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[REVIEW] Captain Sim 'Legendary C-130' </td>
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Written by Bernardo Srulzon </span>
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Monday, 28 November 2005 </td>
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<div class="pagenavcounter">Page 1 of 3</div><h3 align="center">Captain Sim 'Legendary C-130' - Review </h3><p align="center"><a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/mainlogo.jpg" border="0" height="150" width="550"></a> </p>
<p align="left"><strong>Introduction</strong></p><p align="justify">With
the increasingly quality and accuracy of Flight Simulator add-ons, it's
been a very difficult task to develop a product that meet the today's
high standards. The same computers used for text processing and
blogging are now used to provide a completely realistic flight
experience of several different aircraft. Today, most developers are
using real-life manuals and having pilots to test their products, just
to make sure it not only looks good, but also acts realistically. As a
result, the development times have gone way up, and so have the prices.
Fortunately, the strict competition between developers guarantee the
everyday increasing quality and accuracy of add-ons for desktop flight
simulators. Today, we present you a review of the <strong>Captain Sim 'Legendary C-130'</strong>, possibly one of the best add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 to date. </p><p align="justify">After 3 years of extensive research, development and beta testing - plus lots of experience from previous products -, <strong>Captain Sim</strong>
came up with their best and for sure one the most realistic and
detailed products for Microsoft Flight Simulator ever. Following their
line of old military aircraft, the <strong>'Legendary C-130'</strong>
package is the most accurate rendition of the Lockheed C-130 yet. It
was tested by real-life C-130 pilots and the overall impression by the
flightsim community have been very positive so far. Included in the
package are three different models (<em>C-130E 'Hercules' </em>, <em>HC-130 'Hercules' </em>and <em>C-130K 'Hercules'</em>)
and ten high-resolution textures (plus other sixty for download).
Additionally, a high resolution 2D panel and virtual cockpit, accurate
systems and soundset, animations/effects and realistic flight dynamics
can all be expected from the C-130. I must say that it is not
perfect... a few bugs were already found, most of them only noticed by
"advanced simmers", but still worth looking into. All of the features
will be discussed with more details though the review.</p><p align="center"><em>Please
keep in mind that this review is based on the version 1.1 of the
'Legendary C-130' (after SP1) - most problems of the version 1.0 will
not be discussed, simply because they were fixed. </em></p><p align="left"><strong>* The Captain Sim 'Legendary C-130'! * </strong></p><p align="left"><strong>- 1. Installation and documentation </strong></p><p align="justify"></p><div style="margin: 0px; float: left;">
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</div>The Captain Sim <em>purchase&download</em> procedures are
very simple, yet very effective. After the confirmation e-mail is
received, you're cleared to download your package - their system is
available 24/7 and you can re-download anytime you want, at no
additional cost. The 'Legendary C-130' comes in a single auto-installer
file weighting about 86MB; not a problem for broadband users at all. <p align="justify">Installing
the package is simple, as it works exactly like every other software.
There is activation system that requires an internet connection to be
active, but it takes no longer than 10 seconds to verify your file and
continue the installation... it's a simple step that must be taken to
protect us from piracy. When the installation is complete, you will
notice that some shortcuts were placed in the start menu; they provide
easy access to the product's manuals, the Aircraft Configurator Editor
(ACE), the uninstaller and the repaint kit download page. </p><p align="justify">The
manual included in the package is impressive: there are over 200 pages
of information that go from keyboard shortcuts to real performance
charts of the aircraft. For better organization, they are divided into
three parts: Systems, Normal Procedures and Perfomance, all of them
with a bookmarked index for quick information access. The reading will
take a fairly large time, but it is quite interesting, fully
illustrated and the information presented there are easy to understand.
