by Adrian Charlesworth

What is it ? :

A utility product that lets you create charts, diagrams and plot flight plans. It also comes with a GPS instrument for use with the planning functions.

System Requirements :

Any system running Windows 95 with 16MB RAM and a CD-ROM. Facilities will work in both FS5 and FS95, but FS95 is recommended to take full advantage of the GPS etc.

Distribution :

I would recommend the PC Aviator within Australia. They’ve been looking after me for six years and I have nothing but the highest praise for them.

Rating :

9.5 / 10. I’ve left 0.5 out in case they ever come out with an update, so I don’t look stupid when that eventuates sometime down the track.

 

This is being touted in many quarters as the best flightsim add-on ever made. Considering the amount of Adonis that have been produced for FS in the last decade, that’s a mighty big statement to make. However, after having seen the product in action with my own eyes, I’m more than willing to go along with all of my colleagues that have tried. For users of FS6 this is almost an essential add-on, with a full planning tool, instrument charts creator, GPS etc. When combined with Abacus Airport and Scenery Designer the package is almost irresistible.

Anyway, enough drooling. What is it that makes up the product itself ?

CoPilot is being marketed as a Flight-Planning and real-time navigation suite for FS5 and FS95. Whilst I can see its usage in FS5, it is really in FS95 where the package stands out.

The setup and installation is an absolute breeze, using the Wizards that most Win95 apps now use to stop cretins like me mucking the installation up :-). The aspect that requires a little thought is the installation of the maps that you need to use to plan your flights. For Australian and New Zealand users, you simply need to have the program install the Aus-NZ map that comes with the software. This map seems to be very accurately drawn, but naturally isn’t quite in the same league as the coastline detail of many scenery designers.

Once this is in place it’s just a matter of importing the .bgl’s from your scenery sub directory and let the program take it from there. Again, a very simple interface means you find the files for a certain scenery package and add them all into one group. Name the group with whatever you desire and it’s ready for use with your flight planning. My collection of Australian and New Zealand scenery took five minutes to put in, and my FS scenery is far from organised.

The map is now there with all of your bgl’s added and put in their exact positions. By zooming in the map you can now come down to very minute detail and see displayed all your VOR’s NDB’s, etc. Right-click on the centre of a navaid and you can see its properties - location, altitude, frequency, range. Find any airport and do the same. You’ll see runway lengths, surface details, lighting etc. Diagrams of your airports are there at the click of a button, complete with aprons, taxiways, fuel et.al. Check out the ILS simply by clicking on the coloured button, and presto, there’s an instrument plate ready for use with your approaches. Plates can be modified easily to specify new decision heights etc.

To plot a full IFR flight plan is an easy task. You can either select the flight plotter from the menu bar and carry out a text-based search for your airports and navaids, or select two airports and let CoPilot plot the quickest route from A to B. Doing this for a Sydney-Melbourne service results in the flight being planned from SYD to Wee Jasper VOR and thence direct to MEL. Now this isn’t ever going to happen in real life <g>, so come back to the map and plan your flight from there. Click on your departure airport and waypoints by scaling the map up and down until your plot takes you to your arrival airport. Returning to the menu will result in your new plan being displayed. You can then print this if you so desire, or boot up FS and get ready to fly it.

Selecting the GPS from CoPilot’s menu bar once FS is running gives you a scaleable moving map and a GPS instrument to place anywhere on your screen. This has all the details of your plan entered into it and behaves exactly like a real-life GPS in terms of functions. Usage of the GPS and flight plans is fully explained for the uninitiated.

I can only follow on from what everyone else has been saying about Abacus CoPilot and recommend it to any serious user of Flight Simulator. FS95 users especially may wonder how they lived without it once they get their hands on a copy.

The CD-ROM comes complete with a registration card and code, as well as a very well compiled manual that takes you step-by-step through the setup and usage of the product.

Abacus Software are very quickly becoming known as a manufacturer of high-quality flightsim addons. If the performance of their debut products in the market is anything to go by, they have a long and exciting future in front of them.

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