Reality-XP

By Andrew Herd (6 August 2002)

he new radio stacks in FS2002 turned a few heads on release and brought some much-needed sophistication to the avionics in the sim. Non-flying readers may be interested to know that they aren't typical of most aircraft systems - avionics is stunningly expensive and the vast majority of club aviators would faint dead away if confronted with anything as lush as even the Microsoft stack. To give you an idea of how real it can get, the transmit button fell off the yoke of the ageing Cessna 150 I flew a while back. I wouldn't have minded so much if I hadn't had to go and buy a soldering iron to rewire the thing before I took off, but it was a memorable moment. I got by by using the button on the other yoke, but it made calling final kind of interesting, given the way I had to reach across the cockpit and all.

Apart from passing by every aircraft I have flown in, the microelectronics revolution did some amazing things. Thirty years ago, domestic radios were huge things and aircraft units were marvels of miniaturisation. By comparison, modern radios are light years ahead - it is routine to squeeze two nav and two comms units into a single box and the old hacked together switch panels that always have half the labels missing are becoming a thing of the past, replaced by neat selection boxes that a child could understand. Times sure are a-changing and for the better - for a start, there aren't so many things to fall off.

With all this gear featured in full page ads in the magazines, there is no doubt that the majority of pilots lust after state-of-the-art avionics, but the problem is that it comes at such a cost that it can be hard to justify when it has to be balanced against mundane stuff like eating. To give you an idea, a handheld Garmin GPS III costs $500 - and that's for a piece of kit about the same size as two cigarette packs stacked one on top of another, though it is considerably better for your health. Go up the scale a little and a Garmin GNS430 (a panel mounted unit that combines GPS, ILS, VOR, LOC and glideslope) is listed at around $9000, though it is often discounted well below that. After that, the prices go up as far and as fast as you care to imagine.

With all this sophisticated equipment around in the real world, it was only a matter of time before it occurred to someone to offer avionics add-ons for Flight Simulator. The first such package to achieve real success in the GA field was Alain Capt's ACS-GPS, which was initially released for FS98, and still soldiers on in a much-patched FS2002 version. [Editor's note: David Drouin's GPS, originally for FSFW95 and later GPS98 for FS98 and newer was probably first.] The only problem with ACS-GPS is that like a great deal of freeware, you need a fairly solid understanding of Flight Simulator to install it and get it working, although it is ultimately a very neat and extremely well coded little add-on. Now Reality-XP has gone the extra mile and released a simulation of UPS Aviation Technologies GPS and the company's slimline avionics package. This is available as a payware download and installs to give you a fully interactive avionics stack featuring the GPS GL50 with moving map, SL30 Nav/Comm, SL70 Mode A/C transponder and a comprehensive audio panel.

Reality-XP's Flight Line Avionics is a little more than just a simulated avionics package, because it claims to provide the same features and benefits as its real world counterpart. The developers say that the package is so realistic that pilots could use it as a training tool to familiarize themselves with the workings of the actual equipment, and while it is stretching the truth a little, the spirit of the claim is probably correct. The whole deal costs you $34.95.

At this point, I can hear some readers leaping out of their chairs and yelling, "Whoa, there, let's stop a minute! Why should we be paying thirty five bucks for an avionics stack, when you can buy an complete airliner add-on for less?" And I can hear another, smaller group leaping up and adding, "Why do we even have to pay thirty bucks for the airliner?" but that's another story. The answer is, I guess, that you get what you pay for in this life. Given that there isn't anything in the same class as Reality-XPs' stack, it has to be worth a look, and at the end of the review, you will be able to make your own mind up about whether it is worth your money or not.

The package is a 5 Mb download from the www.reality-xp.com web site and is installed after purchase. The process is handled with a credit card and is validated with an active internet connection. The Flight1 e-commerce enabled installer creates a purchase key on the hard drive that can be reused later to reinstall the package. My installation was straight forward and version 1.2, which was the one I tested, offered the choice of which of the default planes should have the Reality-XP stack installed, as well as creating a new program group. After that, all that was left to do was to press a button which built the nav database and then I fired up FS2002.

My first impression was that nothing had changed. I fooled around a little; hitting the icons on the Baron panel brought up the Microsoft radio stack and the default GPS, which the installation had left untouched. However, clicking on a small window at top left of the screen popped up the new units and I was in business.

