IMHO, one of the greatest FS aircraft designers is Eric Cantu (formerly of SGA fame) & team at Vistaliners. So the news of a brand new release is good indeed!
Here she is then, even at Beta stage the level of detail is pleasing. ALL the six passenger doors open as well as the forward cargo hold. The cockpit is nicely rendered with transparent windows showing the three flight crew inside. A nice noval feature is the opening crew escape hatch on the cockpit's roof, activated by the tailhook command. Not seen that before!
The TriStar's most distinctive view is the rear 3/4. You'll find the odd texture 'blip' but remember this is the Beta version.
Amazingly for a Beta, it comes with seven liveries, six of them variations on the Eastern theme in painted and bare metal and one unusual 'demonstrator' aircraft in part early '70's BEA livery for us brits!
The flight dynamics apear to be spot on. She held the ILS into KSEA nicely. The flaps deploy at a more realistic slow rate adding to the realism while not suddenly giving you excess lift when on approach.
Touchdown. The gear struts aren't fully modeled yet but it does feature tilting boggies and steering nose gear.
You can see more clearly here the 'basic' gear struts but the wing surfaces are very nicely modeled including leading edge slats.
My favorite shot, the night textures are lovely! Nice bright spotlamp on the tail and illuminated cabin windows.
I hope you've enjoyed this review, the package is available now at http://www.eastern-va.com/vistaliners/tribetaterms.htm
