Quasar (Frying Fries) review

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As the designer noted - this is not a toy. Unfortunately all youtube videos use it as a toy. Flying fast as possible, up in space, reaching millions of feet. It does not belong up there. msfs is based on aerodynamics with airflow and air pressure. Quasar behavior seems it is full of serious bugs and unplayable. It is not.

Respect cruise speed at 130 000 ft Mach 7.8 , and max Mach 3 at lower altitude.

Quasar is truly Science Fiction. Science as it is based well known technology use today. Hydrogen as fuel. Extract hydrogen from air/moisture. Nuclear energy to provide enough electrical power for this process. Still Fiction , but designers but a lot of effort to make it plausible. I am not sure about aerodynamic design - but with enough power a table will fly. I accept it, but main gear seems to be too back and close to flight surfaces to generate rotation at TO. But with Vr at 350 knots anything goes.

Initial view setup is crucial for Garmin screens. Reaching zoom knob on left screen while watching map on right screen is important. Fortunately Chaseplane camera (ms2020) helps.

All youtube guys hand fly - this is extremely difficult. Using Garmin 3000 and autopilot, you really need experience to use it, but is mandatory for a satisfactory flight from A to B .

Setup - do not use preselect altitude. Set HDG to rwy heading and activate. Set VS to approx + 6000 ft/min.

After TO engage AP. Turn HDG to intercept magenta GPS line. Keep speed around Mach 2 - higher and turn radius will be larger than Texas.

Enjoy the flight and be patient while climbing. Check Mach number on lower left panel, and respect Mach limitations at different altitudes. Plane start to shake and wobble; Disconnect AP , trim reduce speed and connect AP again. - At 100 000 ft AP may struggle with reverse controls. Disconnect and trim as necessary (no stick input) for a level flight.

Go outside and enjoy the heat glow created by hypersonic speed.

Be patient when descending. Use VS and watch your speed. I aim for 40 000 ft at Mach 2.5 as initial normal flight.

Now select a STAR or approach as normal. Preselect VNAV . Garmin my struggle with TOD - when active, use advisory ft/min on VNAV page, and set VS accordingly

Not be surprised when 40 min flight is increased by 1 hour due to wide turns. Use speedbrake to drop speed below Mach 1 for a better turn radius.

Approach - turn off electrolizers to stop hydrogen production - you need to burn off fuel from tanks to make the ship as light as possible.

Final approach (faf) - shut down engine 2 and 3 . When stable reduce speed to 250 knots and deploy speedbrakes when passing fence.

Note to designers: Quasar seriously needs a huge dragchute with auto deploy at touchdown.

Thanks..

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Thanks for this much needed review - crazy how people don’t realize how much this aircraft offers or what is needed to fly it correctly.

I’m enjoying learning this just like any other new aircraft - thanks also for the pointers.

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My videos at Facebook. Enjoy

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As you can probably guess from the o/p, this one is surprisingly tricky to fly. Besides what’s already been mentioned, there’s also the matter of aerodynamics above 130k if you choose to go there. As in, there really aren’t any. As Lord Frites says, at that point, it’s more ballistic than aerodynamic. You can get some stupidly fast speeds up there, though - just expect a lot of twitchy control issues. (IRL, a spaceplane would be using gas thrusters instead of aero surfaces at that altitude…)

It’s also just really cool. I haven’t found the fries yet, though.

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I think the drag chute is an excellent idea.

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My cruise altitude is now fl 77.
Once stabilized on GPS magenta line with VS + 6000 ft/min , you may need a gently push of AB a couple of minutes (switch on pedestal). From fl 60 and I reduce slowly VS until ALT hold .

Now at idle speed increase to above Mach 5.

Descending from fl 77 to fl 40 takes time (10 - 15 minutes) - and distance goes extremely fast. I always overshoot destination by at least 40 nm.

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Maybe combine with aerodynamic braking. High AOA roll out F-16 is mandatory.

Placing drag chute behind cockpit may help to rise nose for aerodynamic braking?

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Thanks for the review! :slightly_smiling_face:

You’re right, some Youtubers are doing it wrong. But luckily, not all of them!

And the reason behind these few in-depth reviews is that they all had the time to make them.

There is so much content coming out on Flight Simulator every week, that trying to review all the new products means you don’t have the time to really study any of them. And if, like the Quasar, you face something really original that flies like nothing else, this exercise becomes really difficult for the content creators and it can lead to videos drawing a wrong picture of the add-on.

