F50 or what else? advice on a budget

[LH340fan 54]

As I managed to get some money for my birthday i fell in need of a turboprop regional carrier that was operated by at least 3 european/american companies. I have a budget of 60 european pesos(aka €)but I still am in doubt. I want a detailed aircraft that has an FMS and that is fun to fly around. Was thinking about carenado's F50 but i'm not sure. Any ideas out there?

 

Best wishes, Charly

[qqwertz 781]

The F50 is a nice plane, but the FMS in it is rather basic. With your budget, I would recommend the Pilot Edition of the Majestic Dash 8 Q400. It is a few years old, but probably still the best airplane available for FSX/P3D. The only turboprop that comes close is the PMDG JS4100, but that is only available for FSX.

Peter

[Benjamin J 751]

Agree 100%, go for the Dash 8. I found it is well worth the money. Given that you want something deep-ish, the Dash8 would fit the bill very nicely. I've not flown it much yet, but my experience so far is that it's a bit of challenge in certain areas where it appears to differ from all else I typically fly, but overall it's not that hard to get your head around. For me the biggest challenge has been understanding the approach procedures in the FMS, as it appears to be quite tightly linked to whatever approach you select, and there a couple of buttons and knobs you have to turn to get it to auto-tune your radios for an ILS approach. Really though, if you fly the accompanying tutorial flight, you should be fine. The Dash 8 is flown by various European operators, most notably probably Swiss, Austrian, Wideroe, LOT, Lufthansa/Eurowings, Flybe... Really, all over the place when you think about it. In that sense the F50 is not a good bet, as it;s only currently flown by VLM for as far as I know, save for some minor operators elsewhere, though they are mostly for cargo operations I believe.

Edited April 30, 2018 by Benjamin J

[steve howlett 137]

yep Dash 8 is the one.bought my version through Justflight.

 

 steve

[ryanbatc 12,854]

Agree - the majestic dash 8 looks amazing (like carenado), but that's the only similarity lol.

In the dash 8 you'll get highly functioning systems, amazing fps, and beautiful looks.

Save up for the dash 8, one of the best addons to date.

[mikealpha 266]

Yup, one more vote for the Dash-8. As you mentioned "detailed" : It`s a world of difference to any Carenado offering. 

[vgbaron 3,620]

I have both and really like them both. A lot depends on how you want to fly. The Q400 takes proper preparation and set up to do correctly. When done, you get good satisfaction in a job well done.

The F50 is not as complex but just as enjoyable if all you want is a minimum of setup and a quick flight.

Both are extremely well modeled and great visually. Both fly quite well and have some beautiful liveries.

Depending on your type of flying, you can't go wrong with either.

Vic

[LH340fan 54]

Thaks for the advices.I really appreciate. But since i still hesitate I have questions:

1.How much fps compared to pmdg/FSL?

2.Do they both have a weather radar(independant,ASP4,rex required IDC)?

3.I'm rather used to PMDG, and intuitive VC,which do you think is the best(not as complicated as FSL concorde for instance)

4.which one sounds the best?

5.Finally, which one do you think I should be able to use the quickest without reading the manual(cuz why not? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

Btw I saw the release of carenado's saab 340,but won't buy it if i can't use it enough due to the lack of operators. Again thanks to all those who make this forum interesting, intelligent and useful. 

About the q400, should I earn for 2 months and get the pro or buy the pilot edition now(i mean, when possible)?

Edited April 30, 2018 by LH340fan
forgot info

[JasonPC 173]

The q400 gets amazing fps given its complexity. I would say it's even far better than pmdg.

It has a weather radar but it's not great. It's more of a cloud return than actual precip.

The VC is not really that complicated. There are many great tutorials and once you go through a few flights it's really second nature.

I would recommend the pilot version. You can always upgrade later. I think pro includes some deeper simulation of breakers, failures, and a higher controller response rate. If you don't care about these things then you won't be missing anything.

[out 769]

2 hours ago, LH340fan said:

I saw the release of carenado's saab 340,but won't buy it if i can't use it enough due to the lack of operators

Since you consider F50 based on being operated by at least 3 airlines (barely more than 10 in real life), do not drop SF340 being operated by 5 times more airlines (over 15 just in Europe) than F50. 😀

Edited April 30, 2018 by Rafal

[qqwertz 781]

4 hours ago, LH340fan said:

1.How much fps compared to pmdg/FSL?

2.Do they both have a weather radar(independant,ASP4,rex required IDC)?

3.I'm rather used to PMDG, and intuitive VC,which do you think is the best(not as complicated as FSL concorde for instance)

4.which one sounds the best?

5.Finally, which one do you think I should be able to use the quickest without reading the manual(cuz why not? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

Btw I saw the release of carenado's saab 340,but won't buy it if i can't use it enough due to the lack of operators. Again thanks to all those who make this forum interesting, intelligent and useful. 

About the q400, should I earn for 2 months and get the pro or buy the pilot edition now(i mean, when possible)?

1) When it comes to frame rates, the Q400 is incredible, really not worse than default planes. The reason is that they model a lot of the systems outside of P3D, so it does not affect the overall speed of your simulator. This is why I would rank the Q400 above any PMDG and FSL airplane.

2) Q400 yes. I am not sure about the F50 (I usually use AS for weather info), but I believe yes. the Saab 340 has weather radar.

3) Carenado planes are generally easier to fly, but I would say that the Q400 cockpit is not un-intuitive. However, it has a few (real-life) things that are not for the un-concentrated pilot. First and foremost, the Alt-Sel button. If you don't push it, descent/climb will not stop at the set altitude. In addition, you have to learn how to land this plane. If you decrease power too early, you will just drop onto the ground.

4) Q400 🙂

5) F50, or even more so the Saab 340.  I felt right at home in the latter :)

By the way, the F50 is more similar to the Q400 than the S340, both with respect to payload and role. If you are into turboprops and plan of flying more than one in the future, I would recommend Q400 now and S340 in a couple of months.

The Pilot version of the Q400 is perfectly adequate. The main things you will miss compared to Pro are

- Shared cockpit (you can fly the Pro version together with a human copilot over the web)

- Head-up display

- Gear pins need to be stowed in the Pro version. In the pilot version that happens automatically.

Peter

 

 

[Greggy_D 936]

Another vote for the Q400.  You want something that works 100% of the time, correct?

[t4murphy 24]

Same here for the Q400, no comparison. Love the HUD on it. Learning curve on VNAV but a lot of info out there on how to use it. I have the F-50 also from carenado but dont use it much. Waiting on XP11 version since they have better textures and smoother operations.

[LH340fan 54]

I can't anymore, I felt in love with the q400 . Even if it doesn't has the "pro" options . If I can get it to the ground it'll be fine. Now that I have an order list it'll be the following:

-AS upcoming 32x-33x family

-Majestic q400

-LVFR KMIA or AS LSZH

-TFDI 717(really love it)

-carenado F50

 

If I can get tht on the next 6 months it'll fill my journeys ! Can't wait to buy the q400 though!

 

Thanks for your support. Good as always. Gave me a good impression compared to 3rd party forums.

[Benjamin J 751]

Good choice and hope you'll enjoy it!

BTW, you might want to just go ahead get the Q400 now, since there's no telling when the AS bus will be available... And would you rather sit here waiting for it to be released, or go fly the Q400 now? 😉