Emma Field/Tiger Moth

By Andrew Herd (11 October 2002)

t isn't every day that you get sent a new scenery by Richard Goldstein, Maurizio Gavioli and Oliver Pabst for review and neither do I get exactly snowed in with classic biplanes either, so when Lago's Emma Field and the Golden Eagles' Tiger Moth collection arrived simultaneously, reviewing them together seemed to be the right thing to do.

Seventy odd years after it first flew, the Tiger is still one of the most famous biplanes around, thanks to its appealing lines and the fact that so many pilots learned to fly in one. The design was based on the DH.60T Moth and incorporated many lessons learned from the weaknesses of its predecessor, but also took advantage of its strengths, such as the Gypsy Major engine. The construction was of wood and fabric and after an initial run of DH.82s fitted with 120 hp engines, the design was slightly refined and a 130 horse engine fitted, this model being designated the DH.82a. About a thousand hulls were built before the war, but with the outbreak of hostilities came a big order from the RAF and the total UK production was just over 5000, with an additional 3500 or so built in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Norway and Sweden. Postwar, the Tiger proved popular with private owners and flying clubs all over the world and hundreds are still flown on a regular basis. No, it isn't a perfect plane and the more powerful Stampe has often been described as a Tiger with the bugs out, but then the Stampe was designed over a decade later and it lacks as much personality. As you can tell, I am a Tiger fan; they smell so good, anyway.

So, talking of smell, let's get on to Emma Field. Emma is part of a flush new payware from Lago, who have come back (I would say Phoenix-like, but on second thoughts, maybe I won't) from the great blue screen in the sky to release a tidal wave of packages. Once upon a time the FS market used to be so quiet that months could pass without a single major release, but Lago seems determined to release stuff faster than it can be reviewed and all I can say is "Good luck!" to them.

Surprisingly, Emma Field has relatively modest hardware requirements; Lago suggesting that a 750 MHz Pentium II with 64 Mb of RAM and a 32 Mb 3D card should be enough. In the spec the 3D card is only "highly recommended", but you would be crazy to buy a scenery like this without the means to display it properly, so write the card in as a definite need. The package is available as a 33 Mb download from Lago's web site and it will cost you $24.48 or 25 Euros - and it is definitely worth the money. Installation requires the entry of a registration number and from there on the process is automatic, creating a program group with links to a 19 page pdf manual and to Lago's web site.

If you read our Flying M Ranch and Escalante and Hurricane reviews, then you will already have a feel for what Richard's sceneries are like and Emma doesn't disappoint in that respect, but it goes a little further than Flying M does and tries to recreate the feel of what a small airfield is like. Before I saw Emma, I thought Rich had already captured about as much feel as FS2002 could support, but now I have to admit that I can't wait to see what he does next, because his partnership with Maurizio and Oliver is creating some quite extraordinary stuff. "Feeling?" I can hear you thinking, "How can FS convey feelings?" Okaaay, well, when you visit the default strips in FS, try stopping and taking a look around. You will see the same buildings that you can see anywhere in the world and if there is any AI traffic, it will be the same planes, doing much the same circuits and they will be there no matter what time or day you arrive. At Emma, you never know quite what to expect, beyond the fact that the grass gets mown on dry Mondays; that Fritz the mechanic will be banging a bent 172 door straight, but only when he isn't opening the gate to let cars in; that the circuit is more likely to be active in good weather; that there are barbecues weekend evenings; and that gliders launch in the summer months when there is good VFR. Now you see what I mean about feeling.

So, I guess you can see, having read a little about Emma field, why I wanted to try flying a Tiger in there. There have been a number of freeware Moth releases for Flight Simulator over the years, but nothing on quite the scale of this one, and having seen some of the previous Golden Eagles releases, I was extremely interested to hear that they had launched an add-on which included both wheeled and float-equipped Tigers.

The Tiger collection is available for $12.50 from Lynn and Bill Lyons page on the Golden Eagles web site - marketed under the Custom Classics label. The package is an 8 Mb zip which has to be decompressed into the main FS2002 folder and while there isn't an automatic installation routine, if you follow the instructions and make sure that folder recursion is checked it shouldn't be a problem. Documentation isn't anywhere near as lush as the Lago product, but you get no less than ten planes for the money and part of the deal is a personalised registration - I assume that if you tell Bill your requirements he will deliver whatever you want, within reason, but you can actually change the reg using FS2002's built in system. This is impressive, as I have never seen an add-on which allows you to do this before, so presumably the details of how to do it are in one of the SDKs.

