Gosh, this looks to be A2A level, at least systems wise. I wonder what the flight model will be like. I kinda lowkey dislike you have to pick piston or turbine to buy.

Edited March 25, 20242 yr by s0cks

1 minute ago, s0cks said:

Gosh, this looks to be A2A level, at least systems wise. I wonder what the flight model will be like. I kinda lowkey dislike you have to pick piston or turbine to buy.

There will be a substantially discounted pack with both versions according to Just Flight.

The Duke 😍, my favorite GA plane in FSX.

I hope they do a 59.99$ bundle or something close

Just now, Matchstick said:

There will be a substantially discounted pack with both versions according to Just Flight.

Ah ok. I figured they would probably do that.

I reckon it'll be £24.99 each and £39.99 for the bundle.

5 minutes ago, JYW said:

I reckon it'll be £24.99 each and £39.99 for the bundle.

The Black Square TBM 850 is £29.99 so I'm personally not expecting the individual Dukes to be less than that, but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong in this case 🙂

8 minutes ago, Matchstick said:

The Black Square TBM 850 is £29.99 so I'm personally not expecting the individual Dukes to be less than that, but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong in this case 🙂

No, I think you're right.  I couldn't remember if the TBM was £24.99 or £29.99.

In that case, I'll revise my guess to be £29.99 each and £44.99 for the pair. 🙃😎

I've been sold on this plane for some time now. When we started getting screenshots of the tablet I was excited as I felt like they were walking in a similar lane as A2A. I feel differently about that now. I feel like Black Square is giving us a well developed/system rich plane for the pilot in us but the tablet really holds little for the pilot. Instead, for me, this is the first plane that I will buy that also comes with an A&P feature (via most of the pages on the tablet) and an instructors work station thats easy to access via the tablets last page, the failures page. 

I dont use or buy PMDG type planes so perhaps developers who do study level airliner types might already be ahead of this but to me, I feel like with this release, Black Square will be entering us into a whole new era. First off in their manuals (this will be my 1st BS plane so forgive me if they have done this in their other manuals) they dont just reference the auto-pilot or HSI etc but state the exact name and model of each unit. I feel like that is something that is very important as when you talk "shop" with a real airplane owner they too know these details and their plane more intimately because instruments are noted as individual items and might be subject to upgrades, warranties or ADs.

Additionally and more importantly, it seems we are now getting far closer to having and A&P and/or IA. Most tabs of that tablet would/should only be used to check systems on the ground like a Mech would. Where as A2A offers a few more tabs designed for inflight with the pilot. Example would be the Flight Info tab that offers the Checklist and an Emergency Checklist as well as the controls page that could be used for simpits that dont have lots of available switches or buttons to assign for cockpit items like lights, vents etc.

Lastly, with the way they have setup the failure page with the tablet being able to be moved to a real tablet, users who use things like Duet Display Air along with Popout Manager could easily have an instructor station that is mobile and can used untethered to a PC. As well as a nice visual tool to show a new pilot all the inner workings under the cowling reflecting proper use and temp management.

I really feel like this plane is going to be a home run  and has set a new level of expectations for future small GA planes.

On 3/15/2024 at 7:22 AM, Ron Lefebvre said:

Will you guys be flying the piston or turbine

I'll buy both as a bundle but am planning on flying just the turbine. Mostly for its STOL abilities with cold weather boots and de-ice features. I already have a twin piston in my hangar which is the default Baron in XP12 with REP. What I look for in an addon plane is first and foremost, system rich/study level and small GA (single or twin). Secondly, I need it to be usable in my simpit which requires AirManager gauges with Popout Manager abilities for screens. So currently I'm using the A2A Comanche for a single in MSFS and the Baron as so I have a plane to need/use in XP12.

What I am really looking for is good bush plane to use in Idaho backcountry so it needs to be STOL, able to fly in icing conditions and system rich. While the Sim Works Studios Kodiak and the MSFS Famous Flyers C207 from Carenado both look nice, they lack heart and soul when compared to these Dukes and the Comanche. Plus I cant stand G1000's. So yeah the Duke Turbine is the best fit for me so far and especially like that we can pick up FOD.

Good that the Duke will be back, I enjoyed so much the Duke Turbine in the past.

This latest video convinced me that my swearing to not buy anymore twins for MSFS was superfluous...

https://fselite.net/content/black-square-dukes-first-look-and-tablet-interface/

Amazing to see how MSFS made me switch almost entirely from tubeliners in previous sims to GA elaborate aircraft. BlackSquare and FSW certainly come on top of the list of culprits... Outstanding job!

I had not planned on buying another twin turbine/piston aircraft, but wow! the work put into these planes just gets better and better. No doubt i'll likely go for them both.

Latest tutorial video now live, this one shows you the correct procedure for starting the Dukes up, along with some fine detail and tips for getting it spot-on.  Enjoy...
 

 

I just bought the C414 on sale so my hangar is bursting at the seams. This looks fantastic but i will wait for a sale. It is amazing how many high quality add-ons are being released. 

The visuals and sounds of that piston starting up is nice.