Captain Sim Legendary Boeing 707

The Captain Sim Legendry 707 package is in itself an flight simulation legend. Released back in 2004 it really was state of the art and still in 2007 it stands out as one of the all time great packages despite its problems, but why?It’s fair to say CS products are a mixed bag. First and foremost you do usually get a huge array of variants and/or liveries in Captain Sim’s distinctive photo look-alike style. The developer isn’t afraid to compress them either (also good because there’s usually so many…) so the aircraft have a distressed look to them. Captain Sim will also do the same to the cockpit, their 2D panels are some of the most in-depth on the market with masses of pop-ups and photo textures. The down side to all this has often been a distinct lack of performance. The package here and their 757 are well noted for being down right frame rate hogs so many people are left disappointed and with no hope of a refund.

Interestingly the Legendary 727 package is noted to have good performance and as the 707 package here is referred to as a re-hash of that why should you choose the 707?

Especially in the Captain Sim $5 dollar sale… was this truly worth £2.55?

Installation and Manuals

Purchase and installation is easy enough using Captain Sim’s PayPal checkout and installer. You’ll receive a key and download link in a confirmation email and the same will also appear in your Captain Sim online account. The account will also let you log in to access downloads and updates for your purchase. Installation itself is easy and has worked every time for me.

Documentation comes in the form of HTML page with useful links to support, downloads and the manuals.

There are two manuals in PDF format covering systems and operations. They cover a lot of the same ground but at 17 and 24 pages long they’re worth taking at least a skim through before starting a flight in the 707 for the first time.

The manuals are precise and to the point, they feature little in the way of colour so they’re easy to print if mundane to view. The operations manual is not dissimilar to a 24 page checklist and I wouldn’t say it was necessary to follow every time, just print a view pages for reference for your flights.

The systems manual covers all the 2D panel windows with numbered diagrams and a paragraph or so telling you what that panel is for and can do.

Exterior

There is no doubt this is a beautiful add-on. You can see in the screenshots the detail and smoothness of the modelling is superb. The textures feature many photo elements so the bare metal looks fantastic. The wings, engines and under carriage are all very finely crafted and the fuselage is smooth with high resolution clear textures. It’s a very very handsome aircraft in life and in sim.

The downside is that this exterior does push my computer, not to the extent where I’m losing frame rates but on the first outside load of textures and looking down in spot view I could tell the computer was really having to work hard.

There isn’t much in the way of eye candy on the CS model. You can open the cockpit side windows, doors and the like but there’s no stairs, ground activity or emergency slides as in their newer releases.

A part that really stands out in this model are the effects included. The landing lights are truly beautiful with a pleasant flare halo and look very real, I’m even using them on a number of different models. The strobe effect is also very good and optional are the smoke and fuel dump effects. These can take a bit of oomph from the graphics card (again odd when compared to other effects) but they’re worth it.

You can choose from 20 varients over 5 models including passenger 320B and Advanced, cargo, airforce one and E-3 radar plane. It’s a good selection but I found myself removing a lot because they take up a lot of space! I did keep the E-3 NATO plane in anniversary livery, it’s an art piece.

2D Panel

Simply, the fee for this download is worth it just for the panel it really is that good. You get a multitude of high resolution mainly photo looking pop-ups that cover every square inch. Instead of having pop-ups for the overhead or side views they’re actually windows with gauges, so you can use the num pad to look up and you’ll be looking at the overhead panel. It’s very simple and effective and it remains the only time I’ve seen this.

Instead of describing how it looks (take a look at the screenshots) and how it’s all animated when you hover (actually, enough said) just look at the screenshots.

Functionality wise it’s very good. I can’t imagine there being much more that could be simulated in the simulator. There is a lot of inactive but not static switches, so at least in theory you could pretend to follow full procedures. There’s enough here to keep your interest and give depth but not too much to scare you. You can be cold and dark and in the air within 5 minutes, but at least it wasn’t ctrl + e.

The screenshots show the eye candy of the optional side views and other extras include voice callouts. They’re not too interesting, there’s no checklists here but you do get a co-pilot calling ground for pushback, telling you the gear or flaps are up. The pushback is fun about twice but at least it can be turned off. An extra panel for announcements is also included for both steward and captain calls, so if you’re into that there’s no need for another download.

Virtual Cockpit

The VC is what I mean when I say ‘mixed bag’. It’s certainly quite good looking, the textures are all convincing, it’s clickable with a few 3D switches (remember this add-on is from a time when these weren’t exactly common) but it has sharp downfalls.

Firstly it’s very heavy. It doesn’t now hurt my frame rates too badly but it really makes the computer work hard, my computer is certainly the minimum spec I’d recommend if you plan on using the VC. The main reason is simply a lack of optimization. There is an extra 40MB of textures for the interior so it takes a lot of RAM. The gauges are 2D and the radio knobs feature full 360 degree movement – again a lot of RAM for all those bitmaps and lastly I can only think of poor optimization in modelling. It’s not a complicated cockpit by today’s standards but it inexplicably doesn’t perform like it should.

Secondly the gauge refresh rate is poor, the instruments can only be used for reference so you have to fly in good weather to use the VC, don’t expect any precision. This is because every virtual cockpit section in the panel.cfg halves the gauge refresh rate, and the maximum is only 18 a second (RPS). If you start using the panel.cfg to apply textures you’re slashing the RPS pointlessly. This is what’s happened here. Again this add-on was made at an experimental time but it’s a shame looking back on it and more a shame there hasn’t been an upgrade free or for a small fee.

Sounds

As you’d expect from a former high cost add-on it sounds superb inside and out. The noises range from the subtle vibrations and mechanical workings to the loud ear-splitting noise of those JT3D engines.

Aside from the standard sound set quality, I mentioned above about the cabin crew and cockpit voices. These are clear and concise but sound artificial and over acted.

Flying

It’s noted that the 707 was ‘a real pilots aircraft’ and I’d easily agree with that. Captain Sim have done a great job producing a fun aircraft that has characteristics not normally associated with an FS airliner. The roll rate is brisk for the size and vertically very stable but in turns you can really feel the weight. Overall while in the air you get a handful at first that soon becomes predictable and enjoyable.

The 707 was always underpowered but you can taxi without needing to touch the throttles – a touch missed in many add-ons. The engines will spool up slowly but once there the power can keep coming and coming, so while getting off that shorter runway can be nerve-racking once off you can easily power out and gain airspeed and steady climb rate.

Summary

2D Panel: 5/5

Virtual Cockpit: 2/5

Exterior: 4/5

Dynamics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Performance: 2/5

Value for Money: 4/5

Price: £8

Website: www.captainsim.com

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