Wilco Harrier

[nmflyer 1]

Any Feedback on the Wilco Harrier?

[CoolP 283]

Well, I saw weapons in that promo video and you can even attach some more, so it won't take long until Alan gets on it I guess. :biggrin:But looks like a nice release from Wilco so far, there was some thread about it over at Orbx'.

[Dougal 165]

Well, I saw weapons in that promo video and you can even attach some more, so it won't take long until Alan gets on it I guess. :biggrin:But looks like a nice release from Wilco so far, there was some thread about it over at Orbx'.

After once promising myself to never again, 'darken the doorsteps' of Wilco Publishing, I just couldn't help myself :( I love it - it's great!For those with bad Wilco experiences, I can tell you, a LOT seems to have changed (including the website).If that doesn't do it for you, just pretend you don't know know the publisher, but DO know, it's the guys from Aeroplane (sic) Heaven that created this baby :( I very much doubt you'd regret the purchase.

[Chock 17,769]

The Harrier from Wilco is a good example of how one minute they appear to create something great, and the next, something not so great. Like many, I was rather disappointed with the Evolution Upgrade for the Vol 1 and 2 Airbuses, which seems less of an 'upgrade' and more a case of a 'let's charge some money for a bit of a patch that is five years overdue'. So the quality of Wilco's Harrier is a really pleasant surprise in light of that less than stunning Airbus tweak.In short, the Wilco Harrier is really excellent in almost every way. It even goes to the extent of featuring two rather different models of the aircraft, in the shape of the navalised FRS1 and the land-based GR3 (both of which are very well modeled indeed), although the cockpits for both models are essentially the same, which isn't a big deal since on the real aircraft this is much the case.There are some compromises in the cockpit, for example, the early Harrier's real Blue Fox radar (and later Blue Vixen) which was found on these variants is not fully simulated; not surprising owing to the fact that as old as these systems are, some of their inner workings are still classified because they were so capable, not to mention the fact that it is nigh impossible to really have a radar accurately simulated in FS.Nevertheless, there is a radar in the cockpit of the Wilco Harrier, and it does work after a fashion, making flying around and using it a fun experience. It has a lot of different modes too, which can be switched via a pop up 2D panel or in the VC. One of these is much like how an AWACs display appears (sort of like the linked displays a real Harrier has), with what you want to display or not display being customisable. This is quite cool actually because during the Falklands War, the Harriers of both the Fleet Air Arm and the RAF did in fact use their radars in this way when flying BARCAP missions for the task force, since AWACs coverage was occasionally limited, although some of it was provided by Nimrods and even the USAF's AWAC 707s (which is not widely known), but apparently the Harriers could do a fairly decent job of this even without such help, so it is not a stretch to have such a capable radar system in the this FS version, even if it is not entirely as per the real thing.Funnily enough, I did actually do some work for the real Sea Harrier some years ago whilst working at Fairey Engineering in my home town. This was when the 'ski ramp' was being made for the aircraft to launch from the Royal Navy's carriers in order to save fuel for use on missions. I even had to sign the Official Secrets Act when doing that, and this was for what was essentially nothing more complex than what every kid makes to jump their push bikes off LOL, but that little tale does highlight the fact that even mundane info about warplanes can sometimes be hard to come by because of the nature of things being classified, so it is all the more remarkable that Wilco have managed to make such a good job of simulating the Harrier in a believable way.As far as sim performance goes, it might be helpful to compare the Wilco Harrier to some other FSX aeroplanes to give potential buyers an idea of what to expect: For example the equally new Bear Studios Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon jet fighter which was released a week or two ago, or perhaps some of the warplanes IRIS make, such as their A-10 or F-20. All these FSX warplanes get better FPS than the Wilco Harrier, but having said that, the difference is not so much as to make the Wilco jet an FPS hog, i.e. to compare it with some others you may know, Wilco's Harrier is better on FPS than either the Level D 767 or the CS 757, so if your system can handle either of those, the Wilco one will be fine.In so far as flying performance goes, as you can probably guess, I've never flown a real Harrier, but I have sat in one once, so I know the VC is very good (I have in fact got a few parts of a real Harrier at my house, including the ejection seat firing handle, which is cool by the way). So, I've seen Harriers up very close when parked, and seen them many times flying at air displays in the UK, where they are a favourite on the airshow circuit, so I know how they move in the air and how they accelerate from a hover into conventional flight etc, and if that is anything to go by, then the Wilco one appears to be a good simulation of the way they move. What that means is that the Wilco one seems to be a convincing experience, and it flies entirely as you would expect one to. What it does not do though, is damn-near deafen you when in the hover twenty feet away - anyone who has ever seen a Harrier in the hover that close will confirm that it is possibly the loudest thing you will ever hear LOLSome nice touches include the blast on the ground as you power up the engines with the thrust vectoring nozzles pointed down, and the way the stability augmentation puffer jets on the wingtips kick in to keep things 'shiny side up'. The texturing and modeling is astonishingly good, with some really fine detail visible (in fact it is among the best I've ever seen on an FS aeroplane), so that certainly is a plus point too.All in all I would say that this is a remarkably good add-on, and if you've been disappointed by Wilco's Airbus upgrade, prepare to be very surprised about how good this thing is in comparison to that half-assed effort. And for the price (i.e. it was about 24 quid for me in the UK) it is a very nice thing to have in your hangar. Speaking of which, check this out...There aren't too many jet fighters that you can back out of a hangar like this!How most people have probably seen the real Harrier fly, at an airshow over the flight line. It seems very convincing in this mode.Detail is, as you can see, excellent, look at the pilot's visor for example, and the MDC on the canopy.Naval version.VC is good. Most things are 'clickable' and will operate systems.Al

