The fine folks at Big Radials sent me an review copy of the Nieuport 17 for Microsoft Flight Simulator for me to write a review on. I loved the work they did with their P-40B with a very accessible and fun warbird recreation and I was expecting more of the same with the Nieuport. However, Microsoft Flight Simulator Sim Update 5 and World Update 6 have messed up my install and I haven’t been able to fly more than a few minutes in most aircraft without a hang and a crash to desktop. So, I’m going to tell you what I can about this aircraft and provide a round-up to some other great reviews out there.

The Nieuport

One of France’s most iconic World War I fighters, the Nieuport 17 was the aircraft of many ace pilots and it was widely credited as one of the first fighters that could stand up to the so-called ‘Fokker scourge.’

Although Big Radials is busy with another ‘big project’ and the Nieuport was more of a diversion product that was simple enough that they could release it to tide people over in the meantime, I see no corners cut on what limited experience I had with the aircraft.

It’s beautifully modeled, it seemed fun to fly, and it is very much a pilot first aircraft with no modern systems to speak of. It’s also fully aerobatic so you should be able to have some fun with it and the excellent manual that it ships with even encourages you to do so.

Crashing and screenshots

Whatever is wrong with my installation of Microsoft Flight Simulator, it has proven difficult to resolve. I’ve attempted to eliminate add-ons, I’ve used safe mode, I even discovered that there may be a weird interaction between Capture One (which I use for photoediting) and MSFS users causing a crash to desktop problem. But so far, nothing has resolved the problem. Most of the time I can only fly for about 4-5 minutes before the sim freezes and crashes to desktop with a Application Error (0xc0000005).

I want to be clear that the issues I’m having seem to not be the result of anything that Big Radials was doing with their aircraft and so should not cloud your view of this product.

Between crashes, I did get these screenshots which show off the aircraft in excellent detail.

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Review round-up

If and when I am able to get these problems resolved, you can count on me to write a full featured review like I always do. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out some popular YouTube channels for their excellent coverage and in-depth looks at this aircraft.

If it ticks your boxes and you want to go buy it now, I encourage you to visit the Big Radials website. In the meantime, check out these reviews!