Fair Enough *lol* maybe I should say $50 is too much "right Now" it might not be next week. *grin*

That's what I tell my wife too lol and it works :(But serious the combination is dynamite just love it :-)

I have both the DA Piper Cheyenne and the RealAir Duke B60.Realair's Duke is flawless. One might argue whether the cockpit looks worn enough or not, but that comes down to personal preference. I like it.I also like Realair's approach of putting newer avionics in the Duke as this is done in the real world as well.In contrast, DA's Piper Cheyenne features the stone-age avionics that came with the airplane back at the time when it was manufactured. Especially the Trimble GPS proved to be a PITA, both handling-wise and in terms of bugs in the implementation.DA did not support any integration of Reality XP GPSes for a long time because it was/is against their philosophy, but that has apparently changed with their 4.0 version. If such integration is as flawless as with RealAir I can't tell yet.The only advantage I can see with the Cheyenne is that it is a turboprop, but that's a different story and has nothing to do with either DA or RealAir.Still, both are great addons and you can't really make a mistake in buying either of the two.

Thread reviver :(

It may be an old thread but it is timely for me. I was just looking at the Cheyenne again last night.... trying to decide between the RXP 530 for the Duke (which I have and love). Or instead a whole other plane like the Cheyenne which I have debated pruchasing many, many times.I am still trying to decide.... maybe I will hold on until the Flight1 king air makes it out and put the money toward that.Chuck

RealAir Duke B60 = not as serious, easy on the frame rate, very niceDigital Aviations's Cheyenne = more serious aircraft; might loose a few frames, beautifulI have them both and enjoy them both.

RealAir Duke B60 = not as serious, easy on the frame rate, very niceDigital Aviations's Cheyenne = more serious aircraft; might loose a few frames, beautifulI have them both and enjoy them both.

not as serious/more serious aircraft? What do you mean?Both DA and RealAir tried to model the respective aircraft as close to reality as possible.I might agree that the turboprop Cheyenne is better suited for professional operations than the piston engine Duke, but that cannot be taken as a criterion for judging the quality of what DA or RealAir did.The more I fly the duke the more I come to like the RealAir VC. In comparison, the Cheyenne VC, while also great, shows its age due to the fact that it's essentially a beefed-up FS9 model. There's quite some flat stuff in there where it should be 3D, e. g. buttons on the transponders etc. Plus, the gauges are not as crisp and clean as they should/could be.RealAir did true FSX models right from scratch and that shows. If they only did a turboprop Beechcraft.

-I personally will not a fly a fs plane without it.

I am thinking of getting it. Can you elaborate on its indispensable advantages? The curved flying pack attrats me. I know little about WAAS as yet.

Assuming your quoting Geof having the RXP GNS 430w/530w, I have the 430W and it is really nice if you fly on vatsim - you can fly a lot of the GPS approaches that FSX doesn't have in its database. And if it is a WAAS approach you can fly that as well (hand flown though, the AP won't work with the descent path)Also, its operation is similar to the real one (I've used a real 430 many times) and the push button and knob twisting is pretty much all the same. The RXP unit also has a basic TAWS (terrain warning) page where you can see the obstructions, and yellow or red terrain depending on your proximity. I think the 530 *might* have a traffic unit on it???? not sure on that one....Also you should be able to add custom waypoints with the 430W/530W as well.

Best to read reviews and get more opinions at other flight sim forums.

Thanks for all the reviews and comments,I bought "The Duke" yesterday and couldn't be happier! very solid aircraft,Thanks very much Ryan for the links to Reality XP,checking them out now.

To Rob Young at RealAir Simulations -- I purchased the RA Duke some time ago and have enjoyed it thoroughly, so much so that I invited a friend who once owned the real world Duke to fly mine on FSX. He was very impressed with the visual appearance and commented on how closely the cockpit modeled his. However, he said the simulated Duke was not nearly as responsive as the one he owned and flew. He said the FSX version flew like a Cessna, not like his Beech Duke. I have realism and sensitivity settings cranked up, so that doesn't seem to be an issue. This fellow is a high time, small aircraft pilot--a former crop duster--described by many fliers in our area as the best stick and rudder man around; I mention this to suggest that he is definitely credible. As I said, I enjoy the RA Duke as it is and have no problem with its performance. I'm merely asking for your response and wondering if there is something I might do at my end to make my Duke fly a bit more like his. Thanks for a great airplane and for considering my question.

