Steve (Bear)>Hey, what's wrong with our reviews right here at >AVSIM????????? Please forgive me Steve :-)But mentioned the two reviews from F-Sim because they were written by the same author. Thought it would be easier for a comparison of the two aircraft's and the second reason, well, I still had bookmarks to these two reviews from Andy on my browser. But will mention the AVSIM reviews next time first, promised! ;) Take care and sorry againSamuelPS: Added the two AVSIM reviews to my "Review" bookmark folder! ;)

After getting the latest Adobe today, I still didn't have the solution. It was the guages not showing problem. With a bit of investigation on the Flight1 forum, I re-installed & picked up the 1.1 update. Now everything is fine!!!! Just havn't had the time lately to see what was wrong.....And thanks for the Adobe link.L.Adamson

I enjoy the small Beechcraft default aircraft included in FS2002. S

What makes this 260 so special and different than the default C-172, 82, Beechcraft...?S

>What makes this 260 so special and different than the >default C-172, 82, Beechcraft...? >The programmer (Rob Young of RealAir Simulations) went the extra mile to design much more realistic spin & slip characteristics. It's very evident when you do manuvers out of the normal flight envelope of just flying point A to B. For those interested in aerobatics, it makes a real difference because you can also do snap rolls, tailslides, hammerheads, etc, with predictable results. The defaults will just do erratic flip/flops much of the time.For example............. you can't get the default 172 to spin, or what looks like a spin, unless you throw in some aileron along with rudder. Visually, it will look like a spin from tower view, but airspeed keeps building far too fast at the same time. With an actual spin, you won't see a large increase in airspeed.As to slips, I can get certain defaults to do them to a degree, but the range of cross-control (opposite rudder & ailerons) is very limited and needs to be too precise to keep the nose pointed where you want it. The 260 feels right for slips, along with some great added sound effects of wind blowing along the fuselage side. L.Adamson

Hmmmm, that's pretty interesting. I did not realize that the default aircraft were that limited in terms of aerobatics. I read where the engineers at Cessna helped design the air files for the FS2002 C-172, 182, etc. I wonder how they came up obviously so short? Does the 260 behave much differently when flying from point A to point B? Are you a pilot?S

Maybe I'm too late on the reply, but I too would love to get a hold of this improved 172 air file. I fly a 172 in real life, so that's what I end up putting through the sky with FS most of the time [email protected] Bumgarner

>I enjoy the small Beechcraft default aircraft included in >FS2002. >>S Me too! Especially the default Baron with Steve Small's airfile. Two GA aircraft that I like the most though are Dreamfleet's Archer II and Cardinal. Both aircraft have the smoothest and most fluid feeling flight dynamics I have ever experienced with any MSFS aircraft. I don't know who creates the airfiles for Dreemfleet's aircraft but whoever they are I will have to give them a big thumbs up for the Archer II and Cardinal. :-beerchug I haven't tried the Real Air SF.260 yet but, from what I have been reading about it looks like I will have to give it a try. :-)Rob

>Me too! Especially the default Baron with Steve Small's >airfile. >>Two GA aircraft that I like the most though are Dreamfleet's >Archer II and Cardinal. Both aircraft have the smoothest and >most fluid feeling flight dynamics I have ever experienced >with any MSFS aircraft. I don't know who creates the >airfiles for Dreemfleet's aircraft but whoever they are I >will have to give them a big thumbs up for the Archer II and >Cardinal. Ron Friemuth has created files for Dreamfleet aircraft. He also did one for the default 172, which I still use frequently along with Steve Smalls (FSD) for the Baron & Rob Young's (RealAir Simulations) for the default 182's.L.Adamson

Robb,Another batch of aircraft you might consider are the default Cessna Caravans (with the FSD International airfile update) as I enjoy either of the two included models (Amphibian and wheeled). I also wanted to mention the recently released (freeware) AC Design Commander Twin (520), though it is designed as an era or period aircraft, as far as its avonics are concerned, the aircraft, textures, 2D/3D Virtual panels, and its airfile are all top shelf stuff. The airfile was developed from the beta testing of several realworld Commander Twin owner/pilots. I wasn't a beta tester for this aircraft, but I will mention that I have racked up a few hours (real-world) in the Commander Twins and I would say that the AC Design Commander 520's airfile is right on the money!You might want to try John Woodward's freeware Lake Renegade 250 (I would also suggest you install the updated JLStubbs Lake 2D panel as well). Another nice flying aircraft is the Mike Stone G21 Grumman Goose, but I would suggest adding the updated JLStubbs Goose panel, and the sounds from Heather Sherman's Grumman Duck. This FS aircraft has an incredible feel to it, that feels very much like what you would expect (I've never flown a real Goose, so I have no realworld experience to compare it to, but considering that I have flown a broad range of different realworld aircraft, both in type and weight one does have a tendency to learn a certain feel for the way any given aircraft will or should feel like.) Bear!

That is interesting. Please tell us some similarities and differences between the real thing and the flight model in FS2002 as far as the C-172 is concerned. Are there adjustments that can be made in the program as is to make it more realistic? S

Are these planes available for download?S

>Are these planes available for download? >>S Both the Dreamfleet Archer II and Cardinal are payware aircraft and can be purchased here. http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/products.htmSteve Small's airfiles for the default Baron and King Air can be downloaded for free from here. http://www.fsd-international.com/ Click on "Recent Releases" and then "Twin Prop Enhancement".Rob Young's airfile for the default C182S can be downloaded for free from here along with free airfiles for the default Caravan and 737. http://www.realairsimulations.com/download...2_freeware.htmlRob

Yes. SF-260 is the best. I also have the Commander and like its, I find, realistic ground effect at flare. One word about the SF-260, though, which is often presented as an aerobatic plane. That it is indeed, but it's also the only sim a/c with which you can practice side slips (and thus crosswind landings) which are after all part of the basic training. Trains very well to feel (well, sorta) along the 3 axes.

Larry, I'd suggest first flying the tutorial flight from Vero Beach to Miami.. it is a nice "cookbook" introduction. The Garmin is just something else! Next step is to read the factory owner's manual for the Garmin 530.. nice reading while watching a TV sports event..BTW, the Meridian handles very nicely, but I'll grant you that for straight "hop in and fly around" the SF-260 is still tops..