Hello and welcome to another X-Plane aircraft review for FlightSim.Com.

Having recently acquired the Guimbal Cabri G2 from VSKYLABS, I decided it would be a good idea to evaluate it for anyone thinking about purchasing this helicopter.

Before continuing however, I must stress, that the points made in this review are my own personal interpretations. Hopefully though, they will be good enough to provide an insight to how this little flyer looks and performs.

Introduction

The Guimbal Cabri G2, is a two-seat light helicopter produced by Helicopteres Guimbal. It was designed by Bruno Guimbal, a former Eurocopter engineer. The Cabri employs a side-by-side seating arrangement for a pilot and passenger, which is also ideal for training purposes. The Cabri is powered by a single 180 hp (134 kW) Lycoming O-360 piston engine, which has been rated to 145 hp (108 kW) max continuous power and 160 hp (119 kW) 5-minute power. On the 19th of September 2008, the first production aircraft was officially delivered to iXAir, a French training operator. In early 2015, Guimbal stated that the Cabri was in service with 32 operators worldwide, and that the firm presently had orders for another 100 aircraft.

--Wikipedia

Exterior

As always, one of the first things I like to do, is take a look at the outside detailing. Here I found the build of the G2 to be very good indeed, and was particularly impressed with the accuracy of the paint textures; although I was slightly disappointed with the number of liveries provided (a few more would be perfect).

Even though the selection was a bit limited, one aspect I really liked about the liveries, was the fact that the textures used were very easy to manipulate. This meant that making additional liveries is not going to be as painstaking as some other models. So for anyone considering making their first repaint, the G2 would make a good starter model.

Texturing doesn't come much easier than this, and for the more adventurous of you out there, a 'normals' texture set is also provided.

Another exterior detail I especially liked, was the pilot figure. Aircraft cockpits are too often spoiled by unconvincing pilot models, but luckily not here. The pilot modelled by VSKYLABS, looked as convincing as any I'd seen, and had animated arms, which were synchronised to my joystick movements.

Other animated features included cockpit doors, which were opened by clicking on the handles.