The Comanche more than any airplane I’ve flown is susceptible to weather and turbulence.
A week ago in live weather was just gonna do a hop somewhere from Seattle and for the first time even in MSFS I turned around and said, “not today” as the wind, rain, cold temps and clouds were too much for the Comanche to handle. Though in a sim I was legit scared lol.
I didn’t mind it though; made the experience much more authentic.
The TBM 850 also feels it in turbulence (I managed to land last night at Phaplu Airport (VNPL) in Nepal (8K feet) – the wind was tossing the TBM around like a toy, though I managed to land her!)
Just have a look at the carburetor inlet on the Engine Analyzer tab of the Maintenance Page of the EFB. It will clearly show the ice build up if that’s the issue. You can then watch it disappear when you apply Carb Heat.
Thank you! Didn’t know how to visually interpret what I was seeing on that screen - I’ll try and familiarize myself with it more. It’s always just chaotic clanking machinery
I have this option enabled and I’ve flown multiple different liveries and never noticed a difference. I probably just need to try and fly in intentionally bad weather because for the most part I’ve been flying in fair weather. It might be that the A2A flight model turbulence is a lot calmer in fair weather than other planes, but then perhaps more pronounced in bad weather.
This is the carburetor. Ice builds up at the bottom of the orange portion on both sides. It’ll be obvious if that’s what it is. If It looks like this there’s no icing.
I have this every time I’m over water. Feels a long way down, and a long way to shore sometimes…
I love the feeling of actually having to take care of her, though. I flinch and cringe in heavy weather when the turbulence shake the wings and she’s clearly not happy.
She always gets me home, though… (Except that one time when I was really stupid and flew her like I fly other planes in MSFS).
Flying my Comanche recently I have had a couple instances of sudden full down pitch trim in cruise, while not touching my trim controls. Wondering if others have had the same experience. It is scary because the plane suddenly pitches full down and I have to pull back while trimming back for level flight.
Using the turtle beach yoke which has a elevator trim wheel, so if no one’s had the same issue with their Comanche perhaps it has something to do with that, though I haven’t had it happen in any other plane.
Thanks folks. The turtle beach trim wheel must be the issue. And the unique autopilot would explain why I haven’t experienced this yet until flying the Comanche. I’ll just have to use a different binding until fixed.
The Piper Comanche is NOT the sort of plane I would normally buy or feel particularly passionate about.
A2A IS exactly the sort of developer I would buy from.
If it was their Aerostar it would have been a day one purchase flown everyday and I would never fly any other plane ever again.
I own the Turbo Arrow and 310R and enjoy them both but don’t fly them loads.
I know this thread is biased but is there anyone else who was on the fence before who has now been converted? Anyone who is normally more in to twins/ jets/ faster aircraft who is also really enjoying this?
I will say that I fly with a regular group of people and I’ve slowly and persistently whittled a few of them down to purchasing this, even though they were against it and resisted at first for many months. Not necessarily as it’s too slow, more like that they already had similar planes and could not understand that this could be that much different or better. My passion and ongoing relentlessness from week to week eventually ground one of them down and he joined my army as he was suddenly singing the same song after seeing the light. The other 2 guys quickly followed lol. And yeah they can now see what the fuss was about.
If you really only want a faster plane then of course it’s not going to win that award (but it’s FAIRLY quick really compared to the bush planes I usually fly). However it’s just constantly INTERESTING to fly. You are always aware of that engine. And you always have something to think about. And it’s easily the most polished product ever. It’s just flawless and on top of that there are so many little things and surprises to discover, also with that same level of polish and care. It’s frankly worth it just to experience what that level of passion in production feels like in your hands and in your ears. It’s beyond code, beyond anything tangible. Just sublime and ridiculous.
Also did anyone mention how amazing this thing is on the ground, on transition and on the grass / bumpy runways?
Makes every take off, landing and interaction a joy.
I very very nearly did write anyone’s opinion but NOT Baracus
But it is interesting how you have converted others who felt similar to me.
I guess I know deep down that I am getting this, and that the cost is worth it even if it’s just for experiencing some new things that I won’t get anywhere else.
Thanks for your detailed reply as always. And your opinion does hold a lot of weight for me.
I have been tempted by the -600 just to try it out but don’t really think my brain is big enough to cope with such a plane unless I focussed only on learning that. But I jump around far too much to make that possible lol
And you know me… I like to fly low, slow and crazy so it’s really not my kinda plane! I’ll get it one day just to see how it runs on my system but I’m having to disable traffic mainly with VR to make it playable so that would take the fun out of jetliner flying! Maybe when BATC comes out I can use traffic again without crippling the MainThread!?
I am into airliners but if I ever want to fly a GA plane, I take Comanche 250. It’s not the best looking plane and it’s slow but it’s A2A. I knew they will release something for MSFS sooner or later so I didn’t bother with other developers, although I was considering to buy Milviz Cessna 310R. It’s the only plane in MSFS where I feel I need to look after it and use checklists to make sure nothing is broken before I take off.
IMO the best GA aircraft in the sim. She just feels completely different than anything else in the sim and everything completely “works”. The custom flight model is superb. I don’t know how else to put it. You have to do the walk around prior to taking off, follow the checklists, etc. I’ve put about 80 hours on her so far and it can’t be beat.
The 310 is very good but it just doesn’t quite feel the same. At the moment all I fly is the A2A, the -700, the FSR, and the DC-6.
