Flying Club PA28-161 Warrior
By Chip Barber (12 July 2005)
pon reflection,
I’ve come to realize that I’m a “Kick the tires, light the
fires” type of sim pilot. After all, our major goal is to become
immersed in our sim-world, in which we take to the skies is all
manner of aircraft. So for me, I figure it makes more sense to start
cold and dark. How many “real world” pilots show up to work to
find their aircraft all comfy cozy warm and purring on the apron,
ready to go? Or even more of a stretch, lined up (with a dozen or so
pilots waiting in line for take-off behind them, wishing them an ill
landing for making them wait) and ready to advance the throttles?
No, give me cold and dark any day. And with this in mind, I find
deliciously ironic the test flight I have just completed. You see, I
was asked to take a look at the Just Flight Flying Club PA28 Warrior.
It should come as no surprise that my approach to sim-flying is low
impact (pretty much my approach to everything, but that’s another
story). So, imagine my chagrin when I climbed into this nice cold,
dark cockpit, only to find there’s NO AUTOPILOT! Yikes! I
don’t recall the last time I hand-flew anything. Heck, I look for
the AP switch on hang gliders. But figuring “no pain, no gain”
(I actually live by the credo “No pain...no pain”), I
fired up the engine and set about flying from KITH to KSYR.
Well, hot damn. I flew the route (IFR, let’s not ask for too much all at once) without a hitch. This was less a function of my piloting skills as it was the forgiving nature of the Warrior. She is a dream to fly, even without an AP. (I’m waiting for someone to tell me there IS, in fact, an AP, and I was just too… oh, what’s the word… stoopid. that works… to find it). Believe me, if I can get an aircraft to point A to point B without bending it, it’s gotta be a gem in the air!
As you can see, the 2D dash is nicely laid out and is clear and easy
to read. It is utilitarian, with nothing fancy. A stalwart VFR
“get me to point A to point B” aircraft.
The virtual cockpit (right) offers clickable functions. I am not a fan of the VC, so am not the one to comment and compare. It was rather nice to have Big Ed sitting next to me, though!
But that’s not the really cool part. There is a little program
that comes with the Warrior (and the other three Flying Club planes,
I imagine) called AeroSelect. This little baby opens and allows you
to choose any of the Flying Club aircraft you may have installed, and
then offers you three options: AeroPaint, AeroFace and AeroLoad.
AeroLoad (left) is a straightforward program which allows you to fill your aircraft with passengers and fuel. Neat and simple.
AeroFace (right) is one of those programs that if you didn’t have it, you
wouldn’t miss it. But having it is pretty cool. I’ve placed a
couple of different faces on the pilot of my aircraft. Fun! And, so
easy, even I was able to manage it first try!
AeroPaint (left) is something that, on one level, is very easy to use. You
choose either the default MS Paint, or your own paint program. You
then simply open the texture, click “Edit Displayed Texture”
and your paint program opens with the textures all laid out there for
you. Now for the hard part. Painting an aircraft is not unlike
learning to tie one’s shoes. The first few attempts are rather
forced, take a great deal of time and are of dubious quality (see the
picture of my attempt and you’ll see what I mean). But, with
practice, you are good to go in no time at all.
So, the AeroPaint program only sets you up to do a repaint. As for the actual paint job, you’re on your own! Once your masterpiece is finished, it is an incredibly simple matter to have your new aircraft placed within FS2004.
One thing certainly worth mentioning is that this aircraft is very
frame rate friendly. Notice in the screenshots the rate listed in the
upper right.
Knowing as you do that I am a big fan of default aircraft, I find the Flying Club PA28 Warrior pure joy to fly, even without the AP. As long as you don’t expect anything fancy, you will enjoy this aircraft. A true “seat of the pants” aircraft that comes with some unique and interesting features in the form of product manipulation. This is the only aircraft I’ve seen that gives you the ability to change the face of the pilot and the outside decoration, particularly in such a user-friendly fashion.
I love it!
Three Green!
Chip Barber
rfbarber@optonline.net