Looks like it’s coming to Marketplace, from references in the documentation. Normally Marketplace is my last choice, but the installer here is annoying enough that this might the first time I wish I’d waited. (Add serial number, log into an account that is actually your Pilot’s website account but is labeled as something else, etc.) It feels very 2007.
A couple of quick flights… First of all, and to me the most important, the flight model feels good and seems to match the performance of what I’ve read in the real plane. You feel like you’re flying a heavy late 30’s flying boat. Instrumentation looks solid on first glance, but the website notes some systems are still being implemented, so if it’s the “study level” aspect you’re focused on, you might want to wait and watch reports on this. Exteriors look good, cockpit textures are good on the panels and not so great on the floor/walls. Folks who prioritize cockpit visuals are likely to have complaints, but folks who are more about the flying experience will likely find enough here to like to justify the 29.99 euro price, knowing that Pilot’s is planning to keep improving the systems, and they have a 20-ish year track record of slowly but eventually upgrading their products.
A series of water runways around the world, at places the Clippers historically operated, are included, which is a nice touch.
One quirk: Jumping in without reading the manual but just anxious to test-fly, I couldn’t get the Cape Town Clipper 314A model to unstick from the water with a 70% fuel load, though I didn’t have that issue with the regular 314 model. Then I realized that, despite starting on the water runway, the mixture was fully leaned at startup. Moved the mixture lever to full rich and had no problems reaching takeoff speed.
