Gary Hunter 747-200F Classic Freighters review

[howardthepilot1999]

The 747-200F had always been an amazing aircraft. Gary Hunter made a perfect simulation of this amazing bird, it came as a package, 747-200F, 747-100 JT9D and the SuperTanker. It has about a ton of liveries.

 

Wing detail is excellent, no doubt. I especially love the krueger flaps, and the antenna sticking out the trailing edge of the wing. The hump is modelled brilliantly. The panel looks very much like the real 747 classics, the color is spot on and the systems are all custom made, despite not all the buttons are.

 

The MCP is very nice, certainly put a lot of effort into making that. The NAV SOURCE selector and the unique roll and pitch mode selectors are one-of-a-kind, in exact specification to the 747-200s. 

 

The flightmodel is it's real strong point, the old 747 freighters really did not want to climb, after a flaps 10 takeoff, my climb rate was 2000 feet/min. After the thrust reduction, holy cow! It dropped to 1000 feet/min. At 25,000, I switched from FL CH to V/S, and I was climbing at 600 ft/min. 

 

Landing was also a handful, you really have to concentrate on nailing the speeds and flaps because the 747-200 had an ultra slow reacting autopilot. Remember to never turn off artificial stability, otherwise you will end up pitching all over the place on final. At 500 feet, I reduced my speed to the final VREF of 146 knots and disengaged the autopilot with the art stab ON. I flown the bird down with small and smooth inputs, at 20 feet I flared and at 10, I very slowly brought the thrust down and just as I closed the throttles, the bird's main gears kissed the ground. The 747-100 was nearly the same, but certainly not as heavy, as it is a pax version.

 

 

There are some tips for flying this aircraft:

The flightmodel is VERY realistic, therefore if you cut the throttles too fast on the flare, you will have a slight pitch down tendency. Boeing stresses that the best landing is when you are just about to touch down, your throttles close. The N1 at VREF with full flaps 30 is 71%, which is much higher than your typical 737, because simply the flaps are so massive, it needed it. It did not have winglets like the 747-400 did, therefore more induced drag. When you close the throttles, be ready to apply a bit of aft pressure to compensate on the gained rate-of-descent. 

 

It has no GPS, it is a very primitive INS operated with the x-plane default FMS.

 

 

Pros:

Amazingly accurate flight model

Very well done panel

No frame rate loss at all

Very well modelled 3D model

Cheap

 

 

Cons:

Some sloppy bits of the cockpit

no 3D cockpit

 

 

The pros outweigh the cons, this is a must get for any 747 lover.

 

 

 

[Peter T.]

Looks alright, no flap mechanics modelled like our planes have, and so are other aircraft add-ons...I would be waiting for LES 747 series but they're for xp-10.

Gary Hunter's 747-200 is a pretty average add-on.. No complete systems, the font for Cathay Pacific Cargo is wrong. The paint is not detailed, no effects and baked textures...so many inaccuracies to the model, it is not detailed. There are so much more but ill stop.

Edited April 23, 2013 by Peter T.

[Michael_Chang]

I would give it a 2.5/5 in terms of payware products, it's extremely low-polygon, but that's about it. There are massive innaccuracies in the plane, the kruegers are under-detailed and the plane is extremely primitive, which, given the creation time, is understandable. Flight model wise, it is acceptable, however I disagree with you in that it is worth the purchase. Purchasing this aircraft is no different than purchasing a toaster with the flight dynamics of a 747.

 

The plane lacks proper texturing, and many parts are poorly animated and in need of a MAJOR facelift. The fuselage especially, needs work. the textures are very low-def and the plane needs new baking.  Also worth noting is the presence of hard ridges and ugly lines, which need ot be updated. Knowing that he is still around, it would be advisable that he re-do the planes and re-sell them making them worth the price.

 

it is NOT worth the get for a 747 lover IMO