Xb 70 Fs2004 Download Aircraft
The model of course features various animations such as the wingtips up/down, wheels rotating, nose wheel turning, rudder on both tail fins, elevator, ailerons, gear, etc. Most of the animations are close to standard animations which you would find on most FSX aircraft, but the motion of the various parts are created with a very smooth and realistic look as e.g. the landing gear that twists when raised and dropped.
Light, afterburner and vapor trail effects are also included on the model. The light effect is of a fair quality with a clean and bright shine but I would say that it was close to FSX standards. The afterburner effect is created for all six engines and is also of a fair quality. I would have thought that the flame from the afterburner would have been very long since the engines go from 84 kN to 128 kN when the afterburner is applied, but the flame effect created for the model is actually quite short. If this could be due to that this aircraft is so huge that the flame effect then seems so short could of course be the reason.
The vapor trail effect is like other aircraft for FSX so I would characterize it as being FSX standard. The effect is there and adds to the overall realism, but it doesn't seem that there has been too much focus on that part.
North American XB-70 Valkyrie Publisher: Virtavia Review Author:Ray Andersen Suggested Price:$25.00 Intro The XB-70 is a delta winged, high altitude, six engine, supersonic strategic bomber and research aircraft prototype for the proposed B-70, capable of flying Mach 3+ and with a service ceiling at an altitude of 70,000+ feet. FS2004 North American XB-70 Valkyrie Update (Updated!). The update has all the files needed to add afterburner flames to all six of the B70’s engines. Requires XB-70 here See pictures. Use this form to search for downloads and addons including aircraft. FSX/FS2004 North American XB-70 Valkyrie. North American XB-70 Valkyrie Updated.
I did notice one issue with the hinged wingtips which was that if you pivoted the wingtips down when still on the ground, the wingtips would collide with the ground. The aircraft would not crash but I could see the wingtips disappearing below the ground surface - this is not true to real life since I have seen video clips on YouTube showing that the wingtips could actually be pivoted down still when the aircraft was on the ground.
Interior
Going from the outside to the inside of the aircraft I discovered that this add-on features both a 2D cockpit and a virtual cockpit. The 2D cockpit is a photoreal cockpit with working analog gauges of a good quality. The various instruments are created down to even small details and I really like that the gauges are not all just standard gauges, but e.g. the IAS/Mach and the Altitude gauges are modelled after the real world gauges.
The finish and realism created in the 2D cockpit is good but unfortunately the standard FSX sub window keys are included - I understand why they are included but I think that takes away some of the uniqueness and some of the realism and atmosphere when using the 2D cockpit.
The virtual cockpit is, like 2D cockpit, created with a good level of quality. The cockpit features very realistic, old age instrumentation without the PFD, NG, EICAS etc. It has fair texture quality, clean and sharp edges, great finish and a very well made depth performance creating a very good 3D effect.
The cockpit is created in a way to make it look old and used which I have to disagree with a bit because Yes, the aircraft is an old aircraft but No, because the aircraft has actually not flown that many hours so it cannot really be used that much.
The virtual cockpit features various animations such as the working gauges and instruments but also clickable switches and buttons, throttle quadrant, controls, etc. I found that not all switches are working or even assigned to a real function which decreases the realism of the cockpit, but when looking at the cockpit panel and viewing the entire complexity of old analog gauges, the realism still have a fair level.
The Need
Microsoft Flight Simulator's representation of aviation history overlooks a large supersonic aircraft from the 1950s that led to the development of the Concorde passenger liner and the B-1 bomber.
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The North American XB-70 Valkyrie bomber was larger than any previous supersonic aircraft of the 1950s and was approximately the size of the Concorde and the B-1. It was designed to carry nuclear and conventional bombs at Mach 3 above FL700 - out of the range of all interceptors of the day. Only two prototype XB-70s flew in flight tests in the 1960s. Its new technologies were used in later supersonic and subsonic aircraft.
The Solution
WingsWare, an Italian company, developed an XB-70 Valkyrie for Microsoft Flight Simulator X® for those simmers who would like to simulate flight in 'one of the most impressive supersonic aircraft ever built.' Their website shows four other military aircraft that are 'coming soon.'