[CoolP 283]

Wow, excellent review, Alan. And Wilco should have taken your screenshots (I like the hangar landing/departing one) since they show some of the nice textures while the video does look way more blurry and dull on the details.What about the weapons then?

[Chock 17,769]

What would normally be the arming select switches in the cockpit actually function to turn on the visual models of various weaponry on the exterior model, although these changes do not happen on the wings as seen from the VC, since in reality it is kind of difficult to actually see the wings of the Harrier from the cockpit what with their anhedral and sweep, and this is reflected in the Wilco Harrier, where you really have to shift your viewpoint in the VC quite a lot to actually be able to see the wings, so I can understand why they probably thought it was not worth the effort of doing so. But, you can have Sidewinders, Paveways and that kind of stuff on your Wilco Harrier's external model if you so desire.You can change the loadout in flight on the visual model via those switches, which is quite nice since although - obviously - not realistic. But since FSX is not a combat sim, it is just a bit of eye candy for fun. The fact that the Wilco Harrier (or any other FS aeroplane for that matter) could be really 'armed up' by using Captain Sim's excellent 'Weapon for FSX' add-on, means that anyone with the desire to really go and drop bombs on things or shove an Amraam up a 737's tail pipe as it is on finals, can do so if they really want to via the CS utility, so the lack of any real combat capability on the Wilco Harrier as it comes, is not a big deal to me.If anyone really wants a fully combat capable flight sim Harrier, they could always buy Aerosoft's Jet Thunder when that comes out, since that will simulate the Falklands War.Al

[Christopher Low 5,353]

I have recently started to think about flying a helicopter in FSX, so that I can move directly to and from airports, airfields, and other landing spots directly (as opposed to having to mess about with runway approaches) :( However, there are two problems with this....1. Every helicopter I have tried to fly with my CH Flightstick Pro joystick has wobbled around all over the place.2. I really don't like the look of helicopters.In other words, I want something that I will be able to control (with practice), and also looks good. It would seem that the Wilco Harrier Jump Jet is the solution. The 3D model, textures, and VC look very crisp and detailed, and I like the animations and effects that can be seen in the videos. I would just like to know if cruising over the landscape at low speeds (no more than 150 knots) can be done comfortably in the Harrier? Low speed, low level VFR flight is what I like to do best in FSX, and I am hoping that the Harrier would be the perfect plane for me in this respect. I don't expect the VTOL experience to be easy, but the thought of taking off and landing vertically everywhere in such a beautiful and capable aircraft is a tempting prospect....

[Christopher Low 5,353]

I am experiencing a problem with the Wilco Harrier exhaust trail. The smoke and ground effects are very realistic, but unless I am very close to the ground, I also have strange "dancing lights" in the exhaust stream. They look ridiculous, and I would like to get rid of them. Does anyone else suffer from this problem?

[Damien 4]

I have recently started to think about flying a helicopter in FSX, so that I can move directly to and from airports, airfields, and other landing spots directly (as opposed to having to mess about with runway approaches) However, there are two problems with this.... 1. Every helicopter I have tried to fly with my CH Flightstick Pro joystick has wobbled around all over the place.2. I really don't like the look of helicopters. In other words, I want something that I will be able to control (with practice), and also looks good. It would seem that the Wilco Harrier Jump Jet is the solution. The 3D model, textures, and VC look very crisp and detailed, and I like the animations and effects that can be seen in the videos. I would just like to know if cruising over the landscape at low speeds (no more than 150 knots) can be done comfortably in the Harrier? Low speed, low level VFR flight is what I like to do best in FSX, and I am hoping that the Harrier would be the perfect plane for me in this respect. I don't expect the VTOL experience to be easy, but the thought of taking off and landing vertically everywhere in such a beautiful and capable aircraft is a tempting prospect....

After it took some getting used to in the way of takeoffs and maneuvering at hover, it handles extremely well in low speed, low level flight. -Damien

[Christopher Low 5,353]

A screenshot to illustrate the "dancing lights" exhaust trail phenomenon that I am experiencing with the Wilco Harrier in VTOL and STOL modes.... http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=2luv21b0umf1odp&thumb=4

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Doesn't anyone have a suggestion? I would really like to solve this problem ASAP.

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Someone over at Flightsim.com has kindly provided me with a solution to my exhaust trail problem with the Wilco Harrier. It seems that these "dancing lights" are only visible at night or twilight, so other Wilco Harrier users on this forum may wish to check that out for themselves. You can find the fix for this in the following thread (post #6 by rcbarend).... http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?237132-Wilco-Harrier-exhaust-trail