Fly an early 2000s (2000-2005) model 206H, equipped with a turbocharged Lycoming TIO-540-AJ1A engine providing 300 hp. With seating for six passengers and a useful load of 1,320 lbs (600 kg), you’ll have the capacity for all your needs.
This addon package comes with two flyable aircraft: standard tires or tundra tires. The flight model is identical except for the landing gear configuration.
Each aircraft has two liveries. One is the default steam gauge model (red stripes) and the other features upgraded avionics (blue stripes). More livery designs and colors will be available in future versions. A paint kit will also be released in a future update to allow anyone to make mods.
Features
This package features several special features:
Pilot and Copilot models will appear automatically in exterior view if their payload weight is more than 80 lbs.
No camera barriers, you can move the cockpit camera anywhere
Pilot’s door can be opened via the lever or by the tablet interface
Rear doors can be opened by first operating the lever in the forward door and then operating the lever on the edge of the aft door. These doors can also be opened/closed via the tablet.
Windows can be opened by their latches or via the tablet
Cowl flaps are operable via the lever in the virtual cockpit or using the hardware axis for spoilers.
Four vents in the forward part of the cockpit can be opened via mouse.
Sun visors can be moved down and slid left and right via mouse dragging
Belly-mounted cargo pod can be enabled via the tablet
Belly pod door can be opened with the tablet or clicking the door (if you move the cockpit camera outside)
Rear seats can be removed via the tablet
Cargo can be loaded via the tablet. To load the center and aft cargo, the seat must be removed first. You can set whatever weight you want for the cargo and/or passengers
Glove box can be opened using the latch
Instrument views. Close up of different parts of the panel. Plus some “GoPro” camera views. You can switch through the instrument views with the keybinds (default is ctrl + 0-9)
Overhead flood lights with dimmer controls and swivel.
This was a project that I started a couple of years ago when another developer was going to make the model and I would make the cockpit. That didn’t end up happening so I used this as a test aircraft to develop all the instruments and avionics.
But people kept talking about the 206, so if Carenado wasn’t going to port theirs over to MSFS, I figured that I could probably make it.
So here it is. Built up from photos and references and I have a lot. Also friends along the way who fly 206s and work on them. I don’t fly and haven’t seen a T206H in person up close, so this is the best I could work out. A lot of it is getting the flight model to match the geometry of the real plane. The sim’s model is very detailed so if you give it the shape that the Cessna designers made, it works out well in my opinion.
The planes I like to fly the most have a predictable entry into slow flight. I want to be able to feel how much energy I have and how much I can bleed off. I trim up the whole time I am slowing down to keep the joystick in the center where it’s most accurate. You want the lift to increase because you get more drag. And as you go slower, drag starts to win.
If you like that kind of flight, this one does a good job at it. And on the other side of it, there is a lot of power to get you out of trouble. You get more power in the sim than in real life but you can choose to look at the instruments and fly it within the redlines and it will be closer to the real thing.
There are other developers that can make better textures and some interesting mods, so being freeware, I think there is a good chance this project can have some interesting customizations.
Floats would give yours a leg up even if Carenado ever got around to porting theirs. Carenado has had a half dozen different releases for MSFS that could have/should have had a floatplane version and they never do one, they’re allergic to the idea for some reason. (Lack of tundra tires on their 2007 was also a ■■■■ crime.)
Had time to take this 206 for a flight this evening and found nothing to fault whatsoever. I really like the different interior cargo options. I hope some repainters give it some love once the paint kit is out.
Here’s an update. I’m looking at the glass materials closer to see how to improve it. This part becomes a big compromise to have both the inside and outside looking good plus rain and icing effects.
The amphibious version is under development. There are some notable differences. On the model, there are the floats, naturally. These will be 3450 sized, the correct model for this 206.
And then the tail section is elongated with stinger tail and rudder extension. And the top of the rudder is raised along with the beacon light. Then a tail fin is added on the underside. The flight model would get changed on the rudder area, so more effect. More yaw stability from the fin and larger vertical stab. And we’ll add in some extra drag from all that and the floats.
