Gustav_Klimt

Hello everyone, I would like to share a successful compatibility test of the Carenado Pilatus PC-12 HD Series V2 in Prepar3D v6 (64-bit). After several successful legacy add-on installations in Prepar3D v6, I decided to test the Carenado PC-12 V2, purchased legally from Aerosoft. The good news: The aircraft works very well in my Prepar3D v6 installation, including Reality XP GNS 530 GPS navigation, autopilot-guided RNAV approaches and ILS approaches. 1. Installation methodI used a separate Prepar3D v4 dummy installation directory instead of installing directly into my working P3D v6 environment. Example directory: C:\P3D_Dummy\Prepar3D_v4_PC12 In the Carenado installer, I selected P3D v4 and manually pointed the installation to this folder. After installation and activation, I copied the aircraft components into a separate external add-on directory: C:\P3D_Test_Addons\Carenado_PC12_P3Dv6 The following folders were copied: Carenado Effects Fonts Gauges SimObjects Sound I created an add-on.xml file with the necessary SimObjects, Gauges, Effects, Sound and Fonts entries and registered the aircraft using the Lorby Add-on Organizer. This keeps the Prepar3D v6 installation separate from the original aircraft files. 2. Compatibility of gaugesI checked the architecture of the installed binary gauges using PowerShell. The Carenado sound and EX500 DLL files were identified as 64-bit modules. However, PC12_Cabin_alt.gau was identified as a 32-bit gauge and cannot run directly inside the 64-bit simulator. I disabled the corresponding entry in the external aircraft's panel.cfg: //gauge09=PC12_Cabin_alt!C340_PRESS, 0,0,1,1 All other original panel entries were initially retained. The aircraft subsequently loaded correctly in Prepar3D v6 with functioning exterior model, virtual cockpit, EFIS instruments, engine instruments, sounds and PT6 engine operation. 3. Reality XP GNS 530 integrationCarenado states that its own Reality XP GNS integration is not available for Prepar3D users. However, I successfully integrated my existing Reality XP GNS 530 using the Reality XP Panel Setup Assistant. I selected: Configure Reality XP GNS Popup Windows One Window GNS 530 as the primary GPS unit The assistant created an additional managed GPS popup window (Window09) using rxpGNS2!GNS_530_1. The original Carenado GPS instruments remain visible in the virtual cockpit. The Reality XP GNS 530 successfully completed its self-test, and the aircraft loaded without error messages. 4. Successful IFR test flight: LXGB to LEMGI performed a complete flight from Gibraltar (LXGB) to Málaga (LEMG). The following systems were operating simultaneously: Prepar3D v6 on Windows 11 Carenado Pilatus PC-12 V2 Reality XP GNS 530 Active Sky and ASCA Two independent virtual cockpit views on two monitors Henrik Nielsen / GAIST AI ship traffic Custom marine navigation lights During the flight, I successfully tested: ADF navigation GPS NAV using Reality XP VLOC navigation using Reality XP RNAV approach with Reality XP and the PC-12 autopilot Subsequent ILS approach using Reality XP All tested functions behaved plausibly and no hardware or software problems were observed. 5. Current limitationsThe original 32-bit cabin pressurization gauge remains disabled. Its functionality has not yet been fully investigated. This is an individual compatibility report, not an official compatibility statement from Carenado or a guarantee for all P3D v6 installations. All aircraft and avionics software used in these tests was legally licensed. No copyrighted aircraft files or gauges are being redistributed. ConclusionThe Carenado PC-12 V2 has become a very useful high-performance single-engine turboprop aircraft for IFR procedure training in my Prepar3D v6 setup. The combination of Reality XP GNS 530, the original EFIS instruments and the PC-12 autopilot has performed very well during the completed flight tests. I hope this information is useful to other Prepar3D users who want to continue using their legally purchased legacy aircraft. I would be happy to share further details of the external add-on configuration and testing procedure. Happy flying!