Valen Heavy Industries - VHI V-1 Nimbus

Developed by someone who flies airplanes in real life, the V-1 Nimbus is designed to provide an engaging and highly realistic experience. Its controls are tuned to work well in aerobatic flight, while being steady and predictable enough for easy cross-country flight. It can be operated in "easy" or "realistic" mode, according to your preference. It comes with a variety of tintable paint jobs. For general aviation and flight simulator pilots, the master switch, fuel pump, and engine starters can be manually controlled (or left on auto-start.) The Nimbus has 110 gallons of fuel and consumes it according to engine power - or, you can have infinite fuel if you prefer.

The Nimbus uses VVDE IV, a significantly overhauled version of the flight simulation engine found in the Accipiter and Archduke aircraft. The new engine increases the level of realism, both in terms of physics and aircraft systems.

Included is a new version of the VHI Nav-Tac HUD. Slightly larger but still compact enough to be unobtrusive, the HUD has gained a multi-page multifunction display (MFD) patterned after the MFDs found in modern "glass cockpit" aircraft. With the HUD, you can start and stop the engines, extend or retract the gear, and view fuel status. The HUD also has TCAS (another nice feature for real and simulator pilots) and a logbook, complete with Hobbs and TTE meters. The HUD will warn you when your gear is up at low throttle, and when your fuel is low.

Features

Comprehensive instructions, which explain how to configure and operate the Nimbus, are included.

Amphibious: Can land, maneuver in, and take off from water.

Two Seats with Co-Pilot Option: If you want, you can let someone else ride along and (optionally) take the controls. You can also eject unwanted passengers. Tiny compatible.

Superior Physics Simulation: Lift, drag, gravity, thrust, stalling, inertia, ground effect, and so on - it's all here. VHI has been a top player in SL flight simulation for years, and this aircraft continues the tradition with further improvements to a flight simulation engine that already beats the tar out of everything I've seen.

Superior Handling: Controls are mathematically smoothed to minimize jerkiness and deliver a nice, predictable response. Aircraft can be controlled either in 3rd person (keyboard) or mouselook. Responsive enough for aerobatic flight, and predictable enough for cross-country flight.

Superior Sound: VHI aircraft all come with some of the best sounds of any aircraft in SL. This particular model's main engine sounds were synthesized from an actual jet engine by VHI. All sounds have been created in crystal-clear 44.1KHz.

There are tons of options, and they are all configurable through a touch menu system. Some are also configurable via chat, while the aircraft is in use.

Includes a multifunction head-up display (HUD) that includes flight computer (waypoint-based navigation, including multi-waypoint flight plans) and tactical functions. The HUD works with other vehicles and while traveling without a vehicle, and even has a jetpack option, although vehicle-specific stuff (throttle position, gear down, etc.) is only available with the G-1 Cygnus II gyrocopter and VHI vehicles released in 2006 or later.

Comes with a variety of tintable skins.

Ships with Terra Combat System (TCS) 2.1, which displays information on the HUD. (10 hit-point version included, you can switch to the 5hp version if you prefer - instructions included)

Auto-update system delivers free updates for the life of the product.

Automatic Systems:

Engines can start automatically, or at your command.
High physical realism disengages momentarily if sim resources are insufficient to maintain smooth operation.
There is a mild wing-leveler, which you can disengage.
Fully automated short-field takeoffs.
Auto trim.
Flaps automatically extend at low speed for easier slow flight, better short-field performance, and landings.
Auto brakes.
Unwanted passengers can be automatically ejected, if you desire.
Afterburners are automatically shut down if simulator instability is detected.
Aircraft shuts down if you get dropped out of it going over a sim border.
Throttle is cut at very high altitude in order to avoid going past the 4096-meter "object deletion ceiling."

Buying

Check VHI's Where To Buy page for in-world locations, or get it here at SLExchange. The V-1 Nimbus retails for L$1,100 and comes with copy and modify permissions.

Value Proposition

There are many vehicles that can be had for less money - some of which I myself produced! The Nimbus is more expensive than many other vehicles because of the amount of labor involved (HUNDREDS of hours for scripting, sound and texture creation, testing, and of course marketing.) The physics simulation alone is the result of three years of research and development, and I'm tossing in a HUD that took over fifty hours to develop for free! So while it does cost more than most other vehicles, you really do get what you pay for!

Of course, these days it's common to see vehicles selling for this much - and even more. Many of these look nice, but have very simple flight scripts that don't even begin to approach VVDE III or IV in terms of refined handling, realistic physics simulation, or richness of feature set. I'm confident that when you take into consideration the massive amount of careful work I've put into this vehicle, you'll realize that you are getting a LOT of airplane for your money.