Reviews (by Timothy)

A particularly colorful airport--and up-to-date--rendered adequately for P3Dv5. With a bit more work, such as some surrounding scenery, or even some blades of grass, this would get the full five stars. Tropicalsim should take a look at some of the atmospheric detail devs for Colombian airports are lavishing on their products at a lower price. Night lighting is okay, although I'm not sure where it's coming from since there are no lampposts! Even so, despite a certain lack of detail, I'm very happy to add this interesting destination for charter tour flights. They included an option for SODE jetways that isn't hard to implement with a bit of fiddling around among folders. The instructions are easy to follow and the results work fine. I'm also very happy to see a dev still supporting P3D. Look for my L1011 parked right in front of the original part of MDPC, with the thatched roofs and no jetways.

Glad it's working fine for some. In v5.2 the photoreal scenery causes a crash. The fix is to turn it off (change the extension) or move out 12 .bgl files starting with PhotoReal. The dev was very responsive and upfront about the error, so full credit for that. However, it's hard to give five stars to a product that crashes in the latest major release of P3D when it's specifically sold for it. So, if you have v5, be prepared to implement the fix--it's not hard--and then the scenery is decent enough.

Another underpriced South American treasure from a handful of smaller but talented developers. Sierrasim's SLAL is one really high airport. You can't go wrong for the price, and you will probably be pleasantly surprised. There are a lot of inexpensive South American sceneries available for P3Dv5, so you can build a nice collection of interesting places to fly in and out of. Best of all, while these are not going to be what you'd expect for $30+, they are a lot better than what you'd expect from the low price and are usually dripping with atmosphere. South America is one of my favorite places to fly because it is so well-supported by inexpensive, quality sceneries like SLAL. I can't say I've ever been disappointed with Sierrasim, PKSim, WingSim, Tropical Sim or Paulo Ricardo. Maybe they're not big international airports, but you can put together a perfect collection for shorter flights.

I am asking the good folks at SimMarket to replace my original two-star review with this three-star one. After spending some more time with the old girl I've decided it's another Just Flight product that I can't give more than three stars to, but deserves more than two, and also a kind word. The good: it's a -500, so more range; there are RAF military models if you like that; it has a functioning INS and the usual JF FMC option; doesn't look bad at all; it is fairly ambitious with the systems (relatively speaking) for instance implementing DLC. It's in the same position to Captain Sim's better L1011-100 as JF's DC-8s are to Aerosoft's better DC-8-50. Even so, it works and it's fun to fly. The bad: it is really dated. You can use the VC for nearly everything, but there are panels galore and you can't even set the barometer without calling up a altimeter window, which, because screens are wider, is annoyingly squashed. It wants to fly like a Boeing (e.g. using the autothrottle for cruise) but a lot of people do that with the Captain Sim L1011, too, and it's your choice. There are mind-boggling design decisions like having to "grab" and turn the twitchy knob from "align" to "nav" without messing up your INS work. Why not just have clicks? And the tutorial (which features the RAF tanker for some reason) sends you looking for the APU panel to start off, but IN THAT MODEL there isn't one in the VC. Yup. It's a special panel. Now that's a recipe for frustration, isn't it? There are the usual JF stairs, and you're supposed to be able to open a cargo door and use a loader, but as is so often the case, some things just don't seem to work or ever get fixed. JF quickly responded by instructing me how to open doors using shift-E followed by a number. Thanks guys, but really? So why is it worth even three stars you're wondering. Because although it is dated and has some annoying quirks, it is an interesting and different implementation of the L1011. The details aren't going to stop you getting from A to B and having some fun. If you have never seen the Captain Sim L1011, you probably won't be as critical. I recently gave it a long flight to determine whether it stays or gets deleted. I decided to keep it. With fewer airplanes being developed for P3D, I'm reluctant to write off any that will work fine in P3Dv5.2 . I enjoyed hand-flying it, automation is different than what I'm used to, but works, and there is the option for the Navigraph supported FMC that Captain Sim doesn't offer. Something doesn't have to be up-to-date, or perfect, or even have a working cargo door and loader to be worth having. However, I don't think it's a $40 airplane now, especially since it's clear that longstanding bugs are not going to get fixed. That's almost as much as the Captain Sim L1011, which is a true classic. Just Flight's own DC-8 is $24 and is (in my opinion) a better airplane. I could probably recommend it at that price. As it is, if you really, really like L1011s, crave that extra range, can't stand INS or want to relive Desert Storm, you might find yourself picking it up in a moment of weakness and finding it as hard to get rid of as an ugly stray dog that is just grateful to have a home. Sigh.