While developing the Quasar, we had two options:

  • Creating something “reasonable” that everyone can understand and master quickly, so no one complains, the reviews are all clear and positive.

  • Or seeing how far we could push the limits of the sim, knowing that many people would not understand why it doesn’t fly like a military jet, and they would blame the add-on instead of reading the user manual or the in-game checklists and flying it the way it’s supposed to be.

Of course, being a really bad businessman, I chose the second option: Let’s do something crazy!

  • YT reviews are a bit off?
  • Marketplace rating is worst than some objectively aweful add-ons?
  • I’m being asked to add a dragchute every two days? :smirking_face:
  • …

I still think this was the right choice.

We brought something unique. Something that requires effort, and that is definitely not for everyone.

But the people to which this Quasar talks to, really fall in love with it. And I’m certainly proud of this.

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This aircraft is very intriguing to me

Can anyone confirm if the autopilot works?

I just wanna fly at about FL600 @ 500-800kts and have it follow the megenta line on the map.

I’m aware that the speeds may effect heading turns, but I haven’t seen a video with anyone using autopilot and the map. So far just point and shoot but I’d love to fly it like an airliner just at FL600 lol

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The autopilot works perfectly well, until Mach 2 and 50,000 / 60,000 ft. No problem following a NAV, a VOR, or an ILS (LOC + Glideslope) :slight_smile:

And a friend told me he was able to sustain Mach 7.8, at 120,000 feet with the autopilot, using only 2 engines. I haven’t validated that, I suppose it could work in straight line if you don’t want to change altitude too often.

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I am not sure if reverse roll at hyper speed is a bug or not.

Enjoy while learning - stay away from announced cruise at fl 130 Mach 7.8 with reverse roll really makes you sweat - until learned how to fly stable hyper sonic.

You really get speed blind - Concorde speed Mach 2 . SR71 Mach 3. Imagine banking a Concorde into iaf waypoint at Mach 2. It is impossible. You have to fly last part of a flight as any other jet . Mach .7 - approx 450 knots

A relaxing flight with Quasar AP engaged is between 60 000 ft and 80 000 ft at around Mach 3 to Mach 5. That is faster than SR71 folks.

Be aware it really eats up miles descending from fl 70 down to under fl 40. - Air density that slow you down starts under fl 30.

Be very patient. Climbing up to desired altitude with VS +6000 - you need to roll back gently through VS +3000 and down to under VS +1000 as you reach desired altitude. The same when descending. But of course this will change with experience - this is based on my experience so far, while learning…..

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that is the sweet spot for me now - 60 000 to 80 000 ft at Mach 2.5 to Mach 4.

Be sure to be stabilized on magenta line. You fly straight ahead. If you start to wobble - disconnect AP. Throttle back and re engage AP.

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Could the reverse roll effect be generated by thrust vectors? As it stable with 2 engines?

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The reverse roll is due to the “auto ailerons trim”.

  • At low altitude + high speed : it adds trim in the same direction as your ailerons to INCREASE your roll rate.
  • At high altitude, it adds NEGATIVE trim relative to your ailerons input, to DECREASE your roll rate.

There are several key settings and their transitions are all smoothed across altitude and speed.

Above 95,000 ft, if you don’t fly fast enough, this auto trim can cause “inverted ailerons behavior”. I know, this is annoying. You can disable the auto trim when this happens: toggle switch AFT the flight stick.

For a future update (1.1 or 1.2) we will rethink this auto aileron trim completely and try to add auto elevator trim as well.

15

I think a chute on landing would be beneficial because it would open up more opportunities and airports for landing. Currently only the longest runways in the world can accomodate the Quasar, which limits its use somewhat. A chute would shorten the required runway length, therefore more airports could be flown to. Even the space shuttle had one. :slight_smile: Other than that, I love seeing what this add-on can do, easily the best fictional aircraft in the simulator.

16

Great - thanks.

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I tried aerodynamic braking. No high alpha. But I feel elevator deflection added some braking.

Designer could try some spoiler effect (at touchdown) Upper winglets points down at 45 deg. Lower winglets points up 45 deg. This should create some massive turbulence between them.

. - Remember to turn off fuel production ca 15 minutes before landing. Burn fuel from tanks for reduced weight . Cut engine 2 and 3 prior to landing - I am not fan of the engine auto shut down system.

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lol at this comment after reading Lord’s comments a few posts up.

I think he was being conservative when he said he was being asked for this every 2 days. :rofl:

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Yes, conservative is the word :smiley: