And I've flown it about 2 hours now and.... WOW
It is flippin' amazing! The flight model has to be one of the best around... certainly better than any other airplane on flight sim that I've tried. Roll rate is good, pitch rate, could be better, (I'd rate about 9.6 out of 10) Yaw is great, you can actually do a level knife-edge pass down the length of the runway.... landing gear totally rocks... I LOVE landing gear (especially Hornet gear) and it works great. Landings are awesome as the compression is very realistic, and even pitching moments upon touchdown (ie, when doing carrier landings, nose wheel slams onto runway once mains hit) Flaps look nice, good flapperon movement, very similar to real thing. Visually nothing even compares to this (these, as tandem seater #7 is included).
Trust seems to be a bit excessive, but in acceleration seems pretty reasonable. I love how the afterburner nozzels move with the throttle. I love how those 404's look at full AB with the nozzles wide open.
Virtual cockpit also is outstanding, very smooth and extremely detailed. I LOVE the virtual cockpit for the F/A-18B version. Gives the unique perspective from the back seat.
Overall, well worth my 2+ year wait!!
Anyway, enjoy!!
Just bought it yesterday, and love it. Much easier to control with trim for hands off flying, but still have a hard time landing back on the carrier. The "blue angels" are teriffic looking birds. Only wish you could try flying formation with another. Worth the money.
