Hello fellow simmers,Anyone any experience with the 'good looking'Turbo commander 690 from http://www.fscharter.com/ ?http://www.fscharter.com/PICS/pic0001.jpghttp://www.fscharter.com/PICS/pic0003.jpgThere website is not very informative about features, there forum isn't working so. I like the plane but do not want to waste 24 dollars, when Milton et all has some great stuff for free....:-walksmileAll the Best!Rob "Holland&Holland" de Vries http://www.emotipad.com/emoticons/Flying.gif"To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull the stick back harder"

Hi Rob,I've had it since its first release and have installed the first service patch. Yes it is a beautiful external model, the interior is also nicely done, and it does fly rather nice. The VC and 2d panel is where the inexperience of this group is apparent. In the 2d panel there are a couple of gauges that are placed at the outer edge of the panel bitmap intending to show only half of the gauge... this doesn't work and ends up shrinking some of the gauge elements into a half width presentation (there is a correct way to do this, look at the ADF in FlightOne's 172). The AHI appears to be taken from an earlier gauge with some of the surround made invisible. While this would normally work, part of this invisible surround portion overlays the HSI below and causes some strange visual effects on the HSI making it nearly unusable in either panel. The throttle lever animations in the 2d panel also overly engine gauges above it and can cause some of this same visual interference. The radar display is part of the panel bitmap which in itself appears to be a photo and lacks clarity in both 2d and VC, a higher quality bitmap would certainly improve its appearance.I'm excited to see the freeware turbo commander that was announced recently. I have gone through the panel in the FSCharter 690 and replaced the AHI and made a few other changes to make it more usable. Wish their forum worked as I would have been glad to share the constructive criticism with them on their forum.Zane

mmm..thanks for the honest comments, the fact that a service release did not solve the problems you mentioned does not souns very promising...When was this airplane released because I can't remember seeing any announcements on the major sites...Did you get into ocntact with the authors?BTW where's that freeware turbocommander you mentioned...Milton's?Thanks again!Rob "Holland&Holland" de Vries http://www.emotipad.com/emoticons/Flying.gif"To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull the stick back harder"

Hey Rob, I think he means the one from Veneaviones. I think I saw somewhere they were finally going to release it soon.Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/mcdcvabanner.jpgCalVirAir International

Hi again Rob,The original release was 9th of December 2004. There had been a beta announcement the month prior, both on flightsim.com. I liked the look of the pictures and I do like flying it. I couldn't find any mention of what was fixed in the update, just got an announcement in January, had to remove it and install the newer version fresh. Since I fixed the gauge problem myself didn't think more about it until you asked. Probably would have pursued it more if there had been more action in the forums, or if FSCharter had ever gotten their forum up and running. The Veneaviones Turbo Commander that was announced last month is the freeware one I was mentioning.Zane

Hi there:After several problems we faced during two years of development we can say that the model is almost ready to be uploaded to AVSIM very soon. We were not pleased with the standard our model had in the past and most of it was redone until it depicted as close as possible a real 690B.Besides, this is a very complex airplane to model given that it suffered several modifications and conversions all over the years, so finding an original 690B working is very unlikely. Basically that's why we delayed our work so much, but I think the wait will be worthy for all of you.About FSCharter model... (personal opinion, not the opinion of Veneaviones) the only thing I have to say is why charter if free is better? ;)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/107655.jpgKindest Regards from Venezuela,

That model is stunning, especially with the reflective showroom floor, very cool.Jeff USAF

Much obliged guys for the information. I'm looking forward to the Veneaviones ones and keep an eye on the FSCharter one. One question though to both owners of payware and Veneaviones representatives. How is the plane in the systems department? How wel and authentic are several systems being simulated?Rob "Holland&Holland" de Vries http://www.emotipad.com/emoticons/Flying.gif"To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull the stick back harder"

I have owned the FSCharter 690 since it's debut and I have taken it off my system. I even emailed the company and explained my dissatisfaction, no reply. This is a "must avoid" a/c if you are looking for value. While I find the exterior model to be very well done, the panel and systems are extremely sub-par. This was all very disappointing after I bought the 690 because it is one of my favorite r/l a/c. I know from my many hours of experience with the Veneaviones Citation II that their 690 will be a much better offering than the FSCharter attempt.As a side note: I certainly am not trying to bash FSCharter. I do, however, feel that the $25 price tag should merit a product that is on-par with Flight1/Dreamfleet/FSD models if they are priced accordingly. I suspect their small screenshots are limited in size and resolution to hide known shortcomings and I feel misled. I do reserve the right to be wrong and would appologize if this is not the case.

Rob:The 690B regarding system requirements is similar to the one of the Cessna Citation II. However, we will offer vc and non-vc models. The panel even if it is going to be more simple in comparison with fscharter, we think it will fulfill the expectancies of simmers.For pictures of our panel and the vc you can check our forum at:www.avsim.com/veneavionesKindest Regards,

Rightseat I have to agree with you. You have no need to apologize for your opinion. I have also sent FScharter an email regarding the poor quality of the aircraft. I have only made one purchase that was a poor choice and the FScharter Commander was it. Version 1.0 is not worth the time it took me to download it let alone the money.Although, I am willing to give people a second chance to redeem themselves. I downloaded 1.1, since it is only going to cost me my time and I am on a DSL... I will try version 1.1. After that, I will give it the final boot or keep it. At this point I uninstalled my 1.0 version some time back.Just my opinion and that is all. Don't expect me to apologize for how I feel. Thank you for letting me get that out.Kevin

You said: The 690B regarding system requirements is similar to the one of the Cessna Citation II.I thought the Cessna Citation II was released without panel/VC..;)But I'm looking forward to the release of the Turbo Commander!Rob "Holland&Holland" de Vries http://www.emotipad.com/emoticons/Flying.gif"To go up, pull the stick back. To go down, pull the stick back harder"

Yes, the 690B panel is quite light and it has not large impact on the system, so that's why I say that in performance the 690B is similar to the Cessna Citation II. Regards,

That is one great looking aircraft. Great Job!Cant wait to get my hands on that one!Regards,Bill