Orbx Edgley EA-7 Optica | Full Flight Review | Microsoft Flight Simulator
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
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In this video we carry out a full review of the Orbx Edgley EA-7 Optica for Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS).
We will be taking the aircraft from the home of its original production line - Old Sarum, over towards Compton Abbas.
Please note this video and all its contents / materials, is for entertainment / simulation purposes only.
PC Specs
ASUS B150M-A
Intel Core i7 6700K 4GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
32GB DDR4 2133MHz
Hardware
Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog
Saitek Pro Flight rudder pedals
HP Reverb WMR headset
TrackIR5
Earthquake Shell Shoxx transducer
Enjoy the flight!
For those who are interested: The markings on the hill are apparently a set of regimental badges, cut into a chalk hill by soldiers garrisoned nearby and waiting to go to France during the First World War. I think it's amazing (quite sobering also) that we can experience such things in the sim.
Lest we forget. . .
Next time fly over the Cerne Abbas giant, good luck explaining that
Very apt given 6th June 1944 D Day commemorations in Normandy and the National Arboretum, indeed the brave who gave their today for our tomorrow “ We Shall Remember”
Yes they were easy to spot; especially the Australian rising sun badge. ☺️🇦🇺
Haha, might have to pixelate the vid a bit for that one John!
The two might have come into being for different reasons, but ultimately I suppose they are both just examples of men wanting to leave their mark on the land. It really is quite remarkable just how much history there is to be found all around the UK.
All the best : )
Indeed Charlie. The thought did occur to me when I found out what they were.
I know it’s only a sim and I was really only looking at pixels; but I did actually find it quite sobering when I realised what I’d been looking at. Something a little bit haunting about those badges, when you realise they were carved by young men who were sent off to war shortly thereafter.
I have learned in MSFS 2020 to appreciate the scenery and really enjoy low and slow GA aircraft again. Here in New Zealand I have noticed features like dams and other rural features that exist in real life but not in other sims even with quality add on scenery. Planes like this would be superb for this and also for exploring those foreign cities we can't visit right now. The scenery is brilliant and for the low price of this plane you can get a great view and really enjoy it. Hopefully it will receive some useful updates. Cool review.
Likewise! I really started to get back into VFR flying in the sim over the last couple of years, MSFS has really accelerated that. It’s the only sim where you can have a genuine “adventure” on each flight, not necessarily knowing what you’ll find etc. As you say, even decent scenery addons have their limitations, often lacking the same level of detail and certainly not covering the same scope. I love the fact that you never have to worry about where you’re flying, because you aren’t going to fly “out of bounds” of your chosen scenery etc. I wish I had more time to just explore (I actually started an NZ tour at one point)!
MSFS still isn’t perfect. Orbx TE is better in some respects for example. Hopefully Asobo will continue to tweak the AI for scenery generation as we move forward. Would be great if X-Plane gets a similar sort of scenery engine, just to drive a bit of competition.
As you say, this plane is perfect for enjoying MSFS for what it does best. It just needs a bit of tweaking to make it truly enjoyable.
Glad you enjoyed the review. All the best! : )
@sztomcat Yes, it makes quite a difference. We have quite a rugged landscape here which makes for some very interesting flying.
Yeah, one can’t go too far wrong in NZ! ; )
Agreed - the Orbx mesh is excellent and well worth picking up for anybody who flies in the area regularly.
All the best! : )
Another typically honest, in depth review - you are my go-to reviewer for payware!
Thank you John! Very kind of you to say and it’s great to hear you’re finding the content useful : )
All the best!
I’ve given the idea some thought before actually Kevin and may do that at some point. The only reason I’m reticent to do it; I’m already really pushed for time with the channel and I figure people can go away and try freeware for themselves with no jeopardy, so there’s no significant benefit to watching a review beforehand (whereas of course with payware, you want to see if it’s going to be good value for money or not).
Maybe in the future I will do a “Top 10 Freeware Available” vid or something, but then again there are others already doing that.
