I am often inspired by the real locations and weather I experience when I am on a real work trip. With ForeFlight by my side, it’s fun to test the realism of the sims and how they’re interpreting live weather worldwide. Both X-Plane 12 (XP12) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MSFS2020) do a pretty good job of keeping up with it and both have shown continual improvements. It seems each month the message forums are showcasing live weather questions, observations, frustrations, and praise. 

I feel the most accurate live weather award currently goes to MSFS2020 as most of the flights I take, with ForeFlight next to me, are startlingly accurate. The altimeter, visibility, and clouds are really spot on. Locations of rain or snow are pretty accurate too with virga and visual depictions often having me saying “wow.” 

I made my way westward recently from the East Coast to encounter winter spots. The first was a stop into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (KCLE) using a 787 Dreamliner. KCLE is known for lake-effect snow and this day didn’t disappoint. Snow bands were flowing west to east, and my flight session, down the ILS to an eventual autoland, took me right in the heart of it all.

Various moments from the cockpit view included bursts of snow whooshing past, some varying visibility, and not a lot of turbulence. Even as shown on ForeFlight, the snow showers ended east of the field near the city, allowing for an almost completely visual approach. As I got closer, some definite wind shear jibs and jabs made the wings bounce, something the 787 is famous for with its dampening, flexing wings.

Testing live weather was a success in this scenario. Let’s see the next one. 

I proceeded westward a few hours to the Dakotas and upon reaching there had some very windy weather and snowy bursts to contend with as well. I was using the amazing Learjet 35 I recently featured and it was a blast to feel this one out in surface winds gusting to 40 knots. The Learjet has enough fuel for about 1,500 nm tops, and in this case I traveled about 1,000 miles. I set out for a field in the North Dakota-eastern Montana area for fuel and aircraft change.

The somewhat higher elevations and wide-open areas with some gradual terrain will start making shear. The bumps were noticeable but not yet overly crazy. The wind flow over terrain effect within MSFS is remarkably accurate. 

For the next leg of the adventure, I chose the default Cessna Longitude bizjet, with more range and modern avionics to attempt a “visual” in horrendous weather, surrounded by dangerous terrain. Revelstoke, British Columbia, in Canada is spectacular as it gets, so I went to go check it out.

I vectored myself onto the arrival below the terrain. I would be landing on Runway 30 with the poor weather conditions, so I decided to use the modern technology at hand.

Following the 3D view with an eyesight-enhanced vision system on the Latitude, I could see right through the clouds and snow, down the river in virtual visual conditions. Now, I don’t think pilots with this avionics package do this yet, but I could see someday in the not too distant future the ability to just fly a visual approach in something horrendous.

I was led right down the shoot to the breakout point and runway in real visual conditions at a low altitude I would say was near ILS minimums.

In the real Challenger 300 I fly, similar to the Longitude, the reversers are so effective and rev up to such a high percentage, we don’t even touch the brakes until almost walking speed or something under 40 knots.

MSFS has great icing modeled with effects on performance. It doesn’t always come off cleanly, and sometimes even windows don’t get cleared very rapidly.

Continuing the adventure, I got into an A321neo (LatinVFR available on sim marketplace) for the rest of the journey westward. There is no better, more scenic place than Juneau, Alaska, and an unusual weather event was occurring at the time—clear skies! Alaska in winter is usually terrible with huge rain storms likely along the coast or wet snow blizzards. Apparently a cold snap following some heavy snows was occurring the day I tried this, and the built-in live weather matched the conditions almost to a T.

I have to stop somewhere, because the adventuring available in Alaska is endless. Maybe I’ll do this  again later this winter as there is so much to discover and tinker with. Setting up manual weather to something wild and dangerous is also fun, especially in mountainous regions. Using the variety of GA aircraft available in the sims opens up a whole new avenue of bush flying, where icing dangers are more noteworthy. 

As always, I have to link the “must-haves” as you fly: 

FS Realistic Pro for the best add-on ever made.

Sporty’s Pilot Shop for all the flight controls imaginable and an easy home setup.

ProDeskSim for the coolest affordable add-ons to the Honeycomb throttle quadrant that will leave you drooling. 

The post Testing Live Weather and Winter Wonders Along the Way appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

At this time, it’s available exclusively from its website. 

I had neither expected nor even heard of this release, though the company has been making fine add-ons for quite a while now for previous versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) and Prepar3d. So, I was slightly behind the power curve here, making it probably more exciting for me than others who already knew this was coming for MSFS2020. 

