Introduction
Manfred Jahn gained acknowledgement within the FS community with
his beautiful freeware renditions of the Douglas C47 and
Lockheed Constellation. Last year he and the rest of the team
focused on a new airplane: the turboprop Basler BT67.
Background
If you look at the image above and think, “Well, that looks just
like a DC-3 on steroids” you are completely correct.
The Basler BT67 is a conversion of the DC-3 that leaves the
Basler factory as a completely new airplane with zero
accumulated flying hours, a 40`` stretch of the fuselage,
redesigned wingtips, a new cockpit interior and brand new
PT6A-67R turboprops with five-bladed propellers.
 Antarctic front view |
There is much more to tell about the conversion but you can read the rest of the information on the site of Basler:
http://www.baslerturbo.com/DEFAULT.aspx
The Basler BT67 is in worldwide use and one of the more noteable uses is in Antarctica where the Polar airplanes are a familiar site at the German base Neumayer Station III.
Polar 5 and Polar 6 fly missions with special equipment for scientific research and are indispensable for providing logistic support between the remote research stations in Antarctica.
Download & installation
This package is readily available for download at all the usual places for freeware aircraft with the exception of AVSIM. You can find it by searching for basler_bt67_v2.zip.
The zip file then has to be unzipped either direct to your main FSX folder or per installation instructions to a temporary folder from where you copy the contents to FSX.
It is almost as easy as using an installer and for old-hands brings back memories of how we use to install planes in earlier versions of Flight Simulator.
What you get
The package includes four planes:
● Polar 5 with skis
● Polar 5 without skis
● Thai Air Force variant
● Columbian Enforcer variant: the Fantasma (Phantom).
The package comes with a Virtual Cockpit (VC) , custom effects and animations. It also includes all the documentation you need to fly this airplane in FSX.
The package does not include a 2D cockpit or a custom sound set, the sounds are aliased to the default King Air.
 Polar 5 with skis |
 Polar 5 without skis |
 BT67 Royal Thai Air Force |
 AC-47T Phantasma |
External model
When compared to photos on the internet and information on the Basler site the models capture reality with uncanny accuracy.
The new engines plus 5 bladed propellers and the distinctive new wing tips are accurately portrayed as are the ski’s for the polar version. The extra bulges, antennas and guns for the Gunship version are not modeled except for the Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) bubble under the nose of the aircraft. Since modeling all the intricacies would result in a lot of work on the external model I feel this is a justified decision from the design team.
The external lights are placed in the correct positions and deliver a lifelike glare whether it is day or night time.
The only other omission I can mention is that only the only door which can be opened is the large cargo door at the tail of the aircraft. The escape hatch in the roof of the cockpit can also be opened but only from the inside.
 Detail wing flap |
 Detail skis in flight |
 The new wing shape and lengthened fuselage |
 Very detailed engines |
 Overall outline |
 Front view of the AC-47T |
 Royal Thai Air Force in flight |
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The internal model consists of the Virtual Cockpit. The cabin is modelled but only insofar it can be seen from the outside. There is no cabin view available.
The Basler only has a virtual cockpit which is entirely built with 3D objects; I have not noticed one single 2D gauge or button in the entire cockpit. The quality of the gauges is very good and it is possible to zoom in while the gauges remain very readable.
In addition to the normal steam gauges the cockpit also has a dual GPS installation consisting of the freeware Garmin GNS430 and the Garmin GNS530 from FS2X. These are GPS systems are more functional than the default FSX GPS but do import the FSX flight plan.
The overhead panel is completely different than that of a DC3 and it is captured to perfection. When compared to pictures of the real cockpit found on internet I could not find anything missing and most of the buttons and switches are fully functional.
The VC has some nice and unusual extra features:
By clicking on the yoke both the yoke and the seat are lowered but your viewpoint stays the same.
Clicking on the side windows opens the windows, clicking on the escape hatch in the roof opens the escape hatch. Clicking on the floodlights turns on the internal lights.
By clicking on the checklist in a pocket on the left the checklist comes out and attaches itself to the yoke.
Last but by no means least the virtual pilot can make use of two very useful pop-ups: the Fuel and Payload pop-up opened with SHIFT+2 and the Control Panel pop-up opened with SHIFT+3.
With the parking brake set it is possible to change fuel and payload with the Fuel and Payload pop-up while the Control Panel pop-up can be used in flight to control most of the systems in the aircraft.
The most memorable features of the cockpit are its functional beauty with good textures and very usable extra’s.
 Panel overview |
 Overhead panel |
 Levers and pedestal |
 Lowered yoke |
 Checklist |
 Fuel and payload pop-up |
 Control panel pop-up |
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The sounds are the only disappointment in this airplane as they are aliased to the default King Air.
A good solution is to alias the sounds to an airplane that uses similar (but not the same) engines such as the Twin Otter 300. Just add extra sounds for the gear and you are good to go!
Flight characteristics
The modeled airplane stays very close to the performance data as published by Basler on their site.
You can fly this plane with the provided settings and you will get the expected results.
Be careful however when you use the advertised power settings on lower altitudes – with a power setting of 90% torque it is easy to cause the airplane to over speed.
Flight dynamics
The Basler BT67 is a very nice turboprop to fly. The plane feels rock solid and stable, no doubt helped by the 40 inch extension of the standard DC3 fuselage and new wing tips.
Basically the Basler feels like a more stable, more powerful DC3. It is still very maneuverable but just a little more stable. It is also much more powerful and due to this extra power you have to take care not to over speed at lower altitudes.
The engines possess a distinctive turboprop lag and this is probably the one characteristic (virtual) DC3 pilots will have the most trouble adjusting to.
The plane is easy to handle, even with lowered ski’s and take-off and landings are easy once you get used to the spool up time for the turboprops.
Take-off and landing from small strips, and even ice strips in Antarctica, are no problem for this plane. The only small issue I have with the plane is that it is a little more sluggish at high altitude airports than I would expect from a modern, overpowered turbojet.
 Climb performance is very good |
 The BT67 is easy to handle with lowered ski’s |
 A more stable, more powerful DC3! |
 Parked - Front View |
Documentation
The package comes with extensive documentation, the most important is the “Flying the Basler Turbo-67 in FSX” pdf file.
This 25 page file describes all the important things you need to know when flying this aircraft in the simulator. It also has an appendix with useful tips and tricks and is an indispensable source of information.
Two other files that are very useful for the virtual pilot are the user guides for both GPS systems from FS2X . Also included are brochures from the manufacturer Basler and AWI – the Alfred Wegener Institute.
Value for money
This package is without any doubt payware quality. The only thing that is a little disappointing is the lack of a special sound pack.
Since the package is also completely free it is naturally great value for money!
Pros:
● Very nice external and internal modeling
● Good frame rates
● Very good VC with nice and functional extra’s
● Very stable and believable flight characteristics
● Extensive and informative documentation
Cons:
● No specialized sound package,
Verdict
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• External model: • Internal model: • Sounds: • Flight characteristics: • Flight dynamics: • Documentation: • Value for money: |
9.0/10 8.0/10 5.0/10 9.0/10 9.0/10 10/10 10/10 |
Available from Flightsim.com Search for file name basler_bt67_v2.zip 
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Kasper Hanselman
Review machine Spec: Intel i5 2.67Ghz
| 6Gb DDR3 Ram |Radeon HD5670|Windows 7 64bit