Eaglesoft Cessna Citation CJ1

By Andrew Herd (17 June 2005)

aglesoft have rapidly become one of the best known developers for Flight Simulator, thanks to a packed hangar that includes half a dozen very popular corporate jets. These range from the distinctive Cessna Citation X, through a Raytheon Beechjet 400A/Premier 1 and a Raytheon Hawker 400XP, to a Cessna Citation II - and now we have a Cessna Citation CJ1.

The CitationJet program was launched back in '89 at the US National Business Aviation Association convention and although the forward fuselage came from the original Citation, the new design had a T-tail and a laminar flow wing. The powerplants were a couple of Williams Rolls FJ44 turbofans and trailing link gear was specified to ensure the most comfortable possible landings. The main cabin seats five on the CitationJet and CJ1, but since the plane is certified for single pilot operation, a sixth passenger can occupy the right hand seat. Maximum cruising speed is a healthy 380 knots, with a service ceiling of 41,000 feet and range with full tanks, less reserves, of just under 1500 nm.

The CitationJet run totalled 359 when it finished in the year 2000 in favor of the CJ1, the new version being fitted with a Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite and also having an increased maximum takeoff weight. There is also a CJ2, which is stretched to fit six seats in the main cabin and incorporates a host of other changes, including uprated engines, increased wing span and tail area, more passenger windows and around another 250 nm range. Knowing Eaglesoft, it is possible that we might see a CJ2 before long and it would make an interesting comparison.

The package is a 24 Mb download, which installs using the familiar Flight1 copy protection key. I guess the first thing to say about the addon is that it definitely will not disappoint Eaglesoft's many thousands of loyal fans. The package was originally released in mid-November 2004 with a service release following in December, which is the version we reviewed - the service release being incorporated into the current download. Hunt around the installation folder in \aircraft and you should find a bonus panel.cfg and gauges have been included to allow the Pro Line 21 gauges from the CJ1 to work in the Eaglesoft Premier1 if you have that package, which is a nice touch.

When installation is complete two different versions of the CJ1 appear under 'Cessna': a standard version in five different liveries and a 'lite' version for which there is only a single paint scheme and which lacks a virtual cockpit. The reasoning behind the 'lite' is that it makes it possible for users with older machines to run the addon, but as it happens, the package has been coded fairly efficiently and it should run at an acceptable speed on most modern PCs. As is traditionally the case with Eaglesoft, the schemes are restrained, but very well chosen and one of them is for a plane registered in the UK, which is refreshing, after reviewing endless N-reg addons.

The manual runs to a total of 39 pages, leaving the author only just enough space to describe how the various parts of the panel work. In contrast to Eaglesoft's usual methodical approach, the gauges are dealt with in no particular order, pitching you into a section on the angle of attack indicator the moment you are through the development credits, while the primary flight display left until page 24. Although experienced simmers shouldn't have any trouble getting by, it would have been nice to see a printable section on starting the bird up and some hints about how to fly it - as it is, although all the information is there, you will need to access the FS2004 checklist to learn what you need to know.

Turning to the visual model, all the standard animations are there, including opening doors and baggage compartments - in fact, when you shut everything down and apply the parking brake, the nose wheel is magically chocked and cones appear around the plane, ready for your VIP to disembark on the stair. In addition, the ailerons and elevators droop as the fans run down. Start an engine during the day and the pilot dons his shades, while internally, the seat armrests rise to the locked position. Staying with the interior, there is a whole bunch of stuff to try out during boring flights: you can recline the rear seats; turn the cabin lights on and off; take a look inside the refreshment center; and even fold up the tables. Rumor has it that the next release will let you flush the john.

The hull looks great, as we have come to expect from Eaglesoft, and all the textures are very crisp indeed. And as I remarked earlier on, frame rates were pretty good, even with the non-lite model on my 3.0 Ghz Pentium. I would have thought it should be possible to use the addon to land at complex airports on any system with a 1.7 Ghz processor or faster, and that the lite version should be usable on virtually any system that can run FS2004.

