Hello, I am thinking that the FSD Pilatus PC-6 would be a great Bush/Mountain Hopping plane... I have a few questions pertaining to the craft.1. When it rains how are the effects in the VC? Does rain actually hit the windows?2. Are you able to fly off of the VC ok?3. How are the flight characteristics?4. Does that load manager or the characteristics it has work or is it pretty much a bunch of hipe? 5. I was reading something in the Forum about engine hours and maintenance etc... Does that work? And does it really have a working hobbs guage? Thanks,P.S. Really interested in the craft... Never purchased a craft from FSD don't know what their like and if they are good with support etc... Usually it is Flight One or Real Air for me right now... Kinda nervous about branching out. So just looking for some seasoned veterans that have been down a road I have not yet traveled.. I am really interested in that plane.

>>> Hello,>> I am thinking that the FSD Pilatus PC-6 would>be a great Bush/Mountain Hopping plane... I have a few>questions pertaining to the craft.>Hiya! I own the PC-6 and love it, I'll try to answer your questions.>1. When it rains how are the effects in the VC? Does rain>actually hit the windows?It's the same as the FS2004 default. You'd need an add-on like Flight Environment or ASV to change that.>>2. Are you able to fly off of the VC ok?I have no trouble whatsoever with the VC. The visibility is excellent, it's a great plane to fly VFR in the VC, you can even look out and read the "MICHELIN" on the left main tire. :) It's not bad on frame rates at all. It does suffer from the common FS2004 problem of sometimes getting a bit dark until the instrument lights come on, but there's not much that can be done about that. Oh, and the red rotating beacon reflects inside the VC, that can be a little annoying at times, but I guess it's realistic.>3. How are the flight characteristics?In a word, great. It's a ball of fun to fly, although it takes me some adjusting to get back in it after flying anything else. It can fly so slowly that I have trouble with landings sometimes because I'm going too fast...at 60 knots. :) It's neat to see just how small a space you can get it in and out of. I've had it easily controllable on landing at speeds under 40 knots, with a very short landing roll. It'll easily cruise at about 120 knots and has plenty of power for acceleration on takeoff. You do have to remember that it's a turboprop, though, as there is a significant lag between pushing the throttle forward and actually getting the power on.>4. Does that load manager or the characteristics it has work>or is it pretty much a bunch of hipe? It works. It lets you mess with paints, set your number of passengers onboard, whether or not you have the extra wing fuel pods, lets you do maintenance, set realism options, and enable using RealityXP gauges if you have them. It also keeps track of your "costs"--fixed cost like hangaring, maintenance costs, fuel cost (at a price you input), etc.>5. I was reading something in the Forum about engine hours and>maintenance etc... Does that work? And does it really have a>working hobbs guage?Well, I've never blown the engine up, but apparently you can. It does have a working Hobbs meter, and you're supposed to do periodic maintenance on the engine every 25 hours. I'm up to 20 hours on mine. I imagine if you skip the maintenance, it'll eventually go out on you. It's not as sophisticated as the maintenance module on the Aeroworx King Air B200, but it's a nice touch.All in all, I highly recommend it as a bush plane. It'll go anywhere and it's got a lot of neat features. I own it and the Aerosoft DHC-2 Beaver, and swap back and forth depending on how the mood strikes me at the time.>P.S. Really interested in the craft... Never purchased a craft>from FSD don't know what their like and if they are good with>support etc... Usually it is Flight One or Real Air for me>right now... Kinda nervous about branching out. So just>looking for some seasoned veterans that have been down a road>I have not yet traveled.. I am really interested in that>plane.FSD is a very reputable company. I have their Porter and Piper Navajo Panther, and am very satisfied with both. They do good stuff.Lewis "Moose" GregoryRichmond, Virginia

>>>>>> Hello,>>>> I am thinking that the FSD Pilatus PC-6>would>>be a great Bush/Mountain Hopping plane... I have a few>>questions pertaining to the craft.>>>Hiya! I own the PC-6 and love it, I'll try to answer your>questions.>>>1. When it rains how are the effects in the VC? Does rain>>actually hit the windows?>>It's the same as the FS2004 default. You'd need an add-on>like Flight Environment or ASV to change that.>>>>>2. Are you able to fly off of the VC ok?>>I have no trouble whatsoever with the VC. The visibility is>excellent, it's a great plane to fly VFR in the VC, you can>even look out and read the "MICHELIN" on the left main tire.>:) It's not bad on frame rates at all. It does suffer from>the common FS2004 problem of sometimes getting a bit dark>until the instrument lights come on, but there's not much that>can be done about that. Oh, and the red rotating beacon>reflects inside the VC, that can be a little annoying at>times, but I guess it's realistic.>>>3. How are the flight characteristics?>>In a word, great. It's a ball of fun to fly, although it>takes me some adjusting to get back in it after flying>anything else. It can fly so slowly that I have trouble with>landings sometimes because I'm going too fast...at 60 knots.>:) It's neat to see just how small a space you can get it in>and out of. I've had it easily controllable on landing at>speeds under 40 knots, with a very short landing roll. It'll>easily cruise at about 120 knots and has plenty of power for>acceleration on takeoff. You do have to remember that it's a>turboprop, though, as there is a significant lag between>pushing the throttle forward and actually getting the power>on.>>>4. Does that load manager or the characteristics it has work>>or is it pretty much a bunch of hipe? >>It works. It lets you mess with paints, set your number of>passengers onboard, whether or not you have the extra wing>fuel pods, lets you do maintenance, set realism options, and>enable using RealityXP gauges if you have them. It also keeps>track of your "costs"--fixed cost like hangaring, maintenance>costs, fuel cost (at a price you input), etc.>>>5. I was reading something in the Forum about engine hours>and>>maintenance etc... Does that work? And does it really have a>>working hobbs guage?>>Well, I've never blown the engine up, but apparently you can. >It does have a working Hobbs meter, and you're supposed to do>periodic maintenance on the engine every 25 hours. I'm up to>20 hours on mine. I imagine if you skip the maintenance,>it'll eventually go out on you. It's not as sophisticated as>the maintenance module on the w King Air B200, but it's>a nice touch.>>All in all, I highly recommend it as a bush plane. It'll go>anywhere and it's got a lot of neat features. I own it and>the Aerosoft DHC-2 Beaver, and swap back and forth depending>on how the mood strikes me at the time.>>>P.S. Really interested in the craft... Never purchased a>craft>>from FSD don't know what their like and if they are good>with>>support etc... Usually it is Flight One or Real Air for me>>right now... Kinda nervous about branching out. So just>>looking for some seasoned veterans that have been down a>road>>I have not yet traveled.. I am really interested in that>>plane.>>FSD is a very reputable company. I have their Porter and>Piper Navajo Panther, and am very satisfied with both. They>do good stuff.>>Lewis "Moose" Gregory>Richmond, Virginia Gregory, Thanks for the input I am leaning that direction... May have to check out the Aeroworx King Air B200 also sounds interesting.. Thanks,