The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner or the Fairchild Aerospace Metro is a 19-seat, pressurised, twin turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas, United States.
The Metroliner was an evolution of the Swearingen Merlin turboprop-powered business aircraft. Ed Swearingen, a Texas fixed base operator (FBO), started the developments that led to the Metro through gradual modifications to the Beechcraft Twin Bonanza and Queen Air business aircraft, aircraft he dubbed Excalibur.
The SA227-AC Metro III was initially certified in 1980 at up to 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg) this increasing to 14,500 pounds (6,577 kg) as engines and structures were upgraded. An option to go as high as 16,000 pounds (7,257 kg) was offered. Externally, improvements incorporated into the Metro III were a 10 ft (3.05 m) increase in wing span, four-bladed props, redesigned "quick-access" engine cowlings and numerous drag-reducing airframe modifications, including landing gear doors that close after the gear is extended.
The RAZBAM SA227-BC Metroliner for FSX/Prepar3D includes the following amazing features and innovative functions:
Highly detailed exterior and interior models, very comprehensive representation of cockpit systems which include:
Detailed flight deck with fully functioning Gauges and instruments, including navigation, communications, and engine control.
Fully dimmable instruments lights. Detailed electrical system with 5 buses and circuit breakers.
Electronic instruments including functional EHSI with multiple modes and GPS systems.
AFCS (Autopilot)
Detailed and comprehensive navigation instruments
Faithfull representation of the EHSI gauge
Weather Radar
Detailed electrical and hydraulic systems and panels
Detailed cockpit and exterior lights
Passenger and Cargo load manager
User's Manual in PDF Format
All these fully tested and approved by current Metroliner pilots
I bought this from the Razbam website direct and a considerable discount. Despite not purchasing this plane here at SimMarket I have information that should be helpful to others considering the purchase.
First off you should know that there is a well known issue with the lighting, as in there is none! All but the cockpit dome lights fail completely and will not ever light up. Also the annunciation “Pwr Fail” light will always blink and cannot be shut off. All systems except pressurization and climate control work so it’s totally flyable but only during the day. There is much speculation on the forums about what the bug is exactly but the prevailing suspected cause is related to the very wonky installer and an issue with a DLL on the aircraft .cfg entry that is missing causing both the flashing warning and the lack of any functioning lights.
There are various suggested fixes but for folks like me who are excellent sim pilots but terrible with computer coding or editing they are painfully difficult despite being portrayed as “an easy fix” in the forums.
Not everybody will experience these issues, but my FSX Steam version using Win 10 definitely did.
That all said I’m so glad I got it on the cheap. If I had paid full price id be furious. As is it is nice to fly during the day. It does have nice textures in the cockpit and many excellent liveries. The flight model is seemingly well simulated as well. You will need to be aware of your RPMs and temps just like in the real world. The cabin is modeled but poorly. Really only good for looking out the window as there is nothing worth looking at in the cabin.
So if you’re OK with the high probability of not having any lighting and can live with this being a day flyer only, then go for it. Just look for a sale or something. Also if you’re confident in editing .cfg files then you may have no problem with the forums suggested fixes.
Oh yeah. The installer is a colossal mess. Be prepared. It will require some extra steps and manual installing. There is no developer support, so be warned.
Good luck.
Zugegeben, auf den ersten Blick ist die Metro keine Schönheit, zumindest mal nicht von innen. Umso mehr ehrt es RAZBAM, dass sie es geschafft haben, im FSX trotzdem eine wirklich gute Metro zu präsentieren. Das Flugzeug ist außen wie innen makellos modelliert und texturiert. Man merkt, dass die Entwickler sich Gedanken gemacht haben über viele Kleinigkeiten, z.B. um eine benutzerfreundliche Umsetzung der eigentlich sehr kleinen und auf einem Monitor schlecht lesbaren Instrumente des "Gefängnis"-ähnlichen, unaufgeräumt und eng wirkenden Cockpits des echten Vorbildes. An Systemtiefe mangelt es nicht, auch wenn man bei dem Preis eventuell ein GPS erwartet hätte, das nicht nur auf die Standard-Daten des FSX, sondern auf eine update-bare Datenbank (z.B. Navigraph) zurückgreift. Seisdrum, Flugzeuge dieser Art sind nun wirklich nicht für eine üppige Navigations-Ausstattung bekannt. Bugs konnte ich bisher kaum feststellen, zumindest keine, die ich beim alltäglichen Gebrauch als störend empfunden hätte.
Auch der Sound passt (abgesehen von dem Übergang zwischen Startup- und Idle-Sound, aber das scheint bei 90% aller Entwickler ein Problem zu sein).
Den Speicherort des Manuals muss man nach der Installation erst einmal etwas suchen, das Manual selbst allerdings ist absolut OK und der Systemtiefe der modellierten Systeme angepasst - sprich: nicht high-end, aber ordentlich und allen gängigen Simulator-Zwecken angemessen.
Repaints gibt's im Original-Paket in einer ordentlichen Anzahl, jedoch bisher kaum 3rd party repaints.
Alles in allem würde ich sagen, ein gut bis sehr gut umgesetztes Flugzeug mit hohem Faktor an Spaß und Atmosphäre. Allerdings ist es nicht ganz leicht zu bedienen und die Systeme bzw. deren Anordnung sind zunächst gewöhnungsbedürftig.
Bei der Überlegung, ob es 4 oder 5 Sterne werden sollen, habe ich mich für 4 entschieden, einerseits wegen des doch recht hohen Preises (+ der Tatsache, dass man für P3D nochmal extra bezahlen muss fürs wahrscheinlich identische Produkt), und andererseits um noch ein klein wenig Luft nach oben zu lassen für absolut perfekte Flugzeug-Addons wie z.B. der Majestic Dash 8.
Schade trotzdem, dass die Maschine in der Simulatorwelt bisher so unbekannt ist, was sich u.a. in den wenigen 3rd party repaints trotz vorhandenem Paintkit zeigt.