Short flights, GTN 750: what plane is realistic?

[Guest]

I like to do short GA flights (50-100 nm). Currently I am flying the (A2A) Cherokee, using VOR and sometimes NDB and no GPS at all. Great fun. Sometimes I want to use the GTN750 though but it feels a bit odd to use that device in such an old plane. So I wondered what (P3D compatible) plane would be realistic to use with the GTN 750 on short flights? Or: which GA planes do have a GTN 750 in it in real life for shortish flights? (If any?)

 

EDIT

Hm, come to think of it... obviously there aren't that many addon planes that support the GTN 750 fully (3D)... I don't want to use it as a popup.

[Flyfox 114]

Some RW C182 are certainly retrofitted with the GTN750. A2A's C182 is another marvel in their poduct range. I use the GTN650 in their Cherokee and C172 and the 750 in the C182 and enjoy them a lot.

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Really, you can just pretend you're rich enough that you've had an avionics refit done in just about anything. :wink:

 

I had been asking myself the same question awhile back, and one of the sites I was browsing was the past work 'showoff' section at Maxcraft Avionics at CYPK. It looks like a lot of the GTN's they install go into larger twins, but there was a 172, a 182, as well as a 177 Cardinal all with GTN 750 installs done.

 

So really, while it might not be common, it's certainly plausible for anyone with enough money in the bank to put it into pretty near any small single.

 

I have to say though, that I've had far more fun in the Cherokee flying it without any GPS at all. It started with the excellent Cherokee package available for X-Plane; one of the aircraft from that package only has a single radio in it and nothing else - I found it a lot of fun (and a bit more of a challange) to successfully navigate with. So now when I fly my A2A Cherokee, even though it's quite a bit better equipped, I generally never outfit it with GPS at all.

[vgbaron 3,493]

My two favorites are the Milviz Cessna 310 and the Quest Kodiak. Especially like tooling around Alaska in the Kodiak Amphib.

 

 

Vic

[MarkSC 122]

Alabeo PA32 Saratoga is a great GA plane and has built-in 750 integration.  It's my go-to plane for short hauls using Air Hauler 2.

[ryanbatc 12,776]

I just don't get that mentality at all - the whole point to flightsim is about having fun.  Why even buy the GTN at all if you're concerned that it might not be "realistic?"  Why even flight sim when you're sitting in front of a LCD monitor lol?

 

I've seen GTN750's in old singles...  I just flew in an ancient 172 with GTN 650 - oh nooooooo!  

 

I'd bet the reason you don't see a lot of GTN750's in old planes is because of the cost.  People who own old singles likely have it all paid off, they don't want to toss in a 15k avionics package.  *NEWSFLASH* this is flight sim!!  (It's only 50-65 bucks thankfully whew)

 

I'm not attacking you here but I'm addressing the silly posts I see where people whine about it not being realistic.  GIMME A BREAK!  You'll sit in front of your LCD screen flying a Boeing 777 but you'll complain that putting a new avionics package in a fake old cherokee isn't realistic.... BAH!

 

*Rant over*

 

I love the GTN750 - I've abused the living poop out of it - I've used all the functions and features and in that regard, I find it extremely realistic.  Put it in whatever plane you want, and use it how you want to.  You could have it in your plane and just use it for traffic (set it to the traffic page and forget about it!).  No one says you must use it for GPS functions.

 

Addons that use the 750 well:

A2A Comanche, Cherokee, Skylane, Skyhawk

Realair Legacy (I use dual 750's in that YUMMY!), Turbine Duke (ditto)

Carenado Twin Commander (it's on the pedestal so it's not as nice), Chieftan, Navajo, Aztec, C404 etc, Saratoga as mentioned above

Eaglesoft SR22

Flysimware C441

Milviz Baron, C310

 

I'm sure there's some I missed.... plus there's a PLETHORA of community modded aircraft over at the F1 simforums'.

[Jimmy RFR 406]

Put it in whatever plane you want, and use it how you want to.

 

In a "what's the oddest thing you've installed it into" contest.. well... I will admit to putting it in as a popup in a freeware Rutan Q1. :smile:

 

I kind of took Jeroen's original comment to be more about how a 20K GPS seems out of place in a 35K aircraft, and less about a real concern for being realistic. But to be honest, a bit of concern about what aircraft might have a GTN 750 in it in real life isn't too bad when you consider the lengths people who fly airliners go to to ensure they're running the exact same flight deck options as the operator would be for the livery on the outside!

[Guest]

Thanks for the tips so far!

 

Concerning the rant: of course and obviously you can do whatever you want in a flight sim. And there are times I do whatever I want. But sometimes I want to do what's more or less realistic. I understand you aren't attacking me and I don't feel attacked because I certainly wasn't whining or complaining: must have been someone else who triggered the rant. But I certainly don't see anything wrong in trying to be realistic every now and then, even though we are using a limited sim. And btw I think there are more simmers here who like to do things in a realistic way than simmers who just want to have fun, which imho is a very limited view on simming and certainly not 'the whole point'. But that doesn't make either way good or bad or something to say BAH about. It's great we can do anything we want: no real need to rant about that.

[ryanbatc 12,776]

I desire to be quite realistic myself, but in the virtual world, I'm a bzillionaire!  Go try PilotEdge.net and you'll find the radio side of realism you've been missing hehe.

 

About the 15k gps in a 35k plane - ya I addressed that above.  The type of person who owns a 35k single isn't probably able to afford a 15k GPS suite.  Now if I could just afford the 35k single 

[longrangecruise 57]

I like the 750 in the Skylane and the C404. It looks really good in the Lancair v2 too.

 

I had the same thought about the Cherokee. The 650 looks way better, but buying a separate one...

 

As most of my addons use Proline 21s, G1000s or other glass cockpit, I decided to keep some of my GA fleet a bit simpler and more realistic (and returned the 750, at least for now). I am using the FltplanGo App on my iPad to monitor and follow my fltplan.

[Alan_A 1,650]

I used to be a bazillionaire in the sim... and ran pretty high costs in real life, too.  Later in real life I made myself happier by cutting my costs way down and getting off the spend-and-carry-debt carnival ride.  So in the sim I also like to live less expensively.  I see that GTN in the panel of my Cherokee and have bad flashbacks... so then I downgrade it to a handheld and I feel liberated.  That's my version of fun - seeing how few sim dollars I can spend, or at least making them count.  Your mileage, of course, may vary - mine used to, and, who knows, it might again!  Never say never...  B)

[jont 5]

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[jabloomf1230 2,445]

There's a thread on the official Flight 1 GTN forum that explains how to manually install the gauge into just about any FSX /P3d aircraft. My favorite automatic install is the RealAir Turbine Duke.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

My current favorite is the Alabeo Seminole.

 

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=56121&title=flight1-gtn-750-in-seminole

[warbirds 555]

There's a thread on the official Flight 1 GTN forum that explains how to manually install the gauge into just about any FSX /P3d aircraft. My favorite automatic install is the RealAir Turbine Duke.

Would you have a link to that thread?

I would put the 750 into and ultralight and already use it all the time in my A2A B-377.