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/images/notams/notams20/just0610/just0610.jpgThe British Aerospace 146 is a short-haul and regional airlinerthat was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace,later part of BAE Systems. The BAe 146 was produced in -100, -200 and-300 models. The equivalent Avro RJ versions are designated RJ70,RJ85, and RJ100. The freight-carrying version carries the designation"QT" (Quiet Trader), and a convertible passenger-or-freight model isdesignated as "QC" (Quick Change). A "gravel kit" can be fitted toaircraft to enable operations from rough, unprepared airstrips. /images/notams/notams20/just0610/justflight-2.jpgSource
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Hawk T1/A Advanced TrainerPublisher: Just FlightReview Author: Shawn WeigeltSuggested Price: $44.99/images/fsc/wbicons/store-buy-now-button.png /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_3.jpgIntroductionWhile mylast reviewfocused on a familiar type of aircraft from a very familiardevelopment team, I thought I would do something completely differentfor this one. You see, light piston powered General Aviation aircraftare kind of my thing. They are basically the only things I fly inX-Plane and review for FlightSim.Com. So what did I do? I decided toreview a military jet trainer...the Hawk T1/A from Just Flight.Weird, I know. The truth is, I think being a fighter pilot isprobably the coolest job on the planet and loud, powerful, go-fastfighters speak to my masculinity in a way that no other machinecan. A guilty X-Plane pleasure of mine (when I'm bored with GA flying)is to load up a fighter and just rip around at low level in theCascade or Olympic Mountains of Washington State, where I live. Apersonal favorite of mine for this is the excellent freewareRafale by XPFR.There are a handful of great free fighters available to the X-Planecommunity and just as few high quality payware ones. Fighter jets arejust something of a niche in X-Plane and are far less prominent thanthe airliners or the GA airplanes I'm so fond of. Flight simmerssimply have other purpose-built software at their disposal for flying(and fighting with) fast movers, which is certainly not X-Plane 11'sstrong suit.DCS Worldimmediately comes to mind with its abundance of outstanding, studylevel fighters. As I've mentioned, X-Plane 11 has a few "decent" files for thisgenre of aviation tailor made for the Laminar Research loyalists whoaren't interested in broadening their simulation horizons. Does thenew Hawk T1/A from Just Flight measure up to its limited X-Plane 11competition? Let's find out. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_21.jpgSights And SoundsBefore we get into Just Flight's rendition of the BAE Hawk, Ithought I would take a brief moment to get into the background andintended role of the real aircraft. Developed in the mid 70's by the now defunct Hawker Siddeley Groupin the United Kingdom, the BAE Systems Hawk is a two-seat advanced jettrainer. The Hawk has been manufactured in several differentvariations over the years, which are employed by many nations ineither a training or light fighter/attack role. The variantsreproduced by the Just Flight team are the Hawk T1 and T1A, which aretraining aircraft primarily operated by the Royal Air Force and RoyalNavy. The world famous RAF Red Arrows demonstration team also fliesthe T1A. The Hawk is a relatively small jet aircraft powered by a singleRolls-Royce Turbomeca Ardour Mk. 951 turbofan. While not capable oflevel supersonic flight, the Hawk is considered a "transonic"aircraft, meaning that it can approach the speed of sound (plenty fastfor a trainer). The tandem cockpit is constructed in such a way as toafford the rear seat instructor pilot outstanding forward visibilityover the head of the student pilot in the front. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_22.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_29.jpgWhen compared to today's high tech fourth and fifth generationfighter aircraft, the performance and capability of the Hawk pales incomparison. That is okay, however, since the primary purpose of theHawk is to train and transition prospective fighter pilots to the moreadvanced combat aircraft that they really want to fly anyway! TheHawk simply excels in this mission as is evidenced by the praise ofpilots who have flown them and the amount aircraft flying with the airforces of nations worldwide. The U.S. Navy even flies a highlymodified carrier capable variant (the T-45 Goshawk) as its primary jettrainer. The Hawk has literally been a flying classroom forgenerations of fighter pilots. Given my adoration for jet fighters and my recent experience withJust Flight's products, I jumped at the opportunity to review theirT1/A Hawk. I have absolutely fallen in love with theJF Piper Turbo Arrow III/IVand it has become my "go to" aircraft whenever I load up X-Plane 11for recreation. The physical model, exquisite textures, sound files,and flight model of that particular aircraft have utterly captivatedme and left me wanting more. I was completely ignorant to the factthat Just Flight produced anything but General Aviation aircraft(oops). When I first laid eyes on their Hawk I knew I had to reviewit! The fine folks at Just Flight were kind enough to send me a reviewof their newest piece of artwork for X-Plane 11. Installation wasstupidly simple, as all X-Plane add-ons tend to be. