I have heard no mention of floatplanes in FS2004 -- are they to be discarded. ?Barry

Nope, the Caravan Amphibian is still there, so don't worry. A shame Microsoft didn't include any historical seaplanes though, since they played a huge role in the development of passenger transport. In the early days, there weren't a lot of airports, and many big cities are located near water.

Would have been nice if FS had spent some time developing the floatplanes a little better. Having a fair amount of seaplane time from Supercubs to Twin otters, I am a little dissapointed with their modelling. The planes are fine, they just dont have a good model of the water. I am not talking about the looks of it, I mean the way the planes behave on it.

Yeah, I agree. Better taxiing on water would be wonderful. Right now, it's like taxiing in molasses.

That would be wonderful, improved seaplane modeling.

Taxiing is one area. Take off- the airplane barely simulates getting on the step.Landing with wheels down or digging a float should put you upsidedown in the water.Airplanes on water weathercock and can be swung into wind regardless of rudder input if the wind is strong enough.A seaplane is rarely not moving on water. Wind causes it to sail and with no brakes a running engine results in forward movement.Would be nice to simulate glassy vs rough water. Maybe even some wind lines.I knew of a Fred Clausen. You did not happen to attend Confederation College did you?

No, I can't say that I did. I can't say that I attended college at all ;-)I will attend next year after I graduate from my High School.

Yes, the unmarinelike qualities of the floaters really spoil it for me - MS seem to think a floatplane or seaplane on water behaves the same as a landplane on its wheels, bar an extra bit of bobbing up and down.And I also think that the omission of some of the pioneer seaplanes is a very silly move. Much of the early distance work was done by planes which only landed on water, for the simple reason that runways didn't exist, airports were a future dream and even roads were nothing more than rutted farm tracks in most parts of the world.The success of the Boeing Clipper in FS2002 should have turned their heads to the possibility, but I expect the aftermarket will make up for it, especially if hydrodynamics are improved.ChasW

This might help a bit.My partner and I are currently building the float model with some very "BUSH" like features. The sounfile sends chills down my back. I took it off a whole pile of video footage I had, made it stereo and adjusted it for fs2002. I showed it to a buddy that has 3000 hours on type and he was drooling. Release date near end of summer.http://www.geocities.com/hornets418/

Did you ever give the Renegade a spin on the water in Flight Unlimited III? As far as I remember, it did everything bar your last mentioned item, and it would be good if the FS2004 developers could include such features.

The Renegade was easily my favourite plane in FU3. Taxiing generally isn't great in FS2K - on water or on the ground. Always too much thrust required to get rolling.