Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Picked this up last night when I realized it was payday already. I already have Flysimware's C402, and love it, so when I saw Alabeo has made a bit beefier version of the same type...sold. Regrettably, I found it doesn't pack in as much cargo as hoped...can only cram about 3,500 lbs on there with a short tank of fuel (the 402 will carry 2600ish lbs with similar fuel load)...but...it's still profitable to rep run in this. An error/problem with the aircraft.config cropped up pretty soon. Reference speeds do not match Wiki published specs. Alabeo set the cruise speed to 150kts and the max speed to 255kts, actual is 163 kts (converting wiki's 188 mph to knots) and 232 per wiki specifications for the 404...I adjusted mine accordingly...that cruise speed is pretty important to my AI pilots who are slaves to that figure. On the other hand...Station load section was already set up for FSX/Airhauler using the format: station_load.0 = 170, 2, -1.3, 0station_name.0 = "pilot" Some manufacturers use an abbreviated format: ( station_load.0= 170.0, -5.08, 0.0, 1.50, Pilot ) Which doesn't display the term "Pilot" in the loading window in Airhauler... a normal PITA I deal with by reformatting the station loads in the .cfg with nearly every other plane I buy...thanks Alabeo for using the long/working format. Initial impressions were: Looks great inside and out as expected from an Alabeo/Caranado type product. (And it looks not too much better inside and out than the Flysimware 402...props to them, they are nearly at Alabeo art quality.) The exterior detail breaks down at extreme magnification with rivets and such looking pixelated and choppy, but around 8x magnification or less and it looks quite stunning. The Carenado Twin Brothers flying as usual: The cockpit is well laid out, and quite familiar to me, again based on 402 experience. This was a Hop in and flip switches start up. Taking of with a light load of cargo from Quincy California bound for San Carlos. Startup, runup, taxi and takeoff all were without problems and easy to do...but then it's quite similar to the 402 I already fly alot...nearly checked out in this thing before I got into it. It has a quite spirited climb rate with this light load (about 1,000lbs of cargo including me) and it easily held 2500 fpm at well over the "best rate of climb speed" ...it was moving right out at 145kias at that rate...Normal operations manual (included by Alabeo) states best rate of climb is at 108kias with flaps up...so it's got some horses in those cans. The cabin interior is very well rendered with good views from the large windows...not that I spend much time back here. Landing at San Carlos, Ca. after a very stable, fairly quick, very pleasant flight in a quite useful new bird. Cheers, thanks for looking Matt. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 I had been looking at this from FLysimware..... tell me Matt does the Alabeo one come with dual installer for P3D /FSX(SE)? ...good shots too, still playing with A2A C172 but always looking for other stuff around this side, trouble is I have to many now..... Wayne Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 I had the pleasure to be a frequent passenger on one of these. My company chartered one for once-weekly flights from an airport near our plant to Columbus, Ohio, where our corporate HQ was located (KBEH to KCMH) and a return flight late in the day. It allowed plant people who had business with corporate to travel there and back in the same day. I attended a monthly meeting in Columbus and rode that charter once a month for several years. It was a great way to spend the day, no matter whether the meeting was good or bad. John EDIT: Great shots, by the way. JDA 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 I had been looking at this from FLysimware..... tell me Matt does the Alabeo one come with dual installer for P3D /FSX(SE)? ...good shots too, still playing with A2A C172 but always looking for other stuff around this side, trouble is I have to many now..... Wayne I don't understand that last comment at all. How can you possibly link the concept "too many" and "airplanes" in the same idea...nope...can't work my head around that one. regarding the Alabeo installer...from the description at Alabeo: Requirements Windows Vista/7/8 (32 or 64 bits) Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX with SP1 and SP2 (or Acceleration Pack) installed or Lockheed Martin - Prepar3D Flight Simulator. Just rechecked the installer, yes it allowed for the version 1 and version 2 of P3D. I do not know about the Steam version of FSX...not sure bout that...sorry The Flysimware is a very good deal. The Alabeo has a bit more "Finish" to the detail, but the Flysimware plane looks really good and flies great. I've only had the 404 for less than a day, and 2 flights, so can't say "IT's AWESOME"...but, yeah...it looks and feels like it will be as good or better than the 402 thus far...better for the extra cargo I mean. Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Cheers Matt, I know what you mean, but I have too many to fly, I get sort of stcuk with one for ages and really get into it then 3 months down the line I look at the hanger and I think wow I havent used that for about 8 months...sometimes I buy because I like but struggle to use very much. I bought some JF sale stuff last year, installed but never used, tried to get into some big stuff but just not what I like. I have P3D v2.5, so thats good and have not had any issue with any of my aircraft installing into Steam..... Going to Alabeo now to look, then turn off PC to install new CPU Cooler and sort out 7 inch screen to put GPS on, spent about £80 this week so if I like it may have to wait until next week......have to learn to say no to may FSX cravings but its hard...... Wayne 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted June 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Yeah, I know what you mean. There are some I don't fly often...but I really try to mix it up as much as possible when choosing where/what to fly...to keep things fresh/fun for