Reviews (by JEREMY)

I really wish I didn't have these points to make because I LOVE Electra and have been waiting for someone to do it. AH/JustFlight had an excellent Electra they gave to Lockheed Martin as default P3D aircraft, so this was IDEAL for me. Unfortunately, as this release stands right now, there are several points which need work: 1. Flaps indicator doesn't work 2. Tail wheel lock doesn't work (Developer says it's due to MSFS limitation, but there are plenty of 3rd party aircraft with a working lockable tail wheel) 3. Mixture levers don't do anything (fuel flow on left engine remains the same, MP remains the same etc) 4. DME indicator doesn't work (says INOP due to SU5 but again, all the other aircraft have working DME) 5. Autopilot (Garmin G3X version) doesn't lock onto the GPS course or heading and keeps "hunting" back and forth. Some other aircraft have experienced this in the past, but those issues have been resolved. 6. Sperry Gyropilot doesn't hold pitch and instead holds altitude (unrealistic) 7. Sperry Gyropilot's aileron control doesn't work. 8. Garmin G3X's speed tape is wrong and shows yellow and red zone well below that of the aircraft's specs. Its cruise speed is in red zone. 9. No WWise sounds and the current sounds are MUCH too loud If these issues are handled, I will be happy to upgrade to a 5 star rating. Guys, PLEASE don't rush aircraft. Get it ready and working and test/test/test! I have discovered all of these issues in less than 24 hours of owning it.

This is pretty nice for a first effort. It flies great, easy to trim. Looks pretty good, though lacks any kind of grit and looks a bit too sterile. The sounds are unfortunately weak - switches and canopy mechanism don't produce any sound (or change of sounds between open and closed canopy), the engine doesn't have much sound to it and sounds a bit like a vacuum cleaner, but... it's passable. One thing - parking brake is inop (though there is a non-working switch in the cockpit for it), so it can't be enabled with a joystick or via mouse in virtual cockpit. Would like to see that implemented. MGL avionics are new and a first for MSFS in terms of a completely custom avionics package. Its implementation is very basic though - no map, no autopilot, no synth vision. Overall though, the aircraft is a pleasure to fly. I'd recommend it if you aren't looking for something in-depth. It's better than the AT Simulations Cri-Cri.

I am posting this only for two purposes - to give a heads up to potential buyers and for a hope that VirtualCol sees this and can at least fix the biggest issue. The biggest issue: This aircraft uses the CJ4, A320, and Boeing avionics mix. THAT makes it completely incompatible with a hugely popular Working Title CJ4 mod (that may soon find its way into the core sim, since WT are now working for Asobo). The A320 FMC (which literally says A320 on it - at least Bredok3D was able to get theirs to say 737 MAX) has the flight plan entered into it, but the Collins ProLine PFD says NO FLIGHT PLAN. This makes it completely impossible to use autopilot. So unless VirtualCol can fix this, flying this aircraft requires a removal of WorkingTitle CJ4, and I don't see that happening considering it's hugely popular and turns the default CJ4 into a high-fidelity business jet. So, beware of this. Other than that...This aircraft is not a good release - texture work and everything about it looks really bad - the cockpit door is so pixellated, it's really awful to look at when you turn around. Everything in the cockpit looks like some artificial looking plastic and the seats in the cabin look like tombstones. Everything in cold and dark starts in weird positions - AutoBrakes on 3? When you enable NAV on ground, APPR automatically lights up? The developer is clear that this is NOT a study-level aircraft. It doesn't need to be, but at least make it simple and good - everything works, and everything is believable. This is anything but that. So unfortunately, unless things improve, I can not recommend this.

Jimmy from BlueMesh was very engaging and responsive to my initial review and released an update today that includes brakes and way better ground handling as well as improved aileron response in air. There are some limitations of MSFS' current implementation of water physics that create some issues, but the developer is working with a real pilot of this aircraft and is interested in keeping realism to the maximum, so - to address any potential concerns here is a few things he pointed out that I thought would be useful to know - Real aircraft is not equipped with a radio, that's why it's inop. - There is no airspeed indicator on it, either. - Drifty behaviour is normal and according to the pilot it's actually a very challenging aircraft to fly, so a lot of that behaviour corresponds with the real-life behaviour of the aircraft. I do recommend this aircraft as I expect Asobo will eventually improve water physics and behaviour of seaplanes in MSFS. Thanks to Jimmy and BlueMesh for a fun aircraft and for being responsive and fair. Jeremy

This aircraft has potential, BUT. Pricing is a little questionable - it's not any better than any of the default aircraft in the sim. 1. There is one awful texture - that carpet/curtain right behind the pilot's seats that separates the cockpit from the cabin. It's blurry and looks like it's 1998. Please fix that. 2. The sounds are very unfortunate. Very tinny, not really any fun to fly with listening to those. 3. Suffers from the same reverse turboprop logic as the rest of the turboprops in the sim. 4. Prop lever and mixture lever don't actually do anything at all, except for cutting off the fuel completely at the extreme lower end of the mixture lever. At no point does adjusting prop lever changes RPM or anything of the sort. Everything stays the same. 5. Textures in the cockpit are a little too sterile - the last one of these was made in 1990 and it looks like it JUST rolled off the line. Ways to go to improve this. But like I said, the potential is there.

The route is fine... But the developer could have put in some more effort of describing some places. It's just short Wikipedia blurbs. For freeware, this would pass. But for a payware product? This is not worth the money.

I'd like to update my review from 3 to 4 stars. The developer is very committed to fixing current issues and has issued many updates. A lot of gripes from my initial review have since been addressed, and I feel like I'd like to recommend this aircraft to potential buyers. Thanks for the work, Bill.