Documentation is available as a PDF file and after having had limited success trying to get the panel going by trial and error, I gave up and read the manual. I confess that the first time I did my usual skim through and completely missed the slightly non-standard method of turning the controls on the panel. Given that if I could miss it, others will too, the knobs turn clockwise when the right mouse button is pressed and anti-clockwise when the left one is pressed. Fail to understand this and you won't be able to use the units at all, given the fact that several of controls have inner and outer knobs. Although this duplicates the control format chosen by DreamFleet and is apparently in response to user demand, I confess that I found it counter-intuitive, given that most FS panels use handed mouse hotspots on either side of a control - in the heat of the moment I sometimes forgot how to turn things. In version 1.3 it will be possible to use a wheel mouse to turn the controls, a neat feature which was present in version 1.0 and got lost along the way.

I run FS2002 at 1280 x 1024 resolution and as you can see from the second screen shot, the radio stack displays at a slightly smaller size than most people would want, although the the GL50 is fine. You can get around this by dragging the gauges to make them bigger, which works well, apart from three problems: first, the aspect ratio isn't locked, making it easy to distort one dimension during a resize; second, the radios become a little blurry at larger sizes; and finally, even on a 1.7 Ghz Pentium, it took time for the units to redraw, so I don't recommend resizing in flight. The Flightline system always reloads at the original size when you select a new aircraft, forcing you to go through the whole process over, which is slightly tedious. The screen shot above shows both units resized as accurately as I could do it. Reality-XP assure me that the bitmaps will be looked at in the 1.3 release.

I'll deal with the FL15 first, because it is the simplest unit in the pack. At first glance, it is only a slightly more sophisticated version of the default audio panel, but it has some neat additional features, like the way it remembers its last setting from one flight to the next. The rotary knob selects which radio is live, while the Com1 and Com2 buttons allow you to momentarily select the other radio. In addition to the Com radios, you can monitor both Nav radios, the marker, ADF and DME. The speaker (SPR) and AUX switches are non-functional in Flight Simulator. Using the left hand knob, you can "split" the radios on the real FL15 so the pilot hears one radio and the co-pilot the other - that's the 1/2 and 2/1 positions - but in Flight Simulator, this does nothing at all, there being no co-pilot, unless I have missed a really useful feature.

In case you are wondering why would you want to monitor audio on the Nav radios and the ADF, the answer is simple enough, it is easier than you can possibly imagine to tune the wrong navaid. One of the few defenses is to listen out for the morse ID of the beacon when you tune it - and I still manage to tune the wrong beacon from time to time, even doing that. The procedure for using any navaid is first to tune its frequency; then to check the audio ID; then to rotate the card on the displaying instrument (for example, the VOR1 display) to make sure that the needle moves. Only then can you be sure that you are receiving the navaid signal; although in real life, at extreme range it can sometimes be hard to get good reception and the needle can flick in and out for a while. If you want, the ADF can also be used to listen to radio stations so you can listen to inflight music, although FS doesn't support this and it is regarded as being a little unprofessional. The final feature of the FL15 is aural warnings which are linked to various aircraft systems, for example the fuel system, oil temp and pressure, the battery and so on.

Next in line is the FL30, simulating the SL30 UPS nav/comm, which is an integrated unit. It has some extremely useful features, such as storage of up to 250 favorite frequencies, with automatic storage of the last ten used for each radio, automatic downlink for the selected airport's Com/VOR/ILS/LOC frequencies from the GPS; morse code decoding; a built in CDI; standby and active frequency monitor mode; DME; and switching from TO/FROM radials. While the unit takes a little getting used to, it is a faithful duplication of the original and features such as the morse decode and the automatic transfer of frequencies from the GPS are seriously useful. The "stuck microphone" feature is something you will either love or hate - in FS2002, the FL30 considers an ATC window left open for more than 30 seconds as a stuck mike, kills it and posts a message.

The FL30 worked well, although I did find that on random occasions, I could tune the active frequency rather than the standby one. Where ergonomics are considered, the click spot for the large adjustment knob is uncomfortably close to the edge of the screen in the default load position - this makes it easy to miss, with the result that you will become familiar with the "undock window?" dialog if you are anything like me.

