GA Aircraft - Carenado IMO does not have any competition

[Comanche 417]

 

 

Well, the Grumman Traveler has, when you start, a much stronger torque effect than the C172 v3, but this was one of several reasons why the traveler never had the remarkable success that the C-172 had It reacts much faster than the C-172 but it had some nasty surprises during start and landing for newbies. So flight schools tended to buy more C-172 while the trainer might have favored the Traveler. In cruise flight the traveler has no torque issues. The Piper Archer III is IMHO one of the planes with the best handling under X-Plane (including v3 Carenados!). A real Piper Archer pilot claimed that this plane now handles exactly like his real plane.

 

I agree, the Archer is a joy to fly!  I just wish it had a GPS.  Is there any way to use a GPS with it in X-plane. maybe via a pull down menu or something?

 

Rob

[LAdamson 240]

 

 

Nope, it isn't recognized as a bug, but X-Plane now has tools that allow developers to fine tune their aircrafts with overrides directly..

 

Basically, X-Plane recreates torque (rolling motion) realistically. It just doesn't simulate all of the forces which over ride the roll tendency to the left in flight, or by the time you lift off the runway. Carenado airplanes reduce the torque effects to start with, as a measure to correct, until the sim is corrected itself.  In the meantime there are those scripts as mentioned, which were released last year.

 

I have the F33, but need to reinstall, as I only briefly used it with my previous computer setup. Geoff Applegate, who use to be on these forums as a regular, said the Carenado F33 for X-Plane was one of the best X-Planes he owned, with some preference over the FSX version. He owned a real life single engine Beech for quite a while, as well as a twin Baron.

[Comanche 417]

Hey Larry,

 

What happened to Geoff? I always liked reading his insites into Flight sim stuff. Especially when you and he would get into debating flight sim physics and how its represented in Flight sims. Always very interesting and educational. I remenber you both from the Sieirra Pro Pilot days on Compuserve.  I haven seen anything from him in a long time.

I hope hes doing well. 

 

Rob

[LAdamson 240]

Hey Larry,

 

What happened to Geoff? I always liked reading his insites into Flight sim stuff. Especially when you and he would get into debating flight sim physics and how its represented in Flight sims. Always very interesting and educational. I remenber you both from the Sieirra Pro Pilot days on Compuserve.  I haven seen anything from him in a long time.

I hope hes doing well. 

 

Rob

Said he was leaving one day, and did. Last I've heard from him.

[GoranM 3,771]

https://www.facebook.com/geof.applegate

[N1G 88]

Said he was leaving one day, and did. Last I've heard from him.

Hope he is OK. He was a huge contributor.

 

Bob

[Paraffin 2,197]

If we're just talking about the 3D cockpit quality, then I think some of the planes over at X-Aviation (from various authors) have cockpits that rival what Carenado is doing. It's just that their GA stuff is a bit more off the beaten path, like the MU-2.

 

I have the Mitsubishi MU-2 and LES DC-3, and I'll probably pick up the Beech Mentor T34 at some point. 

 

If you're into helicopters, there are several with great cockpits. I've been flying the BK117 for a while, and I just got the Bell 412 and starting to come to grips with it.

[mdavis 10]

Yes, the MU-2 is one of my favorites.  It's good that some of these authors provide us with a wide range of different aircraft.  One can only fly so many minor variations of Cessnas and Pipers.

[rjack1282 316]

I have been eyeing that Saab 340 from LES for a while now...the price tag has been the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger.

[GoranM 3,771]

I have been eyeing that Saab 340 from LES for a while now...the price tag has been the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger.

 

We've had a couple of sales, the most recent one on Black Friday, where the Saab was about 30% off.  Keep an eye out for those.

[ryanbatc 12,857]

I have been eyeing that Saab 340 from LES for a while now...the price tag has been the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger.

 

The Saab is really quite good.  They're working on a patch for the radio tuning... it's pretty slow and things get "interesting" when you fly online.  Their upcoming Citation should be just what the doctor ordered!

Yes, the MU-2 is one of my favorites.  It's good that some of these authors provide us with a wide range of different aircraft.  One can only fly so many minor variations of Cessnas and Pipers.

 

MU2 is pretty good I agree.  Cockpit doesn't look as nice as Carenado but the plane is fast and well simulated.

[mdavis 10]

 

 

MU2 is pretty good I agree. Cockpit doesn't look as nice as Carenado but the plane is fast and well simulated.

 

I guess my fascination with the MU-2 began when I saw one at my little local airport and thought it was a Commander until I got closer.  I tried to model one in FSX by taking over an unfinished start from another author but couldn't get ground handling to work for me.  Very tippy with the narrow wheel base and heavy wing tanks - hard to turn unless you were going very slowly on the taxiway.  So I have a great deal of respect for those who are able to "get it right" and I enjoy flying it as part of my rotation.

[JimmiG 244]

Nope, it isn't recognized as a bug, but X-Plane now has tools that allow developers to fine tune their aircrafts with overrides directly..

 

Carenado still use the LUA hacks though, as far as I'm aware? When were these new tools introduced and are they as powerful as the hacks? Do developers like 4Forces, vFlyteAir etc. use those techniques? I've been considering getting the Grumman or Arrow, but I'm concerned that the torque fixes won't be as good as Carenado.

 

Before the hacks were discovered by a Carenado developer, people were doing all sorts of weird things in the Plane Maker. It's quite fascinating to load up an aircraft in the Plane Maker and see that the engine has been shifted sideways, tilted on the horizontal axis and some constant rudder and aileron trim has been applied. This of course only works for some phases of the flight. The plane will tend to roll one way at full throttle and then try to roll the other way when you cut the throttle, making it feel incredibly unstable and unsafe, certainly not something that would be deemed airworthy.

[Longranger 148]

Carenado still use the LUA hacks though, as far as I'm aware? When were these new tools introduced and are they as powerful as the hacks?

They were introduced with X-Plane 10.31 . As far as I know the first modell that used the new tools was in fact the Carenado C208 v3. Every plane by Carenado/Alabeo that was modified/released after that should use the new tools instead of the hack.

 

In fact the new tools are even more powerfull. They simply allow a designer to add artificial forces to compensate and override any unwanted forces of the flight model.

I don't know if vFlyteAirs Ryan Navion B ( http://www.vflyteair.com/ ) already use the new tools instead of the hack. All other of their planes will probably still use the hack.

[Comanche 417]

I treated myself to the C206 last week. It was the only Carenado plane I was missing in X-plane.

Wow, it is really nice. I think I like the flight model better than the Archer (my previous favorite).  

Very stable, fast (for a Cessna). and has the ability to use a single 530GPS or two 430's. I choose the 530.

Awesome!

 

Rob