6 hours ago, Purr said:

I'm enjoying the Kodiak and would say it's an improvement in many ways. However, take offs are wild and nearly uncontrollable. Rudder sensitivity (and consequently nose-wheel steering) is really sensitive. In addition, cross-winds are resulting in the airplane nearly starting to tip and bank in the takeoff roll (even with full opposite aileron into the wind). I'm not sure if this is the ground friction model or what but they are roller coaster takeoffs. I have my trims for rudder and elevator set correctly, weight and balance is normal and within limits cg. Anyone else have this?

Another note is that rudder and elevator trim are ridiculously fast, so it is very easy for the trim to become an oscillating "chase". Doesn't seem to be a way to slow the trim rate. I don't want to reduce effectiveness, but rate. Any ideas in the flight model.cfg for this?

I do note that trim movement seems suspect in a number of ways. 

In terms of the flight dynamics, I’m actually rather pleased, especially with pattern work. No problems with controllability at all. 🤙

18 hours ago, sd_flyer said:

After flying Kodiak several times I believe there is an issue with lateral stability (pitch). Because of that at low speed Kodiak looses elevator authority roll over and crash.
According  to RL pilots Kodiak has better stall performance than Caravan and can be recovered from the stall using ailerons instead of rudders .

I have also noticed excessive drag due to flaps 

The bottom line I believe Kodiak FM requires a lot of adjustments. 

Flap drag, yes. And they’ve announced a fix for that in “Update 2” at an undetermined date 😁

I personally have been flying this quite a bit to compare it to the Hi Fi REP version in X-Plane, and I haven’t noticed any overt problems with handling in any regard. Including a bunch of laps around a literal mountainside dirt strip. 

1 hour ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Flap drag, yes. And they’ve announced a fix for that in “Update 2” at an undetermined date 😁

I personally have been flying this quite a bit to compare it to the Hi Fi REP version in X-Plane, and I haven’t noticed any overt problems with handling in any regard. Including a bunch of laps around a literal mountainside dirt strip. 

Try to fly with full gross weight 

12 hours ago, sd_flyer said:

Try to fly with full gross weight 

Added pax & fuel up to 200lbs under MTOW.

Flew the pattern half a dozen times with varying flap settings.

Other than a longer take off roll and a bit more inertia, there were zero problems, and certainly no crashes or near crashes. Handling remained pleasant, predictable, and fluid.

🤙

1 hour ago, UrgentSiesta said:

Added pax & fuel up to 200lbs under MTOW.

Flew the pattern half a dozen times with varying flap settings.

Other than a longer take off roll and a bit more inertia, there were zero problems, and certainly no crashes or near crashes. Handling remained pleasant, predictable, and fluid.

🤙

Here is problem I have with lateral stability. In real aircraft you don't juggle yoke to maintain pitch. You power, pitch, and trim. Aircraft should maintain desire angle with only little yoke adjustment and mostly due to turbulence. What you call inertia to me more like stability issue. If you compare the same behavior in BS Caravan you notice that it more stable in pitch. In contrast, Kodiak constantly depart from desired pitch and very hard to stabilize with elevator trim. While it may appear authentic/inertia it would be a case with Kodiak. Kodiak actually known to be a bit superior to Caravan in many respects.

In real aircraft you can't  juggle with yoke with constantly fighting departing pitch. The reason for that is because pitch control airspeed as well.  With changing pitch you  either bleed and increase airspeed. In turn, changes in speed constitutes increase or decrease control pressure and calls for trim/power adjustment (power, pitch, trim). I found it's difficult the maintain constant airspeed with steady power and stabilize Kodiak with trim. I flown numerous smaller aircraft but never experienced anything like . If Piper Malibu would qualify for something closer to Kodiak, it also didn't manifest behave like that. I know that one of limit of simulation is that user don't experience control pressure forces, and you can continuously "toss" joystick without realizing you won't be able to do it IRL.

