You are buying a Rocket car similar to the Thrust SST. I have kept the price down since there is no need for a virtual cockpit. Also I don't expect anyone to use this vehicle alot. But extremely fun.
I have created a high end panel with Large textures for Awsome quality. Top speed 763 MPH.
The Thrust SSC achieved the world's first Supersonic Land Speed Record. Averaged Mach 1.02 on both runs within one hour on Oct 15 1997. Project director Richard Noble, Andy Green and all those associated with the project.
ANIMATION:
SPOILERS = Parachute Deployed! (A chute lever is included)
SMOKE SYS = Rocket Burn and Dust Cloud! (Switch is included)
CANOPY = Main Exit! (Switch is included)
RUDDER = 9 degrees Steering (Remember to set auto rudder to use twist on a joystick or just use rudder pedals)
TIP: Toe brakes help to keep a straight line. Slowly increase your N1 Thrust for control! Staying on the path takes practice.
NEW GAUGES: 2009 custon high quality gauges!
Switches & levers:
Slew, canopy, main battery, vacuum, rocket effect, power, starters, fuel pumps,
test switch, add fuel, abort, parachute, tank selectors, park brake.
Gauges:
Mach, mph, N1, rpm, exhaust temp, clock, fire warning bulb, digital clock, oxygen,
hydralics, fuel rate, front tank, center tank, battery, amps.
Warning LEDS:
15 total warning lights. (Failers do work as long as you set them)
I recently bought this product for around £10. It was easy to install (just copying and pasting one folder) and coupled with the scenery suggested in the Read Me file (included) it was fun to use. Uninstalling may be a problem because of no uninstall application, but the best way to remove it is deleting the aircraft folder in 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\SimObjects\Airplanes'
Enough of that, let's get on with the main review...
First Thoughts:
When I first looked at this addon I was slightly disappointed by the exterior model. It appeared low resolution and lacked detail. But however, considering this was made by scratch by one man, and there are no 3D models or designs of the Thrust SSC (what this vehicle is modeled on) available, it is a good attempt. I didn't mind about there being no virtual cockpit, as this there are hardly any pictures of the interior of the vehicle around. However I was pleased to see a high quality frame-rate friendly 2D panel. The panel is not to crowded and realistic, because the pilot would not have much visibility through the windscreen anyway. All the gauges and switches are fully operational, easy to read and high quality.
The main inevitable limitation I found out with this is that the only place to safely use the car is at the Salt Plains track in Nevada. To access the track, you must first install the freeware scenery suggested in the Read Me file included in the addon. This gives you the realistic track location and length (14 miles) of the real track used for the land speed record attempt in 1997. The exterior is quite frame-rate friendly but not as much as the 2D panel.
I sent it along the track at the Plains for a test run. From the exterior sadly there is not engine spool up/shutdown sound, but there is in the interior panel view. It accelerates very fast (but in the real tests it was accelerated at 1/4 throttle until 200mph before they put of full power and afterburner), and burns fuel VERY fast! At full throttle you will survive about 1 minute before the the tank runs empty. This is realistic as in real life they only kept the throttles up until the speed of sound was reached, then decelerated. Anyway, it has brakes and the spoiler button ejects a drag chute to slow down the vehicle after it has reached Mach 1.
The final thing here is the smoke and afterburner effects. These, once activated with the 'I' key on your keyboard, will make a trail of dirt flung up but the jet engines behind the car and will make an afterburner flame glow behind the engines, a nice addiction, although I had hoped that this would happen when the aircraft accelerates to a certain speed and vice versa (etc. activate/de-activate at 50mph when accelerating and decelerating), but this dosen't come in too much of a problem
Now the Pros and Cons.
Pros
* High detail and FPS friendly 2D panel
* Easy install
* Fun and not too tedious to learn
* Good for a wide range of computers (performance wise)
* Cheap for the ONLY Thrust SSC FSX addon around.
Cons
* Low resolution exterior, but considering it's homemade and there are only pictures and videos to copy it from, it's good.
* Dirt trail and afterburner effects manual only.
Overall:
A good, reasonably priced buy for the casual or simple fun-seeking user
3/5 = 7/10
Thanks for reading,
Alex Davies