FSX Steam Edition: Hawker Hunter F.6/FGA.9 Add-On DLC

This was a lucky grab for me, I got it on some wild sale for just four bucks. Never saw that kind of price reduction here before or since. That said I feel like it is a steal on sale even if just half off. If you’re a big nostalgia slash haviation history buff then go with your gut. Everything seems to work on this plane. It has some nice cockpit modeling, and the exterior is very cool as well. No auto pilot, but this is the kind of plane that you want to be in full and constant control of. Does some pretty decent aerobatics but even at max speed doing a loop can be tricky. If you’re not itching perfectly you’ll either black out or stall. Stall recovery can be a bit stressful but doable. Trying to over perform can kill ya. Practice a bit and it’ll be real fun. It cruises rather nicely at subsonic speeds, in clear or fair weather. Windy or stormy weather adds a lot more challenge with keeping her steady. All in all a very nice classic from the early jet fighter era.

I'm missing several liveries in the DLC. E.g those of the Dutch Netherland Airforce and Swiss airforce?

From my experience, this aircraft takes a lot of dedication to master. The throttle is very slow to act, and it's very easy to stall after takeoff. The seating position is akward, with having to tilt you screen down each time you want to see the instruments, taking focus away from the outside. This aircraft has NO lights other than instrument lights, so get used to flying in the dark. Virtual cockpit button use is average, with a good amount of switches and buttons being togglable. If you're willing to put in the effort to tame it and get the blue note, I wouldn't recommend it.

Nice aircraft, but why is this add-on not complete?. In future Iwill buy my add-on's from Just Flight, then i will know i am getting the complete aircraft.

Still very much an FSX novice and at 70+ the learning process can be a bit slow, but I love flying this old friend of mine, which I had the privilege and pleasure to work on whilst in the RAF. I did my advanced technician training on the F6 in the 1960’s and later worked on the FGA9 in the late 1970’s whilst on loan to the Kuwait Air Force (ex 208 Sqn aircraft). I did ‘get some hours in’ in the T7 whilst in Kuwait. As I said I enjoy flying the F6 and FGA9 in FSX however, I do have a few issues with it. Most of them are cosmetic I guess, and I suppose that I am nit picking really but…………. The first thing that grips me on loading the aircraft is that it opens with the engine winding down; not a huge problem because I would want it stopped anyway but I would prefer it to load up static and then I can opt for Cold & Dark if that is what I want. Incidentally, if I select cold start then the powered flying control doll’s eyes should show white, regardless of the switch position, as there is no hydraulic pressure in the system; also the fuel pumps should be switched OFF. The first task once aboard is the cockpit left to right checks and we hit a problem straight away. Both of the emergency blow down bottle (U/C and Flap) are below the required pressure and the gauges are incorrectly scaled. They should both be graduated up to 30 (3000) whereas these are modelled to 20. Equally, the wheel brake accumulator is incorrectly scaled also – more on that later. Both the Radar and Cockpit Pressure test switches are selected to ON – wrong. As far as I recall they are spring loaded to OFF. The tailplane interconnect switch is to be found in the ON position and this would not be the case, it should be switched OFF on shut down and would only be selected to ON as required. Moving on, the accelerometer should be zeroed by the mechanic carrying out the flight servicing yet here the instrument is reading both recorded negative and positive G. The oxygen content is showing ¼ full, this would not be acceptable in the RAF, anything less than 3/8 would require a replenishment. The anti-g system pressure gauge reads zero so there’ll be a fair amount of ‘greying out’ going on. Externally, the positioning of the trolley acc when ground power is selected, directly beneath an air intake – no way – and strangely, when ground power is selected and the trolley acc connected you should get power in the aircraft from the ground power source if the battery master is turned off. The livery for the aircraft described as 208 Sqn has the wrong Squadron markings. I think that the black and white checkers is 43 Sqn. I love the sound of the canopy closing, very realistic as is the engine note. The movement of the undercarriage and flaps is perfectly reproduced and the external views are brilliant. On the functional side of things there are several things that bug me. Firstly, the throttle, which can not be moved back past the HP Cock closed detent to shut the engine down correctly, leaving the only way to shut down the closing of the LP cock. In reality this could pose problems on the next engine start. I mentioned the wheel brake accumulator as a cosmetic issue, but it doesn’t function correctly in a practical way either. The wheel brake accumulator base pressure of 750 psi should display on the gauge with no pressure in the hydraulic system but, as the engine winds up and the hydraulic pump starts to produce pressure then the gauge should reflect the pressure in the system, i.e. 2850 +150 /– 50. The tailplane interconnect does not – interconnect that is. When the tailplane interconnect is turned off there is, obviously, no connection between the elevator operation and the moving tailplane and the control functions in a conventional manner. However, if it is selected to ON then when the stick is moved in pitch the tailplane main electric actuator motors the tailplane in sympathy with the elevator movement. As the tailplane moves then the range of change should be indicated on the tailplane trim gauge i.e. the tailplane trim gauge should deflect to indicate that the tailplane is moving. From an external view, with the interconnect selected on the tailplane does not appear to move with pitch inputs and internally the trim gauge doesn’t move either. As I said earlier, the tailplane interconnect should be off on start up, checked for operation pre-flight, but OFF for take off. Likewise, the powered flying control switches should be OFF (dolls eye white) at start up and switched on during post start checks. The Cold Start option, based upon the observations above, has the cockpit incorrectly configured. The one issue that I can’t put right is the throttle/HP cock I do not recall, from my experiences in the cockpit of a T7, that the Hunter is a particularly unstable aircraft, but this model is scary on occasions. As I am a relative newcomer to FSX my weather is set to ‘fair’ which doesn’t preclude the introduction of the odd patch of minor turbulence here and there. One consistent area so affected is the approach to RAF Valley as you approach 14 for an ILS descent. This happens over the sea, shortly before arriving at landfall on Anglesey (I live on Anglesey and worked at Valley for several years). The Cessna 172 tackles this turbulence with a bumpy ride for a short time, the Beechcraft Baron barely misses a beat. In the Hunter, turning long finals at 11 miles, 3500ft, 250kts, 6750rpm, clean, I hit this turbulence and was almost instantly close to being inverted, certainly past the 90-degree mark, and struggled to regain straight and level. That can’t be right surely. I had a similar experience en route Valley to Belfast Aldergrove at 12,000ft but there was cu-nim and the odd flash of lightning about (weather experiment) so I am content that could have been realistic, but still took some time to regain control and straight and level flight. In summary, a great aircraft, well modelled but with, for me, some significant operational issues. I would really like to see the Cold Start cockpit format corrected, the throttle/HP cock issue resolved and electrical power in the cockpit when ground power is selected. Once airborne I would dearly like to use the tailplane in connected mode for its design purpose of improving manoeuvrability at high speed and mitigating the tendency to jack stall.