By lucky accident I stumbled across this yesterday:
As I already owned the Big Radials Nieuport 17 and am generally in love with vintage biplanes I immediately had a go at this new plane. A classic WW1 fighter plane and apparently soon outdated as it followed a manoeuvrability-first doctrine that couldn’t match more powerful, less manoeuvrable fighters.
Here’s my initial impressions:
- More refined in modelling and texturing compared with the BR Nieuport.
- Handles nicely - very manoeuvrable as expected. It’s too early to make a judgement call on which one feels better, this or the Nieuport 17.
- Pretty horrendous ground handling, but this seems to be quite correct for those ancient tail-draggers. Without a lot of wind over the rudder the tail won’t turn around no matter what you try. Depending on how you spawn you might need to push back or slew a little to avoid the trees.
- Quite simple in functionality, but that’s only natural as there really aren’t all that many systems or even gauges in this bird.
- If you enjoy having the air stream by at 100 kilometres per hour whilst sitting in a comfy wooden chair then this is a stylish way to do so
- Functional (as far as the sim allows) machine-gun if that’s your thing, but you can easily hide it as well.
- There is no in-game checklist and the manual is very limited. This is acknowledged by FSW and reflected by the low price.
So far the only thing I have found that I didn’t like is the compass that seems to turn in the wrong direction. I’ve dropped FSW a note so we’ll see what they tell me. Maybe it’s not a simple magnetic compass and thus behaves correctly, but it looks like a regular magnetic one to me.
There are a few minor gripes like the fact that all liveries have the same thumbnail, but nothing jumped out at me as being a deal-breaker.
Anyone else given this plane a try? What did you think?
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What do I think?. Well, it’s a direct P3D port. There is nothing good or bad about it, it’s just what it is and they are straight out honest about it and have always said it would be nothing new. So if a port is what you wnat, go for it, it’s not expensive at all. I haven’t tried it and I won’t but if anything Flysimware did in the past and have done in the MSFS present is any indication it’s certainly not a bad addon. Sure, don’t expect a correctly simulated rotary engine but usually FSW look at the details. Could totally be there is for example a blipper modelled. Given it’s FSW it’s certainly not a bad port, compared to what others have committed here.
A little addition to my previous post now that I’ve returned from my second flight. The Nieuport handles very nicely, it’s a joy to take her through the valleys just above the tree-tops. The engine sounds nice. It sputters and constantly threatens to cut out at any moment in that lovely “we just invented that internal combustion thingy but now how do we get it to work properly” kind of way that puts it squarely in the 1910’s. I cannot attest to realism, but it is a fun plane, that much is certain.
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When it was released as Beta-Version a few months ago, I did a video with it. It’s perfect if you want to do Mikael Carlson type aerobatics with it.
Since then, quite a few features have been added, like additional instruments, a foldable & more detailed windshield, a fuel barrel and couple of other things. A few areas around the cockpit have also been visually improved. But maybe the video can serve as a demonstration of the sound & flight model.
I think the 24 deserves more attention, it’s very nicely done and a lot of fun to throw around.
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Ha, your aerobatics are putting mine to shame. Yours look like you know what you’re doing. Mine look like a drunken brown bear with a nervous tick is randomly throwing the controls in random directions…
There are indeed some changes in the cockpit. The one that stands out most (because it’s right in front of my eyes) are a pair of small locking pins for the windscreen.
Hopefully others will give this plane a try! To me it doesn’t feel like a port, except in how limited the documentation is. The flight model doesn’t feel default at all so I’m sure some work has been put in there.
Do you have FS Realistic as well or is that strong wind noise actually part of the plane? I quite like it.
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Haha that’s very kind of you =) But I’ve just spend too much time trying to do aerobatics in Rise of Flight without crashing 
Yes, I think it looks much better now then at the time of the video. I used to have it in FSX and since then a lot of work went into it. It looks better and from memory also flies and sounds nicer. It definitely isn’t a 1 to 1 port over.
No, I haven’t got FS Realistic, the wind noise is part of the plane. The sounds in general are fantastic, the rotary engine sounds exactly as it should and with the wind noise you don’t need an airspeed indicator, you just go by the sound =)
I also hope others will try it out. I was a bit surprised it didn’t get more attention, especially considering the success of the Widgeon and 414.
