The Associates
design software for FS 97 and FS 98. One of their many
collections, the RAF Collection comprises a total of thirty
aircraft that can be flown in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The RAF Collection celebrates eighty years of flight with
the Royal Air Force. In this collection you can find the
following:
Avro 730
Avro Lancaster B.1
Avro Vulcan B Mk 1 and 2
BAe Hawk T.1 A
McDonnell Douglas Harrier GR.7
Blackburn Beverley
Canadair CL-13 Sabre
Consolidated PBY Catalina
de Havilland Hornet
de Havilland Vampire T II
English Electric Canberra
English Electric Lightning
Handley-Page Heyford
Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hunger Mk 6 and 10
C130J Hercules
Phaom II
P51D Mustang
Tornado GR 1
Sunderland III
Spitfire VB
Supermarine Swift
Vickers Valiant
Good grief, that's quite a list!
Flight modeling is quite good, with a full six DOF, though
not quite up to the detailing Microsoft has accorded to
Combat Flight Simulator. However, you can be sure that The
Associates will have an official announcement soon with
regard to an add-on for Combat Flight Sim!
In the meantime, if you have FS98, you can import all these
aircraft now and even import scenery to go with them. I
loaded up a well known WW2 British airfield where I checked
out the Hurricane and the Lancaster B.1. (Click for larger
images).
Naturally, with Flight Sim '98 you can fly this collection
virtually anywhere in the world. And if you have the
scenery add-ons to go with them, you can fly with greater
detail than you will see in the shots I've taken in FS 98.
However, these are taken at 1024x768 with hardware
acceleration enabled.
However, you don't necessarily have to wait to enjoy flying
these aircraft in Combat Flight Sim! I imported a few to
try out, including all those you see below: the Short
Sunderland, the Canadair Sabre, the Lancaster B.1 as well
as the Heyford. The detailing is quite acceptable, with
some particularly good cockpits to boot as you can see
screen left. I tried landing this Sunderland on the water,
but I don't think CFS designers had quite expected my
attempt... unfortunately, it can't be done.
But the real fun is putting these jets up against P38
Lightnings and German Me109s. I found that I didn't fair
very well in general (at Ace level), but every aircraft you
import automatically acquires guns. When Combat Flight Sim
is released it will be possible to tweak the specs as much
as you like. The Lancaster had two guns on each wing and
cannon in the nose. Personally, I think it would fair
better with four guns on each wing ;-D
Now of course at this stage its just for fun. But once the
add-ons start to appear, even the serious pilots are going
to have a great deal of fun with bombers in Combat Flight
Sim. I expect that we will see some fantastic cockpits and
also some excellent flight modeling. Look for your favorite
aircraft to be available soon, very likely prior to
Christmas!