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_23.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_24.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_25.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_26.jpgWith the Hawk loaded up in X-Plane 11, I immediately switched to anexternal view and began panning the camera around the aircraft."Impressive" is not a strong enough adjective to describe the physicalmodel of the Just Flight T1/A Hawk, but a more succinct word for itfails me at the moment. The proportions and level of detail areextremely well executed with this file, which looks like a perfectfacsimile of the real airplane. The rivets and seams are simplybreathtaking and gave me a great appreciation for the skill andattention of detail shown by Just Flight's modelers. The reflectivePBR textures are simply gorgeous and convey a sense that one islooking at a real, three-dimensional airplane made of metal and notsomething obviously fabricated to appear on a computer screen. IfX-Plane 11 looked more realistic one would almost believe they werelooking at a photograph when beholding Just Flight's Hawk. What I'mtrying to say is that it is the simulator itself that is the weak-linkvisually, not this superb looking airplane file. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_2.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_5.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_4.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_6.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_7.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_8.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_9.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_10.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_11.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_12.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_13.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_14.jpgIncluded with the Just Flight Hawk T1/A are twelve beautifullyrendered military style liveries, most of which are an assortment ofextremely accurate RAF paint schemes. The black 100 squadron guise ismy personal favorite, replete with the skull and crossbones on thevertical stabilizer. Paint schemes from the air forces of Finland,Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Indonesia give the sim pilot some extraoptions for flight operations outside the British Isles. A liverypack containing twelve additional liveries is available as a separateadd-on for $14.99. As it is with Just Flight's General Aviation models, the Hawk T1/Ahas a tabbed pop up menu (Just Flight calls it a "Panel Selector")that allows the sim pilot to customize their flight experience on thefly. Want to raise or lower you extremely realistic and cool lookingpilot's visor? No problem, a simple mouse click on the appropriateicon and it's done! Want a gun pod and missiles on your aircraft (whodoesn't)? Just click the external stores button and they instantlypop up. Just Flight's menu is fairly intuitive and the included pdfmanual clearly explains what each "button" does. Regardless, I foundit a great deal of fun to experiment with it and learn as I wentalong! The pictogram that looks like a turbofan engine starts theaircraft and prepares all systems for immediate taxi. Of course, ifone wants to go through the entire start up procedure "by the book,"this is certainly doable. I just really appreciate these quick, onthe fly options that make the aircraft easily accessible for folks whohave a limited amount of time and just want to "play around" with theairplane. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_19.jpgInteriorThe interior of the Hawk T1/A honestly left me a littleunderwhelmed in comparison to the excellent exterior of the aircraft.Perhaps I was overly enamored with the shiny gorgeousness of theexterior so much that the cockpit looked somewhat "meh" to me. Sure,the worn looking textures look pretty good and give the impressionthat the "office" of the aircraft is a well-worn place, but I stilldidn't come away convinced of its realism. The texturing of theseatbelts and the fabric of the ejection seats actually look great,but surfaces that are obviously intended to look metal just don't tome for whatever reason. I will grant that the textures seem to havebeen applied with a high degree of precision, but they still look likethey belong in a "video game" and are not what I would term "photoreal." The bottom line is that I think the interior textures aregood, just not stunning. I have seen far worse, but I've also seenmuch better (including on