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Tim's Review:
When I found out about the new AETI Boeing 747-200 for FS2000 I was very eager to get the program downloaded and installed. I'm using an HP Pavillon 857o C, a 19 inch monitor, CH Force FX Stick, Pro Throttle and Rudder Pedals with my updated (and therefore "patched") Flight Simulator 2000 Professional.
The download went without a glitch and the installation performed fine. After the actual program download I went for the free manuals (an absolute must, if you want to fly this aircraft), downloaded and printed them. After studying the manuals carefully, I started FS2000 and choose the introduction flight that came with the program to get accustomed with all the overwhelming new features.
As I flew the real thing on several occasions in professional full motion flight simulators with Lufthansa, and the B 747-300 version with Swissair, the cockpit layout, the INS and autopilot controls were quite familiar to me. But, I was missing the actual speed brake lever on the center pedestal. The lever is simply missing in the "Close View" feature. It will only become available in the "High Level Cruise Mode" window. Performing a proper descent down from FL 280 to 10,000 feet and being forced to switch back and forth between the two view modes just to get the speed brake deployed or stowed (or even only armed for auto spoiler deployment at touchdown during the final approach) becomes somehow a bit odd.
After playing around for some sessions with the AETI B 747-200, basically performing short range flights from my virtual home base at Miami with airports close by, I decided to go for the real challenge: a nonstop Atlantic crossing from Miami International (KMIA) to Frankfurt, Germany (EDDF).
I plotted an actual route from a Lufthansa flight plan that took me out over the Bahamas and further north, but close (approx. 150 nm) to the US continent. The route left the continent at Gander in Canada and there the actual Atlantic crossing started. I planned to hit Europe by going straight (great arc) to the Shannon VOR and then via London, Brussels in Belgium to the Taunus VOR (TAU) north of Frankfurt, using the actual published approaches to Frankfurt/Main's runway 07 L.
The first problem encountered by planning this flight was in trying to use the FS2000 flight planner feature and adopt the plotting and waypoints to the B 747's INS. Being a pilot as well in real life I had no problem in planning, using latitude and longitude coordinates with the INS. But soon I ran into another unexpected problem: I simply ran out of storage place for waypoints, as the programs INS is limited to a maximum of 10 waypoints total. This might very well work for a short and medium range flight on the US continent, but is far from appropriate for a real long range operation using the FS2000 airways database. This involuntary restriction takes a lot of the reality and real world flying fun from the program. But I can live with that.
I took off from runway 09 L at Miami and headed out over the ocean to my first waypoint SARJE. According to the FS2000 GPS, which I consulted as a backup for position crosschecks, I should have been initially some 15 nm more to the right then the actual track the B 747 autopilot and the INS were flying. But somehow the program managed to over fly SARJE at 28,000 feet. But then the problems really started. Crosschecking with the GPS data and pre-calculated track I was drifting more and more off to the left. At the latitude of New York the error was almost 45 nm (figure that one in real life: ATC would probably never stop yelling at you and you seriously risk to pass on your license upon arrival to a waiting gentleman with an FAA batch…). But the plane continued north, entering Canadian airspace. My calculated track should have brought me along the shoreline to Gander and from there my actual Atlantic crossing would have started. But instead I found myself almost 60 nm inland. Closing in on the Gander latitude the plane all over a sudden started to turn to the right as if it had realized to be somehow off track and was trying to capture the waypoint Gander. Therefore it literally flew at the end on the 090 heading to overfly the VOR coordinates and banking into a sharp left turn to catch the track towards the next waypoint in mid Atlantic. As I became very suspicious now, I crosschecked the further continuation of the flight every 2 minutes. At one point in time, when I was almost 200 nm off to the north, I disengaged the autopilot and flew the plane manually back onto the track, just to find it leaving it again, shortly after I re-engaged the autopilot. So the same phenomena occurred again like previously at the Gander VOR: All over a sudden, when Shannon was coming closer and closer at the south of our position, the autopilot corrected the course to the right to over fly the exact INS coordinates (Again: in real life I'm quite convinced that this would have been the end of my career as a pilot and my license would have become suspended immediately).
As minor items I noticed that the Mach-Speed selector didn't work properly and later, during my descent and out of the Mach range I had real problems to switch back to IAS-mode.
As I was flying with real weather by Jeppesen (I believe it is one of the best features ever incorporated into the FS2000) I found heavy cloud banks over Belgium and Germany and during my further descent into Frankfurt. So I decided to try the Autoland Mode, described in the manual, with all three autopilots engaged and the proper ILS frequency in both NAV receivers. Luckily at 3000 feet I reached the cloud base and found myself lined up with the runway. I had captured both, localizer and glide slope, when I engaged the mode some 10 nm out. But as we were closing in, I noticed that the glideslope went to the lower edge of my HS it seemed the B 747 was not descending properly. When all VASI lights went to white, I decided it is time for a coordinated go-around, by the book. I pushed the TOGA button, retracted the flaps one step and switched the gear lever up. While gaining speed I continued to retract the flaps according to the published weight and speed tables. Suddenly I found my Jumbo Jet in a high nose up attitude (more than 30 degrees of pitch up). Not good, I said to myself and disconnected basically everything. I went to full manual control, easing the nose down with the stick. Instead of getting any expected reaction from my really gentle and smooth control input, within seconds I found myself upside down, flying inverted, consequently stalling and crashing into downtown Frankfurt. My frustration was quite enormous, as I flew this entire leg in normal time mode. I reviewed the last phase some times with the video mode, trying to find an explanation. I still have none.
My second long range try then led me to a flight from Cologne in Germany (EDDK) to San Francisco (KSFO). Initially everything went fine until I left Europe crossing Ireland. The INS (or autopilot) obviously screwed up in catching the next waypoint in mid Atlantic. As I let the plane just fly while I was working on another PC, I only noticed it when diverting my attention back to the Flight Simulator. At that point in time the Jumbo was already circling for more than two hours at FL 340 around the waypoint, but without ever hitting it. I was unable to get out of the modes and forced to shut the FS2000 down completely and restart. Since then I only flew the new Boeing heavy within 300 nm ranges throughout the US.
The flight model and characteristics in general are really outstanding. I highly appreciated the realism and details for the engine start up and that somebody tried to design a real working INS to be incorporated in the B747 version. But despite my 19 inch monitor I still find the engine indication panel a bit too tiny. The gauges are hard too read, same applies for the autopilot panel and the Nav and Com dial-in's . The realism level over all is very high, but fails for example at the gear: These struts need substantially more time to get extended and I'm convinced it would not be a big problem to design the feature accordingly. Anyway, as someone who paid the full price for this add- on, I expect a free patch update soon. It seems to me that the designers where somehow in a rush to get this add-on out, before the new Data Becker Jumbo Jet 3 will hit the market later this month. Well, let's see what kind of glitches are hidden in that new product…
Tim van Beveren / Aviation Editor / Miami FL-USA
Purchase & download the 747-200 Classic from AETI ($29 USD): go HERE
Read our First Review on the 747.
email Tim with your comments