The corporate jet world is very limited in MSFS. The only true corporate jets of any reputable quality available are the stock Citation CJ4 and Longitude. Now, this Lear 35A truly brings a top-notch add-on to the mix. This was such a beauty I had to get this article out while it was still fresh and new. My initial flights have been easy and hassle-free. Due to its “early access” status, no manual comes with the product as of yet.

For me, a Challenger 300 captain, I believed I could figure this bird out without a problem. And for the most part, I have, from cold, dark start-ups to completing flights and learning as I go. It reminds me of the earlier days in my career flying Beechjets. Battery engine starts, fairly simple fuel management, and a pair of powerful reversers for stopping. Gimme a good pair of thrust reversers any day over the newfangled light jets that have none. Having only brakes to stop a jet is a bad idea in my mind, and maybe that’s one reason so many HondaJets, Phenoms, and CJs seem to have a lot of runway overshoots these days.

The flying and handling quality is fantastic, from what I can tell. I am not a Learjet expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it doesn’t have the easy-to-find flaws I have run into with many other aircraft add-ons over the years. The momentum, engine behavior, flying response and feedback, and maneuverability all seem in check with what I would expect of a real Learjet.

A lot of my praise comes from the fact that a team of real Learjet 35 pilots helped create this early masterpiece, so I feel I can ride with that in my positive evaluation. I am a big proponent of sounds and sound effects, and so far, this one doesn’t disappoint. I had to watch a few real Lear 35A videos on YouTube to compare, and I especially love the add-on’s internal engine spool-up sounds. Spot on! Reminds me of my Beechjet days when those engines had a beautiful harmonic hum on climbout.

One thing that’s missing is the sound of pressurization and air vents, which can be quite loud and fluctuate with the power settings. I hope that effect is added. Reverse thrust, while powerful, creates no noise. The real jet reverser is quite a loud roar. Luckily, FSRealistic solves the reverser noises. You can get FSRealistic at an online store, such as sim market, here. 

I am teaching myself the fuel system. It’s pretty self-explanatory with a great little iPad-type of device that shows systems, weather, weight and balance, etc. With all five tanks in operation and with the clever use of a few simple switches to keep fuel in the right places, you can go almost 2,000 nm. This is only if you’re very good with fuel flow and cruise Mach, as well as knowledgeable on how temperature aloft affects performance. I only see this long cruise happening above FL 400 with temps below ISA traveling at maybe Mach 0.75. Top speed seems to be Mach 0.80 (460 TAS), but you’ll eat up fuel and reduce range to far less. 

• READ MORE: Optimizing PC Performance for MSFS2020

Hand flying this little rocket proves that it is indeed that— a rocket. After a hefty pull on the yoke at VR (with no manual or speeds to reference, I guess, and trim her off when she’s ready…like 130 knots or so) and you’re off and running, 8,000 fpm is easy. Trim nose down to something more reasonable and pull power back to MCT or something less than takeoff power for noise abatement and engine safety. Reaching 4,000 fpm is easy now, flaps up and speed at 250 knots. Very maneuverable and fun to hand fly. Precise trim and balanced controls make this a dream.

After many fun takeoffs, landings, and touch and goes to get a feel for her, it sure feels like a barrel roll is in order. I know the Lear will do this in real life, and at least in sim, FAA inspectors can’t touch your virtual license. Landing the Learjet is straight forward, fun, and easy. It takes a little time getting used to the speed and angle-of-attack gauge if you’re not experienced in jet flying. Great landing quality, and realism is a delight. It’s not overly twitchy and works great with high-quality controls. For home use, I have been incorporating the Honeycomb Flight Controls starter pack (including yoke, pedals, and throttle quadrant), all via Sporty’s Pilot Shop. 

This is such a wonderful jet to fly. It’s one of the greatest I have ever gotten for any flight sim, period. That covers 40 years of this hobby, and the corporate jet realm is extremely limited. X-Plane has certainly offered more over the years, but we are long overdue for some love on the MSFS front, and this product certainly takes the lead. For about $40 you can grab this winner and join the evolving improvements constantly being brought forth by the dedicated team at Flysimware. I’d say this is a five out of five-star quality, even at this early stage. With a product this good, I really hope the company will make more corporate jets, especially the Challenger 300 I fly for real-life employment. 

The post Exploring the Flysimware Lear 35A for <i>MSFS2020</i> appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

1. Gulfstream G550: EC-37B Compass Call

You might do a double take when you see the Air Force’s next-generation electronic warfare jet, the EC-37B Compass Call. It is designed to replace the EC-130H, a variant of the Lockheed C-130 that the Air Force has used since 1982. In 2017, the Air Force announced it would partner with L3 Technologies to turn a Gulfstream G550 business jet into its new electronic attack aircraft. Like its predecessor, it would be equipped with systems capable of disrupting adversary command systems and doing things like counter-information operations. 