This is another ridiculous bargain from WINGSIM's South American sceneries. It is gorgeous, with a lot of character--you feel like it's a real place. It's not big, but it's perfectly situated for shorter flights to other bigger South American airports. The runway's not much over 7000 feet, just enough for a 737-200 or DC-9 or A318. There are lots of great, inexpensive airports in South America, then some bigger ones like Quito, then Buenos Aires, Guarlohos and Viracopos near Sao Paulo. Discovering South American has really brought excitement back into flight simulation--the land of Ernie Gann and Saint-Exupery should be irresistible to real aviation enthusiasts.

What better jumping off place for a flight to Kai Tak to try out that checkerboard approach? (Of course Kai Tak still exists in my world!) This is a well-done scenery at a bargain price and there are parking places my L1011 will fit into. It's a pretty airport with a a runway that will handle nearly anything, but it's compact, so not a lot of boring taxiing. The trees are nice and the seaside setting is lovely. It doesn't really blend into the surrounding landscape but neither does the real airport. Installation was relatively painless. As of writing, the jetways require GSX to work, but the developer says he's working on SODE jetways. Good job! Looking forward to what else you have coming.

Ridiculously good scenery for the price--or more than the price. MAX keeps getting better. One of these days we'll be saying, "Ah, I knew them when..." And what better time to say thank you for supporting P3D. There is a lot of custom detail, including, of course, the iconic Buffalo hanger. All it needs is a Herman Nelson heater! Plenty of cars and equipment, too. The snow config is super: piles of the stuff, and not all in neat smooth mounds, either. Very realistic. Grey weeds sticking through where it's thinner are a great touch. The pavement is cracked and has puddles, and reflection is used to good effect. I was very impressed. I spent an hour just taxiing around in my Buffalo DC-3 taking in the sights, and it's not a very big airport. The AI traffic was appropriate, too. Lighting is good, and it looks great at night. Five stars doesn't mean it's FlyTampa quality, by the way, but if we have to compare apples and oranges, we should take into account a lot of things, including price and exceeding expectations by a wide margin. This is not some cheap, carelessly knocked out airport. This is really very nice by any standard, and I'm happy to give it five stars. I would have been glad to get any sort of Yellowknife (as an Ice Pilots NWT fan), but this is a very good little airport on its own if you fancy a NWT destination. Having said that, I should mention that installation is not exactly a one-click process. In fact, the only clicks are to extract folders and then one to add it from inside P3D. It isn't exactly manual installation (you don't have to look at the scenery.cfg) but it does require attention to detail getting various files (including more than one set of fixes) into the correct places. It probably won't be too hard if you know your way around the P3D folder, but if you've never done this sort of thing before, be aware. Especially since while the instructions do make sense if you already know what you're doing, if you don't and just follow them literally, it's not going to turn out well. If you get in a jam, though, I'm sure the devs would be happy to help, or you could check in with your favorite flight simulation forum, like AVSIM for peer support. Oh, there's also a click or two on the configurator to get those wonderful snow effects. There are a couple of minor graphics issues I've written the developer about. Nothing to cause you to hesitate on a purchase though. I imagine they'll get back to me. They clearly put a lot of effort into this one. A must for Ice Pilots NWT fans, and I can't see anyone who enjoys flying in Canada passing it up. This isn't exactly bush flying. It's a nice flight north from Edmonton and has a First Air terminal. Plenty of appropriate Canadian AI (saw a Canadian North 737: bingo!) Honestly, you won't find better scenery at this price, and you could do worse at twice the price. Just be careful on those valley runs. Nothing good ever happens in Norman Wells on the show ;-)

Works as advertised. If you like SABE dry, wait until it's wet. Very nice and the price can't be beat.

