Is there an SR71 for FSX? I saw the payware version for FS2004 and was amazed. There was a user made video and it was so beautiful, I actually got choked up! Thing is, it looked like it was only compatible with FS2004...

I think the SR71 will be a fun bird to fly because you can soar so high and go so fast...

Anyway, thanks for any info...

Having flown the Blackbird a LOT in FS2004, I learned something very quickly: because you are going so fast, for more than just a few minutes, but for hours, and at such high altitude, your computer ends up having to render more of the ground terrain texture tiles than it normally does, and do it MUCH faster than normal. So fast, that a good rig with lots of power that brings amazing visuals for a 747, simply can't keep up to rendering the ground for an SR.

General Aviation: helicopters and Cessnas, at least those under say 200 knots, is easy to acheive great ground visuals. Most of the flights will be well under 10 000 feet AGL, so visual distance around you will be small.

Airliners: because you are going perhaps 450 knots of ground speed when cruising, and cruising at 30-44 000 feet ASL, you now have a much larger viewed area to look down on the ground, and you either get blurry ground textures, or you need to get more computer power, and a modest videocard may hobble your efforts.

SR-71: now you are sustaining 2000 knots of ground speed. And you are at between 78-86 000 feet ASL. You can literally see terrain tiles more than 100 miles away. And they are blurry because my good rig simply can't keep up to that pace of texture handling. I should say though, that this doesn't apply for the takeoff and landing phases of the flight, because even a hot approach will only be 350 knots airspeed. The SR-71, unlike many fighter jets, simply cannot pierce Mach 1.0 down low, since it's airpseed limit at any altitude is something like 500 knots, so you climb until the Mach numbers drop, and your airspeed carries you past them. By 85 thousand feet, 450 knots of airspeed gives you more than 2000 miles an hour of actual speed (groundspeed).

Why do I give this warning? Because, most people are still struggling to get FSX working nicely for Airliners, and even those who get good performance for airliners, will likely see their computers choke on an SR. The point? If you get good performance in FSX for airliners, then you have enough power to have an AMAZING experience with the Blackbird in FS2004... seeing the ground scream by you at faster than man was meant to do! Maybe in two years, the bleeding edge top of the line computer, with a $500 video card, will do such a fast bird justice in FSX, but I wouldn't bother trying it today.

Now, having given you that warning, I will say this: it's FUN! And worth flying it as it was designed to do. I've spied on many regions of historical significance, and done so from the various bases they usually flew from. I've flown from England to see Tripoli and Jordan, Tehran and Damascus. I've flown from Kadena Japan to Beijing and Vladivostok, Taiwan. I've flown missions from Guam to Hanoi and Cambodia. England to the northern tip of Finland where they meet Russia. Ferry flights across the world, record breaking between LA and NYC, NYC and London England.

Hi,

Alphash*t SR-71

For FSX but no good under SP2 !

OFF

I've never tried flying an ultra fast aircraft in FSX..but would the fact that you are at 80,000' or whatever make the ground scenery less intensive to load since it doesn't have to render it at the highest resolution? Just wondering?

You'd think so, but the sim still needs to yank up and render the texture, and the texture is still the same size, whether at 100 mph or 2000mph. And when it doesn't render it very high, it appears as blob-like fuzzy textures.

Of course, if you have a screaming fast machine you may not experience this.

Look at it this way: in ten minutes of flight, a Cessna might need to render 50 tiles that are 512x512 textures. By contrast, the SR is gonna have to pull the same 512x512 textures, but instead of just 50 tiles, you'll scream through maybe 2000 tiles in the same 10 minute period of time. Or more.

To keep up, the rendering engine in FS9 will simply render those textures in very low resolution (12x12?), which results in the "fuzzy" terrain appearance. Right immediately beneath you though, is where you'll have nice crisp terrain textures, but that's one small little circle directly below you, and to see it you have to look straight down, or put the camera right on top of the plane.

Another tip though is to move the tower (go into Map mode, and move the little black tower symbol using your mouse cursor), to a place ahead of your location, perhaps 15 miles ahead, and perhaps 1-3000 feet above the SR's altitude. Switch to tower view, and watch the SR blast by, covering half a mile per second.

There is an SR71 in FSX already, pity it isn't flyable though

You tried this combination out? I can't, I don't have nearly enough power to run FSX normally, much less a speed-demon like the B-bird...


here's the original Alphasim model, which has been freeware for about two years now:

http://www.simviation.com/fsxmilitary8.htm
FSX Lockheed SR-71A 17955. Original Alphasim SR-71 with 2d panel by Michel Polski. No VC gauges. 6.2MB


Now download this addon which updates the physics package... maybe a changed panel or something:

http://www.simviation.com/fsxmilitary17.htm
FSX SR-71A Blackbird. This is my 3rd update for FS X of the Alphasim SR-71A Blackbird. This update is ONLY for those with the Acceleration pack, and possibly for those with just one or both of the updates. If you have either of my previous updates and it now flys too slow, this update is for you. I have redone the panel adding switches and a fuel gauge in place of the clock, and changed the autopilot, I have changed the afterburner effects, and updated the flight dynamics so you can cruise at mach 3 or more. Bob Chicilo. 2.8MB

The one I know is Xload by Captaiin Sim, but it is for Acceleration, uses F-18 cockpit. Nice exterior though.

i'm using the payware 2004 version in fsx with no problems.
not even getting a terrain stutter. works like a charm.

Igor, do you cruise the blackbird for a thousand miles or more at Mach 3? Without terrain blurring away? If so, could you, would you be able to post your computer specs then? I'd be very interested in that!

Oh, BTW guys there's more freeware blackbird stuff on the main sites last night. Another FSX panel for the freeware Alphasim version, and someone re-released the plane alongside.