Why do developers keep avoiding making a good Pilatus Porter?

[birdguy 3,943]

For me that was part of it's charm.  It was strictly utility, designed for a specific job which it did well.

One of the features I liked about the FSD Porter was the knob on the panel that let you configure the interior for passenger seats, boxes of cargo, or sky diver benches.

It remains my favorite bush aircraft and if it were available for P3Dv4 I would certainly add it to my collection of bush planes where it would be in the first row right alongside my Kodiak.

And I would be willing to pay a premium price for it.

Noel

[Paraffin 2,197]

2 hours ago, birdguy said:

For me that was part of it's charm.  It was strictly utility, designed for a specific job which it did well.

I thought so too. The cockpit is as ugly/utilitarian as the exterior. It's basically a Piper Cub on steroids.

I'm a little surprised Pilatus ceased production, but I guess they wanted to focus more on upscale aircraft with a better profit margin. The Caravan probably replaced it in many areas, with better performance and range.

[parachutem 51]

On 4/16/2019 at 5:18 AM, stesma54 said:

It's a question I've had for some years. I guess it would be appreciated a lot by simmers. C'mon developers, make a good PC6!!! Simmers community will be very happy!!!

here is one that has been out for a while.

http://www.fsd-international.com/Hangar/Porter/

[John_Cillis 2,406]

One great Xplane11 aircraft is the Eurofox, which includes tri-gear, taildragger and float versions.  It is a great STOL aircraft as most aircraft in the Microlight category are, able to get off the ground in less than 500 feet.  I love it for Bush flying.  In P3DV4 I do not have a great Bush Aircraft but the Justflight Drifter is a good, open air, low and slow aircraft for Bush flying.  I have the Lionheart Epic for P3DV4 and the Aerobask Epic for Xplane11, the Epic is a good turboprop and the kit plane builders have a club they call the "400 knot" club, for those pilots that hit 400 knots KTAS with a tailwind, pretty amazing in a single engine turboprop, Cessna Citation like speeds with greater fuel efficiency. 

John

[Dominique_K 10,133]

3 hours ago, John_Cillis said:

One great Xplane11 aircraft is the Eurofox, which includes tri-gear, taildragger and float versions.  It is a great STOL aircraft as most aircraft in the Microlight category are, able to get off the ground in less than 500 feet.  I love it for Bush flying.  In P3DV4 I do not have a great Bush Aircraft but the Justflight Drifter is a good, open air, low and slow aircraft for Bush flying.  I have the Lionheart Epic for P3DV4 and the Aerobask Epic for Xplane11, the Epic is a good turboprop and the kit plane builders have a club they call the "400 knot" club, for those pilots that hit 400 knots KTAS with a tailwind, pretty amazing in a single engine turboprop, Cessna Citation like speeds with greater fuel efficiency. 

John

Bush flying is not only about STOL landing but about hauling pax and stuff to STOL landing 😉 . As much stuff as possible. The PC6 is no Microlight I assure you she's a big aircraft : 11 m long, 3.2 m high with a 16 m wingspan! You feel kinda small when you see one in real for the first time.

 

13 hours ago, parachutem said:

here is one that has been out for a while.

http://www.fsd-international.com/Hangar/Porter/

A while is an understatement 😂. I've flown the FSD bird for hundreds of hours in FS9 and loved it but it is just that, an excellent Fs9 aircraft with a disappointing cosmetic brushup when FSX was released (the fuzzy dice). And I doubt it'd work in P3D v3 or v4.  Also, one has to remember before buying that the FSD team is no more, they split not long after FSX was released and their site is now only store for old products.

 

Edited April 22, 2019 by domkle

[John_Cillis 2,406]

2 hours ago, domkle said:

Bush flying is not only about STOL landing but about hauling pax and stuff to STOL landing 😉 . As much stuff as possible. The PC6 is no Microlight I assure you she's a big aircraft : 11 m long, 3.2 m high with a 16 m wingspan! You feel kinda small when you see one in real for the first time.

