Airbus 2000
by
Published on 05-27-1999 09:00 AM
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<title></title>
<style type="text/css">
div.c7 {font-size: 120%; margin-left: 2em}
span.c6 {font-size: 144%}
p.c5 {font-size: 120%}
i.c4 {font-weight: bold}
span.c3 {color: #000090; font-family: arial; font-size: 70%}
span.c2 {font-size: 120%}
div.c1 {text-align: center}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="c1">
<h1>Airbus 2000</h1>
<h3>By Philip Iplixian (27 May 1999)</h3>
</div>
<span class="c2"><img src="/images/fsc/dropcaps/a2.gif" align=
"left" alt="A">irbus Industrie is one of the two leading commercial
aircraft manufacturers in the world. It is estimated that soon
Airbus will have produced 50% of the airliners currently in
service. This consortium of aeronautical industries from four
different countries has come a very long way in a mere 25 years.
From the A300B1 all the way to the upcoming A340-600, Airbus has
introduced many technological features that could previously only
be imagined.</span>
<div class="c1">
<table border="2" width="770">
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/300panel.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/300panet.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">I commanded this Monarch
A300-600R from the F/O seat on a charter flight from London to
Faro. Note that Airbus 2000 includes two different cockpits for the
A300. All the B2 and B4 variants use the analog cockpit while the
A300-600R's and A310's use the newer semi-glass cockpit. I am lined
up for takeoff from Gatwick's 26L waiting for takeoff clearance to
Faro.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/320panel.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/320panet.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">A calm evening approach
into Chicago's O'Hare airport's 27L showing the ultra modern
cockpit of the A320. This was a short Northwest service from
Minneapolis to Chicago using one of the airline's A320-200's. All
of the panels that are included are meticulously designed and can
be resized (with minimal distortion) to allow for better exterior
views.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/321panel.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/321panet.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">A view from the jumpseat of
an Air France A321-100 on approach to Athens after a 3 hour flight
from Paris. This view can be accessed in the A319/320/321 and
A330/340 cockpits. It is a photorealistic rendition of the
Fly-By-Wire cockpit that includes Airbus' famous side stick
controllers. Although it looks gorgeous, it is very difficult to
fly with this view because the instruments are too
small.</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="c5">It was expected then, that someone would decide to
design these beautiful European birds for Flight Simulator 98.
<i class="c4">Airbus 2000</i> from Horizon Software is a
comprehensive collection of nearly every aircraft produced by the
consortium in the past 25 years, dressed in the liveries of the
many airliners which have operated the types in the past and
continue to do so today.</p>
<p class="c5">Airbus has built a strong relationship with many
airlines such as Swissair and Austrian who will soon be operating
an exclusive Airbus fleet. I am writing this review after testing
each aircraft type using a series of maneuvers and a complete
flight which is representative of the daily use of each aircraft.
The photos I have taken are often in flight but also shots from the
jumpseat of each aircraft to show the cockpit layout of each
aircraft.</p>
<p class="c5">This review is based on the performance of Airbus
2000 on the following PC:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="c2">PIII 500MHz</span></li>
<li><span class="c2">256MB RAM</span></li>
<li><span class="c2">Viper 550 (16MB AGP)</span></li>
<li><span class="c2">1024x768x16M resolution</span></li>
<li><span class="c2">Microsoft Flight Simulator 98 (patch +
converter)</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="c5">System Recommendations (as stated by publisher):</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="c2">Intel Pentium II CPU</span></li>
<li><span class="c2">Third Generation Direct 3D compatible video
card</span></li>
<li><span class="c2">64MB RAM</span></li>
<li><span class="c2">FS98 (will also work with FS5.1 and
FSFW95)</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="c1">
<table border="2" width="770">
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/aa300.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/aa300t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">An American Airbus
A300-600R overflying the Miami skyline. The mediocre fuselage
textures on this model are very disappointing. This airframe
screams for the "bare aluminum" textures that are normally worn by
American's jets.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/af300.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/af300t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">Air Inter was an early
customer for the A300-B2 that is shown here in their previous
livery. The cockpit is old fashioned by today's standards using
gauges instead of CRT's. The light blue tint of the cockpit is a
characteristic of Airbus airliners.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/az321.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/az321t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">Alitalia currently operates
only one member of the A320 family, namely the A321. This photo
shows A321 'Roma' (I-BIXE). Aircraft almost always have their
registration number painted on the lower surface of the wing and
luckily, the designers of Airbus 2000 did not forget to add this
in.</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="c5">Now that I have finished with all the preliminaries,
I will get started. The installation is extremely simple but
instructions are provided in the 36 page manual. When installation
is complete, all the aircraft are installed with their panels and
sounds and are ready to fly. This is a big plus if you are a
beginner and don't like messing around in Windows Explorer in order
to sort out files. Personally, I didn't like it for two reasons.
First of all, I would have liked to be given the choice of what
aircraft I installed rather than having to install everything.