As I say, I will look into it. I’m probably going to review the freeware Optica at some point at the very least. Thanks for the suggestion! : )
All the best
Yes, that would be a good idea Kevin : )
Cheers
Picked this up because it's cheap.. my first flight, ATC cleared me to land on a water runway. This ended poorly. lol Something's broken :P
Haha despite its looks, I can’t imagine it’s much good as an amphibious aircraft XD
It’s a nice little pickup though for the price - great for enjoying the scenery. Hope you manage to fish it back out of wherever it was you “landed” ; )
All the best Travis!
So you take off, and then trim for take off? Seems a bit odd - I'd expect to trim for the post-rotation situation before joining the active! I have wondered for a long time why many sim-pilots expect to take off and then trim during flight, whereas the reality is that you trim your aircraft initially during the pre-flight. Just accepting what is there / neutral is a no-go. More on the trim, it does appear to be very slow - Asobo changed it in the last update so you no longer have the two speeds of trim (normal then very quick when held), but what we now have is a slow implimentation. I'd suggest actually looking at the trim gauge - I thought it was really ineffective, but when I looked at the gauge it was only partway back. Guess either Asobo or OrbX are going to have to speed up the trim, but this really does seem to be an aircraft that has to be flown properly trimmed.
Well ordinarily I would agree with you, but the included checklist called for "elevator trim - set to neutral" so that's what I did. I certainly wouldn't "expect" to take off and then trim; I would expect to trim as per the checklist etc. Indeed every aircraft I've ever flown in reality, will have you takeoff more or less trimmed for the initial climb (though I would still expect to have to make adjustments). In the case of reviews like this though, I try and follow the checklist as it's written, especially if the developer themselves wrote it. It tends to be a good way of highlighting any errors with the product (as it did indeed here).
Agreed the trim is slow, although I don't mind that personally. Far preferable to an overly sensitive trim. I still maintain that the flight model had some pretty odd behavior in pitch previously though. Orbx have since updated the Optica and it now flies much more reasonably and indeed the aircraft now behaves more appropriately when taking off with neutral trim (as well as fixing the missing cockpit sounds), which is great to see!
All the best
It’s been a while, but it was either 1980, whilst at Middle Wallop, or around 1983 at Netheravon, we would occasionally see an Optica flying around, I do remember that the aircrew thought it very interesting, but not quite practical enough for military aop work, perhaps coastguard or police. Too slow and not able to carry the heavy equipment around at the time. I do love quirky aircraft. Nice to see it.
First time I'm watching a review of yours, and I gotta admit, you're pretty good. I like how you go in depth with the little things too, you're very thorough and it's a pleasure to just listen to your voice as you explain everything on the aircraft. thank you!
Ah, well welcome to the channel and thanks very much! I certainly try my best to be thorough and really just aim to cover the sort of things I personally would like to see in a review. Never had someone describe listening to me as a “pleasure” before, but I’ll take it! : D
Thanks very much and all the best! : )
Thanks for the review, looks fun. One question though. How do you manage to turn off the batteries without getting the popup screen to choose continue or back to menu?
Cheers Richard, my pleasure!
Yeah, I think it could be a great little aircraft once they adjust / fix the flight model.
I’m afraid there’s no secret trick to kill the logbook menu pop-up. I simply edit it out of the videos as I find it annoying and it kills the immersion. You certainly aren’t the first person to ask though. Judging by the number of times I’ve gotten that question, the pop-up obviously bothers a lot of people! I wish Asobo would give us the option to turn it off already. . .
Sorry I can’t be of more help there. All the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Thanks for your reply. We just have to wait and see :). Have a nice weekend!
You’re most welcome Richard. Thanks! Enjoy your weekend too : )
I concur with the review, I bought on release day and I’m overall happy. Once those niggles are addressed it’ll be a quirky little plane for exploring. I’m not sure if anyone with real world time on the type has had any input, but the flight dynamics are questionable at best. But for the price it will be a great addition to anyone’s hanger once updated.
Cheers Chris,
Apparently Orbx have been listening to everyone’s feedback, so hopefully they’ll tweak things a bit in the flight model department. Rumour has it the aircraft was actually supposed to release with a complete set of cockpit sounds, but they somehow got left behind during the upload haha - so we should at least get those soon I hope.
As you say, a nice one to have in the hangar at any rate. Quite unique.
