The Samson is a twin turbine, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) ducted-rotor vehicle. It is designed to carry out mostly non-combat missions. It can be used to drop supplies and personnel at distant field sites. Its heavy-duty winch can lift portable lab modules. The aircraft features minimal armament for defensive purposes only, making it an easy target in a battle against weaponry. Its closed-rotor system and cutters on leading edges allow for safe operation in rainforests. The Samson has two stub wing pods, one on each side, that can fire either air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles. In addition there are two manually operated door guns, in either 50 or 30 caliber. The Samson is not designed as an attack aircraft, so it is not armored, although there is some composite armor in the pilot’s seats and the dual-layer canopy can withstand strikes from smaller firearms. The Hydra 50 caliber gun can be mounted on either side for manual operation, because of its grip configuration. The pedestal may be locked with pins to form a rigid mount for fixed-forward firing, controlled by the pilot.
The cockpit can be sealed from the outside atmosphere and gives seats for four personnel. Standard emergency equipment is the built in fire suppression system, portable fire extinguishers, emergency beacons, trauma medical kit. An onboard air generator supplies enough air for multiple repress cycles of the cockpit and the cabin separately, which allows personnel to move from the cockpit into the depressurized cabin through a pressure door or allows the crew to exit and re-enter the aircraft multiple times.
Typical operating configuration is cabin doors off during flight. All seats have four-point restraints, and the gunnery stations have safety lanyards to secure the gunners. The vehicle is typically piloted from the right seat, but has dual controls. Downward visibility is excellent, with big chin-bubbles and inward cambered lower door window, which is ideal for operations in hover. The maximum speed in normal operations is 145 knot. The Samson is capable of carrying long-line sling loads with a typical belly hook and winch arrangement.
This add-on represents three variants:
Assault with fixed 50 cal. machinegun
Assault with cabin crew
Transport
Features:
Accurate and detailed interior and exterior visual models
Custom exterior and interior animations
HD textures
Fully clickable dynamic virtual cockpit
Perfectly flyable from the VC
Realistic flight dynamics
Includes low-definition and high-definition versions for all variants
Working machineguns in the fixed mount variant
PDF manual
This add-on requires Acceleration Expansion Pack for FSX preinstalled to work properly.
First I want to confirm that this works fine with FSX Steam Edition. The installer even detects FSXSE with a specific installer. I thought folks would like to know this since the stores compatibility description for this product leaves out the fact that FSXSE is fully supported.
This concept helo may look familiar to folks who’ve seen the movie Avatar where this craft saw some screen time. GTAV also showed the SA-2 as well. I’ve heard of others but you get the point. It’s not exactly real world. Forgiving the sci fi aspects of this aircraft and putting aside big blue CGI aliens having some to do with the Samson, and you should be able to enjoy the simulated real world uses ala FSX Steam Ed.
It flies a little differently from most helicopters but it is easy to get used to rather quickly, especially for those who are experienced with swimming VTOLs. I was disappointed to find that there is no differential power control. Even with two separate throttles each will control both engines power. I was hoping to find some new challenges with say 1 misbehaving engine, but nope. Other than that it is a very nice aircraft in flight and isn’t hard to hover.
It’s slower than I’d hoped...rated up to 140kts max airspeed. I’ve gotten it up to 155 without any over speed warnings despite this max speed rating. Not sure how much faster I might get it going, but it speeds along like most similar helicopters such as a Blackhawk.
The modeling is pretty nice inside and out. Really nice details. The VC is highly interactive almost everything can be clicked. Flying via the VC is nice with better than fair visibility. Night lighting is pleasing. Doors require being clicked on directly to open or close. They do not respond to SHift E 1,2,3 etc.
guns fire with the push of the I key with satisfying sound.
All in all I am really enjoying this chopper and the price is so low I found it hard to resist.
Dank der Hilfe von Ryan Mason vom Nemeth Designs Customer Support
weiß ich nun folgendes:
Das Anti-Ice System beinhaltet einen Drehknopf mit dem man die Temperatur regelt und welcher sich nur mit dem Mausrad bedienen lässt und nicht wie die übrigen Schalter und Knöpfe mit der linken oder rechten Maustaste.
Das Anti-Ice System funktioniert also doch und es ist kein Bug wie ich zuerst angenommen hatte :)
Man bekommt hier einen guten Science-Fiction (Avatar) Helicopter und ich würde 5 statt 3 Sterne vergeben wenn er nicht ein paar Macken hätte die mich wirklich stören.
Die Modelle sowie die Texturen sehen außen wie innen absolut klasse aus, also ganz wie man es von den Nemeth's gewohnt ist :)
Was mir nicht gefällt ist zum einen der Sound welcher sich für mich unfertig anhört, aber o.k. den kann man ja austauschen oder bearbeiden wenn man will.
Ab einer Höhe von ca. 5600 Fuß beschlagen die Scheiben rapide bis man nicht mehr hindurchsehen kann, ein wirklich netter Vereisungseffekt der sich aber nicht abstellen lässt selbst wenn man versucht mit den Enteisungssystemen entgegen zu wirken.
Das Flugverhalten ist ganz besonders im Landeanflug gewöhnungsbedürftig, da der Helicopter dann schon bei geringer Vor/Rückwärtsbewegung sehr empfindlich auf jede Bewegung reagiert, ist aber mit ein bischen Übung für niemanden ein wirklich großes Problem denke ich ;)
Was mich inzwischen an den Helis von Nemeth Designs richtig stört ist das man keine Kurzinfo bekommt wenn mann auf einen Schalter zeigt und sich nichteinmal die Außen/Innenbeleuchtung über die Tastatur steuern lässt, ist zwar realistischer so aber ständig die Ansicht oder den Zoom wechseln zu müssen um z.B. die Cockpitbeleuchtung anzupassen ist wirklich nervig finde ich.
Alles in allem ist das Preis/Leistungsverhältnis aber dennoch ausgewogen wie ich finde und ich würde den SA-2 Samson wieder kaufen wenn ich vor der Wahl stände :)