Just Flight's Turbo Arrow). Pleaseunderstand that this is simply my opinion and your take on it may becompletely different. Textures aside, the interior modeling is outstanding and holds upvery well to scrutiny when compared with photos of the real thing.The cockpit offers very basic instrumentation with TACAN/VORnavigation that is hardly state of the art. This is, after all, atraining aircraft, and I found myself quite comfortable virtuallyseated in the front seat of the Hawk. There was no custom glassinstrumentation that I would need to learn, nor any systems thatseemed overly complex. In other words, even a dyed in the wool GA simpilot like myself could probably figure out how to fly this thing anddo a fairly good job at it! /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_16.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_17.jpgWhen I initially loaded the Hawk in X-Plane 11, I made sure tocheck the box that would ensure that the engine was running when theaircraft was finished loading. Being new to a payware qualityfighter, I just wasn't confident in my ability to fudge my way throughthe start up procedure and I wasn't about to be patient enough toreference the extremely comprehensive pdf manual. I wanted to flythis thing NOW! To my relief the aircraft was running in the sim andraring to go. Once I finished drooling over the exterior and interiorof the aircraft I set my mind to getting the Hawk into the air. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_18.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_28.jpgThis takes me to the sounds. Wow. Having grown up around airportsflying with my dad, and attending dozens of air shows in my time, Ilike to think I know what a jet engine sounds like. The Just Flightteam really did an outstanding job with the sound files of thisaircraft! The whine of the Hawk's Rolls Royce Turbomeca sounded soreal it sent shivers up my spine! Not every acf file is capable ofdoing that! The switches within the cockpit are very authenticsounding and snap authoritatively. The canopy closes with asatisfying sealing noise that gives one the impression that there isdefinitely no turning back now! Ultimately, describing how the aircraft sounds is a bit difficultto do, but I will say that the sound files are of the highest qualityand extremely immersive, especially when heard through a nice set ofheadphones. I will discuss the sounds a little more when I get intomy flying experience with the file. All in all, Just Flight has donea superb job with the sounds. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_38.jpgFlight ModelTo say that I was eager to get the Just Flight Hawk into the airwould be a gross understatement. With my gorgeous looking T1 dressedup in its all black 100 squadron livery, I prepared to taxi fortakeoff at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire. Little did I know howannoyingly difficult that seemingly simple task would be. You see,the Just Flight Hawk has a free castering nose wheel and extremelytouchy brakes. While I greatly appreciate the realism of this systemand never want developers to cut corners to make their products moreusable, ground steering this aircraft is tedium defined, even with myhigh quality CH Products Pro Pedals. I will freely admit that a lotof the problem here are the toe brakes of my pedals themselves, whichmove without any resistance. Not being able to feel the "squish" ofthe brakes as part of the man-machine interface is a huge limitationand requires that my braking is ever-so-slight to make gentle turns.It doesn't take much excess pressure to hear a thumping sound as thenose-wheel makes an abrupt 90-degree turn, which often elicits a fewchoice words from me as the airplane pivots perpendicular to the way Iwant to go. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_42.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_43.jpgEventually I was able to get the Just Flight Hawk sort of lined upon the runway. With takeoff flaps set I advanced the throttle to fullpower and had further difficulty keeping the aircraft rolling down thecenter of the runway. Okay, let's just say that I wasn't anywherenear the center of the runway, but I was at least able to keep it onthe pavement. I don't remember how fast I was going on this initialflight when I was able to have any rudder authority, but Vr wasquickly approaching by the time it set in. The high-pitched whine ofthe engine sounded absolutely amazing at full power as the petite Hawkrumbled down the runway. I rotated at 90 KIAS and aircraft lifted offsomewhere around 100 KIAS. I quickly found out that I should've setmy elevator trim for takeoff as the Hawk nosed down a bit when Ireleased backpressure. Gobs of positive elevator trim alleviated thenose heaviness, and I began climbing at better than 3000 fpm. With the gear and takeoff flaps cleaned up I headed over to somenearby hills to do some low level goofing off. The front seat viewover the nose took some getting used to with frequent checking of theVSI to determine if I was flying level. More often than not I wouldbe climbing even though my view forward had me convinced I was level.A proper, modern Heads Up Display would make this easier, but the JustFlight Hawk T1/A has an accurately reproduced simple reflector gunsight in the aircraft and nothing more. This gun sight can be easilyadded or removed by clicking on one of the pictograms in the pop-upmenu. I prefer to fly with it enabled and somehow feel more like aproper fighter pilot that way! /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_30.