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Article Type: Review
Article Date: June 29, 2001
After installation, I was anxious to see how the aircraft looked in the game. They don’t look bad. There are two versions of what they call “Classic Navy”, and one civilian bird. Visually, they look good. I did notice some frame rate degradation while l was looking around the aircraft. The first Cat is the classic mid-to-late war blue, not the dark blue or the early tri-color scheme.
The second, which is called a PBY-5A, is actually painted as an OA-10, the Army version of the AC. It’s a medium gray with gold markings and numbers. The Cats themselves actually don’t look like PBY-5As, but more like PBY-6s. I only say this because of the tail configuration which was changed from the more rounded vertical stabilizer to a taller more square configuration on the –6.
The blisters and portholes are all see through as we’ve come to expect from the CFS2 and FS2000 birds. Armament appears to be visually correct with a single .50 in each blister and a pair of .30’s in the nose turret.
The control yoke is like you would see in a real PBY in that there is a bar that connects the two yokes between the pilots. Most of the buttons on this console work for some task or the other. Located on the dash just to the left of the slide bar is another button that will remove the control yoke from the screen if it is in the way. As mentioned above, located on the control yoke are various buttons that you can flip and try out. They are clearly marked and easy to find.
The light controls are there and yes, they work, right down to the landing lights and navigation lights. Located to the extreme right is a button for the windshield wipers. I know, “did he say windshield wipers?” Yes, I did. They work—two speeds, slow and fast. Now, at this point I thought “OK, this is pretty cool!” Then I attempted to look to my left expecting, or hoping, to see a cockpit frame, window and maybe the front of the engine nacelle. Sadly, I must report that no trace of any such structures were present; just the open air that you get, in say, the Dauntless, the TBF or some of the other birds that don’t have a modeled pit. There is no 3D view either. I thought that a professional company such as Abacus would include such important structural graphics details, but I guess making sure the wipers worked was more important.
Now this is important. Remember that checklist I mentioned earlier? Yeah, well, use it. Otherwise, you’ll get frustrated and just hit “E” for the auto-start. Be patient trying to take off also, she is slow, slightly under-powered and she’ll take most of a short strip to get enough gumption to get herself in the air. Force it, and you’re in for some trouble.
Landing is simple enough, both on land and water, but taking off again once you get in the water, well, lets just say, remember the checklist. I didn’t and wound up beaching her the hard way. Simply allow for a long take-off run, get her to about 50 knots, lift the floats, (there’s a button on the control yoke for them also) and let her build speed. Eventually you’ll be airborne again.
I guess the bird uses the default engine sounds you find in CFS2, so there’s no water splash sound when you touch down in the water, nor is there a wake. After shutting down the power, I could still hear the engine noise, and after looking around outside, sure enough, the props were still turning.
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Abacus's PBY Catalina
by Patrick "Gramps" ThriftArticle Type: Review
Article Date: June 29, 2001
A Legendary Aircraft
The Consolidated PBY was developed in the mid 1930s to meet the Navy’s need for a long range patrol bomber. The PBY (Patrol Bomber Consolidated) would eventually become one of the most famous aircraft of the second world war. Flying from bases around the world, the "Catalina," as it was called, performed more mission types than just patrol bomber. From search and rescue to strike missions, it served in most if not all theatres with distinction. It was a “Cat” that found the Bismarck as she made her run to port. Hundreds of aviators owe their lives to the search and rescue missions called “Dumbo”.  |
| Now you can fly the PBY-5 Catalina |
Hot Off the Shelves
The PBY Catalina is the subject of Abacus’s newest release for Combat Flight Simulator 2 (CFS2) and Flight Simulator 2000 (FS2000). The Cat was omitted from Microsoft's CFS2 as were all the amphibious craft. There have been several PBY add-ons released from the very talented community. I was, however, thinking that this would be a quality add-on. So with money in hand, I set out to the local Electronics Boutique and picked up the software as soon as it landed. The poor guy at the store hadn’t even pulled it out the box yet. So, $25.00 lighter and purchase secure, I went home and immediately loaded it. Now, although it is a nice addition to the game, I was not overly impressed. Why? Please, read on.Out of the Box
Upon loading the CD, you get a nice introduction that gives you a lot of good info on the PBY. There is a very nice gallery with twenty or so pictures of the Catalina and crews. Also included, in PDF format (Adobe Acrobat 6 included), is the pilot’s handbook for the airplane. There is a checklist, modified of course for the sim. Installation is a snap with an automatic installer for both CFS2 and FS2000. The program will install three birds for CFS2 and five versions for FS2000. “Why so many for FS?” was a question I asked myself. After some investigating, I found that for FS2000, it installs two for each of the Navy versions you get for CFS2 (one for amphibian, one normal runway ops). Installation takes all of 60 seconds.  |
| Navy blue PBY in flight |
After installation, I was anxious to see how the aircraft looked in the game. They don’t look bad. There are two versions of what they call “Classic Navy”, and one civilian bird. Visually, they look good. I did notice some frame rate degradation while l was looking around the aircraft. The first Cat is the classic mid-to-late war blue, not the dark blue or the early tri-color scheme.
