Which to buy Meridian or Pilatus PC-12

[brucewtb 246]

Well I use FSNavigator to do all my flight planning and it is a snap to insert custom waypoints. I agree you can get used to the ridiculous way you have to insert waypoints into the RXP Garmins if you only fly GA aircraft but if most of the time you fly the big iron the RXP Garmins are a pain to use on an occasional basis. Oh and for the record the Garmin trainer only uses the LH mouse button which I find easier than the two button method adopted by RXP.If there was a way to import FSNavigator flightplans into the RXP GPS as you can with most of the FMCs then yes I would be a fan as they look great and have a lot of neat features.Bruceb

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Try using the mouse wheel to turn the knobs... it is way easier :-)

[Guest Knikolaes]

I forgot to mentyion that I fly both aircraft with the awesome Simflyer GMXv1. Can't wait till I can afford their EFIS they just released so I can add that into the PC12.Their avionics are so good that you may want to consider them as well with flight1 aircraft. They work so well for me that I started a seperate review section just for avionics on my web site. I used images of the PC-12 in case you want to take a look.

[Guest IanP]

As far as I am aware, all of the Simflyers GPS units are re-skinned and modified default GPSs. As such I won't go near them because they include all of the problems that cause me to not use the default one either. :-(That said, I have bought the PC12 and, as the RXP retrofit threw a fit after I installed it, am in the process of putting in my own. Without the RXP gauges it is a very nice aircraft indeed and I will definately recommend it, but the RXP GPS at least is going in there ASAP. ;-)Cheers,Ian P.

[Guest aca_dia]

Do the Simflyers GPS units improve the default GPS in that they should have three sensitivity levels? The default just has one level (not approach) and that makes GPS approaches pretty inaccurate. I see in the screens they show approach mode, but I wonder if they are actually changing the sensitivity or not.

[brucewtb 246]

Thanks for the tip, I will give that a go. Oh and to get back on topic I just installed the PC-12 - very nice.Bruceb

[brucewtb 246]

I actually find the GPS that comes with the PC-12 quite sufficient but as it is based on the default what are the problems with the default? On reading through the doco for the default GPS it seems to have most of the functionality you would want.Bruceb

[Guest aca_dia]

What the default is missing is sensitivity levels. A real world IFR GPS has multiple levels that allow for enroute, terminal, and approach phases. Most importantly is the approach level increases sensitively to only plus or minus 0.3 NM (as opposed to 5 NM for enroute). In other words if you try and fly a GPS approach with only enroute sensitivity a single dot deflection is almost a mile of course! Basically the default GPS will allow you to fly a GPS approach, but because of the lack of approach sensitively even the slightest deflection of the CDI could mean you are a quarter mile or more off. That is not very handy for practice purposes. The RXP version using the Garmin trainer models all levels of sensitivity and allows you to practice real world GPS approaches perfectly.

[Guest delta_one]

The Pilatus PC-12 is a nice steady airplane however one thing i see is that the port navigation light appears as a big red blob in contrast to the green one which is the correct size. F1 SimForums didn't know why but another user also reported it, so anyone else get this too or know of a fix?

[flyking 0]

I'm glad this topic came up because I was wondering about the PC-12 since I already own and really like Flight1's Meridian. flyking"So Many Planes - So Little Time"

[brucewtb 246]

Thanks that is something I would want to consider. However, at the one airport near my home town of Merimbula (YMER) Australia where I would like to try my hand at GPS approaches (I'm having an intro flying lesson next Wednesday) the appropriate fixes are missing from the Garmin GPS database(both the latest previous versions). These fixes are present in the default FS2004 database and the latest Navdata airac cycle. YMER is a relatively large aiport with a 6000 ft runway capable of taking jet traffic so the omission is surprising. If this common for other regional airports in Australia then it makes the RXP Garmin much less useful for my needs. I know I can add these fixes as custom waypoints but there are about a dozen of them and I wouldn't want to have to repeat this for every regional airport in Australia.Bruceb

[Guest IanP]

My problems with the default are that it cannot do things that it should and does things that it shouldn't... I'll use my usual two examples, but there are more:Can't do and should be able to: Enter/Adjust waypoints 'on the fly' other than as 'direct to'. If I can do this on my <$200 hand held Garmin, I can't believe that you really need a piece of planning software to do it on a panel mount aviation Garmin.Does and shouldn't: Flashes up the same message immediately after you acknowledge it, so the "MSG" flag is permanently lit and set.The functionality I want is to be able to input and fly a route relatively realistically. The default GPS doesn't do that in the slightest, nor do any of the reskins.Just my opinion, others' will differ, but I don't like the default unit at all. After playing with the one in the PC12 for a few minutes, I decided to replace it with the RXP GNS430. Haven't done it yet, but will do very soon. ;-)Cheers,Ian P.

[Guest aca_dia]

Yes that is an issue. The RXP version is based on the Garmin trainer database. That has excellent but not perfect cover in the US and I don

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Looks OK to me...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/131556.jpg

[Guest delta_one]

That looks good Bert but my red nav light is at least double that size and the blob effect really spoils the plane. someone said it may be an altered halo.bmp but i've checked that the original fs2004 one is there and also re-installed the PC-12.