Vertigo Grumman Avenger in P3D - info and opinions, please

[Paul K]

Having recently reread Samuel Hynes' book Flights of Passage ( great book, but what a dreadful title ) I am considering Vertigo's TBF/M but would appreciate help with the following:

Firstly, does it work in P3DV2.5 ? I'm about to upgrade from V2.4.

Secondly, are there any problems with the aircraft itself i.e. external model, VC, FDE and so on.

Any help gratefully received.

( Initially posted this at Avsim - the response has been ..erm..overwhelming. )

[DaveB]

Hiya Paul

The lack of response there is probably due to the vast majority of users not being able to get in

The VS Avenger.. what can I say It works pretty much as you'd expect. I can't recall any major issues with the FD. The VC isn't stunning by any stretch of the imagination but it is functional. I remember it being dark in there.. very dark One thing to note.. this is a good model for carrier ops. It doesn't display the trait of nosing over when you catch the wire.. a problem with so many 'so called' carrier models. A downside as far as us Brits go is the almost complete lack of repaints for FAA squadrons.. sad because we used the Avenger in some numbers and in many theatres of war. There IS a repaint set available (payware via Flightstore) and out of the many paints included, I think 2 are FAA. I didn't want to spend a fiver for 2 paints but that's what I ended up doing

I don't have it installed at the mo.. I'm still trying to be rational with what I use (though you wouldn't believe that if you looked in my Airplanes and Rotorcraft folders!!) and I don't have any screenies to hand. Unless you can get it for a really good price.. I'd try and hang on for a sale (though I fear that won't happen) Does it work in P3D?? I've absolutely no idea. All I can say is that it should as it's native FSX

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Dave; I knew that if anyone here had it...you would have it. . Thanks for all the info, very much appreciated. As you seem reasonably happy with it, I'll move it up the 'FS add-ons to buy rather than being able to afford food' list. £5 to get two repaints, eh ? You bargain hunter, you !

[DaveB]

Yes.. the only thing I don't have is money

I'm not sure if Flightstore are stopping selling VS products. I can't see the download version there now.. only the DVD version. I quickly searched for the Paint Expansion set too and can't find that there either. This was the only place I've ever seen sell it too It's worth noting that Flightstore are selling the DVD version for a fair bit cheaper than VS are selling the download version for. Also.. VS have tagged a Lockheed Martin logo alongside the FSX logo (though they don't say which version)

Hope you're not too disappointed.. you shouldn't be if you can grab it at the right price

EDIT: I can't find that pack anywhere Paul. I've checked my old install and I have 9 paints. The model comes with 7 so it looks like I binned 10 of the 12 from the addon pack and kept just the 2 RN/FAA paints

ATB
DaveB

[DaveB]

Mercy me.. this gets worse!!

I've not installed the TBM.. just dragged it out of a previous FSX install. These are the 2 RN/FAA paints I have..





The first shot is the 1 FAA paint from the paint expansion pack (I must have paid £5 for this paint and binned the other 11!!! ) and the second is the single FAA paint you get with the model. The other odd paint I have making up the 9 installed is French Navy.. why.. who the hell knows

My apologies for the shot quality. As mentioned elsewhere, my AA is lacking and the shots were paused making the wake break-up

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

No problem with the quality of the shots, Dave. They give me a better idea about the model. I'm looking round the usual outlets, and Flight Sim Store seems to be as good as I'll get. There's another one very slightly cheaper, but I can't be bothered opening a new account, so FSS will get my money. Off to get it now - thanks for the info so far !

[Paul K]

Well, I must say that - so far - I'm a tad more impressed than I expected. It really is quite a nice model ! No problem with a dark interior here, Dave: all is well illuminated and visible




Don't know how well it flies yet as I'm still reading the manual ( apparently a lot of add-on's come with manuals ).

[Paul K]

Hmmm...my Impressed-O-Meter has swung back a little. It seems when I do a steep bank to the right, the artificial horizon tilts as expected, but when I bank to the left, it only tilts about half what it should do. It's fully uncaged as far as I can tell.

[DaveB]

Hello Mate

Not long got in from work and what a belter it was too

Right.. the AI. I've a feeling I've read something about that somewhere but where.. I can't remember. I'll have to check mine in FSX but it may well be as you're seeing in P3D.

It has been stated on SoH recently that VS are making a concerted push to get things right. Unfortunately.. this does not include current models as many were out-sourced. It is likely that whatever is wrong now will remain so It wouldn't be so bad if these were all new models but they're not. Only the Spad falls into the new category and this, for whatever reason, has never floated my boat. The Spad was supposed to be Tacpac capable straight out of the box but it didn't happen and now looks likely not to happen. They are however knocking out a large SP for it covering all known bugs (of which there are quite a few)

Anyhoo.. let me look at that AI
ATB
DaveB

[DaveG]

I find it odd they're not going to TacPack the Spad. I haven't been keeping up to speed on it as it's not on my buy list, but having TacPacked a few aircraft myself, I wouldn't have thought it would take more than half an hour. It's not as if it has complicated radar & guided missiles.