The second, which is called a PBY-5A, is actually painted as an OA-10, the Army version of the AC. It’s a medium gray with gold markings and numbers. The Cats themselves actually don’t look like PBY-5As, but more like PBY-6s. I only say this because of the tail configuration which was changed from the more rounded vertical stabilizer to a taller more square configuration on the –6.
The blisters and portholes are all see through as we’ve come to expect from the CFS2 and FS2000 birds. Armament appears to be visually correct with a single .50 in each blister and a pair of .30’s in the nose turret.
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| Classic Navy? or Army version? |
Cockpit Pros and Cons
The cockpit was a source of satisfaction coupled with some frustrating “why’s”. The panel itself is well done. The gauges are laid out so that you have the same ones from both sides of the cockpit. There is a slide bar graphic in the middle of the dash that allows the pilot to move to the center of the console to the other pilot’s position.The control yoke is like you would see in a real PBY in that there is a bar that connects the two yokes between the pilots. Most of the buttons on this console work for some task or the other. Located on the dash just to the left of the slide bar is another button that will remove the control yoke from the screen if it is in the way. As mentioned above, located on the control yoke are various buttons that you can flip and try out. They are clearly marked and easy to find.
The light controls are there and yes, they work, right down to the landing lights and navigation lights. Located to the extreme right is a button for the windshield wipers. I know, “did he say windshield wipers?” Yes, I did. They work—two speeds, slow and fast. Now, at this point I thought “OK, this is pretty cool!” Then I attempted to look to my left expecting, or hoping, to see a cockpit frame, window and maybe the front of the engine nacelle. Sadly, I must report that no trace of any such structures were present; just the open air that you get, in say, the Dauntless, the TBF or some of the other birds that don’t have a modeled pit. There is no 3D view either. I thought that a professional company such as Abacus would include such important structural graphics details, but I guess making sure the wipers worked was more important.
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| Left-side pilot's view |
Flying Cats
Flying the Catalina is an interesting experience and, from reading about the bird, the flight model seems to be right on. She was never fast, having a top speed of just about 170 knots and a cruise speed of 120, and the add-on gets this right. Getting her off the deck is pretty straight forward once you get her cranked up.Now this is important. Remember that checklist I mentioned earlier? Yeah, well, use it. Otherwise, you’ll get frustrated and just hit “E” for the auto-start. Be patient trying to take off also, she is slow, slightly under-powered and she’ll take most of a short strip to get enough gumption to get herself in the air. Force it, and you’re in for some trouble.
Landing is simple enough, both on land and water, but taking off again once you get in the water, well, lets just say, remember the checklist. I didn’t and wound up beaching her the hard way. Simply allow for a long take-off run, get her to about 50 knots, lift the floats, (there’s a button on the control yoke for them also) and let her build speed. Eventually you’ll be airborne again.
I guess the bird uses the default engine sounds you find in CFS2, so there’s no water splash sound when you touch down in the water, nor is there a wake. After shutting down the power, I could still hear the engine noise, and after looking around outside, sure enough, the props were still turning.
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| Civilian version |
Conclusion
I guess some of my gripes are minor. I just feel that if I’m going to pay $25.00 for an add-on, I’d like a few more hard details and not so many bells and whistles. Some of the details are nice, but for the realism value, I’d like to be able to look out the port side of the bird and see the No. 1 engine turning and see the float come up as I push her toward take off. Bottom line, save your money, hit one of the many outstanding free add-on sites and spend a few minutes downloading a Cat and a panel and you’ll have the same thing. Oh, except maybe the wipers won’t work. Printer Friendly