All the best! : )
One other thing. How did you get the transponder to work. I recently purchased this DLC from Orbx and I pressed the buttons you used in your video but they do not work. Appreciate your time!
Hmm, if it’s not working for you (as it was in my video), my best guess would be that it’s currently bugged. Often when Asobo updates the sim, it breaks various features of various addons unfortunately. Any luck with it since?
Cheers : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Thank you so much for your reply. Must have been a fix after last update. All working now. Hurray!. Only problem I have with this aircraft is that there is a lot of work fighting against it pulling left when trying to keep it on course. Using Logitech Extreme3D Pro. Joystick great handling Cessna Citation CJ4. You made it look so easy or do I have another issue now. lol Have an awesome day mate!
My pleasure! Great to hear they have it fixed up.
Yes, the Optica isn’t the most pleasant aircraft to hand fly (surprisingly). It’s quite sensitive to loadout, so try adding a “passenger” in the righthand seat (via the fuel, weight and balance menu), that should help a bit. Also if I recall correctly, the Optica does have rudder trim, a few degrees of that should have the aircraft cruising much more pleasantly.
Have a great day (well, evening in your case I guess) as well! Cheers : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Thankyou so much again! Great advice! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I love the visibility from the cockpit, but it sounds like a real dog to fly. Did that get patched at all, or is it realistic?
It did indeed get patched, flies much more nicely now and has some added cockpit sounds as well. For the price, the product is now a nice little pickup and great for sightseeing : )
All the best!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations is it worth getting for a noob at the game???? Only been playing a couple of days(Got it free from Xbox Gamepass)
Hey man, welcome to the hobby! : )
Depends what sort of flying you want to do? It’s very slow and arguably quite “dull” to fly. It’s great for cruising around and taking in the scenery though (at a leisurely pace). It’s quite easy to fly overall, so good for a beginner from that point of view : )
All this being said, I think some of the default aircraft tick a lot of the same boxes, they just don’t have the same level of visibility. Hope that helps a bit!
Cheers!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I just bought it... took it over Las Vegas, over lake mead and through the Grand canyon... and I noticed it leans to the left a bit as well... still fun to fly, even if it is slow..
It does, but that’s by design / as per the aircraft. You should be able to get it to fly straight using a bit of rudder trim in the opposite direction ; )
Glad you’re enjoying it nonetheless. Hehe yeah it’s not one to take if you’re in a hurry, but I’d imagine a tour around the Grand Canyon in the thing would be rather excellent!
All the best! : )
Hi, thank you for the very good review 👍 I got the plane yesterday and to my mind the flight modelling is not very good. I had have this pitch problems too. I constantly fiddeling around with my pitch trimming. And as you said the cockpit sounds are not good enough. The plane is an ugly beauty and of course an interesting one. The visibility is great but the flightmodel is annoying.
Overall I think the plane is in relation to the price a good one. But Orbx have to invest some time into the flightmodel.
Take care.
Yes, flight model definitely needs quite a bit of work. Apparently Orbx have been receptive to peoples feedback, so hopefully they’ll address the issue. Re the sounds; rumour has the aircraft was supposed to be released with a full set of cockpit sounds, but apparently they got left behind somewhere during the upload process haha - so they should be patched in soon at least (one would imagine).
Again for the price, I’m not disappointed with it. I just hope they sort the flight model so that it becomes a pleasure, rather than a chore to fly; I could see myself using it quite a lot then : )
All the best and thanks very much as always! Take care.
Yeah I have this plane was looking forward too it but like you say trimming is a pain sound is a bit rough my problem is trying to get it to a decent altitude but hope it gets sorted soon
Hmm, that’s strange David. The aircraft did get patched after this review and I find it much more flyable now (I flew it just a couple of days ago). Are you running the most recent version?
All the best!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations hi all is good now seams to be ok 👌
Perfect! : )
Love all your videos. I take it that there has been one update to add sounds and a few tweaks and the flight model issues you flag are under investigation as of the date of this post. Please correct me if I'm wrong. One Q: the way you look around the cockpit seems really natural, with a bit of zoom in. Can I please ask how you do that, in terms of hardware? I'm still new to MSFS and am continuing to explore views and hardware combos.Thx
Thanks Kiwi, brilliant to hear!