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_31.jpgI rapidly approached some hills and lakes in North Yorkshire anddid my very best weaving through the valleys at better than 500 knotsindicated. Talk about a rush! The Just Flight Hawk performedbeautifully and for a moment I was utterly sucked into the experience,especially with the noises of the pilot grunting with exertion of theG's in the turns. Immersion levels are very powerful with thisaircraft! Eventually I decided that I should probably head back to RAFLeeming and try to land this thing. Fortunately I had read up alittle in the outstanding 93-page PDF manual prior to my flight, so Ihad a general idea of the speeds for gear and flap extension prior tolanding. I was able to fly a fairly stable final approach in theHawk, though at lower airspeeds the aircraft is definitely harder tokeep balanced, especially in the roll axis. My first landing in theHawk was anything but graceful as I crossed the numbers going a littleslower than I should have and idled the power too quickly. Thisintroduced the aircraft to the runway rather abruptly, but probablynot any harder than a typical carrier landing. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_32.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_33.jpg I have taken multiple flights in the Just Flight Hawk T1/A since,and keep enjoying it more and more each time. My ground handling andlandings have vastly improved, but still leave lots to be desired. Ihave even tried a little simulated air-to-air combat in the Hawk andactually managed to get a guns victory over a freeware Northrop F-5.As fun as this sort of flying may be, X-Plane 11's air combatcapabilities (or lack thereof) are hardly realistic. In other words,don't purchase this aircraft if that's all you plan on doing with it.If you want air combat, invest in a dedicated combat flightsimulation. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_34.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_35.jpgThe Hawk T1/A is a very basic fighter trainer and, as I've statedearlier, lacks the advanced systems and modern avionics of the latesthigh-tech fighters. Navigating in the Just Flight Hawk isaccomplished by using VOR/DME navigation in the guise of militaryTACAN equipment. The same is true of UHF communication. X-Plane 11only simulates VHF communication, which presents an obvious problemwhen trying to faithfully simulate military aircraft. The workaroundin the case of the Just Flight Hawk is meticulously laid out in chartform within the PDF manual. It basically works so that when one tunesthe UHF or TACAN frequency, it actually changes the simulated VHFfrequencies. The benefit is having an authentic looking set of radiosthat seem to behave as they would in the real world. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_27.jpgConclusionThe Just Flight Hawk T1/A is an excellent payware entry to X-Plane11's tiny sampling of military fighter aircraft. While it is my firstpayware quality fighter for the sim, I honestly can't imagine it getsmuch better. Sure, I'm not a huge fan of some of the cockpittextures, and ground handling is anything but simple, but the aircraftotherwise looks nearly flawless and flies like an absolute dream.Learning how to fly the aircraft was actually quite easy and thesystems are not very advanced at all, making for a relatively shallowlearning curve. Virtually any questions a prospective Just FlightHawk pilot may have are sure to be answered within the comprehensiveand professionally laid out documentation. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_36.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_37.jpgMilitary aircraft are always within X-Plane's painting community,and already free liveries have been created for this aircraft. On mysystem (a fairly new, mid range iMac) the Just Flight Hawk T1/Aperformed very well from a graphics point of view. The only time Iencountered any significant loss in frame rates was flying over theLas Vegas Strip, but that would've happened in any aircraft. The JustFlight Hawk is not an inexpensive file at $44.99 and it is certainlynot for everybody. If you are a fan of military aircraft, however,like I am, the Hawk T1/A is definitely money well spent and highlyrecommended. Shawn Weigelt Purchase Just Flight - Hawk T1/A Purchase Hawk T1/A Advanced Trainer Livery Pack /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_39.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_4.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_40.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_41.jpg
