Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)
The Quad City Challenger II is my first Bill Lyons payware add-on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0021.jpg
Avsim gave the Quad City Challenger II five stars and that's a head
scratcher. That would put it in the same class as the RealAir Spitfire and
the Dreamfleet Bonanza (which got only 4.5 stars). This add-on has nowhere
near the high polish of those offerings. But, it proves that Avsim's
reviewers are free to give any rating they like. Personally, I would have
given it four stars.
What's wrong with it? Just a few little things:
First, the engine sound file has a clanking in the background that sounds
like a bearing is going out. The visual model does not have the high polish
of a five star offering. It does not come with a 2-D panel so you can't
change the instruments. The instrument panel gauge bitmaps have ragged
edges:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/?action=view¤t=ChallegerII0035.jpg
( I've learned the photo of the girl taped to the panel is a Bill Lyons
signature. If you don't like her you can replace the bitmap with someone
else's picture.)
And lastly... the passenger named Jessica. Oh muh gawd! You can't get away
from her! As you move around in the outside view her head follows you.
Inside, if you turn around, there she is looking at you like the Bride of
Chucky:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0027.jpg
(Luckily I found you can tap the slash key and make her disappear.)
What's good? Well, a lot. It has the feel of a real aircraft which is a
subjective quality that not all add-ons have. It presents the jaded, bored
sim pilot with the challenge of a whole new world of VFR flight skills
because the only navigation device (other than the GPS) is a compass. If
you fly it realistically, which would be at low altitudes, you're better off
using a service station map with all the roads and lakes clearly marked than
a sectional chart. Trying to identify a lake from 1500 feet can be a real
challenge, "Now there's two peninsulas, and one bay leads up to the river...
Oh, the damn chart is upside-down." The bottom line is that it is a barrel
of fun to fly.
The view is spectacular and somehow Bill has managed to create the look of
the Plexiglas windscreen wobbling in the airflow, something I would had said
couldn't be done.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0003.jpg
It comes in three models, tricycle gear, amphibian and modern clipped wing
which has running lights and is considerably faster.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0001.jpg
Yeah... I say buy it if you want something new. For $12 bucks it's given me
a lot of fun. The purchase process is weird, you PayPal them then they send
you a download link via email. They were lightning fast and the whole
process was smooth.
Get it here:
http://windrfters.com/
Dallas
The Quad City Challenger II is my first Bill Lyons payware add-on.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0021.jpg
Avsim gave the Quad City Challenger II five stars and that's a head
scratcher. That would put it in the same class as the RealAir Spitfire and
the Dreamfleet Bonanza (which got only 4.5 stars). This add-on has nowhere
near the high polish of those offerings. But, it proves that Avsim's
reviewers are free to give any rating they like. Personally, I would have
given it four stars.
What's wrong with it? Just a few little things:
First, the engine sound file has a clanking in the background that sounds
like a bearing is going out. The visual model does not have the high polish
of a five star offering. It does not come with a 2-D panel so you can't
change the instruments. The instrument panel gauge bitmaps have ragged
edges:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/?action=view¤t=ChallegerII0035.jpg
( I've learned the photo of the girl taped to the panel is a Bill Lyons
signature. If you don't like her you can replace the bitmap with someone
else's picture.)
And lastly... the passenger named Jessica. Oh muh gawd! You can't get away
from her! As you move around in the outside view her head follows you.
Inside, if you turn around, there she is looking at you like the Bride of
Chucky:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0027.jpg
(Luckily I found you can tap the slash key and make her disappear.)
What's good? Well, a lot. It has the feel of a real aircraft which is a
subjective quality that not all add-ons have. It presents the jaded, bored
sim pilot with the challenge of a whole new world of VFR flight skills
because the only navigation device (other than the GPS) is a compass. If
you fly it realistically, which would be at low altitudes, you're better off
using a service station map with all the roads and lakes clearly marked than
a sectional chart. Trying to identify a lake from 1500 feet can be a real
challenge, "Now there's two peninsulas, and one bay leads up to the river...
Oh, the damn chart is upside-down." The bottom line is that it is a barrel
of fun to fly.
The view is spectacular and somehow Bill has managed to create the look of
the Plexiglas windscreen wobbling in the airflow, something I would had said
couldn't be done.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0003.jpg
It comes in three models, tricycle gear, amphibian and modern clipped wing
which has running lights and is considerably faster.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/Dallas52/Screenies/ChallegerII0001.jpg
Yeah... I say buy it if you want something new. For $12 bucks it's given me
a lot of fun. The purchase process is weird, you PayPal them then they send
you a download link via email. They were lightning fast and the whole
process was smooth.
Get it here:
http://windrfters.com/
Dallas
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