For some reason, the take-off, climb, approach and landing speeds
charts are not present in the manuals... how am I supposed to figure
them out? Anyways, for people really interested in the C-130, this
manual is a must read!</p><p align="left"><strong>- 2. Exterior model, effects and animations </strong></p><p align="justify">The
Captain Sim 'Legendary C-130' features, as it was said before, three
different models and ten high-resolution liveries; all of them readily
available on the <strong>Select Aircraft</strong> menu. After the
choice of model and livery have been made, it's time to move on and
check the aircraft's look. My first impression of the exterior model
was very positive, and everyone must agree that it looks extremely
detailed. From the moment you first look at it, you can clearly see
that both models and textures have been carefully designed. Everything
is in the right place and the view is amazing: numerous windows reflect
the sunlight, the dirt is represented with details and the propellers
shine beautifully. It's impossible to find anything wrong with the
model and textures design, no matter how hard you try! At night, you
can only see the external lights, cockpit lights, lights from the
windows and (if opened) the cargo bay lights. There is no lighting on
the fuselage, which makes this aircraft very discreet! </p><p align="justify">What
makes this model even more special is the fact that everything is
animated. All doors (including the huge cargo ramp/door in the back of
the plane) can be opened, the flight controls (rudder, ailerons,
elevator) move, the gear retracts and the propeller's feathering and
spin are animated. It's hard to find something that doesn't move here!
Some additional objects such as wheel chocks, dust excluders/duct
plugs, flag, cargo ramp tracks, ground vehicle, moving wipers,
emergency escape hatches and emergency doors also add a lot to the high
detail level of the package. There is an animated ground vehicle that
will enter the cargo bay when the door and ramp are opened... you can
even fly it to another airport if you want to! With the Aircraft
Configuration Editor (ACE), you can load different types of cargo, such
as containers, hammers, tanks, ground troops/parachuters and casuality
transport. Unfortunately, you can't see those items in the cargo bay -
the only thing that can get in there is the ground vehicle. </p><p align="center"><a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/1tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/2tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/6tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a><br>
<a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/3tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/4tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/5tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a></p>
<p align="justify">Although
all Microsoft Flight Simulator default effects are included in the
'Legendary C-130', what really makes the difference are the custom
ones. There are exclusive visual effects for engine start, engine
smoke, fuel dump and infra-red launchers. Just as advertised, these
custom effects truly enhance the sense of realism of the package. When
you start up the engines, you can even see flames and the smoke coming
out of them; at higher thrust settings, a black, thick and continuous
smoke trail also comes out of them... that's certainly a very beautiful
sight! The infra-red launchers are an autodefense device present on the
C-130; they can be launched by pressing an icon on the panel - the
effect looks fairly realistic, launching the flares in all directions.
The fuel dump effect is the only one I found innaccurate: even if you
only dump fuel from the right or left tanks, the white "smoke" comes
out from both wingtips - not a big deal, as you should always dump fuel
from both right and left tanks at the same time. The biggest problem
occurs at night: it works great in daytime, but the effect shows up
like a white explosion when it is dark... real weird! It's hard to
figure how the beta team didn't notice it!</p><p align="center"><em>Captain
Sim reply on the fuel dump issue: "The dumping effect is tied to light
in MSFS, this is MSFS limitation. This just couldn't be modelled other
way."</em></p><p align="center"><a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_self"><img src="images/7tb.gif" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/10tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/9tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a><br>
<a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/11tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/13tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/12tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a><br>
<br></p><p align="justify">Although
the recommended system to run the 'Legendary C-130' is a 3.0GHz CPU
with 1GB RAM and a 256MB video card (minimums being a 1.5GHz CPU with
256MB RAM and a 64MB video card), I have not noticed any framerate
problems in a 2.1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and 128MB video card system. I have
not experienced any performance problems myself, nor have heard anyone
complain about it yet - the C-130 will run smoothly in any way... 2D
Panel, Virtual Cockpit, Spot view or Tower view. Choose the view you
like the most and fly, don't worry about framerates if you have a
decent system!</p><p align="justify"><strong>- 3. Flight dynamics </strong></p><p align="justify">It's
not easy for someone who has never flown in a C-130 before to know
exactly how the aircraft is supposed to fly. My remarks on the flight
dynamics are based purely on experience with other add-ons, real pilots
reports and the good old common sense, as I can't tell you how it works
in real life myself. </p><p align="justify">What I can tell you is
that the 'Legendary C-130' feels real good to fly, it's movements are
smooth and the aircraft seems to react correctly to the pilot's inputs.
