Some developers go out of their way to give 110% support and more often than not it is the smallest developers which do this rather than the mainstream/well known guys.
With a lot of good products now appearing for FS2020 and with more than enough quality aircraft in my hangar I am finding it easy to be choosy and give the less supportive established devs the cold shoulder.
To be blunt, if they don’t give a good level of support then they don’t get my cash
I probably will buy from them if I want the plane and it is not available from other vendors. But I will not get it on day one, I will wait for reviews.
My issue with Carenado is (admittedly a bit selfish) I’m annoyed when they announce or release an aircraft I especially want. My last experience with their products was from X-Plane, but it was the same as I see reported by others these days for their MSFS products - very limited support and perpetually broken addons.
I really want to have a Cessna 337 Skymaster, but Carenado released one, so the probability that a better developer (JustFlight, FlySimWare, etc.) will come out with a 337 I’d like to buy is reduced. I have the JustFlight Arrows and Warrior, so I have zero desire for this Archer.
Back in early 80s, Flight Simulator 2.0 was developed by SubLogic for Commodore 64 and other personal computers (Apple II and Atari if memory serves me well), the simulated airplane was in fact a Piper PA-28-181 Archer II
I still remember at the end of (long) loading time from floppy disk the tv screen showing the cockpit view on runway 36 at Meigs Field, how many times as a teenager I took off from there!
Hence is entirely possible that seasoned simmers like myself desire a Piper Archer II to reproduce those nostalgic early days with the glamorous visuals of latest Flight Simulator, back on Meigs Field recreated for the 40th anniversary.
my first experience with a civil flight sim was the FSX demo flight - the Beech Baron and Princess Julianna airport. I think I flew that a thousand times - then when I finally got a decent (for those days ) rig I kept flying that plane all over the Leeward Islands…and the C172 around Orca’s and Friday Harbor.
Day, night, dusk, dawn…
In MSFS it was one of the first flights I did - the Baron at St Kitts.
Nostalgia has a strong pull as everyone can probably relate…
Happy to see the Archer II coming-it’ll be fun to fly, though I’d be even happier if Carenado brings the Saab 340 to MSFS (with Rex and Link Airways liveries done by the community).
The 5th PA28. 6th if you count Turbo Arrow III and IV as two aircraft. With all the planes available in their portfolio I would have thought they’d choose something a little less well covered. Especially since the JF Warrior II most likely will still be the vastly superior aircraft. And the only difference AFAIK between Warrior and Archer is 20 hp
A very popular platform. I’m happy to get the 180hp variant, but I think the older hershey bar winged 180 would’ve made me more happy. How about a 235 for the complete set? The more the merrier.
Piper Seneca is typical example where Carenado do nothing although bugs are still existing. I see their tactic very clear, they do updates now only for products what are projected together with MS, if I see this correctly at Marketplace
so you are dissatisfied with one of their aircraft - have you emailed their support with specific details?
I have had success reporting issues to every developer directly, even Carenado - and while it does take time for them to update their aircraft, then submit those updates to MSFS, then wait for the Marketplace to make them available to us, they do make the effort if they get the feedback. But here’s what I have noticed about flight sim.
It appears to be the case for most folks, we get excited always about the NEXT release. We fly that a bunch as soon as we get it. We are all looking for the features and appearance from it that we EXPECT to see. Based on the price, our knowledge of the type, our relative flying experience (real or virtual) and so on. We then see a flurry of activity related to that release here on the ‘aircraft’ board. The developer gets a smattering of feedback: vitriol, love, scorn, adoration, hatred, accusation, accolades…with some rare actual and relatively acute appraisal with detailed examples of correctable issues that most of the developers can actually appreciate and correct. At the same time an even smaller sampling of the consumers will actually contact the developer directly via the proper channels and an even smaller portion of them will make concise and detailed references to issues that can be corrected by the developer…and typically - they are. But after about a week to a month - if those requests haven’t been made, they never will be. Because the herd has moved on. So I would urge anyone who has a favorite aircraft -from any developer- no matter when it was released, that still has flaws - to keep emailing (respectfully) that developer. Because you may be the only person who is.
I agree 100%, they should fix current aircraft. I have the Ovation, Seneca and the Seminole. All of which have a problem one way or another. Cant open tablet, lower flaps plane pitches violently upward, GTN 750 doesn’t work, etc, etc, etc. Now lets talk VR, totally unflyable in VR. I like all three of these aircraft but will not fly them until they get fixed, and will not spend another dime the Carenado until they fix these aircraft. Most likely they do not care about the consumer once they get our cash.
I think it’s mostly aimed at people like me (and there’s a lot of us), who’ve owned a Cherokee before. Warriors are nice, but I long for the power and smoothness of a Cherokee. As far as the Arrow, anyone who’s owned a Cherokee is like… “Why?”… Same or not much more power with more weight and complexity and cost for not a whole lot more if any performance gain. There’s better planes to buy out there (than an Arrow) for about the same cost… A good Cherokee though is pretty hard to beat, well, up until 2020, when prices for all planes skyrocketed and supply went out the window. Haven’t checked in a while, hopefully 2023 improves things.
And yeah, I prefer my round gauges with a 530 (ooh, boy, do I hate touch screen GPS’s in an airplane) to a G1000. Guess I’m just old and set in my ways… A G1000 screen is mostly just confusing to my scan…
That extra 20 HP is HUGE! It’s the difference between being all worried about carrying 3 passengers and having no worry at all about full fuel and a packed plane. The ride is smoother as well. A PA-28-161 is nice, but you still feel like you’re on the edge, whereas with a 180 it feels stronger. I like flying Warriors well enough, but I wish I was still flying my Cherokee (at $30 an hour back in the day, with a good chunk of that keeping the annual costs down… sigh)
I don’t have a taste again and again report to them what they need fix. Looks like they have here their accounts and do some loby for apologize their system of support.
Well I say: that’s progress alright.
They’re actually communicate something about their update strategy. It’s not much, but I gladly take it. Let’s hope for more of that kind of openness about what they are doing.
Don’t doubt that.
Friend of mine has a Warrior and with 4 people and full fuel it needs at least 1000m of runway to get off the ground. However: before I get myself that Carenado 180hp Archer, I simply take a ride in my nice 200hp JF Arrow. Even more power and retractable gear.
Well I guess I’ll still take the Arrow because it’s the better looking aircraft and has less drag due to the RG
Never understood why they didn’t offer the 235hp engine for the Arrow. Would have been a better substitute for the Comanche and a little closer in performance to the Mooney. Maybe too thirsty and not enough range.
Because there is a vastly better option already available with the same (except it’s carbureted) engine, the venerable P28B Dakota!
I fly one regularly and it is like a very powerful archer (albeit a bit heavier in feel, and with a 3blade prop it drops like a stone )
None of that newfangled retractable gear or fuel injection or gasp turbochargers, a pure honest machine that carries an awful amount of load and flies very very well
(I haven’t flown an arrow so what do I know )
I’d be tempted by a carenado archer II, especially if by magic it comes with an aspen evolution display, but it’s probably too close to the warrior in the sim (I have full confidence JF will fix the FM on their pipers) so it needs to be really good
That’s what I meant. Putting the engine from the Dakota into the Arrow III. Never saw the sense in putting a powerful engine into a plane and then not giving it a retractable gear in order to lower the drag at higher speeds.
My last experience with their products was from X-Plane, but it was the same as I see reported by others these days for their MSFS products - very limited support and perpetually broken addons.
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