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Review: Hawk T1/A Advanced Trainer For X-Plane 11By Shawn Weigelt /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_3.jpgIntroductionWhile mylast reviewfocused on a familiar type of aircraft from a very familiardevelopment team, I thought I would do something completely differentfor this one. You see, light piston powered General Aviation aircraftare kind of my thing. They are basically the only things I fly inX-Plane and review for FlightSim.Com. So what did I do? I decided toreview a military jet trainer...the Hawk T1/A from Just Flight.Weird, I know. The truth is, I think being a fighter pilot isprobably the coolest job on the planet and loud, powerful, go-fastfighters speak to my masculinity in a way that no other machinecan. A guilty X-Plane pleasure of mine (when I'm bored with GA flying)is to load up a fighter and just rip around at low level in theCascade or Olympic Mountains of Washington State, where I live. Apersonal favorite of mine for this is the excellent freewareRafale by XPFR.There are a handful of great free fighters available to the X-Planecommunity and just as few high quality payware ones. Fighter jets arejust something of a niche in X-Plane and are far less prominent thanthe airliners or the GA airplanes I'm so fond of. Flight simmerssimply have other purpose-built software at their disposal for flying(and fighting with) fast movers, which is certainly not X-Plane 11'sstrong suit.DCS Worldimmediately comes to mind with its abundance of outstanding, studylevel fighters. As I've mentioned, X-Plane 11 has a few "decent" files for thisgenre of aviation tailor made for the Laminar Research loyalists whoaren't interested in broadening their simulation horizons. Does thenew Hawk T1/A from Just Flight measure up to its limited X-Plane 11competition? Let's find out. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_21.jpgSights And SoundsBefore we get into Just Flight's rendition of the BAE Hawk, Ithought I would take a brief moment to get into the background andintended role of the real aircraft. Developed in the mid 70's by the now defunct Hawker Siddeley Groupin the United Kingdom, the BAE Systems Hawk is a two-seat advanced jettrainer. The Hawk has been manufactured in several differentvariations over the years, which are employed by many nations ineither a training or light fighter/attack role. The variantsreproduced by the Just Flight team are the Hawk T1 and T1A, which aretraining aircraft primarily operated by the Royal Air Force and RoyalNavy. The world famous RAF Red Arrows demonstration team also fliesthe T1A. The Hawk is a relatively small jet aircraft powered by a singleRolls-Royce Turbomeca Ardour Mk. 951 turbofan. While not capable oflevel supersonic flight, the Hawk is considered a "transonic"aircraft, meaning that it can approach the speed of sound (plenty fastfor a trainer). The tandem cockpit is constructed in such a way as toafford the rear seat instructor pilot outstanding forward visibilityover the head of the student pilot in the front. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_22.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_29.jpgWhen compared to today's high tech fourth and fifth generationfighter aircraft, the performance and capability of the Hawk pales incomparison. That is okay, however, since the primary purpose of theHawk is to train and transition prospective fighter pilots to the moreadvanced combat aircraft that they really want to fly anyway! TheHawk simply excels in this mission as is evidenced by the praise ofpilots who have flown them and the amount aircraft flying with the airforces of nations worldwide. The U.S. Navy even flies a highlymodified carrier capable variant (the T-45 Goshawk) as its primary jettrainer. The Hawk has literally been a flying classroom forgenerations of fighter pilots. Given my adoration for jet fighters and my recent experience withJust Flight's products, I jumped at the opportunity to review theirT1/A Hawk. I have absolutely fallen in love with theJF Piper Turbo Arrow III/IVand it has become my "go to" aircraft whenever I load up X-Plane 11for recreation. The physical model, exquisite textures, sound files,and flight model of that particular aircraft have utterly captivatedme and left me wanting more. I was completely ignorant to the factthat Just Flight produced anything but General Aviation aircraft(oops). When I first laid eyes on their Hawk I knew I had to reviewit! The fine folks at Just Flight were kind enough to send me a reviewof their newest piece of artwork for X-Plane 11. Installation wasstupidly simple, as all X-Plane add-ons tend to be. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_23.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_24.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_25.