Second, I like to mix and match various aspects of each
airplane.</p>
<p class="c5">The file structure that Airbus 2000 uses is rather
strange. I would have liked to use the Airbus 2000 panels and
sounds with other aircraft that I have, for example. As mentioned
earlier, the manual has detailed instructions on installation using
the 3 variants of Flight Simulator (installation varies between the
three). I found the manual to be rather simple. The best feature is
the performance tables that occupy the last 13 pages. The figures
are quite useful for flying but the print is very small and you
need a magnifying glass to see it!</p>
<div class="c1">
<table border="2" width="770">
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/beluga.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/belugat.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">Although it was designed
quite hastily, omitting such details as rivet lines, this is one of
the best Belugas I've seen. This photo shows 'The Super
Transporter' banking over Toulouse, the hometown airport of
Aerospatiale and final assembly site for all Airbus models except
the A319 and A321.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/ei330.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/ei330t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">I took this photo from the
Captain's seat of an Aer Lingus A330 on final approach to Kennedy's
31L. The landing lights are a very helpful aid in guiding these
heavy birds to a landing after the sun goes down!</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/rq310.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/rq310t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">Royal Jordanian operates
the A310 to destinations in the Middle East, Europe, and North
America. This is perhaps one of the nicest liveries included in
Airbus 2000 because the charcoal gray covers the rather uninspired
fuselage texturing. The problem with this particular aircraft is
that the crown on the tail should be gold. Also, A300's and A310's
have much wider and shorter main doors. These look like they've
been ripped off a 757! This photo shows A310 (F-OOVH) enroute from
Zurich to Amman.</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="c5">I was eager to see the visual models so I started up
the simulator to take a first look at each aircraft. This is where
my excitement died! The fuselage is very poorly detailed. This is
unacceptable for a product that specializes on the Airbus fleet. I
have seen many better Airbus models on the Internet, which are
absolutely free. The manual claims that "each aircraft is
stunningly detailed" but I'm sure that after looking at some of the
photos, you will disagree. The wings are nice and the textured
wheels are cute but let's face it, the fuselage and tail are the
components that carry an airline's image so they should look good.
There are no rivet lines to show the aluminum paneling of the skin.
The horizontal stabilizer is not textured at all and the tail only
has a line denoting the gap between the fixed portion and the
rudder. Many aircraft are missing lower deck cargo hatches.</p>
<p class="c5">Moving around in spot view I noticed significant
bleed-through mainly on the A330's and A340's around the engine
pylon area. This overlapping is even more noticeable when slats are
extended. The doors of all the Airbus jets have been seriously
distorted. As the photos show, the A319 and A320 overwing exits are
a disgrace to the Airbus name. In addition, although all aircraft
carry registration numbers on the fuselage and under the port wing,
many do not carry the name to match the tail number. This
information is readily available on the Internet. The Virgin
Atlantic A340 could have been named Tubular Belle if the designers
were meticulous enough to check the registration and match the
two.</p>
<div class="c1">
<table border="2" width="770">
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/sq340.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/sq340t.jpg" width="250" height="157"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">A Singapore Airlines A340
gracefully flares over Heathrow's 27R after a nonstop service from
Singapore Changi airport. The designers could have put a lot more
effort into the fuselage by adding paneling and rivet lines. The
wing is textured beautifully but the flaps could also use a bit
more work.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/sr319.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/sr319t.jpg" width="250" height="157"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">An aerial shot of
Swissair's A319-100 reveals major flaws in fuselage design. The
nose radome is not textured, the overwing exit should be larger and
its corners should be more rounded. It is too wide and short. There
is no texturing on the tail depicting the attachment points of the
rudder. And behind the overwing exit, the windows should be
continuous. Even if some airlines plug the windows, none of the
aircraft in Airbus 2000 show this. There should also be another
cargo hold door aft of the main wing.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/su320.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/su320t.jpg" width="250" height="157"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">It's nice that Airbus 2000
includes some newer liveries but they are not as striking if the
fuselage itself lacks the finer details. Again, the A320 has
thinner but taller overwing exits. Note that several of the windows
appear to have their shades drawn down. This adds a nice touch but
doesn't compensate for the absent tail and horizontal stabilizer
texturing.</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="c5">Another often repeated mistake that I noticed is that
some of the titling uses the wrong font or is not bold or thin
enough. The Swissair titling for example should be a bit bolder. In
my opinion, this ignorance is unacceptable! This hobby has
progressed enough in its freeware form to the point where these
details are almost essential to the design of the airframe! I was
also very disappointed to see that the designers did not include
the A320-100. This was the first version of the type that went into
service with Air France and British Airways. How could they forget
to include this aircraft? All aircraft have night lighting and
landing lights and some include logo illumination lights on the
tail. It's a nice touch but they are aimed wrong on some tails and
the design is partially obscured.</p>
<p class="c5">I became so sick of looking at these monstrosities,
that I decided to get into the cockpit and glue myself to the seat
so that I would never have to look at the outside! Well, I can
report that the cockpits have been beautifully reproduced. No
complaints here! The A319, A320, A321, A330 and A340 cockpits have
a jumpseat view that is photorealistic. It's a nice touch but
impossible to use in-flight because the instruments are too small
to read. All the panels are resizable without distortion of
individual instruments. This is perhaps the feature I like the most
even though many people will argue that it is not realistic. The
drawback of course is that the radio stack was not included on the
main panel and has to be accessed using a shortcut command which
pauses the simulator.</p>
<div class="c1">
<table border="2" width="770">
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/tap340.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/tap340t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">There are major overlapping
problems around the engine pylon area of the A330's and A340's,
especially when slats are extended. Another visual flaw is the font
that the designers used for various airline names. It often appears
too thin or bold. Such is the case with Air Portugal's A340 but
also Lufthansa, Hapag Lloyd, Air Canada and several others. All the
aircraft in Airbus 2000 feature textured landing gear.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/vs340.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/vs340t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">Mr. Branson would be
disappointed with this rendition of his airline's A340. Again, the
logo uses the wrong font and there is no name applied to the nose
of the aircraft. It would have been easy to paint the name "Tubular
Belle" and looked up the registration of this particular aircraft!
