JustFlight PA-28R Arrow released

[Martyn JF 388]

Hi Les,

 

It's based on G-BGKU - a PA-28R-201 which was built in 1978.

 

Everything is authentic, exactly as found in the real aircraft, apart from the fact that the avionics actually function correctly  :wink:

 

Thanks

Martyn

[Chock 17,769]

So where does JF fit in to the quality spectrum today ? I had their Duchess years ago and it was a nice start with several glaring deficiencies - like no GPS and some flight model issues... Honestly - I'd love to see that plane done to today's standards...

Scott

The other day I checked my Just Flight account on their website, and there are I think about 45 download products that I've bought from them over the years (dating back to I think 2009), and this doesn't include any boxed versions of stuff, a few of which I've also had off them over the years too, so I guess I'm as qualified to comment on their stuff as anyone...

 

First up, I'll own up to the fact that, with Just Flight being a British developer and me being a Brit too, I've always kind of had a soft spot for them anyway, so I'll admit that I may be just a tiny bit biased, or at least may appear so. But having said that, I've never bought anything off them for solely flag-waving reasons, it's always been because it was a product I wanted, and this is kind of an important point where JF's products are concerned, because a lot of them are more European - and often more out and out 'English' - in focus than what you'd typically see from a lot of other developers, so I suspect this is more where my preference for their stuff stems from, rather than any mere blind patriotism, because obviously, I'm going to be keen on stuff that relates more to what I know a lot of the time. Keep this in mind where their GA stuff is concerned, they often access a locally available GA aeroplane for development research, which means it is likely to have an avionics fit typically found on an aircraft based in the UK, as evidenced by the Golf registration you usually find in their paint jobs.

 

So, when they produce stuff like the de Havilland Comet, de Havilland Dove, Vickers Viscount etc, it always piques my interest and is pretty much a no brainer purchase for me, but I think it would be disingenuous of anyone to claim that those products are in same the league as some of what we might call the stratospherically high regard developers, although to be fair, they have an accordingly lower price because of that. Good examples of this would be their Constellation when compared to the A2A Connie; the JF one is 20 quid, the A2A one is 40 quid, so literally twice the price, similarly, their DC-6 is 20 quid, the PMDG X-plane DC-6 is about 55 quid, so nearly three times the price.

 

Now, we can weigh up whether we think the JF Connie is only half as good a simulation as the A2A one, or whether we think the PMDG DC-6 is three times better than the JF one, and I would say that if we want to talk about the levels of system detail they go into, in many cases it is at least true to say the more expensive versions generally have a bit more going on systems-wise, and in many cases also have nicer texturing. But if for example we look at the JF Connie, it is actually pretty damn good systems-wise and not desperately different to what the A2A one does in many respects, so I think we're into the main difference being the texturing (which is undeniably much nicer on the A2A Connie), but flight-wise, if you have the A2A global Accusim add on, that will effectively 'Accusimise' that JF Connie, so even if you bought that JF Connie and the Accusim global add-on, you'd still be paying less than if you just bought the A2A Connie alone, and of course you'd also have the benefit of that Accusim add on jazzing up all your other FS add-on aeroplanes. Not to mention the fact that we are not exactly swamped by airworthy Constellation variants, so neither developer was able to create their flight model from pretty much anything other than anecdotal data. But, I will say that it is a case of 'you are getting what you pay for' with many of JF's airliners, and I don't mean that as a slight, i.e. they're good, they work and they look nice, but if you are expecting a 'nerd level' simulation, you might want to look elsewhere if mega-realistic airliners are your bag. But it is a different story with their recent GA output...

 

Onto the PA-28 and JF GA aeroplanes. It's very evident to me from more recent GA releases from Just Flight that they are upping their game somewhat. I think it is fair to say that their older 'Flying Club' GA aircraft add-ons, which date from a few years back, were what most people regarded as acceptable rather than stunning, they date from a time when many FS add-ons were either hybrid FS9/FSX products, or ports over to FSX. But these days flight simmers expect a little more, and so anything to that standard is in the 'cheap and cheerful bracket' these days and really should not be commanding a price tag over about ten quid. So if you are going to buy any Just Flight GA aeroplanes, keep that in mind with their older stuff, which to be fair, you will see being sold at a correspondingly lower price. Their more recent efforts are in the 25 quid price bracket.

