Captain Sim Boeing 757 Captain Pro Line
CATEGORY
Commercial Airliner
LEARNING CURVE
Moderate
This product is developed by Captain Sim. Sales information and acquisition of the product may be attained here.
TEST FLIGHT CONDITIONS
This one is a bit different in that I did not use a single leg for the flight. The reason being is some issues I personally had with settings and conflicts between my system and this particular add-on, which I will detail in the narrative of this review. At least readers can get a full round robin here of a Federal Express 727. This is actually a regular route flown by Fed Ex.
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UPS896 United Parcel Service, Inc. "UPS"
Aircraft Boeing 757-200 (twin-jet) (B752/Q)
Origin Denver Intl (KDEN)
Destination Reno/Tahoe Intl (KRNO)
Route ROCKI7 DBL KU54Q KU54M FMG
Route Decoded KDEN DEN CONNR DBL KU54Q KU54M FMG KRNO
Duration 1 hour 33 minutes
Departure 03:50 MDT
Arrival 04:34 PDT
Speed 503 kts
Altitude 30000 feet
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ActiveSky X was used for real world live weather during this review.
I did the route with a load of 5 containers on the freighter. For some reason I can get the sim to save the large container load out, but not the small one, so I did not fly the test route with any small cargo on board.
INSTALLATION
Once you purchase and download your product, you simply run the exe file to install. During the install, you do need to enter your order number, so you will have to have an internet connection to install this product. This product is not available anywhere on CD, however offline activation is a possibility with this product, so it is not absolutely necessary to have FSX on an internet capable computer to install and activate her, but you do need internet to download and get the required files to do so.
INTERIOR
I loved the interior. One of the things I have grown to like about Captain Sim is their "used" look. With modern "next generation" airliners, you tend to expect a more mint condition look, but when it comes to classics such as earlier 757s, I guarantee in real life you will not find one that does not look aged in some way. Thus the realism comes alive on the flight deck when you look around. The systems are 3D and the gauges are easy to read.
One thing I did not like, however, was night lighting. Whereas in the real 757 there are 3 modes of lighting (off, backlit and flood) there are only 2 here (off and flood). The absence of backlighting only makes night flying less realistic and, for those like me that do night flights at night in real life, and with the room lights off, it makes it a bit harder on the eyes as well.
EXTERIOR
Visually, the exterior of this aircraft is outstanding.
The interior and exterior sounds are as I would expect from a 757. One of the things Ilove about the hum of an engine powering up is that familiar “whir” that makes you feel that “horsepower” you are throttling under your command. That is definitely represented here.
FLIGHT DYNAMICS, HANDLING AND SYSTEMS
I absolutely love how this aircraft handles. I would like to note that some “armchair pilots” would probably criticize the 757 without knowing her true abilities. Compared to other airliners her size she handles exceedingly well. There is a reason why she is the only full size airliner allowed to fly into Eagle County Airport (KEGE).
She takes off and lands by the numbers. Predictions in FMC performance are accurate as I plan for weights and handling. While the auto-flight system handles very well, this is just one of those airliners that you try to hand fly every chance you get because of how the 757 family handles.
UTILITIES
A tool is included with this product called the ACE utility. It acts as a load manager for the passenger variants as well as a repaint manager. For the cargo pilots, the freighter is loaded using an animated loader while in the sim itself, but the weights of each crate can be set beforehand using the ACE utility.
DOCUMENTATION AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT
It has to be pointed out that the manuals are NOT installed anywhere on your computer with the installation of the product. In order to read the manuals, you must go to the Captain Sim web site and download the manuals from the 757 product page. In a way, though, this is good as the manuals are available to you to read before purchasing the product. This gives a good idea of the product’s abilities and features to the potential buyer. However I still think it would be nice to have the manuals also included in the EXE file for the base pack, allowing me to access them easily via the start menu if needed.
There are 5 manuals – User, Aircraft Systems, Normal Procedures, Performance, and Flight Management System. This documentation is great and covers each area well, but for the price of the product I would have liked to see at least a tutorial for those new to the 757. The other major developers of advanced airline simulations seem to have a trend of including a tutorial flight in detail. Also, while normal procedures have been included in excellent detail, I think some abnormal procedures would have been nice as well. However, I also have to look at the fact that no failures are simulated in this product, which may be why abnormal procedures were not included as documentation.
While the documentation is lacking in a couple of areas, this is made up for by customer support. There are the expected ways to get in touch with customer service - by opening a support ticket or posting on the forum. The forum is more of a community forum and is not officially used for technical support. The developer does actively participate there, but to receive official support you must use the trouble ticket system.
The staff at Captain Sim have been nothing but nice to me since I started using their products in FS9 days. They seem to be professional and well worth talking to if you have issues. They seemed to have a borderline reputation with their "Block" system of releases -- but no one forces you to buy those blocks. I, for one, am one of those customers who will wait for the professional, completed product to be released. The good news is, once CS releases a professional pack of their product line, it is the complete product. If you are also one of those customer types, in the case of Captain Sim always keep an eye out for titles that are labeled “Captain” or “Pro” in their product line.
CONCLUSION
I have to admit, when I was using the 757 in FS9 with their block systems, I was skeptical and in many ways unhappy. In FSX and with the completed Pro package, however, I am a very happy camper. I have done a complete 180 in that time, and now I do recommend this product for the potential virtual 757 Captain. There are at least 2 competitors that I know of also developing the 757. It will be interesting to see if they can compare with the quality of this bird as I have experienced it.
LIKES
- Excellent visual quality
- Excellent customer support
- Easy installation
- Excellent handling (after fixing thrust)
- Exterior animation and inclusion of engine covers, dust covers, etc.
- Animated loading of the freighter.
DISLIKES
- Weather Radar does not seem accurate for weather that is actually happening, however that may be due to my using ASX for my weather engine.
- ATC call signs in aircraft.cfg incorrect. I had to change them from "757" to "752" and "751" respectively for them to be recognized by ATC properly during radio calls.
- No backlit lighting in the VC for night flights.
SCORE: 92% - "A"
Out of an expected 174 items expected for this add-on, 160 passed. This gave the product a base score of 92% for an "A" grade. GREAT JOB, CAPTAIN SIM!