Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Don Quixote

"Vintage" (30s and 40s) aircraft recommendations?

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone,

 

Lately I've become more and more tired of the various high-tech navigational devices found in most modern aircraft, and increasingly enjoy flying classic aircraft of the 1930's and 40's period. So I was wondering if there are any that are considered "must-have" ones for FSX/P3D. Strangely, I couldn't find any general recommendations on this, so I thought I'd start a new thread - please forgive me if I've overlooked something.

 

I'm primarily looking for non-military aircraft, although civilian versions of warbirds would be fine. Modern avionics are a no-go, I want something without any semiconductors. :-)

 

I already have Manfred Jahn's C-47 and the "Uiver" DC-2. I absolutely love these two, especially the DC-2 which is my most flown aircraft at the moment. I've also bought the Sibwings AN-2 Colt when it was released, but even though I've tried very hard to like it I never felt particularly enthusiastic about it. Maybe I should give it another try one of these days...

 

So, is there anything else in this particular area that is worth a look? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
Steve

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A2A Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, best of the best. With Captain Of The Ship upgrade, it's even better. Love the addon to the bits, but I always have the feeling that the airplane will fall apart, especially engines, lol. You must be reaaaaaally careful.

 

I bought also JustFlight Vickers Viscount, and I LOVE IT. It's not complex nearly as A2A, it's not utter realistic (probably), but the immersion is just fantastic due to good flight model and AMAZING soundset. Pure pleasure to fly.


Current system: ASUS PRIME Z690-P D4, Intel 12900k, 32GB RAM @ 3600mhz, Zotac RTX 3090 Trinity, M2 SSD, Oculus Quest 2.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As the topic states, if you look for 30ies or 40ies planes I would suggest updated FS9 classics like Lockheed Vega, Ford Trimotor and DH88 Comet. They work very well in FSX.

 

A couple of nice freeware planes are of interest in this respect, like RWD 8, Ant's Tiger Moth and DH80 Puss Moth made by Dave Garwood?

 

Olive Fischer's Ju52 should work as well...

 

Payware offerings are of varied quality, but I have liked the Fairchild 24 a lot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There are a couple of civilian repaints available for the A2A B-17 - you can fly it as a freighter or a survey aircraft   Unfortunately there's no civilian model, so you're still carrying machine guns.  You can also fly it as a contemporary airshow restoration (but with its 1940's instrumentation).

 

It's a pleasure to fly - beautiful flying characteristics, full AI crew support, lots of atmosphere (the radioman likes to find broadcasts of 1940's music and news).  Much easier to handle than the Stratocruiser.  In all, well worth a look and it's not too hard to cast it in a civilian role.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Freeware DH Rapide. That's by Dave Garwood as well I believe.

 

Mike

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That Rapide is a very nice plane indeed. I also harken for a seat of the pants plane, the Rapide may be it... though I am interested in a Tiger Moth, too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Hughes H1 (circa 1935) by Stefan Hoffman, released by Aerosoft, has a lot of history and character. Complete systems modeling, engine failure, convincing flight dynamics, beautiful VC, impeccable manual, and challenging to learn/fly. It's a bit dated now so the textures are not as sharp as they could be, but still one of the best vintage addons.     

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, the DH Rapide looks great! I have Garwood's Mosquito which is awesome. I'll definetly give this a try.

 

On the payware side, I've been looking at both the A2A Stratocruiser and the B-17 for a while now, but at least the Stratocruiser is quite intimidating due to its size and the amount of systems... The B-17 looks great too. I guess I could live with having a couple of machine guns sticking out the plane, as long as I don't have to drop bombs on anyone.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

In terms of workload, the Stratocruiser is very easy to manage if you add the COTS (Captain of the Ship) update.  It allows you to delegate nearly all the engine and systems management to the crew, and also adds a career mode which can be a lot of fun.  It's a harder airplane to fly than the B-17 - heavier and more powerful, with a lot of intertia, so you have to stay ahead of it.  The B-17 really lives up to its billing as a big four-engine Piper Cub.

 

For civilian B-17 repaints, the best source is OZx (Aussiex.org).  Most are by Jan Kees (Jankees) Blom, and you'll find them at the top of the "paints" category, before you drill into the subcategories.  There's a Danish airliner, a Canadian freighter, a Swedish passenger aircraft and a French survey aircraft.  Start here.  

 

Flightsim.com offers another French survey variant, a fictitious Red Bull paint, and a fictitious "Inter Island Air" freighter.  They're on this page.  

 

Finally, Mike's Repaints offers the B-17 that served as the aerial camera ship for Dr. Strangelove.  It's on this page.

 

As some members know, I'm a huge fan of Manfred's C-47.

 

The Dragon Rapide is one I've missed - am now on my way to check it out.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

+ 1 Dragon Rapide

I think the DH80 Puss Moth mentioned earlier is by Milton Shupe - a nice vintage tourer. Also of this era by Milton is the Spartan Executive and Beech 18.

Lionheart's (payware) Fairchild 24 is a great 'pack' - with Ranger and Warner engine models in both wheeled and float versions - very nicely done.

Classics Hangar (payware) Bf.108 Taifun is another pre-war tourer worth a look.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And another +1 for the Dragon Rapide.  Just picked it up.  Beautiful piece of work, and lots of character - it's a bit like the AN-2 but with manners.  Highly recommended - and thanks to everybody here who recommended it.  Now to find room for it in the "real airplanes" hangar...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

FS Add-Ons Lockheed Hudson / Electra package is very nice, though the paintwork on them needs to be toned down a bit. Excellent models, though. A2A's Fortress is superb, though I too would like an unarmed civilian version for post-war survey work. Dave Garwood's Rapide and Auster Autocrat are a must.


Surely not everybody was kung fu fighting.

https://rationalwiki.org

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

 

 


A2A's Fortress is superb, though I too would like an unarmed civilian version for post-war survey work.

 

With you on that.  Lots of civilian and SAR possibilities - freighters, aerial tankers, postwar US Coast Guard.  If I recall correctly, Lewis mentioned recently over on the A2A forums that he's tried talking up a civilian B-17 but to date it hasn't gotten on their schedule.  We can hope, though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...