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_26.jpgWith the Hawk loaded up in X-Plane 11, I immediately switched to anexternal view and began panning the camera around the aircraft."Impressive" is not a strong enough adjective to describe the physicalmodel of the Just Flight T1/A Hawk, but a more succinct word for itfails me at the moment. The proportions and level of detail areextremely well executed with this file, which looks like a perfectfacsimile of the real airplane. The rivets and seams are simplybreathtaking and gave me a great appreciation for the skill andattention of detail shown by Just Flight's modelers. The reflectivePBR textures are simply gorgeous and convey a sense that one islooking at a real, three-dimensional airplane made of metal and notsomething obviously fabricated to appear on a computer screen. IfX-Plane 11 looked more realistic one would almost believe they werelooking at a photograph when beholding Just Flight's Hawk. What I'mtrying to say is that it is the simulator itself that is the weak-linkvisually, not this superb looking airplane file. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_2.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_5.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_4.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_6.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_7.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_8.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_9.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_10.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_11.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_12.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_13.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_14.jpgIncluded with the Just Flight Hawk T1/A are twelve beautifullyrendered military style liveries, most of which are an assortment ofextremely accurate RAF paint schemes. The black 100 squadron guise ismy personal favorite, replete with the skull and crossbones on thevertical stabilizer. Paint schemes from the air forces of Finland,Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Indonesia give the sim pilot some extraoptions for flight operations outside the British Isles. A liverypack containing twelve additional liveries is available as a separateadd-on for $14.99. As it is with Just Flight's General Aviation models, the Hawk T1/Ahas a tabbed pop up menu (Just Flight calls it a "Panel Selector")that allows the sim pilot to customize their flight experience on thefly. Want to raise or lower you extremely realistic and cool lookingpilot's visor? No problem, a simple mouse click on the appropriateicon and it's done! Want a gun pod and missiles on your aircraft (whodoesn't)? Just click the external stores button and they instantlypop up. Just Flight's menu is fairly intuitive and the included pdfmanual clearly explains what each "button" does. Regardless, I foundit a great deal of fun to experiment with it and learn as I wentalong! The pictogram that looks like a turbofan engine starts theaircraft and prepares all systems for immediate taxi. Of course, ifone wants to go through the entire start up procedure "by the book,"this is certainly doable. I just really appreciate these quick, onthe fly options that make the aircraft easily accessible for folks whohave a limited amount of time and just want to "play around" with theairplane. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_19.jpgInteriorThe interior of the Hawk T1/A honestly left me a littleunderwhelmed in comparison to the excellent exterior of the aircraft.Perhaps I was overly enamored with the shiny gorgeousness of theexterior so much that the cockpit looked somewhat "meh" to me. Sure,the worn looking textures look pretty good and give the impressionthat the "office" of the aircraft is a well-worn place, but I stilldidn't come away convinced of its realism. The texturing of theseatbelts and the fabric of the ejection seats actually look great,but surfaces that are obviously intended to look metal just don't tome for whatever reason. I will grant that the textures seem to havebeen applied with a high degree of precision, but they still look likethey belong in a "video game" and are not what I would term "photoreal." The bottom line is that I think the interior textures aregood, just not stunning. I have seen far worse, but I've also seenmuch better (including on Just Flight's Turbo Arrow). Pleaseunderstand that this is simply my opinion and your take on it may becompletely different. Textures aside, the interior modeling is outstanding and holds upvery well to scrutiny when compared with photos of the real thing.The cockpit offers very basic instrumentation with TACAN/VORnavigation that is hardly state of the art. This is, after all, atraining aircraft, and I found myself quite comfortable virtuallyseated in the front seat of the Hawk. There was no custom glassinstrumentation that I would need to learn, nor any systems thatseemed overly complex. In other words, even a dyed in the wool GA simpilot like myself could probably figure out how to fly this thing anddo a fairly good job at it! /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_16.