Piston pounder and flying boat fans rejoice! Austrian developer PILOT’S has recently provided Prepar3D vintage aviation fans with its highly-accurate virtual rendition of the famous Boeing B314 Clipper flying boat.
Historically speaking, the Boeing B314 Clipper was created due to Pan American Airways’ dire need for an aircraft capable of supporting and relieving the airline’s by then aging Martin M-130 flying boat fleet on their Trans-Pacific crossings. The first Boeing B314 Clipper began construction on Boeing’s famous Plant 1 and, after numerous months of development, took off from Elliott Bay on June 7th, 1938, piloted by Edmund T. “Eddie” Allen.
The first commercial Boeing B314 flight would take place nearly a year later, on February 23rd, 1939, on the so-called Foreign Air Mail Route #14, operating from San Francisco to Hong Kong. Following the airframe’s initial success, PanAm would take delivery of 9 airframes in total, initially running them on other lucrative long-haul mail and passenger services. Sadly, after WWII and a relatively short military career, the Boeing B314 Clipper would go on to find itself having become obsolete. The final scheduled PanAm Clipper service was operated in 1946, with BOAC, the only other airline to use them, following suit in 1948.
Austrian developer PILOT’S has recently reopened the history books and has provided the Boeing B314 Clipper with a new lease on life, releasing their virtual rendition of this history-rich flying boat for Prepar3D. According to the developer, their rendition is a fully accurate “study-level” recreation of the famed airframe. It comes included with an accurately recreated virtual cockpit that includes both, an operational navigation and radio room, a Sperry type A gyro pilot, a custom-created sound package, and 4k textures, to name but just a few.
If you feel the need to relieve the past and dive into a faithfully recreated experience of what it meant being a Clipper pilot, then head on over to PILOT’S webpage, where you can acquire the Boeing B314 Clipper for the product’s early bird price of €79.95 E.x. VAT. Following the early bird period, the price is set to increase to €89.95 E.x. VAT.
Feature List
- Study-level recreation of the Boeing B314 “Clipper” airframe for P3Dv4.5 and P3Dv5
- Complete Virtual Cockpit featuring an accurately simulated Navigation and Radio Room
- Sperry Type A Gyropilot
- Authentic and realistic 2D-gauges to facilitate realistic engine startup procedure
- Prototypes included (Single-Fin, Twin-Fin)
- Custom Sound Package by ArezOne-Aviation Soundstudios
- Authentic colour matching and simulated original materials
- Mooring lights and lines
- Simulated Shore Power when the B314 is moored
- 4k Textures
- Comprehensive manuals about aircraft history, functions and Gyropilot
- Navigation aids to feed the Gyropilot for transocean navigation