Technically, you have some storage inside the floats, so if people want to have a cargo station to add weight, we can do that. You could strap a bundle of lumber on the floats to take it out for someone to build a remote cabin. So why not add some attachment points there.
That’s the other thing about this project. The cargo models are separate from the aircraft model so you can replace them with your own 3D models. I have a template file that outlines the shape that the cargo must fit inside. I will share that template with mod developers.
No timeline when the amphibious version will be ready but I could use some beta testers for the flight model and water performance. It’s not easy making floatplanes behave well on MSFS water. That stuff is far from flat.
I don’t know about lumber but a canoe strapped to the floats would be cool.
I would be thrilled to be a beta tester for you but I am by no means an expert on how it should handle in the air or on the water… just enough of a floatplane enthusiast to be infuriated by some of the seaplanes in the sim (like the default 172 amphib) that have the turning circle of an ocean liner!
I will be greatly looking forward to the updates in any case, thanks for making this.
This is exactly it. Any time I pull up a picture of a 206, someone is doing something different with theirs. That’s the idea I want to capture.
So I am building in a lot of ways to modify it. If you can come up with a wacky modification, you may be able to add it. In this way, I hope my creations can live longer when more creative people take it an make it better.
That’s why I prefer to make freeware and open source. It has the potential to grow bigger than one person can make it. Microsoft has also been very generous with this sim by making it so easy to develop for. They give out more resources than you would expect.
Hey there Sal! I recently found out your Cessnas (the 170 and this 206) thanks to the nice people at MSFS Discord (Draakje).
I was wondering if you have any plans to add an AP for the 170B. It’s my current preferred GA STOL airplane, does everything I want and its very, very nice (imagine my love for the 170B, my wife gave me a 170B rubber band model for my birthday).
The only thing lacking is an AP. Someone made one (it was available here) but unfortunately I can’t find it anywhere. Maybe there’s already one and I’m missing it?
I am currently testing the 206B and it’s frankly amazing. From the small details like the sun shades to the (IMHO) good flight model, it’s quite a thing, much better than other things I’ve previously seen. Thanks a lot for your work for the community, couldn’t be happier after finding your work.
Hi Seb. That’s great that you like the 170B. It was my first plane for MSFS 2020 and the one I fly the most. But I realize that it could use an update. I have improved my skills by making several freeware aircraft. I was resistant to add an autopilot just because you might not expect one in real life. But I have realized that it’s better to let people have the custom configuration they want.
I can’t guarantee that I will work on the 170 next but I think it could benefit from a makeover and use some of the newer flight model features to make it fly even better
I have been working on the amphibious variant. This really expands the envelope for the 206. You can go to very far away places when you know you can land on water.
But the water physics are still not great in the sim. You can takeoff and land but it doesn’t feel right. Maybe that will get improved at some point but even as it is, you can experience the same backcountry adventure of a floatplane. Seaplane bases are not well represented so you may have to download addons to fill in some areas.
I animated the water rudders with extra detail because that seems to be something that people like. You can’t really see it in external view. I prefer to spend my time on the flight model and engine performance but graphics and detail are popular.
Thanks a lot! I’m looking forward on an improvement on the 170B -and particularly an AP-. Yesterday tried a short STOL chained airports around 42HV High Voltage and I have to say I’m loving the 170B. It’s frankly amazing and lovely -it’s impossible not to love it, it’s a beauty.
Today I’ve been flying all day long your 206 and it’s frankly great, the only reason why I’m flying it a little bit more than the 170B today is because the AP (I’m working -marking exams- so I’m doing long legs with the AP and manually landing at selected airports, so it really eases up my workload on the plane and allows me to do other things on the second monitor).
Here’s a pic, approaching right now after a couple of small airfields stops
If you decide to work on the 170B I’d be more than happy of testing or anything I can do to give back a little bit of all your efforts. Thanks for so much!
Sal, perhaps something you can enhance is cockpit lighting brightness. I’m doing a late afternoon flight (with a night ILS landing) and as you can see, with all lights (even flood lights) on and at max, the cockpit is barely visible:
