Looks like I’ll have to give it a go then
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I haven’t flown the 107B for a while, so I wanted to see if it’s bad to land or not. A few circuits and it’s actually a good flyer as long as you stay in it’s sweet spot. I thought it was easy to slow down and then lift drops very well so it was super predictable. One notch of flaps was perfect to have that last bit of lift to just fly it onto the runway.
You don’t really try to flare in this type. It’s better to have that throttle ready to go and use it to modulate that final speed. Expect to have the stall horn blaring because that seems to go off much sooner than it needs to. None of my landings bounced. Like most tail draggers, you have to be careful on the brakes and hold the tail down.
I wouldn’t fly this in a crosswind. The sim is harsh in those conditions.
But my 170B Backcountry is a little different idea. It has a STOL kit wing with more lift and a different kind of gear suspension.
That’s the only knock on the Carenado, the gear is strangely too ‘squishy’ It’s hard to get that perfect, so just keep it in mind. But it’s a good plane to do that stick and rudder work.
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I just downloaded an update…anyone know where I can find the change information?
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Sorry, I can’t help with that.
However, I just took mine out for a short hop in FS2024. Flies beautifully, not as finicky on landings, sounds pretty good (no whining prop looping) albeit a bit like an F-51 Mustang, IMO.
An interesting (although not too surprising) bug, though:
A YMF5 now shows up as a variant of the Cessna C170B in our new FS2024.
Don’t think so…
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The C170B seems to be working well in MSFS 2024. With the SU1 Beta, the Garmin (for those who use it) is now legible in the day and night.
The only issue I’ve noted, thus far, is the registration number tag on the instrument panel is a black rectangle with no numbers.
Interestingly, if you start your takeoff roll with a window open, it magically closes and “locks” once you hit a certain airspeed. You no longer crash due to overstressing the aircraft, but you also can no longer open the window while in flight. I’d love to see this modified to behave the way the C172 windows do in 2024 – you can open them in flight with no negative side effects.
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Given your description, perhaps 2020 compatibility mode still works like 2020? Has anyone tried to fly a plane that crashes in 2020 with the window open that is in compatibility mode and doesn’t crash in 2024 with the window or door open?
(What an absolutely ridiculous feature of msfs. I mean, what kind of person thinks this is how the software should work?)
What is weird is I can takeoff in 2020 (in the C170B) with the window open and it remains open — I just “crash” due to over stress. I understand (I haven’t tested this) that you can turn off crash damage and fly with the window open with no issue,
The weird part is, in 2024, the window closes itself automagically when the aircraft reaches somewhere around rotation speed. Then, its latch won’t even respond to clicks. You see the hand/finger cursor, but no action takes place when clicked. I haven’t tried turning off crash damage to see how it behaves, but I am presuming — due to this automatic closing and latching action — that it won’t respond to clicks regardless.
Now that I have typed all that, I’m wondering if this current version of the C170B will do the automagic window closing in 2020 — did Carenado add code to close the window and make it non-op above X speed as a solution? I have not tried flying this latest version in 2020 to test for this.
Of which, there are many instances of similar odd design choice.
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It’s been a while since I’ve flown it but I remember the Comanche door will also close depending on airspeed, and cannot be fully opened at speed, only unlatched.
It’s somewhat faked in that it’s just an animation triggered at a certain airspeed. I feathered the throttle up, and down, and the animation completes even though I retard the throttle just as the door starts to move. Worse, the door would re-open, moving against the wind instead of slowly closing to the unlatched position, which made it look even more fake, but it’s really a very minor thing.
I’m guessing Carenado are just doing a similar thing.
I have a bit of an odd question, perhaps, but it reflects the odd situation we’re in with FS24’s early release. I recently tried the freeware version of this plane in FS2020 and I really liked it. I am planning to get FS24 (still looking at SU2/3) primarily for VFR/bush flying, and I’d like to go with the higher visual fidelity of Carenado’s version when that time comes.
My question is this: Is there a separate FS24 version of this product in the FS24 Marketplace? It’s currently on sale in FS2020, but I don’t want to buy it in FS2020 just to need to buy it a second time when I actually get FS24. Has Carenado made any statement about how/if they will upgrade their FS2020 products vs. making new native FS24 ones?
The plane is 2024 compatible and works perfectly fine there, so if you buy it in 2020 you’ll be able to enable it in your 2024 library once you own that sim.
Don’t know if they’ll ever release a 2024 native version but for such a simple aircraft you’re not really missing out on anything if they don’t, it works great as-is in 2024 now.
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I went ahead and picked this up, and just wanted to give my initial feedback. YMMV of course. First the strengths. As expected, the visuals are top notch. All the little details are there, and it really is impressive. The sounds are good too.
