Don't Get me wrong the Dukes are amazing and if you want latest and greatest, they probably  your best bet.

The Dukes,are not favorite for personal reason.

The turbine feels like I am flying an army jet. The TBM feels like like what it is. A high quality business plane.

I also prefer the TBM over the 500. I don't really like the glass cockpit. Again personal preference.

I will say you can't go wrong with any of them as far as quality of aircraft.

 

32 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

I owned the RealAir Dukes in P3D and always found the piston engine version more fun to fly.  As noted above, the turbine version is finicky and demands attention (not of a good kind..), which is probably true to life.

In 2024, the problem I have with the Dukes, is the overall feel of the cockpit, which seems a bit cramped and has limited visibility out of the windshield.  In comparison, the TBM has a roomy cockpit with big windows.. which I appreciate.  The BS TBM is one of my favorite planes in 2024, but it is not officially supported in 2024.. and requires the sounds from the Asobo 2020 version.  So not a deal breaker.. but something to be aware of.

https://community.justflight.com/topic/7589/tbm850-in-2024

Bummer on the TBM sounds...

If I already owned it, I'd be willing to tinker a bit as I do with other addons. But if I'm going to plunk down cash for a new-to-me addon, I need it to more or less work right out of the box in v2024.

Does the Duke mostly work in v2024 without any fiddling...? I realize it's not officially supported, but from what I've read, it seems to work well enough.

I have both and like them both. I was a beta tester for RealAir's Robert Y turbine duke and really loved that version. For me it seemed a more immersive experience, digging deep into my memory. Personal observation, your mileage may vary. The current version available is very good though.

As to the FSR500..... I find I really like this creation and fly it more. I really enjoy the G1000 which I feel on the whole is well done. 

Were I to have a personal airplane should the big one come in it would be a hard decision. I believe in the RW the T-Duke is the least expensive of the collection of FSR500, T-Duke, PC12 etc. Plus it has 2 engines and for a guy who flew for a living for 40 years and has had turbines fail (not common but it happens) something to be said for having a spare. I think the T-Duke in real life with the -34 engines would be an amazing performer. The -21 less so but still nice.

I think it gets down to this.....If you like old school analog gauges and rip roaring performance the T-Duke would be a great choice. If you're into a more modern machine with a current up to date great panel and are happy going a little slower then the FSR500 is the one to have.

Just now, UrgentSiesta said:

Does the Duke mostly work in v2024 without any fiddling...? I realize it's not officially supported, but from what I've read, it seems to work well enough.

Ahhh....you're going to have to be careful here.

BlackSquare provides an installer for it's aircraft...at least it does if you buy from JustFlight and at the moment the installer only works for 2020.

If you have 2020 already installed then no problem, you can copy it into the 24 community folder. I'm sure Bert can give you a bit more detail on that.

I have the Duke in 24 because I originally bought it in a sale on the 2020 market place, therefore it's streamed into my 24 library.

The Dukes themselves work fine in 24...apart from the tablet I think. Some patience might be needed here....

Just now, DD_Arthur said:

Ahhh....you're going to have to be careful here.

BlackSquare provides an installer for it's aircraft...at least it does if you buy from JustFlight and at the moment the installer only works for 2020.

If you have 2020 already installed then no problem, you can copy it into the 24 community folder. I'm sure Bert can give you a bit more detail on that.

I have the Duke in 24 because I originally bought it in a sale on the 2020 market place, therefore it's streamed into my 24 library.

The Dukes themselves work fine in 24...apart from the tablet I think. Some patience might be needed here....

Great point! I do still have v2020 installed for that exact reason! 🙂

Right now, the best price seems to be on the MarketPlace, and for just under $30US, it's extremely tempting.

5 minutes ago, dbw1 said:

I think it gets down to this.....If you like old school analog gauges and rip roaring performance the T-Duke would be a great choice. If you're into a more modern machine with a current up to date great panel and are happy going a little slower then the FSR500 is the one to have.

Thank you! And I agree - those are exactly the reasons the Duke Turbine is so interesting to me. The FSR is a very "safe" addon to fly, even though well executed.

But the Duke seems to be an addon that demands more of the operator, and at least while i'm sitting safely at my desk, that's quite appealing 🙂

Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful input. 🙏

I figured for $25, I could "risk" the purchase. 😁

Haven't had time to give it a test flight, but have been diving into the docs and some videos from good folks. Looks like it's going to be a very involved addon - and that's a good thing! 🙂

On 4/20/2025 at 1:37 PM, UrgentSiesta said:

If anyone has both, how do you feel the FM/handling compares? or anything else...?

I have them both, two different worlds if you compare one to the other, both worth every penny. 

Don't hesitate and get the Duke, you won't regret it, I believe there is a special bundle offer going on right now at Just Flight where for the price of one you get both, turbine and piston.

So far I haven't encountered any incompatibility issues with Turbine Duke in 2024.

Edited April 22, 20251 yr by CarlosF

On 4/21/2025 at 2:05 PM, UrgentSiesta said:

Great point! I do still have v2020 installed for that exact reason! 🙂

Right now, the best price seems to be on the MarketPlace, and for just under $30US, it's extremely tempting.

Oh it's on sale?  No brainer.

The black square Dukes and TBM, as well as the FSR M500 are superb products!  You can't go wrong...buy them both/all.

4 minutes ago, ryanbatc said:

Oh it's on sale?  No brainer.

The black square Dukes and TBM, as well as the FSR M500 are superb products!  You can't go wrong...buy them both/all.

On the 2020 MarketPlace, it's $23(!) for either of the Dukes. I was really only interested in the Turbine, so I didn't consider the combo deal.

Got it there, installed, and then copied over to v2024. BUT it also showed up in the v2024 Content Manager as a streamed addon, which is kinda cool.

Have had the FSR500 for quite awhile and agree - it's a very nice addon/aircraft!

Based on what I've seen of the Duke, the "manual" nature of the engine controls and all the other "stuffs" is going to be quite an adjustment from the FSR. 👍