Wow...yep...wow! The 172 is the only plane that I've flown in real life (only about 17 hrs. worth, shamefully), and all I can say is "wow". I might have to look into that Marchetti.Many thanx for the freebie.-T Edwin (hoo)

Last week after doing a fresh install of XP, I was finally ready to install the SF 260 and go flying. To my horror I couldn't find the registration key. Panic began to set in!! I searched everywhere!! For me, there's no reason to have FS2K2 on my hard drive if I can't fly the SF 260. Finally in desperation I e-mailed Rob to tell him of my plight. I had no information to offer but my name and the date of purchase. I was in no hurry (many more important things to do in life, and... hey , it was I who lost the key), yet within a couple hours Rob e-mailed me back and I was good to go!!Now we get all these new offerings. Today, after reading the announcement on the front page, I'm reminded why I enjoy this hobby so much.It's people like Rob Young and all the other great folks at RealAir that make this so much more fun than it otherwise would be.Thanks for the gifts. My 11 year old daughter, who is partial to purple, is especially fond of the new textures for the SF 260.To RealAir :-beerchug

Thanks Greg,You may appreciate the free gift, but we also appreciate users of our addons who take the trouble to point out the service we strive to give.Hope you get months of enjoyment from the C172.Rob YoungRealAir Simulations

A big thank you Rob! I can now answer the question about spins in FS that there are now 2 aircraft that do this!Best Wishes, Randy J. Smith[h5]San Jose Ca[/h5][h3]" A little learning is a dangerous thing"[/h3]AMD XP 2100 |MUNCHKIN 512 DDR RAM |ECS[/b ][i] K7S5A MB[/i] |GF3 64 MEG |WIN XP PRO |MITSUBISHI DIAMOND PLUS 91 19"

Thanks for releasing this to the general public. It flies great, but looks...well...let's just say that it's an interesting paint scheme for that school. Thanks for confirming that it's the default model.Tim13

!!Many thanks for this aircraft!! I've just spent an hour flying it, and it was the most fun I've had with FS2002 in the 1 1/2 years I've owned it.Great job with the flight dynamics - your reputation is well deserved - and needless to say the gyros in my C-172 are completely trashed from from all the spins I managed to cram into one hours flight time!Your package has the best self-installer I've seen to date, straightforward and error free.And you have just gained a new customer, as I have decided that life without your SF260 isn't worth living so I'm off to your website tomorrow with plastic in hand to add it to my aircraft folder.Again, thank you for this amazing addon, and for demonstrating conclusively that FS2002 has the capability to be a realistic flight simulation instead of a video game.

Nice job on this plane ... best flight model I have used yet... and I have lots and lots of other payware planes. I had come to the conclusion that I will not buy any more payware planes ...it seems none of the flight models "feel" real. The developers just see how many guages they can cram onto a simple panel ... the result being, that even if the flight model is correct, you'd never know it because the frame rates get choppy. I plan to fly the hell out of this 172, and purchase whatever you guys come out with in the future. Good buisiness move giving away this file. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there just like me who now, will be devoted customers of yours. Thanks ! and please .... don't cram your future aircraft's panels full of tiny unreadable performance degrading guages ! Thanks

Many thanks for this plane.Any ideas of putting your flight model skills towards developing a helio for FS2002 along the lines of the SF 260? I'm sure it would be a challenge, but a decent rotorwing model is sorely needed.

Hey Rob & RealAir Team,I must congratulate you on an absolutely fantabulous job. It brought back great memories of my training in my C172, years ago. The sound, the feel, the panel. I could almost smell the inside of the plane. And if I pressed my headset closer to my ears I could almost feel the vibration from the engine. :-lolI did a test flight in Seattle with decent weather, and a pretty decent crosswind. The plane flew flawlessly, I had a grin from ear to ear flying this beauty.I see why the Marchetti is so popular, makes me wanna go get it, well, I think I will. I really appreciate your gift to the community, as well as all the other FS developers, it seems recently there has been a great deal of giving from developers, and this IS REALLY GREAT. It proves that the spirit of giving is still alive and kicking.Keep up the good work. http://www.forefrontgrp.com/jayssigsmall.jpg "There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss!"

I did a quick flight from Lago's Emma Field into the difficult landing at Ranger Creek. I was able to nail the landing almost perfect with a pretty heavy crosswind. The feel of this plane is just amazing. This plane is going to start costing me more money as I think I will be buying a few more of Lago's sceneries to fly in and out of! For those who haven't picked up the sf260, it has an excellent flight model, as well as a great 2d and virtual cockpit. Also, the plane (both real world and the fs2002 model ) are just awesome looking.

I'm a big fan of your SF.260, it's my default plane, and the one I have spent the most hours with. And now with this C172 flight model there it is once again, that smooth feeling of a Rob Young air file. I dream of getting a PPL somewhere in the future (too expensive for me as a student at the moment), and our local flight school uses a C172, of course. So I was always eager to get a good one for FS, but as it is in the default package already, nobody took up the work to produce a more authentic one.I made two flights with the new FDE, and it felt wonderful. Thank you!Bye,VOlker :]

Bloody gorgeous! You've done us all a great favor, thanks a lot, Rob!Jaap Verduijn.

many thks , sir .... Henry. CYXT

Totally awesome! I flew with a friend in a 172 a few months back KTUS-KCHD and back and I'm recreating that flight right now with the RA 172 - this is great, the plane is SOOOO much more stable than the MS one and the sound is fantastic - the wind noise, the rattle on the ground etc, it's perfect!Thanks Rob and company!Ryan

Very nice! Thank you, sir!