Has anyone D/L the new Piaggio p-180 of Mario Noriega at ( fsnordic.net )file library -OTHERS? nice looking planewould appreciate your comments.Thanks Chuck

It's freeware--download it and try it...The exterior model is very well done. It even looks a bit better than FSD's exterior model (which I have). The interior model is very basic--no seats in the cabin, very basic VC, etc...... But I don't care--Mario's exterior work is so beautiful it's almost overwhelming. Some aircraft I fly from spot view just because I love the beauty of aircraft in flight--this probably tops my list although I know there's some who call it ugly.FSD's payware Avanti is also well worth it. If you want to know what it feels like to be a jetsetter, FSD's model gives you that impression. They hooked me on their work, and I can't wait for their 337 release. How I envy their beta test team :)-John

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!I downloaded the freware Avanti and I love it. I Have noticed a few bugs and want to compare notes.First when I select the plane I get error messages saying certain files are not available. They are GuagesA330 and dfd.romi.guage. The error messages repeat a LOT but eventually everything loads. Sometimes I position the J3 cub then switch to the Avanti.Once in the plane I notice very few tooltips. That may be due to the files I am missing. I am forced to use autostart cuz I haven't found the start switches yet. The generators do not come on when autostarting and I had total electrical failure till I figured out how to turn on the generators, They are the top swithches below EFIS the left side of the bottom EFIS display (EHSI) runs right in between them. I have a very low end system but it is usually stable runing flight sims. My first problems were after installing the Avanti. The plane was almost unflyable at first but after I reduced my scenery complexity it flew well even with real world weather 15 min updates running. Setting up trim and fifteen degrees flaps helps a LOT with takeoffs. You don't land the Avanti as much as you coax it to quit flying. Proper airspeed management is essential on aproach. If the plane is destroyed for any reason my system tends to lock up. The solution is imediately go to menu, end flight and reenter in a different aircraft. If you reenter in the Pavanti it sometimes crashes instead of positioning on the ground. The autopilot has FUNCTIONING Mach hold which will come in very handy in next year's race. To use it autothrotle AND autopilot must be on. Reduce your throttle control to Idle so you can click off autothrottle and have a quicker response if you overspeed. Below 28,000 you will definitely overspeed if mach hold is set to .68 mach.

Donny AKA ShalomarFly 2 ROCKS!!!The autopilot can be used in climbs/descents but there are a few tricks to it. First enter your desired altitude. The click ALT and you will go into a 2900 FPM climb or descent which can then be adjusted using the vertical speed select window. The vertical speed select button does not seem to work. Also IAS hold and select hold don't work, either set mach hold to a low value at low altitude (like a max of .40 at sea level to avoid IAS overspeed) or click off autothrottle. Auotpilot must be engaged when using Autothrottle. Climb at full throttle but set autothrottle and mach hold or reduce throttle around 18,000 feet. once At around 28,000 mach .68 results in autothrottle setting of about 70 percent torque. Just like the payware autopilot use is a good idea during cruise.Before you descend reduce mack hold to around .60 or .55 mach, you overshoot target in a descent. If you overspeed cick off autothrottle and maybe autopilot too and gently reduce descent rate.Would love feedback on how to cope with the problems I am having with Avanti and if anyone else has problems.This plane will be the new fave in next year's race:-wave

I have been using the p-180 by Mr Noriega and IMHO the model detail is of exceptional quality. In hopes that Mr Noriega reads these posts, my wish would be for an update to add pilot figures and to reduce the interior night lighting.I found the flight dynamics did require some tweaking as did the panel.I use the package frequently and wish to thank the authors for a job well done.

Great looking.Very poor flight dynamics (ie unflyable) so deleted it from my system. Not enough time or inclination to start fiddling around.It's a pity as I think it looks just as good externally (if not better) than the FSD payware model of this aircraft.AdamWin XP - ARIA 3200PCPrescott 3.20 GHz - 2GB RAMAsus ATi Radeon X800 Pro TD 256MB19" CRT 1600x1200 @ 100hzAudiophile 24/96 Audio

"Very poor flight dynamics (ie unflyable) so deleted it from my system."What does unflyable mean?? I loaded this bird onto FS2002, read the instructions and took off without any problems. She is a bit of a handful, but according to the author this is done on purpose to better reflect the real bird.I didn't have to do any tweaking at all.-------------------Racartronit means something, but I just can't remember what

What does unflyable mean??Means exactly that. Maybe its fine in FS2002 but in FS2004 it handles like a badly set jelly. The real aircraft is not a handful, the FSD model is not a handful either (apart from slowing down but that's just aerodynamic efficiency) so I wonder where he is getting his info from. I have the original flight test in Pilot magazine and the handling is viceless.Ruined a super looking aircraft.Adam

Beautiful model, panel is ok - could use some explanation material since there are very few tool tips and a lot of the labels are hard to see. There appear to be quite a few "dummy" switches which is fine, but a simple jpg sketch outlining the ones that work would be helpful. As others have mentioned, the flight dynamics need a lot of work - almost impossible to fly an ILS approach. Have to be careful not to stall on take off too. Also noticed a slight up-down bobbing when holding at altitude. That said, it is version 1 and it is freeware! If the flight dynamics could be fixed, this would be a real winner.

I read a similar pirep, found it in Google's cache, from a test flight in South Africa that also reported the dynamics of the Avanti to be pretty good. Where the article differs from both the FSD Avanti and others I've seen is the article seems to say that the Avanti's speed isn't that difficult to keep in check.Here's a link to the cached article, don't know if it will pull it up.If not, Google with these search terms:Avanti www.airnews.co.zaand choose the cached optionhttp://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:j0ehu...ews.co.za&hl=enThat said, I think it's strong words to say the dynamics "ruined" the aircraft. I hate these stabs at freeware--nothing was ruined--you didn't pay for it. I don't give a hoot about how long it took to download, or how long it took to try it out. It's nothing compared to the effort Mario put in, even if the FDE is a challenge to some. That's why freeware authors quit--if I were Mario and I'd slaved as long to produce such a visually stunning work, I'd wonder if it was worth it if forum members were using the words "ruined" and "deleted it from my hard drive". Show some respect--if you don't like it and it's freware, don't offer an opinion or at least offer to organize a rework of the FDE. There's nothing constructive about the way both posts were worded, IMHO.-John