OZx Tiger Moth V1.1
For FSX Published by OZx
Reviewed by Sean (“Dizzy”) Young
May 2010

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