AP issues aside, I personally enjoy flying the 208, as I did in FS9 and FSX. Good for island hopping in particular, especially in the Caribbean.

The only thing I dont like about the 208 is that its very difficult to get the thing to turn with the rudder pedals. I have the MFG rudder pedals and all other aircraft turn very well, but the 208 takes some careful guidance and a lot more use of the toe brakes - heck the mig 21 in DCS is easier to taxi than the 208! 

5 minutes ago, shamrockflyer said:

The only thing I dont like about the 208 is that its very difficult to get the thing to turn with the rudder pedals. I have the MFG rudder pedals and all other aircraft turn very well, but the 208 takes some careful guidance and a lot more use of the toe brakes - heck the mig 21 in DCS is easier to taxi than the 208! 

Bring yoke aft and use differential braking and 208 will rotate on a dime! I don't know how realistic is it but it works for me 🙂

On 12/30/2020 at 1:57 AM, Virtual-Chris said:

I think the Grand Caravan is grand as a workhorse mission, bush, and sightseeing plane, especially in developing parts of the world... but I fly it everywhere. 

There’s a great mod here...

https://github.com/dgtlanlg/C208B-mod/tree/c208b-dev

 

Thanks for the link, will have to give it a try. Was using the mod this one is based from https://github.com/Exp232/C208-MSFS2020-Fix

But with the newest patch it wasn't working anymore and had to remove it. The row of the buttons on the MFD were controlling the PFD so had to stop using that version and it hasn't been updated since Sept.

My understanding is IRL you should limit differential braking and only use brakes with power at idle or in the beta range (presumably to minimise excessive brake wear).

Reverse thrust is discouraged during taxi, particularly on rough surfaces, due to excess prop wear.

If necessary stop and lock one wheel and apply about 50% differential thrust to the opposite engine, you can turn quite sharply.

 

 

 

21 minutes ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

My understanding is IRL you should limit differential braking and only use brakes with power at idle or in the beta range (presumably to minimise excessive brake wear).

 

 

 

 

This is the only way to turn free pastoring wheel in 172 LOL I use bite of power if I'm stationary or movng momentum when I'm on the roll. I do prefer to use  the last technique as citation permit. For example to make say 180 turn  for run up (to put your nose toward wind), I accelerate  (normal taxi speed), then bring throttle to idle, and as airplane start slowing down turn in around using inertia and left/right brake.

Owning and instructing in my 172 I haven't notice wear of brakes in this situations as they are more  like a necessity. I usually discourage my students to use unnecessary  brakes during taxi or slam brakes after landing. I prefer to utilize aerodynamic braking as much as practical before using any braking.

Twin engine - yes differential thrust comes handy.

The C208 works fine for what I use it for.

Slightly off-topic but I would love a Kodiak as an alternate option:

 

12 hours ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

The C208 works fine for what I use it for.

Slightly off-topic but I would love a Kodiak as an alternate option:

 

Too bad Thundra is not involved in MSFS development they have excellent Kodiak for XP11

On 12/29/2020 at 10:20 AM, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

Thing is unless you are doing some sort of simulated economy stuff flying freight into remote bush strips they are not the sort of thing that will attract simmers.  Sort of like Ford Transits are never really going to be a thing in car sims.

We all fly for different reasons. Because the FSEconomy game is designed around GA charter ops where pax and cargo are basically interchangeable, the Caravan has historically been *the* most popular aircraft for virtual ownership in the game. It's in a sweet spot for number of passengers, cruise speed, fuel and maintenance economy, and you can take off and land anywhere. The most profitable FSE jobs -- unless you're running a big hub operation -- are right in the normal flight range of a Caravan too.

I never "owned" one when I was more active in FSE, I preferred the Pilatus PC-12 as my main ride for more cruise speed. But I still enjoy flying the Caravan in MSFS. The turboprop modeling is off, but the large canopy and high wing make it a great sightseeing plane. And sightseeing is all I'm using MSFS for at the moment, while waiting for developments.

A floats model would be nice, yes. 

20 hours ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

I would love a Kodiak

Yes, and the design is now owned by Daher who also owns the TBM, so maybe there’s hope.

Lionheart had a good one for FSX maybe they convert it to MSFS

I asked Lionheart the same question, but no reply. I guess many of the aircraft builders are waiting for better development tools, and more understanding for the air environment to work out their aircraft's abilities.

