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Rambow, Roy Chaffin and Jan Visser's DC-3 has long been one of my favorite aircraft,
so it made my day when a CD with an updated aircraft dropped onto my front door
mat. I have already
reviewed
the panel of this great sim elsewhere, and I was
delighted to hear that the aircraft had been updated, for two reasons: the first
is because when I last reviewed it, the cargo door had a disturbing habit of
opening and closing in flight, letting passengers and other stuff fall out;
and the second is that it allows me to give a shameless plug for a really good
cause.
The idea of seeing an already excellent aircraft improved was too much to resist and I can honestly say that this is the best version of this classic sim to be released yet. After reading this review, if you do not immediately order the CD, you either own it already, or you have a heart of stone (-: The update file is a 4.7 Mb download and is available here [r4dv40up.zip]. The complete package includes a wonderful panel which has been reviewed previously.
Bill,
Roy and Jan originally joined forces to create a simulation of a restored US
Navy Air Transport Service DC-3 belonging to the Mid
Atlantic Air Museum. This particular Gooney Bird served its first working
life as an Admiral's transport, before being rescued by the Museum. Thanks to
the unbreakable spirit of these planes, until last year it was still doing all
the workhorse tasks it was designed for decades ago, hauling museum staff and
equipment around the US. Which is one of the reasons why we are running this
review. Although R4D-6 NATS is available as a freeware download, there is a
moral catch to enjoying it for nothing. The museum needs two new engines, one
of which is for R4D, and the authors encourage anyone who uses it to buy the
CD version, each copy of which will help to raise money towards the $94,000
needed for a new pair of engines.
The CD costs $25 and comes with a self-installer and is packed with extras including a version for FS98, three complete DC-3 manuals, footage of the aircraft in flight and hundreds of photos of the interior of the plane. Besides featuring the visual model upgrade, the CD now includes a package for Combat Flight Simulator and a revised and expanded manual.
Jan
must have spent a great deal of time burning the midnight oil, because the update
list is extensive. The most obvious difference is the substitution of new 32 bit
high-resolution textures for the old 'skin' which improve the visual model a
great deal. Prop animation, a weak spot in many otherwise excellent FS planes,
has been improved too, using a new alpha-channel bitmap, and R4D now sports
some of the most realistic propellors ever seen in Flight Simulator. The nose
section has been completely reworked to look more natural and the ADF antennae
have been redesigned and retextured in the bargain. There is additional nightlight
cockpit and cabin texturing visible in the outside view and more realistic pilot
figures have been added. The passengers are well taken care of - they now have
seats - and the door stays shut, so they won't fall out in mid-flight anymore...
as long as you remember to shut it, that is.
R4D NATS
now has landing lights, but there are no beams yet, chiefly because FS2000 does
not support it. Chocks, control locks and RBF flags have been added, the gear
animation has been fine tuned, with the oh-so-slow asymmetric retraction which
is so characteristic of the DC-3, but seldom seen in Flight Simulator aircraft.
The main gear is much more detailed than on the previous version and in a nice
touch, with the aircraft fully shut-down, there are no pilots in the cockpit.
According to Bill Rambow, "The sales of the new edition of the donationware CD, which includes the new Visual Model Upgrade and a CFS version of the package are going very well. My production of the CD's is keeping pace, though, and orders are being filled promptly by MAAM staff and volunteers for both on-line and mail orders. The feedback we have gotten from buyers has been fantastic! The staff at MAAM are amazed and really appreciate the phenomenal support the FS community has given the engine relacement fund. For those who do not wish to order the CD, the R4D Team asks you to support the cause by making a donation in any amount by connecting to this link. For ordering info, you can try our press release, which will tell you all you need to know."
One other thing. Do go easy on the brakes when you land it.
Andrew Herd