GA for cross country

[Anthony1968 19]

I'm really enjoying Orbx scenery at the moment by flying cross country in the Carenado Cessna 172 and Ants Eaglet. Can anybody suggest a nice GA plane for low and slow flying? I'd like a bit of automation for the longer flights but doesn't have to be too detailed or complex. I have been having a good look around on forums, websites etc but I would be more interested in the opinions of those that fly GA airplanes.

[N1G 88]

For high wing I like the carenado 337. For a low wing I like the Baytower RV. Both are very well done.

 

Bob

[CoolP 282]

Not too complex? Well, if twins are ok, I go with Bob on the Carenado 337 or the Flight1 BN-2. Start them with Ctrl-E if you like or do the manual stuff. The FDE is very good on both, the looks are very current and the framerates aren't a problem at all. Both high wing, both with a good view and the ability to fly to small fields.

 

I guess the Baytower is a blast too. She's on my list and it seems like it's hard to find someone who isn't impressed with her.

 

Alabeo has rendered some fun planes which come in nicely priced. That Crop Duster maybe? The manuals are very thin though. I heard the Pitts is also nicely done.

 

Is freeware an option? There still is a nice Goose from OZx. Refined FDE, HD textures and so on. Good stuff!

 

And Carenado has a A36 Bonanza in place, coming with a small glass gauge. Helps on the situational awareness and doesn't spoil the cockpit layout as there are still enough classic gauges around.

[Daveo 34]

I use the Bellanca Viking Turbo.

[Bert Pieke 1,362]

RealAir Scout, Carenado C337, Baytower RV7 are some of my favorites.

 

It depends a lot on what kind of avionics you would like to see in the panel!

 

The Scout has a really nice cockpit, and you do not have to add anything to make it just so.

 

The C337 and the RV7 really need the RealityXP GNS 530 to shine, IMHO.

[JoTayhen 5]

Hey Antz,

 

I have enjoyed "bush flying" now for years. As a matter of fact, I would say it is my passion. My favorite a/c for touring and working (Eagle Valley Air) in the PNW, NRM, CRM and Tongass Fjords areas is the Quest Kodiak.

 

It's powerful, has a pretty good avionics platform, great STOL characteristics, can fly reasonably slow when the mood strikes you and is just plain rugged for all those USFS strips.

 

I toured the country in an American Champion Scout (search here for "Mabel & me") and I think that little a/c is just great also, but the Kodiak gives you another dimension to work with.

[tofupete 0]

my personal favorite at the moment is the real air scout package. the FDE feels really good (especially on short field landings in the tundra wheels version when the stall buffet sets in right before touchdown :) ). looks good, flies good and you can customize the cockpits on all versions individually. you can add a basic autopilot and eventhough there is no NAV/GPS switch in the cockpit if you map the function it works for the default 295 handheld GPS.

 

i am currently brushing up my VOR navigation with this plane while enjoying the back country orbX idaho airports. lovely!

[ryanbatcund 2,303]

The RV7's AP is just what you need. Simple heading and alt hold when you need it.

 

Other than that it's quick (about 170 ktas) but can land very slow with full flaps.

 

Of course I'd recommend the RealAir Legacy but it is fast and more difficult to slow down.

[Anthony1968 19]

Thanks for all the input everyone, plenty info to mull over.

 

@Bert Is the RealityXP GNS 530 ( or 430) a highly worthy upgrade and if so why? It's quite expensive and from what I read elsewhere it's bit fiddly to install.I quite like the default GPS now that I can actually use it however I have noticed that some of the Instrument approaches available at a given airport are not in the default GPS database.

[PDX Flyer 57]

There was a similar post two or three weeks ago. I actually tallied the responses. The winners were (1) Baytower RV-7, (2) Aerosoft OV-10 Bronco, (3) Carenado 337, (4) Realair Lancair, (5) Realair Scout, (6) Aerosoft Kantana 4X, (7) ANT's Drifter.

 

I own all of them except for the Bronco and the Lancair. Both are on my eventual to-buy list. The RV-7 is fairly rated as number one!

 

The Kantana seems a little buggy to me as it seems very hard to fly; it seems to want to jump all over the place. Any suggestions of how to fix this would be appreciated.

[Bert Pieke 1,362]

Thanks for all the input everyone, plenty info to mull over.

 

@Bert Is the RealityXP GNS 530 ( or 430) a highly worthy upgrade and if so why? It's quite expensive and from what I read elsewhere it's bit fiddly to install.I quite like the default GPS now that I can actually use it however I have noticed that some of the Instrument approaches available at a given airport are not in the default GPS database.

 

The GNS 530 uses the Garmin code and database, so it is like a genuine GNS530 in your FSX plane.

 

You can download the Garmin 400/500 Trainer for free from the Garmin site, if you just want to try it offline.

Read these threads for a current account of a user making the transition..

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/381776-how-to-find-lpv-approaches/

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/381542-plan-g-reality-xp-gns-530/

[CoolP 282]

The Kantana seems a little buggy to me as it seems very hard to fly; it seems to want to jump all over the place. Any suggestions of how to fix this would be appreciated.

Perhaps open a thread for that one or use the AS forums. She's a nice flyer for me, but, depending on the payload, may need a proper trim setup (with those tabs) which may take some time. But reading about jumping sounds more severe. Hence the note on an extra thread.

 

If you are speaking about a problem with the tow bar, this could be a known bug though. Happens at some ends.

[Wendall 50]

I would seriously consider the Flight1 BN-2 Islander. Slow, a stable flight model, and can land just about anywhere.

[realkewl 3]

Seems like you have both of the Companies I like, but I would strongly suggest the Ants Tecnam Sierra coupled with the RealityXP GNS530. Light sport GA plane that's IFR capable with Autopilot. A/P has Alt hold and GPSS steering. The handling is really good and close to the real thing. It's a very easy plane to fly and to land in real life. The range is great easy 4-5 hours of endurance. Altitude is the only thing you need to worried about. It'll take a while to get to 10k feet. Unless you have onboard oxygen then that's about as high as you'll want to go. I've taken the Sierra from coast to coast here in the US and it's a lot of fun...getting over the rockies was the hardest though.

 

Enjoy!

Ray