Aerofly FS 2013

[Skybird]

I could not resist on Saturday and got myself a small simulator for cheap money, a reduced special version of Aerofly's Flug Simulator which was released earlier this year for 50 Euros, featuring 8 planes. This special version now has just 4, usually costs 30 Euro, I got it for 20 Euro. It features all of Switzerland, a Hornet, a Pitts S-2B, a Jodel Robin DR 400, and a Sopwith F1 Camel. The special version comes in new package and it named Aerofly Flug Simulator 2013.

Aerofly is a German company who made itself known for simulations of RC model planes.

The sim is limited in scope. It features all of Switzerland in photorealism, and thus only one daylight condition. Easy and quick menus allow manipulation of some basic weather settings and sim settings. All planes can be changed in flight, within seconds.

The manual is 18 pages, but does full justice to what the sim delivers and is capable to do. Few pages - but no complaint by me. What needs to be said about the software, got inside of that tiny booklet. It is German, but the sim is not difficult to be understood - foreigners should be able to get along, too.

Physics: are basic, the planes do what you expect them to do when you do this or that with the controls. In this the sim actually is pretty good. Where it lacks is probably that it does not truthfully copy the typical characteristics of every plane, and how fuel weight and such things alter the plane behavior. The basics are there, the rest is none-existent or simplified. If you are a purist demanding realism in even excessive and exotic flight conditions, though - look somewhere else.

Avionics: you check the six main instruments and the throttle settings, but no complex avionic handling, no radio, no traffic, no system depth.

But do not underestimate that. Flying with this baby is fun. Simplified maybe, but fun. I have stick, throttle, pedals and TrackIR activated. But you can as well fly it with the mouse, and quite good so.

Plane models are okay, cockpits as well. The Pitts actually I ike to sit in very much. The Sopwith loses to its RoF pendant, though, and looks - unmotivated.

But the real joy of this sim comes from the scenery, and that is simply spectacular. Photorealism to the max, with the option to have all names of mountain peaks and villages shown, too. Very high quality aerial photography of all of Switzerland. And zooming over such a scenery with a fast moving plane, is immense fun, it really is. I dare say this sim has given me the closest experience of what it feels like to race with 450 knots over the planet's surface of all simulations I ever tried. Flying with the Pitts is fun, too.

And - no stuttering. No micro-pauses when the scenery gets reloaded from HD. It remains to be a fluid, undisturbed experience from the beginning to the end. Very good programming and optimizing done on that.

For low-medium price you get the simplified fun-to-play flight simulation that beats every other sim there is in the scenery department. The photorealistic scenery is the one and biggest argument to try this title out.

Aerofly FS 2013 is a good idea as a present if somebody wants to get a taste of flightsimming but may be scared from the complex PMDG-stuff and complex installations like FS and Xplane, and the general difficulty of other sims. The basic physics are there, and the overall experience delivers. And I say again: despite the obvious limits in scope and the simplified handling of a cockpit, it is great fun to fly with this beauty around - it looks grrrreat.

Up and away! discover the Alps! Plenty of stuff to see there! They say flying is fun, so relax, and enjoy, and admire how simple it can be! This sim delivers the joy of flying better than many others.

P.S. You can start from around two dozen different airfields and airports around the country. Launch the program, and within 30 seconds you are in the air at the place of your choice, and with the plane of your choice. Airstreams can be visualised with streams of small arrows (the bigger package had a soaring plane included. Clouds and fog can be added.).

Video (many available) of the full package:


P.P.S. They say no need for a heavy gaming rig to get smooth frames. A patch has limited the frames to 60 now, to prevent the sim calculating frames that would not make a difference anyway. I have those 60 easily with maxed detail settings. I hear that people report extremely good frames with mid-range platforms, too.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Avionics: you check the six main instruments and the throttle settings, but no complex avionic handling, no radio, no traffic, no system depth.

One up for this over M$ Flight then.

Another one, support for TIR.

Another one, still going.

Edit: Steam release due soon.

[Skybird]

To make this one clear: this package does not compare to the quite advanced physics you find in for example the Realair Marchetti SF260 and other high quality addons for for FS, and it is no Carendo Chessna and No Digital Aviation Cheyenne, and it is also Condor Soaring or DCS A-10, no PMDG 737NGX either. The pedals for example produce more roll than pitch and feel more like using the stick's side-movement. Ther Hornet can go on afterburner forever and reaching hilarious speeds - forever. No fuel management. This is for fun, and for sightseeing, and for easy access, and for eye-candy. This - not more, not less, nothing different.

If you think that MS FS in principle doe snot deliver complexity and realism, you should try some of the addons I listed, Berbunch. There is a reason why since many years I have never used a default MS plane in FS, but spend money on buying addon stuff. Worlds apart.

[Herr-Berbunch]

MS FS in principle doe snot deliver complexity

Firstly, I'd like to point out that your keyboard has failed to deliver the correct space again.

Secondly, I was referring to Flight, not Flight Simulator! A distinct difference, I'm sure you'll agree?

However the similarities with Aerofly FS and Flight (not Simulator) are right there (at least to a bystander) -

Few aircraft (at this time).
Hawaii v Switzerland (about 4x greater area).
Basic instrumentation and handling.
Fun.

I was in no way slighting FSX addons, I have many paid-for addons myself including Switzerland Pro-X (a by-product of the days when I had money to burn! ), although I've never plumped for any PDMG offering, and that Swiss Pro-X is probably the reason I won't buy Aerofly FS in the foreseeable.

[Skybird]

Ooooh, Flight, yes - I already had cleaned that off the table of my mind...

Maybe Aerofly is kind of Flight, but if it is , then it is the better looking one.

My keyboard works technically fine, btw. The problem is the naked monkey sitting in front of it.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Aerofly FS is now available on Steam, and I considered watching for a Steam sale to maybe get it cheap, but then I read this -

FSX fans will find certain characteristics of Aerofly FS to be lacking. For example, the engine stays in “on status,” there are no switches that can be clicked in the cockpit, there are no landing lights, there are no navigation aids, and, while the weather can be modified, the maximum cloud coverage is 3/8.
In addition, it does not have any Artificial Intelligence aircraft so the airport seems a little empty. In fact, there's no ATC system at all. Pilots cannot start from a ramp, and there are no audio feedback triggers from adjusting flaps or the gear lever. Some flight dynamics are inaccurate. For example, spinning is not very accurate, nor is near stall.
There are no sloped runways, no rudder for turning, and no multiplayer gaming. As result of its weak areas, Aerofly FS is not considered a full substitute for more developed and entrenched flight simulators.

Maybe a couple of those things wouldn't be so bad, but all of them together rule it out for me. If Ikarus can sort them out then one day I'll reconsider, but until then I'll stick with what I've got.