 

So let's look at a more current JF GA product; their recent Aerospatiale/Socata Trinidad and Tobago add on (costs 27 quid). Spec-wise in terms of systems simulation and content, it is very obviously near-identical to this new PA-28 developmental ethos, with the same failure/wear and tear simulations, the same external monitoring module, same high-res texturing standards, same detailed avionics modeling, similar third-party avionics integration, similar 'pro' audio etc. Thus their new Socata is an improvement in leaps and bounds not only for themselves as a developer, but also over the old Lionheart Socata (which if any of you had, you will know was pretty good).

 

This means we can see that there has been quite a developmental evolution at Just Flight when we compare their older output to contemporary efforts. I certainly found that to be the case when I cranked up their new Socata, it is every bit as good as pretty much any other GA simulated FS aeroplane you can find out there, and given that JF are invariably accessing a real aircraft based in the UK when they make stuff like their Socata and this new PA-28, I think we can, these days at least, add them to the list of developers that are entirely worthy of serious consideration when it comes to GA aeroplanes.

 

Not only that, but a couple of other nice things about them, is that their support forums are good (I've had support replies off them on Christmas Day in the past - I'm not joking), they have a nice loyalty discounting system (i.e. if you buy something from them, you'll get about two quid off your next purchase, or you can save the points and add them all up to eventually end up paying nothing for one of their products if you have enough points saved). Moreover, there is none of that 'your download is no longer available, please give us another fiver to 'activate' it' nonsense. I can still download stuff from them I bought nearly ten years ago, which incidentally, is why I bought all my FlySimWare add-ons (LearJet 35, Bell Sioux, Cessna 441) from the Just Flight website, and would choose to do so with any other stuff even if it was a couple of quid dearer than other online retailers (other online stores take note!).

 

The support, the accessibility of your purchased products and the discounting system they offer are a lot of the reasoning behind why I rate Just Flight, and now of course, it is also because they are knocking out some really great GA aeroplanes. I will certainly be buying their Arrow based on my experiences with their Socata (which I've been flying all over Europe in FSX-SE recently), because if that is anything to go by, I know their Piper will be an absolutely crackingly good simulation of the real aeroplane.

[tttocs 301]

 

 

I'll certainly look into what'd be required for a Turbo variant.



Is it the T-tail or turbo that is of particular interest, as the PA-28R-201T Turbo Arrow III appears to be much the same as our existing Arrow III, but the PA-28RT-201 Arrow IV would obviously require the addition of the T-tail configuration.



Thanks

 

Hi Martyn,

 

Thanks for being open to suggestions - that says a lot and certainly gets me more interested in this model.

 

From my perspective as a former owner/pilot of the PA28RT-201T (Turbo Arrow IV with T-tail) obviously that would be my personal preference, but I'd be happy with a well-implemented Turbo Arrow III as well.  Note that properly done, either would require some modification other than just performance issues and minor gauge mods.  As I mentioned before, the Turbo Arrow has a significantly different cowling to accommodate the 6 cyl Continental rather than the 4 cyl Lycoming of the normally aspirated version.

 

The T-tail also changes the flying characteristics a bit, so I expect you wouldn't want to go down that road unless you had someone with recent T-tail time.

 

I understand completely why you chose the cockpit you did, as good access to a representative plane trumps all else.

 

Again, thanks for being so open to some of our comments!

 

Scott

[Gregm8907 4]

Just picked mine up and overall I am impressed so far. I would like to see more US tail numbers that are not flight school related and a interior not so worn out but overall I like it!

