Looking for a good ga airplane

[pilottj 198]

Wasn't the FSX tagline 'As Real As It Gets'?  In many 'games' you can choose to play with 'god mode' on with no consequences, or you can choose to play with the consequence that your character can 'die' based on your actions.  There is no wrong choice for this, its whatever floats your boat.  

 

As for this flightsim 'game', you also have this choice to fly consequence free or not, or somewhere in between.  Accusim simply attempts to make MS's 'Real As It Gets' tagline stand up by simulating the real life pilot experience as much as possible within a household PC.  The thoughts, decisions, stresses, feeling reward/failure associated with being a pilot can be reasonably experienced.  Accusim has been as close as I have experienced so far compared to real flying.

 

Matter of fact folks have asked A2A to look into creating a failure generation tool so we can be our own check-ride pilots.  This would be very useful for flight students and recurrency training.  It is one thing to practice emergency procedures in a perfectly operating airplane, it is another to be dealing with the emergency while it is happening.

 

Do most people care whether a suction gauge indicates low pressure during a runup? Those flying without consequences probably don't, those who do are wise to pay attention to those little things and likely appreciate the developer taking the time to simulate those little things.  Again there is no wrong choice on how you choose to enjoy your simming, and many great developers offer a whole range of consequence free to full consequence based flying.   Personally I enjoy a both extremes depending on the situation.  The Alabeo Waco YMF-5D is an excellent example of fun flying with no consequences.  It's all good.  

 

Cheers

TJ

[Poppet 710]

 

 

It's all good.  

 

Great posts Pilottj,  always brilliantly put. 

[tttocs 301]

In the end I feel like everything flies the same or you can tweak it with FSUIPC how you want so it's really just about what you want to look at while you're doing it.

 

I couldn't disagree more.  Sure, some of the default planes feel pretty similar to each other, as do some of Carenado's poorer models but move into the next tier and things change.

 

Go fly the A2A 172, then come back and fly the A2A 182.  Sure this is subjective, but there's no question in my mind that A2A has done a marvelous job of making each of these planes true to how the real planes fly.  The 182 IRL feels much bigger and heavier and remarkably, A2A brings this to life in the sim.

 

Similarly, when RealAir upgraded their turbine Duke, the plane took on a whole different and more refined feel to it.

 

I'd hate it if all planes felt the same and I probably wouldn't fly that much (or buy too many new planes) if they did.

 

BTW, I agree with Elaine.  A very well-stated set of comments from you as usual, TJ.

 

Scott

[-Stark- 3]

 

The thoughts, decisions, stresses, feeling reward/failure associated with being a pilot can be reasonably experienced.  Accusim has been as close as I have experienced so far compared to real flying.

 

Okay you were talking about the game and needing to take care of your A2A plane or having it break.  I would never advocate skipping pre-flight inspection on a real plane, not using checklists/flow checks or not adhering to some type of ADM process.  In the game it's not something I'm into, however as you pointed out obviously there are people that are.

 

I'm also not beating up those that are into it. Some find it enjoyable and I also am true believer that simulations have purpose in flight training.  I tend to think of it as advanced chair flying and can really help you with the memory triggers associated with flying.  You could also simulate stresses to increase your cockpit management and multitasking ability.  All great things, but what it can't ever emulate are the stick and rudder skills you only develop through actual real life plane flying. Case in point, fly the Piper Cub in the game with settings maxed out.  Then go fly a real one, or any taildragger for that matter... no amount of training on a flight sim will help you out.  You'll know the control inputs, where buttons are and such but not the rudder control it takes to pilot one.

 

Go fly the A2A 172, then come back and fly the A2A 182.  Sure this is subjective, but there's no question in my mind that A2A has done a marvelous job of making each of these planes true to how the real planes fly.  The 182 IRL feels much bigger and heavier and remarkably, A2A brings this to life in the sim.

 

I'm not a programmer but I assume the difference in the A2A 172 vs 182 is a list of weights used to achieve a certain response.  With FSUIPC you can change that and force you to apply more back pressure simulating it's heavier, or less to simulate a more agile plane.  That's what I was referring to.  I used it with the A2A 172 to try and get something somewhat realistic, I have a good number of hours in a real 172 so that was my frame of reference.

