bob@allosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu (Bob Sutterfield) (12/22/88)
(To rec.aviation folks: this is a branch of an ongoing discussion of the first few NeXT boxes that have made it into users' hands.) In article <29866@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> jgreely@fish.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) writes: >In article <19728@ames.arc.nasa.gov> mike@ames.arc.nasa.gov.UUCP (Mike Smithwick) writes: >>There is a flight simulator that comes with the box. It's called >>"Stealth", and makes very nice use of NextStep. The performance >>can't match Interceptor, or the other high-speed Amiga programs. [btw, Mike, that ".UUCP" at the end of your address is very wrong.] >Our licensed pilot played with it for a while, and I'm sure he'll be >able to give a better impression of this than I can. Bob? I've never used any other micro-based flight simulators, so I can't offer comparisons. This is the result of about 20 minutes playing with NeXT's when J would let me at it. The primary flight instruments are in an odd, non-standard arrangement. There's no turn coordinator (which may be OK because there are no rudder controls either :-), Nav 1's tuning controls are jumpy and uncontrollable, and Nav2 tunes upward-only. The facilities and frequencies are available to make ILS and/or VOR approaches to three different fields and an aircraft carrier, but I couldn't figure out which little black speck on the terrain was which. Also, I couldn't find any documentation for the approach aids, so I'm not sure where they were located relative to which airport. The simulation of a Cherokee 180's performance is inaccurate - what 180 will climb indefinitely at 1800fpm, at 100kts and 2000rpm? The control responses were pretty grainy, with a considerable lag, so it was hard to set up a level flight attitude, let alone a correct descent down the glideslope. I think I noticed a bit of left-turning tendancy at liftoff rotation time, which would be good if it were actually there, and even better if I had had rudder control to correct for it. I don't know if this is a standard feature of micro flight simulators, but I got a kick out of the controllable weather. I set "cloud height" to 0, and the runway disappeared shortly after liftoff. Then, while cruising along looking for an ILS approach beam, I reached over and "lifted the curtain" to see if I was in the right neighborhood. Oh, if only it were so easy in real life :-)