Introduction

In this review I will be looking atthe FeelThere E-jet 190/170 series. The Embraer E-Jets is a family ofsingle aisle airliners that typically seat between 70 - 132 passengersand has a range of around 2500 NM. The aircraft is very popular as aregional airliner and on shorter range flights, and is in service withmany airlines around the world, including American Airlines, BritishAirways, KLM, and JetBlue.

Installation

When it came to installing the package, a simple installer programhad to be run. This was done in order to remove a file which wasincompatible with P3D v5. However, I couldn't find the file inquestion, so I'm wondering if FeelThere have removed it during aproduct update.

Manual

The first thing which struck me regarding the manual was howextensive it was. At over 100 pages long, it was highlyinformative. As such, it made learning about the aircraft a highlyenjoyable experience.

There were some limitations though, one being the manual waswritten for the Embraer 175 and 195. This wasn't too much of an issue,as most of the information was still relevant, especially as theseaircraft are essentially part of the same family. The issue camehowever, with the manual's performance figures, as it only containedthose for the 195/175 and not the 190/170.

Also, the manual did not explain about the checklist functionincluded with the model. To this date, I am still none the wiser on howto use it, as I can't find a clear explanation. Likewise, the manualalso missed details on how to open the doors; I had to refer to thebasic 'Shift + E' key commands to use them.

Configurator And Payload Manager

On a positive note, the package did have a clear explanation on howto use the configurator tool. Overall, the tool was very extensivewith areas covering gauges, sound, hardware input and cockpitstates. However, the 'Payload Manager' (part of the configurator)despite being able to choose passenger and cargo loads was missing acrucial element... fuel!

I found it strange that someone can take the time to create apayload manager and then miss out such a vital element. Regrettably,the manual couldn't give me any further insight into this, so I triedto use the default manager in P3D. Unfortunately, it soon becameapparent that there was a conflict in weights between the defaultmanager and FeelThere's version.

I should also point out that the way FeelThere's payload managerworks is by saving the weight proportions into the aircraft's CFGfile. This means, to change the load, you would also need to restartthe simulator which makes turnarounds near enough impossible.

Performance

If you are a follower of my reviews, then you'll know that mycurrent graphics card is not the best suited to P3D v5 with only 6GBof VRAM. However, for most of the time, I rarely have an issue withVRAM limitations, but sadly, this was not the case with the E190.

Initially I thought the issue must be at my end, but it seems manyothers in the community have reported incredibly high VRAM usage forthis product too. For reference, on a vanilla install with no otheradd-ons running like GSX, Active Sky, or AI-traffic, I was usingaround 4.2 - 4.6GB of VRAM. When I did try and run the add-onsmentioned, I ended up with crashes. On a positive note, the FPS werealways stable.

Exterior

The exterior of the Embraer is very well made, and when comparingit to its real-life counterpart, looked the part. When panning thecamera around the aircraft, you simply can't help but be impressed atthe detail as it looks incredibly realistic.

You have some lovely PBR effects used throughout the model, withthe leading edge of the wings looking especially impressive. There isalso plenty of weathering to be seen, which greatly adds to theauthenticity of the model. Having worked in real aviation (and on manydirty aircraft), it's nice to see this featured.

Great attention has also been paid to the smaller 3D details, suchas the pitot tubes, antennas, and air sensors, all of which have beenaccurately placed throughout the airframe.

The only slight downside to the exterior, was that there were no3rd party airline textures included. Liveries available by defaultwere FeelThere house liveries, but several options are available forairlines such as KLM, Aero Mexico, and JetBlue.

Interior

The cockpit of the E190/170 was modelled very accurately. Theoverhead panel, glass cockpit, and lower pedestal were exactly likethe ones found in the real E-Jet. You also have five high qualitycockpit displays, plus the ram's horn style control column.

Something I found to be both interesting and yet slightly strange,was that in order to change the scale of the navigation display, youhad to use the control wheel of your mouse. I'm not sure if there ismeant to be a button or knob for this, but either way I found it to bea nice quirky feature.

Night Lighting

Night lighting was done very well and looked good, butunfortunately there didn't seem to be a way to control the intensity.When you clicked on a knob, it was either 100% on, or off.

As well as the main cockpit, you could also access part of thepassenger cabin, but unlike certain other products (for exampleCaptain Sim), only the business class area could be previewed.

Systems

Something for which impressed me greatly was the systemsfunctionality and integration. From testing the electrical, hydraulic,pneumatic, and backups, I must say it all worked flawlessly and withgreat effect.

Incorporated within this, was a fantastic and highly accurate EICASsystem that seemed to pick up every abnormality. This was also thecase with the systems synoptics pages. One minor issue I did encounterwas that on the synoptics page, the animations were very dim and socould be difficult to read at times.

There was also a problem with the GPU, as sometimes when selectedto 'off', the ground cart seemed to stay attached to the aircraft. Atother times, the GPU simply wasn't available, and as such, I recommendusing the APU as the GPU system appears to be a little buggy in itscurrent form.

Sounds

When I worked on Embraer jets a few years back, the thing Iremember most about them, was just how noisy they were. I always feltthey were louder than even Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s, and becauseof this feature, I could always recognise when an E190 was rollingin. Well, I'm happy to say that this add-on really helped bring backthose memories because those engines are LOUD! As well as the mainengines, there are also sound samples for numerous buttons and knobs.

One issue I did run into was with the APU sounds, as they were outof sync. When the APU is set to 'start' you are immediately greetedwith the appropriate noises, but the system hasn't even startedrunning yet. There is no build up or gradual increase in the relatedsounds, which unfortunately, is not realistic.

Flying Experience And Conclusion

Even though the Embraer is like an Airbus A320 in that it hasfly-by-wire controls (FBW), to me it didn't feel as sluggish. NormallyI don't enjoy flying FBW aircraft because of this reason, but theE-Jet felt a lot more responsive at the controls. I also liked howonly minimal input was required, which is appropriate for an aircraftof this size.

Again, much like the A320, the Embraer has up to date technologyfitted as standard, such as FADEC and FBW. From a virtual pilot'sperspective, I really do enjoy having these systems included as itmakes for a good balance in terms of hands-on flying vs flightmanagement.

However, the overall modelling of this package has left me wanting.Not only is there the issue of high VRAM usage which, on low endcards, seriously hampers the ability to run additional 3rd partyadd-ons, but there are also the numerous bugs outlined in this review.

Yes, it truly is a lovely aircraft to fly, and if you can live withthe issues outlined in this review, then I am sure you'll enjoyit. For myself though, until the product is updated with the necessaryfixes, it's not an add-on I can outrightly recommend. However, ifthese issues are addressed, then the developers will have a fantasticproduct to offer.

Alex Dickinson

Purchase FeelThere - Embraer E-Jets E170 and E190 V3 For P3D