Another gem of a little airport from Wingsim. For the price you get a lot--a whole lot-- more than you would expect. This is a no-brainer. Good attention to detail, nice textures and modeling, and a sort of overgrown charm like I would expect. The flowers are beautiful. It's a nice airport for shorter flights to Bogota or neighboring countries. I can get a heavy DC-8 off the runway, too. WingSim is practically giving away nice scenery. Do yourself and the hobby a favor and snap them up (while supporting the developer). I would love to see smaller devs like WingSim continue to tackle airports nobody else will in Central and South America and elsewhere, for that matter. This is a steal.

NOTE: This review is for P3Dv5.2 which is not supported, but works fine without any voodoo. SECOND NOTE: There is an amazing freeware Total Overhaul mod (got mine at avsim.su) that I feel is a necessity. (It even has an installer.) The CS 732 was always a gorgeous airplane, and the mod actually makes some graphics improvements. But more than that, it provides tons of useful functions to the previously useless computer. Weights, states, fuel, callouts, automatic (or manual--your option) speed bugs and EPR settings for different flight phases, descent assist... what doesn't it do? It's not strictly realistic, but makes flying this thing a joy. AND the Total Overhaul Mod gives you options for adding third-party avionics upgrades unavailable before. So, my freighter version (yes, all the expansions work) got a Reality XP Garmin touch screen. This is my very favorite short-medium haul airplane. I like it even better than thier new 737 Classic. The 732 is old school, so be prepared to fly it, and learn what Control Wheel Steering is, because you're going to be using it a lot. Probably my favorite landing in flight simulation was using the flight director through a blinding snowstorm into Ushuaia. Unless you install one of the optional upgrades, everything else is radio navigation doing your best with the rudimentary autopilot. I can't say enough good things about this airplane. The Milviz 737-200 is a worthy competitor--a bit grungier and has a gravel pack option--but the weather radar crashes v5. (I also have it, and installed RolansRadar for Active Sky.) Between the two, though, the Captain Sim gets my nod, especially with the Total Overhaul mod. There are also nearly limitless liveries available. I don't think I've found a place to fly where I can't use a plausible livery.

If you want a BAC One Eleven, this is your typical JustFlight mini-survey of the different models. It's an interesting piece of history and had some surprising carriers, including in the U.S. It's well-modeled (love the antenna wire) inside and out with a properly intimidating pedestal! There is apparent system depth to require perusal of the manual, especially since it has some unusual procedures. It has the usual JustFlight apron toys, which are always appreciated, and a decent amount of liveries. As the more generous reviewer noted, this airplane is s-l-o-w. I wouldn't get too ambitious about routes, but there's still a lot of cool hops to fly. LIAT flew these, as did Court Line. (Don't think those liveries are included, though.) I did an enjoyable flight from the excellent (actually, best-ever airport in history) Bob Hope Burbank Airport to another nice airport to the north, Monterey, in the American Airlines ASTROJET! (I think American mainly used them in the northeast, though.) I don't know much about flight models, but I have been around long enough to know that this one has some problems. Pitching forward for no apparent reason and defying all efforts to pull out of a death dive can't be good. JustFlight blew off my ticket, but there seems to be a user consensus that this is not very realistic. (Although the T-Tail did result in a similar crash during testing.) I gave up trying to fly it loaded. (The plane, not me.) Maybe there's a secret to balancing it. You can always pretend there are passengers. Empty, it is pretty predictable and fun to fly by hand--very well-behaved. I wish JustFlight (or Aeroplane Heaven, if they made this for them) would get rid of that weird green glow from the nav light that seems to be JustFlight's signature! Come on! You can only get screenshots from one side unless you want it to look like a UFO. As I usually say with JustFlight products, the stars are what I think are fair, but I have to admit I enjoy it more than three stars. When I feel like a One Eleven, it's five stars because I don't know of another one. If you think you'd like a BAC One Eleven, it's probably worth it. Just don't expect too much. This one is not one of JustFlight's best.

Probably the best destination for international passenger flights into Brazil. (See Paulo Rivera's Viracopos for cargo flights and I should mention his Salvador for a beautiful coastal airport.) This is a nice airport with character and gets a lot of use.