[dbw1 444]

As to the comments on the well worn interior.....I flew for a living for 40 years of which almost half was rotary wing. Some of the Jetrangers I flew looked like a disaster both from exterior paint and interior wear but they flew like a million dollars. I remember one in particular when assigned it, looked in the logbook and saw total time well into five figures (it was under 15 years old) , went out to the ramp to take it over, shuddered at the paint and again when I got into it and examined the interior and then an absolute feeling of delight when I took off. It was magnificent. I suspect this Arrow will be the same.

Dave

[Gregg_Seipp 565]

I also think the T-tail variant would be nice. 

[JYW 2,977]

I said a month ago I'd buy this on Day one, and actually I bought it within 5 minutes of receiving the subscribers email for it, announcing release :smile:

 

I absolutely love it.  

 

There is no comparison between the quality of this (2017) product, and JFs old "flying school" aircraft like the old Archer, Duchess, Tomahawk, etc.   It's night and day.

 

Personally I love the wear and tear because I know it comes from modelling an exact real life version of the aircraft.

 

Texturing is fantastic, sounds are great, and to me, it flies beautifully.  I'm having some fun with the old GPS100 unit for now but will shortly change over to the GTN750 option.

 

My advice -->  like GA singles?   Just buy it !!

 

PS..... support and openness/responsiveness from the JF team is first rate; as we saw with the TB10/20 development.

[Pat Mussotte 92]

 

 

 " I'm having some fun with the old GPS100 unit for now but will shortly change over to the GTN750 option."

 

If you find the trick to integrate the GTN 750 in the VC like the picture in page 46 of the manual, please tell me! I opened a topic for that at JustFlight forum :wink:

 

Regards

 

Pat

[tttocs 301]

 

 

PS..... support and openness/responsiveness from the JF team is first rate; as we saw with the TB10/20 development.

 

This is actually pushing me towards a buy decision, as this is the kind of developer I want to support.

 

I probably won't last the day, now.  :-)

 

Scott

[Chock 17,769]

Kerching! Yup, it's another sale to me from JF of their PA-28 (was always gonna buy it anyway, since it is one of my fave GA aeroplanes).

 

See? I don't just wait for free stuff from JF in return for doing a review lol! Although as noted the other day, I am currently doing an Avsim review of JF's Hawker Hunter for anyone who is interested in something a bit faster than their GA aeroplanes. Contrary to what some people might imagine, I usually end up buying things like the official Pilot's Notes and other research books whenever I do things like that, so it usually ends up costing me money anyway. So much for freebies when you do a review lol. And on the subject of spending/saving money...

 

Avsimmers who like a bit of a bonus might like to note that, as was the case with their Hunter release the other day, if you buy it quickly (before March 6 in the case of the PA-28), they throw you double loyalty bonus points, so that'd be a few quid off the price of their Socata or Hunter or whatver if you wanted something else from them, and they do sell other stuff apart from their own, so that includes A2A stuff, Aerosoft stuff, FlySimWare etc.

[Chock 17,769]

Weather's a bit grim for a test flight, but liking it so far anyway. Hope it doesn't explode if lighting hits me lol...

 

 

[Pat Mussotte 92]

 

 

 " I'm having some fun with the old GPS100 unit for now but will shortly change over to the GTN750 option."

 

If you find the trick to integrate the GTN 750 in the VC like the picture in page 46 of the manual, please tell me! I opened a topic for that at JustFlight forum :wink:

 

Regards

 

Pat

 

I've found the solution, there is an addon entry for the PA-28 :wink:

 

Cheers

 

Pat

[jimcarrel 688]

The only left hand seat experience I have ever had, was 90 minutes (from take off, they wouldn't let me land) in a Warrior. I'm almost ready to purchase this thing (it was such a fantastic experience) but still contemplating. I've never flown a JF plane  and I have almost all of the A2A planes and absolutely nothing intended against JF.

[Chock 17,769]

If that concern s you, just get the global Accusing add on and it will solve that problem.

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

If that concern s you, just get the global Accusing add on and it will solve that problem.

I got it on the ninth pass. Accu-Sim.