Background and History
developer: SibWings lab
publisher: SibWings lab
price: USD27/EUR20
test system: AMD 3500+, 2GB RAM, ATI Radeon X800 GT
SibWings is a relatively new flight sim add-on company and the Saab Safir is a somewhat unusual subject choice for their first release. The SibWings team has had extensive experience in other flight sim add-ons and this experience certainly shows in this stunning model. The team also had the assistance of real Saab Safir pilots for the beta testing process.
What you may ask is a Saab Safir? While Saab may conjure up images of slightly unusual cars and for aviation minded people, jet fighters and regional airliners, Saab did produce a couple of light military trainers and general aviation designs including the Saab MFI-17 Safari and the subject of this add-on the Saab 91 Safir.
The Safir was conceived in the late 1940’s when Saab saw a need for a new light civilian aircraft as the war was coming to an end. The first prototype flew in 1945 with an inline Gypsy Major engine. This was the three seat 145 hp Saab Safir 91A. Like the Yak-52 the wheels protrude when retracted therefore belly landings can be carried out without too much damage. 48 of these models were produced for the Swedish Air Force, a Dutch Flying School and the Ethiopian Air Force with the rest going to various civilian owners.
The Swedish Air Force requested that Saab produce a more powerful version and in response Saab developed the 190hp Lycoming 91B version. 75 Saab 91Bs were sold to the Swedish Air Force as their main basic trainer and another 25 to the Norwegian Air Force for the same role. Other users were Sabena and Lufthansa for pilot training. 120 of the earlier 91B’s were produced in the Netherlands as Saab had used up all their capacity producing J-29 fighters. Production of the Safir transferred back to Sweden in 1955.
The 91C version of the Safir was a four-seat version of the three seat 91B, which replaced the cabin fuel tank with a fourth seat. Operators of the 91C were the Ethiopian and Finnish Air Forces.
In 1957 the Saab 91D was developed which used a lighter 180hp Lycoming along with other small improvements. This model was sold to the Finnish, Austrian and Tunisian Air Forces and to a Dutch Flying School. In total 323 Safirs were produced.
The Swedes and the Japanese also used Safirs for aerodynamic experiments mainly related to the wing as the wing could be replaced easily with different designs.
Today, there are approximately 80 Saab Safirs left flying mainly in Europe with various flying clubs, collectors and private owners.
Installation & Documentation
The Safir is currently only available as a very reasonable 40.7Mb download from the SibWings web site. The install is fully automatic but there a few security measures that you have to go through to get it fully installed, otherwise the install process is relatively simple.
With the install comes a reasonably comprehensive 48 page manual which includes a comprehensive history and specification of the real world Safir, system requirements, settings, a comprehensive diagram of the panels of each Safir modelled (there are four different Safirs modelled each with its own characteristics), checklists, a quick flight guide and a short description on how to do some aerobatic manoeuvres. I found a few features of the model that weren’t covered in the manual but a quick search of the SibWings web site soon gave me the answers.
Outside Model
Each of the four models are exact replicas of aircraft that currently reside in Europe. Two of these aircraft are currently flying and the other two are static examples in museums. There are two quite different “D” model Safirs along with one each of a “B” & “C” model. The “D” models come in a distinctive red and white Swiss civilian registered and in a grey Finish Air Force version. The “C” model is an ex Swedish Air Force aircraft still in its military camouflage but with a civilian registration whilst the “B” model is in “trainer yellow” Swedish Air Force colours. The military attired aircraft show a realistic amount of wear and tear whilst the civilian clothed Swiss aircraft has a well-maintained look about it. The textures for all models are very finely detailed and look amazingly realistic. The textures and exterior lighting also look the part at night.
Each version is also equipped with its own distinct pilot; military attired pilots in the Finnish and Swedish Air force versions whilst civilian clothed pilots occupy the left hand seat of the ex Swedish Air Force and Swiss registered aircraft. The pilot’s limbs are attached to all the appropriate controls and move when the controls are moved.
If it moves on the real aircraft it moves on this model. The developers don’t seem to have missed a thing. As you delve deep into the model the little details continue to amaze. For example if you look carefully you can see the the engine exhaust vibrating when the engine is running, the air vents move when you pull the appropriate levers in the cockpit, the finely detailed undercarriage when retracting has a distinct droop before it finally settles in the wheel well and the elevator drops when the aircraft is stationary. The entry canopies and windows to the front and rear of the aircraft all open in a realistic manner. If you take the engine covers off (with the appropriately assigned keys) with it running you can see the finely detailed engine vibrating on its engine mount, whilst each engine in each model is dissimilar.
When on the ground the aircraft has a distinct “sit” about it and this is captured well by the model. The fin has a twist to it in real life and this is also carefully modelled. When stationary and the parking brakes are applied the pilot disappears and wheel chocks and pitot covers appear.
Unless I had the real thing lined up to model and started comparing rivet numbers it is very difficult to find any fault with the exterior of the model.
2D/3D Cockpit
Like some of the more recent general aviation and warbird releases there is no 2D cockpit in the initial download, although if you really must have one there is one available free as a separate download from the SibWings website. Upon entering the cockpit you soon see why no 2D panel is needed, as all the instruments are beautifully crisp and easy to read - even when zoomed in. All the controls are modelled and every button, switch and control can be moved within the 3D cockpit, including some of the more unusual objects like the overhead spot light that swings down from the roof to illuminate the instruments and a movable shade cloth (it is moved with the wheel of your mouse – provided it is not assigned to something else like F1 view) that goes over the cockpit canopy so you don’t fry your head in the summer sun.
Each of the Safir variations has its own unique cockpit with the Finish “D” and Swedish “B” versions having a more military style layout and older style instruments. As a well used military aircraft all the controls and instruments look suitably faded and worn. The Swiss “D” version has a modified and relatively modern cockpit with an electronic EGT, a modified mixture control which is located on the throttle quadrant (the other variations have the mixture control that is almost hidden under the panel) and other newer instruments you would find in more modern general aviation aircraft. I did feel the mixture and prop control knobs on the Swiss aircraft looked a bit too clean and lacked a bit of detail. The civilian ex Swedish Air force ”C” version has a mixture of old military instruments dating from its military days and newer instruments. As with the real Safir none of the aircraft have autopilots and only the Swiss D version is equipped for IFR flight.
The refresh rates of all the instruments are superb and the needles move around the dials as smooth as silk. The instrument refresh rate is truly remarkable considering the detail of the virtual cockpit.
The night lighting is brilliant (sorry, no pun intended) and you will be hard pressed to find any other add-on which matches it. The panel can be further illuminated with the swing down spotlight.
With all the panels being fairly basic and the instruments being very easy to read there is a need for only one subpanel and that’s for the default GPS.
The rest of the cockpit for all variations is all nicely rendered including fire extinguishers, seats and rudder pedals, the stretcher in the “B” model and the fuel tank (which replaces the fourth seat) in the Finish “D” model.
Flight Dynamics
Browsing the SibWings web site and forums it is apparent that there has being a large input in this area from real world Safir pilots so it has to believed that the aircraft flies as accurately as possible within the constraints of FS 2004. I have to confess I haven’t even seen a Safir let alone had the pleasure of flying one.
Being tricycle undercarriaged and using differential braking the Safir is easy to accurately taxi. The Safir takes a bit to unstick from the runway as it takes a while for speed to build – it certainly isn’t a bush plane.
Once airborne and everything is cleaned up it is a joy to fly and simple aerobatics like loops, hammerheads and rolls are easy to perform. Stalls are nicely modelled with a pronounced wing drop. I could not do realistic and accurate spins and sideslips as I only posses a twist grip joystick – other users with an appropriate pedal set up reportedly can perform such manoeuvres.
You have to be accurate with your landings as being low winged and with reasonable wing area the very accurately modelled ground effects comes into play. If you are not careful you will find yourself floating forever and quickly heading towards an unfortunate meeting with the airfield boundary fence.
The flight dynamics are modelled separately for each variation as each has its own subtle differences in weight and power. Even each “D” model is different, as the Swiss civilian model has had an engine upgrade from 180hp to 200hp and sports a three-blade prop.
Sound
The SibWings team have also excelled in this area. Each knob, switch and control has its own appropriate squeak, graunch or click and being a rather elderly aircraft you would expect more of these sounds than a factory fresh Cessna. I did feel the main row of switches in the middle panel were a touch loud and one of the landing light switches in one of the models for some reason did not have any sound at all. I also had some minor problems with my ATC as the aircraft registration reverted to the default - but this was easily fixed.
Some developers go overboard with the volume of the flap and undercarriage sounds however I felt these were just right in the Safir.
The engine has a nice rumble to it and has a good broad range as the throttle is opened and closed.
You can also hear (but not overly loud) the rush of air going past the aircraft when in flight and at speed in the taking off and landing phases.
Summary
The SibWings web site is informative and provides a number of downloads including the manual, repaints, patches and the 2D panel. The support forums are a friendly and informative place to be with frequent input from the developers and real Safir pilots.
It is obvious the developers have gone to great lengths to get the right feel and character of the Safir and the attention to detail is simply outstanding. Effectively you are getting four aircraft as each version has its own appearance and flight dynamics modelled in depth. The only thing really missing is a maintenance module. The detail isn’t at the expense of frames rates either and I get excellent frames per second on my system with only a marginal drop in FPS from the default aircrafts. To round it all off it is also outstanding value for money at 20 Euros.
At the risk of repeating myself it really is a stunning and exquisitely detailed model. After approximately twelve hours of testing I got to know the Safir well but I still found it very difficult to fault any area of the Safir. I honestly believe this must be one of the best add-on general aviation or vintage aircraft ever developed for FS 2004.
SibWings are working on yet another variation, boxed and FSX versions of the Safir and their next release is the Cessna Birddog. If it equals the Safir I am first in the queue.
wonderful detail, excellent virtual cockpit, very smooth gauges, little FPS impact, model variations, price, realistic flight model
some very minor sound bugs, no maintenance module
Paul Kilsby
