I have purchased the Flying Club Archer III from Just Flight. When trying out this plane I find that,

On takeoff with neutral trim setting I must pull the stick all the way back in order to make the plane take off. This is unlike any other FSX plane I have included the A2A Piper Cherokee which I would suspect being similar. Does a real Archer behave like this ? Another difference compared to the Cherokee I experience is when deploying flaps. The Archer pitches up significantly unlike the A2A Cherokee. Also the turn coordinator ball feels different. How realistic is this plane from Just flight ?

I have purchased the Flying Club Archer III from Just Flight. When trying out this plane I find that,

On takeoff with neutral trim setting I must pull the stick all the way back in order to make the plane take off. This is unlike any other FSX plane I have included the A2A Piper Cherokee which I would suspect being similar. Does a real Archer behave like this ? Another difference compared to the Cherokee I experience is when deploying flaps. The Archer pitches up significantly unlike the A2A Cherokee. Also the turn coordinator ball feels different. How realistic is this plane from Just flight ?

I have that plane, although haven't flown it in years probably since i have the Caronado Archer II. I just flew the archer, although it is an Archer II, last week in very decent conditions here in Chicago. I have not ever noticed that issue in either the Archers or Warriors I fly, but out of curiousity was the plane close to max gross weight? Also, you may want to double check the trim settings to make sure it's not set improperly (although I see now you had it set to neutral). i have never flown the Cherokee 180 in FSX or in real life (i believe that's the plane with the knob style flight controls if I am correct) so I can't compare the two, but flap deployment should not cause a steep pitch up. Flaps do provide lift at times but not to that extent (such as with a short field take off). I fly GA ery little in FSX since I do so in real life and can't quite duplicate the same feeling in FSX.

 

Cheers, Pete

 

 

but out of curiousity was the plane close to max gross weight?

 

Yes I think it was. How different are an Archer II compared to an Archer III ?

All PA-28s (Archer, Cherokee, Arrow, Warrior, Dakota) are broadly similar in handling characteristics (given they're basically the same airframe), although A2A's Cherokee is an early model with the straight "Hershey bar" wing.

 

The later tapered wing of the Archer III handles a little differently (less nice tbh), especially at low speed, but don't think you'd notice it most of the time. The stabilator is larger on later variants (such as the Archer III) so in theory it should require less input to rotate, not more!

 

The other major thing that creates differences in handling is the weight of the engine, but most are broadly similar in this regard except for the 6 cylinder models. Oh and the Arrow IV has a T-tail, they're pretty rare thought so I don't know how their handling differs.

 

I'd expect A2A's model to be a lot closer to reality than the other products you mentioned.

Agreed...and even between flying the Archer and the Warrior besides the extra horsepower they feel almost the same to fly. I prefer the Cherokees to the Cessna type and find them to be an absolute joy to fly.

 

Cheers, Pete

If your Archer has a high tail, it does indeed require more yoke pull to lift off..

 

A bit of "up trim" may help also..

I have several hundred hours in both the Warrior and the Archer, both of which I used to get my SEL license. Neither one of them requires full aft yoke to rotate. Both planes fly almost on their own, but with neutral elevator trim, you might need a slight bit of back stick to get the wheels off. Never saw, or flew a high-tailed Archer, although I flew the Tomahawk, which does have a "flying" elevator during my early training.

 

And depending on when you deploy flaps, you will get some pitch up, but it shouldn't be significant. I don't know about the plane you purchased, but the flight characteristics do seem a bit "off."

 

 

And depending on when you deploy flaps, you will get some pitch up, but it shouldn't be significant. I don't know about the plane you purchased, but the flight characteristics do seem a bit "off."

 

Yes everything seem to point at that. This plane is for sure going into my regretted purchases. The reason for buying an FSX Archer III is that I plan to take a real trial flying lesson in such a plane. Maybe the Carenado Archer II is better in this regard ?

 

 

If your Archer has a high tail, it does indeed require more yoke pull to lift off..

 

It has not from what I can see

If you want an accurate small Piper, why not the a2a Cherokee?

 

It is extremely realistic and I would think similar to other Piper singles..

 

Cherokee, Arrow, Archer are all versions of the same plane.

 

The a2a bird has 180 hp, like the Archer III..

Find the [flaps] section of the aircraft.cfg (there may be more than one) and decrease the value in the pitch_scalar= line.

 

I have changed this on many planes as ,for me, most FS planes pitch up too much when you deploy flaps.

 

regards,

Joe

 

 

If you want an accurate small Piper, why not the a2a Cherokee?

 

I asked about this in the A2A Cherokee forum and from the replies got the impression that the Archer and Cherokee differs more than I first thought. Otherwise I do own the A2A Cherokee.

In that case, I would stick with the a2a Cherokee.. one of the best planes in FSX, as far as I am concerned.

 

 

I have several hundred hours in both the Warrior and the Archer, both of which I used to get my SEL license. Neither one of them requires full aft yoke to rotate. Both planes fly almost on their own, but with neutral elevator trim, you might need a slight bit of back stick to get the wheels off. And depending on when you deploy flaps, you will get some pitch up, but it shouldn't be significant. I don't know about the plane you purchased, but the flight characteristics do seem a bit "off."

 

But one thing makes me thoughtful. In addition to the Archer III from Just flight I also tried a freeware Archer III and finally I also bought the Carenado Archer II (should be very similar to Archer III). All these planes behaves the same way on takeoff with neutral trim. I need to pull the yoke almost all the way back in order to lift the plane. Has three developer got the thing wrong in the same way ?

 

 

In that case, I would stick with the a2a Cherokee.. one of the best planes in FSX, as far as I am concerned.

 

But question is, is it the best simulation of a Piper Archer III ?

But one thing makes me thoughtful. In addition to the Archer III from Just flight I also tried a freeware Archer III and finally I also bought the Carenado Archer II (should be very similar to Archer III). All these planes behaves the same way on takeoff with neutral trim. I need to pull the yoke almost all the way back in order to lift the plane. Has three developer got the thing wrong in the same way ?

I would double-check your trim input device/calibration. It is very strange that 3 different versions give you the same experience - and that experience is not noted by others posting here.

My 2 cents worth - the JF Archer has a FDE by Rob Young (RealAir), and while it may be showing its age re: VC textures, it's flight dynamics are generally considered one of its strong points.

Happy Flying.

Indeed. Not only trim, but elevator calibration as well. Sometimes those yokes need re-calibrating