It looks like the Red Wing Goliath doesn’t have a thread yet so I figured I’d start one. Feel free to merge if I just missed an already existing one. https://redwing-copter.com/aircraft-f60-farman/
Yesterday whilst watching one of my go-to MSFS Youtube channels I found out about the vintage biplane passenger plane that is the Farman Goliath F.60 by Red Wing.
I immediately liked what I saw and bought it in the marketplace.
First impression: What a lovely, utterly quirky, and unique aeroplane this is! It feels unlike anything else that I’ve flown in the sim, looks both odd and beautiful at the same time, has great options and overall is very well rounded as far as third party aircraft go.
Good:
Very unique in style and feel
Very detailed and lots of functionality
Clipboard-style “EFB”
Great fun with some of the odd design choices of airplanes of that era. For instance, how about having throttles that move in the opposite direction of what you’re used to? If you need more throttle you’ll need to pull it towards you! For improved immersion I’d recommend setting up a new profile for your throttle where you reverse the throttle axes. Fighting your muscle memory will be a memorable experience. (Caveat: don’t do this if you’re a real life pilot. We wouldn’t want any accidents because of this, now would we?)
Open cockpit. Anything with an open cockpit gets instant approval from me
Innumerable small details that you’ll discover that are just so great. Gauges on the struts between the wings. A wind-powered airspeed indicator on the nose in front of the cockpit. A windmill behind the cockpit to provide electricity. Moving valve thingies (technical term) on the engine cylinders.
Period-correct passengers and copilot (or maybe just an enthusiastic passenger with a flight suit? Don’t know what his job is on board, he’s just sitting there and letting me do all the work.)
Failures and maintenance.
[Edit] Both engines perform noticeably differently. You know how engines in the sim sometimes feel like they’re on rails and always do precisely the same thing? Well this bird is different. I’m having to apply slightly different throttle and slightly different mixture to keep the same engine RPM. Also, during the magneto check the drop-off was different for each engine and each magneto. Lovely!
Not so good - all of these are subject to review as I’ve only done one flight yet and there may be some things that I’m doing wrong.
No VR cockpit focus. Especially combined with the position of the clipboard quite far away from the pilot this is a bit annoying. [Edit: I found out that there is an option to place the clipboard much closer. That partially remedies the lack of a VR cockpit focus. That said, VR cockpit focus is always a good idea and would be much appreciated if it gets added.
A weird sound bug with the engine noise. Every once in a while the engine sound will suddenly change for a few seconds before reverting back to normal. [Edit: the sound issue didn’t appear on the second flight. It might have been a one-off or it might have been related to what I was doing. Maybe I did something wrong.] [Edit 2: Sound is definitely a bit hit or miss on this aeroplane. Firstly the engine sound is a little bit on the annoying side. It may well be realistic but it doesn’t have the sort of “satisfying” sound that makes you turn up the volume on some planes. Also I did occasionally get some weird sound changes. If you’re an audiophile or the sounds are particularly important for your enjoyment of a plane then you should watch some videos first to see if it works for you.]
Couldn’t get the compass to move. Might be a bug, related to VR, or just me not finding some hidden button to release it or something. [Edit: the compass is still always pointing in the same direction. There definitely is some problem going on. It may very well have to do with one of my other mods though, just need to find out which one.]
There’s a bug with active pause. I switched on active pause to study the clipboard and after a short while I got an overspeed warning from the flight engineer. When I deactivated the pause the plane had accelerated into the red zone.
Overall I’m impressed and am having a lot of fun. Just wanted to share this with y’all, but now it’s time to jump back into the cockpit
Just wondering, are you able to use the Asobo avatars or are you stuck with the derpy guy that can be seen in the pictures from the Marketplace listing?
To be honest I don’t know. For some reason the pilot avatar almost never shows up in any plane in my sim. I believe I can see a pilot only in the Tiger Moth. But that said, I didn’t find any place where you could change to a default avatar I’m afraid.
Regarding the flight model I feel that it’s too early to give you a firm opinion. What I can say for sure is that it feels very different from any other plane I’ve flown. For instance, it feels much heavier (quite naturally since I almost exclusively fly small planes) and it is not super-stable longitudinally - the nose will keep drifting left or right after a turn. I’m putting this down to the size of the rudder - seriously, what were people thinking back then? How is such a tiny rudder supposed to do much of anything?
