I see that the Flight1 Pilatus PC-12 has been endorsed as an excellent version and rendition of their plane. Wow..That's great. Now what do you who own it think? I'd like to know. If you like it and keep flying it (and not just keeping it parked), then I would be interested in buying it.Please tell me the strengths and weaknesses of the airplane, from your point of view.What kind of Navigation does it use? Can it use the default GPS from FS9 or what?I'd love to hear from you owners of the Pilatus PC 12. Thanks.

Well, it's always a wonderful thing when the manufacture of any particular aircraft takes notice of the awesome efforts that come from the many talents in the community (I really wish Cessna would finally acknowledge the efforts of companies like Carenado and Eaglesoft, they could use the extra boost that acknowledgement would give)... Speaking of the Flight1 PC12, it's actually very good. I don't care for the passenger Cabin but the VC and 2D panel are excellent. The cargo version is great as well (inside and out). The most important thing with any aircraft for Flight Simulator is the FDE and Flight1 out did themselves on this one. I actually hated the aircraft before the patch because there were frame rate issues and the panel was half done. Now you have a wonderful STOL capable aircraft that is very fun to fly. All the Avionics are representative of the real thing which is pretty standard fare these days. What I don't like is the dome light slaved to the landing lights or the fact that all switches aren't clickable in the VC. This is not to say you can't fly from the VC but an aircraft of this level should have every switch functional and no shortcuts taken. That being said everything is top notch

>I actually hated the aircraft before the patch because>there were frame rate issues and the panel was half done. Hi Dillon,Thanks for the kudos. It is much appreciated. I am not sure how to address this but... nothing changed from version 1 to version 2 at all with respect to frame rates or added panel items. The panels are exactly the same except some default positions of switches and the accomodation of allowing an area to be used for other 3rd party gauges such as simflyers etc. and a couple items of added functionality. Other than that... exactly the same. Half done?I will have to disagree with you on that. However, the fact that you are getting better frame rates is always a good thing no matter how it got there... :) Regards and thanks again,Jim Rhoads

The F1 PC-12 is a very good airplane for FS9. That said, I have to add that I'm mildly disappointed by it, but only because F1's Piper Meridian was so over-the-top excellent in its avionics and their integration, and as a result I had very high expectations for the PC-12.Having flown it for about three hours, I have three issues with it:- The EHSI does not show flight plan waypoints or other external data, as the real unit does. This is by far my biggest beef.- the KLN90B is a reimplementation of the default FS9 GPS500. I know how hard it would've been to create a from-scratch, accurete KLN90B, but I would've preferred an integrated RealityXP Garmin GPS, as is found in the Meridian. (The KLN90B is the standard GPS for the PC-12, and the Garmin is a *very* expensive option for some reason (many tens of thousands of dollars... But I'd rather have the Garmin for its accuracy. Fortunately, I can retrofit the RXP product via contributed panel mods, and in fact I'm off to install one that BertP sent me recently.)- Pressurization system is not modeled. As the Avsim review says, the PC-12's system is largely automatic but I would still like for it to be emulated.You have to understand that I'm very picky about avionics and systems modeling in FS airplanes, and had I not had the great fortune to log a couple of hours in a real PC-12 last month I would never've known that the EHSI has a moving map/wx display capability.The F1 product is still a lot of fun to fly, and I will no doubt log quite a few hours punching holes in clouds at Angels Two-Seven. Dave Blevins

>The F1 PC-12 is a very good airplane for FS9. That said, I>have to add that I'm mildly disappointed by it, but only>because F1's Piper Meridian was so over-the-top excellent in>its avionics and their integration, and as a result I had very>high expectations for the PC-12.>>Having flown it for about three hours, I have three issues>with it:>>- The EHSI does not show flight plan waypoints or other>external data, as the real unit does. This is by far my>biggest beef.Hi Dave,Thanks for the compliments. Let me see if I can clarify a few points... As far as flight plan waypoints go, the Meridian EHSI doesnt support this either. The PC12 units do a reasonable job of representing it's counterparts. They are not totally 100% functional nor should they be for a $26.95 product. (yes I know you probably think they should be) There is a reason why these units are in the tens of thousands of dollars. If we are going to code 100% funtionality, it will either be for the training market that will bear the price of development vs. sales or we may as well be building real ones. :)>- the KLN90B is a reimplementation of the default FS9 GPS500.>I know how hard it would've been to create a from-scratch,>accurete KLN90B, but I would've preferred an integrated>RealityXP Garmin GPS, as is found in the Meridian. (The KLN90B>is the standard GPS for the PC-12, and the Garmin is a *very*>expensive option for some reason (many tens of thousands of>dollars... But I'd rather have the Garmin for its accuracy.>Fortunately, I can retrofit the RXP product via contributed>panel mods, and in fact I'm off to install one that BertP sent>me recently.)Something key to remember here is that the RXP line uses the Garmin trainer which is a *huge* advantage. Without the database and rendering provided by Garmin, it would not be what it is. But yes, it's still a great unit, but not all planes have 430 and 530's in them. Many PC12's still have and use the KLN's. So the great thing is just like in real life, if you want an avionics upgrade, people like Simflyer and RXP are there to accomodate that request and just like in real life, at an additional cost.>- Pressurization system is not modeled. As the Avsim review>says, the PC-12's system is largely automatic but I would>still like for it to be emulated.Understood but I have to tell you...when FS starts making me dizzy at around 15,000 ft. I will start working harder on that option. :)>The F1 product is still a lot of fun to fly, and I will no>doubt log quite a few hours punching holes in clouds at Angels>Two-Seven. I hope you spend some time with the PC12 and see how much system integration and accuracy we did do for the moderate entry price of the package.Pilatus's Vice Pres and CMO and thier Chief pilot were impressed enough to contact us and provide a product endorsment and Pilatus is known to be a very discriminating bunch... That to me means that we got the things that really mattered right.Best Regards,Jim Rhoads

>As far as flight plan waypoints go, the Meridian EHSI doesnt >support this either. Far from me saying the opposite since you were the responsible for the project but I think I remember that the Meridian does display them.Jos

>>As far as flight plan waypoints go, the Meridian EHSI doesnt>>support this either. >>Far from me saying the opposite since you were the responsible>for the project but I think I remember that the Meridian does>display them.>>Jos