Kodiak Review Thread

[Bobsk8 12,879]

 

[regis9 4,041]

I’ve bought a number of aircraft that I’ll fly a few times, say “oh that’s cool”, then move on to something else.  Then there are a few I’ve bought and can’t stop flying them and they become part of my regular rotation…this aircraft falls into the latter category.  That list is quite short too.

[Ricardo41 5,959]

So, this is quickly becoming my favorite aircraft in MSFS. 

Sorry Longitude, DA62, CJ4, I love ya guys, but it's time to part ways. 

1) Outstanding, looks like the real thing, modeling, inside and out. 

2) Outstanding sounds

3) In all, I lose about 3 fps, so no real impact on performance for me. 

4) Take off is at flaps 20, rudder trim 40% right, with the trim wheel set to the 9.30 position. 

5) I used the short video linked above as a guide to retracting the flaps. 

6) Still working on my landings, especially the transition from ap to manual

See my screenshots over on the screenshot forum. Keep in mind I'm running this on an "old potato" (thanks, Mr. Fuzzy), with 8 gigs of system ram and a graphics card that I can't even get updated drivers for anymore. 

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/612400-kodiak-100-warsaw-to-berlin/

Edited December 24, 2021 by Ricardo41

[MSFLYER5856 76]

I'd love a short tutorial on how to land properly at a tiny airstrip that has no approach procedure. I can land I just want to do it proceduraly instead by pixel feel where you just force the plane down get all your passengers sick and spill the coffee all over the place.

Edited December 24, 2021 by MSFLYER5856

[Car147 2,290]

Quickly becoming a favourite of mine, for someone that only flew tubeliners, the DC-6 and now the kodiak are really adding another dimension to my flying, that i had no interest in before. It also looks like the dev has taken a lot of care and attention to detail with this plane, and turned out a real cracker.

Buy It! You wont be disappointed.

Edited December 24, 2021 by Car147

[kiwikat 529]

Got the plane now that their site is back up. Thoroughly impressed by the ground handling and takeoff roll, and the inertia doesn't feel totally messed up like most of the planes. Cockpit FPS is a little disappointing but I'm not sure how much can be blamed on SWS rather than the G1000s. Once the next sim hotfix is available I think I might actually get back to flying for a while.

[Bert Pieke 7,592]

6 hours ago, kiwikat said:

Cockpit FPS is a little disappointing but I'm not sure how much can be blamed on SWS rather than the G1000s.

Try pulling the breaker for the standby attitude indicator and see if that helps..

[Greazer 1,351]

30 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

Try pulling the breaker for the standby attitude indicator and see if that helps..

That little thing is a resource hog.  I was hoping it would be fixed in the update.

[tup61 1,641]

 A bit OT but I don't want to start a new topic just for this. 😉 Just bought the Kodiak and er... I guess it will take some time to get used to it (and the G1000 NXi too). The plane feels very light and very nervous/twitchy: not what I expected after the reviews. To my surprise the first landing on a very short strip was very easy... felt quite arcadish! There were also more buttons INOP than I expected. And I could start the engine regardless of the levers positions: I expected things to be a bit more complicated, like certain things being required in order to proceed. Anyway, I have three questions for now:

- is there a rudder trim indicator somewhere? Yes, I know about the one on the PFD but I read about setting the rudder trim at something like 30% right for take off but where can I check the current setting?

- the displays are quite dim and lack contrast: the controls for that (AUTO, MANUAL, percentages) do nothing: how can I brighten the screens?

- can you lean the mixture in any way? The conditiong lever didn't seem to have much effect. But maybe this can't be done with an engine like this one? (I have no clue!)

Other than that I do think the manual is a bit sparse and short: nothing about how to actually fly this plane. I think I could do with a (free...) tutorial...

EDIT
Forgot one question: with a plane like this I'd like to take off and fly to small grass strips. However, those small strips never have a parking spot so you always start the flight with engines running. Does this plane have on option to force a cold and dark state?

