An acquaitance of mine crashed his Piper Mirage off airport a few weeks back when it failed to sustain full power after rotation. Fortunately, he and his family walked away unhurt but the plane was completely destroyed by the ensuing fire. The preliminary NTSB investigation suggests some type of mechanical failure and not pilot error (indeed, it is to his credit that his handling of things appears to have spared injury) but as part of its investigation the FAA has asked him to conduct some takeoffs with an FAA investigator next week. Trouble is the aircraft they would like him to use is a 172 with retractable gear and he has no time in Cessnas or the 172 in particular. He was interested in familiarizing himself beforehand by using one in a sim. Does anyone know who makes a releasitic 172RG for MSFX or any other sim? Thanks.

The 172RG is a very simple airplane to fly, just follow the checklist. If he flew the Piper Mirage he will be bored with the 172RG.

From what I've heard, the 172RG is a dog. Cessna called it the "Cutlass" but pilots call it the "Gutless."

Tell him to take a lawyer with him, too. ;-)

>From what I've heard, the 172RG is a dog. Cessna called it>the "Cutlass" but pilots call it the "Gutless." It suffers from a lower useful load because of the extra weight of the landing gear system but I wouldn't call it a dog. On a XC flight with two people I'd take it over a fixed gear 172 any day. One of the best things about this plane it it's elevator balance during landing. It's a challenge to not have a greaser.I'd say the closest plane in 2k4 would be the 182RG from Carenado.Brian

I agree Get the cerenado 182rg. It's more plane than the 172 but real nice to fly. I don't know of a 172rg to d/l.

172s have retractible gear??? I think they meant 182s. Carenado should be great...Best,Randy J. Smith

As noted above - the 172RG Cutlass. Perhaps the examiner wants to watch how he handles a low power situtation.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)

I'm currently preparing my bi-annual review and to practice in the sim I choose carenado 182. It flies more like a real cessna than flight1 172, which I use on the ground to get familiar with the panel and switches.

I'd say Dreamfleets Cardinal RG would be a closer fit, though the RG model is turbocharged. It's an older addon but its flight dynamics are fantastic though - http://flight1.com/esd-products.asp?product=C177001 Also if he hasn't already, tell your buddy to join and talk to the AOPA, http://www.aopa.org/ , they can help with FAA issues.

thanks guys. Ill pass this along