Serious Triple Engine Fun!
I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot
for the Douglas, and later McDonnell-Douglas, DC-10.
There’s something about its nose, and that massive
engine looking so out-of-place on the tail that’s always
captured my imagination. Which is why I was so excited
to see the DC-10 finally made in all its considerable
glory by the guys over at CLS, and published by our very
own Just Flight. Now, at this point it should be
mentioned that this isn’t the “real deal” sort of
simulation that you’d get from PMDG or Level-D, it’s
part of JF’s F-Lite range meaning that it’s much simpler
to fly, omitting the complex systems and flight
computers of the more advanced sims, so it was far from
my normal choice of FS packages. But hey, it was a DC10.
Before I go into what it’s like to
fly, a little bit about the package you pay for: the
Just Flight package comes with an outstanding 7 aircraft
types, these being the DC-10-10, DC-10-30, the lesser
spotted DC-10-40 and freighter versions for all three,
along with a DC-10-15. A free download from the JF site
will also get you a DC-10-40B. Various engine modifications that
happened over the years are also in the package,
bringing the total number of models to 15 not including
the free download! A host of
high-quality liveries are also included, with most of
the passenger ones being classic airline liveries
(although a few familiar faces do pop up with recent
DC-10 operators like Monarch, Northwest and
Continental), and the freighter liveries being more
recent with the likes of FedEx and Gemini. And as an
added bonus, military versions of the DC-10, namely the
KC-10A Extender of the USAF and the KDC-10 of the Royal
Dutch Air Force are included too. It’s worth noting here
that they’re all good models and liveries: CLS certainly
haven’t cut any corners on that front. The detail on the
exterior of the planes is absolutely exceptional and the
liveries, although slow to load, are of an excellent
quality too. All of the external animations we would
expect from a high-quality addon like this are present,
with numerous doors opening (commands given in the
manual) and even air stairs that can be called up from
the cockpit.
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CLS haven't let us down in the
VC. It's well modelled and clickable, with the
exception of the FE panel, and the lighting is
great. |
Moving into the flight deck, I very
was impressed. This is an F-Lite product so don’t expect
any complex systems but most switches are actually
operable whether or not they do anything which is a nice
touch. The ambient sounds are nice although they seem to
play even if the entire aircraft is cold and dark.
Otherwise cockpit noises are good. In the VC, CLS have
once again got it spot on, the VC lighting is just
right, with the shadows in the right places too. All the
switches are operable, except for the FE panel which
I’ll come to in a second, and modelled well in 3D. My
only gripe in the FE panel, which isn’t actually
modelled in the VC, with just a 2D image in its place.
Clicking on it brings up the 2D FE panel which looks
intimidating but this being F-Lite you can’t do much
harm with it, and the most important bits can be brought
up enlarges in separate 2D panels. All the other 2D
panels are well done too, including a First Officer’s
panel which was a nice surprise. The DC-10 even has a
simple FMC, which gives flight status, fuel predictions,
and reference speeds, and is explained very well in the
manual. Again however, it is not without its faults. A
few panel labels are a bit hard to read even at higher
resolutions, and some important controls such as the
gear handle and flap position indicator can only be
accessed through the FO panel. I found a big problem
with the FO panel too: it looks promising but you can’t
actually fly the aircraft from it because no matter what
order you call them up in, the FO panel always stays on
top of the other sub-panels such as the throttle
quadrant and overhead panel.
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Pushing back and pulling one of the
ominous-looking red handles on the overhead which start
the engines, I discovered another fantastic feature of
this addon: the sound. It really is out of this world,
and is definitely one of the best sound sets I’ve ever
heard in FS. It really does deserve a whole paragraph of
this review to itself. The sense of power as those
engines spool up and propel you, with much gusto, down
the runway is absolutely immense. During most flights
the constant engine noise tends to get on my nerves but
I can honestly say that the low drone from the DC-10’s
three huge jets wasn’t a problem at any stage. I simply
love those engine sounds and they’re a credit to the
guys CLS. |
CLS have kindly included a
pushback truck in the package. Starting the
engines is fun, they sound so good. |
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The aircraft handles exceptionally
well and feels realistic. On the ground it feels heavy
as a DC-10 should. Care is needed during the taxi though
– the powerful engines can be a bit feisty to say the
least. The aircraft also tends to roll when the
throttles are at idle, but again I think that this is
realistic. I found that the best way to taxi in general
was to give the engines a bit of a boost first and then
just leave them idling and the aircraft will advance on
its own momentum. On takeoff, the power from the engines
is so great that I tend to find myself at the FMC’s
specified rotation speed (which is usually fairly
accurate) in no time. One thing I found out to my cost,
even though I was flying the shorter DC-10-10 at the
time, is how easy it is to tail strike the thing. If
this happens you will know about it because in addition
to your sudden inability to lift off, CLS have kindly
included a spark/smoke effect which will remain behind
the aircraft until you kick yourself very hard and reset
the flight.
As I found myself rolling into the Atlantic
Ocean it did occur to me that a tail strike warning in
the cockpit would have been nice. Anyway, with my lesson
learnt I did manage to takeoff without any rear-end
blazes and noted that the speed seems to increase very
rapidly even in quite a steep post-rotation climb.
Again, this may just be me underestimating the engines
again but it does take quite a lot of getting used to.