Sort of an offbeat destination for me, but I like to bop around Latin America. Nice airport supporting all sorts of traffic and worth five stars.

For the price, you get to fly into Tegulcigalpa, Honduras and it looks a lot better than the default airport. It's not that pretty, but you can't go wrong for the price. I flew a rescue mission in a DC-3 winding through the mountains and had a blast.

I use this in P3Dv5.2, which required a simple registry "adjustment" and an updated xml tools app. So, it is NOT a supported v5 airplane, which I want to make clear; It does NOT just install into P3Dv5 and run. BUT, if you're comfortable with some minor tinkering, it works great. (I'm really pretty much a dunce when it comes to that sort of thing; it just took a little research and patience.) Compared to the Just Flight DC-8 series (which doesn't require any special tricks to work in P3Dv5) Aerosoft's is much more technically polished. The fuel system works as advertised, including automatically maintaining the 1 and 4 mains at a certain level by feeding from their alternate tanks. Speaking of fuel, it has a neat payload and fuel loader that distributes fuel properly in this complicated tank system. It has a decent INS that gives you the option of operating in a realistic manner or just loading a standard flight plan and off you go. You can (and need to) fly it by the numbers, which are in the excellent manual containing a well-written long-haul tutorial. It feels like I imagine a DC-8 should feel and keeps you plenty busy during cruise. It's a solid product at a good price. I do wish this "steak" had more of the "sizzle" of the Just Flight DC-8. There's nothing really wrong with the graphics. The sounds are underwhelming. Everything you need to fly the airplane normally is animated, but that's about it. Crossfeed? Nope. (Nor do you need it for normal operations.) I agree with another reviewer that some apron toys would have been nice. Had I not spent a lot of time in the JF DC-8 first, I might not have even noticed these things. But the important point is that the Aerosoft DC-8 works like a DC-8 is supposed to work, while the JF version, while good-looking and fun in its quirky own way for me, just doesn't. This is the one to get unless you are a certified classic jet fanatic who will want both versions. Adventurous users of P3Dv5 have some options for classic jetliners and it would be a shame to see this really nice DC-8 passed by when it works beautifully with a little help.

Really nice airport in all respects. It may be for domestic flights now in real life, but Ushuaia (see my review of that scenery) is a decent haul to the south, and it can handle international flights, too. South America is unfortunately not well covered with scenery in P3D v5, but there are still some gems like this one. With the coast on one side and Buenos Aires on the other, it makes for a beautiful departure or destination. Hoping Central Sim keeps them coming for P3D.

It's about what you'd expect for the price, and as described. With the bonus of a variety of different ships, some sailboats, and appropriate static aircraft, it looks lively enough. Smoke rising from chimneys at a couple of buildings show somebody's keeping warm. However, it looks a bit unfinished in some places, such as the houses without streets on the Club side. I think the texturing could be much better, like the big blue building that's just the same color and without detail, making for a very flat and unrealistic appearance. A little work there would go a long way. The main terminal is much better. The surrounding area looks nice both daytime and night. BUT IT SHOULD BE NOTED THERE IS NO INSTALLER. Worse, the instructions for adding the scenery are misleading. Unless you have a very good understanding of how to manually add scenery (or a vague idea and are willing to commit to a lot of trial and error) you're probably buying some frustration. With an installer, I think it would just make it into four-star territory.

