The desire to fly has been part of mankind's longing for generations. The desire to soar
above the clouds and look down on the world we inhabit is strong, some would say a carnal
part of our being.
This week we are going to review all the Flight Simulator X planes I have spotlighted, pick
a few favorites, and trace the evolution of flight as can only happen in a video game
simulator.
First though, let's visit my FSX hangar. That I have virtually located at Princess Julian Airport in St Martaan for reasons of, it is beautiful.
This is a place of vast selection and numerous color schemes. It was also a reason for this five part show, as I need to remove a few
planes to increase performance.
This is just a slice of the thousands of freeware and payware
planes out there for FSX, but for me this is one of the best features of FSX.
I can try them all, fly them all, and pick the best of them to keep in my hanger.
Let's get started on our journey of flight. While man started with balloons and gliders
it was the effort of the Wright brothers that many credit as starting us on our journey
of powered flight. While there is some controversy over who exactly flew first, many credit the
Wright Flyer as the first. Simple, dangerous, but capable the Wright Flyer is a great plane
to fly in FSX to get an idea of where our journey started.
Here our journey diverges. Aircraft can be used as a means of war or a means of peaceful
transportation. We will walk the route of peace first and follow the evolution of the
peaceful giants that grace our skies today before returning to the deadly birds of prey.
Early aircraft were often employed first as mail planes, but the speed led to the desire
among the rich to travel the skies. The Junkers Ju-160 was a leading example of an early transport.
It was not glamorous or luxurious, but it was faster than the alternatives and had an
air of prestige. The era of the propliners in the US started with aircraft like the DC-3
and this Boeing 247. Larger than the Ju-160, these aircraft served small airlines just
getting into the passenger business like Eastern, TWA, and United. The propliners held sway
as the best way to travel, some becoming true queens of the sky, until the first commercial
passenger jet appeared on the scene.
While flaws by today's standards and with some post-accident hindsight we understand why, the dehavilland
Comet still shook the aviation world. Faster, higher, smoother, these were just some of the adjectives
used to compare the Comet to the propliners of the day. The Comet brought jet travel to
the consumer and refocused the industry on jets instead of props. Built to serve the
British Empire, the Comet showed that it was possible to build a passenger jet.
When Boeing's 707 roared onto the scene the world truly entered the jet age. Capable of
trans-Atlantic flight in half the time of the beautiful Lockheed Connie the 707 quickly
established jets as the way of the future. Shiny new planes, many still named by their
airlines, plied the skies like clipper ships transporting thousands in a level of comfort
undreamed of when the first DC-3 took to the air just a short 22 years earlier.
Capable of flying above many storms, the 707 and its competitors redefined passenger travel. New
airlines and new routes were setup to take advantage of the speed and ability of the
new jetliner.
With the 707 ushering in a new age in aviation, it was found that smaller jets were needed
to fill niche rolls. Boeing's 727 and Hawker Siddeley's Trident were just two examples
as airlines sought to replace propliners to satisfy their customer's desire to take flight
in the new jets and show they were modern. These jets sought to fill a role between the larger 707 and the smaller,
slower propliners that served airports incapable of handling a 707. While the 727 went on to
a successful career, with many still operating today, the Trident's career was derailed by
delays and technology. Designed with cutting edge electronics, the Trident had many abilities
the 727 did not, but its production was delayed by adherence to changing requirements
the fickleness of the UK government, and that cutting edge technology.
At the same time the USSR introduced their own models to ensure their country and their
allies had similar jet transports. The Ilyushin IL-62 being just one of many jets designed
to look and operate like "Western" jets. Some would say that the designs were stolen, but
regardless of whether they were obtained by reverse engineering, espionage, or just observation, the Soviet
aircraft were uniquely designed to handle the rugged Soviet environment.
While the 707 "clipper" was an important aircraft and was larger than the propliners of the
era it wasn't large enough though and soon the new Queen of the Skies took flight and
in one move shrunk the world. Having a holiday on the other side of the Atlantic or the Pacific was as easy
as stepping into the doorway of the Queen and sitting back for a day.
Today, even many without a love of airplanes can identify a 747 by its defining hump.
The venerable plane is entering yet another generation. 100, 200, SP, 300. 400 and now the -8i Intercontinental
The 747 still flies today coming up on 50 years since its first flight.
McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed tried to fill the gap between the new Queen and the smaller
planes. In a time before ETOPS rules the tri-jet ruled the oceanic flights where the larger
747 couldn't go. The DC-10 suffered from early accidents that damaged the aircraft's reputation,
but the plane lives on in the cargo fleet, only just now being replaced in the FedEx
fleet by newer aircraft.
While the DC-10 lives on in freight lines the L-1011 was a short lived passenger plane
that just never got enough traction to keep Lockheed in the passenger market. The planes had many advanced features
were found to be less useful in the freight fleet and not as useful as expected in the passenger market
and the tri-star faded from memory.
Jets were in and Boeing was big, but all was not well for Boeing. A new competitor was
rising from the ashes of WW2 Europe. A competitor with ambition, financing, and flexibility.
The rise of Airbus, with the introduction of their A300, brought the first non-US competitor
that Boeing had to truly fear. The A300 and its sibling A310 introduced Airbus to the
world and set a tone for battles down the road between what would eventually become
the 2 big aircraft producers. The A300 and A310 brought about many innovations that challenged
Boeing, helped airlines, and advanced the industry. Saved from the dustbin by the introduction
of ETOPS rules allowing twin-engine aircraft to fly overwater, the A300 and A310 saved airlines fuel, were cheaper to fly, and introduced
the concept of a 2-man flight crew to the industry.
Boeing might have been down, but they fought back with a pair of siblings of their own,
the 757/767 project. Aircraft that are still today plying the skies and bridging the world.
While the "hot rod" of commercial aviation, the 757, is no longer in production it is
still used worldwide and loved by many aviation enthusiasts for its takeoff performance. With
stellar hot and high performance the 757 can fly into mountain towns with better RASM than
other aircraft that can make that same hot and high takeoff.
While the 757 is no longer produced, the 767 is still rolling off the production lines and bridging nations, continents, and
oceans bringing people and goods closer. For awhile in the 1990s the 767 was the most frequent
plane plying the skies over the Atlantic, as it provided better economics than any other
aircraft available at the time. While no longer considered a premier passenger plane, the 767 is still
actively being produced as a freighter. FedEx is replacing their DC-10 with the new 767-300F.
Many airlines still fly their 767s on premier routes
including New York City to London.