Introduction The retractable gear Cessna Skylane first made its appearance in 1977. It was not the first time Cessna had taken a 182 and added retractable gear though. Around 1960 Cessna took its 182, fitted it with retractable gear, a 30 horsepower increase and the original 210 Centurion was born. The 210 evolved into a larger and even more powerful aircraft in time. Carenado has followed a similar order in first introducing their Microsoft Flight Simulator version of the Cessna 210 Centurion (the later, larger and more powerful version), and now releasing the 182 Skylane RG II. Cessna’s strategy was good, first train pilots in the 150/152 and then sell the new pilots a four seat model which would be very familiar, the 170/172. Move them up to heavier and faster models… the 177, 182, 206, 210 and if they can afford it, move them into a twin and finally Citation jet. Their marketing worked because the Cessna 152, 172 and 182 are the top three selling single engine aircraft in history. The advantage we have with flight simulation is we can jump into just about anything we want and without too much of a learning curve, fly it without ever risking killing ourselves. FS2004 comes with a Cessna 172 and a 182, both modeled after more recent versions. There are numerous freeware Cessna singles ranging from the taildragger 120 to the very long 207 Skywagon. There are also very nice payware versions of the trusty 152, 172, 177 and Carenado’s own 210. So why would anyone want to simulate flying another little Cessna? Well, I’m gonna tell ya so keep reading. Installation and Documentation Carenado’s Cessna Skylane RG is delivered in a downloadable 32.9 Mb self executing file. A couple of mouse clicks and the work is done without messing up anything else in the sim. When you go looking for your new aircraft you won’t find it in the Cessna section though, it will be listed under Carenado as the manufacturer. This has become common practice among payware developers and if you would rather find it in the Cessna section you can always edit the aircraft.cfg file to read however you want it to. There are four paints with this download and two models, one with a pilot only, the other with a pilot and one front seat passenger. There are four pdf files included that can be accessed through the “Start” menu under the “Carenado Cessna Skylane 182 RG II” heading. These include a checklist, emergency procedures, performance handbook and panel operation guide. You will notice that the pages from the performance handbook will sometimes be hard to read, that’s because they are actual copies from the real operating handbook for the aircraft, so it’s not Carenado’s fault. These cover all the information you need to know to operate this aircraft within the sim and since much of it is from the real life counterpart, there are many areas that aren’t actually simulated, i.e. landing with a flat tire. Exterior Model This has been a trademark of Carenado aircraft since their first release. Beautiful exterior models that just wow the observer. I didn’t know just how realistic a simulator aircraft could look until I saw my first Carenado version. Their latest continues this tradition down to the rivets, gear doors, trim pushrods, streaks of oil and gas, exhaust stains and window reflections. It all comes together in a model that doesn’t exhibit any visual seams or breaks and the reflections are very tastefully subtle. Common trouble areas in many other free and pay models are the doors and animated control surfaces appearing a different colour or not reflecting like their adjacent parts. This is an area that Carenado has always excelled and this model is no exception.
Carenado
has also added some new visual tidbits to its latest model with wheel chocks
and tiedowns when the aircraft is shut down and
the parking brake is set. You can open the pilot door separately and when you
open
the passenger door, the baggage door also opens revealing what’s
inside. New to this model is an opening pilot’s side window. This
is accomplished with the tail hook command which you will have to assign
a key for if you haven’t
already.
Panel The 2d panel is taken directly from photos of the aircraft used to model this simulation. A photo of the panel from the real aircraft modeled is shown in the manual and this simulation copies it basically verbatim. Carenado has included a panel manager with its most recent aircraft and this appears as a group of small icons in the upper left hand corner of the screen which can be toggled on and off from a panel icon. You can open and close sub-panels directly from these icons or use the “X” icon in the sub-panels to close them once opened. You can also jump from the normal 2d view to a landing/VFR view or IFR view which shows the lower panel electrical switches when enabled. Many of the main panel gauges can be zoomed in on by clicking over the upper part of the gauge itself, this function is enabled in the VC as well which makes the gauge easier to read. Many of the gauges also have a click spot in the lower portion that will toggle a digital readout making tuning VOR radials and adjusting altimeter settings much easier. Night lighting of the 2d panel is handled with the normal panel lights switch which is a floodlight and fortunately looks realistic without that stupid pink glow. The Cessna 182RG follows suit with Carenado’s last release, the Piper Cherokee, by having borders around most of the sub-panels which some people like, others don’t… you just can’t please everyone.