That’s my understanding yes. Tried the most recent update; sounds have certainly been added, the flight model also felt somewhat better to me (though I only tested it very briefly). A step in the right direction for sure, on what is overall a nice little product.
For panning around etc, I use a device called TrackIR. It’s a head tracking device essentially. It’s pricey, but well worth it in my opinion. That being said, it’s not to everyone’s taste. It’s not 1:1 head movement vs output (well, you can set it up that way, but it would be of limited use), so it takes a bit of getting used to. There are some freeware / much cheaper head-tracking alternatives available, so perhaps it would be worth checking one of those out first and seeing if you get on with it.
Hope that helps? Thanks again and all the best : )
Terrible aircraft in the real world, going to be great for FS2020
Got to add, Chinook, Gazelle and Puma, we need them, same visibility out of the cockpit, higher cruise speed and so much more fun, but the Edgely is nice and a different addition
What made it so bad?
@@twistedyogert
It was noisy from the ground and its intended role was an observation aircraft, well the noise kind of gave the game away and that's compared to the generation of helicopters that were coming in at the time, to maintain its position over the intended target it had to be maneuverer at slow speed and possibly in bad weather and during trials with Hampshire constabulary one crashed killing all onboard, its cruise speed is slow compared to a lot of modern day helicopters and being fixed wing it doesn't have the flexibility that a helicopter has of landing and taking off anywhere, being able to deploy, redeploy personnel and operating in bad weather with low visibility and low cloud ceilings, so really for its intended role at the time of its introduction it wasn't a very good aircraft, nearly got a ride in one which was being used in a film, but nearly was all I got, still nice addition for Flightsims, good to see a developer staying away from the bleeding obvious.
Sorry for the rambling nearly unreadable reply.
Haha, the poor little Optica John! It’s British engineering, it’s “quirky” : P
Well, the flight model could certainly use some work, but if they can get it to a point where it’s a pleasure to fly (I don’t think this one necessarily even needs to “accurate” really, just pleasant) then I think it’s very well suited to the sim as you say and I could see myself flying it quite a bit. Sure it’s not particularly quick, but that part of the appeal for me personally.
I would love to see all of those choppers. I have a teeny little bit of personal history with the Puma and the Chinook. The Gazelle would be great fun! For me, the smaller the better when it comes to rotary aircraft. I don’t know if you’re an X-Plane fan, but I believe a Chinook just released for that?
As you say, the Optica is nice and it’s great to see something a little more unusual in the sim (in fact, if I’d had to list the first 10 addon aircraft I thought we’d see in MSFS, I’d have been well wide of the mark vs what we’ve ended up with ha). Hopefully Orbx will continue to improve this funny little flying machine and do it justice.
All the best! : )
Interesting. Makes sense. Thanks John!
I did wonder about the noise of the thing. I read a couple of pieces saying the aircraft was very quiet to operate, but I’d have thought that ducted fan would have made a bit of a racket. . .
@@IntotheBlueSimulations
Yeah that's exactly it, that ducted fan is noisy on the ground when you are below it.
The police actually get noise complaints when they operate their aircraft on searches, hard to believe people do that.
Agree with the review and the others commenting - it's a fun plane and value for the $, but flight model needs work. I didn't have as much trouble with the pitch as I did the constant pulling to the left. I didn't see any aileron trim controls in the cockpit, so tried adding a passenger for ballast but didn't help much. I'll try again, maybe there are some other ways to adjust ballast, as suggested in the review. Wouldn't be so bad if it had autopilot, but there's only a GPS unit.
The left roll actually trims out very nicely with rudder trim Scott. It does leave you slightly out of balance, but not horrendously so and it makes the aircraft much more pleasant to fly in that regard. Might be worth a try. . .
Apparently the sounds were omitted by mistake when Orbx uploaded the final build, so hopefully we should get those soon. Then we just need a bit more tweaking of the flight model and it’ll be a joy to cruise around in! An autopilot would be a nice addition in my opinion too. Might not be realistic, but this aircraft is mostly going to be used for relaxing in the sim I suspect. I’d be quite happy to stick the autopilot in and watch the world go by in this thing : P
Cheers Scott, all the best! : )
This aircraft was obviously never designed for the type of cross country flight you just did - It is an aircraft to fly slow and
observe - that's why its main use was by the police 40 years ago before Hellis were as good as today
As to the trim - assuming the design was for 2+3 persons - why not load the aircraft that way - at least an observer.
load trim it for the CoG as per the assist ap in the cockpit
The reviewer - Dreams of Wings - hit it just right - as to the best use of this aircraft.