Can I fly SWS Kodiak take off, cruise and land? Yes, but doesn't seem right to me. I can demo flying real GA by means of just power trim and rudder without touching a yoke. SWS Kodiak doesn't show expected lateral stability. And it get worse as gross weight goes up. The vid below (I found on YouTube) demonstrate real Kodiak 100 lateral stability (pitch) to be very good. You notice yoke movement minimal for pitch. You can see pitch adjustments, and small power adjustment in the turn (this is due to vertical component of lift in turn become smaller)

 

 

5 hours ago, sd_flyer said:

Here is problem I have with lateral stability. In real aircraft you don't juggle yoke to maintain pitch. You power, pitch, and trim. Aircraft should maintain desire angle with only little yoke adjustment and mostly due to turbulence. What you call inertia to me more like stability issue. If you compare the same behavior in BS Caravan you notice that it more stable in pitch. In contrast, Kodiak constantly depart from desired pitch and very hard to stabilize with elevator trim. While it may appear authentic/inertia it would be a case with Kodiak. Kodiak actually known to be a bit superior to Caravan in many respects.

In real aircraft you can't  juggle with yoke with constantly fighting departing pitch. The reason for that is because pitch control airspeed as well.  With changing pitch you  either bleed and increase airspeed. In turn, changes in speed constitutes increase or decrease control pressure and calls for trim/power adjustment (power, pitch, trim). I found it's difficult the maintain constant airspeed with steady power and stabilize Kodiak with trim. I flown numerous smaller aircraft but never experienced anything like . If Piper Malibu would qualify for something closer to Kodiak, it also didn't manifest behave like that. I know that one of limit of simulation is that user don't experience control pressure forces, and you can continuously "toss" joystick without realizing you won't be able to do it IRL.

Can I fly SWS Kodiak take off, cruise and land? Yes, but doesn't seem right to me. I can demo flying real GA by means of just power trim and rudder without touching a yoke. SWS Kodiak doesn't show expected lateral stability. And it get worse as gross weight goes up. The vid below (I found on YouTube) demonstrate real Kodiak 100 lateral stability (pitch) to be very good. You notice yoke movement minimal for pitch. You can see pitch adjustments, and small power adjustment in the turn (this is due to vertical component of lift in turn become smaller)

 

 

Though it’s been awhile, I’m passingly familiar with how IRL bugsmashers handle. 😉

And I’m familiar with how many addons handle in the sim vs IRL. 👍

And I use words like “inertia” purposely. Esp given how flighty many (many) addons behave. 

You should note that I’m also careful not to authoritatively pronounce the Kodiak (or really any addon bigger than a bugsmasher) as being “realistic” in any way. 

Only that it’s rather pleasant to fly, especially relative to many of the other addons out there.

The point being that you’ve stated at least a couple of times now that the addon is nearly uncontrollable under normal operating conditions, and that simply isn’t true. 🤙

 

Holy moly that is a crazy takeoff. Demonstrates the power in the Kodiak. Does seem unnecessarily unsafe though with such a high angle of attack so low to the ground. But then I guess that's maybe the point of the video to be show-offy. Nice cockpit video, I really loved the low rumble of the turbine while at idle on the ground, maybe a bit more bass need for the MSFS version! 

Subsequently, with some rudder adjustment I found it better on takeoff but it seemed like a similar issue to the PC12 that went on and on. If you don't rotate at the right speed (eg. max 65 knots), and then try to rotate, it goes crazy and you get a wing tip into the runway and crazy uncontrollable yaw. (and I'm not talking about Vr at 120kts for example). Still testing tho...but otherwise I really like it.

Why do i not have passengers and copilot 🙂 Is it related to my Avatar settings?

Cargo is loaded visually as well

Thanks

Michael Moe

2 hours ago, Purr said:

Holy moly that is a crazy takeoff. Demonstrates the power in the Kodiak. Does seem unnecessarily unsafe though with such a high angle of attack so low to the ground. But then I guess that's maybe the point of the video to be show-offy. Nice cockpit video, I really loved the low rumble of the turbine while at idle on the ground, maybe a bit more bass need for the MSFS version! 

Subsequently, with some rudder adjustment I found it better on takeoff but it seemed like a similar issue to the PC12 that went on and on. If you don't rotate at the right speed (eg. max 65 knots), and then try to rotate, it goes crazy and you get a wing tip into the runway and crazy uncontrollable yaw. (and I'm not talking about Vr at 120kts for example). Still testing tho...but otherwise I really like it.

That's right there is the main reason I love turboprops - even "boring" fixed gear cargo haulers like this one!