The only critique I can give here, is that I wouldn’t have minded seeing some variations in the panel avionics. A configuration manager that would allow you to switch between all original Cessna avionics, a mix like this one has and all newer style radios, possibly even an option for a two axis autopilot. Since this is a copy of a real aircraft though it is hard to fault. The virtual cockpit is the real treat in this aircraft and it shows just how much Carenado has advanced since their first offerings. I normally prefer the 2d panel just because of the readability and gauge update rate common to most VC’s is not acceptable for flying. Carenado has changed the way in which they place gauges into the VC and follow the methods that Microsoft used on their default aircraft and good VC developers like Bill Lyons have been using to make truly flyable virtual cockpits. While this is not the new state of the art method that RealAir uses in its Siai Marchetti update or Spitfire nor the upcoming T-37 Tweet update, it’s the best method presently for using regular type gauge files in the VC. I found the gauge update rate in the VC to be as good as or better than Microsoft’s default aircraft and as good as the latest Bill Lyons’ aircraft (which use less gauges). The great news is the readability and gauge update rates are good enough that you no longer are forced to use the 2d panel. The only downside is for chronic panel tweakers that want to modify the VC panel. When it comes to gauge placement what you see is what you get, there’s no moving or adding any additional gauges to the panel. You can replace a same size gauge but with the nice job Carenado did with these gauges, including the reflection from the glass face (you can see the camera used to take the VOR1 face), zoom functions and toggled digital readouts, you really wouldn’t want to. The radio stack is the only fair game and I’m sure there will be some alternate panel configurations available to add some of the popular payware radios for those that have purchased them. Just be prepared, the audio panel, navcom1 and 2 and the ADF all are placed from a single gauge so you can’t pick and choose, it’s all or none. Let me also add that the radios themselves are nicely done, giving a 3d appearance from the angle the shots were taken. This only looks funny if you slide over to the front passenger seat in the VC and look over at the radios and then the perspective for the knobs and switches is all wrong!
The autopilot is a good rendition of Cessna own 200A Navomatic single axis unit. There is no altitude control or glide slope tracking on this autopilot so you have to watch your altitude yourself. This makes for a little more cockpit work if you are used to a two axis autopilot but is in keeping with what you will frequently find in the real world. You can select heading hold, Nav intercept and Nav tracking, the Nav intercept will hold your heading bug selection until intercepting the VOR radial. There is a Hi sensitivity switch which is used for more precise tracking of Localizers, and a back course switch as well. This unit will track either VOR radials or your GPS programmed flight plan or direct routing. My only critique on the autopilot is it is difficult to tell whether the buttons are pressed in or not, a little screen help text would be a nice thing here. Carenado uses Microsoft’s default GPS unit, the aircraft modeled was not GPS equipped and in fact didn’t have the autopilot installed anymore. The recent patch adds an additional panel icon to bring up the autopilot popup which is a nice touch, the original release required you to first open the IFR 2d panel, then click over the autopilot to bring up the popup. Night lighting in the VC is going to wow you, it did me. You actually have four choices starting with leaving them all off. The panel light switch brings in a floodlight which is your only option in the 2d panel and something you really wouldn’t want to fly with at night cause you couldn’t see outside very well. Microsoft’s little programming trick of attaching the VC gauge internal lighting to the landing light switch is alive and well and Carenado has done a masterful job of recreating the internal lighting you would see in the gauges on a real aircraft, this along with a red indirect lighting that glows down from the panel’s glare shield. I found my favourite is leaving the panel light switch off and flying with the landing lights on from the VC at night. This is probably as close as you’re going get in this sim to simulating GA night flying. The gauges are just difficult enough to read to be realistic. It’s been years since I flew at night in real life but this is how I remember it.