But crucially, every quirkiness in handling feels like it could plausibly be realistic. However, take this with a huge pinch of salt since I have no real-life flight experience.
Does it feel like a default plane? Not at all!
Does it feel good? Probably a matter of personal taste.
Does it feel realistic? Cannot say, but I’d say it’s very plausible.
Thanks for letting me know! I really want to get the plane, but not being able to use your preferred avatar is a dealbreaker for me =/ I guess i’ll try and reach out to them for some confirmation
Also, it’s really appreciated that you do videos of your impressions on these more niche planes \o/
That’s not my video! Credit for that goes to FlyingLiar on Youtube. But that’s where I found this plane and he’s good at picking more unusual choices!
I’ve found a setting where you can change the visibility of the pilot and of the mechanic from visible to invisible. But there wasn’t an option there to revert to default instead.
I really love these historical planes. Great someone is taking it on. Now we can have a look 1920s airline with Wal, Fokker VII and Junkers F13.
Also very interesting to see all of Redwing’s 1935 airports. I have Tempelhof and can really recommend you to pick it up.
I had fun last night with the Mail bag drop and pickup (you need one of the RedWing35 airfields for this to work… At $30 I was a little hesitant because it wasn’t an airplane that I knew anything about but, based on their Connie, I figured it was worth a try. I have to say I think it is well worth the asking price if you are interested in this period of aviation.
Just updated the original post with some more findings. I’m enjoying this plane and it has great potential. But there are some bugs that need to be worked out. I guess that’s just how Red Wing works and from what I’ve heard they massively improved their Connie, so I’m optimistic that this module will be improved as well.
I’d still warmly recommend it to everyone who likes vintage planes, with the caveats that I added to the original post.
Must admit their 30’s Tempelhof is very tempting, but I wish it wouldn’t remove Tegel - 30s Tempelhof is probably not too far removed from 40s Tempelhof, and Berlin Airlift era Tegel was a thing.
The plane itself looks interesting, and I think I’ll see how it develops. Being marketplace-only is a major minus point, though.
Looks like a tram with wings. I’m quite interested in this bird but it’ll have to wait a week or two until I can spare the money for it. Not a fan of it being marketplace only and unfortunately I don’t think they’ll sell it on other stores as their other ‘project 1935’ stuff is MP exclusive as well it seems. Ah well, I’ll just have to bite the bullet I suppose.
They have some more planes in development as well, mostly AI traffic it seems but from their webpage the Laté.28 is confirmed and maybe the Laté.631 and Bugatti 100P as well? Not sure. I got excited thinking they were also working on a flyable deHavilland Dragon but woe is me, it’s not going to be flyable. Shame as I’d love a vintage 1932 Dragon.
Ooh this is fun! Picked it up immediately, this kinda thing is up my alley. Only trouble I’m having so far is that pitch trim responds backwards, which is … eek
So far flying on the default “easy” mode is not too bad once you get used to that. The rudder authority feels weak; someone else noted the rudder looks a bit small for this size plane. But I was able to line up and land and such ok.
I love the look of this thing! Like a streetcar tram bolted into a giant biplane
Some interior textures are a little fuzzy but I have my texture resolution down at “medium” for VRAM reasons, so they may be better for others I dunno.
Thank you for your detailed review. I couldn’t find anything about the Goliath since its release and was a bit skeptical about spending 30 bucks on it.
Thanks to your post and Flyingliars video I bought it and it’s great! There are so many unique features.
I did a video with it (no talking), that will hopefully be up in a couple of hours. I hope this doesn’t come off as a shameful plug! But it might be another source for someone who is skeptical, like I was.
Bit of weirdness with the pilot visibility. He seems to only be visible in the drone camera. Nothing in the standard exterior mode. Changing out the motors is something I’ve not seen in any sim before. Blue smoke is because fuel mixture is too rich. Fake fire animation on engine start up is poorly done. Had a hard landing and lost the wheels! Very interested in other models that are planned for this aircraft. Perfect match for the 1930’s airdromes.
Only trouble I’m having so far is that pitch trim responds backwards, which is … eek 
But I was able to line up and land and such ok.
