REVIEW: Eaglesoft's Cessna Citation X CE750

[SaVas]

Well, this review was supposed to be done in October, so I am a little late as time has not been on my side, however, it is now completed, and another review will be done on a different payware for November also

I welcome you to the world of the rich and more than likely famous. Where aged filet mignon grilled medium rare is served with fresh lobster tail, side dishes that I can't pronounce, and the finest wine, consumed at those restaurants that have no prices on the menu, with a dessert of baked Alaska, and aged cognac, or brandy. Armani suits, and expensive perfumes abound, and the business jet of choice is the ultra-modern Cessna Citation X which has no detail forgotten.

We can all dream right? Thats why we fly in a virtual world; in planes that few can afford, unless of course you consider that you the simmer, can enjoy in some way, what it is like to reach the heavens above in such exquisiteness for the low price of $27.95 USD. Thats a lot better than forking out $25,000,000.00 or more for the real thing, unless you aren't on a budget like I am.

The Eaglesoft Citation X is a wonderfully detailed aircraft as you can see from this screenshot. With engines off, and parking brake set, the pilots are not in the cockpit, yet the mechanic diligently works, completely animated. Even the tags sway in the breeze.



The detail is crisp, and very well done. Textures are not overly shiny, but would resemble the real aircraft. Eaglesoft did a fantatic job on the exterior.



What is even more impressive than the exterior, is the interior. The virtual cabin is fantastic. The rendering is one of a kind, and for the record, ES has included something that is missing in so many aircraft...a virtual passenger. not only did they include a passenger, but she is also animated. From wearing her seatbelt while taxiing and taking off, to removing her seatbelt and using her laptop (see below), adds to the sense of realism. The textures are impeccable. The gloss on the wood finishes, to the soft yet luxurious leather surfaces; the monitor that flashes a few different pictures, all come into play for those of us that occasionally want to be a passenger instead of a pilot.



The only thing that bothers me about the interior, are the cabin windows. They are a bit too dark for my tastes. Sure, privacy is a must when you fly around in a Citation X, but I like to see out of the windows with a bit more clarity. maybe one day they will make a fix for this, for people like myself that enjoy being able to see out of them a little bit more than they are initially.



The virtual cockpit is also rendered to near perfection.
For those that expect the FMC to work, unfortunately it doesn't

[SaVas]

Flying the Citation X is quite easy. She is not difficult to navigate, and the autopilot works seamlessly as one would expect. I wonder if the real plane is as easy. For twenty-five million dollars, I would hope so.

taking off from Anchorage, AK, the weather was not exactly cooperating. There was a fairly stiff crossbreeze, and the sky was overcast. From the first screenshot in part 1, you can tell there was even a little snow falling.



I reached a cruising altitude of 11,000 feet, heading towards my destination of Fairbanks, AK, and flew at maximum cruising speed...roughly 340 as witnessed by the jet exhaust. Slow her down a little and the dark trail behind your jet disappears. Nice touch ES.



Cruising over the Alaskan countryside, a balmy -10 degrees F, and a nice comfortable 78 degrees in the plane. No need for a parka inside this bird.



Once again, regarding the passenger, as you can see, she is working hard on her presentation, wearing her glasses, with a bottle of wine, and Wall Street Journal infront of her. Occasionally she will stop what she is doing to look out the cabin window, admiring the view. I wonder if she has the same problem with the windows that I do, being too dark?



And speaking of animations, the pilot and copilot are also animated. You can look from the exterior Spot View, and watch them peer around the cockpit, making sure everything is in check. The copilot tells you what setting your flaps are at, when you reach proper speed for take off, if your gear is up or down, etc.

Eaglesoft really did a great job with this aircraft, and not only does it cruise easily, its also a piece of cake to land, which surprises me, because business jets are the ones i tend to turn into scrap metal the most often. Granted lately, I have become a much better virtual pilot, and my crash to successful landing ratio has incrementally increased from 1 in 5 to 1 in 100. Time is on our side my friends.

[SaVas]

Overall, my impressions are that Eaglesoft has done an outstanding job, and they remain the epitome of the best when it comes to the bizjet flight sim market. Each aircraft that comes out gets better and better, and more detailed than the last. They did release the Cessna Citation II after the Citation X, and admittedly, it isn't as detailed as the X, but then again the X when using the deluxe setting (comes in 4 variable settings - deluxe, standard, light frame rate friendly, and ultralight frame rate friendly), you should have a computer that can handle the eye candy.

So if you have a system that isn't capable of utilizing all that Eaglesoft has incorporated in the model, its still a viable add-on. You might not be able to use the virtual cabin, or cockpit, or animated crew/passengers, in the deluxe variation, but I would still highly recommend it. It is a beautiful plane.

if you want a plane that is a bit less stressful to your computer's well being, and want a virtual cabin that is more user friendly, then perhaps go with the Citation II, but i still say go for the Citation X. The standard configuration should probably work for you as the virtual cabin is not as hard on your computer.

Coming in for a landing



Touchdown



Some areas I did not take screenshots of but are worth mentioning:
The 2D cockpit - beautifully rendered and crystal clear. Each pop-up is done to exacting details, and is easy to learn.
The manual - 53 pages, each doing an excellent job of teaching you the ins and outs of the Citation X. Easy to understand, and I also recommend when flying the X for the first time, reading each page before you prepare for take off.