Several of the aircrafts features have not been included as yet. If we can get Lionheart to convert their version of the Kodiak to MFS 2020, it will be fantastic, as we then get a detailed aircraft. I have been using the three mods below and the G1000 behaves a lot better, along with several engine and other features the mod community have worked out.

1. C208B-mod 
2. working title-g1000 mod
3. WT G1000 Mod

Refer here to see up-to-date info on modding.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/c208b-grand-caravan-ex-mods-general/322172/1

The C208B is still fun to fly, especially in PNG with hundreds of strips to fly between.

Sim works Studio are working on a Kodiak.

 

Posted 12 hours ago -

 

Quote

SimWorks Studios

Kodiak time! We have been hard at work on the aircraft, constantly tweaking and improving it. Here is an update on the current state of developement!

---EXTERIOR---
The exterior is nearing completion and we are putting the last few rivets on the airframe. The aircraft will ship with 25 factory schemes in three different layouts and will use MSFS' tail number system. The standard and tundra tyre variants are fully animated and ready in the simulator including some custom animations that we will showcase later. The amphibian is currently in the paint shop and is expected next month.

---COCKPIT---
The cockpit is currently being modelled, with focus being on the cabin shell and cockpit. Once there, the aircraft interior will branch out to passenger, cargo and other variants.

---SYSTEMS---
This week we completed the integration of the Engine Display which will work with the default and Working Title G1000. Being a little more advanced, the WT version will feature the ENGINE, SYSTEM and FUEL screens. The displays are being built so that they will switch seamlessly whether you have the WT mod or not.

The electrical system is being connected to the cockpit, using the lessons learned on the new electrical system from other aircraft. While progress is made fast, this is at completely different level of complexity so we are treading carefully.

Finally, we are eagerly waiting for Sim Update 4 which brings a number of important fixes to turboprop engines.

Here are some WIP screenshots until next time!

 

Well - Talk about a thread resurrection!  

@por930 Thanks for the link.  I might give the C208 another try with these mods.

@Glenn Fitzpatrick Excellent news!  As long as the price is reasonable, this will be an instant buy for me so I can relive some of those excellent bush pilot videos. 

Also, I finally bought the Jabiru last night.  I will try it today.  It was on offer at Orbx at under 10 UK pounds - bargain!

 

Edited April 25, 20215 yr by bobcat999

33 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

 

Also, I finally bought the Jabiru last night.  I will try it today.  It was on offer at Orbx at under 10 UK pounds - bargain!

 

 

The Jabiru is not quite in the same class as the P149 or the JF Arrow (both low wing)  which are the two standouts for GA payware at present, but in my opinion it is only one step down and getting closer every update.  In particular if your after something well behaved and easy to trim in the low, slower, high wing configuration, it is a good value choice. You are getting two airframes for the price of one and each variant comes with both steam gauge (no AP)  liveries and glass cockpit liveries with an autopilot.

The dev is very responsive he has even gone out of his way to take flying lessons in a local Jabiru in response to comments about the early flight model to get some first hand experience and brings out an update pretty much monthly.

Edited April 25, 20215 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick

On 12/29/2020 at 3:58 PM, sd_flyer said:

Caravan generally speaking in a better shape than say Cessna  Longitude. Yet it suffer from improper turbo modeling like all the rest of turboprops in MSFS. 10 degree flap notch is get skipped when flap bind to a key/switch. Deice priority switch windshield /airframe are reversed. Also the way it melt ice is odd. I have never flown Caravan or observed how deicing work on real counterpart, but it seems to me it doesn't shed ice sufficiently.

I would welcome any mod FBW or Working Title quality!  208 needs some love!

Originally Caravans had pneumatic boots for deicing. They were not the most efficient means to remove ice for that airplane. Back in the 1980s when FedEx first started operating them, they lost several Caravans during winter operations due to severe icing encounters. The airframe is an ice magnet and the aircraft that went down literally fell out of the sky. It was a definite weakness of the model.

New Caravans are equipped with TKS deicing - with a 50 gallon tank in the nose to hold TKS anti-ice fluid which is pumped out of thousands of tiny laser-drilled holes in the wing leading edges. It is the same type of system that Hawker biz jets have always used. FedEx retrofitted their entire existing fleet of Caravans with TKS, and new ones come with it from the factory.

Several years ago I worked at the local FBO, and one of the three FedEx Caravans based here was N901FE, serial number 208B001 - the very first Caravan 208B ever made. It was retired from service about 6 years ago, at which time I believe it had accumulated about 20,000 hours.