I fired up MSFS for the first time since returning from my Christmas break, and found an update for the Tucano in Content Manager. I downloaded it and took the aircraft for a spin.
Runway start: the annoying alarm on loading is still present, but now it stops when the aircraft is loaded. It looks like the developer has set the offending switch to the right position, but for some reason it doesn’t stop the alarm from sounding during loading. Not as bad as it was, but it would be nice if it were completely gone. Otherwise I didn’t have any problems with a runway start.
Cold and dark: I am now able to get the aircraft started and flying by following the Checklist - as I was on the initial release but not after the first update. It’s not the best checklist ever - for one thing, the ‘blue eye’ pointers to individual switches and other controls don’t work - but there are many worse in the sim, and it’s good enough to get the plane in the air.
The problem I had getting the throttle out of cutoff in the last update is gone.** I still can’t figure out how to get the throttle back into cutoff, but the engine can be stopped by switching off the fuel pumps, so that’s not a fatal error.
The small black lump in the RAF Tucano cockpit is gone. Yay! That after all is the version I and my fellow Brits are most likely to be interested in flying.
One other niggle I noticed during today’s flying is that the canopy doesn’t seem to open as much as it should. *
In-game thumbnails have been improved. Looks much more professional in the Marketplace now.
Still one or two improvements that could be made, but I’d say the developer has brought the plane to a place where it’s worth the full, fairly low price.
Now I can’t see the current price or the sale discount because I already own it, but I’m told the plane is currently available in the Marketplace Christmas sale for 53% off. For half off, if the Tucano’s of any interest to you I’d say hurry while the sale lasts.
*Edit: Took it for another flight and at the end the canopy opened fully. No idea what’s going on - but if you look at the beauty shots in the Marketplace sales page you’ll see that the canopy isn’t fully opened there.
** I now think the problem I had with the throttle in the last update was mine, not the plane’s. The throttle is moved out of cutoff simply by advancing it, which I did on the original build, and have done testing it this afternoon and evening. But just before the first update I had been flying the Hawk, where you click on the throttle to take it in and out of cutoff - I must have thought that was also what I’d done the first time round on the Tucano, so when it didn’t work on the second visit, I just assumed it was broken.
No, it wasn’t the Tucano that was broken.
Treacherous things, brains. You’re better off without 'em. Or so my zombie friend keeps telling me.