Why Does the Cessna 208 Grand Caravan Suck So Much?

[thegeneral101 18]

8 hours ago, por930 said:

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.

This is very helpful, I appreciate you circling back here! I am still flying it from time to time knowing it's not perfect, but enjoy it nonetheless. 

[Cpt_Piett 4,526]

Been flying the Caravan a lot in MSFS in various locations including British Columbia, South America, Nepal and PNG. It's a great exploration/touring aircraft and a fun aircraft to try out challenging approaches into tiny dirt strips. 

I've been using this mod: https://github.com/dgtlanlg/C208B-mod - latest update Feb 20 v2102.3. Over at the MSFS there's some mention that most people are using a previous version - 2102.1 - as the current one apparently has issues with latest MSFS updates. 

Also, I don't really get this: 

8 hours ago, por930 said:

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

Two versions of WT G1000 mod? Care to elaborate? Are you perhaps talking about this: 

WT G1000 v0.3.4 - To enable annunciations you will need to replace the following file with the one included with this mod (wt-g1000-0.3.4-fix):workingtitle-g1000\html_ui\WorkingTitle\Pages\VCockpit\Instruments\NavSystems\SharedCommonPFD_MFD.js

[por930 51]

57 minutes ago, thegeneral101 said:

This is very helpful, I appreciate you circling back here! I am still flying it from time to time knowing it's not perfect, but enjoy it nonetheless. 

I have been building strips in PNG and use the caravan to test them. With the mods, it now steers better and has better braking. Apparently, I still have some more mods to carry out, but I suspect, it will be never ending.

I find an issue is the caravan does not have prop drag when at idle power. Some strips require a steep approach, and with no prop drag, speed can build up too much. 

[por930 51]

34 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

Been flying the Caravan a lot in MSFS in various locations including British Columbia, South America, Nepal and PNG. It's a great exploration/touring aircraft and a fun aircraft to try out challenging approaches into tiny dirt strips. 

I've been using this mod: https://github.com/dgtlanlg/C208B-mod - latest update Feb 20 v2102.3. Over at the MSFS there's some mention that most people are using a previous version - 2102.1 - as the current one apparently has issues with latest MSFS updates. 

Also, I don't really get this: 

Two versions of WT G1000 mod? Care to elaborate? Are you perhaps talking about this: 

WT G1000 v0.3.4 - To enable annunciations you will need to replace the following file with the one included with this mod (wt-g1000-0.3.4-fix):workingtitle-g1000\html_ui\WorkingTitle\Pages\VCockpit\Instruments\NavSystems\SharedCommonPFD_MFD.js

Agree that the previous version 2102.1 is the preferred choice at present.

There is an update on the github site for the WT G1000 v0.3.4 to the WT G1000 v03.5. I used this.

If you look at this link, https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/c208b-grand-caravan-ex-mods-general/322172/308 you will see my conversation about the earlier and later version mods and see what I did...and apparently, still need to do more. 

[N562Z 4]

Your post got my attention. I am also a real-world C172 / G-1000 pilot and enjoy flying the Cessna Caravan in MSFS 2020. Atter flying around for 2 years at 110 knots at 3,500, the C208 seems like a sports car to me, and the MSFS 2020 version works beautifully with my RealSimGear G-1000 panel suite mounted on a Slavix Stay-Level, all-metal panel.  Recently, I have been exploring various C208 mod options posted online, mostly those made by community member MagrainaOne. In fact, I just downloaded the most recent mod, which allegedly fixes a ton of the things you've discovered MS got wrong and will spend this afternoon testing it out. I will let you know how it goes!

Alex C

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by N562Z
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[CapnCrunch 89]

I have to agree with most of the comments. The 208 is one of my all-time favorite aircraft and it was so disappointing to see the default treatment in MSFS. I do hope they'll get around to some improvements but after two years I doubt it's on their priority list, and it would probably be incremental in any case (1-2 years).

I got tired of not having a decent example of my favorite turboprops so last year I shelled out for the Black Square Steam Gauge Overhaul of the Caravan and King Air (payware, through Just Flight). True, this is not the free solution most of us hope for, but for me it was money well spent.

I started avoiding most free mods because over time it gets to be a hassle coordinating what's compatible, what breaks with sim updates etc. Not that you can't do it that way but really, I'd rather be flying.

[RandallR 444]

I've been flying the 208B quite a lot over the last year using the available mods with great results.  The enhanced WT G1000 (now in-sim) has been working great.  I'm using the C208-Improvement-Mod.v2203.2.2 for the aircraft itself.  She handles well with powers settings fairly close to book and is ideal for a lot of the bush areas I'm now exploring.

I use 2700' as the runway cut-off point and switch to the Kodiak for smaller fields.