While we are talking about the panel, I want to also mention just how frame rate friendly this little aircraft is. I would place it on par with the default Microsoft aircraft, despite being a much more detailed exterior model, VC interior and panel. It just begs to please its new owner. Getting the impression I like it? …you’re right, I do! Sounds The sound recordings show the same quality as their last Cherokee 180 release. Engine startup and shutdown are especially well done. There is a sound for the gyro spinning up when you turn the battery switch on, which is a nice touch. I’ve been having discussions recently with other flight simmers regarding the sounds used for retractable gear aircraft. In real life you get thuds and clunks and in many aircraft you can also hear the hydraulic pump used to move the gear. FS aircraft seem to have too much pump sound and not enough thuds and clunks for my tastes but it seems no-one is doing it right yet. There is tactile sense here that you feel through the yoke and seat of your pants that just can’t be reproduced with only a sound. Airfile This is without a doubt the best flight dynamics to date by Carenado. Those of you that were fortunate enough to get Carenado’s beautiful Cessna 172 when it was available, remember that it kind of mushed when it came to a stall with no real break, which was not in true keeping to the real aircraft. This latest entry will give you some tricky handling if you get real slow and dirty and then just try to power out. You’ll have a heck of a time controlling the wing drop that accompanies this type of maneuver. This is the kind of characteristic I recall from flying the real deal. Freeware and payware manufacturers like to brag about getting the numbers right when it comes to aircraft performance and it seems if they're just a few knots off there’s always someone that will discover it and complain. The airfile for the Carenado Cessna 182RG does perform pretty much spot on with the book figures, remember that temperature, density altitude, humidity, engine age and even having a clean airplane will really make a difference in attainable speeds. Climbout, stalls, slow flight, cruising at the yellow line, all give a good enough sense that I can remember being there. What is more impressive, is when you start pushing the envelope as to what this aircraft is capable of. High performance soft field takeoffs with 20 degrees flaps are possible and they feel a little like a balancing act till you get the speed up, out of ground effect and start retracting the flaps and climbing. Fast descents are another thing that I recall this aircraft being quite impressive at doing. Pull the power back to the bottom of the green arc, drop the gear and put in 10 degrees flaps (which you can do usually at normal cruise speed of 140 KIAS), then kick in another 10 degrees of flaps when the speed hits 120 KIAS and then trim to hold that speed and you’ll find yourself coming down at 2,000 fpm. In real life you better be chewing some gum cause your ears are sure gonna start poppin.’
The revised airfile included in the recent patch did calm some of the pitching that you would experience on flap extension. If you are flying at correct speeds when you extend the flaps this isn’t as noticeable. There is a kinesthetic sense that is missing though in the sim. When you’re really flying and you kick in some flaps you are met with instantaneous de-acceleration and you’re natural reflex is to push the yoke forward, maintain your altitude till the aircraft settles into its new trim speed. If the aircraft design is good, you will only need to make minor trim changes to maintain altitude as the aircraft settles into its speed for this configuration. If you are using ActiveCamera and flying from the VC you can start to approach some of this sense with the head latency feature. If you’re entering the traffic pattern in a clean configuration at 140 indicated and are expecting to get the aircraft slowed down and ready for landing on base leg, I don’t think I can help you much.
Gear up sequence The overall sense of being there is even more so when flying from the VC. The hand flying characteristics are so stable and easy. This is what has made the real aircraft such a popular choice for tens of thousands of pilots. This has become one of my all-time favorite hand flying aircraft in my hanger cause it does all the right things and in the right way. At the same time it is providing this in a visually spectacular exterior and interior model. What more could a simmer ask for? OK, Ready to fly?
