- 5 High Resolution Liveries.(3 US, 2 French)
- Highly detailed external model, fully animated.
- Highly detailed 3D internal model (VC), fully animated.
- Air to Air weapons:AIM-9 Sidewinder, Matra 530.
- Air To Ground weapons: AGM-12 Bullpup, MK82.
- Weapons can be fired but are not destructive.
- Hud,map.-Afterburner-engine sound.
Sadly, after initial good support, Laborie abandoned this plane. It was released before MSFS officially supported supersonic flight, and its top speed was unrealistically low. Years have passed since then, but Laborie hasn't updated the plane to support anything approaching its real flight model.
It's a shame, because it looks great. But the flight modeling just doesn't resemble the performance of a real Crusader, and Laborie hasn't responded to queries about whether it'll eventually be updated. The F8U is a favorite plane, so this is very disappointing.
External model is beautiful...my major beef is that this airplane is ridiculously overpowered. So here is my list of things to make this airplane get a 5 out of 5 stars:
- Get engine/flight model parameters correct...not even close currently
- Add visual AB effect
- Make the default be NO external stores
- Add a paint kit
- Add a an RF-8A or G variant
...and BOOM! It's a 5/5.
Having owned this since almost day 1, I wanted to hold off reviewing until I saw how the patch cycle went. Having owned the BN-2 and L-19 whose packages started off being pure garbage but several patches later have become very competent models, I know initially rough planes can be great. Being over a month since launch, sadly no updates is forcing me give this a 2 star review. For 29 EUR you are paying somewhat of a premium in this MSFS economy for a plane. This includes fixing what should have glaring issues during QA.
A laundry list of bugs and lacking features exist. From the map HUD not turning on properly from cold and dark to non-working interior buttons and switches. Initialization states are not setup properly either (such as spawning at altitude will put you in a plane with no running engine). As others have complained, you will occasionally get a beeping in the cockpit that seemly has a mind of it's own. While the interior looks decent, the exterior is way too shiny and not representative of even a brand new aircraft. As others have pointed out, one of the biggest negatives is the sound. Using A320 and CJ4 default sounds throughout takes you right out of the cockpit experience. The relatively quiet FJ44 engine sounds nothing like the roar of the afterburning J57 in the real plane.
At the end of it all I think this plane has promise. Some of what I've mentioned (like initialization states) is something that could be fixed in less than an hour. This isn't Fall of 2020. The SDK is getting quite robust and producing planes like this isn't acceptable anymore.
Vraiment magnifique !
Un appareil de très grande qualité, cet avion a été fait avec soin sous tous les angles, très agréables à piloter, sons excellent, je suis satisfait à 100%, merci.
Score : 3.5 / 5
Excellent exterior and interior modeling.
Flight model ok . Can't achieve super sonic speed ( due to sdk ) .
Let down badly by sounds ( Airbus A320 engine sounds , strange sounds in cockpit when banking left or right - sounds like mechanic left tools in cockpit !! )
Update solving these issues and its a 5/5 score !!