I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving. This holiday kicks off the stressful holiday race to New Years in which we all grow, get stuck in long lines, and rack up some debt. I hope everyone enjoys the time with their friends and family. Please be thankful for what you have!
Cheers!
This is a release I have been waiting for for my entire flight simulator career; the release of a decent quality Mooney Mite (aka M-18). While I had seen a few works in progress advertised on the world wide web, nothing was near completion. Well, until now. Tim “Piglet” Conrad brought the Mite to life for FSX-SP2 today when he released his model over at Sim-Outhouse (which, by the way, is 7 years old!) While I am still in the process of downloading it, once I boot into Windows and capture some screenshots, I will give a more detailed review.
For now, go grab this historic flight simulator release!
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Post Download Update:
This model is super simple to install, just copy the M-18C folder to the airplanes foled and place the *.cab file in the gauges folder. Fire up FSX, select the Mooney Mite and you are ready to go.
The M-18C is small, but looks impressive.
I decided to take the Mite out for a quick flight from Kerrville Municipal Airport (KERV), where the current Mooney Aircraft factory is located, to San Antonio International (KSAT). This short flight would give me plenty of opportunity to experience grounding handling and airborne flight dynamics.
On the ramp at KERV, prior to departure.
The level of detail that Tim put into this model is what we would expect for the latest generation of flight simulators. From the propeller to the map/dog treat pocket in the virtual cockpit, to the Mooney logo on the tail, no detail has been spared.
The vitrual cockpit is highly detailed and is the perfect place to conduct business.
Taxiing the Mite is a true joy as its responsiveness is lively and goes where you tell it to. The oversize tires and unique landing gear definitely make great contact with the ground. After looking at the Mite sitting on the ramp, I wondered if there were some balance issues as the landing gear looks too far forward. It really isn’t and the ground experience is pleasantly civil.
Climbing out from KERV for San Antonio.
On the takeoff roll, the Mite came off the runway so smoothly that the only indication was the lack of tire noise. Pulling lightly back on the stick brought the nose up and a more aggressive climb. Note that I did not give the Mite full throttle, only slightly more than half and it still became airborne in a reasonable amount of runway length.
Climbing the Mite is slow, but stable.
As I turned toward Comfort, Texas, I did give the Mite more throttle for a more aggressive climb to 4,000 feet. While not a stunning climber, the Mite does well for its small engine and gives the pilot a sense of stability that other small aircraft only wish they could achieve.
Looking toward Kelly AFB as we cruise south of KSAT for runway 30R.
Cruising across the Texas hill country at slightly more than 100knts in this Mite was a real treat. The flight dynamics are stable, even with a stiff, gusting crosswind. I learned to appreciate the sensitivity to control input. Like a dog, I found out how much this Mite could be a man’s best friend!
Approaching the airport a little too high and fast, but the Mite seems to love it.
Approaching San Antonio, I really wanted to continue flying, but it was time to see how this old friend handles descents and approaches. I purposely came in high and fast for runway 30R. I wanted to see what would happen in a rapid descent and then how quickly I could burn excess energy to cause a stall just prior to touchdown. It did pretty good and I was impress with nosing down to ten degrees and throttling back the throttle kept speed under control. At the bottom of the rapid descent, I began leveling off and found that the speed wasn’t bleeding off as quickly as I had hoped. Extending the landing gear and then the flap helped, but I still ended up landing more than halfway down the runway. I think this efficiency in maintaining speed speaks kudos to its design.
A zoom view from KSAT tower, the Mite looks as graceful as she feels.
Once parked on the GA ramp at San Antonio, I took a moment to reflect on the flight. The Mooney Mite is an exceptional aircraft whose only limitation is that you can’t share its grace with anyone else (it’s a single seater). However, as a personal runabout, the Mite is fast, efficient, and stands out on the ramp. Tim’s mastery of flight simulator modeling has transformed a little known legend into a download that we can all enjoy. A big cheers goes to Al Mooney for creating the wonderful Mite in the first place and Tim “Piglet” Conrad for making this experience available to all of us!