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_17.jpgWhen I initially loaded the Hawk in X-Plane 11, I made sure tocheck the box that would ensure that the engine was running when theaircraft was finished loading. Being new to a payware qualityfighter, I just wasn't confident in my ability to fudge my way throughthe start up procedure and I wasn't about to be patient enough toreference the extremely comprehensive pdf manual. I wanted to flythis thing NOW! To my relief the aircraft was running in the sim andraring to go. Once I finished drooling over the exterior and interiorof the aircraft I set my mind to getting the Hawk into the air. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_18.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_28.jpgThis takes me to the sounds. Wow. Having grown up around airportsflying with my dad, and attending dozens of air shows in my time, Ilike to think I know what a jet engine sounds like. The Just Flightteam really did an outstanding job with the sound files of thisaircraft! The whine of the Hawk's Rolls Royce Turbomeca sounded soreal it sent shivers up my spine! Not every acf file is capable ofdoing that! The switches within the cockpit are very authenticsounding and snap authoritatively. The canopy closes with asatisfying sealing noise that gives one the impression that there isdefinitely no turning back now! Ultimately, describing how the aircraft sounds is a bit difficultto do, but I will say that the sound files are of the highest qualityand extremely immersive, especially when heard through a nice set ofheadphones. I will discuss the sounds a little more when I get intomy flying experience with the file. All in all, Just Flight has donea superb job with the sounds. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_38.jpgFlight ModelTo say that I was eager to get the Just Flight Hawk into the airwould be a gross understatement. With my gorgeous looking T1 dressedup in its all black 100 squadron livery, I prepared to taxi fortakeoff at RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire. Little did I know howannoyingly difficult that seemingly simple task would be. You see,the Just Flight Hawk has a free castering nose wheel and extremelytouchy brakes. While I greatly appreciate the realism of this systemand never want developers to cut corners to make their products moreusable, ground steering this aircraft is tedium defined, even with myhigh quality CH Products Pro Pedals. I will freely admit that a lotof the problem here are the toe brakes of my pedals themselves, whichmove without any resistance. Not being able to feel the "squish" ofthe brakes as part of the man-machine interface is a huge limitationand requires that my braking is ever-so-slight to make gentle turns.It doesn't take much excess pressure to hear a thumping sound as thenose-wheel makes an abrupt 90-degree turn, which often elicits a fewchoice words from me as the airplane pivots perpendicular to the way Iwant to go. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_42.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_43.jpgEventually I was able to get the Just Flight Hawk sort of lined upon the runway. With takeoff flaps set I advanced the throttle to fullpower and had further difficulty keeping the aircraft rolling down thecenter of the runway. Okay, let's just say that I wasn't anywherenear the center of the runway, but I was at least able to keep it onthe pavement. I don't remember how fast I was going on this initialflight when I was able to have any rudder authority, but Vr wasquickly approaching by the time it set in. The high-pitched whine ofthe engine sounded absolutely amazing at full power as the petite Hawkrumbled down the runway. I rotated at 90 KIAS and aircraft lifted offsomewhere around 100 KIAS. I quickly found out that I should've setmy elevator trim for takeoff as the Hawk nosed down a bit when Ireleased backpressure. Gobs of positive elevator trim alleviated thenose heaviness, and I began climbing at better than 3000 fpm. With the gear and takeoff flaps cleaned up I headed over to somenearby hills to do some low level goofing off. The front seat viewover the nose took some getting used to with frequent checking of theVSI to determine if I was flying level. More often than not I wouldbe climbing even though my view forward had me convinced I was level.A proper, modern Heads Up Display would make this easier, but the JustFlight Hawk T1/A has an accurately reproduced simple reflector gunsight in the aircraft and nothing more. This gun sight can be easilyadded or removed by clicking on one of the pictograms in the pop-upmenu. I prefer to fly with it enabled and somehow feel more like aproper fighter pilot that way! /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_30.