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AVSIM Commercial Aircraft Review

MAAM TBM/TBF Avenger Pack

Product Information

Publisher: Mid-Atlantic Air Museum

Description: WWII Add-on.

Download Size: 110 MB (FSX)

Format: Download

Simulation Type: FSX & FS9

Reviewed by: Chris Kiehl AVSIM Contributing Staff Reviewer - May 14, 2008

file:///E|/AVSIM/Reviews/Avenger/Avenger.htm (1 of 12)14/07/2008 7:08:23 PM

http://www.maam.org/

mailto:[email protected]


Introduction:

During the late 1930's, a slew of new military aircraft developments were being conducted. One particular area was naval aircraft, and more specifically, torpedo aircraft. The United States already had a reasonably useful torpedo bomber in the form of the Douglas TBD Devastator. However, this aircraft was somewhat limited, and was obsolete before the onset of World War II. Grumman, being the excellent naval aircraft company that it was, took on the challenge in the hopes of securing the government contract.

Leroy Grumman designed the XTBF-1, or what was to become the TBF Avenger, and the heaviest single engine aircraft of World War II. The Avenger has several unique design features including the rear facing dorsal and ventral turrets, a large torpedo bay, and a three man crew. The Avenger would move on to become a very effective anti-shipping and even an anti-submarine aircraft, successfully preventing many U-boat attacks in the Atlantic.

The Avenger's record was not spotless, taking losses somewhat frequently. However, the Avenger did accomplish its design objective quite well, and definitely assisted throughout many naval battles. It is relatively famous for being primarily responsible for sinking the Japanese "Super Battleships" Yamato & Musashi, and even a young George H. W. Bush earned a distinguished flying cross for his service flying an Avenger.

Mid Atlantic Air Museum and this plane accurately and beautifully capture one of my favorite aircraft, theatres, and 'eras' of WWII; the Pacific. I simply love flying this plane over the deep blue waters of this theatre, letting my imagination run wild. I'm sure you will, too.

Installation & Documentation:

The installation itself is very straightforward, simply run the unzipped .exe file. It installs the entire package, minus the large manual, to the directory of your choice.

The documentation is extremely limited. However, MAAM has made it possible to download the extraordinarily large and detailed manual from their website. This manual includes every little detail one could ask for; detailed charts, visualizations for every virtual area of the aircraft, and detailed instructions for many different regimes of flight and 'missions', like carrier operations. However, you must add the Carrier scenery to Flightsim via the Scenery Library add function.



You will be impressed with MAAM's attention to detail in the documentation area. I can't say more, because the manual itself is so in-depth and lengthy. I'll let some of my shots do some of the talking.

Aircraft:

The external model of this ship is as expected from MAAM's development team. In one word, stunning. I can't believe how accurately all the lines of the Avenger have been captured, but it's been done. A few different model variations with several included paints are only the beginning and can be seen below.



As you can see, you get quite a few different aircraft and paint variations to choose from.

The attention to detail of the ship itself is remarkable. One thing I always look for is a nicely detailed radial engine, and it's absolutely here. The propeller and prop mechanism are nicely detailed, and when static, the propeller's adjusting pitch can be seen. The textures and rivet lines are quite sharp, even on the non-photoreal texture versions. Speaking of photoreal, also included is a spectacular rendition of MAAM's actual Avenger. The photoreal textures on this aircraft are, in one word, unbelievable.



All regular and expected animations are included, and even a few unexpected 'extra' animations are included like a droppable torpedo. The regulars are very well done of course, and include great suspension modeling, flaps, and control surfaces. A realistically modeled fully castoring tail wheel is included, provided you wish to make the aircraft.cfg change, and that's something I love with any well done tail dragger.

However, more of the 'extra' animations are quite neat and fun. Custom dust and detailed startup smoke effects are included; I really like the startup effect with a lot of smoke just billowing out for about 10 seconds. When taxiing on dirt, your Avenger will leave tracks and kick up a bit of dust.

