I find myself pining for a "serious" GA trainer with modern features.

Usually I skip anything that's fixed gear, but hey, I'd love to have one of these IRL, so who am I to complain? 😁

I could also get most of the things that are important to me in the REP available for the Default SR22, but I'm willing to keep an open mind.

So if you've got it, how is it these days, after being out for a good many years at this point...?

Or...I could do the exact opposite and get the FF 777 for almost exactly the same $$ 😂

49 minutes ago, UrgentSiesta said:

I find myself pining for a "serious" GA trainer with modern features.

this is phenomenal for the price tag.

https://forums.x-plane.org/files/file/89178-king-air-c90b-evo-g1000-blackhawk/

 

19 hours ago, mSparks said:

this is phenomenal for the price tag.

https://forums.x-plane.org/files/file/89178-king-air-c90b-evo-g1000-blackhawk/

 

Oh, yes - that one is already in the hangar!

I'm looking for something "simple", tho.

The TS SR22 is also available as part of an AATD package for IRL training, so it must be a good/great addon.

I'm just looking for opinions, etc (like is it being maintained, etc).

And especially whether it's worth 6x as much as the REP upgrade to the Default.

Maybe,maybe not 👍

It is my most flown aircraft in any simulator, I have read reviews from owners of the aircraft and everyone is delighted, I love it.

Edited July 7, 2025Jul 7 by Aglos77

I have both versions and love them both. Though the Entegra is a little more taxing on FPS on my machine. Both fly fine along with the additional supported versions. Well worth the purchase IMO. 🤠👍

I have the G1000 version of the TS SR22 and have been very happy with it. But I'm not a real pilot so my opinion is probably somewhere south of worthless.

I will say that it has been updated on a reasonably regular basis as necessary. 

Edited July 7, 2025Jul 7 by Malaromane

6 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

And especially whether it's worth 6x as much as the REP upgrade to the Default.

I dont have either personally.

Q8 rates it #1 piston plane of any simulator

XP12 hasnt done anything to break aircraft recently, quite the opposite, so it should still be perfect.

I think the relevant saying here is probably buy cheap, buy twice.

Edited July 7, 2025Jul 7 by mSparks

18 hours ago, mSparks said:

I dont have either personally.

Q8 rates it #1 piston plane of any simulator

XP12 hasnt done anything to break aircraft recently, quite the opposite, so it should still be perfect.

I think the relevant saying here is probably buy cheap, buy twice.

I really appreciate Q8, and love his high quality vids.

But he's - perforce - a superficial reviewer because of all the flight sims and add-ons in which he flies. I see him regularly make mistakes in streams and such...

I guess my reservations on the TS SR22 are more about the performance limitations of the aircraft itself than the quality of the addon. 

E.g., if the 300kt Hot Start TBM were available for XP 12, I'd never even consider the 180kt SR 22. At 180-ish, I feel like I'm better off in the XT AW109 😎

Edited July 8, 2025Jul 8 by UrgentSiesta

3 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

E.g., if the 300kt Hot Start TBM were available for XP 12, I'd never even consider the 180kt SR 22. At 180-ish, I feel like I'm better off in the XT AW109

Have you tried the default N844X (me realising I never even got round to starting her up), she's 315kt G1000 equipped.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2025Jul 8 by mSparks

1 hour ago, mSparks said:

Have you tried the default N844X (me realising I never even got round to starting her up), she's 315kt G1000 equipped.

Oh, yes - that was a Release Day flight for me!

I remember Austin himself saying "it flies just like the real thing" - and he should know 😁

I guess what it boils down to is how "study level" is it...? The Defaults are good, but there's only so much dev time that can reasonably be spent on them...

E.g., I like knowing I have to mostly do things "just like IRL" or the engine will fail, etc.

And I'm sure it's pretty good, at the very least.

But then I wonder about why then would SimCoders REP have such a good, longstanding reputation if their upgrade pack weren't worth it...? I have it for a few of the Defaults, and their excellent Marchetti.

And I would LOVE to have a REP for the Lancair - might not fly anything else if that came along. 👍

So for a "basic" turboprop I instead tend to fly the old Thranda Kodiak from v11 with REP, since REP allows it to function properly in v12.

Buuuut, as nicely as it flies, the Kodiak is slower than I want to go.

Etc., etc....

These are all "First World Problems", I realize, but like you correctly said: buy once, cry once. 😆

1 hour ago, UrgentSiesta said:

But then I wonder about why then would SimCoders REP have such a good, longstanding reputation if their upgrade pack weren't worth it...?

there is an implicit question in there I will do my best to answer, sorry if you know this already, but worth answering because I'm sure others don't.

For the real aircraft, most of the time spent getting "time on type" for the type rating is getting familiar with "the numbers".

That means knowing (purely hypothetical) when you have 200kg of cargo, and climbing at 500fpm at 80kts, engine RPM should be 2000rpm, and the same lever positions as the last time you were climbing at 500fpm at 80kts with 200kg of cargo.

knowing these numbers helps you spot e.g. problems early before they become serious problems (for example needing 2500rpm to climb at 500fpm)

generally speaking

default xplane has an engine, it works or it doesn't, maybe it flys close to the numbers.

Simcoders REP lets you realistically simulate things like a failed oil pump that you will likely experience irl given enough time, and the lack of maintenance that got you there.

Torquesims Offering (by the looks of it) recreates everything in intricate detail,  

3 quite different goals, (and I'm am sure they are) all outstanding within the confines of what they set out to achieve, with different price points depending on just how deep you really want to go.

I'm sure the N844X hits all Austins numbers, but you can't fail the oil pump, just the engine.

When you see how the movement affects your fuel you will realise the level of detail of this aircraft.

Torquesim has one flaw and that is that they don't advertise the depth of their aircraft too much.

1 hour ago, Aglos77 said:

When you see how the movement affects your fuel you will realise the level of detail of this aircraft.

Torquesim has one flaw and that is that they don't advertise the depth of their aircraft too much.

Ha!

I have their Citation and it's a wonderful experience, for sure.

My only hesitation with the SR22 is how much I'll use it... 👍

I recommend the Avidyne SR22.  Mostly because it supports the TDS GTNxi (via legacy drop in not natively).  And with TDS using crossfill it's a no brainer.  I actually own the G1000 version but I really don't like how the XP G1000 looks... far from the real one.  The TS team have done a nice job with customizing it and that's not what I mean... but it doesn't look real at all.  It's probably the fonts or something.  

An excellent addon!

 

20 hours ago, UrgentSiesta said:

I guess what it boils down to is how "study level" is it...? The Defaults are good, but there's only so much dev time that can reasonably be spent on them...

E.g., I like knowing I have to mostly do things "just like IRL" or the engine will fail, etc.

Not sure what you're after, but the Evolution has to be handled with care because it's a grossly oversized engine for a grossly undersized airframe. If pulling off the runway due to slamming the power lever forward isn't enough to consider flying it by the book, here's something that will make you at least fly it below the engine's red lines (assuming these are correctly set in PlaneMaker): https://github.com/JT8D-17/XLua-Utils-for-X-Plane

Install this per the instructions, then activate the "engine damage" module and enable any parameter making sense for the engine type (and having a proper red line value set). Exceed said red line and get an increasing chance for component failure.

 

1 hour ago, UrgentSiesta said:

My only hesitation with the SR22 is how much I'll use it... 👍

If you're into fast pistons, consider Aerobask's Legacy instead. That one at least has a retractable gear and a cockpit that does not look like a mid-90s family sedan.

 

Edited July 9, 2025Jul 9 by Bjoern