WingsWare is careful to point out that the real aircraft names and all other descriptions contained in their products might be trademarked and are used for identification purposes only. They also state that WingsWare products are not produced or endorsed by Microsoft Corporation Inc. or by the manufacturers mentioned in their airplane description or manuals.
Because this was a military prototype aircraft, I tested it at Edwards Air Force Base in California where innumerable aircraft have been tested for more than 50 years.
Major Features
WingsWare's XB-70 is remarkably accurate in appearance inside and outside. It looks very much like aviation photos of the real aircraft from the early 1960s. It has an almost-full set of animated parts including hinged wing tips, complex gear-retraction sequence, and a variable nose ramp.
The basic instrument panel and the virtual cockpit are nearly identical to the panel and cockpit in an old photo of the real cockpit that I found on the Internet. It's cramed with gauges, switches, knobs, levers, and other controls, as was common in jet aircraft of the era. Using those old panels provides considerable challenge and enjoyment as opposed to the simplicity of today's glass panels. Glass-covered dials show distracting reflections as was common in such instruments of the day.
Most gauges and controls are unique for this model, having been developed by WingsWare.
The detailed interactive virtual cockpit with real three-dimensional gauges is the primary instrument panel. Controls for deflecting flaps, lowering the wingtips, and releasing the drag chutes are available only on the virtual panels.
The realism of the WingsWare cockpit is even more impressive when compared to a competing XB-70 offered for free internet downloading that absurdly uses a glass cockpit from a Boeing 787 Dreamliner! There were no glass cockpits in the early 1960s, and there are no XB-70s modified for glass cockpits today.
This aircraft was designed for FSX per its standards, according to WingsWare, and it is compatible with DirectX 9 and 10. Its real-time shadowing in its virtual cockpit works only with DirectX 10, however.
Nice Features
This product was very easy to purchase from the Flight Sim Pilot Shop.
Installation was quick and easy. After your product code is entered, the installation program installs the aircraft in the correct FSX folder. The XB-70 then appears in the FSX aircraft-selection menu.
The WingsWare XB-70 is surprisingly easy to fly. It handles more like the MSFS 737 jetliner than like the FS2000 Concorde, which was a very difficult aircraft to fly. Logic dictates that the real XB-70 would have handled more like the Concorde because of their similarities. WingsWare affirms that its flight model is accurate. In response to my question, WingsWare replied that test pilots said the original XB-70 was easy to fly despite its size and power.
'We did our best to keep it easy to fly, since our idea was that of suggesting the real possibility that Valkyrie became a passengers Mach 3 plane!' replied WingsWare support. 'Every parameter on cfg and air file [configuration files] was tuned according to information but also to flyability of the model.'
Attention to accuracy in the aircraft appearance and panels is just right. While it's detailed enough to be accurate and realistic, the detail level doesn't burden the frame rate, which is a common problem in flight-sim add-ons.
Xb 70 Valkyrie Aircraft
The landing-gear sequence is impressive. After the bay doors open, the main gear lower at a 90-degree angle to the fuselage, then they twist into correct alignment and lock into position. The reverse happens on retraction.
A subfolder called 'Manual' contains 12 HTML files with technical information (which is the reference sheet) and procedures (which are the checklists). These data include images with pointers that show users to the appropriate aircraft controls, which is a very useful approach.
The virtual panels are much easier to read than the basic panels. Seeing the whole cockpit and all its panels is possible by sliding it left, right, up, down, in, out, and 360 degrees around. (See the Keypad Assignments in the FSX kneeboard for details.)
Downsides
More performance data and checklists are needed for understanding how to properly simulate flight in the aircraft. Simulation pilots need to know correct speeds for taking off, landing, deflecting flaps, and lowering or raising wing tips. We also should know climb rates, stall speeds, and similar data. Not enough of these data are provided, however. [Editor's Note: The Internet is your friend..read the Wikipedia article on the XB-70 to learn its fascinating history, and then check the 'External Links' at the bottom, where you will find a link to that actual real world flight manual for the aircraft, which should supply all the detail you need.]