This is a great warbird! Love the way it flies and the visual fidelity of the aircraft as well as the detailed documentation. Issues to address: - Please make the artificial intelligence "bomb aircraft" go away - my airports are littered with spare bombs in parking spots. I know there is a workaround with a config file edit, could you make that default, PRETTY PLEASE? - Can we please have a functional speed brake lever/button? I know it can be triggered using a keybind, but some of us prefer operating levers in the virtual cockpit. Those two things would push it to 5 stars. In reality, it's a 4 star aircraft, but the devs are very active responding to the community and working on it, so I won't dock a star in review. GET IT! It's the best fighter jet out for MSFS at the moment, along with Dino's MB-339.

With version 2.0, this product has finally resolved its shortcomings! This is very solid, I highly recommend this.

This was rushed out. It has potential, but there are glaring issues that make it not at all fun or worth it (because it's not even on par with default aircraft)... I understand the focus for Virtualcol is to provide simple simulation and no system complexity. I am not asking for a study-level aircraft at this price point. But the level of quality in this initial release leaves a lot to be desired. Here is a list of issues: 1) Cockpit textures/meshes are low quality. Those vents above you aren't even close to round. Metal surfaces, such as the yolk rod look bad. 2) Overhead dials. There are about 10 or so of them, NONE of them are labeled, and ALL of them are inop. Inop is fine, but unlabeled and poorly textured is not excusable. That whole overhead panel looks awful. 3) All dials have reverse logic - mousewheel up brings values down and vice versa. This is literally opposite to all other aircraft in the sim. (Except for the VS dials, those are congruent. 4) External Power switch is INOP. Why? 5) When there is no power (cold and dark), COM1 and MRK buttons are lit on the radios. Why? They should only be yellow when powered up/enabled, like your autopilot buttons. 6) Autopilot loses climb authority periodically. Only climbing at 1500 vs 2000 the book states. It eventually gets there, but it needs tweaking 7) What's the purpose of a non-functional 530 avionics module? You can't zoom map, you can't enter waypoints, activate approaches, etc. Why not use the default one then? 8) Takes a LONG runway to reach Vr... Aircraft seems underpowered. 9) Flaps 3 produce a catastrophic loss of airspeed, you will stall pitched down with max throttle, so it can only be engaged JUST above threshold to slow down. 10) Night illumination in the cockpit is terrible - gauges are impossible to see as they are too dim. The panel light only illuminates about 1/3 of the panel. There are no other lights. 11) External lights are almost impossible to see and don't illuminate much. Either give me simple simulation with eye candy, OR for more money, give me system complexity too. But this is cheap, though NOT fun to fly, and is pretty terrible to look at (in the cockpit - the exterior is fine)... This is a rushed release. I bought it simply because I have ALL the released aircraft so far, but this needs a lot of work before I can recommend it. The potential is there, though.

This is a MUST addon for P3D. The weather looks great, and I highly recommend this to anyone who uses P3D. Essential.

This is a good ultra-light. No issues in my testing, it's a fun little thing. Everything works. The textures are a little too clean and sterile for my taste, but that's fine. It offers superb views. I asked the developer to please change the thumbnail so that it fits in with the rest of the aircraft in the sim and he said he would do that. I recommend this to anyone looking for a basic ultra-light aircraft.

After exchanging some e-mails with the developer and him clarifying MSFS' limitations of implementation on this product, I want to upgrade my rating to 4 stars. It's a good product and it was done to the best of his ability given some limitations at the moment.

Decent package and route. I like being able to set live weather for every leg. I don't like that even if you plot your flightplan to the next destination in the flight computer, your actual flight plan won't show on the MFD map. I don't like some weird aircraft (that doesn't exist in MSFS2020 and isn't available anywhere for sale) being depicted on every leg. It could easily be maybe just a picture of the place we are going to next instead of this weird thing I can't fly. Navlog could contain at least SOME information about the places. Tell me A LITTLE BIT about the place we are going to on the next leg. If this package could get some improvements like the ones described above, it can easily be 5 stars.

Just like the IFR package, this is extremely well done, highly recommended to learn the technical skills to fly proper VFR. This developer doesn't cut corners and everything in their catalogue is really worth a purchase - the Voyager Bush Trips, IFR, and now this. Great job!

Bought this on Orbx, but it's an excellent aircraft and tons of work and value is contained within. There are currently 2 Bush Trips included (one of them is MASSIVE, had to be split into two!) showcasing Australia. 2 more trips are planned for future updates. The developer is very committed and shows no lack of attention to detail and improving the product. One of the best 3rd party aircraft released for MSFS so far!

I bought this straight from Wing42, but would love to encourage others to get this. Unbelievably fun, lots of attention to detail from the developer. Great documentation, great modeling, and just a joy to experience historic aircraft. Can't go wrong with this!

This is an exceptional product that will teach you both theory and practice of IFR flight. It is accompanied with high quality flying lessons with accompanying voice-over and the manual is great at breaking down the theory part. I HIGHLY recommend anyone interested in aviation to get this and work through the course after completing MSFS' basic training tutorials. This is an extension of it. The developer is excellent, responsive, and committed. I can't say anything negative about FS Academy - keep up the great work!

Half-baked product, just like everything else with this developer - beware! Landing Challenges aren't scored, aren't registered as complete - the only way to end the landing challenge once you have landed is to exit to main menu via Escape key. Landing challenges are lazy - they dump you on short final straight path to the runway and off you go - there is NO approach to speak of, nothing like the default Asobo challenges. Stay away from this one.

Great thought-out routes. Tons of sight seeing. Will be way better once the developer updates these into Bush Trips (something they said they are planning to do)...