also, when you cut the power, the airplane drops like a rock, I can't imagine it would glide THIS poorly, anyone else notice this? Other than those two issues, really a great job, and the textures and VC are top notch for sure!

Ty,I was one of the beta test pilots for this plane. It is how the airplane handles in real life, with respect to the drop (feathering the prop will make it glide easier, but that's only in an emergency, you always fly descents with power). A few things we had a hard time with limitations wise in FSX, but, I can tell you that it will drop like that. I had an empty flight recently (IRL), and for fun and test purposes, out of 3,000 feet I pulled power to idle. It was descending at almost 2,000fpm, 15 deg nose down, and losing speed! It's a built in "effect" we added, to be real. The propeller is huge, 106 inches in diameter (keep in mind the huge GE90-115B on the 777-300ER is only 122 inches). When power goes below 500-400 torque, it becomes a giant speed brake.Try this when coming in to land, as we fly.Below 140, flaps 10Below 125, flaps 20 -- we usually land flaps 20If you choose, below 100, flaps 30.Now, if you keep the torque at 600-800 ft lbs, you should see roughly a 500fpm descent, and 120, 110, 85KIAS respective of flap settings above. Once you're over the numbers smoothly reduce power to idle, while increasing nose pitch (be sure to use trim!!!!). The real plane is very nose heavy and needs 3 good rolls of trim IRL to make the back pressure manageable.Hope that helps! Good to see people are enjoying the plane.

Thanks Tom but no chance here even with the Red Wine Stripes livery!No matter what button I press, only the pilot's door is moving.

Hi Tom,Try like you used to in FS9. Hit Shift E for Pilot door, Hit Shift+E and 2 immediately after for the next door (don't remember the order), and then repeat with 3 and 4. I can't remember if things are mapped to tailhook, water rudder, and concorde nose extend/retract.

This Caravan is nice but if you are having problems with the <speed> it may be that the SPOILER is activated.Yes indeed, the Caravan 208B has a spoiler. In this Carenado model however, it is on by default (it seems). Note that it may depend onif you have a key defined for the Spoilers. Also you have no VISUAL clues that it is activated: no visuals in the VC or outside (look at far end of the wings).What you will feel however is that when you turn the Spoiler off (whatever the key it is set to) you will get your speed OK.Pierre

Hey Pierre,There is no spoiler on this Caravan. In fact, the C208B does not have spoilers, but they are spoilerons. They only operate in conjuction with ailerons, and only deflect up on the side the aileron is up (inside of the turn) in excess of 5˚ deflection. Now, the key is on descent to keep the power above 500 torque, until landing. If you have it at idle in flight, the plane will slow dramatically, as it does in this model.

Love this airplane! And thanks for testing it, you can tell Carenado got serious about their FDEs. One of the best GA companies out there.

I bought it this morning and everything works fine on my single core computer. Very easy on frame rates. Well done Carenado.

There is no spoiler on this Caravan. In fact, the C208B does not have spoilers, but they are spoilerons. They only operate in conjuction with ailerons, and only deflect up on the side the aileron is up (inside of the turn) in excess of 5˚ deflection. Now, the key is on descent to keep the power above 500 torque, until landing. If you have it at idle in flight, the plane will slow dramatically, as it does in this model.

There seems to be a case in which the plane acts as if it has spoilers, even though it doesn't. I just posted an anecdote from last night's Caravan flight, but I'll repost it here: I was leaving Walter Sutton's farm last night, doing some Caravan sightseeing and testing the new air file mods. Right after takeoff, I noticed the plane was struggling to get up to 80KIAS, so I leveled out. It wouldn't go any faster, even at full power and prop. Then I remembered the "/" key (spoilers), and hit it. Instantly, the plane began to surge ahead, quickly reaching normal performance. What I need is some visual way to tell if the spoilers are extended. I'm thinking about just setting a key in FSUIPC that retracts them, and making that keypress part of my preflight setup.

Ty,I was one of the beta test pilots for this plane. It is how the airplane handles in real life, with respect to the drop (feathering the prop will make it glide easier, but that's only in an emergency, you always fly descents with power). A few things we had a hard time with limitations wise in FSX, but, I can tell you that it will drop like that. I had an empty flight recently (IRL), and for fun and test purposes, out of 3,000 feet I pulled power to idle. It was descending at almost 2,000fpm, 15 deg nose down, and losing speed! It's a built in "effect" we added, to be real. The propeller is huge, 106 inches in diameter (keep in mind the huge GE90-115B on the 777-300ER is only 122 inches). When power goes below 500-400 torque, it becomes a giant speed brake.Try this when coming in to land, as we fly.Below 140, flaps 10Below 125, flaps 20 -- we usually land flaps 20If you choose, below 100, flaps 30.Now, if you keep the torque at 600-800 ft lbs, you should see roughly a 500fpm descent, and 120, 110, 85KIAS respective of flap settings above. Once you're over the numbers smoothly reduce power to idle, while increasing nose pitch (be sure to use trim!!!!). The real plane is very nose heavy and needs 3 good rolls of trim IRL to make the back pressure manageable.

FYI, in the modified FDE 550 torque results in a 500fpm descent at 85 KIAS with full flaps. Close enough?

I was one of the beta test pilots for this plane. It is how the airplane handles in real life, with respect to the drop (feathering the prop will make it glide easier, but that's only in an emergency, you always fly descents with power). A few things we had a hard time with limitations wise in FSX, but, I can tell you that it will drop like that. I had an empty flight recently (IRL), and for fun and test purposes, out of 3,000 feet I pulled power to idle. It was descending at almost 2,000fpm, 15 deg nose down, and losing speed! It's a built in "effect" we added, to be real. The propeller is huge, 106 inches in diameter (keep in mind the huge GE90-115B on the 777-300ER is only 122 inches). When power goes below 500-400 torque, it becomes a giant speed brake.

Good deal! I don't have the Caravan, but might just have to get it to "feel" the simulated effect of a constant speed prop when it's acting as a speed brake on descent. This is one area where most sim planes fail big time. They just are not capable loosing a lot of airspeed on the descent when power is pulled back. This drives me nuts!!!My (real life) Van's RV6A has a constant speed. We fly an approach down through a mountain canyon to duck under class B airspace to land at an untowered airport. The descent is also around 2000 fpm, and as stated above, I can continually drop airspeed when power is pulled back. That's the difference between a constant speed & fixed pitch prop. If a fixed pitch decends that fast, he'll have to fly far from the airport to bleed off speed to land. With the C/S, we don't have the problem.L.Adamson

probably explains why she falls like a rock in iced conditions.

I sent Carenado an email about a year ago, asking that they consider making the Grand Caravan. They acknowledged my email, but couldn't tell me one way or another. I'm sure that they were working on it at the time.I'm so glad that they did decided to build this aircraft. I don't believe anyone could put this premium quality into an aircraft of this type like Carenado. They are the PMDG of GA simulation.

FeelThere had a really nice van for FS9, don't know why they didn't update it for FSX.

Like some other turbo props I find that the Carendo 208 tends to walk and accelerate even at idle throttle. I've tried adjusting prop rpm but it has no effect. Anyone else find a similar situation?

Like some other turbo props I find that the Carendo 208 tends to walk and accelerate even at idle throttle. I've tried adjusting prop rpm but it has no effect. Anyone else find a similar situation?

Actually, I'm not having that problem with this Caravan. In fact, I find that pulling the throttle back to idle during taxi brings it to a complete stop fairly quickly. Maybe it's a controller calibration issue?

FYI, in the modified FDE 550 torque results in a 500fpm descent at 85 KIAS with full flaps. Close enough?

Where are you trying this new FDE? Is that the one on the Carenado forum? 550 is really a little bit low, should be really close to 700. But, 550 is better than 1000 ft lbs for sure.

Like some other turbo props I find that the Carendo 208 tends to walk and accelerate even at idle throttle. I've tried adjusting prop rpm but it has no effect. Anyone else find a similar situation?

I, nor did any other tester, did not see this behavior at all. FSX has a really wonky turboprop engine sim. Even the PMDG J41 has issues a little with taxi. Very little power should be required to taxi, and FSX doesn't simulate BETA very well. Have you tried to adjust the 0 of your throttle control?

I, nor did any other tester, did not see this behavior at all. FSX has a really wonky turboprop engine sim. Even the PMDG J41 has issues a little with taxi. Very little power should be required to taxi, and FSX doesn't simulate BETA very well. Have you tried to adjust the 0 of your throttle control?

Yes and I have recalibrated my Hotas Cougar to make sure. However, the Caravan's walking behaviour remains the same. I did notice that this walking stabilises at approximately 35KTS on the ASI a little fast for taxi. I am well aware of the weird turboprop behaviour in all the versions of FS that I can recall back to the Bruce Artwick days. My F1 PC12 exhibits similar behaviour. I have a stick button programmed to give 20% braking to all brakes but this is a little too much for the C208. The real question is, I guess, why do some users see this behaviour whilst others do not.

Yes and I have recalibrated my Hotas Cougar to make sure. However, the Caravan's walking behaviour remains the same. I did notice that this walking stabilises at approximately 35KTS on the ASI a little fast for taxi. I am well aware of the weird turboprop behaviour in all the versions of FS that I can recall back to the Bruce Artwick days. My F1 PC12 exhibits similar behaviour. I have a stick button programmed to give 20% braking to all brakes but this is a little too much for the C208. The real question is, I guess, why do some users see this behaviour whilst others do not.

likely differences in the controllers ...

Where are you trying this new FDE? Is that the one on the Carenado forum? 550 is really a little bit low, should be really close to 700. But, 550 is better than 1000 ft lbs for sure.

I've been following the speed and temp tweaks discussion here on this forum and as Fede puts the file tweaks out, I've been incorporating. Didn't mean to imply someone has released a formal new FDE or a patch. I can't land for beans in FSX if I don't get a feel for a new airplane in slow flight, that's why I asked about the behavior. She'll do a very steady 80 KIAS at -500 fpm at around 500 torque, but it is really close to the point where she noses down hard. In the same full flap configuration and the same 80 KIAS it takes 850 torque to hold her in level flight. I usually come in at 85 knots to get some margin; that's where the 550 torque comes from. Too easy to overshoot on the power reduction otherwise; and anything below 500 torque and the nose drops rapidly and with some loss of control.