Aerodesigns Airbus A340-300

By Kris Heslop (8 October 2003)

he A340 is the flagship of the Airbus product line and is really giving Mr. Boeing a run for his money, competing with both the B747-400 and B777. Personally I like the idea of having four engines so this aircraft will always win over the B777 for me! So to the aircraft itself--Aerodesigns has invested lots of time and effort in producing this aircraft only to release it as freeware! Are they mad? Well quite possibly they are but who are we to argue if we are the very willing recipients of a superb model of a true heavy metal superstar.

The package is a pretty hefty download (18 mb) but in that you get the aircraft, a panel and the sounds. If you are still on a 56K dial-up then be prepared to wait a while but be secure in the knowledge that it will be worth it. The downloaded file is a zip file that contains a self-extracting installer so there is no need to fiddle about with putting files in the right places. The default livery is Airbus house colors, which I quite like. After all there's nothing like playing test pilot at your favorite airfield with a 'fresh from the factory' aircraft.

Installation is simple and you are left with the files all correctly installed plus a new group in your start menu which gives you access to performance and operations manuals and also the readme and panel guides should you wish to immerse yourself in a small rain forest worth of paperwork. None of this is necessary although a quick glance at the panel guide may help you find all the buttons and switches to accomplish the start sequence and other procedures. The only gripe is that you need to go to the Anti-cyclone website to get the 'active camera' package should you want to have the cabin and exterior walk-around functions but this is easily found using the link in the readme file.

Once into FS2002 you board your aircraft in the usual way. I set myself up at London Gatwick on the 170 stands with nil weather for the test flight and stepped into the flight deck. Initial impressions of the panel are mixed--it is sparse, but then again so is the real A340 panel but there is a certain amateurish look to the panel backgrounds that set it apart from the payware it is competing with. The buttons on the overhead and pedestal are small and fiddly and take some getting used to but Aerodesigns redeems themselves with the functionality of things like the radio box, which operates just like the one in A320PIC should have! The panels don't have the extreme functionality that some payware includes but then again why on earth would you want to set pressurisation settings and tart around with hydraulic pumps; after all you're the captain so let's assume the F/O does all that. If you look at it from that point of view the sensation of being on a multi-crew aircraft is improved otherwise there are just too many things to think about for just one brain.

Going into virtual cockpit mode and pressing X allows you a unique perspective; the walk-around views, complete with footsteps as you walk. From this perspective you really get an impression of how huge this aircraft really is. By using the 'wings fold' and 'tail hook' commands you can open up every orifice on this aircraft and look around the interior of the gear bays, engine cores, cargo bays etc. Put simply you can see more of this aircraft than is really healthy and those of you that are that way inclined may find themselves spending more time on the ground than in the air.

Back on the flight deck and it's time for start up. This is available in manual or automatic flavors whichever floats your boat, just remember that the APU must be on otherwise you get no air to the start valves and so no turning of the fans, unless of course you have a brave ground crew willing to hand swing it. I opted for the auto-start and the engines fire up in succession with my only input being to open the HP cocks as each engine reaches 20% N2. The process takes about 1 to 2 minutes and leaves you with 4 fully functioning CFM56's ready and willing to take you and the 300 tons they are attached to into the air.

   

With push approved the aircraft nudges out of the stand and onto the taxiway, the tug detaches and the aircraft is now under its own steam. Very little power is needed to get this aircraft moving and idle power is all that is required to keep it underway. The nose wheel provides ample steering input at slow speeds but as the book suggests, go beyond 10 kt in the turn and you'll skid right past your turn. The sheer length of the wheelbase is what makes taxiing tricky. You need to wait till the mains are almost where they need to be after the turn and then turn while ensuring you don't plough up the grass with the nose wheel. This is almost impossible from the flight deck and I opted to taxi from the spot view to make life easier.

This flight is to be a test flight only so it will be conducted in the local area and return to LGW for the circuits. I set up the ILS and comm frequencies and then pull onto the active runway. As with most large jets it is normal to apply about 50% power first to check the engines spool up and stabilise before advancing to TOGA power so I hold the 50% against the brakes and then release as I select TOGA. The engines spool up a little too fast to be realistic but that aside the acceleration is pretty realistic. For its size the A340 is quick off the mark, taking about 10-15 seconds to accelerate up to V1 and Vrotate. A gentle pull on the stick pitches the nose to 10 degrees and the wings take the strain, a second or so afterwards the VSI twitches and the gear goes limp as 300 tons are lifted from the earth as easily as picking up a pen, wonderful thing this physics.

On looking outside I am amazed by the attention to detail. Having just reset my jaw from the amount of orifices I could poke around in on the ground I am amazed to see this aircraft has a few hidden extras in the air too. As you rotate the wings actually flex upward as they take the strain and the gear bogeys sag towards the ground as the aircraft lifts off. As the gear is selected up the doors open and the legs retract. Even this is animated to perfection with one leg taking slightly longer to come up and subsequently the doors not being synchronised either--superb! But what's this? Hang on why are my flaps moving? A momentary check to see if I have got my thumb on the wrong button confirms I haven't done anything. Another addition Aerodesigns have made is the automatic retraction of gear and flaps on take-off. This means you can concentrate on flying and not have to worry about the flap schedule with each stage retracting as you pass their limiting speeds. I personally like to have full control of my aircraft but then again this is an Airbus so I am never really in control of anything!

The aircraft is very stable in pitch and is easily trimmed which is refreshing considering the difficulty I usually have getting used to the twitchy and imprecise trim on most aircraft in MSFS. I trim the aircraft to maintain 220 kt in the climb with a climb power of about 80% and set the ALT window to 10,000 feet which is where I plan to put the aircraft through its paces. The climb is uneventful so I try out some gentle turns on the way up. The roll is heavy but precise and what I'd expect from a 300 ton airliner although it does require slightly more pitch up in the turn than other models I have flown. As I approach FL100 I bring the power back to 70% N1 and allow the aircraft to accelerate. I have to say I am using totally arbitrary power figures as I have no clue what the actual numbers are. All I do know is that with 80% power the engines accelerate the aircraft rather more quickly than I am used to and so opt for slightly less power if only to be able to trim the aircraft back to level as she accelerates. I engage the A/THR at 280 kt and allow the computer to take the strain a little. The thing that strikes me is that with most models of large aircraft I am rather eager to get the autopilot in, if only to stop the uncomfortable porpoising caused by the imprecise trimming. This model however is different, I have flown the entire climb not only without the autopilot but also without the flight director and more to the point I have found it both enjoyable and challenging.

I engage the autopilot and start to put the automatics through their paces. Turns using the heading bug are, as usual, accomplished at about 30 degrees of bank and the autopilot gives the correct amount of pitch to maintain FL100. Next I select the pitch mode and set the aircraft to descend to FL80 bu nothing happens. The problem, it appears, is that you MUST use Vert Speed mode to start the climb/descent. Not a problem but rather a lot of button pushing and certainly not as intuitive as the real A3xx series autopilots or the B737-400 from DreamFleet but then again it's free and they aren't! In reality this panel is just a re-drawn version of the stock B737-400 panel and offers little in the way of new features. You can take this as a negative or a plus; after all if the panel is kept simple then it takes less time to learn and so the aircraft is easier to get used to.

OK to the real flight testing. The autopilot comes out and leaves you with a remarkably well-trimmed aircraft. I start with some steep turns. The aircraft likes to drop its nose in prolonged steep turns but the elevator gives enough authority to keep your altitude. The steep turns take some mastering with the VSI twitching up and down but in the main it handles well even up to 60 degrees of bank. In a moment of sillyness I decided to test if they had simulated the flight envelope protection and rolled the aircraft fully inverted. Needless to say the guys at Aerodesigns haven't but it handles remarkably well inverted!

On to the stall, I configure the aircraft for a fully clean stall, I decelerate to about 180 kt and then close the throttles fully and use pitch to maintain altitude. The speed stays hovering around 140 kt and won't decelerate further. Using the spoilers I manage to coax the speed down to 130 kt and then further to 125 kt. The stall is pretty much non-existent, with the nose keeping its attitude and the aircraft simply starting a gentle descent at 125 kt. With the spoilers stowed I begin the recovery, pushing the power levers fully forward. The aircraft lurches forward and eagerly accelerates beyond 220 kt and on towards my desired 280 kt.