FWIW, the AoA there isn't excessive - you can see that he's comfortably maintaining the same airspeed (looks like roughly 80kts). BUT, you're right in that the PITCH angle is downright impressive! 🙂 

For my takeoffs in just about any aircraft, I always set take off trim, and at least a few seconds before Vmu/Vr, I'm applying additional light back pressure to ensure the nose gear unloads. i'm not trying to force the plane off the ground - just letting it comfortably transition into a nose-up attitude so it can lift off when it's ready. Works a charm and absolutely no drama.👍

Edited April 2Apr 2 by UrgentSiesta

2 hours ago, Purr said:

Subsequently, with some rudder adjustment I found it better on takeoff but it seemed like a similar issue to the PC12 that went on and on.

Absolutely. SWS have quite a history of decidedly questionable flight handling characteristics; on first releases of their planes.  The PC-12 was a true hot mess on release.  It's now really nice.  It seems to take SWS some time to reach a good balance with their FMs.

4 minutes ago, JYW said:

Absolutely. SWS have quite a history of decidedly questionable flight handling characteristics; on first releases of their planes.  The PC-12 was a true hot mess on release.  It's now really nice.  It seems to take SWS some time to reach a good balance with their FMs.

For REAL - I bought both of them when they first came out and then shoved them in the back of the hangar for years after just a few flights. 

They say they didn’t do any flight model changes for this 2024 version, and so I don’t know when it started handling well. But it’s come a long, long way, IMHO.

7 minutes ago, JYW said:

Absolutely. SWS have quite a history of decidedly questionable flight handling characteristics; on first releases of their planes.  The PC-12 was a true hot mess on release.  It's now really nice.  It seems to take SWS some time to reach a good balance with their FMs.

Not just that, but they push back on feedback at times.  They kept insisting that the feedback on the PC12 was wrong, but eventually changed it.  A couple of knots of xwind would send the PC12 hurling off the runway.  Although they do seem more open to feedback now.  

Anyway, anyone check the marketplace to see if the 2024 version is available there yet?  Hoping we don't have to wait another week.  

21 minutes ago, JYW said:

Absolutely. SWS have quite a history of decidedly questionable flight handling characteristics; on first releases of their planes.  The PC-12 was a true hot mess on release.  It's now really nice.  It seems to take SWS some time to reach a good balance with their FMs.

I think they tried to be a bit too 'clever' with the original PC-12 release and attempted to model the rudder-aileron interconnect as faithfully as possible. 

It was a nice idea but the reality was adverse yaw and a bit too much low speed excitement...

Into St. Barts....just about....at dusk.

 

v2.1.6 out on the SWS site - 

Visuals

Exterior

Fixed inverted aileron animation

Chocks now sit correctly on different wheel types

Fixed missing tail number on Skydive variants

Unified elevators into one skinned object to allow highlighting during preflight

Fixed protruding cargo pod items at rear of aircraft

Improved metallic screws around engine cowling

Fixed misaligned right brake fixture

Interior

Added Environmental Control circuit breaker

Fixed unsmoothed sides on pedals

Fixed problems with amphibian gear panel toggling with NAV lights

Systems

Engine

Fixed broken emergency power lever

Electrical

Activated environmental control circuit breaker

Fixed typos in electrical system causing some circuits to behave unexpectedly

Environmental Control

Corrected bugs with heater connections

Corrected bug where heaters would draw power when turned off

Autostart

Autostart will initialise the MFD when the starting procedure is completed

Exits

Exit knobs now use L:1 variables instead of smoke, to fix compatibility with YourControls

Trim

Trim speed decreased to allow for finer trimming

Autopilot

Corrections to yaw damper power system

Yoke

AP DISC will also disconnect yaw damper

Effects

Exhaust Heat

Replaced MSFS 2020 exhaust effects with MSFS 2024 ones

Exhaust effects adjusted to be less intense when in the cockpit

Exhaust effects disabled in cockpit view in VR

Avionics

G1000 NXi

Modified pitot circuits to use explicit circuit IDs, fixing erroneous PITOT FAIL messages

SafeFlight AoA Indexer

Fixed indication when aircraft is still and on the ground

Flight Files

Fixed amphibian FLT files causing wrong circuit initialisations

General cleanup of file contents

Parking brake now set by default in apron.flt to prevent aircraft from rolling when removing chocks

Code

Ignition and master electrical switches now support B:Events

General code clean-ups to various XML files

Career Mode

Preflight

All covers can now be hidden and placed

Fixed inoperative right pitot clickspot

Increased interaction range for engine covers

Elevator now highlights when selected in preflight

Added missing preflight helpers for oil dipstick and elevator