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_31.jpgI rapidly approached some hills and lakes in North Yorkshire anddid my very best weaving through the valleys at better than 500 knotsindicated. Talk about a rush! The Just Flight Hawk performedbeautifully and for a moment I was utterly sucked into the experience,especially with the noises of the pilot grunting with exertion of theG's in the turns. Immersion levels are very powerful with thisaircraft! Eventually I decided that I should probably head back to RAFLeeming and try to land this thing. Fortunately I had read up alittle in the outstanding 93-page PDF manual prior to my flight, so Ihad a general idea of the speeds for gear and flap extension prior tolanding. I was able to fly a fairly stable final approach in theHawk, though at lower airspeeds the aircraft is definitely harder tokeep balanced, especially in the roll axis. My first landing in theHawk was anything but graceful as I crossed the numbers going a littleslower than I should have and idled the power too quickly. Thisintroduced the aircraft to the runway rather abruptly, but probablynot any harder than a typical carrier landing. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_32.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_33.jpg I have taken multiple flights in the Just Flight Hawk T1/A since,and keep enjoying it more and more each time. My ground handling andlandings have vastly improved, but still leave lots to be desired. Ihave even tried a little simulated air-to-air combat in the Hawk andactually managed to get a guns victory over a freeware Northrop F-5.As fun as this sort of flying may be, X-Plane 11's air combatcapabilities (or lack thereof) are hardly realistic. In other words,don't purchase this aircraft if that's all you plan on doing with it.If you want air combat, invest in a dedicated combat flightsimulation. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_34.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_35.jpgThe Hawk T1/A is a very basic fighter trainer and, as I've statedearlier, lacks the advanced systems and modern avionics of the latesthigh-tech fighters. Navigating in the Just Flight Hawk isaccomplished by using VOR/DME navigation in the guise of militaryTACAN equipment. The same is true of UHF communication. X-Plane 11only simulates VHF communication, which presents an obvious problemwhen trying to faithfully simulate military aircraft. The workaroundin the case of the Just Flight Hawk is meticulously laid out in chartform within the PDF manual. It basically works so that when one tunesthe UHF or TACAN frequency, it actually changes the simulated VHFfrequencies. The benefit is having an authentic looking set of radiosthat seem to behave as they would in the real world. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_27.jpgConclusionThe Just Flight Hawk T1/A is an excellent payware entry to X-Plane11's tiny sampling of military fighter aircraft. While it is my firstpayware quality fighter for the sim, I honestly can't imagine it getsmuch better. Sure, I'm not a huge fan of some of the cockpittextures, and ground handling is anything but simple, but the aircraftotherwise looks nearly flawless and flies like an absolute dream.Learning how to fly the aircraft was actually quite easy and thesystems are not very advanced at all, making for a relatively shallowlearning curve. Virtually any questions a prospective Just FlightHawk pilot may have are sure to be answered within the comprehensiveand professionally laid out documentation. /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_36.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_37.jpgMilitary aircraft are always within X-Plane's painting community,and already free liveries have been created for this aircraft. On mysystem (a fairly new, mid range iMac) the Just Flight Hawk T1/Aperformed very well from a graphics point of view. The only time Iencountered any significant loss in frame rates was flying over theLas Vegas Strip, but that would've happened in any aircraft. The JustFlight Hawk is not an inexpensive file at $44.99 and it is certainlynot for everybody. If you are a fan of military aircraft, however,like I am, the Hawk T1/A is definitely money well spent and highlyrecommended. Shawn Weigelt Purchase Just Flight - Hawk T1/A Purchase Hawk T1/A Advanced Trainer Livery Pack /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_39.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_4.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_40.jpg /images/reviews/justhawk/t/JF_Hawk_T1_41.jpg
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/images/notams/notams18/qual1019.jpgIn a brief announcement, QualityWings indicated that an "old friend" is coming to a new platform. Picturing an RJ85, this would seem to indicate the Ultimate 146 Collection of BAe 146 and Avro RJ series airliners which has been out for several years for FSX and early versions of Prepar3D. (See our reviewhere.)Presumably, the new platform with be Prepar3D v4. Source