To me this GA stuff comes down to what youd like to own or fly in real life.

Amen to that. I had done some serious reading about buying/owning a plane, and one of the best lines I've seen is; "Buy for 90% of mission, rent for the other 10".

 

If your flying is mostly by yourself or with one or two friends, and under 500 miles one way, you don't need a PC-12 or KA 350 for example.

 

Having said that, Piper's Meridian is a super star, with her "M" class siblings for less money ... or the TBM 850 if you need the corvette/slightly over priced version. You can rent the PC-12 for family vacations, and you wont have to bother with that multi engine cert. for a KA.

 

Than again, with that kind of cash, you can have someone else fly you around for life... but what fun is that?

 

(And yes, you can rent a PC-12 : http://travelexpressaviation.com/fleet.html ... in this case with a membership.. but it's possible!)

I agree, the meridian is a really solid performer. Good speed at altitude, good range, comfy cabin and at a good price compared to the 850 or PC12.

 

The 850 is one sexy plane though...one of my favorites.

 

I was looking at 6 seaters for waaay into the future just for fun and while there's enough options, sometimes the room isn't ideal. Like the 210 or baron. Thats where the Meridian comes in I think. The 210 silver eagle is also a cool plane though.

 

Lee

 

I've heard this from other users, but it seems to be related to the default GPS units. Those of us using RXP units don't seem to see this. Especially if you keep the radar unit turned off - it' doesn't really display anything meaningful anyway. Just FYI.

 

Thank you for this info, Scott. I was already not using the weather radar, but might look into RXP gauges now.

You mention the Milviz B55 and its included GNS 530 & 430 units.  They are not fully featured GNS units, you still need to put in at least one RXP unit.  I changed out the included 530 for my RXP 530, kept the included 430.  Nice set up.  I also fully endorse that the Milviz B55 is an excellent GA Twin, many say the best FSX GA twin to date.  I liked the B55 so much, I just purchased their C310R also - a very nice airplane, but not as nice as the B55.  I am now thinking about the the RealAir Turbine Duke, but wondering if I will just wait for the Milviz King Air 350 under development.

I will just wait for the Milviz King Air 350 under development.

 

Really looking forward to this bird. Very nice of someone to do a new plane for a change (minus tube liners). Proline 21 or Pentium 4 compatible steam. Can't go wrong with that!

Ahhh...  Pentium 4 good times.

The problem with the Carenado SR22 is only when the terrain map is enabled.  I think we can agree everyone takes a huge hit with it on.  I usually fly with it off and then the plane performs quite smoothly.

 

Ryan,

 

My experience differs.   The huge FPS hit occurs as soon as the G1000 PFD and MFD are turned on - with anything displayed.  I am using an i7 2600k 3.8Ghz with HD 7850 2GB, 16GB DDR3 and Win 7 64 bit.

 

Certainly would not purchase any other Carenado aircraft that uses G1000, until they agree to look at doing something to improve it's dire performance in the sim.

Ryan,

 

My experience differs.   The huge FPS hit occurs as soon as the G1000 PFD and MFD are turned on - with anything displayed.  I am using an i7 2600k 3.8Ghz with HD 7850 2GB, 16GB DDR3 and Win 7 64 bit.

 

Certainly would not purchase any other Carenado aircraft that uses G1000, until they agree to look at doing something to improve it's dire performance in the sim.

 

I would have to agree. I bought their T182T which came out just before the SR22 and has a similar cockpit with the same problems. I'm a huge Carenado fan and I've bought almost everything they've made over the years, but this is an aircraft addon I've truly regretted purchasing. It just isn't enjoyable to fly, because of the stutters. Even when I do upgrade my system to a 4+ GHz Intel system, I fear the frame rate hit will be too much around detailed scenery like OrbX airports. What's worse, the actual G1000 simulation is pretty basic - it functions more or less like the FSX default G1000, so I don't understand why it's such a frame rate hog.

 

My current favorite is actually the Carenado T210M Centurion. It doesn't have the smooth, fluid flight model of e.g. the C337 or RealAir stuff,, but there's nothing wrong with the flight model. The interior looks stunning (just as detailed as the T182T) but the frame rate is amazing. It's also a very powerful plane that cruises and climbs faster than many twins yet offers the same excellent visibility as other high-wing Cessnas.

 

Some of my other favorites are the RealAir Turbine Duke, RealAir Scout collection (still a must-have after all these years), Carenado C337 and A2A Piper Cub. Really looking forward to the A2A C172 as well. The Cub with AccuSim is truly amazing, but the aircraft is bit slow and simplistic for longer cross country flights.

 

The C337, C210 and Turbine Duke all come with the default GPS mounted in the VC panel for a moving map.

Weird... amazing how vast the differences can be between rigs. I haven't noticed the performance to be any worse than other payware.

I purchased the RealAir Legacy and am very impressed. I will explore its flight dynamics and systems today during my first cold-and-dark flight with it! Thanks to all for the input.