Climb performance is good too with the aircraft easily
sticking to the selected vertical speed and handling
increases or decreases in the VS selection well. It’s
fun to hand fly too, as long as you can master the trim
and keep an eye on the attitude indicator it handles
pretty well for such a big bird.
Switching the autopilot
back on, I found a slight problem: the aircraft just
continues its vertical speed all the way to the top of
climb without reducing it automatically as you reach the
top so it tends to overshoot a little but it’s no big
deal as the autopilot recovers nicely. There are no
problems anywhere in the cruise, the aircraft banks
without falling out of the sky and handles speed changes
well. I must admit that at first I had big problems with
the autopilot but after a little practice I got the hang
of it. During the descent the aircraft behaves well for
both me and the autopilot too, and as is normal in
heavier planes a little spoiler deployment is necessary
at the higher descent rates. Once you are in range of
the ILS the plane can auto land reasonably well,
although as I neared the runway the approach, which had
been textbook until then, seemed to get a bit messy as
the aircraft became too high on the glide slope and
missed the centreline quite a bit. It might have been
weather related but the lack of a recovery by the
autopilot when we were still 3 or 4 miles out was a bit
alarming.
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The package
includes a simple but functional FMC. It
shows your route taken from the FS flight
planner along with fuel and time
predictions, and more. |
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ILS autolands are generally
reliable in the DC-10, although it is much more
fun to fly them by hand in this bird. |
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It’s worth
noting that the Service Pack for the DC-10 has improved
the flight dynamics further still, with reducing the
engines’ power to the right amount among the
corrections.
If you’ve been reading closely, then,
you will have noticed that I find this quite an
enjoyable aircraft to fly. However I do have a few
complaints about the package that the aircraft comes in,
more specifically what you get outside of the simulator.
The manual which is the only thing in the DC-10’s folder
is nice and the tutorials are good but there is no brief
version or a quick reference guide. More disappointingly
there aren’t any auxiliary programs which would have
been really useful, especially a fuel planner and load
editor. It is quite hard to estimate how much fuel will
be required and fuel planners for these aircraft are few
and far between, not least ones which cover all of the
versions this package does. And a load editor would have
been good too, as the FS one is a pain to say the least.
In summary, this is a fantastic
aircraft to fly and is a very enjoyable package,
although there are a few rather serious flaws in my
opinion. The big two are the lack of some instruments
such as the flap position and gear handle on the
captain’s side, and these being located on the
co-pilot’s panel which loads on top of every other sub
panel. An extra download from JF including a fuel
planner and load editor would be nice too. Like I said
though, apart from that the aircraft is well modelled
and fun to fly, and with this many liveries and 15
different models it’s value for money too. A recommended
buy.
Since
I wrote this review, Just Flight have released a Service
Pack for the DC-10. In addition to the thrust correction
that I have already mentioned, they replaced the set of
pre-saved flights and added checklists to all aircraft,
as well as fixing some night maps.
Dgor's
photo gallery - Click on image to see full size. |
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The first thing that hits you
with the DC-10 is how astoundingly good the
external model is. |
See what I mean? The detail is
immense. |
The 2D panel is simple but
functional. FPS tend to be good in 2D view, due
to the lack of complex systems. |
The overhead panel is fairly easy
to master. |
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As is the FE panel, intimidating
as it looks. I would have liked a cold and dark
startup option but there isn't one. |
CLS have kindly included a
pushback truck in the package. Starting the
engines is fun, they sound so good. |
Flight dynamics in the DC-10 are
good and pretty realistic, especially since the
service pack which lowered the engine power to
the correct amount. |
The DC-10-10 is the smallest of
the DC-10 series. But that still makes it pretty
big. |
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The FedEx paint is one of a
number of modern cargo carrier liveries in the
package. |
Takeoffs are easy enough, and the
FMC can give fairly accurate V-Speed
calculations. |
The package includes a simple but
functional FMC. It shows your route taken from
the FS flight planner along with fuel and time
predictions, and more. |
Climb performance is good,
although the simplicity of the autopilot will
take a bit of getting used to if you tend to fly
the more advanced sims. |
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CLS haven't let us down in the
VC. It's well modelled and clickable, with the
exception of the FE panel, and the lighting is
great. |
Another chance to see that
magnificent external model. I love it. |
The FO's panel
looks promising but because it loads on top of
every other panel you can't really fly the
aircraft from the FO view. |
The DC-10 descends well, although
some speed brakes may be required. |
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ILS autolands are generally
reliable in the DC-10, although it is much more
fun to fly them by hand in this bird. |
There is no shortage of external
animations. Many of them must be activated with
icons in the cockpit though. |
This DC-10-40B is a slightly
different version of the DC-10-40 and is
available for free from JF, although it
obviously requires the base package. |
Another modern user of the DC-10
is Gemini Air Cargo. Their livery is included on
the DC-10-30F in the package. |
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CLS have
included this effect for if you hit the tail off
anything. Don't! |
The only
livery included for the lesser-spotted DC-10-15
is this one, of Aeromexico. |
Whilst the
DC-10-10 features Continental's classic Red
Meatball scheme, the DC-10-30 has liveries for
Continental's classic Black Meatball and this
more modern scheme. |
British Airway's classic livery is another
fantastic paintjob included. With the exception
of the stairs, the vehicles in this shot are
from Gatwick Pro and not the package. |
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Links:- |
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Just
Flight. |
DC-10
product page. |
DC-10
FAQ's & SP |
JF
F-Lite Forum. |
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