For the prop governor, I think I may have the tweak for it, but I'm not sure whether to implement it or not. I mean, you takeoff at full power, ok? Then you reduce the power and throttle, but climb settings are 1865 tq and 1900 RPM. So this would mean that if 1900 was the maximum rating you should climb with the prop full fine (and cruise as well), and as far as I know it's never like that. It sounds like a torture for the engine! :) Maybe this plane is different and it is supposed to be this way, but I'd rather leave it the way it is right now.Maybe Glen, you can ask your friend when you meet him about this, and let him tell you how the real one flies. There are some "secrets and tweaks" only a pilot flying it knows.. ;)

Fede,The PT6 has a prop governor that makes it impossible to exceed 1900 RPM, so with the prop lever at full fine, we should see 1900 RPM and no more. As TAC points out from his RW experience, he reduces the RPM in order to cut down on noise, which coincides with what I know from other PT6-powered aircraft. If you've got a tweak for that, let's give it a try!

@pd400: Thanks for the insights in RW operation with this plane, very useful.

Thank you guys for all the work on this!Just leveled off on the first flight after making the .cfg & .air edits and what a difference.12,500'OAT 10CITT 721 (maxed)RPMs 1900Torque 1327136KIASStill want to mention again about the minor RPM gauge readout graphics glitch of the indicator needle is off by about 50 RPMs.FAC

Ok guys, just give me some time and I'll post here the tweak (I thought about what I wrote this morning, and in fact the JS41 we all know, I believe, can fly to 100% RPM the whole flight, so why not this one?).PD400 stay tuned, I have a few questions, but not time right now.Check again later!Cheers

I have a question about the throttle and nose down behavior. I've noticed a strong decrease of airspeed as soon as I pull the throttle lower than ~18%. That's also when the sudden nose drop occurs and trimming becomes a problem. It feels like speedbrakes are being deployed at that point or as if the prop pitch is being reversed a bit, even though I'm not even close to the reverse range on the throttle quadrant. Is that supposed be like that?

Ok so, you confirmed my doubts about the flaps, I'll be checking them later. Is the amount of drag correct? Because that seems fine to me, but no pitching/change of lift, apart the first notch when lowered at high speed (above 150 kts).Then, can you confirm you can run this engine with prop at 100% the whole flight? Even if noise and vibrations can be noisy.Then again, what's bugging me more are the engine settings. Provided the above, you climb with full power, which means 1865 tq, right? Up to what altitude it usually can keep it? On average, of course it depends on hot/cold air. To set the ITT limit in FSX, I took the TO power chart, which allows me a 1865 tq at sea level with 805° ITT and 42° OAT (5 mins, etc, but you get the point) and then 50° OAT with 1700 tq, they were fine. One thing I couldn't model, as you read, was the increase of torque with RPM reduction, so I took the 1900 RPM values for higher altitudes (above 12000 feet). I guess we can go away with it here, can't we?Guess that's all for now.Thanks a lotFede

I have a question about the throttle and nose down behavior. I've noticed a strong decrease of airspeed as soon as I pull the throttle lower than ~18%. That's also when the sudden nose drop occurs and trimming becomes a problem. It feels like speedbrakes are being deployed at that point or as if the prop pitch is being reversed a bit, even though I'm not even close to the reverse range on the throttle quadrant. Is that supposed be like that?

That does sound like you are getting below flight idle and the prop is probably going into Beta or something. You likely want to keep those rpm's or torque levels above that except after you are in the flare.

Hey guys,I haven't really read through this whole thread, but I'd like to try your ideas. I was one of the beta test pilots on this, and find it semi-insulting you say "ask a real pilot how it flies". I guess that's the way of the world. Given, there are many limitations in FSX, but .air and .cfg files can always use tweaking.At cruise at 5000ft, at 17/17, you should see between 130/140KIAS depending on weight. Remember, TAS is a LOT different than IAS.I'm interested in seeing your solutions to the ITT temp. An yes, most operators fly the Caravan full torque and prop. I like it quieter, so I usually have the prop at 1700 in cruise, down to 1600 for descent.Feel free to ask questions, as I check avsim almost daily.