'lwestdal',I am guessing that your pilot friend is not too familiar with flight simulator or handling home joysticks, even though he is as you say an experienced pilot and has some hours on the Duke. Handling in FSX is so much connected with joystick type and response, and there is a wide variety of response feels according to what kind of hardware you have, whether you are using profile software from the joystick maker, whether you are using FSUIPC's joystick utilities and a host of other factors.The other point is that the average home joystick or yoke has something like a fifth of the total travel compared with a real one and for that reason we have to be very careful about how we set the sensitivity of controls.For example, at a recent flight sim show, Bob from RC simulations brought his full size, long throw joystick along and demonstrated our Marchetti SF260 with it. The difference in feel and sensitivity using that stick compared with a standard home joystick was enormous. For example it was possible to flare the SF260 for landing with a very very fine amount of control, merely because the stick was capable of signalling tiny, tiny movements. That is not the case with smaller joysticks. So we have to "average out" joystick response with our aicraft.As to the actual response of the Duke, we have several Duke owners who have given us feedback about this subject and they nearly all feel it is about right. One way to assess this is to look at the positive G the Duke is generating with large pitch inputs at quite high speed. Most twins like this have an imposed limit of 3 to 3.5 positive G. The RealAir Duke easily achieves this and more. The other factor is roll response. Most simulators give the impression of a slower roll response than when in the real aircraft because there is an absence of physical sensation accompanying the maneouvre.Regards,Rob - RealAir

Thanks, Rob. Your explanation makes sense to me. I will continue to enjoy the flight characteristics of the RA Duke as it flies on my system and not worry about a bit of extra responsiveness. I also have the Scout package, the Spitfire, and the SF-260, all first-rate flight sim aircraft. I look forward to future RealAir offerings.

'lwestdal',I am guessing that your pilot friend is not too familiar with flight simulator or handling home joysticks, even though he is as you say an experienced pilot and has some hours on the Duke. Handling in FSX is so much connected with joystick type and response, and there is a wide variety of response feels according to what kind of hardware you have, whether you are using profile software from the joystick maker, whether you are using FSUIPC's joystick utilities and a host of other factors.The other point is that the average home joystick or yoke has something like a fifth of the total travel compared with a real one and for that reason we have to be very careful about how we set the sensitivity of controls.For example, at a recent flight sim show, Bob from RC simulations brought his full size, long throw joystick along and demonstrated our Marchetti SF260 with it. The difference in feel and sensitivity using that stick compared with a standard home joystick was enormous. For example it was possible to flare the SF260 for landing with a very very fine amount of control, merely because the stick was capable of signalling tiny, tiny movements. That is not the case with smaller joysticks. So we have to "average out" joystick response with our aicraft.As to the actual response of the Duke, we have several Duke owners who have given us feedback about this subject and they nearly all feel it is about right. One way to assess this is to look at the positive G the Duke is generating with large pitch inputs at quite high speed. Most twins like this have an imposed limit of 3 to 3.5 positive G. The RealAir Duke easily achieves this and more. The other factor is roll response. Most simulators give the impression of a slower roll response than when in the real aircraft because there is an absence of physical sensation accompanying the maneouvre.Regards,Rob - RealAir

Great to see my vote for "developer of the year" contribute to this thread. Gives me a chance to reiterate what a joy I think the Duke is to fly. In every aspect, it's my favorite add-on for FS-X. Moreover, the fact that it works so seamlessly with only SP-1 was a big factor in my deciding to get it, since I find I get better performance the way I like to use FS-X with SP-1. One aircraft I'd love to see RealAir tackle is a P-210 Cessna or the Piper Malibu Mirage. No one's tackled a pressurized single engine piston aircraft, and given the way the Duke turned out, I bet your team's skilled hands on either one of those aircraft would be amazing.Regards,John

RobMe too!! I love the Duke. I have 3 other aircraft that I really enjoy and whose features are as good or surpass the Duke in some areas. But I always come back to the Duke for most of my flying. I guess it is the VC and turning those knobs. Or maybe it is the external views of the bare metal version all of those rivets. Maybe it is the sound set set. Maybe it is the flight model ..... For me, FSX just all comes together in the Duke. Great plane! Any hints on what's next?Thanks againChuck