Despite the size of the aircraft, taxiing was not a problem, as it
turns fairly good and the numerous windows provide a great field of
vision. I liked the fact that the parking brake will actually hold the
plane still while at full thrust - doing the same on other aircraft
usually results in a slow (and unrealistic) forward motion. The
take-off occurs flawlessly: at rotation speed, the yoke is pulled back
and the nose gear starts a smooth rotation, shortly followed by the
main gear - it's easy to maintain a constant airspeed and vertical
speed on the initial climb, which made me very happy about my take-off
skills. </p><p align="center"><a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/15tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/16tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/17tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a></p>
<p align="justify">Something
that I found very weird about the flight dynamics is that coordinated
turns require too much rudder to be completed, compared to other
add-ons. It may very well be the way the real aircraft works, but
sometimes I needed nearly full rudder to get the turn coordinated in a
zero-wind environment!</p><p align="justify">Just as I would expect,
the engine responds to a thrust change with a short delay, and it takes
a while for you to get the correct timing. Climbs and descents are
performed with a decent vertical speed, and you can certainly get to
33,000 feet (the service ceiling) if you want to. If needed, the
descent rate can also be increased by using the air deflectors on the
fuselage. Stalls occur at a fairly slow speed (not so easy to reach),
and the aircraft will start a (somewhat uncontrollable) spin if
recovery is not attempted immediately. If the aircraft enters the
stall, it will most likely crash.</p><p align="justify">Landings are
performed at relatively low speeds, and they require almost no training
to be done correctly. Once you get lined up and start following the
glidepath, only small corrections on the thrust settings and flight
controls are needed. Surprisingly enough, the touchdown is very smooth
even at greater descent rates - at first, you won't even notice you
have landed! That also made me very happy, as I can show my friends and
family how good I can land with a relatively small effort. As in real
life, you can land with flaps fully retracted, 50% extended or fully
extended with no problems - if the speed is correct, the aircraft will
land just fine. The thrust reversers help on reducing the speed (and
brake wear too) after landings; they have now a much more realistic
power than its version 1.0 counterpart. The C-130 is able to taxi
backwards and even do parallel parking (!), but for some reason (maybe
FS limitation) you can't turn while taxiing backwards. Also, a simple
autopilot is modelled - we'll discuss it later on the review. </p><p align="center"><a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/20tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/18tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a> <a href="http://harrierpanels.avsim.ru/estore/CaptainSim/C-130/C-130.html" target="_blank"><img src="images/19tb.jpg" border="0" height="143" width="190"></a></p>
<p align="justify">Reports
from a former C-130H Flight Engineer states that the 'Legendary C-130'
has "almost perfect" dynamics - it performed within 5 knots of the real
aircraft's performance on landings and take-offs. He also says that the
stall buffets were present and stall recovery procedures proved
successful. </p><p align="justify"><strong><em>Please advance to the next page now...<br></em></strong><strong><br></strong></p><div class="pagenavbar"><span class="pagenav"><strong><< Start</strong></span><strong> <span class="pagenav">< Prev</span> <span class="pagenav">1</span> <a href="images/c130_2.html" class="pagenav"><strong>2</strong></a> <a href="images/c130_3.html" class="pagenav"><strong>3</strong></a> <a href="images/c130_2.html" class="pagenav" title="next page">Next ></a> <a href="images/c130_3.html" class="pagenav" title="end page">End >></a></strong></div>
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