Captain Sim

757 CAPTAIN III PW for FSX, FSX:SE and P3D v4.2+ Based on v1.2

By Thomas Jones - In Partnership with Flightsimglobal.com

i7-7700K @ 4.6ghz | ASUS GTX980 4gb | 16gb 2400mhz RAM | 500gb dedicated SSD | Windows 7 64bit

Intro

The Boeing 757 is a mid-sized narrow body twin airliner that was initially designed as a

replacement to the aging 727. The main selling points of the 757 were an updated glass cockpit,

more efficient and powerful turbofan engines, and a two-crew cockpit. The 757 was designed in

parallel with the wide-body 767 and share a cockpit layout. Pilots of the type can receive a

common type rating to fly both aircraft. The 757 comes in two fuselage lengths designated as

the -200 and -300 models. Variations on the models exist in the forms of freighters and different

engine options, the Pratt & Whitney PW2000 or Rolls Royce RB211. Production lasted from

1981 to 2004.

Captain Sim has chosen the base package of their 757 Captain III series of products to be the

757-200 variant with PW2000 series engines. The base pack comes with the 757-200 with both

the PW2037 and PW2040 engines. Both engine options have 4 and 5 door variant fuselages.

The user also has the option of changing the wingtips from three wingtip types (two winglet

types or none) and the antenna configuration. The base package is priced at $75.70 and the

only other expansion released at time of review was the Rolls Royce engine variant for the -200

at $29.99. This review is based solely on the Pratt & Whitney base pack for P3Dv4.

Exterior Model

The exterior model of the 757 is well done. Most imperfections and blemishes on the real

aircraft appear to be present when looking at the sim model. Animations are smooth and fluid

on all control surfaces, gear, and engines. Also, in the usual Captain Sim fashion, they have

included a popup menu that allows the user to activate a whole host of eye candy when on the

ground. The menu allows the user to open the passenger, cargo, and access doors, add or

remove escape slides, deploy the Ram Air Turbine (or RAT), place wheel chocks, open the

engine cowlings, add pitot covers, open the radome hatch and APU cowling, and more.

Through the use of their ACE control panel new liveries can be downloaded. At the time of

release, there was a large selection of liveries already available with more continuously being

added.

Interior Model

The interior of the 757 is just as well modeled as the exterior and I feel that it set a new bar as

far as Captain Sim's capabilities. All of the gauges are 3D and textures are easy to read from

normal distances. As with the outside, the cockpit contains a plethora of animations ranging

from armrests to the lavatory doors. The entirety of the cabin is also modeled and I was

honestly surprised with the amount of attention given to it given most people may not even

both to use it. The team has also included the option to remove the cabin if you do fall into that

category and maybe want to try to squeeze some extra performance out of the plane. One

animation I would have liked to have seen is the ability to remove or hide the yoke as it can get

in the way of the navigation display at times. That said, it has been lowered from the initial

release and for the most part stays out of the way.

[Night lighting has been fixed as of v1.3] My biggest complaint with the 757 is the way the

cockpit lighting functions. During the day preset of P3D I had no issues seeing anything and the

same with the night preset with appropriate lights on. But, even with all cockpit lights set to on,

floodlights and dome light included, I could barely read the analog gauges, overhead or

glareshield at all during dusk or dawn. A check of the Captain Sim forums showed that I was not

the only one with this issue and the response from Captain Sim employees is:

"There are 2 short dusk/dawn periods when the sim lighting is not correlated properly causing

the blackouts.

It's a well known MS FS issue since the 90-s."

and

"There are different techniques to model aircraft lighting. The 757 method was selected long

ago. Today it's not the best probably but there's nothing we can do because any change will

require total system rebuild."

As it stands right now, flying at dusk or dawn is hit or miss for some users and there does not

seem to be a fix in the works. If you do not typically fly during dusk or dawn and remain in

daylight or the middle of the night you should have no issues. The first four screenshots below

show the same lights being set on, but the first of each pair at night and second at dusk.

Notice how vivid the gauges and backlighting of the glareshield and overhead are at night while

they are barely distinguishable against the dark at dusk.

Systems

Systems modeling on the 757 are at a new quality for Captain Sim. The last product of theirs

that I purchased was the 737 for FSX, and while that aircraft did fly nicely it did have some

quirks and at times felt a bit empty. The 757 definitely feels levels above that and the depth that

the manuals go into (over 790 pages!) shows that this is an aircraft that can be taken much

more seriously. While I can't claim how close it is to a true "study level" aircraft, since I don't

have any formal 757 training, I will say it does feel very close. There are a few smaller systems

that don't appear to be fully functional, but I noticed nothing that would detract from enjoying

a full flight from cold and dark to cold and dark. It simply feels right, and the plethora of

information in the manuals helps bring the aircraft into grasp for those who may be intimidated

by more advanced systems.

Sounds

The sounds of the 757 have been wonderfully done in my opinion. The cockpit environment

comes to live as the avionics fans whirr and the different systems energize. Each switch and

button have a sound to help with immersion including the FMC buttons. There is also a faint,

almost electrical or whirring, audio tone that I usually hear when traveling in real airliners that I

rarely hear in their simulated counterparts. Personally, I'm not exactly sure what this tone is and

have no idea where to begin describing it, but kudos to Captain Sim for nailing it!

The engine sounds are produced by Turbine Sound Studios and are also a lovely addition both

inside and out. I never get tired of throttling up while taxiing and hearing the "blue-note"

whistle or the buzzsaw grind noise during takeoff.

Conclusion

Captain Sim's 757 CAPTAIN III product is one that I will thoroughly enjoy for many years to

come. The sound and visual environment make for a pleasant experience and the systems are

more than adequate to simulate more than day-to-day flying. As it stands with version 1.2 for

P3Dv4, I would still like something to be done about the virtual cockpit lighting at dawn and

dusk. That is the one thing that I feel would be able to take this from a good product to a great

one, considering everything else is well done and the performance impact is small. I also feel as

though the price is on the high side with the current pricing model. $75.70 for the Pratt and

Whitney engines and another $29.99 for the Rolls Royce variants with the PW pack being a

prerequisite. That alone is over $105 USD for just the -200 model of the 757, not including the

freighter variant. The prices for the FSX/P3Dv3 version are a bit more reasonable, but naturally

you don't get the benefits of the new technology in P3Dv4. If Captain Sim can fix the lights and

potentially reduce the overall cost, I can see this becoming the only 757 simmers would need

for many years to come.