Now the weaknesses. I was quite surprised to find no checklists. I fully realize this is not a complex plane, and yet I very much appreciate the interactive checklist feature. It makes it feel like you’re doing things “by the book”. Took me longer than I’d like to admit to troubleshoot why the engine wouldn’t start, and then to eventually remember and locate the fuel tank selector. Once I got that sorted, I set the altimeter, and was about ready to taxi to the runway when the radio went dead. I know I wasn’t idling all that high - and perhaps wasn’t charging the battery as a result - but I still wouldn’t expect the battery to drain that quickly?
No matter, I continued on to test ground handling and flight model. The rudder authority is, shall we say, impressive. Small changes in the rudder position result in huge swings that make it unsatisfying to control the aircraft during the taxi, and even worse on the takeoff roll. I found that to be way too strong and not convincing at all.
Once in the air, there seemed to be a weird kind of mechanical feeling to banking and turning, where the aircraft would kind of hold a line and then wobble over a bit, and repeat this movement over and over as I tried to execute a simple leaning turn. It’s kind of hard to describe, but it’s very much the opposite of feeling like you are smoothly flowing through the air. Landing was rough too - I read previous comments about bouncing and I had the same issue. Now to be fair, I was using tundra tires on pavement, and clearly getting used to the aircraft and not making the best approaches, and yet the amount of bouncing seemed over the top. Throw in the overly sensitive rudder and landing wasn’t particularly satisfying either.
Also, I found the default camera view annoying as it’s looking so far down toward the floor instead of out the windscreen. It wouldn’t take a huge adjustment to make it more comfortable while still being able to view the gauges, but I don’t know how to save that as default, and while I realize this is partially a matter of personal preference, I can’t imagine seeing the fuses below the flight instruments as really helpful to anyone in the first place.
After that, I took the freeware version back out and wow! The ground handling is much better and more convincing. The rudder strength feels much more appropriate. I noted there was a little bit of that same “on rails and then wobble” feeling in banked turns, but it was much less pronounced. Landing was compliant and predictable. There was a little bit of bounce but it was much more convincing and didn’t feel exaggerated like Carenado’s version.
So to sum it up, I am sticking with the freeware version in FS2020. I’m glad Carenado’s version was on sale so I didn’t lose too much money. I will try it again when I get FS24 and hopefully it will feel better there.
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Thanks for your feedback !
I was also hesitating when I saw the plane (and other Carenado planes too) in sales in the Marketplace. After reading your experience, I’m glad I didn’t buy it and will keep using the freeware one just like you.
The freeware one has a lower graphical quality of course, but it also has two major benefits for me:
1- it has a floats version
2- it has a visible copilot in the cockpit.
Point #1 is not that critical of course, but the point #2 is a show stopper to me. Being a marketplace addon, the cockpit file cannot be edited to add the copilot in the virtual cockpit manually, so there’s nothing I can do to solve this issue.
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The freeware one is a far better simulation of a C170B. The Carenado has higher visual fidelity, but SAL1800’s version is waaaay better to fly.
And, there’s a native FS2024 SDK version of the freeware version that’s even better!
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You could probably make a mod for the Carenado one that has the flight model modifications from the freeware one.
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150,000 people asked for this. 1 person asked for a 100gb FS game.
I find just typing the most basic ‘172’ or whatever in the search menu is the only way to go.
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There’s a lot of other stuff besides the flight model in the freeware version, though. Perhaps most extreme, in the FS2024 version you can literally get out and adjust the tire pressure on the bush wheels version to adjust how much they respond visually and bounce-wise on landing. It’s a passion project, and it shows!
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Well…
I must say that I generally prefer the Carenado C170 model to the freeware one.
Although I am not an expert on landings yet, even in the 2024 version, it still seems way easier to trim for straight and level flight.
The freeware version, perhaps more realistically - I just don’t know, requires noticeable right trim as the plane has a persistent tendency to turn left.
More realistic or not, I just don’t like that.
The Carenado model simply flies straight and true. In a bird without GPS navigation and autopilot, I find it far more relaxing for VFR flight than having to constantly wrestle the yoke to keep it straight on course…
But please note that I am not a real pilot.
I am only commenting here for information to others who might have experienced the same things.
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Depending on your airspeed that is perfectly normal. Do you not even get a left turning tendency on takeoff?
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I do on the freeware version and most of the other planes that I don’t care for too much.
But on the majority of my go-to birds (mostly high-winged GA aircraft), this tendency is minimal - if it even exists at all.
I don’t like having to constantly invoke level flight corrections in VFR touring - making me more of a “gamer” than a simmer, I suppose, although I have yet to even try out “Career mode” or any of the other gimmicky options of FS 2024. “Free flight” all the time!
But anyway, I generally have a strong affinity for the non-study level, GA, high-winged default birds and paywares like the Carenado C170B and the similar Aeroplane Heaven C140.
Freeware? How about the Restauravia N3400 and flyndive’s Auster Autocrat? Yep, all 4 are in my hangar.
Sorry for the digression… this all probably belongs in a different thread!
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Just don’t try either the Kodiak or Pilatus Porter if you aren’t a fan of trimming the rudder. 
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