The A340 cockpit however, is a marvel of ergonomics and the
designers did a splendid job of modeling it. This A340 is caught
rotating from Heathrow's 27R bound for Boston.</span></td>
<td valign="top"><a href=
"/images/reviews/air2000/yp330.jpg"><img src=
"/images/reviews/air2000/yp330t.jpg" width="250" height="184"
border="0" alt=""></a> <span class="c3">A Philippine A330 is seen
awaiting takeoff clearance. Many of the aircraft feature tail
lighting to accentuate the airline's logo. It's a nice touch but
the tail itself is textured very poorly and in many cases, the
light is not focussed on the entire logo! And notice our friends,
the bleed-through textures around the engine pylons! All the
aircraft in the package also feature landing lights.</span></td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class="c5">My first test flight was in Swissair's A319. As I
started up the engines, I was treated to the most amazing audio I
have ever heard! You can hear the distinctive whang of the CFM
turbofans! Then I proceeded to extend flaps for takeoff. Instead of
hearing the flap actuators that are about 80 feet behind the
cockpit, you actually hear the realistic sound of the flap lever
sliding down the groove! My opinion regarding Airbus 2000 was
beginning to change.</p>
<p class="c5">After a smooth takeoff, I started testing various
aspects of flight. I performed the same tests with each airframe.
All the jets have very stable characteristics and smooth handling.
The touchdown sounds are very realistic as well. The A340's are a
joy to fly and are very predictable although, like in a 747, you
have to always stay ahead of the aircraft and plan all your turns
in advance since it is so large and stable.</p>
<p class="c5">I flew the Air France A340 from Paris (CDG) to Miami
in approximately 8:50. The fuel burn is quite accurate. I didn't
like the autopilot on the A319/320/321/330. It feels like the
system doesn't have the authority to fly the aircraft within a
stable flight regime. In other words, it felt like the flight model
behaved in a more stable manner when flown manually. As I mentioned
earlier, the panels have been designed for a compromise between
functionality and realism. The instruments are very clear at
1024x768 resolution and they are a joy to work with during low
visibility ILS approaches.</p>
<p class="c5">Another interesting feature is the F/O command
position that is available with every single aircraft. After
installation, each aircraft appears twice in the menu allowing the
user to select flight either in the captain's seat or the F/O. It
took a little getting used to sitting in the right seat especially
during the approaches but it's a nice change. After all, F/O's are
in command of the aircraft half the time with the captain operating
the radios. It would have been nice if there were seatbelt switches
with the bell sound as well as clicking noises for the various
cockpit switches. The overspeed, stall, and gear warning alarms
have also been improved.</p>
<table border="0" align="right">
<tr>
<td><img src="/images/fsc/boxcover/airb2000.jpg" width="130"
height="196" alt=""><br></td>
</tr>
</table>
<span class="c2">Airbus 2000 is an interesting commercial add-on
that offers the flight simulator enthusiast a large variety of
aircraft in different liveries. Although the visual models lack
many of the details which can be found on freeware counterparts,
the flight models have been meticulously programmed to give a
realistic "heavy" feel but also the smooth handling which make the
Airbus product line such an attractive choice for airlines and
their pilots. If you are an FS pilot who likes flying in spot view,
I would recommend that you avoid this add-on but if you enjoy high
tech cockpit operations in today's short and long haul jets, then
definitely consider Airbus 2000 as an entry level add-on into the
world of airline operations.</span>
<div class="c7"><span class="c6">Philip Iplixian<br>
<a href=
"mailto:iplixiap@db.erau.edu">iplixiap@db.erau.edu</a></span></div>
</body>
</html>
Tag Cloud