• READ MORE: Air Force Tests Military G550

However, using the G550 allows the Air Force to leverage the faster, more economical, and higher altitude performance profiles over the outgoing aircraft. The new platform will enter service in 2023 and use the Gulfstream Airborne Early Warning Aircraft (CAEW) radar system.

There will be 10 EC-37B Aircraft to replace the fleet of 14 EC-130H jets, and they will be delivered to the 55th Electronic Combat Group (ECG) at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

2.Bombardier Global Express 6000: E-11 BACN

Last week, Bombardier and its defense division announced that they delivered the first Global 6000 aircraft in special mission configuration to the U.S. Air Force. The company said the program was part of the Air Force battlefield airborne communications node (BACN) program at Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) in Massachusetts. Bombardier announced in June 2021 that the Air Force ordered six Global 6000 business jets worth $465 million in this special configuration, and this delivery was the first one. 

Last week, Bombardier president and CEO Éric Martel said that the defense sector was a “key pillar” to his company’s future as the airframes are well suited to house and operate complex mission equipment. The first mission-configured aircraft allowed the Air Force to reduce communication issues associated with incompatible systems, adverse terrain, and distance. Lt Col. Eric Inkenbrandt said in a statement that the “BACN increases interoperability which results in forces that execute faster, more reliably, and less risk to the warfighter. The delivery of 21-9045 is the pivotal first step to advancing the mission this program provides.” 

The Global 6000, dubbed as “Wi-Fi in the sky,” will serve as a high-altitude communications gateway, relaying or bridging voice and data between air and surface forces and handily surmounting traditional obstacles such as mountains, rough terrain, or distance. As part of the Air Force fleet, they will more properly be labeled as the E-11A fleet.

3. Gulfstream V & G550: C-37 A and C-37B 

When transporting VIP government personnel, the Air Force has relied upon a series of converted Gulfstream V and Gulfstream G550 jets as C-37A and C-37B, respectively. The Air Force has used the C-37A since 1998 and the C-37B since 2006 for special airlift missions for high-ranking government and Department of Defense officials. The entire active fleet consists of 13 models configured to transport up to 12 people. According to the Air Force, each one consists of a modern flight management system with a worldwide satellite-based GPS and comes in two variations. 

The C-37A and C-37B can operate between flight levels 410 and 510. They come equipped with enhanced weather radar, autopilot, an ultra-modern heads-up display for the pilot, and safety features that enhance vision. They also have commercial and military communication capabilities that allow them to switch between secure and non-secure voice and data. They are based across various stations for the Air Force, including Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

4. Beechcraft Super King Air and 1900 Series: C-12J Huron

Regarding utility, the Air Force sometimes uses a variant—the C-12J Huron—of the Beechcraft/Raytheon 1900C regional airliner developed from the Beechcraft Super King Air for hauling and more rugged missions. In the business world where customers use King Airs to get into more regional airports, the Air Force uses Huron’s multi-mission capabilities, including supporting light cargo movement, humanitarian assistance, Medevac missions, pilot training, and others. One pilot can operate the aircraft from either station based on the Air Force configuration.

The C-12J can carry 19 passengers or up to 3,500 pounds. The passenger door typically has an access door fitted to the port side. According to the Air Force, its C-12J fleet recently finished an extensive avionics upgrade and modernization program, which added three multi-function displays. The C-12J entered service for the Air Force in 1992, and today, four are being used: three at Yokota Air Base in Japan, and one at Holloman Air Force Base, in New Mexico.

5. Learjet 35A: C-21

The Learjet’s storied history also includes being used by the Air Force for passenger and cargo airlifts. Designated the C-21 platform by the Air Force, the defense arm also uses the Lear 35A for transporting one litter (or stretcher) or five ambulatory patients for aeromedical evacuation operations. With pod-mounted turbofan engines on the sides of the rear fuselage, the iconic swept-back wings, and single-slotted flaps, the workhorse of a business jet first launched commercially in 1973 and features prominently in Air Force missions. 

Deliveries to the Air Force first began in 1984. Through a series of consolidation efforts from the agency, only 19 active C-21A aircraft are now stationed between Scott Air Force Base in Illinois and Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The Air Force said it invested $38 million to upgrade all the avionics across the fleet to glass cockpits and meet 2020 global airspace requirements.

The post Five Bizjets That Have Been Successful Military Platforms appeared first on FLYING Magazine.