Review: F-86 Sabre From Milviz

F-86 Sabre Interior

The three-dimensional virtual cockpit is very detailed, and all its elements are clear and readable. All aspects are essentially true to the many real-world photos I found. Sabre cockpits changed over the years, and recent private owners have updated their cockpits and panels.

F-86's INTERIOR DETAILS
Screen shots by Bill Stack

Instruments of the F-86 Sabre

Milviz's instrument panel matches the photo in the real-world manual included with this product. I cannot verify colors because the photo is monochrome, but similar colors are found in some of the many real-world photos of this panel.

This panel is laid out differently from what we're accustomed to nowadays, and some instruments are different. As examples, the airspeed indicator and attitude indicator are not color coded, and the card on a "slaved gyro magnetic compass" always shows north at the top while a needle rotates showing current heading. There are no radio-navigation instruments. The airspeed indicator includes a horizontal rotating drum that shows current airspeed through a small window, which is very handy. It requires some time spent looking over this panel and its instruments as well as time simulating the Sabre's flight. The real F-86 had no autopilot or GPS, and neither does Milviz's F-86. A few instruments don't do anything and are not identified in Milviz's manual.

The 3D virtual cockpit offers several close-up views of significant instruments and controls. It has no two-dimensional panel and no popup windows for specific instruments and controls. No GPS device is included. Pilots of the Sabre's era had no GPS, and there's no space in the panel to add a device, but modern Sabre pilots can certainly use GPS. Milviz provides instructions for adding a GPS if desired.

Operating Milviz's unique instruments requires the use of four special programs that must be activated upon initial launch of this aircraft. Users should click "Run" when FSX asks for permission to use these programs. Bypassing these programs will render the aircraft unusable.

F-86's INSTRUMENTS
Main Instrument Panel	Attitude Indicator	Gyro/Compass
Screen shots by Bill Stack

Documents

Milviz provides two manuals in portable document format (PDF) for using its F-86 Sabre, plus a short text file.

• USAF Flight Manual: This 431-page manual describes everything pilots need to know about flying a real North American F-86F Sabre. It appears to have been scanned from the April 1971 update of a real May 1960 manual.
• Milviz User Manual: This 31-page manual, titled "FSX User Manual for the Milviz F-86F-30," describes the Milviz rendition of this aircraft with numerous screen shots of the cockpit and instrument panels. It also has a section describing normal, extreme, and emergency flight procedures such as stalls, spins, and belly landings.
• READ ME FIRST! IMPORTANT: This simple text file describes "a fix for what seems like a light reflection moving up or down in the middle of the F 86 instrument panel as you take off and/or land the plane . . . because FSX coding is not always cooperative."

MILVIZ's F-86 MANUALS
Screen shots by Bill Stack