FS2004 Evergreen Airbus A310

This freeware repaint package introduces a unique Evergreen “evaluation” scheme for the Airbus A310, capturing an era when the aircraft briefly served with Evergreen under a loan arrangement from Airbus Industrie. All work aside from Evergreen textures is by Harald Nehring, with the custom Evergreen finish crafted by Nige Edwards. Designed for use in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, this release retains authentic details of the A310-203 airframe and highlights its distinctive route-proving history.

Historic Livery Origin

The featured livery reflects a short-lived period when Airbus temporarily leased an A310 to Evergreen for operational trials. This demonstration approach allowed airlines to explore the aircraft’s capabilities on varied routes. Evergreen's branding stands out against the A310’s streamlined silhouette, emphasizing the fuselage’s revised length and wing geometry compared to its predecessor, the A300.

Aircraft Lineage and Real-World Role

Airbus initially called the A310 the A300B10, seeing it as a derivative of the original A300B series. Over time, engineering refinements created a fuselage shortened by 13 frames, giving it capacity for approximately 200 to 230 passengers. The redesigned wing exhibits a higher aspect ratio for efficient cruise performance on short to medium haul services. Although it was once intended for shorter routes, many carriers later utilized the A310 on longer segments due to its flexibility.

This specific variant, the A310-203, carries two General Electric CF6-80A3 engines and forgoes the winglets seen on subsequent versions. Operational range remains roughly 6,667 km (3,600 nm), adequate for extended flights without sacrificing cargo or passenger capacity. Production of the A310 spanned several decades, but today only a handful of deliveries occur, primarily for freighter usage.

Technical Highlights and Development

Harald Nehring developed the core 3D model in GMAX, integrating multiple advanced features appropriate for the era of flight simulation. The package includes a mix of dynamic elements and refined texturing:

• Full-moving control surfaces, including a one-piece horizontal stabilizer, ailerons, and spoileron functions.
• Robust nose wheel animation that reacts to ground movement and utilizes Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004's improved ground-handling system.
• Standard lighting elements such as navigation, beacon, strobe, landing, and taxi lights with reflective materials.
• Translucent cockpit windows and a detailed exterior light map for enhanced night flying realism.
• Accurate multi-stage engine fan rotations with thrust reverser deployment triggered by reverse thrust inputs.
• Tilting main gear bogies and working suspension, matching real-world load and shock absorption.
• Distinct rolling-wheel animations for smoother ground roll visuals.
• No virtual cockpit is included at this time.

Important Notes on Installation

After downloading, extract the contents into your “aircraft” folder within the simulator’s main directory. Although the original instructions reference FS2002, the structure remains similar for FS2004 users. Make certain you preserve folder paths during extraction. Your aircraft selection menu in-flight will then present “Airbus/A310-203” for immediate access.

All visual enhancements are crafted to faithfully replicate both the structural nuances of this classic jetliner and the distinctive markings that Evergreen used for its short evaluation period. The repaint by Nige Edwards complements the original model and flight dynamics by Harald Nehring, offering a snapshot of an underrepresented chapter in the A310’s service timeline.