I’m afraid I’d have to somewhat disagree with you on that one. For sure, you’re absolutely right that it’s not really what it was “designed for”, but there are a few Opticas now flown privately, so presumably very much in this sort of fashion. As you say, it is a low and slow aircraft, but I did indeed fly it slow (at 70 kts, or thereabouts), which is its designed loiter speed - so well within its typical parameters.
Again, whilst the aircraft is designed for up to 3 people and I’m sure it commonly carried 2, it is certified single-pilot and would no doubt have been flown like that on many occasions. If it’s within its weight and balance limitations, you shouldn’t notice any significant handling peculiarities as a result. I still believe the flight model needs some work.
In short, I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I also don’t believe that how I operated the aircraft was “incorrect”. It was all well within its designed capabilities. I expect most people will be picking this product up for exactly this kind of flying (and not for surveillance), so surely it’s useful to see how it copes with this sort of thing anyway?
As for Dreamsofwings; I’ve not doubt he did an excellent job, he’s one of my favourite flight sim RUclipsrs! : )
Anyway, hope that didn’t come across as being argumentative, just trying to state how I see things from my point of view.
All the best!
The JustFlight PT17 is out today and I test flew it this morning. I have a lot of time on real PT-17 so I was really looking forward to it. Not bad but needs some work on engine power, roll rate is too high, stall and spin characteristics are wrong but I could be a MSFS2020 issue. Doing aerobatics in the 220hp Stearman is like trying to roll a Sherman tank, but is way too easy in the model, the real Stearman requires very good energy management to complete a roll or a loop but with the current model it’s very easy. Landings and Takeoffs are very close to the real thing, two point and three point, so that’s nice. It sure will be a great product once they tweak it!
I look forward to your own review on the PT-17
Just finished giving it a go myself. I have to say I really enjoyed it! A very pleasant experience, even if it isn’t 100% accurate yet. Thank you very much for your comments, they were incredibly helpful going into the review and indeed confirmed a couple of my suspicions also.
I must say I’m rather envious of you getting to fly all of these wonderful aircraft! : D
Haha, “rolling a Sherman”. I think that paints a very clear picture!
Thanks once again, very much appreciated! All the best : )
is there an autopilot feature and does the nav system work well?
No autopilot I’m afraid (it’s a shame, I think it would have been nice to have one). As far as the nav system goes, it’s all just based off the default avionics; so you can expect all the same “behaviours” in that department.
Hope that helps? All the best! : )
Bought this pretty much on release (can't argue with a tenner) and I did almost the exact same flight as you, even went past the Fovant Badges but I took a detour up to Stone Henge for a spot of sight seeing around there. There's a really nice freeware Compton Abbas scenery on flightsim.to with custom buildings and the like which I recommend, although I'd love for Orbx to release an MSFS version of it as I was quite fond of their rendition for FSX/P3D. There's one for Old Sarum as well but it just mostly fleshes it out a bit with some static ground aircraft and a few more default buildings to match up the real life thing.
As for the plane itself: it ain't bad for a tenner. It's pretty unique and perfect to take in the sights. It has its problems like you pointed out but an Orbx dev in the thread on the MSFS forum has been pretty responsive so I hope the problems get ironed out. Apparently there are supposed to be sounds for cockpit switches and the like but somehow got left out of the release build.
Thanks for the video, great stuff as always!
Haha, that’s rather a coincidence. I didn’t know the Fovant badges were there when I planned the flight, but I’m glad I got the chance to see them. Funnily enough, I nearly planned a flyby of Stonehenge as well (partly cos I fancied it, partly because there’s an Optica video on RUclips where they do the same), but in the end it was a little bit too far for the vid I felt.