Panel graphics used to be the one area where Eaglesoft showed any weakness, so I am pleased to report that the CJ1 represents a step forward in this area. The main 2D panel background is 1280 x 960, which gives it an immediate advantage over the majority of panels, whose developers still settle on 1024 x 768. Increasing the resolution of this crucial graphic doesn't seem to incur any penalty at all as far as frame rates go and, well, you only have to look at the screenshot to see the advantages, although some of the text was a little indistinct even on a 20 inch monitor. As far as I can tell, FS2004 can deal with graphics up to 2048 x 1536 without any problems - backgrounds of this size looking super sharp at lower resolutions while staying extremely readable at higher ones. Though most of the sub-panels are sharp, the same cannot be said of the autopilot graphic, which is blurry enough that it could do with a replacement.

As you can see, the main panel blocks out the sun a little, but better forward vis is available at a click of a simicon just to the left of the comms panel. Below this icon, incidentally, is another one, which turns on the 'virtual first officer'. This helpful guy does all the callouts and even warns you to reset the altimeter as you pass 17,500 for 18,000 feet. If you are a sloppy pilot, the cockpit has a tendency to fill with the noise of alarms, chief among them the GPWS, which warns you about everything from bank angle to the usual 'too low, flaps' call. On the top right of the panel, just under the glareshield, is a little 'X' in a box - clicking this gets you another panel of simicons, which can be used to pull up all the subpanels. Apart from standard stuff like the kneeboard, these include a quadrant; electrical, pressurisation, and oxygen panels; flight management computer (FMC); and the autopilot.

The main panel is dominated by the primary flight display (PFD), which has all the usual bells and whistles, plus a useful pitch limit indicator, displayed when the plane is below 1500 feet, or the flaps are extended. One of the most useful features of this gauge is that pressing the 'refs' button - found on the Display Control Panel (DCP) between the PFD and the Multi Function Display (MFD) - will display either the V speeds or approach data, depending on which phase of flight you are in. The DCP is a vital part of the panel, as it is also used to control the navigation data source and to set up the MFD.

European simmers will be relieved to hear that the DCP has a button which allows toggling between inches of mercury and millibars. The PFD is divided into an upper section displaying engine data on a mix of tapes and sliders, and a lower navigation section, which can be toggled between HSI and map mode; for all its promise, this gauge will not display a full FS2004 flight plan, the best you get being a line to the current waypoint.

The FMC marks another progression for Eaglesoft, being implemented in a little more depth than the one on their Citation X. If you have that addon, you will recall that the FMC could be used to adjust the V-speeds and display the flight plan, but that was about it. The CJ1 unit has a little more functionality, but lateral and vertical navigation aren't included, so you will have to rely on FS2004 flight plans and the autopilot to make your way around the virtual skies. If I was to make a suggestion to Eaglesoft, it would be that in the next addon, if the FMC could load and display full FS flight plans, along with progress data, it would give 95% of simmers most of what they want, without being overcomplex.

The virtual cockpit, shown above, is very good indeed, everything that isn't clickable moves and the graphics are sharp and reasonably bright. As is commonly the case with FS2004 addons these days, you could easily fly the plane using the VC alone, provided you had some way of moving around the cockpit quickly - for which I would recommend ActiveCamera, as usual. In what is rapidly becoming an FS convention, the pilot's viewpoint is set far too close to the panel for comfort and it is necessary to pan back a little to get a proper view - I think this must be something to do with the perspective that FS2004 itself gives, because often, when you look at the .cfg files, the point of view appears to be right where it should be in real life.

That leaves us with the sound set, which is very fine; it is a while since one of the larger outfits released a poor set of noises and long may that continue. The flight dynamics are also excellent and give a good idea of what it is like to fly a plane of this class, as do all Eaglesoft's products. With the trim set right, the sim flies itself off the ground, climbs like a scalded cat and combines a handy rate of roll with the kind of stability in pitch that makes every approach a good one. As usual, it pays to be somewhat careful of the airspeed on final, as the CJ1 does not make a good sailplane.

Overall? The CJ1 is a mature package by FS standards and if you are curious to see what Eaglesoft can do, it is definitely worth considering. This developer has secured a profitable niche for itself by pitching its products at the 'FS2004 plus' level, which means that you don't have to put in a day's reading before you can persuade the plane off the pavement. This has made Eaglesoft's corporate jets popular with simmers who have mastered the default Lear and aren't inclined to make the leap up to very complex packages like the Flight1 ATR. In this light, the lack of a fully working FMC doesn't really matter, because if you want a package that is smart, fast and fun to fly, this is the one for you.