Another neat little animation I have noticed, is when you open one or both of the main canopy windows with the engine running, you can actually see the pilot's sleeves fluttering in the prop wash. It is a small detail, but every little detail counts. Additionally, you can also change the pilot helmet, with a small switch in the VC, from a more modern helmet to a traditional WWII helmet. Yet another small but neat effect, is the pale blue exhaust flame visible at high engine power settings. All of these little details come together to truly immerse you.



Now, for the big part: The Torpedo drop. This is quite a fun part of the package for me, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it greatly, too. It takes reading the manual to figure it out, but the directions are very concise and get you ready to fight in the Pacific. The aircraft must be on the ground with the parking brake on, though it can be running or shut down. You'll then need to follow some simple arming panel instructions, and you should see a torpedo in the torpedo bay. There are actual safeties that won't allow the torpedo to drop, such as the master arm switch. I thought that was a neat addition, as you can't accidentally drop your torpedo before you're really ready to.

I wouldn't actually do it... Just a little target sloop. No really, you'll find that the torpedo drop can add a lot of extra fun. Just let your imagination take off here.

2D Panels:

This aircraft comes full of 2D panel options and many sub-panels. If you enjoy good 2D panels, this is the ship for you. Several variations of the main panel itself are included, like a lowered hood "landing" 2D panel version, a regular 2D panel, and a "full" 2D panel. The 'star' of the package, the actual MAAM TBM-3 Photoreal has a slightly different 2D panel, which is a bit more modernized.



Three nice, and very different 2D panel variations to keep you entertained.

Also, many sub-panels are included. These sub-panels look remarkably detailed and realistic, because they are photoreal and taken right out of the real Avenger that MAAM has restored. It's quite a trip into history, as you will be looking at real representations of the portions of the cockpit. Here is a shot of all additional 2D sub-panels, opened in one shot.

All Sub-panels are actual photoreal representations, in one form or another. I am impressed here.

Virtual Cockpit:

Once again, MAAM has managed to highly impress me here. The Virtual Cockpit is near seamless in its representation, with nearly every switch, knob, and lever being clickable. Not to mention the amazing detail included in everything, I just feel like I'm sitting in their Avenger when I 'climb' into this ship. As with the 2D panels, the MAAM TBM-3 photoreal does also have a slightly modernized VC, and it's a nice change if you don't love the older World War II panels.

Everything needed for your day-to-day operations is clickable in this virtual cockpit; radios, aircraft and engine controls, and tons of little extras. All gauges are easily read, for me, from multiple zoom levels. I have included several shots from different zoom levels to give you an idea, and the last shot is from the zoom level I fly the Avenger from.

The clickability of most everything is convenient, and many switches utilize a new way of clicking things. What I mean here is, several levers and switches require a left click to toggle the switch/lever one way, and a right click to toggle the opposite direction. The radios, flaps and several others, utilize this method. Other clickable items in the VC use the same old method of simply left clicking the click spot.



The only little thing I didn't quite like about the VC, is that not everything had a tool tip to let you know what it is if you forget on the fly. I say this is the only little downside to the entire package. However, study the manual a bit, and after flying it, you'll know exactly what and where everything is.

As you can see just from these shots, the VC is quite detailed and immersive. The last shot is a close-up of the 'modernized' MAAM TBM-3 VC.

The entire cabin was not modeled for the MAAM Avenger, however, but I have no issue here. In real life, the cockpit was only accessible from the wingwalks. You could not go from the belly or backseat gunner positions to the cockpit, so it is fitting that only the cockpit itself was modeled. After all, you are going to be flying, not doing rear-gunner or radio work.

Flight Dynamics:

The Avenger's flight dynamics are another home run of the package. Very docile and forgiving handling characteristics make this ship an absolute joy to fly. I literally mastered three point touch downs in my first flight hour. Although I have not flown a real Avenger, I do have some experience with taildraggers, and this one handles 'right on' to those few tail dragger. 'rules' of handling. Read up on your operating of flaps, gear, and stall speeds and you'll be doing very well in no time.



The Avenger will cruise nicely at around 160 KIAS with 30" MP, and is capable of higher speeds. Maneuverability, even for a heavier ship, is still impressive. The Avenger was designed to try to stay alive in a vicious environment, so she's able to turn tightly and dive quickly. Roll rate isn't too impressive, but once again, for a heavier ship she'll get the job done nicely.

