New Release: ORBX Blackwing BW 635RG

New release from ORBX

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did you get it? what do you think?

i am concerned about getting “another” rotax 912 powered plane and even more concerned with orbx’s track record of patching stuff they have already produced (i’m looking at you PAC750 XSTOL).

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This is my kind of plane, but I’m not sure I see the difference between this and the Vertigo freeware in terms of performance.

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This one has a Rotax 915is with 141hp.
But yes: the previous Orbx planes weren’t very good. Let’s hope the collaboration with Blackwing has paid off.
Waiting for some reviews before buying

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The Vertigo is a little more over the top and pretty unrealistic in terms of performance. The Blackwing is a real plane

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Totally fair point!

There is a 915 engined version of the stock VL3 on Github ( which is a reail aircraft ). Actually I think there’s two now.

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Took a plunge and flew it. Be warned. There is no documentation that comes with the plane unless I missed something. No documentation promise in the description. It’s one powerful ultralight hat needs lots of rudder imput as it appears there’s no fuel cross-feed.

Since Orbx omits documentation and no specific support forum for this aircraft, I think I paid more than what it’s worth.

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Thanks for “taking one for the team”. How does it feel in the air? Does it have a nice flow, inertia, sense of weight?

How are landings? Controllable, satisfying or too easy-fied? I like the look of it but worries me when a release has had zero hype and just drops out of nowhere.

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The stroboscopic effect on the prop is hideous. In VR, that’s going to be a no go. I note that Orbx doesn’t appear to put much care into prop animations with their offerings. It’s like an afterthought or a “that’s good enough” for them scenario. Looks like an MSFS 2020 model with an FSX prop.

They should take note on how Carenado and a few other devs do props. It matters. If I am going to be looking through that prop the entire flight, appropriate effort should be invested by the dev to get the prop right, not just slap on a fake and cheap looking animation and call it a day.

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I am tempted by the Blackwing, but already have a number of similar planes. There is the default VL-3, which seems very close, and the highly regarded Sting S4. The Vans RV-10 and RV-14 are not too different either. So the question is, what makes the Blackwing special?

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not sure what you mean? What has the rudder to do with fuel crossfeed?

I bought it yesterday. It’s been made from plans and the devs worked with Blackwing to match RW data. Saying that it’s just about ok, in my opinion.

Works very well in VR indeed.

I hate the grubby fingerprints on the display screens. They’re awful. No doubt someone will mod it.

Also modified my joystick profile, which I didn’t want.

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I just watched Johnathan Becket’s first look video on the Blackwing. Modelling and texturing looks amazing. Earlier I watched a video of the real plane, and it looks really identical. Performance envelope of the plane makes it really interesting. Downsides seem to be default G3X, dark canopy tint, annoying reflections on the canopy and lack of documentation.

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There’s some documentation here:

Direct link:

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Ah, goood to see there is a user guide! I looked up the page this morning and think it was not there yet. I have just bought and downloaded the plane. Sitting on the ramp at Homer, AK to start her up …

Okay, after the first flight I have to say I like the plane. Did not have any reflection issues on the canopy, tint is okay for me. But the propeller visual is really annoying like Bananimal6685 said.

The sounds seem to be copied from the Asobo VL-3 (just like the Sting S4, which does have some additional sounds).

The manual is quite nice and explains the custom logic implemented for some of the switches (master, fuel pumps, lights, etc.).

So it seems to be quite similar to the Sting S4, with a better performance envelope (because it simulates a quicker plane), but none of the fancy Sting features like wear and tear and damage modelling.

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Thanks for the imps :smiling_imp: ← a real imp

I’ll add it to my “maybe one day” list :slight_smile:

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Hey everyone, sorry our manual was a day late getting out there - as @HoeMuffin pointed out it’s now available. Thanks for checking out the Blackwing; we’ll be taking feedback on board.

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