 

A while is an understatement 😂. I've flown the FSD bird for hundreds of hours in FS9 and loved it but it is just that, an excellent Fs9 aircraft with a disappointing cosmetic brushup when FSX was released (the fuzzy dice). And I doubt it'd work in P3D v3 or v4.  Also, one has to remember before buying that the FSD team is no more, they split not long after FSX was released and their site is now only store for old products.

 

I bet the PC6 must also have a throaty growl.  It is so funny, I was shopping near my home in Avondale Arizona, not far from Goodyear's airport where Lufthansa was doing their pilot training, when I heard the sound of a jet overhead, albeit a quiet one.  I looked up and to my surprise it was not a jet, but a Pilatus PC12....  The turboprop just sounded like a jet as it soared over at landing throttle turning towards final in Goodyear, it did not have the turboprop sound I was used to from flying in so many puddle jumpers.

John

[scianoir 610]

1 hour ago, John_Cillis said:

I looked up and to my surprise it was not a jet, but a Pilatus PC12.... 

By chance I saw a single contrail in the sky over my home 2 days ago and, as it is unusual to see a single contrail in this area, I thought I would check FR24 to see what it was as the engine sound was barely perceptible. It turned out to be a PC-12 from Luton to Shannon at FL260. We get the occasional An-12 from Eastern European 'tramp cargo' carriers flying overhead inbound to or outbound from Shannon, their transatlantic fuelling point, and I can almost always tell correctly in advance that it is going to be an Antonov from the unique reverberating sound of those Ivchenko turboprop engines. The only turboprop sound that was even more reverberating and dramatic was that of the Douglas C-133 Cargomaster and back in late 60s when the USAF/MAC still used these, they would regularly overfly my home on flights to Europe usually at quite a low altitude (were they unpressurised?) the sound often causing various things in the house to vibrate which irritated my parents although I loved it! If they were around today, I suspect that the politically correct noise lobby would have had them banned!

Bill

[birdguy 3,943]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 2:03 PM, parachutem said:

here is one that has been out for a while.

http://www.fsd-international.com/Hangar/Porter/

It sure has.  I flew it a lot in FS2004.  But we are in a new age of simulators now.  And while I still have FS2004 on my system and go back to the Porter some afternoons we need one for P3D.

Noel

[birdguy 3,943]

Bill, Old Shakey, the C-124 flying apartment house was a real noise maker, both inside and outside.  I had several flights in one when I was stationed in Japan.

Later, when I was stationed at Hamilton Field in California an Old Shakey would come on two or three times a month from Travis.  Back then remote garage door openers were just hitting the market and if one of those aircraft took off to the north garage doors in Novato would open and close.  I have no idea what caused it but they tried to make them take off over the bay if at all possible to avoid the local's complaints.

Noel

[scianoir 610]

Yes I can remember a few C-124 overflights too. I had an airband radio at the time and used to listen in to overflying traffic whenever I had the chance. As the Cold War was still at its height, there were a lot of military flights across the Atlantic between North America and Europe in those days, mainly with C-97s, C-124s, C-133s and later C-141s. The C-124s must have been unpressurised I guess as they always seem to cruise at low altitudes (usually FL080 or 090) and I can’t imagine that the long transatlantic trip at those altitudes in something as noisy as Old Shakey can have been much fun! Hope your flights were shorter ones Noel!

Bill

[birdguy 3,943]

The Tokyo area to Okinawa Bill.  Back in those days we didn't wear hearing protection.  So working on the flight-line so close to those aircraft running up did a job on my hearing I am paying for now.

On one of my assignments to Japan I flew in a  PanAm Stratocruiser contract flight from Travis AFB to Tachikawa with stops at Hickam (Honolulu) and Wake Island.

On return a few years later I flew the reverse course in a contract L1049G Super Connie.  I think it was the most beautiful aircraft ever designed.

Those were the days when automobiles and airplanes didn't all look alike.  

Noel

[Dominique_K 10,133]

On 4/21/2019 at 3:47 AM, ACR said:

Thanks!  I'll check'em out!

I uploaded two short videos to the Avsim video forum shot in P3D, one in Idaho, one in PNG. You’ll get the idea.  Flying the boondocks with the A2A Piper Comanche on these two. I also use the 182.