These are Gmax models with reflective textures, independent suspension, neat virtual cockpits, so-so 2D panels and a very atmospheric sound set. In addition to the planes you get a collection of period sceneries which are spread across half the globe (if not all of it - I am sure I haven't found them all) and 28 different flights so that you can see what real pilots feel like. Make sure you buy some goggles too.

Emma field is actually two different sceneries: the main one, which is a grass field with two 2000 odd foot runways; and a small seaplane base on nearby Lake Cushman. If you get bored of flying, there is a sailboat and a power boat on the water there in the summer months. The best way of reaching Emma is to route via Seattle, before flying out on the 256 radial from the VOR. When you arrive, you can check out the circuit using the options off the Lago menu in Flight Simulator - and on landing you will be greeted by Fritz Deters, unless he is still hammering on the Cessna door or lighting the barbecue, or mowing the grass, or launching gliders, or just drinking to forget the pain. The airfield has progressive circuit instructions as well as progressive taxi and as if that isn't enough, there is a neat little system where Fritz talks you in on the radio and then nips out and points you to a space.

When you get parked and pull the mixture, the first thing that hits you about the scenery is the birdsong. It depends a little how hard Fritz is hammering (or where the mower is), but the woods are filled with birds and well, the kind of sounds you hear around small grass fields. Lago don't say how they have achieved this, but the answer must lie in a cut-down version of their FSSoundScape product, which is available separately. If you try taxiing around, you will find the sounds vary according to your location.

So you can see that Bill and Lynn's Tiger fits rather well into Lago's environment. The aircraft is just a little different from the norm because it is really designed to be flown from the VC and when you first load it in this mode you find yourself outside the cockpit, with the cowling open and the access panels down. The reason for this is that it is normal for the starts to be done by two people. The actual routine is for the assistant, standing up front, to call "Switches off, petrol on, throttle closed?" then wait for confirmation from the pilot. Then the assistant floods the carb if the engine is cold and calls "Throttle set?" following which the pilot pulls the throttle nearly closed and yells "Throttle set!". The assistant shouts "Contact!" and flicks the impulse magneto switch up; the pilot pulls the stick right back, puts his mag switch on contact and left hand on the throttle, and watches as the assistant hand pulls the prop until the engine fires. At that point both of them put the other switch in the magneto pair on contact and the plane is ready to go. No keys or any of that fancy stuff.

The Lyon's Tiger simulates this sequence about as well as Flight Simulator allows, following which you get into the virtual cockpit by sliding sideways (shift-ctrl-enter), fastening your seatbelt (shift-E) and shutting the cowl (hit numeric pad 2) and getting ready to feel the wind in your hair. I liked the VC so much I flew the plane the entire time using it and it has no faults I can think of. The 2D panel isn't in the same ballpark, although it is better than most freeware I have seen - but trust me, you won't want to use it after you have tried the VC.

The plane handles well in both floatplane and wheeled versions and there is little to criticize. Although nothing happens very quickly in a Tiger (cruise is 65-70 knots), though the plane is fully aerobatic and you can loop it as long as you can work up to 100 knots on entry. Apart the fact that it is a taildragger, there is absolutely nothing remotely sophisticated about the plane, though there are spin strakes just ahead of the tailfin - Tigers that didn't have them could be very hard to extract from spins indeed. Although the readme says you can spin the Tiger, I had trouble doing it with the control sensitivities at the default settings and neither did I think it sideslipped very well, it being very difficult to keep the nose up as high as I would have liked with the pedals. Apart from these minor failings I like the Tiger a great deal, though by preference I wouldn't have the textures quite as reflective as they are; would slightly remodel the strakes and would like to see the fabric over rib effect enhanced, but if you are a fan of classic biplanes, you need look no further.

If you are a sailplane pilot, then Emma Field is worth a look, because it has a glider launch site. That's me in Peter Franke and Max Roodveldt's freeware ASW28, waiting for Fritz to dump the door and get around to giving me a launch. I've been cooking in the sun awhile, which is why I'm surrounded by trailers - the animation is worth watching too. Launches are triggered from the Lago menu and although FS doesn't provide for simulation of a cable, the whole procedure is pretty damn realistic, with the bird going up at 60 degrees. Heights of 1500 feet aren't too difficult to achieve and with practise you should be able to get 1750, particularly with a bit of wind to help you. The cable unhooks automatically when you are vertically above the winch, with a satisfying "chunk", but you can do a manual release if you want to. And if you want more altitude and are prepared to pay Fritz, then you can have an air tow. Yep, wild, to be sure, and the first time I did it I broke out into a grin, but if you select the correct option from the Lago menu, a tow plane appears and drags you up to 4000 feet before leaving you to your own devices - there is even an option on the Lago menu to show you where the thermals are.

