Hi

 

It is slow, fragile, and old.. it is older than Duke Ellington's first record. It also risks your lives, and when you get lost on a foggy day.. can't imagine. So why do you like it? in fact, what makes it become your first addon to fly?

 

 

Thanks

Absolute simplicity - as pure a flying experience as you can have and still use an engine. An outdoor experience (just open the door) but not harsh like open-cockpit flying would be (there's a full windshield in front of you. Light and responsive so you can feel the air (especially if you're using a good weather add-on like Active Sky) and it'll keep you accountable on approach and landing. Slow flight means you can take in the scenery. Low flight means you're part of the earth, not detached from it. You arrive slowly, so you have time to get used to the arrival (it's a sort of walking meditation of an airplane). No automation and no radio navigation, so you can practice your map skills and ded reckoning. Accu-Sim and Heidi add whole dimensions to the experience. Get lost on a foggy day? No, because you don't fly. It's a bit like sailing - you have to work with the environment instead of beating it into submission. And because of it's limitations, it's safe - no IMC, no night flight, and as somebody said, it's fast enough to only slightly kill you. In all, a terrific relief from most of the other FS experiences. Just don't fly it when you need to get somewhere - or when you're not in the mood for what it has to offer.

 

BTW, I wouldn't do without Duke Ellington's first record either...

When one has had enough with today's popular mainstream, they turn to Piper Cub, Duke Ellington, P 40, Count Basie, old but goodie, the real artistry. It don't mean a thing if ain't see the wing..

 

What sophisticated people..

It's simply the most immersive flying experience I've had in FSX. Feels so real. That said, since it is so slow I rarely fly it. I dream that A2A one day will start making modern GAs with accusim. I'd by every Piper and Cessna they'd make!

A good explanation of why people fly the Cub is right in your FSX install.

 

Go to Learning Center, Aircraft Information, Piper-J-3C-65-Cub and click on Touching the Sky near the top.

 

"I don't fly for fun anymore," a pilot once confessed to me. "It's gotten boring."

Flying? Boring? What a thought!

"Maybe you're going about it the wrong way," I suggested. He looked perplexed. I asked how and what he usually flew. He answered that he had a high-performance twin-engine plane, and usually flew high to take advantage of the winds.

"So you're usually on an instrument flight plan?"

"Yes," he answered slowly.

"Do you use an autopilot?"

"Of course."

"Ah. Well, that's the problem," I said. "You're not flying. You're traveling—droning along, monitoring systems while the airplane flies and you wait to get wherever you're going. No wonder you're bored. What you need is..." I paused, trying to think about the best cure I could suggest for someone whose enjoyment of flight had gotten lost somewhere in the efficiency of technology, speed and automation.

"...what you need," I finally concluded, "is a Piper Cub."

 

If you download and read the A2A Cub manual, there's lots more there.

 

Hook

If you download and read the A2A Cub manual, there's lots more there.

 

 

...and be sure to read the story in it about the airline pilot who forgot how to fly.

 

The A2A Cub will probably teach you more about flight than anything else out there, in terms of basic stick and rudder skills - and it comes with floats, tundras and skis. Also, if you like flying realistically, it helps get you out of the head-in-the cockpit habit that often bedevils simmers. There isn't enough in the cockpit to distract you from looking outside. :smile:

 

H

Something that amused me from the A2A Cub manual is that the radio has a 2 hour battery, while you have fuel to fly a bit longer than that. If you will need your radio during a landing after a longer flight, you have to turn it off during the flight!

 

This suits me just fine. My favorite switch on the simulated aircraft is the off switch on the radio.

 

The A2A Cub is on my purchase list, for if and when I want to fly that way; maybe next week, maybe in a few months. The announced A2A C172 is on my purchase list whether I'm flying that way or not at the time. Currently I'm having a lot of fun with the default DC3. If I were still flying the Searey (from Discover Arabia) I'd probably grab the Cub right now.

 

Hook

I used to fly it quite a bit, but it's just too slow for cross-country flying, especially if your simming time is limited. There's no way it's ever leaving my hard drive though. Where it shines for me now is when I want to get in the air quickly and just do some sightseeing the the area around an airport. I do the same with Ant's Tiger Moth, Rick Piper's Chipmunk, and the SibWings Bird Dog.

 

One thing I have also tried with the A2A Cub is an impromptu "drunk farmer" routine - just to see how much I could get away with in terms of mishandling it while keeping it under control. The answer is...quite a lot.

 

H

I dream that A2A one day will start making modern GAs with accusim. I'd by every Piper and Cessna they'd make!

 

Dream no more, they are moving into GA.

I absolutely love my Cub. When you buy some nice scenery it's a shame if you only look at it from FL360. Nothing is better for me than taking off from some grass strip amidst the mountains and trees of ORBX PNW and just fly through the valleys. Opening the window and Heide telling me it's cold. Or using the tundra tires to touch down in the river waters and come to a stop right at the bank.

 

It's the absolute immersion with both the aircraft and the world. I don't really get that with any other aircraft, and that's why I love the Cub.