For our demo flight, let’s take a flight I am planning in real life. Coeur de Alene, Idaho (KCOE) to Portland Hillsboro in Oregon (KHIO). This will be a morning flight to avoid some of the rough air that can occur when flying over mountainous terrain, especially as afternoon winds and thermal activity increase. We file IFR flying Victor 448-468 at 8,000 feet to keep us at or above MEA (minimum enroute altitude) and above MOCA (minimum obstruction clearance altitude) as we approach Portland. There’s a pretty brisk wind out of the South almost filling the windsock, so for takeoff we use runway 19. Rotate at 50 knots and pull the gear up as soon as a positive rate of climb is shown on the VSI (this gear procedure gets argued about but I take Richard Collins’ advice on it). I keep a little forward pressure on the yoke to accelerate to 80 KIAS and pull up the first notch of flaps as we pass through 500 AGL. As we pass through 1,000 AGL, I pull the power back to 23” MAP, 2,400 RPM and trim for a 90 Knot cruise climb. We settle into about a 700-800 fpm climb and check MAP every 1,000 feet to maintain the 23” setting. During our climb to 8,000 we get shook up a bit by those winds crossing over the mountains. Active Camera in the VC view gives a much better impression of the turbulence.
I keep the full power setting when we reach cruise altitude but close the cowl flaps as our speed increases, just keep adjusting the trim to maintain altitude as the aircraft accelerates. As we pass through 135 KIAS I back the MAP to 21” and pull the prop back to 2,100 rpm and adjust the mixture just rich of peak EGT which gives us a 61% power setting. The aircraft settles into a 135 KIAS cruise which is right on book figure. Cruising along at 8,000 feet, we’ve got a bit of a quartering headwind keeping our groundspeed to the low 140’s and we’re scooting along just under the clouds. Things smooth up as we approach Moses Lake and the clouds clear giving us a good smooth ride towards Portland. The winds also shift and we now have a quartering tailwind which brings our groundspeed up to a little over 160, sometimes close to 170.
As we approach Portland, I can see the clouds are looking pretty thick and I start wondering what the approach into Hillsboro is going to be like. At about 60 miles out I pick up the ATIS for Hillsboro indicating calm winds and visibility of ¼ to ½ mile overcast at 2,700 feet with broken clouds at 500 and 100 feet. Looks like it will be close to minimums so I get out my approach charts and ready myself for a possible missed approach and alternate landing at McMinnville which is usually a little clearer. Portland Approach clears me for an ILS 12 approach into Portland Hillsboro via the Battleground VOR and directs me down to 4,000 feet. As we descend into the clouds towards the Battleground VOR, I put on some pitot heat just in case there’s any icing in the clouds. We remain at 4,000 in clouds as we head for the COUVE intersection, every once in a while there’s a little break that lets us get a hint of ground below.
As we pass COUVE intersection, the ILS needle swings from right to left on the omni and I prepare for the descent to 3,400 and procedure turn used for this approach. I put in the first 10 degrees flaps and slow to 120 KIAS as we head back toward COUVE intersection, this time with the omni needle centered. Passing COUVE intersection I lower the gear and start a steady descent to 2,500 feet, still in the clouds. Level at 2,500 I wait for the glide slope to come alive. The glide slope centers just before the OM (Outer Marker) and I put in another notch of flaps slowing to 95 KIAS and as we descend below 1,200 feet I put in the last notch of flaps and slow to 65 KIAS, still in clouds. As we descend through 500 feet I still don’t see anything but cloud and start preparing for a missed approach and then just before reaching DA of 400 feet (decision altitude) I see the approach lighting. Whew… we can land and the calm winds make for a smooth landing, holding off the tarmac until the stall warning just starts to bleep. I don’t think I’d want to take back off in this thick of soup in a single! Conclusion Carenado has hit the mark with a very nicely done simulation of Cessna’s trusty 182. This one with retractable gear. Overall, a very satisfying aircraft to fly, practice approaches and even some maneuvering in or just have a load of fun pretending you are really there. I have greatly enjoyed all of Carenado’s aircraft, they are truly visual treats. I look forward to seeing what they have in store for us in the near future. How about a Cessna 172RG Cutlass or a Beech Model 56 Turbo Baron and take that Centurion and do a pressurized version so I can finish my replica of Richard L. Collins plane. Credits We frequently see a list of familiar names with our North American and European developers. In fact many of the newer aircraft are a joint project with developers from many different countries. The South American team at Carenado that brought us the Cessna 182RG list of credits is as follows: 3d model, panel design, gauge design: Marcelo Canovas and Mauricio Illanes All guilty of course of doing an excellent job of recreating the sense of piloting a Cessna 182RG. My hat's off cause this was a very good job and at its current price a real bargain in the payware market. |
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