Let me start by saying this is a hard one to rate with stars. This is really subjective. I personally like it five stars worth, but for review purposes, it's hard to overlook some of the problems. I use it in P3D v5 but the issues go way back. I love the character and the different models you get. Between it and the 50-70 package sold separately, you have the entire history of the fabulous DC-8. You see a lot of differences as you go from the lackluster early versions to flying from New York to London. (The other package even gives you some glass for your cockpit.) All of the virtual cockpits look well-used. It's really a work of art inside and out, and there are the usual Just Flight apron toys, and they're circa 1959, adding to the atmosphere. INS is not modeled, unfortunately, but the autopilot will track a flightplan perfectly. Or learn to navigate by radio. The sounds are awesome. Starting those four engines gives you the characteristic howl with the earlier ones. It really adds to the fun. JF has thoughtfully included a dummy weather display so you easily add a readily available freeware wx radar. It's on the casual side system-wise, but there's still work to be done, mainly managing fuel. There's the biggest problem. It doesn't work as advertised. It DOES work, though. It's a bit of a dark art and hard to explain. The fill valves are very s-l-o-w and unpredictable. Forget filling the mains from the alts like the manual says. (The manual is vague on fuel management for a reason.) BUT, I have calculated necessary fuel from London to New York and arrived with tanks balanced and under maximum landing weight. Without touching the crossfeed levers. In other words, you can indeed manage the fuel. The trick is to use your alternate tanks to feed the engines and try to counter the tendency of the fuel system to empty tanks from right to left across the FE's panel! Keep a reserve in the alts, but switch to mains when they get down to a couple thousand pounds or so. I like a challenge, and I love this DC-8, and if it seems a bit cranky, that feels realistic to me. It takes some practice, but if you're really interested in this milestone of an airplane, you'll put the work into it. If you didn't have to bother with fuel management it would be a pretty boring flight! I love it and have bought the livery packs and the later models. That's why it's five stars for me, but I can't give it that for everyone because it does have some issues. I think it's very good value for the money. The problems aren't deal breakers for me. If you want a DC-8, there's only a couple of choices. In terms of a solid, trouble-free product, this is not the better one. But the variety and challenge and character of the Just Flight DC-8 package makes it my current go-to airplane. So I hope this review calibrates your expectations. If you really want a DC-8--actually several ones--and are willing to put some time into fooling around with the thing, and don't mind some minor bugs, I think you'll be pleased. I hope this review gets posted, because I would hate for someone really interested in the DC-8 to avoid it because it's dated, or you've heard bad things about it. But at the same time, I would hate for someone looking for a trouble-free airplane to be frustrated. If you're like me, it's five stars. If you expect a perfectly realized airplane, it might be one star. All I have left to say is I'm really glad I bought it.

If it takes longer to load than other scenery, it's because this thing is massive. Like all of Paulo's scenery, this really puts you there, from the badly cracked runway to the surrounding urban sprawl and the densely packed city. This is for P3D v5. This may not have the attractions of, say, Rio, or the slightly grungy charm of his seaside Salvador, but the sheer scope of the scenery is breathtaking. Like all his scenery, it's a bargain. Some of my favorite departures and destinations. And there's a really long runway.

Version for P3D v5 reviewed. All of Paulo's scenery look like labors of love. It's amazing what he provides for the price. I love his scruffy, overgrown airports. It's great to take off from SBSV and you're immediately crossing the coastline. Of course you can't resist a right turn to check out the detailed city. If you need a reason to fly to Brazil, any of his scenery provides it, and this one is no exception. It should get a gold star.

All of Paulo's scenery is fantastic and oozing with atmosphere. They seem like labors of love and include not only airports, but miles and miles of detailed country and city. They're a bargain, too. If you have a question, his replies are prompt, friendly and helpful. Maybe you've never flown to Brazil. I'm just a southern Illinois boy, but I like to fly to exotic destinations. (They call where I live "flyover country" for a reason.) Paulo always gives you great departures or arrivals and this is no exception. Rio has the landmarks you'd expect (e.g. Christ of the Andes) but also loads of awesome details like ships.

Nicely done, detailed and highly configurable scenery. This review is using P3Dv5.1 and I've had no issues with it. I have everything pretty much maxed out and FPS are excellent on my machine, although I don't use static aircraft or AI traffic at this time. There are a lot of 3D cars in the lot! GSX2 works nicely--I've configured a large parking space for my Court Line L1011 (Captain Sim). That's a big girl for this airport and the runway lengths make takeoffs exciting. Looks good from all views, although some big buildings with flat roofs could use a little texture or darkening if possible since they stand out from the rest of the scenery on approach. ILS landings are rock solid; my L1011 had no problem with a full autoland. This is an excellent update of an interesting smaller airport for tourist flights all over Europe and the Med. I like the short taxi time compared to the giant airports. Blends in well with Orbx Global and Europe LC. Beautiful approach.