The Boeing 767 is a mid-size wide-body twin-engine airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Boeing 767 has been produced in three fuselage lengths. The original 767-200 first entered into airline service in 1982, followed by the 767-300 in 1986, and the 767-400ER in 2000. Extended range versions of the original -200 and -300 models, the 767-200ER and 767-300ER, have been produced with added payload and operating distance capability. The 767-300F, a freighter version, entered service in 1995. The first wide-body twinjet produced by Boeing, the 767 was conceived and designed in tandem with the narrow-body Boeing 757 twinjet. Both airliners share design features and flight decks, enabling pilots to obtain a common type rating to operate the two aircraft. The 767 was the first Boeing wide-body airliner to enter service with a two-person crew flight deck, eliminating the need for a flight engineer. Following in-service indications of its twinjet design reliability, the 767 received regulatory approval allowing extended transoceanic operations beginning in 1985. Through the 1990s, the Boeing 767 became commonly used on medium- to long-haul routes, and the aircraft has ranked as the most commonly used airliner for transatlantic flights between the United States and Europe. The -300/-300ER models are the most popular variants, accounting for approximately two-thirds of all 767s ordered.
Well now it seems to be Commercial Level Simulation's (CLS) turn to produce their 767 add on for FSX & FS2004. Talking of FSX, so far we've seen the ever faithful Level-D 767-300ER with its mind blowing systems and Captain Sim's pretty varieties. Can a year and a half of CLS's efforts help their new product make a mark in 767 simulations? We shall see.
CLS have produced the 767-200 and -300 passenger variants in their combined base pack for FSX and FS2004 which comes with about 24 liveries as well. The expansion pack includes the winglet version, freighter, AWACS and tanker in addition to a few extra liveries. The product doesn't seem to be DX10 preview compatible though. It's got a virtual cockpit, 2D panel and a neat exterior. Documentation along with a flight tutorial is provided as well. I've reviewed the FSX version of the base and expansion pack. Service pack 3 is included with the base pack and I installed service pack 3.1 from CLS's web site as well. I couldn't find any published system requirements from CLS but I did the review on a 2.66 GHz Core2 Quad with 3 gigs of RAM and a 512 MB 8400GS running Windows XP 32 bit. It's a large one being a 630 MB zip file download from the FS Pilot Shop. The expansion is about 39 MB in size. Once unzipped, I dug around the folder to find an installer, a livery manager, a user manual (without the flight tutorial), and some files needed for those who want easy flight dynamics. Installation is painless but you're going to need the internet. Make a few agreements, tell the installer your OS, the sim you want to install it to and the serial key and presto, hit next. Under normal circumstances, the installer should locate the FSX root directory by itself. It's pretty much similar for the expansion pack but you have to choose the liveries to be installed from here itself (they are downloaded by the program).
After installation, the manual pops up automatically. Chapter 4, which is supposed to have the flight tutorial, was missing. A quick search of CLS's web site revealed one with the tutorial included. This manual gives an introduction, basic operation information, panel overview and the tutorial. The tutorial has been done pretty good and will be of great help for a newbie to get started. The expansion pack provides for another manual as well. This manual is just a page long. It just tells you how to get about the rotary dome, refueling, and opening the cargo door. There are two folders in the start menu but they're empty. The livery manager is an easy to use tool and is found along with the installer. After getting a few components of the expansion pack installed, I ran into a bit of a problem though. While loading up FSX, I got a warning that there are two models with the same titles. A scan of the aircraft.CFG files of the 767-300 PW and 767-200 GE variants revealed the [fltsim] entries for the LAN winglets and Italian Air Force variants respectively to be duplicated. A quick edit and it starts off fine. Firing up FSX, the planes can be found under the 'Commercial Level Simulations' manufacturer's label. We have the 767-200 and the -300 visible. The -200 is available in the GE & PW variants and the -300 is available in the GE, PW & RR variants. I stick to my habit of loading the default Cessna first and thereafter, after the approval of a few components, the 767 loads up. So now let's see, we've got a working VC, a large 2D panel, additional cockpit views, and of course the exterior with two extra aircraft views as well.
The virtual cockpit looks good and it's got some nice detail to it. But the displays could have been better. They aren't really that crisp and not so realistic either. It can be a tad bit difficult to read the EICAS at times. For those systems that are simulated, 90% of the buttons, knobs, and switched can be used. One extra is that the first officer's sun filter can be moved. There aren't any eye catching animations other than the sun filter. I found this aircraft to be flown by the 2D panel a bit more favorable. The displays and gauges are clear and are well sized. The EICAS still could have been better. There's a sim-icons panel that can be used to access a few sub panels which look pretty good. You can bring it up by clicking on the little arrow just below the ASI. It's possible to remove the VC or wing views through this panel itself. Night lighting seems to be a bit of an issue here. In the VC, night lighting is controlled by the taxi and landing light switches. In the 2D, it's the CKBR switch. However, the lighting is good. The exterior models look good with a good amount of detailing to it. The usual animations are there. The various liveries available have been intricately designed and are of appreciable quality. The military models look good and it's possible to operate the rotary dome on the AWACs model and the refueling lines on the tanker model. Night lighting on the exterior models is fine other than the landing light beams being too bright.
For years, CLS have been producing aircraft that are not very detailed in systems simulations. Their products are more suited for novice or veteran flight simmers. But that doesn't mean they're like any of the default aircraft. In fact, they do have an appreciable level of systems simulation. But a few aspects are phased out, a good example being the limited functionality of the FMC, which allows the novice or veteran simmer to get started without too much of a hassle. This is why Just Flight market several of CLS's products under their F-Lite range. The 767 is designed just like that. There are a few extra systems but the FMC is basic. The FMC can calculate V-speeds for you so it's quite helpful there. Unless you want the aircraft to behave on autopilot as if no one's flying it, engage the autopilot using the center command button. The other two buttons can be pressed but don't seem to set the autopilot into action. CLS have designed quite a basic auto land system that can just guide the plane down to touchdown. They've got a few videos on YouTube as well explaining trim for takeoff and approach and one for the auto land. However, there seems to be a heading discrepancy in the HSI readout between the VOR and APP modes and the MAP and plan modes. VOR and APP modes show the correct heading but MAP and PLAN modes show some value a few degrees off the actual heading. Interestingly, this discrepancy is ignored by the autopilot which can follow the right heading regardless of this. Sometimes a few switches trigger warning lights when they're not supposed to and the packs seem to run forever even when the bleed supply is cut. The plane flies well and is quite a joy to fly by hand despite the fact the 767 was developed to be mostly flown by the autopilot. It's got the feel of the 767 and aileron control is quite realistic.
I would categorize the sounds that come with this aircraft as above average. They are good but they still could have been better. There are some warning sounds and GPWS altitude callouts as well. The planes go pretty easy on the frames. They're not very taxing. But still don't be expecting to be flying into complex airports with autogen and AI cranked up. The VC is the main hitter if I had to call one part so. The exterior model and 2D panel give very little hits. In most situations, I found setting my frame rate lock to unlimited gave better performance. Of course, that's my system and it could be different on others.
Verdict? A decent product. Looks good and performs well too. But like any product, it has its bugs. CLS do have a service pack coming up so let's hope it'll address the night lighting and system issues. This might be a good add on for a newbie or veteran provided he/she can bear the few faults for a while...
Rohan Nair
rohannair10@yahoo.co.in
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CLS Boeing 767-200/300
Expansion Pack
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