I always “forget” to check out flightsim.to for scenery. . . I think because generally I’m happy with the default scenery. Compton Abbas looks ok by default I reckon, but it would have been nice to spruce it Old Sarum a bit. I’ll have to try and remember to check what scenery is available before I fly next time!
That’s great that Orbx are seemingly receptive to the feedback. Funny re the sounds, but I guess we should get those soon then! As you say, for a tenner I’m already happy. Currently the aircraft is a bit of a chore to fly, be nice if they can get it to a point where it’s a pleasure and then I could see myself using it quite a bit actually.
Cheers, all the best! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations Well like you I chose Old Sarum for the first flight as that's where the planes were made and then decided to land at Compton Abbas as it's close by and also a nice little strip! Great minds eh?
Haha, indeed! Well, we’re either equally creative, or equally unimaginative at any rate. . . : P
Yes they are known as The Fovant Badges oh and Salisbury is a city and not a town ;)
Haha, yes. Thanks Artful. You’d think I might have realised that when flying directly at the Cathedral. . . XD
For some reason my brain seems to interchange the terms city / town / village quite freely during reviews. I’m sure on occasion I’ve referred to the same location as all three at different points throughout a video haha. A bit annoying, but I guess only the Brits will notice ; )
Cheers, all the best! : )
I can't even fly it it keeps doing 8 million flips and can't get it off the ground because it keep bouncing
Hi Joshua,
Sorry if I’m asking the obvious, but have you got your sim flight model set to “Modern” as opposed to “Legacy”? That often tends to cause the sorts of behaviours you’re describing. . .
I flew the Optica just a couple of days ago and all was working fine, so I don’t think there are any inherent issues with the aircraft at the moment.
Hope that helps. All the best! : )
i literally cannot get mine off the ground
Hi River,
Are you on the Xbox or PC? When you say you can’t get it off the ground, I presume you mean everything is working but it simply won’t “unstick” as it were? Are you able to get it moving even?
All the best : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations so basically everything was working except the fact it would just fall backwards and start wheelie-ing until it just breaks itself and i had to restart. i restarted the game and still did it so i gave up. but with that being said, the next day it was working completely fine. so not sure what that was about but yeah. it was on pc btw and thank u for responding
Very odd. Perhaps an issue with the C of G, or even just a particular airport? Anyway, great to hear it’s working properly again now!
You’re most welcome re the reply! All the best : )
you did a estimated navigation right?
Sorry Bernardo, I’m not sure I quite understand the question? I did have a flight plan that I was following for the flight (with headings / timings etc), but I was mostly just navigating visually in the end. Is that what you were asking? : )
Cheers!
@@IntotheBlueSimulations yeah that’s exactly what you do in an estimated navigation
I figured that’s what you you were getting at Bernardo; I think there’s just a bit of a difference in terminology between countries etc.
Cheers! : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations yeah probably
Hi there mate what do you fly in the real world?
Hi Benson,
I’m on the Airbus. I’ve flown a few different variants of the family over the years, but I purposefully try and keep things rather vague beyond that, you know how it is. . . ; )
All the best! : )
With that flight model, I think that the Islander is a far better bet. I use the TDS GTN750 and with the oven baked SAR and hold modes that this offers, the Optica could be brilliant. ( I hear that you will need an external Autopilot, but that this works with the model. If it gets an update to the flight model, I will grab it. Thanks for a typically well produced video.
Thanks JN, my pleasure as always!
Yes, at the moment the Optica is almost the polar-opposite of the Islander. It’s a dog to fly, whilst the Islander is incredibly pleasant and stable. I can’t imagine the flight model of the Optica is accurate. It would be mentally exhausting trying to loiter in that thing for 1 hr at the moment, let alone 8!
It sounds like Orbx have been listening to customer feedback re the flight model and apparently a full set of cockpit sounds was supposed to be included on release, but something when wrong there - so those should be along soon hopefully.
I’ve tried the PMS GTN750, yet to try the TDS version though (was only vaguely aware of it). It’s hard to keep up with everything coming to the sim at the moment haha.
As you say, for a tenner, with a few tweaks it will be well worth having in the virtual hangar : )
All the best!
Does it have autopilot? I can't find the autopilot.