The first of three repaints included in the download.
The second of three repaints include. Reminds me of a bumble bee!
The third of three repaints. The Zero repaint looks pretty good on this model.
THANK YOU, Piglet!
Author: Tim “Piglet” Conrad
Filename: M-18C.zip
Size: 9.5 Mb
Download Links: available at Sim-Outhouse and Flightsim
Update files: none as of yet
Hi All,
On the heels of their MD-11 surprise, Premier Aircraft Design (PAD) posted a screenshot of an upcoming release, the Dornier Do228. The Do228 is a German twin turboprop utility aircraft with exceptional short-field performance. Manufactured between 1981 and 1998, it proved popular with airlines in the Caribbean and Africa, where short-field operations and conditions call for a rugged aircraft.
Check out their website for its release. Given their usual attention to detail and slight creative twist, this is going to be a hot download for flight simulator! There are no release dates set, so expect it sometime between now and later.
Cheers!
arealityofmyown
01sept08 – This has been released, so go grab it at the link above!
Hey Loyal Readers,
Two big FS updates from this weekend. I am in the process of writing a more detailed post, but these new models are awesome and there is a lot to tell!
In the meantime, be aware that Project Opensky released their 777-200 version 2 and Allied FS Group released their very long awaited Caravelle.
1) Project Opensky
Release Announcement here
What: Boeing 777-200 version2
2) Allied FS Group
Forum is here with downloads on Flightsim and Avsim
What: Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle
Happy flying! Stay tuned for screenshots and a full review of each!
Last night was EarthHour 2008. For those that don’t know, EarthHour is a grass roots effort to promote action in climate change; at 8pm, March 29th, where ever you are, turn out all of the lights for one hour. I went one step further by turning off all of my electronics, computers, cell phone and anything else that consumed power (yes, the frig too) and used my olive oil lamps as a light source. It was fantastic and I learned how quiet the house really is when all that stuff is turned off.
My EarthHour might seem a little extreme, but I think it is more than just showing support for change in climate change policy. In fact, it is an hour that is yours, only yours. I had a book that I have been wanting to read, but I just haven’t had the time, too many other things happening around me. So, last night, amidst olive oil lamps, I started reading this book after a short meditation period. I got halfway through it before the hour was up. It was awesome. Not only had my progress toward my own goals, but I also saved energy!
For more information on EarthHour and how you can take action against climate change, please visit their website. Soon they will be announcing EarthHour 2009!
Its been awhile since I posted anything. The silence has been due to stress at work, preparing for the triathlon, and a busy personal life. Its amazing how time flies when you have so much to do, but things have been sorta quiet in the flight simulator realm.
Until later… cheers!
July 26, 2009: Project Airbus is on a indefinte hiatus and downloads are no longer available. The A380 has been mothballed. I am leaving the links to their website active for the time being.
Today, Project Airbus previewed a number of liveries for their upcoming Airbus A319. The paints look spectacular and are located in their Preview forum. I can’t wait to get my dirty little hands on the United livery.
While there is still no virtual cockpit in the works, you can alias the A321 panel is FSX and fly it that way. Their current A320 does quite well in FSX and I am ssooooo looking forward to the A319.
26july09 – edit: Added status update at beginning of post.
01july08 – Update! PA released the A319 as freeware… see my post Project Airbus releases A319
Thank you all for reading arealityofmyown. Its been quiet in this reality, lately. I have been busy at work and planning for 2008. Late last year, I joined a gym in an effort to get in shape and have taken it to heart. Needless to say, I haven’t had very much time to write. This year, I hope to spend more time reviewing flight sim add-ons, including scenery and aircraft. But I also hope to steer the blog back toward what I had originally planned to do… that is present my own reality and experiences, giving advice on how to make life a little more productive and enjoyable. For 2007, this blog was all about hobbies of my mine, be it flight simulation or paper models and everything in between. For 2008, I hope to broaden the scope a bit.Cheers!
I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is spending time with those who are close to them and celebrate this special day with plenty of food and presents.
Merry Christmas!
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