Black Square Duke Released!

[Rocky_53]

18 hours ago, skully said:

Good day to you.

[martinboehme]

On 8/12/2024 at 3:02 PM, Rocky_53 said:

Forgive me if this has been asked elsewhere in the thread, but I haven't read every post. Although I like the Duke a lot, at least when it was produced by RealAir for P3d, can anyone give me their opinion of a fair comparison between the Black Square version in MS compared with the RealAir version in P3d, in relation to the flight dynamics, without taking the comparison too literally, I mean, have they done as good a job on the FDE as A2A has on the Comanche for example? 

Comparisons like these are always bound to be subjective, and while I do have the A2A Comanche, I've never flown the RealAir Duke. But since no one else has answered, I'll give it a shot.

I find the Black Square Duke pleasing to hand-fly, and while I don't have any real-world experience in twins, I find the flight model believable based on how I imagine this category of airplane would handle. The developer emphasizes the effort they have gone to in making sure the airplane makes the "book" numbers, and my experience with the addon bears this out.

How does it compare to the Comanche? That's a hard question to answer -- I've never compared them side by side, but I think of both of them in the same way: A flight model that I find pleasing and convincing to fly and that hits real-world performance numbers.

One area where I would say the Comanche does have a slight edge is the engine model. That's probably not too surprising: A2A use an external engine model, and as a result the fidelity of the engine modeling is probably second to none. The Duke has a lot of custom engine coding too, as I understand, for example for the turbocharger behavior on the piston version, but it does have some oddities, principally regarding the way fuel flow changes when mixture is adjusted. (The developer has acknowledged that the behavior here isn't quite correct, and they plan to address this in a future update.) That said, the Duke engine model is still very, very good.

On a recent flight, I noticed that the EGTs for the right engine were noticeably higher than the left engine, even though all the settings -- throttle, prop, mixture -- were the same. I couldn't explain this to myself at the time, but after landing, I checked the failures tab on the EFB and realized a magneto had failed. Increased EGT is a symptom of this, as I've now learned.

I've flown the turbine version less, so I can't say as much about it, but my impression is that the turboprop is also modeled very well. And the sounds are the best of any turboprop I've flown in MSFS -- the beta range is sooooo deliciously satisfying. A turboprop without a good beta growl is just not a turboprop in my book.

In summary, if you're contemplating getting the Black Square Duke, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's one of the most satisfying MSFS addons in my book.

[martinboehme]

In other news -- my tour of Norway in the Grand Duke is now complete. Last leg from Longyearbyen ENSB to Ny-Ålesund ENAS:

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/scenic-flight-from-oslo-to-alesund-with-a-surprise-edit-continued-north/642867/11

@Cpt_Piett @Stoopy

I did this leg a few days ago but only now got round to writing it up. Good thing I did it when I did it -- the weather turned bad the next day.

Ny-Ålesund is a small research settlement at almost 79 degrees north that was originally founded as a mining town at the start of the 20th century. I didn't know much about it before I flew there in the sim, but after reading up about it I've developed a fascination for this place. (I have links to a couple of videos in the flight report above.) A freeware addon for the airport is available on flightsim.to, but it's pretty rudimentary. I've decided I want to do better and have started learning how to use Blender. So in a sense my trip still isn't complete...

[Rocky_53]

14 hours ago, martinboehme said:

Comparisons like these are always bound to be subjective, and while I do have the A2A Comanche, I've never flown the RealAir Duke. But since no one else has answered, I'll give it a shot.

I find the Black Square Duke pleasing to hand-fly, and while I don't have any real-world experience in twins, I find the flight model believable based on how I imagine this category of airplane would handle. The developer emphasizes the effort they have gone to in making sure the airplane makes the "book" numbers, and my experience with the addon bears this out.

How does it compare to the Comanche? That's a hard question to answer -- I've never compared them side by side, but I think of both of them in the same way: A flight model that I find pleasing and convincing to fly and that hits real-world performance numbers.

One area where I would say the Comanche does have a slight edge is the engine model. That's probably not too surprising: A2A use an external engine model, and as a result the fidelity of the engine modeling is probably second to none. The Duke has a lot of custom engine coding too, as I understand, for example for the turbocharger behavior on the piston version, but it does have some oddities, principally regarding the way fuel flow changes when mixture is adjusted. (The developer has acknowledged that the behavior here isn't quite correct, and they plan to address this in a future update.) That said, the Duke engine model is still very, very good.

On a recent flight, I noticed that the EGTs for the right engine were noticeably higher than the left engine, even though all the settings -- throttle, prop, mixture -- were the same. I couldn't explain this to myself at the time, but after landing, I checked the failures tab on the EFB and realized a magneto had failed. Increased EGT is a symptom of this, as I've now learned.

I've flown the turbine version less, so I can't say as much about it, but my impression is that the turboprop is also modeled very well. And the sounds are the best of any turboprop I've flown in MSFS -- the beta range is sooooo deliciously satisfying. A turboprop without a good beta growl is just not a turboprop in my book.

In summary, if you're contemplating getting the Black Square Duke, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's one of the most satisfying MSFS addons in my book.

Ah Martin, many thanks for such a detailed and much appreciated reply. That is very helpful. Cheers. 

[Azapata87]

Late to the party but I am absolutely in love with the Dukes. 

[dusty_sourdough907]

"Put yer Duke's up" they said.

I did.....piston in the left 👊, turbine in the right 👊.

They are...as others have said, phenomenal ❤️❤️

[sloppysmusic]

On 8/16/2024 at 9:14 AM, Rocky_53 said:

Ah Martin, many thanks for such a detailed and much appreciated reply.

 I do own both the JF msfs Dukes and the RealAir v2 planes in fsx /p3d. I also have used both recently as I purchased p3d just to fly my favorite old planes in fsx such as Dukes, Legacy and pmdg Md11/747.

Its ALL about the planes for me. I fly whatever sim has the best version I don't care about scenery. It's a bonus not why I sim. I also own all the a2a ac in fsx and in msfs (one lol). 

The msfs Dukes are excellent addons. One of the very few planes that actually make me want to use msfs. They had engine model bugs on release, fixed now. The turbine model is a little fussy. Almost impossible to get to cruise without engine damage showing on the display. You can repair it in the air though. The RealAir is more forgiving UNLESS you over do it for too long, when you'll get a harsh warning then sudden engine loss with no way to fix until you've managed your single engine diversion (unless you've blown that one up to!) 

Both the RealAir and JF Dukes are classics imo. The grand Duke JF is up there with the a2a comanche as maybe the best addon in msfs. I'm incredibly picky about accuracy. Not blinded by looks, only interested in function. 

You will not be disappointed with the JF Dukes!