Hadn’t heard of A1r Design Bureau before but a quick google suggests they have decent reputation for FSX/P3D modules.
Personally this one doesn’t look my sort of thing but a sim like this thrives on varierty of planes and developers so I hope it’s good and people like it.
That’s my kind of plane but I’d like to see some reviews before splashing out. Maybe a task for @BostonJeremy77 
Well turns out I’m incredibly weak-willed when it comes to classic inter-war planes and I’ve bought it. Here’s a few screenshots:
Some initial thoughts: Took me a while to get her started. There’s no inbuilt checklist and the PDF manual seems to be missing some things like when to turn the damned battery on or what this spark lever is for (I have no idea!) But the main issue was that for some reason the plane loaded with zero fuel in the tanks, once I added it in it was easy enough to start up. Sounds alright, switches and stuff make sounds, engine sound is a bit weak but I don’t know what a Menasco C4 engine sounds like so perhaps that’s accurate.
Easy enough to taxi about, no real drama. Take off was a bit hairy though, kinda like most tail draggers in the sim. I did weave about a bit but got her up in the air. Flies nicely and when I tried pulling some tight turns I got her into a bit of a spin which was nice to see. Still dunno what this Spark lever does though, nothing seems to change when I move it. Also I can move it into a negative position with continuos back wheel scrolling. Fuel gauge out on the nose and is accurately showing fuel level. Pulling the carb heat does reduce revs. Tried a bit of inverted flight and the engine started to cut out so seems that various things are modelled quite nicely.
No real drama whilst landing and have parked up after a brief flight and first impressions are: not bad. Won’t be able to give it a full flight for a few hours though, maybe not until tomorrow so maybe I’ll discover some gremlins with a bit more time but there’s nothing major that sticks out at the moment, it looks good and flies nice, sounds are not bad either and the engine sound is growing on me. I really wanna know what this spark lever is though lol.
One downside so far: you get the logbook screen when you cut the mixture off on the ground and not after turning the battery or mags off which was a bit annoying. But I generally wish I could just disable that blasted logbook end flight ‘feature’ all together!
Oh yeah also I consider the price to be pretty decent. If it was any more expensive I probably would’ve waited to see what others thought of it before plunging in though. So not bad.
Edit: should also mention it comes with 3 liveries, that silver one in my screenshots, a yellow winged US Army Air Force livery which I assume is a trainer livery and one with some splashes of red on the leading edges and along the fuselage to give it a sporty feel. Would’ve liked a few more but oh well. Perhaps some of the talented repainters from the community will provide! I hope so.
Whoa that actually looks alright
Talk about way outta left field.
This era has such character, elegant
or classy if you will
At that price itd be not much of an argument w myself to not to grab it
Just purchased. Downloading now, review up later today.
For your reading pleasure:
The throttle quadrant is well sited on the left sidewall and carries throttle, mixture and a third lever, topped with a black knob marked S (for spark). This is the advance/retard control for the ignition timing and is a real asset when hand-swinging the prop. (The aircraft is fitted with a starter motor, but the battery is a little weary.)
Thanks Guys. I look forward to your detailed reviews. It does look good.
Thanks for the link! I was just about to do some googling myself but you saved me a bit of time
Found a bit more time to get in an extra quick flight and this time the plane started with 50% fuel so dunno why I started with empty tanks the first time, user error I guess. Also I should not that there’s no transponder in this, just a basic radio which might be a problem for vatsim users I guess. Also remember to engage the parking brake before starting her up as it defaults to the off position.
Checking out the red livery now which gives it a bit more of a sporty feel.
I remember this bird done by Bill Lyons back on FS9, it was very nice.
it’s officially Flying Time now baby
note: windows defender didn’t like the file - I had to select ‘keep the file’ to proceed to download.
price is good for a model this nice…seems to have zero vertices especially at the windscreen bow frame -impressively smooth radius.
Sounds are a bit light but overall an excellent model - take off speed, cruise and landing all OK
power on stall was as it should be.
Read the manual regarding engine start etc !
Only graphical depiction that needs changing is the upper wing flying wire shadows on the wing surface - they’re oddly visible near the wing root where the wires are farthest from the surface - but invisible out near the wing surface where they connect and pass through the wing. That is where they should be visible for sure
Here’s a pretty good video of what this real bird looks and sounds like:
Ryan STA At Little Gransden Air Show 2016 - YouTube
What a pleasant surprise this one is… I can tell you this: it’s a docile taildragger that’s perfect for those who want something a little easier to train on before they hop into that Corsair or Spitfire or Tomahawk.
VISUALS:
This is REALLY nice, all textures internal and external are on par with what I would love to have. It’s definitely on that Carenado level - immaculate, beautiful aircraft inside and out. The one downside - it doesn’t have any lights. This obviously eliminates night flying etc, but that’s not really what this thing is for anyway. Comes with 3 liveries, good enough.
SOUNDS:
Sounds good to my ears, though I have not experienced it with headphones yet. A little treble-heavy, but definitely a nice-sounding aircraft. WWise is utilized, wind effects when doing rolls are really nice.
GROUND HANDLING:
Very docile and well-behaved for a taildragger. Take it gentle and you shouldn’t have any nose-over issues.
FLYING AND SYSTEMS:
On a quick flight TJSJ-TJVQ, it was behaving as I expected, including rolls, power on and off stalls. Haven’t examined temp gauges in much detail yet, but it handles nicely. VERY easy to trim for a stable flight - another good reason to train with this bird. It’s not the fastest or most powerful thing out there, but the takeoff and landing are extremely well-behaved for a taildragger. It’s a pleasure to fly. Not much in terms of “systems”, obviously. There is no navigational equipment other than your compass. You better know where you are going. This is a sigh-seeing VFR aircraft.
OVERALL:
This is well worth the money. It’s inexpensive, beautiful, and a pleasure to fly. Would love to see more from this developer. Comes with pretty basic documentation that will get you up and flying in 5 minutes.
Thank you Jeremy and the others who have gone out on a limb and bought this! I will finish my flight, and then will be buying this!
It looks really nice!
Thanks all
I think you will enjoy… This is what I mean when it comes to visuals - THIS is what an aircraft should look like in MSFS. Like I said, flies nicely, one of the few developers that matched Carenado in how good their stuff looks.
Well I think I will be deleting the Aerosoft CRJ
(New Release: Aerosoft Bombardier CRJ 550/700 - #268 by SuperSixBravo)
so I will enjoy this instead.
Many thanks
I have a Yak55 from this dev, and it’s quite nice in P3D so I’ll be grabbing this for sure.
Read somewhere that this to advance/retard the ignition when starting via hand-cranking the prop.
Could you do us a favor? Rename the thread something like New Release: A1R’s Ryan ST-A Special? That way people aren’t tempted to start new ones.
Done. Many thanks!