If, like me, you love to fly the Boeing 747 all over the world in FS2004, you are bound to want this add-on. After much hyped press releases over the last few months we finally saw the maiden flight of one of the A380 test aircraft. To say that the Airbus A380 is a much bigger aircraft than this former giant (747) is an understatement. With a length of 239ft, geometric wingspan of 261ft, a conservative passenger capacity of 550 with four 70,000 lb power-plants, the new behemoth of the skies boasts a range of 8000nm and a cruising speed of 0.89 mach, all of which put it ahead of the 747 by some margin.
So top marks to Abacus for such a fast release of this add-on. The A380 hasn’t even finished testing. As I have been following the progress of the A380 project from the start it was interesting and exciting to get my hands on this product.
The cockpit is very well done, and perfectly matches that of the official Airbus video, which I used as a reference. Having never been on the real thing it is difficult to say whether the cabin interior is to a similar standard of accuracy, and add to that the fact that interiors have not been fitted out yet, we do not actually have a reference to compare. So, the interior supplied on this add-on is a representation of how the real thing will look when it is complete, and is finely detailed and very convincing, even though only a portion of the cabin has been reproduced.
How does it fly? Three words: like a dream! With realism settings on FS2004 set to maximum with ultra-real flight dynamics, this aircraft is easier to fly than any of my add-on 747-400/200’s with realistic flight dynamics. My first flight in the A380 from Heathrow Gate 309 to New York JFK went flawlessly.
The virtual cockpit serves the task of flying this brute well, and all functions you should need to ever play with are present, including the joystick-style control found on new airbus models instead of the traditional stick. Thanks to the same cockpit layout, procedures and handling characteristics of other Airbus models, Sim pilots will be able to make the transition to the A380 from other Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft with minimal additional practice. Also, rightly included is the fully functional flight computer found on the real thing, which is pilot programmable should you wish to put your feet up in mid Atlantic. This is fully supported by an easy to understand manual, and support software.
Outside, the detail is again amazing to behold. The best reflection effects I have ever seen in Flight Simulator glisten on the outside paintwork, which features all of the liveries of the launch airlines in accurate and breathtaking reality. You can choose to change these as the mood takes you. You can even see the varying land and seascape change the reflection in the fuselage, and you are sure to notice the shining, rotating turbine fan cones in the detailed RR Trent engines. All vapour effects are present, exactly as you would expect, as are opening passenger doors and cargo hold. The massive wheel-sets and landing gear assemblies on this very large plane are a joy to behold, and of course, rotate exactly like the real thing.
The airlines featured on this add-on include: The two variations of Airbus’ house colours, Singapore Air (First for future delivery), Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic, Thai Airways, Quantas, China Southern, Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Enhanced scenery of Toulouse is also included in this pack, and this is appropriate since this is presently the testing home for the A380, and where its first flight started and finished. The scenery shows a noticeable improvement to detail and is a neat touch.
It sounds like I have nothing but praise for this add-on, but there are a few problems. One is that no matter what setting I adjusted, the air-traffic control (ATC) referred to the plane as merely a “380 experimental”. That may be the case now, but to make this add-on future proof, the proper airline/aircraft call sign should have been included. This perhaps could be addressed with a small download.
The other thing you may find as a problem is the sheer size of this aircraft, and although not a failing with the developers here, you will have difficulty steering the enormous beast between other parked aircraft. This is noticed especially when you have additional add-on software increasing your traffic levels to near reality as I had while testing this add-on. Of course this is also a problem for the real thing; whole airports will have to be remodelled to serve this enormous plane.
However, this software runs silky smooth with no glitches or jerkiness. On my machine I saw no degradation in frame rates, and actually obtained a stable 50 FPS, so most users should find that running this model would not reduce their current performance.
In short, if large passenger or cargo aircraft are your thing in FS2004 or FS2002, you will enjoy this add on in all its voluminous glory! And life span for the investment in this title will be long and fruitful, as the A380 has yet to take its first fare-paying passenger to the skies. Well done Abacus – yet another absolutely marvellous offering!
Reuben Glossop
