Aero Commander 500B

Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Wishlist
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I flew for a small commuter airline back in the '80s (so I’m old…). I suspect there are others like me - older pilots who don’t or can’t fly for real anymore, aren’t necessarily a gamer in general, and would love to be able to fly some of the aircraft we flew back then.

For me, I flew (and got my multi rating, as well as ATP rating in) an Aero Commander 500B, which I loved. Would love to see one of these, with, of course, steam gauges (ideally including an HSI). That is, typically equipped for the 1980s. This was a wonderful aircraft. I am currently flying that is available in FlightGear, which is actually quite nice.

The other one we used, which was also a cool aircraft if used for short flights (which ours were), is the Britton Norman BN2 Islander. Incredibly docile and safe, if noisy and slow…

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Added my vote. I think the Aero Commander would be a great aircraft to fly. I thought they were cool back in the day. Welcome JWMatMV!

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Hello JWMatMV. I sent you a private message. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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Thanks! I loved flying that airplane. For one thing, it was my first twin, but it was also just solid, stable, and fun to fly. Was a nice IFR platform as well - stable on an approach. A bit of a challenge to get a really smooth landing, due to the long gear, and fairly big main tires, but not too hard. Nose steering was a bit different - rudder pedals actually controlled a hydraulic system to move the nose wheel. Easy to get into as it was so low to the ground. Actually, I’ve been flying the Aero Commander that is available in the FlightGear (free) sim. It is actually quite nice, and, once I got used to the joystick in general, it seems pretty realistic as I remember the real one. It seems pretty accurate with flying it IFR and doing instrument approaches. Looking forward to getting MSFT 2020 setup now that I’ve tested my rig with FlightGear…

Thanks for the welcome!

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Well, one wish granted. Blackbox Simulations just released a BN-2 Islander for MSFS2020, and it is very much like I remember them. Fun! Been flying it around the same area I used to fly the real one. Still hoping for an Aero Commander… :wink:

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