Product:        PRIVATE PILOT 2  
Developer:     Abacus
Genre         Microsoft Flight™ Simulator add-on 2002/2004
Platform:        PC CD-ROM
Release         29th October 2004
SRP             £24.99


“Control Tower to Private Pilot 2 – Great loop-the-loop!”

Are you bored with Virgin Trains?  Does the M25 have you tearing your hair out?  Did British Airways lose your suitcase again?  Then ditch public transport and go private – Private Pilot 2 that is.  With this exciting new Flight Simulator 2002 / 2004 add-on, there’ll be no more standing from Euston to Manchester, queuing to get onto the M4 or wearing the same pants for three days whilst B.A. try and find your luggage.   Instead it’ll be “doors to automatic”, and “Sierra Foxtrot 21. You’re clear to take off on runway one!”  Moments later you’ll be soaring across the skies at your own pace enjoying the freedom to roam wherever you want your small plane to take you.    And of course, unlike larger commercial aircraft, you're not limited to long runways and boring old air traffic control restrictions.  Who needs them?  

Take advantage of the flexibility to fly wherever you want in an Aerostar 700, an Aviat Husky, a Cessna 185, a Diamond Katana, a Pilatus PC12 or a Piper Tri-Pacer.  Private Pilot 2 includes a challenging obstacle course that you fly to improve your skills plus there’s also the choice of six custom sceneries including Odessa the Pilot Racing Course, Smokey Creek and Grant County International Airport.                               

At no extra cost, each plane is delivered with a minimum of three paint schemes. Try asking for that at your local Ford dealership!  The only drawback with Private Pilot 2 is that the neighbours won’t see you coming into land (which technically they could if you had a long enough driveway!)

For more media information and to download screen shots, please go to:

http://www.contact-sales.co.uk/PrivatePilot2.htm

For consumer information go to:

http://www.contact-simulations.com

First Class Simulations
PO Box 137
Bicester
Oxfordshire
OX27 7JS
United Kingdom

Tel:  01869 346104
Fax: 0870 132 1026

For press enquiries contact Richard Barclay on 020 7386 7398 or richard@richardbarclaypr.co.uk


For publishing and distribution enquiries contact Robert Stallibrass on 01869 346104 or roberts@contact-sales.co.uk

About First Class Simulations

First Class Simulations is a dedicated publisher of add-ons for Microsoft flight and train simulation products.  The company is a division of Contact Sales Limited.  

About Contact Sales Limited

Established in 1997, Contact Sales is a UK-based distributor of computer game software and their associated peripherals.  The company was voted ‘Distributor of the Year 2003’ by the National Association of Specialist Computer Retailers.  It signed its first publishing agreement in 1998 and now handles product for Abacus, Aerosoft, Lago, Wilco, NBG Blue Sky, Halycom Media GmbH, The Heritage Collection and Whiptail Interactive.  

About Excalibur Publishing

Set up in 2004, Excalibur Publishing is the PC video game publishing arm of the group.   Its aim is to bring good quality, original and innovative products to the PC games player.

Use of Rudder for Roll Control.
At the risk of violating the long time tradition of avoiding Monday Morning Quarterbacking after an aviation accident, I'd like to make the following observations on the American Airlines A-300 Airbus that crashed shortly after departing JFK due to structural failure of its vertical stabilizer. NBC news recently reported the NTSB findings and also the responses of both American and Airbus. Unfortunately, both positions were driven by the legal aspects and subsequent liability issues and so, as is often the case, the truth gets buried somewhere in between. What makes it unfortunate is that, while the liability issues get protected, the aviation issues that might help pilots avoid making the same mistake in the future get lost in the shuffle.

My initial pilot training in the Air Force included one flight in which we rolled the T-38 with rudder alone. The message was: "If, for whatever reason, you need additional roll authority, the rudder can provide it for you." It was a message like spin recovery that I stored away and hoped I would never have to use (but also never forgot). As a result of the two commercial airliner "upsets," one the United 737 in Colorado Springs and the other the USAir 737 in Pittsburgh, the industry became concerned that too many pilots had no experience in aerobatics or extreme unusual attitude recovery. As a result, the entrepreneurs of the industry jumped at the opportunity to sell "Upset Training" in small, aerobatic aircraft.

The NTSB concluded that the American crash resulted from the pilot moving the rudder from full throw to one side back to full throw to the other side, actions the vertical stabilizer was not designed to withstand--and it failed. The fact that a limit on rudder throw existed was not known by the Airbus pilots. Furthermore, those trained in "upset recovery" were taught to use the rudder aggressively. The end result of these two conflicting factors became a recipe for disaster.

So, what is the conclusion of this message?
1) Be aware that the rudder can assist you in roll control.
2) Understand that some aircraft, particularly those with hydraulic powered flight controls, might have limits on reversing full rudder throws. If the aircraft manual does not reference such limitations, do not assume they don't exist.
3) When using rudder to assist in roll control, gauge the aggressiveness to be commensurate with the recovery required: if you are upside down, obviously be aggressive; but if you are experiencing some wake turbulence, be judicial.

I pass no judgment on what has been done in the past, but only attempt to learn from it for the future. Any comments?

--Norm Komich (jnk@aviation.org)

The nearest thing to flying without leaving the ground