Don’t mean to be a pedant, but I’m right on the edge of spending exactly what I spent on the whole standard edition of the sim on one add-on and I want to be as sure as possible:
Are you saying you only fly this and the Wilga because the Wilga allows you to do bush trips, or are you saying that the way this handles is similar in fidelity to the Wilga?
I’ve heard a lot about ownership/persistence and failures and systems depths and stuff, and while all that is really impressive, the way I use the sim I care more about the dynamic aspects of the plane.
Everyone says this is far and beyond the best GA plane for the sim but what’s the gap, if you only look at how it behaves on the ground and in the air? If it didn’t have any of the systems, failures, persistence and stuff, would you still get it if you already had a hanger full of well regarded GA planes?
I’m not a pilot IRL, but I think the Comanche feels more realistic in terms of the way the aircraft handles on the ground and in the air.
All the systems and switches and stuff are all fully functional; (even the ashtrays open and close, LOL)
Bush-trips aside, compared to most of the default planes it doesn’t have that ‘arcade’ kinda feel to it. I really get more of a feeling of flying….hard for me to put into words…
I find the Wilga to be the same way.
Because of those two, the default airplanes just don’t do it for me anymore.
(Of course, this is just MHO and others may beg to differ.)
That’s good enough for me, so have pulled the trigger -
really looking forward to trying it out tonight.
It was maybe a mistake to look to YouTube for xbox impressions - one review of the marketplace update said there "wasn’t too much of interest ", and one of the comments called the Comanche “just an other ■■■■■■ prop plane”!
Horses for courses, I suppose!
Thanks Nick @SeaDuc for bringing this beauty to us GA Xbox simmers, it’s really appreciated.
The JustFlight Arrows were at the top of my GA list until the Comanche came out. The PA24 just has a more realistic feel than even the wonderful Arrows. The only reason I keep flying the Arrow is that its cockpit layout better resembles my desktop control configuration. The Comanche has kind of a unique (in my experience) control layout that is a little disorienting in VR.
Fun seeing all the folks now discovering this gem. If you are wondering, it is the best GA in the sim… the FSR 500 is good too, and Blacksquare does a nice job as well (look forward to the Dukes), but as someone who flies GA IRL… the Comanche feels and flies as close to a real airplane as it gets. They nailed it. And the walkaround, tablet, ownership experience etc makes it a heck of a lot of fun. If you can, buy it.
Wow! It feels so alive, with the fidelity of the feeback and all the small sounds. As we Boxers can’t use FSRealistc, I haven’t heard anything even half as good before.
I actually got a bit panicky just taxiing, I think because of the knowledge of how many ways I could prang it up!
On a slightly related note (asking for a friend), is it possible to put bald spots on your tires with being too heavy on the brakes?
IRL they are different class of aircraft the Turbo Arrow is turbo charged and hence will perform better at altitude and cruise once at altitude a lot faster.
In Sim:
the Turbo Arrow was ground breaking 3 years ago and offered features we had not seen before. it was exceptional when first released. It still holds up OK though is in need of some more updates but no longer stands out from the crowd the way it used to.
the Comanche is the current gold standard for immersion and realism. Nothing currently compares. A few other aircraft like the TBM850 and the Wilga come close in some areas but overall the Comanche is exceptional.
DISCLAIMER – regardless of how well modelled and amazing the Comanche is - it is STILL A COMANCHE - so 140-150 kt cruise and struggles over 12,000 feet.
As a PC user there is no need to restrict yourself to getting it from the MP unless you also fly with an Xbox as well. Buy direct with A2A and all of your support goes directly to the dev and you don’t get any of the other MP shortfalls.
I think that’s the only caveat. It’s not a negative, but the Comanche doesn’t fly fast or high, doesn’t fly really slow and is not STOL, doesn’t have amazing views from the cockpit (although views are quite good still). It’s tricycle not a tail dragger so easy to manage but not great for bush flying.
The plane itself is the kind of plane you might own because you just enjoy flying, it’s does everything fine but doesn’t stand out particularly in any area.
The A2A Comanche clearly stands out as an exceptional simulation of a middle of the road aeroplane, and that alone makes it worth flying.
You can’t own the C414 if you think it’s twice as good as anything else in the sim. It’s good for sure but it’s not so far ahead of everything else on sound but more in the mix of aircraft with a good sound package.
Haha, fair point - I do own the Chancellor actually, but haven’t flown it in probably too long.
Yeah, I’ll concede that it may be “shiny new toy” syndrome with the Comanche, but I don’t remember being that impressed by an overall soundscape before - the difference between tarmac and grass, the real rushing, suction of the air when you open the storm window etc.
And the engine just sounds ‘right’ and like you’re actually sat behind a real combustion engine doing it’s thing.
In any case, it’s great to see so many quality planes making their way to Xbox, especially in this case where I had absolutely no idea it was coming.
Everyone is a bit strong but certainly a lot of folks would put it at the top. Its very good indeed but it’s not the best in every area. Some of that is down to it being a Comanche so there’s not a lot the dev can do about that but some other things are not what I’d call class leading. The autopilot that was chosen is very basic and whilst I understand the reasons why it was chosen a much more capable one could have been implemented. Another is it not being compatible with the default sim fuel window so you are forced to use the tablet. I hate that.
Don’t get me wrong I really like the Comanche and enjoy flying it but it’s not the one stop shop only aircraft you’ll ever need dream that some may lead you to believe. We’ll certainly not IMHO. I wonder how many of those that proclaimed it’s all they fly when it first released are still Comanche exclusive pilots. Sure there may be some but once the next big thing releases most of the crowd are on that saying similar things. Just wanted to tone down a lot of the hype a lot of these releases tend to create with some perspective.
Of course, it could be retrofitted with an A320 FMC so that the annoying part of operating the plane can be circumvented. I certainly love different kinds of autopilots that have their own quirks and the one in the Comanche is a refreshing example of something different from all the same standard devices we know from other planes.
Another is it not being compatible with the default sim fuel window so you are forced to use the tablet.
I am thankful for every tablet that bypasses the atrocious default fuel window, which is an abomination and the one responsible for it should be tried in The Hague.