As for advanced maneuvers, she'll perform nicely here. I still haven't seen too many FS aircraft that stall very realistically, and the MAAM Avenger doesn't stall realistically, either. However, side slipping is easily accomplished and useful at times, and other maneuvers, like S-turns, can be easily accomplished too.

You'll enjoy this, believe me.

Taxiing this ship is very easy, and I'm confident anyone will grab onto this very quickly. Takeoff is very similar, simply aim down the centerline. With the fully castoring tail wheel, which I have chosen, it will take a touch more practice.

Flight is very enjoyable, and as I said, forgiving. She'll cruise along nicely with just a bit of trim work and at a nice cruising speed. I have flown the Avenger here and there throughout the Hawaiian Islands, island hopping around. This



gave me a nice chance to really get a diverse set of conditions at several airports. Cruising the Avenger is, as I said, very nice. Crosswind landings are actually easier in this ship than in others, even in very powerful 20-25 knot winds. I was still able to crab the Avenger in, and then kick it straight at the last second without sliding sideways off the runway.

For the carrier operations section, I honestly had no issue trapping on my first attempt. I kept full flaps and power around 1500 RPM and speed around 80 KIAS. Once very close to the rear deck, I simply chopped power, and caught the wire the first try.

This isn't too difficult from my perspective; just make sure the plane is properly set up for Carrier ops. This is mentioned in the manual in some detail. Weights and power settings are very important with this regime of flight; don't try to trap onto the carrier with that 2000 lb torpedo and a full fuel load. I really find the carrier operations part of the package to be quite fun, and I'm sure you'll enjoy the challenge.

The first shot is my first carrier landing, shortly after. You will enjoy this part of the package, as with the many others, too.

Sounds:

The sounds of this package are simply more of what I call the best. Recorded from the real Avenger that MAAM has, you simply cannot beat the sounds. The coughing and chugging of the radial engine at idle are simply my favorite. Power up a bit from the external perspective, and it's simply a treat.

The internal sounds are also quite a treat. However, I didn't quite understand the internal startup sounds. The external startup sounds are exquisite, though from the inside, you get a high pitched whine that I did not expect; the energizer sounds too nice. A few seconds into that, the engine will begin to give you that musical, but deep and throaty chugging, letting you know that your ship is coming to life. After that, the internal sounds have a very heavy and mechanical sound that you hear from inside a plane of this type. Once you raise power to full, all you will hear is a dull, though loud, roar.

As usual, I was very impressed with MAAM's sound work. However, this is typical for MAAM's creations, as they are usually working with the real deal and have the ability to record the "real deal". I assure you, you won't be disappointed in the sounds department.

Performance:

Test SystemNot disappointed here at all. For the level of detail included, performance is excellent. That's all I can really say here. I did not see a noticeable drop in FPS on my system, and I'm sure on even lower end systems, the same will be seen. No more than a 5-10% drop



Intel Core 2 Duo 4.0 Gb RAM 512Mb FX 8800 GT OC 300 GB HD FS 9.1

Flying Time: 14.5 hours

in frames per second should be seen, at least from my perspective.

Summary:

I greatly enjoyed the privilege of reviewing this highly anticipated release. My flightsim forum had been waiting for this release for quite a long time. Now that it has been released, everyone has been having an absolute ball with this plane.

I too, had an excellent time flying and reviewing this plane, and it's going to be one of my regular aircraft to fly when I feel that WWII Pacific Theatre feeling. MAAM's work to keep you immersed simply can't be beat.

What I Like About The TBM/TBF Avenger

● The exquisite modeling inside and out● Sounds● Extras like torpedo and carrier ops to keep you busy

What I Don't Like About The TBM/TBF Avenger

● The only thing was the lack of some VC tool tips

Printing



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Standard Disclaimer The review above is a subjective assessment of the product by the author. There is no connection between

the producer and the reviewer, and we feel this review is unbiased and truly reflects the performance of the product in the simming environment. This disclaimer is posted here in order to provide you with

background information on the reviewer and any connections that may exist between him/her and the contributing party.

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