I have a problem with my Kodiak. It doesn't appear to adhere to the phugoid motion. I would assume the real aircraft would. Am I wrong? Is my install corrupt?

Fly cruise speed and trim the aircraft for level flight as best you can. Now let go of the elevator controls and see what she does. Mine, after a short while, will begin to pitch up or down and then continue to pitch more and more in that direction. It doesn't matter how slow or fast the aircraft gets, the nose will keep going in one direction. Every other aircraft I've tried will predictably have the nose come up when it gets more airspeed, or have the nose go down as it loses airspeed. However, the Kodiak does not. See videos below:

Climbing

Falling

Also I notice the A/C controls don't show the desired cockpit temp, as below:

And lastly the ESI500 doesn't display the airspeed properly when showing a 3 digit speed:

I have reinstalled the aircraft and nothing has changed.Could you please check yours for me if you have this plane? Appreciated! Would like to know if it's a problem at my end or not.

Edited March 25, 20242 yr by s0cks

It's not just you.

I've seen the same things ; hugely disappointing given the positive reviews.

3 hours ago, s0cks said:

Am I wrong? Is my install corrupt?

No.

They just announced on their Discord that there's a "maintenance plan" for the Kodiak which includes "big", spaced out updates. The ESI500 and climate control will be reworked, new cockpit modelling and texturing is announced as well as updating the G1000 display with the improved possibilities of the Wt plugin system. Unfortunately no word about flight dynamics, but it is said that it will receive the same updates as the soon to be revealed -900 model. Maybe flight dynamics will be affected then. Even more unfortunate is a definite "no"  with regards to bringing the engine simulation to the same level as their recently released PC-12, as it has flaws as well (Ng limit instead of ITT in climb).

I was going to say that - given the FDE disaster of their PC-12 - I think SWS struggle with flight dynamics.

Then I remembered my all time favourite LSA in any flight sim platform is the SWS CH701 STOL.  I have over 200 hours in the real aircraft, and (although the simulated aircraft has the 80hp engine and I've only ever flown the 100hp version) that thing flies remarkably well and is very convincing.

But yes, despite all the praise for it, I've never found the Kodiak pleasant or convincing to fly.   It's a heck of a lot better than their (sideways landing) PC-12 though! ... that thing turns into a helicopter on short finals.

Edited March 25, 20242 yr by JYW

Oh bummer. I was hoping it was an issue at my end that I might be able to sort.

It is definitely disappointing given this plane receives a lot of praise yet doesn't even fly properly. Does everyone just use AP or something and not trim out their planes? It's shame, because the model itself is very beautiful.

Quote

Then I remembered my all time favourite LSA in any flight sim platform is the SWS CH701 STOL.  I have over 200 hours in the real aircraft, and (although the simulated aircraft has the 80hp engine and I've only ever flown the 100hp version) that thing flies remarkably well and is very convincing.

Yes, I really like their CH701 and their RV-14. Not that I've ever flown anything IRL, but they feel good to fly in the sim nevertheless.

Edited March 25, 20242 yr by s0cks

1 hour ago, JYW said:

But yes, despite all the praise for it, I've never found the Kodiak pleasant or convincing to fly.   It's a heck of a lot better than their (sideways landing) PC-12 though!

But the PC-12 'know-it-all' FO on their Discord is still condescendingly claiming everyone is just flying it incorrectly and nothing is wrong with it!!🤣  This was my second SWS aircraft (first being the Kodiak) that has been shelved.  Fool me once....

7 minutes ago, Flic1 said:

But the PC-12 'know-it-all' FO on their Discord is still condescendingly claiming everyone is just flying it incorrectly and nothing is wrong with it!!🤣  This was my second SWS aircraft (first being the Kodiak) that has been shelved.  Fool me once....

Exactly!   Well said.  😎

In the X-Plane world, there are a few devs that contract out the FDE to a specialist.  Like Aerobask; they contract out the sound to the most talented sound engineer in the FS world (IMO), Daniela Rodriguez, and they contract out the FDE to X-Dynamics (may have got that name slightly wrong).   The result = a darn near perfect model!

I wish SWS would bite the bullet and get someone else to create the FDE.  The PC-12 is so darn good in every other area; model, textures, and gorgeous sound.   But you cannot put up with the worst FDE in FS history* just to enjoy those ancilliaries.

*Yes, I'm erring on the side of hyperbole there!

Edited March 25, 20242 yr by JYW

Ah the good old Kodiak, one of the best looking plane interiors ever made. The details are lovely made (spiral cables, fire extinguishers - everything ultra high polygon and nothing looks angular and shabby) therefore the immersion and comfort inside is outstanding.

Well... the only detail I don´t like about this plane is the lack of analog gauges 🙂 but is there even a Kodiak with Steam gauges? I don´t know.

And yes the backup ADI sometimes has the middle digit jump around or missing, but not always, and I have fixed a small glitch on the interior carpet texture. Otherwise the plane seems perfect from a visual point of view, but it flies a bit unstable for a high-winged plane. High winged planes are known to be absolute easygoing and 100% stable.

1 hour ago, JetCat said:

Ah the good old Kodiak, one of the best looking plane interiors ever made. The details are lovely made (spiral cables, fire extinguishers - everything ultra high polygon and nothing looks angular and shabby) therefore the immersion and comfort inside is outstanding.

Well... the only detail I don´t like about this plane is the lack of analog gauges 🙂 but is there even a Kodiak with Steam gauges? I don´t know.

And yes the backup ADI sometimes has the middle digit jump around or missing, but not always, and I have fixed a small glitch on the interior carpet texture. Otherwise the plane seems perfect from a visual point of view, but it flies a bit unstable for a high-winged plane. High winged planes are known to be absolute easygoing and 100% stable.

 

Yes the ESI500 is ok if it's two 1's I found. It's just a simple text wrapping bug I think. Not sure how you got your A/C set temp to show up. I see you like your airplanes to be toasty tho 🙂 @ 27C!

I purchased the Black Square Caravan and that flies beautifully. It's sort of how I would imagine the Kodiak actually flies.

You are right though. The Kodiak is beautiful to look at inside and out (despite being glass), but I've lost confidence in it's flight modelling now, so it's just sitting in the hanger not doing much.

Edited April 2, 20242 yr by s0cks

I feel that SWS produces really nice aircraft, but I do agree the PC12 needs some sort of rudder adjustments.  I've seen a lot of complaints about this issue too.  I'm certain they will fix it though.

17 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

I feel that SWS produces really nice aircraft, but I do agree the PC12 needs some sort of rudder adjustments.  I've seen a lot of complaints about this issue too.  I'm certain they will fix it though.

You're always reasonable. Haha.

The Kodak was an ok plane early in the development of MSFS; there was not much else available back when it was released. I hangered this one a long time ago and after a long time of no use uninstalled it. I did not buy the PC12 but followed all the threads about it carefully -- as it the kind of plane I enjoy the most in MSFS -- and decided not to purchase it. SWS is on my "be cautious" list now.

The fact that I enjoy flying the Black Square C208 Caravan much more than this, demonstrates my thoughts on it.