It doesn’t I’m after Arhan. That’s true to life of the real aircraft (I believe), though I think it would have been a nice edition in this case - so you could sit back and watch the world go by.
Might be worth trying to engage the default sim autopilot, using whatever key you have assigned to that though. A lot of aircraft will fly straight and level if you engage it, even if they don’t have an autopilot per se.
All the best : )
Aerosoar do a nice version of this aircraft,might be worth your while to do a comparison..............................................
Just had a look and revisited their page. For some reason the textures / modelling look a whole lot better than I remembered! Kind of begs the question if the Orbx version isn’t a touch redundant then (they’re visually closer than I thought). I would definitely be keen to give it a go and see how they compare. Finding the time to do so (at least properly in a video) might be tricky at the moment though.
Thanks very much for the suggestion though Russell, I will certainly look into it.
All the best! : )
PS, I much prefer the canine co-pilot haha! : D
@@IntotheBlueSimulations After your video I tried it out,in some ways it's more crude as internal view keys haven't been mapped at least the default ones.Once I got the trim correct it flew like a pussycat and was easy to land.............................
Cheers Russell, I’ll have to give it a go when I get the chance then : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I would love that! Please let me know if you need anything specific answered.
Thanks for your review flight on the EA-7. It was awesome. Any chance of showing us how to use the Garmin to set flight plan?
Thanks very much Aussie, my pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!
Using the Garmin, is one the many videos I have on my “to-do” list haha. Unfortunately I have no idea when I might get around to it though. There are some good tutorials on RUclips already for what it’s worth though : )
ruclips.net/video/Vf954I-IbJI/видео.html
Cheers, all the best!
Concerning the handling. I fly in FSX. I have the Optica ( FreeWare ) from Simviation. I had to 'tweak' the aircraft.cfg file handling characteristics to some degree. I set the Trim scalar to 1.07, the Cruise Lift scalar to 1.15 to relieve the 'heavy' feel.
Interesting Stewie. Maybe the Optica really is quite heavy in reality then. . .
I used to be quite comfortable tweaking things in FSX, not so much in MSFS (although I think they’re quite similar). A lot of addons are encrypted as well now sadly.
I think I’ll just wait for Orbx to do their thing ; )
Been enjoying the reviews on this channel, really helped me decide which paid planes to get so thanks! Can’t remember where I heard this but apparently it pulls to the left because of the weight of the pilot, if you add a passenger it balances out.
Thanks, that’s great to hear! : )
My pleasure - certainly the point of the reviews, is to help people decide what’s worthy of their money. I’d imagine that’s true re the passenger and the weight and balance. I think it was a bit extreme before, but they seem to have improved the flight model since the aircraft was released. The induced roll is nowhere near as pronounced now.
Thanks once again, all the best!
Another thorough review,objective and as usual very fair, agree re pitch and trim control not a bad effort by Orbx for first “ toe in the water” be useful if a fix for Flt modelling is provided, for £10 given the great visibility I guess many can put up with the pitch issue and constant trimming myself included. Thanks as always great job.BR Charlie
Thanks Charlie,
Yeah, I don’t think I sent any criticism it’s way that wasn’t fair. Again though, for the price I’m pretty happy with it. I can’t imagine flying it in its current state for 8 hours, it would be exhausting haha! Hopefully they’ll see to the flight model and make it more pleasant to fly. I could see myself flying the Optica quite a bit then actually.
Apparently it was supposed fo release with a full set of cockpit sounds, but something went awry there. So we should get those soon hopefully at least.
All the best : )
loved the clear prop part haahahahaha
Haha, cheers Nick! Doesn’t seem to stop the AI ground crew making kamikaze attacks on the prop, but it’s worth a try. . . : P
All the best : )
Haha, one of these days I’ll stop and everyone will be wondering where it’s gone! : P
All the best : )
Haha no worries, I was only joking ; )
Thanks very much though, it’s great that you’re enjoying the content! : )
Another excellent review - not an aircraft I would see myself using but for £10 there is little to argue against it. To use this for me personally I would want to run MSFS on max everything in settings because then I feel I would get the benefit of the panoramic views etc. Overall, in depth review was excellent but i'll pass on this aircraft for the moment :-) As a small request, I bought Sim EFB the other day and there are not many reviews/guides on it out there and not sure if it's your thing that you would wish to review - but thought i'd chance a request anyway :-). Hope you are well :-)
Thanks once again James!
