The Moth
The de Havilland Tiger Moth first flew in 1931, and entered
service with the RAF in 1932 where it continued its service
until 1952. It's most recognized mission was as a basic trainer
for the Commonwealth Air Training Plan where it helped train a
generation of pilots.
Download and Install
I had to do a little searching of the OZx's download page to
find the Tiger Moth; it can be found under Anthony Lynch
Aircraft's section of the downloads page. The download is
70megs, and will take around 10 to 20 minutes on DSL or a few
hours on dialup. The install puts all the files into the correct
spots and drops a shortcut to the 10 page manual onto your
desktop.
The Exterior Model
The exterior is good; it looks like a real Tiger Moth. You can
see the ribs in the wings, the point where the fuselage goes
from square at the bottom to round at the top. And the tail and
rudder look perfect.
The model is full of animations; the cables
move correctly in line with control inputs, the pilot’s heads
move around. Both the pilot and passengers stick and throttle
move with control inputs and the pilot’s hands follow the
movements too. Doors open and close, wheel chocks and be turned
off and on, and a few more. All animations are controlled via
the animation manager. The best part of the exterior model is if
you have a paint for version 1 then it'll work on version 1.1
too.
The VC
The VC is a treat and everything is smooth. All the gauges are
in 3D and are custom made, except for the GPS.
Cycling the
cockpit views gives you a close up of the GPS, the Radios, a
view out of the left and right side of the cockpit (very
important for landing), a view for pull starting the prop, and a
passenger view. My only complaint is that the close ups of the
GPS and radios are a little off centre. There is no 2d cockpit,
but pop ups for a 2d GPS, and animation manager.
Flying the Moth
The Moth modelled is a DH82A. This means that it is powered by
the 130hp De Havilland Gipsy Major.
Included in the download are
eight paints ready to fly, there is also a custom sound set that
sounds great. The Tiger Moth is pretty docile and using the
checklists provided in the manual make it a real joy to fly.
One
of the best features of the aircraft is that the auto slats work
as they should, and can be turned on and off with a lever in the
cockpit. The backup airspeed indicator also works. As your speed
increases the pressure of the air moves the indicator to give
you your speed in MPH.
Verdict
This airplane is a must for everybody.
The only thing I would say I didn't like was how the textures didn't line up with the ailerons and wings,
but it's fun to fly and it's free. It's by far the best Tiger Moth I've personally come across.
I strongly recommend the OZx Tiger Moth for everybody,
available here http://aussiex.org
Mutley's Hangar score of 8.5/10
/Sean Young