Next we have the FL70 transponder, which simulates the SL70 unit from UPS. The real unit is Mode C capable, which means it transmits altitude information to ATC - in real flying this makes life much easier for the controller, who would otherwise have to remember your altitude. The FL70 supports a simulation of ident mode (in real flying, ATC ask you to "squawk ident" and when you do a large triangular symbol flashes up for 15 seconds on the controller's radar screen at your aircraft's position, making it easy for him to spot you if there is a lot of traffic) and also of standby mode. Many FS transponder sims omit standby, but real pilots always switch to standby when switching code. Why? Well it stops you cycling through any of the distress or hijack codes, 7500-7700, which is guaranteed to give ATC heart failure even if they show very briefly on their tubes. You get a single keypress US VFR code; and you can also swap back to the last transponder code you used with one key. Apart from this, the unit offers altitude "hold" mode, which shows how far the aircraft is deviating from the selected altitude; and if you set up the device properly it will flash and sound an audible warning if you deviate more than a certain amount away from your selection. In practice, what you do is fly to say 2500 feet, hit the hold button and then watch the numbers out of the corner of your eye - but apart from the audible warning, you might as well use the altimeter.

The most complex unit in the stack is the GL50, which simulates the Apollo GX50, a unit which is approved for IFR non-precision approach operation. The Flightline unit is billed as a GPS, although it does much more than that. Like other units in its class, the GL50 does all the basic math for you, calculating such things as bearing and distance; desired track; track angle error; flight time and countdown time. You can show as few or as many features as you like by using declutter, which is smart enough to offer filtering based on runway limits and surface type. There are eight navigation pages including the current waypoint, ETE, a CDI with auto scale, and distance off track; and on top of that you can look up the Minimum Safe Altitude, Minimum Enroute Altitude and your ETA. When you select an airport, the GL50 lets you look up its communications frequencies; elevation; runway maps and surface type, surface type, which will put an end to those embarassing moments when you drop out of the cloud base in the Lear only to find a 300 yard gravel strip ahead.

The GL50 does clever stuff with VORs and NDBs too, showing their identifier, name, frequency, radial and distance; and there is all the standard "go-to" stuff including a filterable search function to find airports, VOR, NDB and intersection within a 600 nm radius. The unit couples to the autopilot and last, but not least, you can load FS2002 flight plans. One thing it doesn't do is display airspace boundaries more than approximately; for example it shows what I take to be the RAF Leeming airspace directly west of EGNV, rather than where it is, to the southwest. Since airspace is fiendishly complicated and changes from time to time, this is fair enough, but if you are going to be picky, this is one area where the GL50 isn't as real as it gets. The reason is that the stack uses the base FS2002 airspace data, which is apparently derived from a two year old Jeppesen set.

Where the GL50 fell down was in its ability to select flight plans - according to the manual it should load the first 63 FS2002 compatible plans in the \fs2002\flights\myflts folder, but I never got it to load more than 16 in one go, though this may be due to the way I name my flight plans. Another small issue is that it won't load a flight plan created "live" - in other words, you can't start a plane, create a plan, load it in the GPS, activate it and then fly. The work around is to reload the GL50 after the flight plan is created. However, with a plan loaded, the default planes flew them without any problems, even at four times speed. Incidentally, if you setup a go-to, and then switch the autopilot in after a delay, be prepared for the plane to fly back over the point where you selected the go-to.

On the whole, I found the stack worked well overall, barring the issues I had with the flight plan loading, the controls and radio tuning. The developer has shown real commitment so far and upgrades have been timely, so I have little doubt that all the niggles will get sorted out in the end. If there is a problem with Flightline, it is that you have to learn nearly as much about working the units (particularly the GL50) as you do about most complete panels, and it is easy to get frustrated with the stack early on, before you are familiar with the way everything works. Readers who like to turn and burn might be better avoiding the package, because it isn't something that you can use every now and then, unless you really enjoy re-reading manuals, or have a better memory than I do. To be fair, Reality-XP have provided a "Practical GPS Navigation" guide, which takes the user on a flight from Meigs to Oshkosh, covering all the most frequently used features of the Flight Line Avionics. On the other hand, if you persist and really get into it, Flightline really does provide a good impression of what it is like to fly with sophisticated modern GA avionics and it has zero hit on FS2002's performance. Given that there is no reason why you shouldn't fit the stack to every default plane on your hard disk, potentially you could end up using it all the time, which makes any investment in learning that much more worthwhile in the long run; though I would caution that adding it to some of the more complex add-on aircraft could cause problems, because these often run right to the limit of the number of active panel components in Flight Simulator.

A back of the envelope calculation tells me that if you had to buy the entire stack for a real airplane, it would cost around $15000 - and that is before fitting charges - getting avionics into planes is not cheap. Looked at in those terms, $35 isn't so bad, given that you can fit the stack in as many planes as you want. Though the price is going to make many users pause, I am sure that many more will look at the level of functionality on offer and reach for their credit cards.