The tow procedures may not be completely realistic - you have to imagine the cable for a start, and real gliders fly level over the winch as they release, while in the sim you have to climb; but who cares when it is as fun as this, and besides, I haven't seen any other scenery which offers serious competition. The gliding section in the Emma field manual is excellent and even has a link to the FSZWever virtual gliding site which offers just about everything you need to know about virtual gliding, with loads of freeware, including some excellent gliders. Lago's package includes a video of a glider launch, an Austria S sailplane and a section on editing winch launch parameters. The Austria S has a fairly basic visual model and lacks a VC, but it has a neat 2D panel.

While I am on the subject of planes, I guess I had better add that Emma field includes not only a rather neat Cosmo weight-shift ultralight, but a Zenith CH801 floatplane and a couple of repaints of default FS2002 aircraft. Of the three, the ultralight is a gas and quickly became a favorite - it is also available as a freeware download [trike2k2.zip] and I notice that since the release there has been a patch to the flight model. I spent a good deal of time playing around with it - the 2D cockpit in particular is a real winner. I have racked my brains, but I can't think of any other panel whose main component is a set of sneakers, but the view between them is fantastic. Just don't look down if you are used to the security of GA planes, because there is nothing below your ass but air and waterfalls.

The Cosmo, the Austria S and the Zenith were designed by Mariano Benlliure, Anders Jermstad and Brian Gladden respectively and are included by permission of the authors; while the rather lurid repaints (in the colors of the Emma Field Skyjumpers Club) are Lago's fault (-: The 172 repaint hurts the eyes, but if you set the viewpoint far enough back and take a couple of analgesics, you may avoid getting a headache.

Having finally got to the end of all the extras included with Emma field, I guess I had better tell you something about the scenery itself. Richard Goldstein is renowned for his attention to detail and his reputation for designing jewel-like sceneries is enhanced by this one. The whole thing is quite simply breathtaking and the best tribute I can pay is to describe the author as the master of FS texture design, because there isn't anyone who comes remotely near him. When other developers talk about "photoreal" you have to cut them some slack, but Rich's textures comes about as near as I imagine it is possible to get to reality in FS and I find it pretty convincing.

The clubhouse is a case in point - just take a look. Those window textures have the most convincing glass I have seen outside a real building and every time I taxied past, I had the urge to go in a see if they served virtual beer. Maybe they do, because Emma offers so much it is hard to imagine that I haven't missed some stuff. The field is littered with similar design icons, including the winch, the fueling truck, the hangars and just about anything else you care to examine. One thing you will not find is textures which look great at a thousand yards and dissolve into mush as you close in, the standard being uniformly high - though at this point I should maybe point out that all the clever animated stuff in the scenery is down to Maurizio and Oliver. Personally I think they make a great team.

The scenery includes mesh, seasonal textures and covers a much larger area than the field itself, with the result that it blends in seamlessly into the surrounding countryside. Approaches from the south are tricky in a plane like the Tiger because there are tall trees on the threshold and dropping a plane that lacks any kind of flaps or brakes is not for the faint hearted, although it can be done. Just make sure you use the grass - remember you have a tailskid. If you want some serious fun, give the ultralight a try! Coming in from the north is easier, although there is a hill to negotiate, but who said life was going to be easy? Just about the only thing that would make Emma more interesting would be if Flight Simulator supported sloping runways - but maybe we'll see that in some future version.

Bugwise, I only found a couple of things wrong with Lago's product. The first was that for no apparent reason, all the buildings would disappear from time to time. The reason was that something was setting the scenery complexity slider to "very sparse", this being particularly common after loading a new plane. The other issue was that from time to time planes would load with the nav lights on. I can't get too excited about either of these problems because they are very easy to fix, but it would be nice if they were gone. As far as Bill and Lynn Lyons Tiger Moth goes, the only bug I can find in that is that the rev counter doesn't work, but real pilots don't need stuff like instruments.

If I were you, I would buy both packages - think of all the fun you would miss if you didn't?

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