Yeah, I can totally see your point. Most of these things are ultimately just “horses for courses”. I love the style of flying the Optica allows, but for sure it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I wish I child crank my sim up to 11 as well mind you haha!
Sim EFB. Haven’t heard of that actually. . . I’ll definitely look into it. No promises, especially this week as I’m already going to be crazy busy with vids etc, but I’ll definitely give it consideration at some point.
Thanks for the suggestion! All the best : )
Got this as soon as I noticed it was released. I don't really like rotary wing aircraft and so have missed out on much of the visibility such aircraft offer. This one is just perfect. Will be great if there are some patches but no problems otherwise. Another excellent review, thank you.
Thanks Terry!
That’s a jolly good point. This bird is perfect for those who aren’t into rotary aircraft or perhaps simply aren’t familiar with them. Much easier to operate and has most of the same advantages.
Glad you’re enjoying it anyway. Happy flying! : )
I can't seem to find this plane inside Microsoft flight simulator 2020.
It's a Payware aircraft from Orbx.
@@stewiepid4385 Thank you.
@@stewiepid4385 Do you know if the plan on selling it through the marketplace eventually? I'd rather buy it from there because of updates.
@@snatr Updates are often weeks behind on the marketplace. Always buy direct from the developers if you want updates immediately.
@@StuTheMoose It's the idea of being simplified. With Orbx, I have to install separate software. And with others I have to keep an eye out for updates.
I just noticed that if you have the Optica, you get a new Bush Trip in MSFS: "Optica London Sightseeing - Briggin Hill to Elstree". It's short but a nice bonus!
Haha, missed that one. That is a nice little bonus! I’ll definitely have to give that one a try at some point. . .
Cheers for the info Scott, much appreciated : )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations I completed the bush trip, and interestingly I the Optica wasn't pulling to that configuration...also noticed the ballast lights were lit, so maybe there is something we're supposed to do to balance it out. Will look into that next time. Cheers!
Huh, interesting. Sounds like the Bush Trip has you configured “out of balance” then, but that maybe what’s modelled as “balanced” isn’t currently haha (if the aircraft behaved normally for you on this occasion). Was it any better in pitch?
Cheers : )
Yo homie!!!
Yo Compramos! How it going?
How are your Optica formation flying skills coming along? ; )
@@IntotheBlueSimulations haha when you did that livestream the whole time I was just trying to show up on the stream flying in front of you 😂😂😂
Haha, I think it was mission accomplished then! You only featured on the stream slightly less than me my man! XD
:-)
: )
The fact that simple sounds are missing gosh ... sorry ORBX it's poop.
It’s more forgivable at this price point, but indeed I think cockpit sounds should be expected in any payware aircraft these days.
Rumour has it that the aircraft was actually supposed to ship with a full set of cockpit sounds, but somehow they didn’t get uploaded with the final version of the aircraft haha. So, hopefully the sounds will be patched in soon enough. Then the aircraft just needs some work on the flight model. . .
All the best! : )
I enjoyed your video and you delivered an excellent review as always. One issue though regarding the pricing; you mention several times £10 whereas the price is actually £13.11 and it may also incur a non-sterling transaction fee of £0.36. I think you are looking at VAT exclusive. Still cheap but I would be happy to pay more for a better product. Anyway, I bought it before watching your video and I only hope that they fix the sounds and flight model otherwise this will not be up to the standard that one has come to expect from Orbx.
Thank you Geoffrey and well noted!
It may be that I wasn’t including tax. I do use a VPN as well generally, so it may just have been a conversion / tax error from using that.
As you say, it’s fairly cheap either way (although 30% more expensive than I first thought ha). Apparently it should have released with a full set of sounds, somehow Orbx forgot to include them with the final version. So hopefully we’ll get those soon and that will go halfway to fixing the aircraft. Then we just need that flight model fixed (apparently Orbx has been receptive to feedback on that one). The aircraft should then be up to the standards that we have indeed now come to expect.
Thanks again Geoffrey, all the best! : )