Upper air work now complete it's time to recover back to London Gatwick. The addition of the GPS as part of the Nav Display is nice and allows easy navigation using the Direct TO function. I commence the descent and use the map view on the GPS to self-position for a 10 mile final to runway 26L. The descent brings out the biggest failing in the model so far. Regardless of power setting the aircraft insists on accelerating beyond 300 kt. I am forced to use spoilers even in a 500 fpm decent to keep 250 kt, which in the real world would be frowned upon by the passengers. I arrive at 2000 feet with 14 miles to run and give myself a 30 degree intercept to the localiser engage the autopilot in ALT Hold and Heading hold and arm the APR mode. The speed bleeds off and I start to dirty up, lowering the first 2 stages of flap as the localiser comes live. The autopilot starts to intercept then stops with the localiser still giving 3 quarters fly right. The HDG mode is out but still the APR mode won't intercept correctly, then as the glide comes in the G/S mode fails to capture and I watch as it goes from full fly up to full fly down without the autopilot even twitching. I decide to take a left orbit in order to re-intercept, this time with ALT hold off and with the aircraft stabilised at 170 kt with flap 3 and gear down. Again the APR mode almost gets to LOC intercept and completely ignores the G/S. Put simply the autopilot seems to have an unserviceable APR mode so don't bother with it. Not even the flight director wants to recognise the ILS although the ILS scales are active on both the ND and PFD.

I take another left orbit and take out the autopilot but leave the autothrottle in for now. The aircraft is stable and easy to fly down the approach. The four engines provide ample power to deal with any speed problems with the gear and flap providing the required drag to slow the behemoth down as required. The Rad ALT is helpfully shown on the lower half of the horizon and I start to flare at about 50 feet while reducing power to idle. The wheels easily take the weight and I gently place the nose wheel onto the tarmac before selecting flap 2 and setting TOGA power for the touch and go. One more approach but this will be the acid test, one engine out!

I climb away to 5000 feet and turn onto the downwind leg, stabilising my speed at 220 kt with the autothrottle. I open the pedestal and select the number 4 engine HP cock to off, the engine spools down and is soon shut down. The autothrottle takes up the slack with the remaining three engines and I am forced to apply about 10 degrees of drift away from the dead engine to counter the asymmetric thrust from the two live engines. The remaining three engines are only working at 50-60% N1 to maintain 220 kt, which shows just how overpowered this aircraft really is. I set up again on a 10 mile final at 2000 feet and lower flap 1 and then flap 2 for the approach. As the localiser comes live I intercept and lower the gear as the G/S shows one dot above. Flap 3 comes out at G/S intercept and I begin the final approach stabilising my speed at 160 kt using flap 4 and the power levers at idle. I allow the speed to come back to 150 kt at 1000 feet agl and then further to 140 kt at 100 above decision. I deploy full flap and begin to bank against the two live engines to counter the crab angle I have been using all the way down, just like a crosswind landing. The gear touches firmly on the fixed distance markers and I apply full braking and idle reverse. I increase the reverse to 50% as we slow to 80 kt and then close the reversers at 60 kt to avoid FOD damage. Down and safe and with runway to spare!

In summary this aircraft is an admirable piece of freeware, which gives you all that a beginner/intermediate simmer could possibly want from a large passenger jet. The visual model is superb and full of little things to delight even the most seasoned simmers as well as providing a very stable and challenging flight model. The package is unfortunately let down by its panel. The developers have tried to make the panel out to be more than it really is and in today's age where panels can be made to do pretty much anything a real aircraft can do that is a claim they haven't been able to fulfill. The virtual cockpit is pretty low resolution and difficult to use, the 2D panel is functional but is simply the stock B737-400 panel with a redrawn front and a few extra buttons. The lack of a full APR mode is a disappointment purely because it is a step back from what we expect from the base FS2002 autopilot and not something we would expect from a state-of-the-art Airbus. On the other hand we could say that the unserviceable autopilot more accurately models the trials and tribulations of modern aviation, at least it gives you something to put in the techlog!

Aerodesigns are to be commended for their work on this aircraft and I will no doubt keep it in my hangar although I will try to get a different panel. I think perhaps in hindsight they knew the panel was lacking and have helpfully included the code for the Panel.cfg file in the README file for those wanting to use a different panel. The aircraft model is superb however and should be downloaded at your earliest convenience; there are few freeware models that include so many animations and such attention to detail. The inclusion of the 'Active Camera' package from Anti-Cyclone (the developers of A320-PIC) is a nice stopgap for those desperate for virtual cockpits and external views but I have to say I found it rather more hassle than it was worth. Far better to get a good functional cockpit from somewhere else and bolt it on and then use the stock external views to marvel at such a pretty aircraft.

When asked 'why do you fly an aircraft with four engines?' A friend who flew the L188 Electra for many years always replied 'They don't make then with 6!' and not a truer word was spoken.

Kris Heslop
boxjockey99@hotmail.com

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