Just Flight Zero 60% off

[Paul K]

It's on offer until Monday

Link

Has anyone got it ? The Imperial Japanese Navy is a great interest of mine so I'm tempted to buy this model - just need to know if there's anything major wrong with it.

[DaveB]

Yes.. a few hours ago

Remember this.. the model has been on sale at JF for donkies. This is the first time to my knowledge it's been offered in a sale which is why I grabbed it.. didn't want to pay over £20 for something this old.

OK, that out of the way.. I'm glad I didn't pay full whack for it. This doesn't mean it's a bad'un.. more it's typical of a model of this age (unless you include Real Air). The instrument bezels are not round unless you're a long way off. The prop animation is less than convincing and may be one reason why this old dog is as frame hungry as it is. It doesn't stop my rig but it's less than 'optimised' if I can put it that way. TBH.. I've only had one quick run in it which included a few mins in tower view. The F100D has priority at the moment

Dear me.. I don't want to sound unkind about it but those wanting a native Zero are a bit stuck for options.

Not tried any carrier ops yet. My single flight was from (and around) Culdrose. No flap used but the takeoff wasn't as sprightly as I'd expect a carrier prop to be. Of course.. you'd be heading into the wind with a good few knots on and flaps down which would help. See these old girls taking off from carriers in the war and their tail wheel was off the deck pronto. I hope that will be the case when I get her on deck

It's not bad mate but if you dive in with your £8.. remember you're buying an old model.

EDIT: Judicious use of the flapperoonies does give the old girl good carrier characteristics..


ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Thanks very much for that Dave ( I did wonder whether you might have it). From what you say, there doesn't seem to any major problems - just the age-related ones, and I can identify with those. For the price, and as it's the only Zero available, I think I'll grab it. I already have the perfect scenery for it. Thanks again.



PS. Where did you get the Yamato /Musashi in the picture above ?

[DaveB]

Hello matey..

Yamato, Kongo and Sinano are ex-CFS models and can be grabbed in the Warbirds Library at SoH (FSX Ships). They're almost certainly at Simviation too Yamato and Kongo are quite nice models.. Sinano.. not quite as good but adequate

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Thank you, I'll go have a look for those ships.

I bought the Zero, and it seems to live happily in P3Dv3. After using up my accumulated JF bonus points, I paid £5.15 and it was worth getting. Going by aircraft's reputation for being nimble, first impressions are that the flight model seems to reflect that - though I've only done one take off and a few turns in it. It looks pretty okay too. Nothing stellar, but certainly workman-like and enjoyable. An old model, yes, and maybe they should drop the normal price a little, but when you consider some of the old models Virtavia are still flogging for full price, this Zero certainly delivers much more value. All things considered, a good buy while it's on offer, but not when it goes back to full price.

Edited to add a couple of shots of this evening's test flying ove Cape Gloucester in New Britain. Definitely need some IJN ships down there.

[DaveB]

Nice one mate, glad you like it
Atb
DaveB

[Paul K]

Cheers Dave - yes, the more I look at it, the more I like it. And I see the installer pops a paint kit in for you. Very nice indeed.

[blanston12]

I got it last weekend, bit disappointed. Looks nice, fly's effortlessly, a bit too effortlessly, no information on how your supposed to set the engine for correct performance. Flew around for 30 minutes or so at 100% power not adjusting the RPM's and it happily flew around only sipping the fuel. Got bored, will probably remove it from the hanger.

[DaveB]

Agree Joe.. there's little challenge there other than seeing a carrier to land on. OK for the price I guess.. I'd have been disappointed had I paid full whack for it.

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Just a note about the sipping of fuel - remember the Zero A6M2 had phenomenal range due to its light construction. Figures vary, but I've seen 1,900 miles quoted. Saburo Sakai states that in the opening attacks on the Philippines in December 1941, they were flying non-stop from Formosa. While keeping enough fuel for combat and a reserve, the missions were between 1000 and 1200 miles there and back. He also states that by experimentation, they were able to increase the aircraft's endurance from seven hours to twelve hours.