Gday,

 

I am just doing some late night pondering and looking for a good small business jet. I have a few things that I want from it, I want it to be hands on and somewhat old fashioned (none of this G1000 crap) but I also need it to be quite small as I want to try to bring it into small airstrip on Pilot Edge. I also want it to be as realistic as possible. I have come to the conclusion that the FlightSimWare Learjet 35A is my best option... Am I correct on that or is there a better option that fits my needs?

Also I am wondering what weather radar you guys would recommend too as I would want to fully fit it out. I use active sky next but I want a fully functional one unlike the little ASN integration you can do. Do note that I use SE so I don't believe the Reality XP one that is intended will work.

 

Thanks,

 

Leighton

I enjoy the Lionheart Learjet 24B  but use it in P3Dv3.2, beware though it does not work correctly under DX10

http://www.lionheartcreations.com/LJ24B.html

Mine is fitted with Roland Herblots very nice weather radar

http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fsxgau&DLID=189664

Flysimware have just announced a new weather radar they will be incorporating . Have a look at the forums

Sadly I only run steam edition so I am therefore unable to run that Learjet 24B although it is a really nice aircraft indeed.

And I will have a look both at FlightSimWare's radar and Roland's.

 

Cheers

No working weather radar but would you consider a twin engined turboprop which is almost fast enough to be classed as a small bizjet?

 

The Piaggio Avanti, specifically Mario Noriega's freeware version. I can't comment on payware Avantis, but Mario's is a real gem in my limited experience.

 

 

Sadly I only run steam edition so I am therefore unable to run that Learjet 24B although it is a really nice aircraft indeed.

 

The installer lists FSX-SE as an option, but only under DX9 which is what SE runs under unless you are using the Fixer

 

I think that the Carenado Cessna Citation might be worth a look

Try the Carenado Cessna CJ2, small, classic panel, long range, nice interior, etc basically what you asked lol

also the Carenado Mustang Cessna, a little bigger than the CJ2 but similar inside.

-snip-

Duhh, sorry mind blank there. I will for sure look into it then mate

 

I think that the Carenado Cessna Citation might be worth a look

Just a little bit newer than what I was looking for mate Nice aircraft but I am looking for pretty much all steam gauges.

 

Try the Carenado Cessna CJ2, small, classic panel, long range, nice interior, etc basically what you asked lol

also the Carenado Mustang Cessna, a little bigger than the CJ2 but similar inside.

I like the aircraft and I may look into it in the future but last reply pretty much fits this one too, as a matter of fact I believe it is the same aircraft

 

Thanks guys

If you want much better quality than Lionheart, Carenado just released their 500S SHRIKE AERO COMMANDER.  It is not a jet, however it IS old school - paint chips and all.

 

http://www.fspilotshop.com/carenado-aero-commander-shrike-500s-for-fsx-p3d-p-6196.html

 

or

 

http://www.carenado.com/CarSite/Portal/index.php

I have not come across any FSX/P3D weather radar systems that operates like a real weather radar system. All of the FS radars give you this fake top down view and do not take into consideration attenuation or the cone effect of the radar beam at distance. Tilt management is also very poorly done in most simulations as is ground clutter. I have also not seen any good implementations of a  Rain Attenuation Compensation, turbulence, or strike modes. 

 

The worse of FS radars give you basically a down linked sat view of colored clouds, while better versions try to take into consideration condensation. 

 

I'd recommend saving your money in this area. I don't think any of the software programmers really understand how an aircraft mounted weather radar actually works. Besides, unlike the real world where the same weather is happening for everyone, in a FS environment your view of convective activity will be different then someone else view. Even if you are using the same weather engine, how clouds and condensation is simulated will be different. 

 

I teach weather radar and radar image interpretation to pilots and have thousands of hours of staring at aircraft weather radar returns. 

 

I have not used the new REX Weather Radar Advantage, because what I have seen, in their screen shots (a very hazardous return with a second very hazardous return right behind it) makes me question their claims of accurate attenuation and realistic tilt management. Not worth $30 to me to find out their marketing team has overstated the capabilities of their software.  

I'm looking myself and I think I'll be getting a Flysimware Lear 35.  Old school analog instruments and a seemingly very nice aircraft.  They recently announced they will be patching so the new Milviz WX radar will be integrated. http://flysimware.com/website/LEARJET_35A.html

I have the Learjet 35A and it's my favorite of the small jets. I also prefer steam gauges. Really, there's nothing in this category that I'd call great(that I've seen so far). The Carenado Phenom 300 is pretty good and probably my 2nd favorite, but it's very modern.

 

-Brendan

These days if you are not RVSM certified then most companies don't want the jet. You either get stuck below FL290 or have to make the non-stop climb above FL410. Many of the older light jets the 40s were only doable with a light load on a cool day. If you are going to be stuck in the upper 20s you might as well own a fast turboprop and if you are going to be in the 40s it might as well be a modern bizjet. 

 

Even when you do find these dinosaurs many have been modified. Finding steam bizjets in the wild is a rare find these day, unless you are searching in a museum. Yes, I started flying steam and still know a few old guys who think "you can't trust them black boxes." Times have changed.

You mention "old fashioned" so this won't tick that box, but I strongly recommend Eaglesoft's Cessna Citation X. It runs beautifully on FSX:SE on Windows 10 and for the amount of detail going on in the cockpit it hardly has any impact on framerate. A good option if your PC isn't top notch.