Commercial Level Simulation’s Airbus A310Reviewed by Ludo Lambrechts
The Airbus line of aircraft is just as distinguished as the Boeing fleet. Commuter aircraft for all ranges and purposes are within both fleets. The A300-600 was a terrific aircraft in its respective category. The A310 started out as a “baby” A300. It was designated as the A300 B10. The aircraft was modelled out of the A300 with a shortened fuselage, redesigned wings, and a smaller vertical fin. From there the A310 fleet was built. With all of the similarities to the A300 it is not surprising that the talented team from CLS is making an expansion to the A300-600. The A310 is CLS’s latest expansion to the A300-600 and it adds a whole new dimension to classic CLS products.
CLS has prided themselves on terrific exterior models, with amazing liveries. Starting with their premiere add-on, the A300-600R a name was made that stands for detail. It didn’t have anything to do with FMC’s, and systems which required days of reading thick manuals. It offered casual simmers a chance to enjoy all the eye candies of a high quality model without having to learn every little function. This name was further reiterated with the release of the A340 series.
The A310-300 modelled by CLS is a terrific example of their talent. Included is a plethora of different models which includes cargo and passenger versions of both the GE and PW. Added to that is an EADS model, and a special RCAF model. All models feature an air star which appears once the plane is parked, and shut down. Included are 25 high-quality liveries. These liveries are all of high quality just like the ones we’ve seen on earlier CLS models. I did have a slight issue in the installation of the liveries as there where no VC, wing, and tug textures included in the original installers. This issue has been fixed now though, and shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Given the abundance of eye candies, extensive liveries, and the perfect model there is no doubt that this is the highlight of the CLS A310.
The CLS A310 shares a lot of similarities with the original A300-600R which it is an expansion to. Both the A306 and the A310 share the same Virtual Cockpit and 2D Cockpit as well as Sound. The Panel is not like the quality you see in a PMDG product. It doesn’t have an FMC, and does not require reading any thick manuals. However the Panel is simple and offers you everything you need to use this awesome plane. The VC is also not perfect but is nice, smooth, and has everything you need. The interior is not the highlight of this package, but certainly doesn’t bring down the value of it.
The sound of the A310 is also the same one as included in the A300-600R. I particularly liked this soundest and the A310 does just as good with this sound set. It may not be the exact sound that you would hear from an A310 but it is close enough that you would not notice there is a difference. The sound set is another highlight of an amazing product.
Performance is one other big issue. With FMC’s, high quality gauges, extensive systems and poor model optimization a what would otherwise be an amazing model turns into crap. You however don’t experience a performance loss with the CLS A310. You will receive consistently high frame rates which do not falter when in the plane or outside the plane.
The CLS A310 is a terrific value product. At just a little bit more than $12 Canadian you receive a high-quality model, with a terrific soundset. The whole “lite” concept is extremely effective in this product. For the tremendous value of the product I award the A310 expansion by Commercial Level Simulations a 9 out of 10.
Reviewed by Ludo Lambrechts for CLS
Commercial Level Simulation’s Airbus A310, My Review
[GK-customfield]FSX[customfield-GK] 
.
