So few float planes...

[Gottedammerung 0]

I love float planes, and keep checking, but there seem so few in FSX - well, so few that fit with my European flying. I find the Beaver and Goose too new world. I used to love the freeware maul in FS9, and the Caravan, and of course the wilga float. ANyone know of any good float planes not in the file library? I don;t mind payware (though freeware is always better).Other than that, can anyone point me to a link for getting the FS9 aircraft working in FSX - I seem to remember it's a gauges edit?

[Gottedammerung 0]

anyone?

[bkeske 0]

If the Beaver and Goose are too 'new world', what exactly are you looking for?The only float plane I fly with any regularity at all is the RealAir Scout. I also have the MAAM DC-3 package which has a float version, but I have never flown it.Have you tried 'porting' the freeware Maule into FSX?

[Guest phenom]

Have you checked out Carenado's 206?www.carenado.com

[Mace 1,902]

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[Guest jshyluk]

LONG POST ALERT!!!I'm a little puzzled at the Beaver and the Goose being "too New World" as well... meaning that they are too modern or too North American? Regardless of which, you've hit upon one of my secret pet topics, somewhat like how I can't resist correcting other people's bungles with Photoshop.There were a number of passenger floatplanes, really big ones, in the time before WWII, as well as during and after. Here are a list of floatplanes (going from pre-WWI, not just passenger aircraft) an interested sim pilot can look up online:Hydravion - 1910 - Built by Henri Fabre, this was the world's first floatplane. It featured the tail in the front of the aircraft. France.Curtiss-Ellyson Hyrdoplane - 1911 - One of the earliest practical seaplanes. USA.Short Seaplane - 1914-1917? - A floatplane designed to be launched and recovered by a warship at sea. It had to be hoisted into and out of the water from a deck crane. GB.Curtiss NC Series - 1919 - 4 engine flying boat designed to cross the Atlantic. Lt. Cmdr. A.C. Read made the flight in NC-4 in 19 days. USA.Caproni Ca.60 Transaero - 1921 - A truly unique airframe: 9 wings, 8 engines and 2 pontoons. It crashed and sunk on its maiden flight of 60 feet above Lake Maggiore. Italy.Dornier Do J "Wal" - 1922 - "Wal" means "whale" in German. This early passenger floatplane could carry up to 12 passengers, and had 2 engines in a tandem push-pull configuration. Germany.Savoia-Marchetti S.55X - Another unique Italian design: a triple tail keeps twin catamaran-style hulls stable in the air. The whole thing is powered by push-pull engines in tandem. The cockpit is in the thick wing between the two hulls. Italy.Curtiss R3C-2 Racer - 1925 - Jimmy Doolittle flew this biplane floatplane racer to a record speed of 246 mph. USA.Supermarine Southampton - 1925 - RAF military aircraft, a pre-cursor to the Sunderland. The Southampton was a twin-engined biplane flying boat. GB.Macchi M.39 - 1926 - Low-slung monoplane floatplane sets speed record of 259 mph. Italy.de Havilland DH.50J - 1926 - The favoured modified floatplane of aviation explorer Alan Cobham, whose exploits furthered the cause of British imperialism overseas. GB.Sikorsky S-38 - 1929 - An early Sikorsky creation with amphibious gear. It could carry 8 passengers, and flew for Pan Am in the Caribbean. USADornier DO X - 1929 - This German "flugschiff" flying boat mounted 12 engines! It carried 170 passengers who had to move around in the cabin to help the aircraft bank for turns. Germany.Tingmissartoq - 1929-1931? - Charles Lindberg's floatplane for personal recreation. It's a Lockheed Sirius with floats. The name means "Man who flies like a big bird" in Inuit. USA.Supermarine S.4, S.5, S.6, S.6B -1931 - British monoplane racing seaplanes that evolved into a racer capable of over 400 mph. GB.Macchi M.C.72 - 1931 - Monoplane floatplane with 2 contra-rotating propellors on the same nose to eliminate crushing torque effect. Reached 441 mph. Italy.Short Empire (Sunderland) - 1936 - Flying boat that carried around 4,300 pounds of mail or 17 passengers in luxury. The Sunderland is the military variant. GB.Sikorsky S-40, S-42 "Clipper" - 1931-1934 - Pan American Airways flagship flying boats, capable of carrying up to 40 passengers, or 14 sleeping berths (if you could sleep!). USA.Martin 130 "China Clipper" NC14716 - 1935 - Pan Am upgrades to this magnificent 4 engined flying boat, whose inaugural flight went under the San Francisco Bay Bridge when the pilot decided that he couldn't make it over the bridge. USA.Supermarine Walrus - 1935 - A seaplane that could be launched by catapult from a warship. On deck, it could be folded into a space just 17 feet wide. GBConsolidated PBY Catalina - 1936- An iconic flying boat patrol craft from WWII. More Catalinas were built than any other flying boat in history, over 4,000. USA.Short Mayo Composite - 1938 - A 4-engined Mayo Mercury floatplane rode piggyback on a 4-engined Short Empire flying boat. It was an experiment to lift heavy loads for long distances. GB.Lat

