DCS World’s newest pre-order is Magnitude 3’s Christen Eagle II aerobatic sporting bi-plane and the second full fidelity civil aircraft to grace the skies of DCS World with full release is coming January 23rd!
Aerobatics pilots apply now
The Christen Eagle II is an aerobatic sporting biplane designed for aerobatics and sport flying in mind. This will be DCS World’s second civilian aircraft after the Yak-52 but the first that is a entirely civil model (the Yak-52 is used as a military trainer). We’re into unique territory here as Magnitude 3 cuts their teeth on DCS World module building while they prepare for their second module, the F4U Corsair.
Magnitude 3’s new module is aimed at everyone from the experienced aerobatic pilot who performs at virtual shows like VFAT to the newbie pilot who wants to pop on the aerobatic server and fly loops around the airfield with their friend in the back seat.
One group it is certainly not aimed at, the hardcore combat flier who is only interested in stuff going boom – this is not your module for sure. For everyone else, however, there is quite a feature list.
Plenty of features on offer
Magnitude 3 did not skimp on detail when they tackled the Christen Eagle II. Here are some of the features listed:
- External Flight Model that duplicates the flight characteristics verified by certified aerobatic instructors and subject matter experts.
- Detailed and realistic simulation of post-stall behavior that allows edge-of and out-of-envelope maneuvers verified by certified aerobatic instructors.
- Complete systems modeling that includes the IO-360 Lycoming 200HP engine, fuel, electrical and pneumatic systems.
- Fully functional Bendix/King KY-196B VHF radio.
- Realistic, mouse-interactive cockpit in which most controls can be interacted with.
- Authentic sound sets that were recorded from the actual aircraft.
- Super detailed internal and external models created by using cutting-edge photogrammetry of the actual aircraft.
- Interactive voice-over training missions. Learn to start up, taxi, takeoff, and land like a real pilot.
- Multiple liveries based on OEM to custom real-life personal schemes.
- Cooperative multiplayer. Fly with a friend in the same aircraft or take turns controlling the aircraft as an instructor, student or passenger. The seat position can be changed in single player mode too!
- Fully supports virtual reality for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Microsoft Mixed Reality, and others.
The real standout here is the use of the EFM (External Flight Model) that will hopefully ensure that the Christen Eagle II has the same kind of physics fidelity that most other DCS World modules have. If the videos we’ve seen are any indication, it’s aerobatics and flight modeling are top notch.
Pre-order available now
If the Christen Eagle II as a flyable in DCS World is your kind of thing, there’s a small pre-order discount available with the regular price of the module being $29.99 USD and the pre-order discount coming in at $23.99.
Stormbirds 
I get a bit confused: EFM is the lowest-rated or highest?
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It’s up to the developer, actually, and based on the professional flight model: “External Flight Model (EFM). Used by our partner developers, the EFM uses only a part of PFM – rigid body physics and contact model. What forces and moments are applied to this rigid body from aerodynamics and any other sources except the contact forces is up to EFM developer.” (https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=122801)
It’s all very hard to judge, they said the Yak-52 could reproduce aerobatics maneuvres that were past the limit of the normal flight envelope, still, a real Yak-52 pilot found many incorrect behaviours when testing the DCS model in pretty calm conditions. We had the M-2000C for a long time, and it looked convincing yet they changed the controls darastically at some point, and are about to do it once more – to the point they claim we’ll have to learn how to fly it again. So even if the forces applied in function of speed and AoA correspond with a high level of fidelity to wind tunnel measurements, there are still many factors to influence the “experience”… which doesn’t even reproduce the G’s, the air turbulence, the wind changes in function of the relief or water areas, and more of those factors that are important when you fly an aircraft.
So I’d say it’s probably not that important, as long as it’s convincing enough in the very limited scope of a simulator. We don’t want that to look like an arcade game, of course 😉
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Ah well, I replied but my longer post was rejected (I had a link to the DCS forums in it…).
In short, “External Flight Model (EFM). Used by our partner developers, the EFM uses only a part of PFM – rigid body physics and contact model. What forces and moments are applied to this rigid body from aerodynamics and any other sources except the contact forces is up to EFM developer.”
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Found your post in the spam filter and approved it 🙂 (There’s so much crap in there that WordPress catches but occasionally it gets a good post too)
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PFM is Eagle Dynamics proprietary flight model or Professional Flight Model while the EFM is an External Flight Model and in theory can be anything although most of the developers have made it feel very close to what ED offers with the PFM.
I.e. RAZBAM’s AV-8B with an EFM feels every bit as nuanced as the PFM A-10C and F/A-18C from Eagle Dynamics.
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Am wondering on the F-14, that also quotes ‘EFM’ which sounds a little less than high-end (TBH, it sounds more like the AI bot FM).
But I suppose proof is in the pudding. I take it that PFM is ED only?
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PFM is Eagle Dynamics only while EFM let’s a third party developer plug into the DCS World system.
I wouldn’t consider EFM to be much if anything less capable than what ED’s PFM can do and it sure sounds like Heatblur will push the limits of what EFM can do with the F-14. A ton of nuance is being programmed in there from what they are saying.
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