aerial foundry F18 Hornet

Sitting in a dark and dusty corner of my computer, was a product waiting patiently for review. It has been my loss that I haven’t loaded up this great package sooner! The package I’m talking about is aerialfoundry’s US and RAAF FA-18 Hornet Military Pack 2.0 . What a package it is! It is one of the most “real” looking aircraft models that I have seen. My brother was over the other day, and I happened to be editing the screenshots for this article, and as he looked over my shoulder, he asked me where the pictures came from. I told him that it was one of the aircraft that I “flew”. With a quizzical look, which is easy for my brother, he asked me when I had been up in a jet! Slightly embarrassed when I told him it was the simulator! This goes to point out though, how much attention to detail these folks at aerialfoundry have put into there products.

The exterior of the aircraft left me speechless. Well, maybe not speechless, since I’m writing about it! But seriously, the detail is fantastic! Antennae, vents, rivets, lights, especially the lights, and the paint jobs are so finely done that you’d truly swear that you were watching an F-18 from another jet! One of the areas I always like to focus on is the landing gear. Probably because I like gadgets that move, fold, disappear, etc. You get the idea. This F-18 Hornet has some very fine “gadgetry” indeed! It never ceases to amaze me how much effort must go into creating these aircraft. If you look closely at this models landing gear, you’ll see the detail that must come from hundreds of hours of work. Just watching the landing gear going up and down was kind of a treat all unto itself! The attention to detail is displayed throughout the aircraft in just about every area that you look at. The pilot is extremely detailed all the way down to the oxygen hose! The decals are properly placed and are also very detailed. As I said earlier, the lights look great, in particular, the formation lights. The afterburner effects are pretty awesome! As the fins move, another great job of detailing, the burners kick in with some truly beautiful colors! The package comes with various paint liveries, among them a unique NASA paint job that looks great! There are also some very nicely done camo jobs on a few of the aircraft.

Moving into the cockpit of the Hornet, we see a classic Hornet configuration, so if you’ve flown the Hornet before, you’ll have no problems moving into this “office”! (A quick mention here on the cockpit, or cockpits, as in this package includes models that are of the two-seat configuration. My comments apply to both versions of the Hornet package.) The 2D cockpit is crisp and clear, with normally functioning gauges. The detail did not get left outside on this aircraft! One of the best things that I liked about this aircraft was the fact that when you had all your panels pulled up, and I mean “all” the panels, they were configured in such a way that you still had a decent view out the “front window”! The side panels are configured to look like the ones you’d find at your left and right side in the cockpit of the Hornet. Some of the buttons and switches are “clickable”, and the cursor will show you which one’s they are. There are quite a few “eye candy” buttons that don’t work, but they do add to the overall realism of the cockpit look and feel. The “normal” flight operations buttons, switches, and knobs do work fine and are very convenient to use. Autopilot settings are there right in front of you and you have the option of using the wheel on the mouse, if you have one, to make your adjustments for speed, altitude, and vertical speed. One of the coolest items in the cockpit that I found had nothing to do with avionics. Both the 2D and Virtual Cockpits come with a top and two side mirrors. Lots of models out there have the mirrors in there for you to look at, but they’re just for looks. These mirrors actually reflect either the sky or the ground, whichever way you happen to have the nose pointing! This is actually the first product that I have seen that has this feature. I’m sure there are others, but still, I was very surprised to see them “working”! This is again, a testament of the attention to detail that went into the making of this aircraft package!

This is an aircraft that you definitely want to use the “stick” for! “Yankin’ and Crankin” in this jet is fun, to say the least! It is still possible to overstress the aircraft though, as I found out in some rather overzealous maneuvers! You can’t help but get a little “goofy” in this thing! It’s like getting the keys to your Dad’s sports car! Although, my Dad had a station wagon, however, it was a very FAST station wagon! For my international friends, station wagon equals family taxi! Back to the Hornet! With the stick, this thing handles great! But, once again, I would like to declare that even though I have no idea what a real Hornet may handle like, this must come very, very, close! One of my favorite places to take jet aircraft is the Grand Canyon. Zipping between those walls of the canyon at 325+ is fun and accelerating! Oh, and usually ends in a sharp pull up, if there’s time! With enough practice and familiarity with the way she handles, you can be performing those maneuvers just like the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, which is also offered by
aerialfoundry, as a matter of fact!

The manual that's provided is easily understood with very nice graphics depicting the cockpit configurations. It is also fairly “ink - friendly” at only 22 pages. For the most part, it seems that it is assumed that you know something of how autopilots work, and other basic functions of an aircraft. No great detail is gone into in the manual, however, it does reflect clearly what you need to know about the cockpit, gauges, and other extras, i.e. canopy and ladder.

The US and RAAF FA-18 Hornet Military Pack 2.0 add-on aircraft is specifically designed for use with MSFS2002 and 2004 flight simulators and has been re-created with "extreme-detail" in mind. The Self-Install file is easily worked, so that you may quickly load the new Hornet's into either version of the MS flight simulators. Here’s a quote from aerialfoundry’s site, ”This FSDS V2 designed aircraft model created by Dean ("deano") Reimer is an attempt at capturing the essence of the curves, lines, and intricate animations of the original F/A-18 Hornets.” I don’t really think the word attempt applies here Deano! I do believe you succeeded your goals that were mentioned above!

The US and RAAF FA-18 Hornet Military Pack 1.0 includes several F/A-18 models representing US Navy and Marine Squadrons, as well as several of the Australian RAAF Squadrons. This package features both F/A-18/C and F/A-18/D variations dressed in several weapons configurations.

This product is truly a bargain at $22.00 Canadian (or about $17.88 USD the last time I checked). There are products out there with much less detail going for a whole lot more! If you’re into jets, and particularly fond of the F-18 Hornet, this is an aircraft package that you should not pass up on!

Find out more about this great aircraft add on at: aerialfoundry.com