HJG Vistaliner 727

The Boeing 727 model first flew in 1963 and production continued until 1984 with a total of 1 832 aircraft being built. There is a nice video on youtube that shows the flight testing phase, you can find it here.

The aircraft started out as a compromise between the demands of United, American and Eastern airlines about what number of engines the plane would have. The design of the aircraft is somewhat unique and personally I think it is one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built but then again I think every type of aircraft is the most beautiful aircraft ever built.

If you are serious about your flightsimming you have probably come across the works of Erick Cantu. The 727 models at HJG is the work of him and what a piece of work it is. As with the models I've used before from Erick the visuals are astounding and the aircraft is a pleasure to fly. There are a number of different variations available on the site and a really large number of repaints.

There are also a large number of different panels available at the HJG website. All of them great for freeware and all of them continuously updated with the lates ones dated 19 June 2009. They are the work of Richard Probst (another fsim celebrity) and George Carty.

I haven't tested the flight dynamics as much as with example my review of the tinmouse 737-200 but I am pleased with what I have seen so far.

There always seem to be somewhat of a risk of me getting spoiled with the payware around these days but I do my best to return to the freeware scene and remember the quality related to cost aspect. A lot of the freeware around these days are better than some of the payware around.


So how does this model relate to the payware versions. I have only tried Captain Sim's 727 which is an awesome aircraft but the comparison is somewhat faulty as it comes with a panel, sound set and model. Erick's model is hardly up to par with Captain Sim and neither is Richard and George's panel but at the cost of free they are definitely worth trying out before you go and spend your money on the payware equivalent. You might actually decide on sticking with the freeware variant.