
routine. Now this is static rather than it flying, but it creates a very
powerful visual representation of the maneuver you have set up as part
of the routine. You can have as many or few aspects to your show as you
wish and once your happy you save the file and can move on to creating
show scenery if you wish.
WOW
Porpram Printed
Setting up
a Display Pass
Loop the
Loop
Creating
Show Scenery
You can
add ANY FSX Aircraft
Scenery
and Planes
My WOW
Evaluation
Air New
Zealand Fleet
The second and
what I consider to be the funnest tool is the Flightsim Population
Designer. With this tool you can add quite literally thousands of
scenery objects from FSX onto the airport where you are conducting your
show. It also features the ability to have any aircraft in your
inventory displayed as a static aircraft. This can be anything from a
default B737-800 to the latest Captainsim 767-300. I also liked the fact
that all of the AI I had was also able to be used. The process of adding
items is simple enough because the FSPopulation Designer links to FSX in
real time so where your aircraft is currently at in the FSX world is
where the scenery object you select will be placed. This makes for
pretty quick scenery development. My only grumble with this is the
Airshow crowds that are already in FSX don't appear to be able to be
use. Instead you have the Just Flight version and with the maximum
number being 100 it takes some time and effort to get these placed.
Everything else worked like a charm and I was very happy with the end
result I was able to achieve in about 30 minutes. If you have a lower
end PC you have the choice of not displaying show scenery when you fly
at an Airshow. Also when you are in training mode scenery will never
show up, its only available when you are competing. Some scenery items
also have the option of enabling sound so you actually get the sounds of
an Airshow which can be anything from crowd applause to the sound of the
carnival around the static displays. I found the sound quality of these
not to be the best but they are effective in adding atmosphere. Once you
are happy with your scenery its a matter of saving it and your ready for
the next step, creating your show so it can be flown.
The WOW
Crowd
My First
WOW Display
The 777 is
big eh Eddy?
Just
Flight Pavilion
Low and
slow
My F-18
Display
Blast-off!
I mean take-off
Thank you,
thank you very much.
The last tool is
the Flight Event Designer and this is simply a small tool that
allows you to bring the components of a show together so Airshow Pilot
will display it as an option to fly. The tool uses 6 boxes, on the left
it lists the various programs and population files you have created. You
select the combination you want and they appear on the right hand side,
from here you can then save the file and you have a new Airshow that
will appear on the list of flyable shows under the calendar. These can
be uploaded so others can take advantage of your handy work. An example
of this can be seen in the screenshots below. This was a show in Suva
and is a lovely example of how scenery has been built to support the
display routine. In the first image I am about to enter the zone to
start the show, 5 minutes later I am about to touch down after
completing the routine, and the final shot shows my aircraft parked up
amongst the appreciative audience. Its a shame the judges thought I
sucked but that's life I guess.
Entering
the Zone
Short
Finals post display
Adoring
Suva crowd
FINAL WORDS & RATING
I really really
liked Airshow Pilot. I think the way it has been implemented is
fantastic and while it was a steep learning curve for me the challenge
it represents tended to spur me on to try again rather than put me off,
at least that was my experience. The ability to compete online and track
your results is lots of fun and top that off with the ability to create
your own shows, I reckon Just Flight have a real winner and on that
basis deserves our Golden X award. I also appreciate this add-on wont be
for everyone. Going into this review I wasn't quite sure if I would like
it because I don't tend to do allot of aerobatics, but once I got into
it I was hooked. The flexibility and range of routines will in my view
satisfy most types of flyers. The recording tool in itself is very
powerful and something I can see being used separately given its
flexibility. I really loved the scenery design aspect as well, this also
has some wonderful applications beyond Airshow Pilot (Want to know what
your entire collection of 737-800 skins would look like parked up at
NZAA? Set them all up as static displays and spend an afternoon walking
around them with ORBX's BOB). I started this review commenting that Just
Flight are gaining a reputation as innovators with FSX. Having spent
many hours with Airshow Pilot I stand behind that statement. Airshow
Pilot is FSX at its best in my view and an add-on that has so much
adaptability it can satisfy the most ambitious aerobatics pilot or the
gentlest war birds fly past. The option really is yours.
Visit the Just
Flight Airshow Pilot product page
here, download the PDF manual
here and the Airshow Pilot demo
here.