 

On a side note I had a friend over who owns and flies a 182, sat him with the Carenado 182 and he was all over the place, porpoised and prop struck a few landings.  So what I felt were realistic controls for me obviously didn't match what he flew probably that day.

 

Maybe I'll give the A2A 182 a go and see if that's better than the 172.

[gfd 15]

Great posts. I agree: single piston engine - A2A. Turbine twin - either RealAir Turbine Duke or Milviz King Air. Majestic Q400 is a commercial airliner, if that's what you are after. It is a study sim in the same vein as PMDG.

[pilottj 198]

 

 

 

I'm also not beating up those that are into it. Some find it enjoyable and I also am true believer that simulations have purpose in flight training.  I tend to think of it as advanced chair flying and can really help you with the memory triggers associated with flying.  You could also simulate stresses to increase your cockpit management and multitasking ability.  All great things, but what it can't ever emulate are the stick and rudder skills you only develop through actual real life plane flying. Case in point, fly the Piper Cub in the game with settings maxed out.  Then go fly a real one, or any taildragger for that matter... no amount of training on a flight sim will help you out.  You'll know the control inputs, where buttons are and such but not the rudder control it takes to pilot one.

 

 

 

Oh yes, I agree with you completely there Bob, the tactile sensations and their relations to the aircraft's attitude of flying a plane must become instinctual, especially for student pilots.  Nothing can replace that except a real airplane.  Matter of fact when I hear student pilots here talk about how much they use their FS for flight training I cringe a little because bad habits that are hard to break can form by using the sim in place of the actual thing, like learning to determine the difference between a slip and a skid from the way your bum slides around in the seat.  I know a few CFIs who would like their students to delete their FS while they are going for their PPL  

 

However learning to recognize and witness potential emergency situations as they develop is a very good thing that can't be safely simulated in a real plane, which is where those little things like oil viscosity come into play and can be very beneficial as a training tool.  Right now I am not current (out of flying funds lol), but these A2A birds really keep my 'brain' in the game so to speak., at least as far as systems and ADM

 

FS provides something for everyone.  A2A is simply a very nice option for those who want that level of depth

 

Cheers

TJ.

[RonF 2]

Hi,

      Looking at the topic title I would have to say that the A2A & Realair aircraft are in a league by themselves .I have had many a/c over the years from many developers & for the most part I enjoyed them all, the exception being the two above developers imho are above & beyond anything else in the GA field. I got my PPL  in real life training  on a pa 140 & eventually flew a cherokee warrior pa161 & the archer 2 pa181. I would have to say that the A2a cherokee is about as close to real life experience that one can get in a Sim.

                                                                                           Ron

[-Stark- 3]

 Right now I am not current (out of flying funds lol), but these A2A birds really keep my 'brain' in the game so to speak., at least as far as systems and ADM

 

I hope you can get back in the air soon!  I've not flown in two weeks because of weather and I am going a bit crazy not flying.  Today I might go visit my plane, maybe check the oil and wipe it off in the hangar.

 

Which I guess brings me to my renewed interest in Prepar3D and setting it up to practice IFR flights.  I don't have my instrument rating but plan to complete it this summer so next winter I don't get shut out from flying.

[Stewey 0]

I have the Twin Otter extended, and i dont need anymore aircraft I love Aerosoft, they make really good product for price; its quality affordable! Thx Aerosoft.

 

The Interior is just amazing and it suprise me everytime i log in.

 

I have A318-319-320-321 too from Aerosoft and they are just perfect... make me want to delete X plane 10.

 

As an advice, just buy it u will never regret this move. And i agree with some people the Citation II from carenado would be my next purchase.

 

U can try the Dash 8 with magestic too, it would be in my list too... It look amazing. Cant be wrong with this  brother

[Alessandrov81 2]

I have almost all the accusim fleet (missing B17 and B377 for now)  in P3D and works like a charm, even FSX native ones.

 

To install non p3d native planes simply put FSX.exe in p3d directory and it installs right (tested in P3d V2.4)

 

They are all amazing and unique, to understand quickly what is the impact of accusim simply try C172 and C182 and you can easly see how 2 pretty (externally) similar planes can actually fly and sound in radically different way. The C172 can be ocmpared to a big scooter while the C182 is a racing motorbike.

