i'm interested in picking up a king air style plane for GA and wondering if anybody has the milviz and flight1 versions if you could comment on if one is particularly better or the other. just how far along is the milviz one anyway, from their page it says it is still early access but doesn't really specifically list what is missing or what the timeframe is for completion? is the navigraph integration solid? am i correct in understanding the flight1 version doesn't have updateable navdata? i'm also wondering about their glass cockpit as their mustang absolutely kills fps in the VC on my system, even though it worked well in 2d, wondering if that is a similar performance area for the king air.... it looks pretty awesome though.

 

anyway whatever thoughts you have would be welcome

 

cheers

-andy crsoby

I only have the flight1 version, its a bit harder on fps than default. The navdata is update able, and the systems depth is very high. It's a very good hand flyer, looks great and is one I would buy again. The manual is extensive and great tutorials are available. I would guess the g1000 is 75% accurate. There is no afcs vnav function implemented, but I don't find this a deal breaker. Overall it's a very polished product. Sorry I can't comment on the Milviz product.

I would agree with the above post, the Flight1 KA has been out for awhile so it's a solid product, the Milviz KA 350i looks promising but is still in the works, not sure when it will be released. The Flight1 KA also has a 30 day return policy so if for some reason you didn't like it you're able to return it? Those who have the pre-released version of Milviz seem to really like it, probably can't go wrong with either one?

 

Cheers

Martin

the Milviz 350i seems to be for ever in the works with no real end in sigh,at least Flight1 you can buy and try for a mth if you don't like you have lost nothing have you,my advise is to go for the one that is finished,

peter

Flight1 - it's long completed, solid, and in-depth.

 

The Milviz looks like it will be awesome - if it's ever finished. It's been "in progress" for ages now, to the point that I'm fairly pessimistic about its future.

Trying to decide on this myself.

There seems to be plenty of G1000 systems around but not too many Pro Line 21s

so the Milviz could be more interesting.

Also $10 cheaper.

 

gb.

Milviz at a good guess is still a long way off because they dont even want to talk about what year it will be ready lol

Buying the 350 from Milviz is like taking your car to a mechanic and he tells you he will put it in the back room and work on it when he has a minute or two but real customers come first (like jets and stuff). 

Well, you have a lot of responses about the Milviz from people who don't have the Milviz. So, take that for what it's worth.

 

I do have the Milviz. I don't have the Flight 1, so I can't compare, and I don't like glass cockpits with the G1000, so I doubt I'll ever get it, although I hear it is very nice.

 

The Milviz is likewise a very nice airplane, one of my favorites in FSX, and that's saying something, as I am very picky. The graphics are wonderful with little FPS impact, about the same as RealAir on my system. The flight modeling is very good, and it's a wonderful hand flyer. The systems depth is already very good. There are a few issues still being worked on: the prop response to torque inputs still needs work. The FMC is a bit glitchy, switching destinations sometimes. For a beta product, it is at least 95% complete, and in a better state with more depth than many full release aircraft.

 

It's also beautiful, and for FSE flying, has a better payload capacity and flies higher and faster than just about any other KA.

 

The Flight 1 models some wear and tear, so that is a nice feature. I don't think there are any plans for the Milviz to do anything like that. I think they both are the best King Airs we're likely to get for FSX, and for me, the Milviz fills the bill enough that I don't need any others. An FSE buddy flies KA 350i's for a living, and he says the Milviz product is pretty much spot on relative to the real thing, and that is a pretty good recommendation, if you ask me.

Your correct, I do not have the 350i and never will. Why pay for a plane that might or might not be finished in a year or longer when there are so many great aircraft available that are finished.

 

Would you buy a car from Ford if they tell you that you can have the car now and maybe later, at some time, you can have the radio, than maybe later the speedometer and so on and so on..

This is more like a Lamborghini or a Ferrari (or a Tesla) than a Ford and MANY people pay in advance for those.  In fact,they're sold out before production is even begun.  So, what you're saying isn't true at all... (We're not making a Ford here..)

 

So, yes, while it's true that YOU may never have one (for whatever reason) many others are waiting...

 

So, a quick update is in order...

 

We have 3 full time coders working on this project.  Tomas, Bill and Collin.  ALL they have been doing is this for a long while.

 

It's far more difficult to make a PL-21 fitted aircraft than we knew.  

 

We could probably release it now as it is and it would sell fairly well and even, possibly, be fairly well reviewed.  But that's not what we want.  We want the real deal.  

 

Thanks for your patience.

 

Colin

 

 

I own the Milviz B350i and I am a real world King Air pilot. I purchased the Milviz product due to it being Pro Line 21 equipped and I have a particular interest in that avionics setup. First the Milviz product is an Alpha pre-release. As a customer you get updated copies of the product when Milviz decides to release the next version, which is much less then their Beta team gets. Currently, the latest Alpha is six months old and for a few customers, myself included, it cannot be used due to frequent G2D.dll CTD errors. Milviz has made no attempt to work with customers experiencing this problem to try and find a solution and instead hopes it will go away with the next version as the code is optimized. Who knows if this next version will be released in six months, a year, two years... Meanwhile I own a license to $50 worth of code that will guarantee to send my version of FSX:Steam crashing.