Edited December 25, 2021 by tup61

[Ricardo41 5,959]

50 minutes ago, tup61 said:

 

- is there a rudder trim indicator somewhere? Yes, I know about the one on the PFD but I read about setting the rudder trim at something like 30% right for take off but where can I check the current setting?

 

Bottom left of the MFD - rudder trim needs to be between 30 and 50. Trim wheel at about the 9 30 position, all depends on your load. I suppose if you want to see the number, you'll have to enable cockpit tool tips from the settings. 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Ricardo41

[tup61 1,641]

4 minutes ago, Ricardo41 said:

Bottom left of the MFD - rudder trim needs to be between 30 and 50. Trim wheel at about the 9 30 position, all depends on your load.

Thanks! That'll do! I did all take offs so far with rudder at zero without much problems (just had to use the rudder trim buttons to center the rudder on the PFD when airborn) so this little indication will do! (How could I have missed it...!)

[Bobsk8 12,879]

1 hour ago, tup61 said:

 A bit OT but I don't want to start a new topic just for this. 😉 Just bought the Kodiak and er... I guess it will take some time to get used to it (and the G1000 NXi too). The plane feels very light and very nervous/twitchy: not what I expected after the reviews. To my surprise the first landing on a very short strip was very easy... felt quite arcadish! There were also more buttons INOP than I expected. And I could start the engine regardless of the levers positions: I expected things to be a bit more complicated, like certain things being required in order to proceed. Anyway, I have three questions for now:

- is there a rudder trim indicator somewhere? Yes, I know about the one on the PFD but I read about setting the rudder trim at something like 30% right for take off but where can I check the current setting?

- the displays are quite dim and lack contrast: the controls for that (AUTO, MANUAL, percentages) do nothing: how can I brighten the screens?

- can you lean the mixture in any way? The conditiong lever didn't seem to have much effect. But maybe this can't be done with an engine like this one? (I have no clue!)

Other than that I do think the manual is a bit sparse and short: nothing about how to actually fly this plane. I think I could do with a (free...) tutorial...

EDIT
Forgot one question: with a plane like this I'd like to take off and fly to small grass strips. However, those small strips never have a parking spot so you always start the flight with engines running. Does this plane have on option to force a cold and dark state?

I just bought this plane this morning and took a quick flight in it. I took off with zero problems, a touch of right rudder and that was it. Landing it was very easy, which surprised me, as I thought it would have been more difficult. I also agree that the displays seem to be dim, which is disappointing. So far, I think it is OK for around $35, but, I'm a bit disappointed. 

[A320_SX ALX 146]

The displays were modified with today's hotfix. The panel lighting knob acts as a master lighting switch. The higher it goes, the brighter the displays and letters will be.

Then you can use the G1000 options to set it to what you want. Screens won't go below a certain brightness threshold, I think I have it at 30%, whereas the default was 5%.

[tup61 1,641]

14 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I just bought this plane this morning and took a quick flight in it. I took off with zero problems, a touch of right rudder and that was it. Landing it was very easy, which surprised me, as I thought it would have been more difficult. I also agree that the displays seem to be dim, which is disappointing. So far, I think it is OK for around $35, but, I'm a bit disappointed. 

Same feelings here. I expected more. More depth, more difficulties (of the right kind LOL)... Apart from the sounds and stuff you can open and close it feels like another default plane to me. Doesn't add as much as I hoped it would. I'm surprised by all the hype around it.

 

3 minutes ago, A320_SX ALX said:

The panel lighting knob acts as a master lighting switch.

Thanks, I will have a look at that!

Edited December 25, 2021 by tup61

[Bobsk8 12,879]

5 minutes ago, A320_SX ALX said:

The displays were modified with today's hotfix. The panel lighting knob acts as a master lighting switch. The higher it goes, the brighter the displays and letters will be.

Then you can use the G1000 options to set it to what you want. Screens won't go below a certain brightness threshold, I think I have it at 30%, whereas the default was 5%.

Displays are much better, thanks.