 

For GA i use the following:

 

- Piper Cub - just for small local (city or lake) trips, or when usings floats/skies. Really too slow but funny and have talking passenger (heidi) even with different personalities.

 

- C172, Piper cherokee or C182 for small-clean-slow trips (200-300km). I prefer pick up the C182 when the trip include mountains because it extra power along with high wings is very usefull for the necessary steep climbs. their cruise speed is between 110-140 kts and cannot perfom acrobatics Normally i prefer piper cherokee because it is very FPS friendly and this kind of trips usually starts/ends in big cities / payware airports.

 

- Spitfire when i want to make a not-so-fast winter trip (nice viewing in the cockpit, problems to prevent overheat in summer) - usually 200-220 mph it can go faster (near 300mph) but i would not use too much throttle/RPM with the spitt you have constantly the feeling that the motor can explode if you don't take care of it. . Good acrobatic attitude but  you can not fly inverted and is very light so affected by gusts of wind.

 

- P40: i use it like a jeep, therefore for short/medium trips with a lot of climbs / manouvers  (mountain climbs, canyon flying etc)- its speed is similar to spitfire but it is more tought (stable, spitfire is very "light" plus it can go really fast or really slow, where the Spit and the P51 have more issues) while you lose some visibility in cockpit due to side bars, but you can look closer thanks to its high agility/flexibility of power. Cool manual idraulic system for landing gears. 

 

- P51d (civilian) i use it for cross-country pretty fast flying, it combines automatic systems, useful and comfortable IFR tools (autopilot, in particular I use roll and altitude hold when you do not want to keep your hands on the stick) with the highest performance engine, able to travel to 300kts for long stretches. Nice cockpit view (even if the wings are really long compared to spitfire), and fantastic acrobatic attitude but cannot go really slow so you cannot get a "close look".

 

The only downside of A2A products is that: 1) you get addicted and want always more 2) cannot fly other pubblishers (which i tried) because they simply are ou not at the same level (for GA planes of course but i fly only those). I can confirm the feeling that other planes seem to lack of a "soul" (i mean a unique personality), after you fly A2A.

 

As you can deduce from the tone of my message I, like many simpilots, love A2a

[Poppet 710]

 

 

The only downside of A2A products is that: 1) you get addicted and want always more 2) cannot fly other pubblishers (which i tried) because they simply are ou not at the same level (for GA planes of course but i fly only those). I can confirm the feeling that other planes seem to lack of a "soul" (i mean a unique personality), after you fly A2A.
 
As you can deduce from the tone of my message I, like many simpilots, love A2a

 

Very true.  Good post 

[KingGhidorah 209]

Poppet, maybe you should write a limerick about the Cherokee!

[Alessandrov81 2]

Very true.  Good post 

 

tks, i love to write about my planes

 

i care for my A2A- sim-planes somewhat like my car, I feel really sorry when landing go wrong and I hurt them. they give you a track of both flight hours with the model and the flight hours since the last "complete overhal" so your goal might be to establish a new record of flying hours with the latter (with THAT precise engine).

 

in general it can be said that are not as demanding as they tend to be described, yes they are not planes with which you can forget the throttle to 100% / 100% RPM for the whole trip.... but just treat them as you would treat your car, make regular maintenance and do not ask impossible things like taking a curve at 150 km / h or start the engine and immediately press the accelerator to the floor....  and you go.

 

flying a plane accusim and ASN you end up believing that you are really flying: at some point you may notice that your plane hangs to the right or to the left, but it is not a problem of wrong calibration of the joystick, maybe you've only used the tank of the right wing / left (a different load unbalances the plane), or maybe it's just a persistent wind. Or the engine may be turned off because you ran out of fuel in the tank you were using which will not switch automatically... 

 

I think this being a simulator everyone should at least try a A2A plane!

[Poppet 710]

Poppet, maybe you should write a limerick about the Cherokee!

I might ya know,   i wrote a Limerick on my profile all about me,  it sums me up really well.  :rolleyes:

[KingGhidorah 209]

deleted dumb comment