AEROSOFT - SIMCHECK AIRBUS A300B4-200

An Airbus classic! Building a state-of-the-art aircraft simulation for FSX is not for the faint hearted. It takes skill, knowledge and a lot of patience. The external model and virtual cockpit incorporate the latest modeling developments in animation, reflection and lighting built into the FSX simulator engine.

Details:

The A300B4-200 series is a first generation Airbus with analogue steam-gauges and a (for that time) advanced autopilot. Some of the current operators have made cockpit upgrades based on various GPS systems where the ADI was replaced with an EADI, the HSI replaced with an ND, the CDU replaced with a (basic) FMS. We have not simulated these upgrades as they where not included in the original aircraft! Because the Airbus autopilot systems are so different from the FSX implementation of an autopilot we decided to reinventing the autopilot from scratch. We send commands to the elevator trim and elevator trim to control the attitude and bank angle of the aircraft based on so called PID controllers. This results in very realistic autopilot behavior. We did the same thing with the autothrottle, so don`t be amazed if the aircraft is not able to maintain the correct airspeed in turbulent air. Do as the real pilots do: turn off the autothrottle and switch to manual control !

This aircraft was developed in cooporation with real pilots, the training department of a major cargo operator flying the A300 and based on experience in the full motion A300B4-203 simulator at Brussels Airport, Belgium and will be distributed by Aerosoft in both boxed and download format. Below are some highlights of the SimCheck A300B4-200 simulation...

Features:

Model specifications

• FSX-only 3D models: a cargo model and a passenger model
• All the passenger, belly and cargo doors can be opened and closed individually
• Front and aft passenger stairs, a fully moving cargo loader and GPU model. For people using AES or other ground scenery addons we have added on options hiding ground animatiosn except for the GPU
• Moving APU air inlet door
• Low speed/high speed aileron split animations
• Realistic spoiler animation
• Main landing gear bogie tilt
• Bump bitmap
• Retracting and extending main landing lights
• Complete virtual cockpit with predefined camera positions
• Textures from a number airlines are available and more are added on a regular basis
• A Photoshop based paintkit will be made available

Sound

• High end 3D engine sound simulation
• Cockpit switch sounds based on actual recording inside the cockpit
• Speed and extension depended wind sound from the landing gear
• Speed and extension depended rumble sound from the spoilers
• Cockpit oral warning based on real life recordings

Panel

• Complete captains and first officer panel with independent gauges (except altimeter)
• Independent standby altimeter
• GPWS simulation with 6 modes
• TCAS panel with realistic TA (RA not simulated as that doesn`t make sense in FSX since there is no communication between aircraft!)
• Comms panel with 2 independent NDB`s

Pedestal

• Double INS/CDU system that allows manual waypoint entry but also running off an FSX XML flightplan. The INS will follow great circle flightpath
• Fuel panel with 5 fuel tanks, fuel dump gauge and fuel loading gauge. Both featuring realistic fueling/defueling and fuel dump speeds
• APU panel that actually uses fuel from the correct tank(s), realistic start-up and shutdown times
• Hydraulics panel with realistic use of hydraulics fluids and linked to the correct flight control surfaces
• Pneumatics, packs, cabin temperature control and cabin pressurisation control with realistic simulation (e.g. open the door end the temperature will change depending on the external temperature, cabin differential pressure based on standard atmoshere + correction for actual conditions)
• Electrics panel with separate AC and DC system
• Autopilot and autothrottle based on PID controllers working like the real thing, no FSX standard autopilot nor autothrottle used
• ROLL and PITCH modes are simulated: enter a roll and the aircraft will maintain the current bank angle (bank is automatically limited to 25°, bank angles < 5° will have the aircraft level the wings), set the aircraft to a certain vertical speed and the aircraft will maintain the vertical speed
• Realistic N1 limit computer
• Settings panel with 4 predefined panel states, performance calculation (optimal/maximum levels based on gross weight), ability to call fuel truck, jetway etc...
• Fully featured overhead panel with, amongst other things, Yellow Accu Pressure simulation: No yellow accu pressure = no parking brake. Yellow accu pressure will last about 30 minutes before the parking brake is disconnected because of lack of pressurisation
• Realistic pitch trim simulation: You can actually trim the aircraft to fly the attitude you want, not the attitude FSX "thinks" you want...
• All panel settings are saved between sessions based on the name of the currently loaded flight. Saving a flight "in flight" is not a good idea however, flights should best be saved before take-off our after landing. In total around 400 variables are saved between flights...
• Dragable speed bugs on the 2D panel
• Dragable altitude bug on the 2D panel
• GDI+ based airspeed indicator, RMI, ADI and HSI for smooth and accurate needle movements

Flight model

• Realistic flight handling tested by a professional A300 Captain
• Realistic engine performance in flight
• Realistic fuel use during flight but also during start-up and taxi
• Realistic braking performance

Limitations

• Because we hardly use any default FSX variables and controls, shared cockpit is not supported
• No FS9 model is planned at this time
• INS does not have an MSU, no VOR updating or drift
• We have decided not to add a weather radar as FSX does not provide detailed enough information to make a radar that has any real use
• Panel will only work with (a very recent) FSUIPC installed

System requirements:

Minimum:
Microsoft Flight Simulator X with SP2 or Acceleration Pack
Windows 7, Vista or XP SP2
Multicore Processor
2 GB RAM
512 MB Gfx Graphics Card

Maximum:
Microsoft Flight Simulator X with SP2 or Acceleration Pack
Windows 7, Vista or XP SP2
Quadcore Processor
3 GB RAM
1024 MB Gfx Graphics Card
Installation-Size: 800 MB