Can't add any more to what's already been said. - it simply strips everything back to the fundamentals of flight. Purchase of the A2A cub with the Accusim package should be made mandatory for all simmers !

I fly the Cub only occasionally, and each time I do I come back a better hands on pilot. When I do fly the Cub I use RW charts, tools etc and do 100% (as much as possible) dead reckoning flights, complete with my chart in my lap and my (analog) stop watch nearby. Sometimes I manage to even do flights of nearly 100 (statute) miles!! And when I do I feel like I've actually seen and done something. It has completely ruined me for anything high and fast and I don't feel any loss at all. Got Orbx scenery?? Fly over the payware Orbx airport of your choice and listen to the birds sing. Do that in your PMDG whatever.

 

The A2A Cub--truly as real as it gets

A2A Accusim Cub... Orbx PNW and a couple friends to fly with...

Well, I didn't make quite a week. I bought it today, along with the accu-sim package.

 

What a delightful little airplane!

 

It's surprisingly easy to fly. One problem I've always had with flight sims is that they're harder to fly than the real thing. Sometimes much harder. Well, this one is easy. Bank into a turn and you can tell exactly how much back pressure you need on the stick when the nose drops... the fuel meter stick helps a lot here, I think, but there's just more feel to the aircraft.

 

I expected coordinated turns to be more difficult. But really, using the whiskey compass as a slip/skid indicator, It's not a problem. You can tell by the view out the front how much rudder you need anyway. There's a little adverse yaw, and up to 30 degree bank the Cub wants to level out. Over 30 degrees it will hold the bank without aileron input.

 

Heidi is fun. My first flight I starting off empty in fair weather just to get a feel for the airplane, then I added Heidi in mid-air. She didn't have much to say, even with the "fun" personality, although she did flirt a little. When I was landing, ATC told me to "follow the Maule M7 on short final." WHAT Maule M7? Heidi found it before I did. I was actually closer to the runway than he was at the time. Well, I let him land, slowed down as much as possible but got told to go around anyway. Cleared to land a second time, then another go around. On the last one I cut the turn close to the runway, and Heidi reached up to grab the window support, but didn't comment.

 

Since Heidi is in front of you, blocking your view, they gave you additional views on each side so you could see around her head. Very useful, even with TrackIR.

 

My very first landing... I greased it in like you wouldn't believe, barely kissed the ground. Heidi even complimented me on it. Ok, gotta be a fluke, but when I landed later it was the same but without the passenger. No problems judging height above ground or anything.

 

Second flight was without a passenger, and with real world weather. Windy, with some gusting. The sounds of the aircraft and wind told me everything I needed to know. Better than anything I've experienced in a flight sim.

 

Some aircraft you really have to work it to get them where you want them, especially if you aren't in a good position to start with. The A2A Cub just wasn't like that; It just went where I wanted without complaint. That first landing I was really out of position, 90 degrees off the runway with barely enough room to turn to line up. But it was just... easy.

 

For those who have flown the Carbon Cub in Microsoft Flight, I have to say this one is more fun. It doesn't have the "slippery" feeling flight model that Flight has for all the aircraft, but it's easier to fly. Even with the smaller 65 HP engine you can do pretty much everything you could do in Flight. There's just no comparison with the default FSX Cub.

 

The instruments are... primitive. But they tell you what you need: oil pressure and temperature, RPM (the needle bounces quite a bit), air speed (just trim for 75 MPH at 2150 RPM and fly), and a strange altimeter with one needle, calibrated up to 18,000 feet. Weird, but you get used to it, and you probably don't want to get up to the max altitude anyway (and it's not FL180 either).

 

With standard wheels, tundra tires, floats and skis, you've got a few different aircraft to experience. The Cub is mildly aerobatic, but I haven't tried that yet. There are lots of youtube videos for those interested.

 

I'm not often impressed by "gee whiz" features, but this one got my attention. The fuel "gauge" is a rod sticking out the top of the cowl in front of you, with a cork on the end that floats on the fuel. As fuel burns off, the rod gets shorter. Well... I kicked the rudder one time and noticed the rod moving in and out as the fuel sloshed back and forth in the tank. A2A talked about fuel tank dynamics in another aircraft, and that's what we're seeing here. It probably affects the stability of the aircraft, but I'm not well enough attuned to the aircraft yet to notice.

 

What the Cub isn't: This is not an aircraft for going from point A to point B. It's an aircraft for experiencing the joy of flying. It's not fast, normal cruise is 75 MPH indicated. There's no GPS, but there is a pilot's map that's pretty good. The radio has a 2 hour battery life, so don't expect to use flight following. The altimeter can be adjusted for barometric pressure, but it's a little strange, and the only indication of the setting is the tool tip; you're expected to set the altitude to the airport elevation before you take off. The B key works for this. You've got fuel for just over 3 hours of flight time, so don't expect long range flights.

 

What the Cub is: A lot of fun. Basic flying. A good trainer if you haven't got much experience in anything smaller than a 737. It's got an optional passenger so you don't have to fly alone.

 

Hook

Not to mention all the fun places you can land it. Almost like a helicopter if you have a decent wind speed coming towards you! Try landing it at a moving cruise ship's helicopter platform!