From the Eaglesoft Website verbatum:

FSDS2 Model by Bob Hayes, Gauge Systems by Lonny Payne, Textures by Bob Hayes, Sounds by Aaron Swindle, and Flight Dynamics by Rob Young

Multiple animated surfaces including:   Pilots   Flaps   Spoilerons   Speed Brakes   Thrust Reversers   Landing Gear   Landing Lights

Pax and Nose Cargo Doors, Airstair   Wing Ice Lights   Tinted Windows   DTX 3 Reflective, Night Chrome Textures   Virtual First Officer Call Outs

Actual Honeywell GPWS Call Outs   Air Conditioner   Functional Oxygen and Pressurization Systems   Full Featured Glass 2D Panel

Virtual Cabin with Animated Control Surfaces [Wing and Engine views]   Full Working Gauges in Virtual Cockpit [FS2004 and up]  

While the FMC is NOT fully functional it DOES include common features found in fully functional FMC's *

All Four models described below are included in one package and are selectable from your aircraft menu!

Performance: Four models will ship with this aircraft so a variety of computer system users will benefit!

Ultralight Frame Rate Friendly Model: The Cabin windows are dark tint, No visible Cabin from external view, No Virtual Cockpit or Cabin !

Light Frame Rate Friendly Model: The Cabin windows are dark tint, No visible Cabin from external view, Virtual Cockpit no Virtual Cabin !

Standard Rate Model: Full featured model including Virtual Cockpit, Virtual Cabin, minus Animated Female Passenger, and other Deluxe features!

Deluxe Rate Model: The Standard Rate Model with Animated Female Passenger, and other deluxe features and eye candy!

Official Eaglesoft Liveries by Bill Browning and Ed Knapp are available at major flight simulation libraries

[SaVas]

Now for the part of the review I like most. Giving it a grade between 1 and 10; 1 being a waste of money, to 10 being as close to perfection as you can get.

Exterior model - An easy 10
Interior model - 10 (even with the cabin windows being a bit too dark)
Flight dynamics - 9 (would have loved an accurate FMC, but not having a functional one doesnt distract much from the overall package
Sounds - 10 - Not having ever been near a real Citation X, I can only guess that Eaglesoft has done a great job in creating the sound files, as this plane is done to as close as perfection visually as possible

Final Grade - 10

You might ask why i gave it a 10, if I gave the flight dynamics a 9 because of a fully functional FMC.

My reasons are these: Not having a fully functional FMC, isn't necessarily something I would subtract from the final grade. Everything about Eaglesoft's Citation X speaks of detail. There is NO other business jet out there that can compete with it be it freeware or payware. Even Eaglesoft's other offerings. The things they incorporated into the overall package, are unlike anything else out there and I think the X is deserving of my grade. Someone who is a real life pilot might disagree with me, but this is a virtual world, with virtual planes, and it is very much dependent on our imaginations to get that enjoyable "wow" feeling. Eaglesoft has definitely given me such a feeling and has since the first day I flew the Citation X while sitting in my desk chair, looking into my monitor, and taking ahold of my flight stick. It is complex, but not overly so. A novice or a veteran flight simulator enthusiast can enjoy the work that went into this aircraft, and the learning curve is not so much that one gets frustrated.

So to Eaglesoft, I say congratulations on a job well done. You have been given my first ever "10"

System used:

Dell XPS 2.8 Ghz, Pentium 4, 800 FSB, 1 Gig Ram, MS Win XP Pro, 200 GB hard drive, eVGA nVidia 6800 GT 256 MB video card, Viewsonic VX900 LCD monitor, Saitek X-45 controller, Saitek Gamer's keyboard.

Screenshots taken with Mgrab, and utilized with ACDSee 7.0 Image Software

In screenshots mention also goes to:

FS-GS System Unification
Ultimate Traffic
FSGenesis landclass
FScene ground textures
Active Camera

Stephen "Payware" Vasali
SIMviation Payware Editor

[SideWinder9]

Fantastic reveiw SaVas.... It is indeed a 10...

[spinner]

Fantastic reveiw SaVas.... It is indeed a 10...

What he said!

[CODY614]

Well Stepen...Your screen shots are only out done by your reviews.
I almost got this one,but grabbed the Citation II instead.
I was really liken' the review until you mentioned the co-pilot call out's...I was hoping in the first screen shot that she was pulling ou the black box that anyoned the pilot.
Darnit'...

[ReverseThrust]

Great View, SaVas!!
I bouth this one a week or 2 ago and she is a beauty.  Took me a little while to figure out, though.  For anyone who flies ealgesoft products, or even freeware bizjets, I encourage you to get the free VIP terminals available at the ESDG website.  
They provide red carpets, terminals, line ropes, fountains, Cool hangars with automatically opening/closing doors,  and a parked limo.  

The only thing I have a problem with on the Citation X is the SMALL PRINT on the cockpit!  I guess this depends on the resolution and size of the scrteen you're using, but on the 17 inch flatscreen I use, one must squint to read much of the text on the panel.   This is veryu annoying when learning the plane and finding to find switches whose labels you can't read!  I have since gotten over this and know how to get around, but I was frustarated that they don't include a version you can read in the manual either.

Othe than that, she's a 10+++!  Great job on the review and lovely screenshots!!!