With the aircraft powered, the vast screens pop into life. The Overhead Panel is Familiar Enough for Airbus Pilots to Recognise One of the Included Liveries Designed by Emma Kate Bentley So finding the batteries, the APU, and other systems is simple. The layout, whilst slightly different in places to make way for the new technology, is more or less the same to an A320, A330, and so on. The overhead is very similar and it is clear Airbus are maintaining the 'common feel' they have across the range of aircraft types. The cockpit is 'cold and dark' when I get loaded up, however my experience with the A320 pays off. To be fair, this aircraft will handle long haul with ease, but as a 'getting to know you flight', a two hour flight to Salzburg seems far nicer. Selecting one of the seven liveries supplied with the A350 XWB, I set out on a fairly short haul flight across Europe to find out. Getting down to the nitty-gritty, what is the aircraft like to fly. Like the Rest of the Flight Factor Stable, You Will Enjoy the Flying One woman's eyes seem to follow you around the cabin. The odd person sitting around in their seats can seem a little creepy though. It is nicely done, with not too many polygons wasted on getting it to the same standard of the rest of the aircraft. From the captain's cup holders through to the file cabinet come closet which holds the pilot's jackets, it is clear there is a fair amount of attention to detail gone into making the cockpit.Īs with other Flight Factor aircraft, opening the cockpit door allows you to wander around the passenger cabin. Moving around the cockpit, there are plenty of nice details. Airbus pilots will feel more than at home here amongst the 'Airbus blue' panels. In an odd way, it is both vastly different, and yet, strangely familiar. Stepping inside the aircraft and you will notice the cockpit is well modelled, just like the outside. Finally, keep an eye on the wing flex, which looks pretty nice.īlended Winglets of the A350 XWB Look Fantastic Lighting wise, the exterior model is well covered, with X-Plane's default HDR lighting looking stunning as always. The A350 XWB's band is more subtle though. They also had a large black mask painted to avert glare for the pilots. The band reminds me of TWA's old 747-100s. The cockpit windows look a little odd with the inclusion of a black band around them, giving the aircraft an odd superhero look. The large Rolls Royce engines look great, with no signs of harsh edges. The rest of the aircraft is not bad either. These sculpted beauties merge effortlessly from the wing and set the aircraft up to look its best. The stand out feature of this aircraft is its blended winglets. Flight Factor are excellent airframe modellers and the A350 XWB looks beautiful. The first port of call for the A350 XWB is the outside. It is priced at US$49.95, or the equivalent on currency cross rates. The Flight Factor Airbus A350 XWB Advanced is currently available direct from the store at Thanks to the A320, I have an idea of how Airbus thinks and what to expect. From there though, I grew to like the Airbus A320, and it has been my constant companion ever since. I cut my teeth flying airliners in flight sims on the old Boeing 767, before transferring to the Boeing 737-800. So it is with some trepidation that I approach this aircraft. This paperless office in the sky is as modern as Millie was and then some. The cockpit looks more like a flight sim setup with six, 19 inch screens crammed in there to display everything and anything the aircraft is doing, or not doing. The wings are carbon fibre along with parts of the fuselage. Almost everything about it screams modernity. The A350 XWB is an aircraft for the computer generation. There are no steam style gauges to be found on this most modern airliner. The A350 XWB though, is in a whole different ball park. Their Boeing 757 is excellent and even the the ageing Boeing 777 Worldliner is enjoyable. The question is, “Is it any good?”.įlight Factor have produced some wonderful aircraft. X-Plane heavy metal specialists, Flight Factor, have done just that. So taking on the newest aircraft with barely a few thousand hours flight time under its belt may seem a little foolish. Airbus is notoriously unhelpful to developers, with many an A320 model having to be reverse engineered with the help of a friendly airline or pilot. The A350 XWB (extra wide body for those who are wondering) is perhaps an odd choice for a flight sim developer to tackle. This brand new aircraft is barely in service, with Qatar Airways only launching its first revenue service in January 2015. The Airbus A350 XWB Advanced is just like our shiny penny. There is always something new waiting in the wings, always a shiny penny to replace its dull and scratched counterpart, always a brighter tomorrow promised today.
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