Carenado citation first review?

[raymar 969]

I went back and did a reduced power takeoff. Same conditions - no problems getting out easily and climbing at 1,000 FPM at 600 feet. See pics.

Full power will shoot the ITT into the red in a heartbeat but it will come down just as quick when you back off a little.

 

Regards,

Ray

Oh, wrt the FMS, I read from a RW Citation 550 pilot that they never had FMS' in the earlier models like this, so I'll probably just leave it off as did you. Even when they did get them, they were not all that functional, so while for the $$$ they are charging for this version you should have a working FMS, I'm not going to be all that upset at not having it. Hopefully it will get fixed, but I don't think Carenado will be the ones to do it if it is.

 

 

Thanks for this Mark. Appreciate that!

Probably more than half the S550 flying today have an FMS/early GPS combo. A few have the GTN650/750 combo already. There are probably 30 or more for sale and a great majority of them have added the FMS along the way. I have no doubts the GTNs will work just fine in this one. I added my LHC AP just so I could see the digits in the window and the Carenado S550 took it without a hiccup.

 

This one was based on a real world S550 that has an FMS. I'm not sure it is the exact one that Carenado is using but the Univeral stuff is very well thought of nowadays. My attitude is similar to yours - if it works fine, if not, I will play around with it some but depend on my GTNs to get me there and back.

 

Regards,

 

Ray

Here is what I was talking about. AP is from the LHC Tailwind. It is great for seeing the numbers vs waiting to see the numbers.

 

Regards,

 

Ray

[SeanPinn 0]

Another good fit for the good old Integrated Simavionic Gauges. One of the best sim investment made over the yrs.

[~Craig~ 10]

A few viewpoints on the FMS in this aircraft, now that I've spent more time with it ;-

 

• It is certainly 'lite' but it's not the same unit that is in the Beech 1900; it's actually a lot better than that unit.
• In this unit, Carenado have modelled it to be 'styled' a lot closer to the actual Universal units.  Eg. You enter approach and ILS selections, using 'number sequences' (just as you do in, say, the MJC Q400).
• The display of the approaches etc on the MFD is also presented a little better than with the default GPS500.

I do think it was a huge mistake on Carenado's part, not to integrate the F1 GTN750 into this panel, especially because they've already did on a (low priced) Alabeo add-on and also because, GTN750s costing what they do in real life, most of them are going into Biz-Jets like the smaller Citations at this point!

 

But....... if Nav stuff isn't the most important thing in your sim experiance (which it's not to me), then it's certainly possible to live with the included FMS.   There is better out there, but there's also a lot worse.

 

And it really does fly well.    I'd second the point above about the slight asthmatic climb rate above about FL240; it could do with a tweak here.    But it's a biz jet!! ...... and it is a decent addon IMHO.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

I do think it was a huge mistake on Carenado's part, not to integrate the F1 GTN750 into this panel, especially because they've already did on a (low priced) Alabeo add-on and also because, GTN750s costing what they do in real life, most of them are going into Biz-Jets like the smaller Citations at this point!

 

 

 

Same here.. with a GTN750 in the panel, I would likely have spent the money.

 

With a poorly implemented FMC... no thanks..

[~Craig~ 10]

 

 

Same here.. with a GTN750 in the panel, I would likely have spent the money.

 

I think they'll lose out on a lot of sales, Bert.  It's really a hard one to get your head around.  People love the F1 GTNs; the are new products, very popular, work in P3D2 (unlike for example the RXPs), and if Carenado had offered optional integration, then everyone who loves the F1 GTNs would have bought in, but every one who doesn't would have had the option to use the 'lite FMC'.

 

As it is, all those potential F1 GTN users of the aircraft will now not be buying it.

 

Carenado are normally very astute business people - I'm very surprised in this case.

 

I do wonder whether they'll rethink this and add integration in a SP1......

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

You might suggest it to them..

[~Craig~ 10]

You might suggest it to them..

 

Roger, Wilco. 

[dbw1 443]

Does the flight director work properly? This is a biggie to me - if it doesn't work properly then I'll pass. It's a disappointment with the Lear 24  that came out recently and as a result I seldom use that Lear.

 

For those that have the GTN750 and using it as a pop up will it drive the autopilot? If it does that would get my interest and should Carenado at sometime add the ability to have it integrated into the panel that would be great.

 

Dave

[~Craig~ 10]

 

 

Does the flight director work properly?

 

Yes. Can't see any issues with the FD, Dave.  Lateral and Vertical cues seem to reflect the selected modes.

 

 

For those that have the GTN750 and using it as a pop up will it drive the autopilot?

 

Yes, it feeds to the NAV mode (when in GPS mode), and drives it fine.

 

But obviously, the route that you enter into the GTN750, and that displays on it's screen, is not fed to the Citation's MFD at all.

[Dean33 69]

Took the Citation for a 'quick spin' and now it's time to read up what I should be doing - after adding the GTN 750 of course.

 

I'm sure it's obvious but I can't find the manual!!!

[peppy197 165]

...

 

Two days ago I purchased the Milviz Kingair 350 and even if still in a Beta stage is far better than the Citation and the price is very close.

 

I have been thinking of that too

 

Is it good in P3D ?

[Guest BeaverDriver]

Thanks very much Ray. I agree with those who talk about adding the GTN. I did get the airplane and have gone for a flight and it really is nice to fly. However, I was very light and I'll want to do a heavier flight to altitude. This is an "older" airplane though so I don't expect it to perform to new machine standards, but I do see these often of Flight Aware up around FL370 to 390, so it should do that ok. I'll find out.

 

I'll add my GTN, but I'm not happy that it's not integrated. That will factor into any future purchases for sure. As with Craig, I will send them an email regarding that feature.

 

I have found a number of things they did improve on from previous models. Handling (as others have mentioned) is excellent. I was able to do a VOR approach at night to minimums hand flying it, which was a pretty good feeling. Landing lights are MUCH better than before and the strobes even reflect off the ground now, which is nice. The spool up is really smooth and feels very accurate. More gauges (especially electrical) are modelled. The flood lighting (cockpit) stays on without the battery being on, which is not only accurate but extremely helpful. The reversers react very fast which is very good - most FS aircraft seem to have reversers that only come out after you've stopped! As I said, for my purposes this works very well and I'm happy with it, but I still want to do more flying with it under difficult conditions before I give it the real thumb's up.

 

Thanks to all who did the test flying on this.

[dbw1 443]

How is it working in P3dV2?

[tttocs 301]

Against my better judgement, Ray and Glenn are starting to get me reluctantly interested.  Glenn, I know from previous discussions how critical you've been of other Carenado efforts, so your comments carry particular weight for me.  What's getting to me are the comments on how well the flying and engine pieces seem to be modeled, as that's the stuff I care about the most.

 

I really wouldn't have any objection to flying this one "old school" if the AP can be made to behave itself reasonably well, and the existing structure doesn't make it too tough to manually handle ground-based nav (VOR/NDB/DME/Localizer...).  Is it relatively easy to mostly ignore the FMC and just tune nav radios? 

 

That cockpit is soooo in my sweet spot for this kind of plane.

 

If only they'd offered GTN or RXP integration - with the very positive early comments on flight and engine modeling, I would've already dropped my resistance, despite the price.

 

Scott

[raymar 969]

How is it working in P3dV2?

All my post are based on P3Dv2.4. That is all I have. It runs fine in P3D.

 

Regards,

Ray