And, finally, the Waco CG-4A. The Channel gliding club (EGDH) seemed a good place to start:
Waggled the rudder, and the C-47 takes up the slack:
Airborne! Just in time too, as the C-47 had run out of runway!:
Making the turn. Dover harbor is below:
At 3,000 ft, we part company:
Quietly adrift:
I wa not sure how far I could glide from 3,000 ft. The answer is - not far at all. A 500ft/min descent rate gave a steady 60 mph, but only 6 minutes of flight time, max. Time to choose a landing spot. Hmm - that farmers’ field looks good:
Now, I just have to avoid the power lines:
And I’m down. No problem at all:
See - not even a scratch!
[MSFS 2024 v1.6.34.0]
So, now that I’ve flown all of the aircraft in the Aviator Edition, a few quick observations and thoughts, primarily for new users to MSFS, or users thinking of purchasing the Aviator Upgrade package.
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First, these are not - and were not intended to be - study-level aircraft. If that is what you require, this package of aircraft is not a good choice.
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All these aircraft are ports from MSFS 2020. They are not native 2024 aircraft and so do not have any of the 2024-only features such as the interactive walkaround where one can check flaps, ailerons, etc.; remove chocks & covers, etc; or the 2024 pilot (your avatar) & co-pilots in the cockpit.
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These aircraft were built by various partners, and the quality of the graphics and systems varies. Some are very good, others on-par with most of the other aircraft that come with the three MSFS editions, and a few I’d categorize as below-par “FSX-quality” aircraft. However, considering that one gets 35 aircraft variants for $100 (for the Premium Deluxe to Aviator Upgrade), at ~$3 per aircraft, even these lower-quality aircraft are worth that for the way I fly.
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Although some aircraft have had updates since the release of MSFS 2024 in November 2024, in SU4 (v1.6.34.0) you will still find bugs of varying degrees in most aircraft. The most severe is this bug-logged bug with the Short SC7 Skyvan which makes the aircraft virtually unflyable. Another is this bug with the Douglas C-47 M5 Tow Plane Livery.
That said, all of the aircraft - with the exception of the Short SC7 Skyvan - can be flown, although you may find certain systems or functionalities do not work as expected. If you are primarily a “systems” flier, rather than a “visual” flier, you may find that some avionics do not work as you expect them to in aircraft that have those systems installed.