Aircraft: Gloster
Meteor T Mk7
File name: meteor_t7v1_0.zip (10.6MB) Download
here
Authors: Saverio Maurri & Rick Piper
Date Tested: June 21, 2004
Computer Specs
Processor: AMD Athlon XP2500 (2.0GHz)
Ram: 512MB PC2700
Graphics Card: 128MB ATI Radeon 9500 Pro
Test Pilot: Richie Barrett (RichieB31619@yahoo.com)
Do you fly for Real? No (well-not yet anyway)
Introduction: Well, I haven’t
done any reviews in quite some time because I
have been rather busy with college. This is the
second review I have done using my 100 point system;
the idea behind the system is to standardize my
reviews. Also, there has been a minor change in
the point system since my previous review. The
review is divided up into five categories and
the total amount of points available in each is
in parenthesis next to the title.
External Model (30pts): To me,
the most important aspect of any flight simulator
aircraft is the external model. When I go through
the libraries at various FS add-on sites, I always
judge new creations by the small picture that
is usually shown; more times than not, this decides
whether I download the plane. The same was true
for this beautiful Gloster Meteor. Once installed,
I happily discovered that the small screenshot
shown did not do it justice. This plane’s
model has everything today’s flight simmer
wants; it is an amazing detailed model that depicts
this plane perfectly. It has loads of moving parts
including rolling wheels, moving flaps, an opening
cockpit, and more. The Meteor’s model shows
a great mixture of designer skill, patience, and
attention to detail which allows this plane come
to life. I give this model 30 points out of 30!
Texturing (30pts): For any flight
simulator add-on, a great model is nothing without
great texturing. Unlike a lot of the more popular
add-on aircraft in recent years, this package
takes advantage of the multiple-texture capability
that is available in both FS2002 and FS2004. When
FS2002 originally came out, Microsoft gave its
aircraft the ability to have several textures
for the same model (this made repainters very
happy). The Gloster Meteor package takes full
advantage of this by including six different authentic
textures. With this package you can relive the
creation of an aviation legend by flying it in
prototype colors, help defend Great Britain following
WWII in an RAF Meteor, fly with the military of
a foreign country with an exported version of
the plane and more. Not only are there multiple
paint schemes to choose from, they are all done
very well. Overall the textures that come with
this plane are awesome and really make it worth
downloading. I feel that the texturing deserves
the full 30 out of 30 points!
Panel (15pts):
2D Panel (10pts): The panel included with this
aircraft is a very good one. All the gauges that
are needed and expected to be there are. It is
a very functional panel which includes some moving
parts, for example the flap lever moves up and
down for each setting (it can be moved with the
mouse). Not only is it a good functional panel,
it also has a very authentic appearance. There
are no modern type gauges of any kind, it appears
just like you would expect a late 1940s and 1950s
aircraft interior to look. I feel that the panel
fits the plane perfectly and as a result I award
it 10 out of 10 points!
DVC (5pts): One way that you
can tell a lot of extra time and effort has gone
into a plane is if it has “all the bells
and whistles” and in my opinion a Dynamic
Virtual Cockpit is the most important of these.
This aircraft comes with a very nice DVC. Although
the modeling for the virtual cockpit doesn’t
seem to be quite as amazing as the plane’s
exterior model, it has a very nice appearance
and is just as functional as the 2D panel. The
DVC provides a nice alternative to the standard
2D panel and gives the plane a more realistic
feel due to the 3D appearance. Its DVC is a nice
addition to a wonderful plane and I feel that
it deserves 4 out of 5 points.
Sounds (5pts): Unfortunately,
the one feature that this plane is really lacking
is a custom sound file. This is very common with
most add-ons but in my opinion really impacts
the quality of the plane. It comes set up with
the games stock Learjet sound which does a good
job but is not a custom file by any means. I feel
that the sound this plane comes with earns 2 points
out of 5 because they are not custom but do give
an authentic feel. But, the creator does recommend
a sound file for this plane. It must be downloaded
from www.flightsim.com and is about an 8MB file
but its well worth it. In the Meteor’s “readme”
file there is instructions how to find the sound
pack and the plane’s creator states that
“these sound almost spot on when compared
with videos that I have found.” Personally
I would definitely get these sounds for the plane,
they are much better than the Learjet sounds.
I have decided to give this plane two scores,
one with the custom sounds and one without, and
with the custom sounds I feel that it gets a 5
out of 5 for sounds!
Flight Characteristics (20pts):
Where Tested: Seattle, WA. USA
Duxford, UK
Tel Aviv, Israel (All FS2004)
Takeoff Characteristics: I found
this plane rather easy to get off the ground.
First of all, it does not need a really long runway
so it can be flown from many different air strips.
When talking off, I set the flaps to 33% and with
full brakes on throttled up completely. After
a few seconds the brakes were released and the
plane began to head down the runway picking up
speed relatively quickly. Once it reached about
135-140 knots, a gentle pull on the stick is all
it needed to get airborne.
In-flight Handling: While flying
this plane, the one thing I noticed the most was
how realistic it felt. Now, I will admit that
I am no expert on the Gloster Meteor but it handled
just like I would expect a plane from just after
WWII to handle. Although it’s a jet fighter,
it maneuvers very similarly to the propeller driven
planes that fought in the war. It’s not
lightning fast and it won’t turn on a dime
but it flies just like the aircraft of the time.
As a result I really enjoyed flying it because
for me there is nothing better than an accurate
historic aircraft.
Landing Characteristics: I found
this plane very easy to land and I was also surprised
that I didn’t need a very long runway to
get the plane down. When landing, I liked to come
in with about 66% flaps down and to touch down
at 150 knots or just slightly faster. Any slower,
and the plane felt like it was going to pancake
out.
Overall: I feel that the flight
characteristics of this plane are very accurate.
Also, it is not a difficult plane to handle in
anyway. I give the flight characteristics a 20
out of 20!
Rating without Sounds: 96% This
is a wonderful plane and I recommend downloading
it with or without the sound pack.
Rating with Sounds: 99% If you
decide to get the sound pack, you are making a
great plane even better! This has become one of
my favorite planes and I don’t see it leaving
my virtual hanger any time soon!
From the Writer: Thanks for
reading my review of the Gloster Meteor T Mk7.
If you have any comments about what I have said
about this plane please feel free to let me know,
I love to hear from people who read my reviews.
Also, if you enjoy this plane as much as I do
I recommend e-mailing the designers and letting
them know. The kind words of those who love their
work can really help inspire the designers to
make more aircraft of equal quality. Remember
it takes many long hours to create these wonderful
planes and they do it for free so if you love
their plane, let them know.
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