I've been pondering the purchase of the Carenado F33A, I would like to hear the good and bad about it....pics on the panel would be very nice too. Thanks!

I didn't have the F33 but I had the V35......Visually she is quite nice but there are a few things I don't like. For instance, the whidshield isn't really "rounded" when viewed externally. It kind of stands out...you can even see it in most of their screenshots. What I mean is that you can see an edge you look at the aircraft from the side and other angles. Probably not a big deal to most but I am anal retentive...ask any of the payware developers with a forum. :-lolVC is ok IIRC...nothing Flight1/DF quality though but at the same time not bad.FM wise I can't attest to the accuracy because I haven't flown a real one but the model was stable and had decent speed.Honestly, if you are in the market for a payware GA aircraft then I would probably look elsewhere. Not because the Carenado Beech aircraft aren't good but because they aren't really fairly priced. Remember, after you pay the $15 for the F33 you have to pay $6.50 for the upgrade to FS2004 (if that is what you are flying). $21.50 just doesn't seem right when it is extremely close to the cost of the DF Cardinal/DF310/Flight1 C152.Let me put it this way...I did a complete re-install of my system and lost my info to re-download the Beech and I never took the time to request a new download for it.Sorry if I am not more help. I flew it for a bit and lost interest extremely quickly.Remember though, I had the V35 for FS2002 but unless they changed the F33/V35 in their $6.50 update I just don't think they are worth it.:)

Dan, the Carenado's birds are great aircraft I don't care what anyone says... Any plane in FS can be picked apart, they all have faults. Carenado makes some of the best GA aircraft around. Give them a try, you won't regret it...

Pic of the 2D panel is here:http://www.frontiernet.net/~jcook1702/f33panel.jpgJim

It's only a $21.50 "try".:-lolAnd, no refunds at Carenado. I'm not knocking all their aircraft. I own the Dakota, V35, and Cessna 210 (<--which is GREAT!).But I honestly can't tell somebody that the Carenado aircraft are worth as much as DF aircraft are....and they are priced VERY similarly. I mean seriosuly..the DF C310 is only $1.45 more. The DF Cardinal is only $1.45 more.The C421 is only $1.45 more.Let us be honest here.....the Carenado Beech aircraft are not in the same league as the above mentioned offerings and yet they are almost the same cost. Charging $6.50 for an update...give me a break.

I have the F33A (in some docs it's refered to as the F33A, in others as an F33M). I like it a lot. It does not compare to my latest purchase, the DA20 Katana from Aerosoft, but it's still a very nice aircraft, perfect for cross country.2D Panel - this is the biggest dissapointment with this aircraft, but it's not a big deal for me because I fly 90% from the VC. There's only one panel option - you don't have full view and VFR/landing view like the Dreamfleet aircraft. So, visibility is very poor from the 2D panel mode. The quality is fairly good and it should be great for IFR (when you don't need to see the scenery).VC - IMO, the VC is better than the Dreamfleet aircraft. I have the DF C152, Archer and C177. The DF aircraft tend to have great detail around the panel bit, but the rest of the cockpit is done at lower detail. The exception is their C152 which looks very good in VC view. Also I haven't tried their C310 so I can't comment on that. The detail of the Carenado Bonanza VC is superb both around the panel and the rest of the interior. It's also very framerate-friendly. The windows are toned/reflective. To me, it looks a bit overdone (too dark) but I haven't seen the real one so I don't know. It's probably possible to reduce the effect if you know a thing or two about image editing (reduce the intensity of the alpha channel and/or change the window colour to a brighter one).Sounds - I *think* they are based on the default sounds, but they are modified and it sounds very good.Flight model - I'm not qualified to comment on it but it's smooth and fluid - not clunky and twitchy like the default flight models.Exterior model - It looks fine to me but then I'm happy if the model looks fine from typical viewing distance - I don't zoom in to 100x to see if that polygon on the wing is two pixels off :) There's some pixelization in the paint scheme near the tail but it's not something you notice from normal viewing distances. Also, there aren't that many repaints available for this aircraft compared to the DF aircraft.The price is an issue - you need to purchase both the FS2002 version, then the update. It would be better if Carenado sold the FS2004 version at the same price as the FS2002 version. Dreamfleet even released free FS2004 updates for their aircraft - Carenado is being a bit greedy here.I included four shots of the aircraft (two of the VC and two of the exterior model).http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/70410.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/70411.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/70412.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/70413.jpg

Like i said, it isn't a bad aircraft it's just the fact that they are charging for a patch kind of irks me.But hey, to each his own!:)P.S> I could probably post a pic of the C310 cockpit if the orginal poster wants to see one.

Arklight does have a point about the price when compared to Dreamfleet. The Dreamfleet Cessna 310 is only $22.95 and is, in my opinion and in an all-around sense, the best prop that exists for FS2004. Outstanding VC, 2d panels, Continental sounds, flight physics, external modelling and texturing, and it's easy on framerates. If California makes it legal (probably soon), I think I'm going to marry it.However, since Dreamfleet doesn't make any Bonanzas, it's irrelevant. If you want a Bonanza F33 or V35, Carenado has the best (and only ones that I know of) out there, hands down. In my experience, Carenado excels at visual modelling and texturing. They also know how to do a good VC - maybe not as good as Dreamfleet, but very believable. I've never had any qualms about their flight modelling, either. Good stuff. Only down side is, you don't get any sounds with the package.- Matt D.

There's a freeware Debonair (similar to the Bonanza) in the AVSim file library. It has an incredible 2D panel with lots of features and quite good external modelling. The aircraft is made by a real Debonair pilot - I'm sorry I don't remember the name but he posts regularily here at the forums. The VC is not as good as the Carenado however."However, since Dreamfleet doesn't make any Bonanzas, it's irrelevant."That's a good point - if you want a Bonanza it doesn't matter if DF has a better C310 or FSD has done a better Navajo :) If you were going for an Archer, I'd recommend the DF Archer hands down because of the smooth flight model, the incredible sounds, and the countless repaints available for it.

The Author of the Debonair your refering to goes by Geoffa if memory serves right(or something similar to it).As far as the Carenado F33, if your looking for a good F33 it's worth every penny. I've got about 35-40 hours in a real F33 so far and the Carenado version flies pretty damned close to it, good enough that after using it I almost felt at home flying the real thing for the first time. I just find it has a tendency to sink a little more in turns than the real thing, and like most FS planes gets a little funky when you push the envelope to much.