Part 2
So after a pass of Strom, I inverted the bird and looked up to the ground and down to the sky. As you once again can see, the detail and coloration is very well done and not blurry at all. Default the plane comes with several color schemes. Some miltary, some civilian, giving the user some choices, but I really like this repaint, so it is my personal choice for the review.
Upward I go, still upside down. Weeeeeeeeeeee. I feel like Fozzer! I hope I do him proud.
Acrobatically, this plane is fairly easy to fly, given a little time. You have to get up a lot of speed to male a loop, otherwise a stall is imminent. You are my witness...I didn't stall
So after a couple of hours giving my blood pressure a hard time, it was time to come in. Besides, the wind had picked up and I was getting caught in the crosswinds.
Safely landed, I shut her off, and prepared her for hangar duty until the next time she would be spreading her wings.
So, what do I think about the RealAir SIAI Marchetti SF.260?
Its wonderful and very well done. The best part oddly enough is the sound file. From the whine of the engine, to the canopy open/close sounds, the creaks and rumbles of the fuselage when feeding her full throttle down the runway, etc, it really adds to the realism.
Detail as I have stated is focused, and very little blur to distract from your enjoyment of panning around the aircraft. The exhaust and oil residue on the undercarriage, and dirt around the rivets, gives you a sense of realistic photo like skins.
Interior is well done, and there is reflection on the cockpit glass. The pilot is done nicely, though I have seen better (Carenado Mentor is a good example).
Flight characteristics take some getting used to. As mentioned before, shes a touchy gem. No need to slam the stick to get her to bank. Be gentle and she rewards you with fluid banks and rolls. Remember if you want to do a loop, get that speed up.
Now for the rating on a scale of 1 - 10. Remember I am not a pilot, so if you have flown one of these in real life, you could disagree, but for the record, this is in light of simming only
1 Being a horrible waste of time (I hope I never have to give a 1 on any review)
10 being perfection in the eyes of a non pilot flight simmer.
Sound: 10 - Its incredible. Really it is.
2D Panel: 8 - It looks great, but really hard for me to give a 10 to anything.
VC: 9 - With the sound file, its immersive. Reflections on the canopy glass, and functional switches abound.
Exterior: 9 - From the screen shots perhaps you might agree. Without sounding repetitive, its crisp, clean, reflective, and very well done. (repaint)
Exterior (default paints from RealAir not shown): 9 - All are great and like the repaint, very crisp.
Value for the Money: 7 - Cost is $25.00 from the website. Why a 7? Because it might be detailed, but I like eye candy. I enjoy opening engine compartments, and other misc well thought out details not often found in most payware.
Overall: 8 - It is a good buy. A lot of fun to fly, and worth the $25.00 if you are looking for something acrobatic instead of the normal planes. If you are not very interested in acrobatic planes, or small props, maybe pass on this one, otherwise, give it a go. I don't think you will be disappointed.
---Stephen
The Simviation Payware Addict
Intel i7 960 quad 3.2G LGA 1366, Asus P6X58D Premium, 750W Corsair, 6 gig 1600 DDR3, Spinpoint 1TB 720