For realism, flight-sim pilots should be able to vary the aircraft's useful load, but the Payload menu shows one position for crew only. There are no provisions for bomb load, which is an important variable.
Technical information in the reference sheet and procedures in the checklists would be more useful in the kneeboard in addition to the separate manual.
Reliance on the excellent virtual cockpit is excessive. Accessing necessary controls such as the throttles, flaps, wingtips, and drag chutes through the virtual cockpit is a time-consuming hassle. The flight-sim pilot has to move the virtual cockpit left, right, up, and down to see the needed area, such as the mini panels left and right of the seats and the throttle quadrant in the middle, and light switches overhead. Precious time is lost, especially during demanding operations such as final approach and landing.
Basic instrument-panel windows that are typical in other MSFS aircraft are absent, such as throttle quadrant and electrical switches. I have always found those windows much easier to use than moving around a virtual cockpit.
Keyboard commands for unique functions such as wing tips, nose ramp, and drag chutes would be very useful. They're already available for throttle, flaps, lights, and spoilers as MSFS defaults.
Accessing the 12-page manual would be much easier if a desktop shortcut were included. This manual is in a subfolder to the aircraft folder in FSX. Simmers must use the Windows Explorer to get there. That's a multi-step hassle, especially if you don't know where that folder is.
The wing-tip knob should be made to operate like other FSX knobs, or the manual should explain its unusual nature. Instead of clicking the mouse over the knob to turn it, which is the MSFS standard, this knob requires sliding the mouse cursor up and down. As a result, I thought it was inoperative, and I had to ask WingsWare support for help.
The radio stack is taken from the MSFS B-747, even though WingsWare advertises that it made all its own instruments and gauges. In reply to my question, WingsWare said: 'We have our own radio stack of course, but we preferred to activate real 3D radio commands (on the left side panel) with 3D knobs and displays, and so we left default radios for a quick set up of the frequencies if one doesn't like using the VC radios.' The problem with this is that the B-747 radio stack is so different from the rest of the XB-70's panels that it looks glaringly out of place.
Airspeed on the autopilot doesn't switch from KIAS to Mach, even though it says 'KIAS/MACH.' But you can see these data change in the windows at the bottom of the airspeed indicator. WingsWare said they would look into this.
Air intakes don't open or close as expected on an aircraft advertised to have 'a full set of animated parts.' Moving air-intakes doors are crucial on supersonic aircraft because they vary the amount of air entering the engines. WingsWare said: 'Air intakes are not ajdustable in this version of the model.'
Spoilers don't deflect on the wings. WingsWare said the XB-70 had no spoilers, but their instrument panel has a 'Spoiler' switch that moves and an 'Airbrake' light that illuminates when the '/' key is pressed (an MSFS default keyboard command).
The B-737 sounds used on this aircraft are not appropriate. In reply to my question, WingsWare said: 'We had an old sound set derived from real XB70 sound, but the quality was poor and it used a lot of MBs [megabytes] without adding real improvements. But we agree that in the future we will have to release a specific soundset, even if not recorded from real XB70 engines.' In lieu of a correct sound package, the FS2000 Concorde sounds might be more appropriate than the 737 because the Concorde is more like the XB-70.
This aircraft is limited to FSX. It cannot be used on prior versions of MSFS.
Summary
This aircraft is visually outstanding inside and out. Considerable attention to detail and accuracy is obvious. Omissions of important technical data are a significant weakness, and various other issues are also of concern.
Flight simmers who are impressed by visual will be very pleased by this aircraft, while simmers who want to simulate flight realistically will be frustrated by its insufficient technical data.
I would recommend the product if important performance data and checklists were added, if they were available in the kneeboard like all other MSFS aircraft, and if the other problems I found were addressed.
Flight Simulator 2004
Bill Stack
Fs2004 Demo Download
Bill Stack is author of several books about flight simulation, a regular author in flight-sim magazines, and a contributor to Flight Sim Com. His website is www.topskills.com