General
The VFW 614 was designed as a short haule airliner, capeable of using short and rough runways. The idea was to sell it to 3rd world countries with poor infrastructure. So landing gear and tires are a bit oversized, to deal with soft ground, and the engine nacelles where mounted on top of the wings, which enabled shorter gear struts and less risk of getting dirt from the ground into the engines. As a side effect, downward noise emmision during flight was significantly reduced, and the airflow above the wings lead to more efficient aerodynamics.
Though the VFW 614 was an outstanding aircraft with great flight capabilities and new technologies, which can be found in the Airbus models of today, it was not a commercial success. Apart from a few airlines, Deutsche Luftwaffe (German Air Force) became the major operator, providing transport service to high ranking government and military personal. One unit was used by Airbus and another by DLR (the German "NASA") as research and test aircraft and even as a flying flight simulator, testing the Airbus A380 fly-by-wire system long before the first A380 was built.
The X-Plane® model
All flight-related systems are fully functional, the cockpit and interior are highly detailed. - A model for X-Plane could hardly be more complete! - Animated doors and predefined walkarounds let you experience the aircraft; you enter via the door steps, walk into the cockpit or passenger cabin, continue into the galley, and even into the toilet!
Flying is still a manual job! Conventional instruments, especially those used for navigation, the contemporary autopilot, the absence of autothrust and FBW require the pilot to have knowledge and skills that are still part of basic training today, but are hardly ever needed in modern everyday flying.
A short quick-start manual makes it easy to get started. Original manuals and technical brochures are included in the package. This VFW 614 is a real challenge!
A great THANK YOU! to the staff of this impressive museum, located in Nordholz, just a few kilomenters south of Cuxhaven, Germany. They supported this project immensely. • http://www.aeronauticum.de
INS / FMS
The Luftwaffe VFW 614 has an Inertial Navigation System (INS) on board. In this model it is not active, but we intend to get it alive in the future.