My posts typically tend to range from the opinionated to the outright contentious, with the rare expression of contentment for good measure.  Then there are those once-every-few-years occasions where I feel compelled to sing praise.

 

I have flow a real stick in a 152, 172, Luscombe, Tomohawk and Archer.  I learned to fly an airplane before I learned to drive and grew up around general aviation during its brief heyday in the 70's.  I am not a PPL, but I have soloed.  (Money, like time, is fleeting. ) 

 

In the sim world, I have hundreds of hours on the Falcon series, from F1 back in 1989 up through 5.0, which I set aside when I started my FS9 career around 2005 or so.  I now have hundreds of hours on FS9 on a variety of aircraft, from 152 to 747 and lots in between.  My experience with FSX is much less, but I have a few big brand names in my hangar, including PMDG.

 

Throughout my "career" as a sim pilot, I have found myself on a quest for a good turboprop during most of that time.  I have had a couple that came really close to being just right, but were missing that certain something or had minor flaws or imperfections that kept it from being "just right".  The ones I remember as being the most enjoyable include the AFG 350 and the Aeroworx B200.  

 

Then there's the PMDG B41.  After going through the tutorial and spending a few hours learning this fine bird, my first reaction is to wonder why everybody else can't do it this way.  This bird sets the bar and is the best sim prop I have flown, hands down.  There are a few little things that you can tell were probably difficult to accomplish that put this airplane, and the experience of flying it, into a class of their own.  It takes off like a real airplane.  You have to crank back on the yoke and it rotates slowly at first, rather than yanking off the runway like everything else in FSX.  When landing, it slows down and keeps coming down when you start your flare, like you would expect a 20,000 pound airplane to do.  Every single other turbo I've flown floats down the runway like a hockey puck.  the J41 flies with a heavy stick and is quite stable, just like a real airplane, without feeling like it's on false rails.  In short, this plane acts like a plane and responds to inputs the way a plane is supposed to, something which is oddly elusive in so many others.  It also has a power curve that feels genuine.  Getting into the teens, you sit back and wait a while as it moseys up to altitude.  So many others don't seem to know the difference between SL and FL except for the gauges, whose indications are rendered moot by an airframe that over performs.  

 

These are the things that really stand out that I can sort of put into words.  There's so much more, of course.  And it does have its problems, just like any complex FSX bird, but they are so small compared to the sheer reality of the overall design that they are easily sidestepped.  For my part, the only bug I have encountered is the navigation system flying north instead of on track.  VOR is a great workaround, so it's livable.

 

At the end of the day, though, the J41 is the turboprop I have been waiting for since my first FS flight in 2005.  You can tell this one wasn't about the money.  My only disappointment is that there isn't a full line of PMDG props.  

 

-MJL

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the day, though, the J41 is the turboprop I have been waiting for since my first FS flight in 2005. You can tell this one wasn't about the money. My only disappointment is that there isn't a full line of PMDG props.

 

Well said.  Despite the shorter leg times of the trips I take in the J41 versus the longer legs of the others, it still ranks among the highest flown plane in my "hangar."  Love it.

If you like turbo props, you'll love the Majestic Q400.