Flight 1 DC-2

[Swanoir]

The mother in law outdid herself and renewed my subscription to PC Pilot as a birthday present. The DC-2 comes as the freebie and it landed on my doormat this morning. It comes in both FS9 and FSX flavours (on the same disk) but I've only installed the FS9 version.

The liveries are very nice and I'm impressed at how the virtual cabin decor changes appropriate to the selected paint job (their website also has loads of extra paints, which I'm downloading as we speak). The 2D panel is a little disappointing, but as the guys who made it point out they only really intended it to be flown from the VC and the 2D panel is just there as an addition.

The VC is very nice although in classic comedy style I flipped the switch for the windscreen wipers and couldn't turn them off! There are lots of clickable things to play with, not just the switches, like a folding jumpseat and opening cockpit door.

If you stagger down the aisle you can also open the toilet door, although I found once there I couldn't lift the seat, which bothered me immensely for some odd reason!
The sounds are excellent, especially from outside, and really help with the atmosphere. Damage modelling is fun too, I deliberately left the throttles at full and, as promised in the manual, after a few minutes smoke started billowing out of them. After a few more minutes they died (but didn't explode, much to my son's disappointment). Hunting the VC for the fire extinguishers whilst falling out of the sky was more fun than it sounds (they're on the floor between the seats, the cover lifts off and is nicely animated) and I made a perfect landing, of course.

The flight handling is very nice too. Apparently the development team have worked very closely with the real DC-2 crews over in Holland, so I assume the handling is accurate. With 50% fuel I found it leapt into the air and is surprisingly nimble for such a vintage plane (I even managed to roll it). Landing is easy and very slow, the technique is to avoid a 3 pointer and fly it onto the runway on the mainwheels first, apparently.

As mentioned, you do get a printed manual included in the box. It covers the basics such as engine start and what's where in the cockpit. There are also more detailed articles included as PDF files.

So in summary, I would definitely recommend the Flight 1 DC-2. Even if it wasn't free with the PC Pilot subscription I would buy it anyway. This plane has a lot of character and the team have done a great job of capturing it. All the little things (virtual toilet, seatbelt switch with accompanying 'ping', 'remove before flight' tags etc.) add up to make a flight in the DC-2 an immersive experience.

[Garry Russell]

Sounds great but I can't myself see the point in going to the virtual bog.no mention of virtual bog roll??

They would be better addressing the cartoon cockpit rather that that sort of thing...but each to his own

[DarrenL]

They would be better addressing the cartoon cockpit rather that that sort of thing...but each to his own

I see nothing cartoony about this Sure you're not confusing aircraft, the Flight 1 DC-2 is the UIVER Team DC-2.

Game cockpit
http://www.flight1software.com/dc-2/ima ... DC2_32.jpg

Real DC-2 cockpit
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alejandroperez/2912435569/

[Garry Russell]

Sorry

I misread comedy as mentioned above by cartoony

[mgchristy]

Agree with all your points, Swanoir. Not to mention it sounds like you have the perfect mother-in-law! The F1 DC-2 is a great craft. I'm particularly fond of the fully interactive VC and engine damage modeling (two things I've yearned for on the beloved MAAM DC-3s).

As you noted, it's a fairly nimble machine. There are quite a few videos on Youtube that highlight how sprightly the real plane can be when someone gives 'er the boot. If you've ever had a chance to read 'Fate is the Hunter' by Ernie Gann, he detailed some unflattering tendencies of the real DC-2...but the FS version certainly seems to fly nicely enough. Works for me!

[Swanoir]

... Not to mention it sounds like you have the perfect mother-in-law!

Whoa...easy tiger, let's not go too far!