[ORN 1]

Here's one in the making. Looks cool, and I love their Beaver :-)http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=10706Eagle

[rhodges 6]

Hello:Don't know what you are looking for exactly, but for what it's worth:I personally prefer amphibians and there are several in fS9 that copied or installed with no problems over into fSX for me. You stated that you liked an FS9 Maule version. I don't remember exactly which one it is, but I have a Maule_M7_w60C copied from FS9 that came in several versions, including amphibian, skis and several wheel versions. The panel opens up with a preliminary window you have to click to continue if that is the same one you have. Flys perfectly in FSX. There is also the Maam DC3 someone else has already mentioned. I also like the DHC2 BeaverMK3_C-FOPA which is a Turbobeaver. I believe it is available as a formal FSX upgrade as well, but I am not sure I ever bothered to change it. A fine bird. I also use the old DHC2av2 Beavers as well from some past version long ago (preference for amphibians again). The only drawback to me is that the doors don't open. Best I remember I also had to convert to FSX Beaver gauges as well, but it flies swell.For a pure float plane, Bill Lyon's cub is a dandy in my book. Here again you may or may not have to replace a gauge or two. I have lost track of birds that had this requirement and those that did not.I hope you find something to your likeing.RTH

[bkeske 0]

I have the 206, but not the float version. I fly the Scout when I want to get wet.

[bkeske 0]

Bill's Piper Tri-Pacer is a great aircraft as well, but I have not tried to install it into FSX yet.

[scott967 62]

Jeff, I'm not sure you can really group flying boats with float planes. But I would add the Martin Mariner (over 1300 built from 1939) and Mars. The Mariner was the USN's maintstay recce / asw aircraft during WWII.The Mariner at least is available form AlphaSim.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/177720.jpgscott s..

[Guest jshyluk]

I can group flying boats and float planes together... well, because I said so! That, and it's been a secret ambition of mine to get more flying boats from that time period into MSFS. For me, the flying boats have the most interesting and varied designs, and are engineered to be so incredibly versatile. As I mentioned before, they represent a period in time where the limits of technology (pre jet-engine, pre CAD) were greatly exceeded by ambition and imagination. I did think of adding the Mariner to the list, but the PBY Catalina came to mind first. Thank you for pointing me to this model, I will go and check it out.Jeff ShylukSenior Staff Reviewer, Avsim

[Gottedammerung 0]

Thanks for all the input, chaps. Sorry it's been a while, but I've been away. First things first, what I mean by "too new world" is that when flying the Goose or the Beaver, I find myself imagining that I'm flying over the vast areas of Canada or Alaska, Australia or the South Pacific. For some reason, maybe because I've seen them so many times on the TV in those locations, I always associate them with bush flying where the bush is really bush, and not the genteel farmlands of North Europe, which I know, and over which in FSX and FS9 I find myself predominantly flying. It's no slur on the aircraft, or any non-European country for that matter, it's just for me they seem to relate to a different scnerey and type of flying. I loved the Wilga, becasue it's European in manufacture, and seems more realistic in setting. Only trouble is I can;t get the gagues to work (anyone point me to the edit?).I also love tha Maul, but for some reason that never shoes up in the FSX list (Don;t ask me why, but if anyone has a fix, I'd be greatful).I do look forward to the Catalina. For me it's more a pacific flyingboat, and that's where I'll probably fly it, but it's a favourite from my childhood, and as such it's a must when released.Again, many thanks for the input.G.

[Guest jshyluk]

The Maule is a flyable aircraft only in the DeLuxe version of FSX. Jeff ShylukSenior Staff Reviewer, Avsim

[Guest etheberge]

I second the recommendation above regarding the RealAir Scout package. The whole package is superb, especially the virtual cockpits.-Erik