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speaking from xbox side, we have few pre 1920s aircraft options. hope this makes it over to the dark side
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One of the big things that put me off the BR Nieuport 17 was the lack of flight modelling with regards to the rotary engine. Even though it was depicted as such, the flight modelling was trying to represent the replica aircraft in the UK with a radial engine.
Flying an aircraft with 120hp with the entire crankcase and its attached cylinders rotating, would certainly be the fun of flying these particular type of aircraft. I’m not sure however how well MSFS is able to replicate rotary engines and their unique effects on the aircraft.
However the Great War is very underrepresented in the sim, so it is nice to see more aircraft from that era.
I wouldn’t say the FSW Nieuport is modelling the engine entirely correctly either. For instance I’m not experiencing much torque, not as much as I’d expect from a rotary engine. With that said though the Nieuport 24 feels just right, if maybe a bit overpowered if I’d hazard a guess.
Aside from the flight model the single greatest feature of this plane is the sound. I’d give it a clear 10 out of 10. The way the engine sound changes from puttering and puffing to running smoothly, how it cuts out when pulling negative G’s, how you can tell how fast you are going simply by the wind noise. Just superb.
BTW I’ve been given to understand that the compass issue I mentioned in my original post is going to be fixed in a future update, so that’s great news!
With a few more hours behind the stick I feel confident in recommending the Nieuport 24 to anyone who likes vintage airplanes. It is immersive, fun, incredibly nimble, and has one of the best soundscapes in the game. There are some inaccuracies like the thing with the compass, but those are either going to be fixed or are not a deal breaker for me.
The only real downside for me is that every minute I’m flying the Nieuport, I can’t fly my beloved Moth. And every minute I fly the Moth, I can’t fly the Nieuport. First world problems, eh?
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Thank you for the review. I miss a WW1 fighter plane. I have to decide between the Nieuport 17 or 24 hahaha. I am out for 4 days holliday now. So, time to think haha.
I’ve got all of Big Radials’ planes and like them all, some of them very much! But to be honest the BR Nieuport really has nothing where it is better than the FSW Nieuport. The Nieuport 24 looks better (in most regards anyway), flies as well, and sounds WAY better to the point that there’s not even a contest. So, completely unbiased as I am 
, I’d say go for the FSW and buy BR’s other planes instead which all lie somewhere between very good and utterly excellent.
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Thank you for your good advice Hayray79. I think I will go for the Nieuport 24 so. Because on old birds better the sound is, more fun it is…
Do you have test if the blip switch work? Because when I have tried the freeware Fokker dr.1, on landing I was cutting the engine with the mixture to help me slow down and push mixture full just before engine totally cut out… I was good surprise when I have learn that they had a switch to do that irl, I want tho try it in the sim…
I will probably fly it in one or two week, I will post here my review.
The blip switch works but I’m not sure if I’m using it correctly. When I use it the engine cuts out and doesn’t reliably come back to life when I blip it back on. Most of the time it works, but not if the plane is already too slow. So if the idea is to help with landing, I don’t know if it’s correct that you’ll sit on the runway with a dead engine. In the Nieuport 17 the dip switch works reliably, but in return the effect is smaller.
Though I have to say that blip switch or not, I’m not having much problem putting either of them on the runway. The problem comes after that - it’s really easy to tip the plane over the side. With practice though I’ve been getting much better and eventually I should be able to master it.
Ok thank you so much for your explanations. Seems to be challenging I like it. I look forward to try it!
Finally I have chose the 17 because it is less powerful
Hehe, that is an argument I can get behind! I too usually prefer less powerful planes. Hope you’ll have a lot of fun with this cute bird!
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Is this one of the better WW1 plane add ons? Theres only a few unfortunately.
Well it is for now my favourite. Nothing wrong with the Nieuport 17 either and the 24 also has some minor issues, but as an overall package the 24 is quite nice especially at the price point. If you’re an audiophile I’d say it’s easily the better of the two, otherwise the two are more closely matched.
Hi,
How do I hide or show the weapons?
Piet de Geus
You do that via the clipboard next to your seat somewhere (can’t remember which side, sorry!) You click onto the symbol that looks like a Vickers machinegun.
Edit: if you’ve bought it on the marketplace you won’t be able to show the weapon though, as per Microsoft’s policy.
