59 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

It can be a bit of a handful during takeoff roll,

Using the Takeoff Torque charts from the POH helps. But yeah, easy does it.

 

Update… There’s been a good discussion on the issues with the flight model for the Kodiak over on the official forums. Even the SWS rep over there has acknowledged there are real issues with the Kodiak FM at the moment, particularly in low power mode… of course they blame limitations with the sim. This is a separate issue from the controller sensitivity which they aim to fix in the next update (shortly after SU10). Anyone interested can have a read over on those forums.

In my case, I’m going to wait and see what reviews are like after the update before I invest in this aircraft. 

 

Edited July 30, 20223 yr by Virtual-Chris

1 hour ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Update… There’s been a good discussion on the issues with the flight model for the Kodiak over on the official forums. Even the SWS rep over there has acknowledged there are real issues with the Kodiak FM at the moment, particularly in low power mode… of course they blame limitations with the sim. This is a separate issue from the controller sensitivity which they aim to fix in the next update (shortly after SU10). Anyone interested can have a read over on those forums.

In my case, I’m going to wait and see what reviews are like after the update before I invest in this aircraft. 

 

Waiting makes sense.

By low power mode I do not think they are talking about hi/low idle. I think they are referring to the way if you back throttle off it behaves linearly to around 500 to 800 torque (which is actually quite a low value) at which point power suddenly cuts until you throttle back up. 

On 7/24/2022 at 4:42 PM, Virtual-Chris said:

Note that cost is not so much a factor, but if it’s clear the Kodiak is not a good choice, I’d rather put the money into something else. 

The Kodiak is a good choice IMHO, if that is the kind of aircraft you like to fly.  Good bush plane with the Tundra wheels..

Rather than watching out of date Youtube movies, I would say just get it.. 😉

Mind you, I do have several aircraft in my hangar that I never fly... but the Kodiak is not one of them..

My main 3 go-to's - goof around a new airport, Piaggio 149, - seriously go somewhere, 414AW,  - relax and soar, Kodiak.

4 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

The Kodiak is a good choice IMHO, if that is the kind of aircraft you like to fly.  Good bush plane with the Tundra wheels..

Rather than watching out of date Youtube movies, I would say just get it.. 😉

Mind you, I do have several aircraft in my hangar that I never fly... but the Kodiak is not one of them..

My sentiments exactly..

On 7/25/2022 at 10:15 PM, Cpt_Piett said:

 It can be a bit of a handful during take-off roll

Less Torque, touch of right rudder trim, use less than half the back stick you normally would.  When loaded use POH Vr for weight. When lightly loaded add about 5 knots to book numbers.
 

 

 

Edited July 31, 20223 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick

2 hours ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

Less Torque, touch of right rudder trim, use less than half the back stick you normally would.  When loaded use POH Vr for weight. When lightly loaded add about 5 knots to book numbers.

I'll give this a try, thanks for your input (and the video!). That cockpit shaking - is it FSRealistic?

20 minutes ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I'll give this a try, thanks for your input (and the video!). That cockpit shaking - is it FSRealistic?

When you apply throttle to the Kodiak, do it slowly and smoothly. Stop any nose drift with rudder pedals. Works every time. 

1 hour ago, Cpt_Piett said:

I'll give this a try, thanks for your input (and the video!). That cockpit shaking - is it FSRealistic?

Yeah I forgot to turn it off for the video.

Key points:

1.  do not just max the torque, in that video I was at 4500' with an OAT of 20 to 25 degrees which gave a book figure of  around 1470 max torque on take-off and climb out
2. on rotation do not let pitch go over 10 degrees, if you can stay under 5 degrees even better, Pitch can be ascertained by the short yellow bars each side of the yellow chevron relative to the pitch angle in degrees on the display
3. set elevator trim so that the white line on the wheel is pointing forward
4. set rudder trim to slightly right of centre
5. use two stages of flap
6. if you are using a joystick, step 2 may be tricky as the aircraft is calibrated for long throw yokes not joysticks, be very very gentle with back pressure if using a joystick, and ease off the back pressure the instant she rotates
7. as a rule of thumb, rotation should be at 55 to 60 knots with no load and more like 70 knots with a full load
8. do not think about climbing  out until airspeed hits 85 knots or so

 

This all sounds complicated but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature

 

Edited July 31, 20223 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick

35 minutes ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

This all sounds complicated but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature

Thanks. When do you start retracting the flaps?

 Minimum of 85 knots in stages providing I am 500' AGL and have a positive rate of climb.  I am not sure where I read that but 85 to 90 knots seems to work.

It also seems to fit with page 5-31 of the POH.

http://www.redcliffeaeroclub.com.au/files/aircraft/Kodiak100_POH.pdf

Though I tend to use book figures a a starting point rather than obsessing over the exact numbers down to 3 decimal places. It is only a simulation after all.

 

Edited July 31, 20223 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick

The BS Caravan for me. Stable to fly. The ideal rock steady platform for navigating using the Bendix/King receivers and RMI display without fighting trims at the same time. VOR / ADF / DME. 

Using those two white knobs on the right all glass screens can optionally be banished, except for the color radar below the transponder. Nice!

 

 

My Saitek (Logitech) panels interface perfectly with all the old fashioned radio and autopilot controls and displays, on the wonderful BS plane. (BS! LOL).

So I purchased the Kodiak today, and did a coupe of take offs. No landings. One flight the sim crashed (which I think I’ve solved) and the other I had to bail for dinner. So no landings yet. 

My first impression on the Kodiak for sight seeing is that the giant A pillar is taking up a lot of view that you get in the Caravan with it’s more wrap around windshield. I’m a bit surprised no one mentioned this. 

I started both flights with engine running at the end of the runway, so I can’t comment on the startup procedure, but take off with a bit of rudder trim to the right is just as easy as with the Caravan. Without the rudder trim it’s a bit more of a challenge to keep it level and straight but still didn’t strike me as being that bad. 

In flight, the Kodiak bobs around a bit more than the Caravan but otherwise was easy to handle. I’m not sure if the added bobbing on a clear calm day is more realistic or less as I’ve only ever been in one small craft (a seaplane) and I don’t remember what it was like. 

One annoying thing about the Kodiak cockpit layout, is that the AP is below the MFD which is less convenient than the Caravan that places it above the MFD. The light switches are also way down low in the Kodiak which is not as convenient as in the Caravan.  

I guess I’m a bit torn, and not sure where all the enthusiasm for this aircraft is coming from. It’s got some better things (interior config and load/balance) but ergonomically it’s not as ideal with some important controls way down low, and that giant A pillar blocking a good part of my view which is probably the worst thing about it.  

EDIT:  Added a complete flight with landing... no bobbing around this evening which is interesting since it was similar conditions to the day time... clear and calm.  Landing was just as easy as with the Caravan. I'm really not sure why everyone thinks this plane is so much better than the Caravan?  

Also, the standby instrument is an FPS killer... that's just a horrible implementation on SWS part. Thankfully you can kill this instrument via the circuit panel, but my gosh, how did that even get in there like that? 10FPS for one instrument, when you're only getting 50FPS in the first place is just ridiculous.

Edited August 14, 20223 yr by Virtual-Chris