DJM- 131 by Dio

User friendliness:

controls in the cockpit are easilly accessible but the layout seems somewhat random and it takes a bit to get used to.

There are lights buttons in 3 different places for example there is also easy access to well, everything. The interior is littered with equipment.

visibility is decent for a heavy bomber but I am missing a bomb sight. also its a bit of an odd choice to only give speed in m/s.

rating: 6/10

Performance:

even though it looks like a 1930's bomber it's powered by jet engines it has a respectable top speed of 300 km/h and is pretty agile for how much it weighs. T

he gyro messes up the normal control a bit but is fine for flying in straight lines. The fuel tanks hold a whopping 30k fuel and the engines use only around 7.6L/s so you'll get a range of around 331 km

rating: 7/10

Effectiveness:

Due to the amount of "armor" it has, the ability to repair most of the damage and the amount of extinguishers + welders, it is quite durable.

The bomb load is very high aswell but could be utilized better the bombs drop at the same time so you can only hit 1 target.

The bomber also lacks a bomb sight making it ineffective at high altitude bombing. it has a player controlled turret and a (partially working) radar turret as defensive armament and 2 light cannons as offensive armament.

the durability, speed, lack of bomb sight, armament would make this plane a decent front line bomber.

rating 7.5/10

Design:

This thing is BIG, it barely fits through the hangar doors. The camo looks good but might used a bit too much, maybe some different patterns and more variaton to break up the Lozenge camo the plague doctor decal is superb. The shape of the bomber is decent but the fuselage seems a bit short and the nose a bit long.

the engines look very good with the flames coming out but the wings are very thick, making the wings thinner towards the end would help making it look less blocky.

The entire interior is cluttered with eqiupment and logic, making semi decorative cabinets or boxes to hold equipment may help decluttering.

Some systems like the extinguishers could be hidden or incorporated into the design better.

rating 7.5/10

Overall rating: 7 (could have a more fleshed out interior decoration wise and needs some decluttering, good function wise but can be improved further)

Biplane by Shimozukachi

User friendliness:

(Writing this while drunk so excuuuuuse me, princess) Friendliness was okay, everything was labeled correctly and the seat axis and buttons were labeled too, which is nice to begin with. Getting to them requires a bit of looking around in the cockpit. Overall, solid choice but the cockpit is rather cramped. The poor frontal vision is somewhat of a downsight especially if flying/taking off in first person. This also isnt helped by the front facing camera, as the resolutin of the small screen really doesnt help.

rating: 7/10 (Solid but requires a good bit of looking around, also the compass is mounted weird. Overall, not too bad.)

Performance:

Very good in flight turning and rolling. The control surfaces, especially the yaw rudder, tends to snap back a lot and causes the plane to drift a lot. Speed readout isn't there (or I'm blind) and I'm not gonna mount one, but it feels similar to the other planes, so I'm gonna guess roughly 200-250 km/h tops (gearing also speaks for this).

Slightly snappy controls cause the plane to be very nimble and agile but I imagine this could throw off less experienced pilots in more daring maneuvors (not that I am experienced lol).

rating: 7/10 (Very solid, could use a little bit of refining tho, especially the snappyness of it all.)

Effectiveness:

As I don't really know what the intended use is, I guess it's meant as a civilian version of a military plane. As such its nice? It handles rather well and would lend itself to being an acrobatic/air show plane. Given that its not armed in any way and has no simple hardpoint option to mount, I would doubt its effectiveness as a military plane as such.

rating: 4/10 (Don't know what exactly its meant for, but it does fly well, so... yeah?)

Design:

Very basic. There, again, is a very basic paint scheme idea here, but its not very well explored. It lacks detailing and general styling in certain places. Stuff like the wheel arches and such are nice, the "hole" in the wing root of the upper wing is also nice, considering you have to get in somehow.

Other than that, basic but solid. A bit more time to flesh out some more detailing work would have been nice, at this time it has a lot of empty spaces. Also, the tail section and the wings and engine cowl could have used some refinement, they too are very basic.

rating: 6/10 (Basic but solid, sadly uses some points due to being generally too simple and basic. Also a bit too bright colors.)

Overall rating: 6/10

P-2 Nova Scoutplane by Hi, I'm Soodman Gaul

User friendliness:

Straight forward and simple layout for the seat bound controls. Allows for full control of the plane in third person which is nice. Dial layout is pretty unique in the wing roots. Works tho.

Takes a moment longer than expected for take-off but can get off the ground anywhere really. The weird throttle lever on the front has no "designation" which confused me slightly. Figured out it was for the hood midflight.

Also had a start up procedure in the steam description, so that was nice if not needed. One problem, there is no real way to readout the throttle setting other than RPS so that is allways a bit of guesswork.

rating: 7/10 (Very basic layout, slightly confusing positioning that require a lot of looking around in the cockpit, works tho)

Performance:

Okay-ish level flight speed of roughly 210-220 km/hs (speed is only given in m/s which is a weird choice imo). Take-off is rather quick and climb rate is also pretty solid. In flight handling and flight performance is really good. Turns on a dime and rolls really well. Drifts slightly when quickly changing yaw, but thats to be expected.

Very agile and relatively quick plane. Two medium fuel tanks provide nice range, the high revving small premade engine somewhat hampers that tho. It revs to 20rps and has no gearing whatsoever and gets quite hot as a consequence and drinks fuel like I drink beer. Hasn't overheated on me yet tho, even with a few minutes of level flight at full throttle.

The altitude hold is very nice plus point for me tho. Landing was easy given the front suspension, the slightly weird throttle control was less of an issue than expected.

rating: 7/10 (Good flight handling, lacking speed)

Effectiveness:

As a scout plane the single seat configuration and bad front view is somewhat holding it back. However, the light armament and good acrobatic handling and relatively acceptable speed (for a WW1 style biplane and given SW physics at least) are quite good.

A more scouting-focused build would have been nice given the name, as this feels more like a light fighter. The armament should be suitable at holding its own against other light planes, however its also too little to serve as a dedicated fighter or bomber hunter and lacks the typical rear gunner/observer found on IRL planes that are comparable.

rating: 6/10 (It seems not super focused on anything and more like an under-equiped jack of all trades)

Design:

Its basic. That doesnt have to be a bad thing, but its really not much going on with this plane. There is a lack of details or camo work. The color choice is nice but also quite basic and seems a slight bit uninspired. The lack of detail/decoration really drags this build down as it feels like its the bare minimum a biplane would need to work.

While that sometimes underlines a more utilitarian style, here it works against the build as it just feels bland.

rating: 4/10 (Its basic, but there is atleast an idea of a design here)

Overall rating: 6/10 (simple and easy to use, would benifit from more detailing)

S-5 Sabre by Impulse

User friendliness:

Cockpit is extremely simple and everything you need is right in front of you.The choice to have the brakes on spacebar is a bit odd to me but it works.

The view from the cockpit is very limited because of the low upper wing and window pices getting in the way( cant really blame you for the windows, we really need frameless windows).

rating: 7/10

Performance:

Despite the plane being jet powered it is very slow at 173km/h at the reccomended 0.85 throttle level and 223 at max throttle.the stock gyro is always on which restricts what you can do a lot and doesn't make the best stabilizer, an option to toggle it would be nice.

It also took me a few times to get off the ground because the plane would go into an uncontrollable vertical loop, probably because of the low center of thrust with no force to counteract it. When it is in the sky it flies relatively well but stalls out inhard turns and has really stiff controls.

engine efficiency is decent for a jet at 0.65L/s. with 940L in the fuel tank that ends up being a short range of around 69 km

rating: 5/10

Effectiveness:

I think it's supposed to be a fighter but it is both far too slow and not manuevrable enough to properly do this. It could see some limited success attacking unarmed ground targets but will probably still struggle a bit because of the light armament and low visibiliy.

The range is also a bit of a limitation because you cant get to the arctic in 1 go and would have to refuel at a ship, train, or plane.

rating: 4/10

Design:

definitely odd but that is to be expected when its based off of some cursed Photoshop shenanigans. Colours are pretty basic but there are enough patterns to break up large surfaces that it still looks interesting, I like the asymmetrically painted wings and the decal on the left side.

The fuselage has a pretty odd shape, looks a bit like a shark that has eaten too much. the tail looks a bit squished so extending it a bit might help it look more like a plane. the control surfaces on the end of the wing could have been moved forward 1 space to not stick out of the wing.

Addition of realistic navigation/collision lights is pretty cool.

rating: 6.5/10

Overall rating: 5.6/10 (Idea is cool, visuals are decent, lacking performance)

AEV Pushback by Kepler/Aurora/they,he

User friendliness:

Extremely simple cockpit, very basic readouts, lacking some sadly. No enigne temp or coolant temp readout and the fuel gauge doesnt seem to work? Overall a slight bit weird, also no labels for the axis. Very confusing start up as the engine immediatly tries to start up on spawning it but doesn't fire until its actually turned on.

The slow clutch engage, which is the only way to control the throttle, is also not helpful in starting as it takes ages to actually engage the propeller. Also, no procedure or help in the steam discription.

rating: 4/10 (Way too basic layout, confusing control scheme and weird choice for layout)

Performance:

Again, speeds of roughly 210-220 km/hs (speed is only given in m/s which is a weird choice, AGAIN). Take-off is weird, the landing gear layout hinders the plane from getting its nose off the ground and the weird aerolon/pitch configuration doesnt seem to help this in the slightest. In flight handling and flight performance is okay but nothing to write home about. Constantly rolls to one side slightly due to the prop, there is nothing to counteract this except the gyro which doesnt seem to help too much.

Very agile and relatively quick plane. One medium fuel tank is nowhere near enough for the engine setup. It has no rev limit (modular engine) and has only very slight gearing. Hasn't overheated on me yet, which is a miracle i think, even with a few minutes of level flight at full throttle it seems somewhat okay.

The Gyro is a nice addition altho the control response is as slow with it as it is without. Landing was weird, the lack of throttle and slow clutch response made for a tricky landing.

rating: 5/10 (Lacking speed and controlability or control comfort.)

Effectiveness:

I don't know what the intended use is but I'm guessing sport plane? The weird first aid kit drop things indicate otherwise tho. Either way, for a medical aid/support/rescue plane its way underequipped and lacks range and storage capability. The low landing gear also deosn't help this.

Also, the handling and low speed and the horrendous engine sound from the high RPS make this a bit of a pain to fly.

rating: 3/10 (It seems not super focused on anything at all and doesnt seem to do well at anything or seem to designed with a certain usability in mind.)

Design:

Its basic. Way too basic. The color choices are okay, but they seem bland because there is so much empty space and no detailing. The "pushback" sign on the side of the cockpit looks a bit cheap and lacks contour or coherent design.

rating: 4/10 (Its basic as well, but it falls into the trap of being too basic.)

Overall rating: 4/10

Piece of Garbage by Hamburger Gaming, local resident pessimist

User friendliness:

The control surfaces that are there, are correctly labeled, but it sadly lacks a lot of readouts. There is no way to know airspeed, engine temperature or RPS or anything else that might be relevant. Luckily, the control surfaces that are there, are rather easy to control and are self explanatory.

Take off however is very tricky, the plane tends to press itself into the ground rather than lift off, due to its landing gear placement and over all rather weird design choices when it comes to functionality. Landing is also rather tricky, as the suspension there is, is not really sufficient to take a rough landing as it immediatly bottoms out and causes massive damage to vital parts.

Overall: 4/10 (Lacking a lot of important readouts but saves some points by at least being properly labeled and easy enought to get the hang of. Take off and landing sadly somewhat kills it.)

Performance:

In flight handling is weird and tricky. It is both overreactive and yet cant properly counteract roll or pitch changes. Flight speed feels similar to the other planes, but is made far more threatening by the fact it constantly tries to kill you.

The rearwards control surfaces (all control surfaces tbh) feel undersized and like they are too small and ineffective for a plane this size.

Overall: 4/10 (Not very good handling. It tries to actively throw you off, which might be fun as a challenge every now and then, but really doesn't fare well in the larger picture.)

Effectiveness:

As I don't really know what the intended use is (again), I guess it's meant as a civilian aircraft. As such its nice? It's handling, fuel economy and general usability as a "scout" or search plane or just "sports plane" should thus be the focus.

Sadly, due to its rather bad handling it doesn't fare too well here. However, the very open cockpit design and very light weight and bare bones design could lend themselves to a super light aircraft of sorts, meant as a bush plane of sorts. For this tho, it lacks utility and range or other "speciality".

Overall: 4/10 (Honestly don't know what its meant to do? Also the lack of a description doesn't help here.)

Design:

Feels like there is none at all. There is no color whatsoever on this plane. Not one colored block. It thus looks a bit "cheap" and boring. The overall shape is a bit weird, with the tail being angeled up by a pivot and the front wheels being way too far forward. The placement of the wings is also slightly weird.

It feels like its trying to bridge the gap between paraglider/ultra-light and proper plane, but sadly doesn't quite get there, due to the way too basic design.

Overall: 2/10 (Ther really is nothing here. I'm sorry to say this, but it feels both rushed and unfinished, like someone submitted an early draft or test plane instead of their finished product. AND I SWEAR TO GOD, IF I HAVE TO HEAR ONE MORE WHINY FUCKING COMPLAINT ABOUT HOW SHIT SOMEONE IS AT BUILDING, I'M FORCING THIS ENTIRE SERVER TO GET THERAPY!)

Overall rating: 3,5/10