Sir, it is good of you to drop by and answer some of our questions. It is appreciated, as it is not the job of a beta tester to do such things. I speak from experience on this.I'm sorry you felt insulted by any of this. Such was not intended, but in the absence of any feedback from the manufacturer on some pretty glaring issues, we were left wondering how some of these things got past the beta stage. The feeling was, either it wasn't beta tested by real pilots, or real pilots did test it and the manufacturer didn't heed their advice. I think you can understand our frustration at that, given most of us have copies of the real Grand Caravan manual and were comparing what we had there to what we were seeing in FSX. I do understand your point about FSX having limitations. This is absolutely true. But, having airspeeds 25+ kts (more on that in a minute) below the book value, and even ITT values that are out to lunch (and even more so than we thought, based on your observations further on) aren't among those limitations. That has been proven by amateurs who have tweaked the air file and the cfg file in relatively short order. I sometimes think the "FSX Limitation" theory is a little over-used and becomes an excuse.Many of us here that have noted the differences and issues with the Caravan are/were real world (and in many cases, including mine) professional pilots. We have a wide variety of experiences on a wide variety of aircraft. I come from a background of bush flying, where I spent most of my days on floats, amphibs and skis, flying 185's, Beavers, Otters and Aztecs. Fede (who did the major tweaks here) is a RW Airline Transport Rated pilot again with a great deal of experience. Others have similar qualifications. So, I think it's safe to say that we do know and understand the difference between such things as KIAS and KTAS. I noted throughout that our units were consistent and well calculated. My tests done at 1700 ft-lbs and 1900 rpm at 4000 yielded KTAS speeds of about 130 to 135 (not KIAS, but TAS - far below the book specs), but that usually resulted in ITT temps above 740 (typically 760). From your own observations below, ITT's like that are well above what you normally see, even on takeoff. So the issues are real, and make flying the aircraft in a realistic manner (the goal of any FS payware aircraft) impossible. Thanks to Fede and a few others, that's no longer the case. What would be nice now is to hear from a RW Caravan captain, such as yourself, what the actual numbers we should expect are (and we who fly for a living are fully aware that book values are nice, but not very often accurate under a real world situation). That way we can complete some minor tweaks to really get this plane as close to reality as is possible. Yes, FSX will limit how much we can accomplish, but that limitation is nowhere near as "limiting" as some would have us believe.I, and I'm certain others, really do appreciate your input and your presence. Believe me, nobody holds a beta tester responsible for FDE's that are not up to snuff (unless that beta tester didn't report such issues, which is unlikely). Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing more from you over the coming period.

The real airplane gets super spongy below about 90KIAS, especially with heavy loads. Also, AP use is prohibited below 80KIAS. And, yes, in real life you do run out of trim...the speed may be off just a touch, but it is normal to run out of trim, especially in stalls. I just did my recurrent, so it's fresh in my head!IFR approaches for the most part, should be flown at 120KIAS, 11torque for level flight/700 for descent, and 10 deg flaps (you can use 20 deg, speed will be roughly 110 KIAS). I have only flown 2 instrument approaches that you would ever need the excuse to do flaps 30, and then even you'd be looking for 95KIAS.It's been my experience that the real airplane never actually flies at the perfect numbers set forth by the POH, when the plane was manufactured 30 years ago, at sea level standard day with no wind and perfect conditions and brand new everything, with a 20,000hr test pilot.For sure I'm willing to try your edits in this post though.At full takeoff power of 1865ft lbs, you will never typically see 805C at Sea Level. I fly at higher temps than standard, and typically see 700˚C on takeoff, sometimes up to 730. Our company uses 710 for all purposes. I have the POH at hand if you'd like to know more. I've never seen over 750, unless on starts.

Thanks very much for this. I've never sat in a Caravan much less flown one so I really appreciate the real world insight. Makes it much more interesting to try to fly the airplane the right way.

Ok I have a question. I dont know how to edit the air file. I would love to have the fix to this airplane but am not really sure how to make the air file changes. I can change the config. I just need to be pointed in the right direction how to get the air changed.Thanks

Ok I have a question. I dont know how to edit the air file. I would love to have the fix to this airplane but am not really sure how to make the air file changes. I can change the config. I just need to be pointed in the right direction how to get the air changed.Thanks

Unless things are already happening behind the scenes, this would be a perfect moment for Carenado to pop in instead of leaving users wonder how in the world they are supposed to modify the air files. Come on Carenado, this is what your forum is meant for.

Ok I have a question. I dont know how to edit the air file. I would love to have the fix to this airplane but am not really sure how to make the air file changes. I can change the config. I just need to be pointed in the right direction how to get the air changed.Thanks

Download this file to edit the airfile: Aircraft Airfile Manager V2.2

Download this file to edit the airfile: Aircraft Airfile Manager V2.2

And to make the table change in entry 1548 easier paste and save the following into a text file and import that text file with the Import button that you can find in the 1548 entry of the Airfile Manager:

Points: 100.000225	0.10.000587	0.450.000739	0.520.000891	0.610.001144	0.690.001268	0.740.001496	0.810.001756	0.940.002049	0.990.002377	1

Ok here's the tweak to get 1900 RPM max:[propeller]gear_reduction_ratio= 17.8This way it works at 1900 RPM full fine, no more 1950 ;)More to follow, I'm tweaking the flaps section, but it needs a bit of work. I nailed the value to be changed in the FDE, but there is another one that I have to check. I'll report later. (and by the way, try a stall clean and with full flaps: it won't change a thing).Cheers

Ok I loaded Air file manager imported the text file and then I get an error in German so I have no idea what it is telling me. I appreciate what everyone is doing it's a little frustrating that Carenado can't make these changes and send out a new FDE to make life easier on people like me who are every new to this.Thank you