 

On the plus side, on those few moments when CTD has not happened right away, it is a very good simulation of a B350. The exterior and interior look great with high quality paint. I can almost complete an exterior preflight on this airplane and find 80% of the items I check with the remaining items either hidden or under panels. The back end looks like an executive interior with all of the bells and whistles of Beech's top of the line King Air. The front end, the office, is also well apportioned. When you start flicking switches I find most of them behave properly, however more than a few seem either dummy switches or their functionality is not completed at this point. You can easily get through normal checks bring the bird to life, but abnormal and maintenance checks are not 100% accurate.

 

Lining up on the runway, the big -60 engines haul you sky-bound in predictable B350 distance and time and climb to altitude all feel about right. I cannot really comment on direct climb to the upper 20s lower 30s as the reality of flying a turboprop is you never get that clearance. Having turbine engines twisting props for your thrust means slower climb speeds with even the old Slowtation taks a front seat in the climb to altitude race. Once ATC has moved all of the fast traffic above you then the King Air gets to climb to the flight levels. Once in the flight levels you find another problem with the Milviz product in the propeller simulation is slightly off. Propeller RPM and power level movement seems combines. I can't completely blame Milviz on this one as I have seen this same problem on a number of turborprops in MSFS. It seems the crew and ACES understood how a propeller attached to a piston engine worked, but never got the concept of a free turbine. As such N1 and N2 are inexplicably tied together in ways that don't follow real world operations. Don't get me wrong here, there are times N1 and N2 are ties, such as when the propellers are on the low pitch stops and during a stuck propeller. But in most normal operations, the propeller governor controls N2 (prop) speed and the power levers control N1 (gas generator) speed.

 

Fuel burn seems about right and the limited Pro Line 21 setup does an excellent job of guiding the aircraft along. The autopilot still has some work needed, but is capable in its current format. The choice of the Universal UNS-1F (not a W as Milviz claims, as there is no such thing as a straight W FMS, however there is an Fw, but since the Milviz version does not have WAAS that would be incorrect) is unique and leaves some question on integration of the FMS with the Pro Line 21. I have never flown this type of setup before so you have me when it comes how should these avionics cooperate. I know what the Universal UNS-1F is capable of and what the Pro Line 21 is capable of but how should features really work together is puzzling. For approach realize that if you want vertical guidance you have to use an ILS as it seems that the UNS-1F will not transmit an FMS vertical profile to the Pro Line 21. Thus a PGS for a nonprecision approach or LNAV/VNAV on a RNAV(GPS) approach are not within the capability of this avionics suite. However, this one area overlooked, the remainder of the approach capabilities are there from IAF, FAF, MAP and missed approach guidance.

 

Landing is typical of FSX aircraft with propeller drag missing completely. Thus despite pilot technique over the numbers you are constantly rewarded with a screech of the mains onto the runway. The King Air is not a difficult airplane to land, but I have still seen many a pilot with poor technique drop this bird ungracefully.

 

Overall, I would say that Milviz's Alpha is better than other companies final products. If you are part of the few who are effected by the CTD then this product will have far less usability. Hopefully the developer will take this CTD seriously sometime in the future. Given my $50 back again I would choose the F1 B200 over the Milviz B350, mostly because it is a more refined product, Flight1 has consistently made releasable upgrades, and Milviz has no time-line on when or if the B350 will become final. I also believe that Milviz's preview program leaves much to be desired, a little more rapid release schedule to the previewers would be the least this company could do.

That was one of my main problems, very slow release of new goodies to the paid up user. They have the new toys and they work because they show screenshots but they want to wait for the big package for release. 

 

Common M, give the guy that paid something to play with.

The Milviz KA does look impressive, however until final release I'm sticking with a fully functional machine. And Flight1 delivered a really enjoyable one with the Black hawk King Air 200, especially since its fully P3D compatible now. Advice: if you do choose the Flight1 option, download the tutorial and read the whole manual, its well written and helpful.

LOL I have both the Milviz and Flight1. Also have 3 Carenado's, B1900, C90, and B200. Also have AFG FS9's ported to FSX, Also have community mods for the default B350. Own 2 books specifically related to flying KingAirs. Also have every POH for KingAir tribe I can find.

 

If you really like KingAirs, do yourself a favor and buy both the Milviz and Flight1. Stay as far away from the Carenado's as you can get. Buy the Milviz whenever you feel like it but don't try to predict the end of the world because they offered a pre-buy.

 

The difference between Milviz and Flight1 will come down to your personal preference for cockpit avionics and possibly damage modeling. The Milviz is already better than final KingAirs from some of the aforementioned developers.

 

KenG, oddly enough, the Carenado C90 seems to model the relationship between prop lever and power lever better than the default. Not sure what happened there.