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Richie Barrett reviews Gloster Meteor T7 203 AFS Package..

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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