The PBY Catalina is without a doubt one of the most famous flying boats ever build. After its first flight in 1935 it quickly transformed into the PBY-5A amphibian model that is best known. Despite its strange shape that is rather organic it became a true work horse of many air forces and navies and kept patrolling the oceans for decades. Release of the box: Mid of Mai 2009 (without guarantee)
It had many roles, search and rescue, any shipping or anti submarine patrols or long range reconnaissance. To this day the Catalina is well known to millions and a guest of honor at many air shows.
Features:
Models, sound and flight behavior
11 different models based on the PBY-5, PBY 5A and PBY-6A
Different flight behavior for all different models that are checked with all available data and by current Catalina pilots. Now this is said a lot for FS add-on aircraft, but one Catalina operator is actually using this product for simple training in the winter when most Catalina's are hangar queens.
Impressive and powerful sound set, you actually will be able to tune the engines using your ears.
Aerosoft Sound Module that adds sound to switches, controls and events. From hydraulic pumps to the sound of the engines problems, this creates a far more immersive environment.
Two different cockpits, one typical for the 1940s and 1950s and one as many Catalina's are flown today (with modern radio and GPS equipment).
Cowl flaps, floats and landing gear has better simulation of influence on drag by use of additional coding
More realistic water operation by use of additional coding. Manual (400+ pages) in two parts, includes full actual operational manual of one of the few PBY-5A's flying at this moment.
Gauges and instruments
All instruments done in full 3d.
Highly realistic Bendix King radio stack (feel free to download the real manuals and use those!)
Highly realistic and complex Bendix King KLN-90B GPS receiver
Realistic simulation of the Sperry A-3A (Jack & Heinz) Autopilot for the vintage model.
The newly developed Interactive Checklist helps you to prevent problems by showing the correct settings with red or green checkmarks. It even includes sound effects and allows you to configure the aircraft for take-off or for a complete dead and cold setup.
Added realism (non standard FSX simulations)
Non standard and far more realistic calculations of engine temperatures, taking cowflap position, ambient air temperature, fuel/air mixtures setting, airspeed and engine heat generation into account.
Accurate electrical load and hydraulic pressures calculations.
Realistic cold engine startup, requiring use of engine primers and fuel boosters.
Realistic auto mixture that controls auto rich and auto lean.
Realistic carburettor icing that takes moisture and carburettor air temperature into account.
Structural icing that will accumulate ice on the structure, adding weight until the aircraft becomes unflyable.
Non standard engine failure module that includes sparkplug fouling, damage caused by excessive cylinder head or oil temperature, shock cooling and more.
Power reduction due to excessive carburetor air temperature.
System requirements:
Microsoft Flight Simulator X (SP2 or Acceleration)
Windows XP / Vista / Windows7 with the latest Service Packs (Vista not recommended)
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU (2x 2666Mhz) or equivalent (Core 2 Quad CPU recommended)
Amazing! Great models in and out. Could use a few more interior views and maybe a exit door (if there is such a thing?)and what not but still really good. Awesome inclusion of various variants with different behaviors.
You can choose to fly with highly realistic engine coding or standard and simplified engine coding. The difference between the two is significant! Lots of baby sitting when using "realistic" engines. There are a few with a simple (no map) GPS and no A/P or the rest without the GPS but have an ancient version of an auto pilot or Gyro lock installed. The additional scenery is kinda Blah but appreciated.
It runs very nicely on my FSX Steam Ed. running on a Win10 I7 8th gen 3.2ghz 16GB RAM UHD 630 integrated GPU, with generally high graphics settings. i havent needed any dedicated gpu for anything even when a 1gb card is a "required minimum' to date for any of my add ons, and i have a lot without being burned so far.
This still holds up in 2019.
It's getting 4 stars because there is a bug with the ADF/DME panels on the civilian post war models. There is a fix in the forums, but it should be in the installer by now as it was discovered years ago at this point.
Other than that, I'm very impressed with this aircraft. The civilian post war version has no autopilot, but it's not much of an issue once you have it trimmed out. It's slow enough that if you step away for a few minutes it won't have drifted too far off course. Handles magnificently provided you keep an eye on the engine/oil/carburetor temperatures. Cockpit looks good and sounds good. I recommend this PBY unless you're in a hurry to get somewhere.
Einfach ein fabelhaftes Add-On!
Es fängt mit dem tollen Sound beim Anlassen der Motoren an und hört beim plätschern des Wassers am Rumpf nach der Landung auf, mit diesen Sounds kommt man sich direkt in's Cockpit der Catalina versetzt vor. Die Flugeigenschaften und die grafische Darstellung lassen auch keine Wünsche übrig.
Fazit:
Dies ist das beste Add-On, was ich bis jetzt gekauft habe. Es übertrifft sogar alle anderen Add-Ons von Aerosoft, die ich schon für unübertreffbar hielt.
The aircraft is super and is fun to fly, engine sound is great and there are a number of different models in the software, I understand it should be delivered with a PDF hand book? which unfortunately I never recieved, perhaps I have been mis-informed?
Worth buying !!
This is a very good package, and fairly priced. The sounds merit particular mention; they are outstanding. The flight model is smooth, and the graphics, for the most part, clear and crisp. One slight reservation I have concerns the modern avionics. Although well simulated, I find the characters somewhat difficult to read and tuning the various frequencies to be more than a little fiddly. For that reason I'm awarding 4 rather than 5 stars. Nevertheless, I would still recommend this package to anyone with an interest in vintage propeller aircraft.
Die catalina von Aerosoft ist sicher momentan das BESTE, was der AddOn-markt zu bieten hat. Die geniale Umsetzung mit gelungener Modellierung, plastischer Texturierung verbunden mit den neuertigen Features, wie der interaktiven Checkliste oder den Triebwerksbroblemen macht die Cat zu einem MUST HAVE!
Wer nicht läppisch billige 27 Euro ausgibt, ist selber schuld!
I have seen a Catalina once in my life near my local airport and I remember that sound...This Aerosoft offering has a very realistic sound and the aircraft itself is outstandingly well done. Apart from having loads of character, it is faithfully recreated and it is fun fun fun to fly. I will be busy with this one for a while....Thanks again Aerosoft because You know just the right type of popular aircraft to make.
Aerosoft has done it again!
Well, i could not wait! i just bought this product as soon as it was available. I own the twin otter X and the F-16 X and the Catalina is
in the same league: fantastic! I am very difficult to please when it comes to VC and realism, but the Catalina X is bang on. The sound
will blow you away. Even if it is version 1.0, there seems to be minimal bugs as far as i can tell (i only flew it a little bit so far)
By the way the mission included situates a Catalina in CFB Comox.
CFB Comox happens to be the base i spent the last two years of my airforce carrier and i still fly in the area as of today!
Again, Well done Aerosoft!