I just purchased the Carenado Skylane last night and am blown away. It is my first purchase from Carenado, and I do understand it is the best yet from them. It got me interested in the other offerings from this developer. The T-34 was just reviewed here at Avsim, and the only criticism is the gauges stutter. I have searched here and on several other forums and have not seen it mentioned elsewhere. What have others experienced? I am not expecting RealAir smoothness, but I don't want them jumping all over either.I fly almost exclusively in the VC, so that aspect is important to me. Are there any other Carenado offerings I should be getting? Planes I have and really enjoy include the whole RealAir line, the Dreamfleet A36 and the Flight1 C172. On a larger scale, I really enjoy the PMDG 1900C. One thing these planes all have in common is are great VC's and flight models.The Dreamfleet Piper Archer has also tempted me, but perhaps I will hold out for the new Piper's coming from Dreamfleet. Tony

Hello Tony, I have the Mentor, and it is very well done. If you are looking for a classic, I think you will love it. The review at AVsim is right on the money. The guage issue however,has not made me dislike the AC in any way. I own all of Carenado's work, and they keep getting better all of the time. As far as the Archer goes, I would wait for the new release from Dreamfleet only because the exsisting plane was out way before all of the newest technics in design were used. I own that as well, but there is no comparing it to todays aircraft for flight simulation. I guess I have gotten spoiled with the newer stuff. I hope this info helps you. Best regards, Jeff

I totally agree with Jeff. I think the Mentor is excellent and the VC is great for VFR flights.AnthonyUK

Tony,I have both the Carenado and the Alpha Simulations T-34s. You will not be disappointed with either. I have had about 20 hours over the years in real T-34s (A and B models). Both models have their strong points.The gauge thing in VC is not bad. I'm running a 1.2Ghz AMD with 512MB ram with a 64MB NVIDIA card. You just learn to predict and not change between 2D and VC right before you land. The 2D is smooooth...I too love the Flight1 C172. I also like the DF/F1 Archer! and FSD International's Commander.Hope this helps.Jim "Peewee" Donlin

Thanks for the replies. Apparently needing very little encouragement, I purchased and downloaded the Mentor this evening. I am very pleased with it. The worn look of the cockpit is a nice touch. I am not a pilot, but it flys very nicely in my opinion. The gauge refresh rate in the VC is perhaps a little better than I expected, but I am glad I lowered my expectations before hand. The gauges in the 2D cockpit are very smooth. I am glad I added it to my collection.Now if Dreamfleet would finish their Piper project. :)Tony