me. I have about 12 Airhauler companies scattered around the world in various types of terrain, and each has planes suited for the area, or what I like to fly in the area. I also have several "fun" planes leased for each company that may not be the best suited for cargo delivery, but are great for scenic flying...like the Bell 47 choppers I have stashed at nearly every company somewhere, Aerosoft Falcon ultralights (totally impractical for Airhualer, but I still carry courier documents, 50 lbs worth or so in it for short 20 mile flights, and get my Rep up a bit with it if I feel inclined to), Flysimware Ercoupes, Carenado C337 (very practical and fun for Rep Hauling...Loic will agree ), etc, etc. Some companys are set up for long distance hauling (Australian one especially...I long haul my ass over that continent when I fly there in JF Fokker Friendship, Razbam Metroliner, and the A2A Uhu; my fun bird down under). San Francisco Bay Area has the most mixed fleets, I have 3 California companies; once has Small birds that stay local to the bay area, another has a Mix of mids and smalls that go as far as Nevada/Oregon/Mexico, and Eureka We Haul It is my #1 main AH Company that has bases all over the world but is mainly based out of SF bay, flies C5A Galaxies, an AN224, and every large bird in my hangar is in that company, as well as a mix of "fun" birds like A2A spitfire, Lionheart Quickie and Blade Electric E.W.H.I. has very deep pockets for new toys ) Variety is the virtual spice of virtual life too. And good luck with your computer upgrades! Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hey Matt ! I agree with the C337, but I totally differ for the rest. I never run more than 2 companies at the same time ( I just terminated Aurigny Air Xpress as I had reached the goals to start a new one in the region of France where I was born). Back to the good old Carenado C208B ! I tend to fly a lot in AH with the same planes as I like to feel "at home". My larger planes are the Twotters I use in Alaska. I only buy the planes for which it is "love at first sight" and for which I have an immediate use. Only one I'm missing at the moment is the Alabeo C195 Business Liner. But since I plan to use it for my Aussie Tour next winter, there's no hurry ... I also have several nice freeware I never flew more than once, so the Aussie Tour will be a nice time to take them out for a ride. The idea is to explore each region with a different plane. So this Cessna 404 is probably a nice plane, but I have no use for it right now. But since I generally like Cessnas, you never know... Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,316 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 Thanks for the mini-review Matt along with all those pic's. As a Cessna fan it will go on my rather long list of things to buy. I will guess that the differences in reference speeds comes down to the exact model they have copied and that Wiki does often not match specs from other publications. Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Godden 945 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 The exterior detail breaks down at extreme magnification with rivets and such looking pixelated and choppy, but around 8x magnification or less and it looks quite stunning. Matt, Great shots and some very useful information on the 'station_load' line entries in the aircraft.cfg file for AH. In relation to your comment above specifically, what do you have the 'TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD' line entry in your FSX.cfg file set to? I have mine set to 2048 and even with the HD textures of either Alabeo or Carenado aircraft, or any other developer for that matter, I have always found the textures start to break down at a zoom level of approximately 6x. Cheers Andrew Link to post Share on other sites
SEATAC 400 Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 Sweet ride! Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted June 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 The exterior detail breaks down at extreme magnification with rivets and such looking pixelated and choppy, but around 8x magnification or less and it looks quite stunning. Matt, Great shots and some very useful information on the 'station_load' line entries in the aircraft.cfg file for AH. In relation to your comment above specifically, what do you have the 'TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD' line entry in your FSX.cfg file set to? I have mine set to 2048 and even with the HD textures of either Alabeo or Carenado aircraft, or any other developer for that matter, I have always found the textures start to break down at a zoom level of approximately 6x. Cheers Andrew Andrew, thanks, and you are welcome. I edit the .cfg a lot for AH, and that station load/name thing is the most tedious if it needs fixing. I have a few examples pre saved in a text file to drop most of the station_name entries roughly into place. I actually just looked at my max textures, and it is currently on 2048 as well, and it is working welI. have had it up to 4096 before, but it seemed it was a waste of fps unless you spend a lot of time inspecting rivets. cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 well Matt I have bought this one, it is downloading as I type.... I have never in all these years of using AH considered have different companies on the go, but I think I will now open another company and get some use out of ORBX PNW region whilst continuing with my UK Company...... Upgrade to cooler went fine, running nice and cool. Mini monitor needs a connector, ordered and should be here in a day or so, its only to put gps on, it does not need to have sound or anything like HD.... Wayne Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted June 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2015 Caught a nice shot yesterday in Australia. Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 yep thats agood one.... Link to post Share on other sites
Sabre 28 Posted June 9, 2015 Report Share Posted June 9, 2015 Very,very nice shot that last one Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now