I would like to hear some recommendations for a single prop plane with some smooth VC gauges. Doesn't really matter which, preferably something not too complicated but I would like to see some smooth VC gauges as I've started flyinging more and more in VC.Regards-MikkelBtw...how come it's so hard to find smooth gauges in fs9?

The Aerosoft Katana has the best VC gauges I have seen (I fly only GA stuff... no heavy iron). It's a fine flying airplane, especially after their patch was applied. Great fun!http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/en/ibosh...642155860,01935Hope this helps,Greg

Looks great, thanks. How easy is it to read the gauges? Could you post a screenshot showing a normal view of the panel in VC?-Mikkel

Turned the camera :-) a bit to include the engine instruments on the right side of the panel.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/83210.jpgHope this helps,Greg

uhhh...nice. Is there a way to get rid of the GPS? How does it handle compared to real life? In a turn or a climb the gauges won't "stutter" as in the default planes? Is it easy to fly?Sorry for all the questions, but one thing I wish some software developers would do is make some kind of a demo plane to get the feel and look of the plane. :)-Mikkel

"Is there a way to get rid of the GPS?"If you mean the entire GPS, it's part of the panel bitmap. To save resources for lower end machines the actual GPS (that appears inside the window of the GPS in the bitmap) can be removed using the Load Editor."How does it handle compared to real life?"I've never flown a Katana in RL."In a turn or a climb the gauges won't "stutter" as in the default planes?"I just flew some tight and fast turns, throwing the stick for and aft to throw all the primary flight instruments into a tissy. I was able to see some lack of fluid movement (I still wouldn't call it insrument stuttering). I would never fly the aircraft in such a way though. In it's normal flight regime the instruments perform extremely well (given the limitations of today's hardware and software). As I said, it is easily the best VC I've flown. I never fly the aircraft in 2D... the VC is simply too good. The only problem I've discovered is that the ignition switch doesn't work in the VC."Is it easy to fly?"Very!! I actually bought it for my wife and daughter to train on, but I find myself flying it alot just because it's so much fun.Aerosoft recommends at least a 1.8Ghz, and you know how those recomendations are. I run an AMD 3000+ Barton @ PR3400 w/ 1 Gig of RAM and a 9800XT, and it runs very well for me.More info here: http://forum.aerosoft-shop.com/forum/index.phpGreg

Try the Carenado Centurion 210. The gauges are so clear, sometimes I think I am in 2D mode and hit "S" to get to VC! Nice plane to fly too.http://www.carenado.com/html/foto2alta.jpg

>Try the Carenado Centurion 210. The gauges are so clear,>sometimes I think I am in 2D mode and hit "S" to get to VC! >Nice plane to fly too.>I will second the Carenado Centurion 210 as well. The Carenado Mentor is another one of their excellent aircraft, good support and no heavy security if you need to re-install, unlike others company's.Anthony(UK)

I agree about the demo offerings, it would save alot of headaches for the consumer. In fact i bought that Katana and did not like the flight dynamics at all. On takeoff all 3 wheels leave the ground at the same time..almost feels like some sort of helicopter lol. Landning characteristsics arent much better either, plus it has no autopilot, not even a simplistic single axis...therefore it wasnt for me and i got rid of it.I treid emailing them a couple times to request a refund but my emails got kicked back/refused for some reason, so i have no idea how to contact them via email now so i feel stuck.If there was a demo i would have known before hand..oh wellDave

>I agree about the demo offerings, it would save alot of>headaches for the consumer. In fact i bought that Katana and>did not like the flight dynamics at all. On takeoff all 3>wheels leave the ground at the same time..almost feels like>some sort of helicopter lol. Landning characteristsics arent>much better either,The question here, would be.......Have you flown a real Katana, with trim set aft? I havn't; but if trim was set aft, and the nose gear & wing incidence were such, then three wheel liftoffs with enough airspeed are entirely possible without a positive rotation. But as I've said, I have not flown the two-seater, nor do I know the specifics. However I did fly the four seat Diamond Star the other day, and "did" use positive rotation to lift the nosewheel...And as to demo's, many flight simmers bore easily, and jump from plane to plane. It's better to investigate the aircraft before you buy, than 3rd party producers throwing out a constant supply of "freebies". L.Adamson

Larry...i tried take off trim in several different configurations of course, ranging from fore-aft-neutral, etc. and found it did not help the takeoff or landing characteristics i mentioned above....now that being said i have no idea if the real plane actually flies that way or NOT...perhaps it does...i wouldnt know as ive only flown c172's and b1900's in real life...so in this particular case its not a question for me of how accurate the modeling is but more a question of what i like and dislike as far as flying characteristics in my sim planes...and i just didnt like this one at all, personally. As for investigating before purchasing instead of using a demo, well, i believe most of us already do that and in alot of cases it doesnt help much simply because there are so many different opinions about the same plane, too many different tastes and variables that make it too difficult to rely on someone elses review to know if the plane will be a "keeper" for us personally...with a demo we could all answer that question for ourselves right away instead of guessing/hoping and researching to death.Why not make a timed demo of the planes where they will be flyable and fully functioning for lets say up to 1 hour before the gauges disappear or the engines quit, etc...that must be a possibility these days and i dont see how that would hurt the developers at all, and in fact might help them a tad in in the piracy dept....just my thoughtsDave

Dave,I don't know how the simulated airplane fly's compared to the real one either. The review at Flightsim.com was rather positive for flight dynamics................. but I don't have it, therfore no "honest" clue. The reviewer felt that everything was within 5% of real values.There was some complaining in the X-Plane forums (X-Plane org.) regarding the same thing. Airplane's lifting off by themselves in a rather flat atitude. With no feel of actual control forces, it bugged me too, since I can always feel the forces & usually pull the nose up in a real plane. But the flight dynamics were defended.............. because it's possible.Of course, there are numerous real airplanes that "require" a positive rotation by the pilot due to landing gear & wing configuration.L.Adamson

The Centurion looks nice, I'll have to check that one out.Does anyone have any comments about the FSD Porter. Does it have smooth gauges in the VC, how's the flight characteristics and so on?I think that a time limited demo would be really cool. Or maybe a "area" limited demo where the joystick input disables after some time...kinda of like X-Plane. I really liked the way I could try out the sim before I considered buying it. I think developers need to think about this some more.-Mikkel

>I think that a time limited demo would be really cool. Or>maybe a "area" limited demo where the joystick input disables>after some time...kinda of like X-Plane. I really liked the>way I could try out the sim before I considered buying it. I>think developers need to think about this some more.>They DO think about this all the time.....It's also the reason I never actually bought "X-Plane" until last year........... after "test" flying it for about six years!L.Adamson

>They DO think about this all the time.....>It's also the reason I never actually bought "X-Plane" until last >year........... after "test" flying it for about six years! They need to do something along the lines of what FSNavigator did/does. Where after a certain amount of time or loads the product will no lnger function...forcing the consumer to either purchase a key at that point or just delete it. Worked great for FSNavigator, but planes are much more short lived so the time/loads allowed would have to be adjusted for this. I think 1 hour is fine, or 2-3 loads...something along those lines would ensure you cant endlessly keep reloading and using their unregistered product indefinately....its just enough time to to get a first hand look and good idea of how it looks, flys & feels before you plunk down the cash.Dave