Double Ender. Plenty of power, impressive stol capabilities (especially on take off) and great views. Also very easy to manage, no need to fiddle around with oil shutters, mixture, prop and other switches. A modern airplane. A big plus for stol competition.
On top of that it has a very well done wear&tear/damage and configuration system, maintainance/repair (it can be turned off), fuel load options. Different configurations: fuel/cargo pod, single or two seats, all the nice camping stuff adding in the cargo space and the camp options on ground. In terms of stol performances the Kitfox is also a good option, especially with the most powerful engine. Of course the Wilga is a very good stol aircraft but needs more interaction with his systems. Maybe not a good thing for competition, even more if the competition is in altitude. No worries with the fadec Rotax.
I own the 3 addons and after flying, taking off/landing many hours on the Wilga and Kitfox, I came back to the Double Ender. Bought it day one, flew around a couple of hours then it gathered dust in my virtual hangar. I recently give her a try again to really (re)discover how great of a plane/addon she is. For me, the best Got Friends product considering all it offers.
Yeah, Iām really liking the look of the DoubleEnder. Although I personally love engine management so that sounds like a plus for me for the Wilga, itās just that the Wilga, itāsā¦ wellā¦ itās not a looker lol.
I really need to find some good bush strip scenery similar to the strips included in the GotFriends Acadamy.
Wilga is great plane, I enjoy it a lot. One small glitch that I see is the built in ATC that is not able to recognize it correctly. I have a simple fix that needs to be added to all aircraft.cfg files to resolve this:
Would it be possible that developers would add it to the next update so I donāt have to fix it every time new version comes out please?
So far it seems to be working fine and in-game ATC calls out Wilga correctly.
Official Wilga 35/80 Series Update: Version 1.1.2. Navigation Overhaul Update and Built-In GTN-750Xi!
We apologize for the quick update cycle these last two weeks. This was our first navigation overhaul and unfortunately the Wilga was a very complex animal to contain. This version is very stable and we do not plan on releasing another update so quickly in the future. This update will also be available on the Marketplace either tomorrow or next Thursday.
CRITICAL INFORMATION:
Please Delete the āgotfriends-wilga-gtn-750xiā Replacement Package from your Community Folder if you were previously using this optional package. The GTN-750Xi is now built into the Wilga and available to the right of the GTN-750 Switch. Also, if you are using ANY old replacement packages for the Wilga, please delete them from your Community Folder. All navigation options are now built into the Wilga by default and you will never need to install optional replacement packages for this aircraft in the future.
DOWNLOAD OPTIONS:
If you download directly from the āUpdate Emailā you still we be downloading from Amazon Web Services. Thus, you may encounter slow download speeds. However, if you log into your Got Friends account on our Website and download directly from your Purchase Order History, you will now be redirected to a new download server, which has proved to have faster speeds.
OFFICIAL CHANGELOG: Version 1.1.2.
Updated Navigation Overhaul to Include TDSā GTN-750Xi Option
New GTN-750Xi Switch (Built-In) (Replaced Extra Engine Realism Switch)
New Systems.cfg on All Variants
Added Permanence for Navigation and Tablet Options
NOTE: Engine Realism Toggle is still accessible via the Clipboard
I own a lot of the top 20 aircraft. After two flights I could tell that this plane will be in my top 5. I feel kinda bad for my Kodiak 100. In danger of being a hangar queen with the Wilga (and I love the Kodiak!).
First flight I tried the āengine realismā setting and it didnāt end well. Heat management issue Iām sure. First flight and Iāll get the hang of it.
2nd flight a joy from Tacoma Narrows airport to Renton (KRNT).
Super excited to fly this non stop for awhile and reaching new landing areas.
I fly a lot of bush flying and like the Wilga and Monster NX best for the diversity between the two. Either are great for gonzo flying and only need the piano keys for runways. Kinda covers the T/D and trike with different worlds of avionics.
I like all the other usual suspects, and more tame ānaturalā STOLs like the Husky or Savage, and the likes of the Solo, Shock, and Double-ender too.
I just have a different comfort with those two for āif I see it, and want to be there, it will be parked thereā. Well within one iota of reason, the Shock can still find the top of the Jefferson Memorial as āgood enoughā for a campground.
Question for the experienced Wilga pilots (I only have about 15 hours in her).
I am having a heck of a time staying straight after touch down on a landing. I can hit an under 1 G and -300 FTM in the middle of the runway with flaps on middle position pretty consistently, but I also a) hop typically, b) immediately drift hard right or left, c) end up skidding all over the place with massive instability on the runway. Any tips on how to ace the post landing? Few questions:
Assuming good conditions and concrete runway, what is your landing speed? Adjust if grass or gravel?
Iām considering just not using flaps at all. I was using flaps in landing position (two clicks) but felt it was way too floaty and unstable on touchdown. Better with flap 1 position but still a little wonky.
Are you brake turning, just rudder, or a combo of both? On a few occasions Iāve hit the brakes too hard and tipped over and crashed. I have a mediocre to bad foot rudder set-up (Logitech Pro), so wondering if I just finally need to bite the bullet and get better rudder pedals.
I can land most GA aircraft with ease, stay on the runway, etc. But the Wilga has been tough.
Aside from that, Iād wait a bit on changing anything hardware-wise as it sounds like SU15 is addressing ground behavior pretty significantly. Iām not sure how much devs will need to update models following that, but either way, itās kind of well-known that the current ground physics are less than realistic.
But let me know on the winds and we can go from that angle.
Also, it almost sounds like youāre carrying too much speed at touchdown and thereās still too much lift on the wings and not enough weight on the wheels. Try to touch down right at the moment the airplane stalls. Use proper crosswind correction, etc. And donāt forget itās a left-turning (counterclockwise) prop, so it requires the opposite rudder inputs to counter turning tendencies than most other planes.
For sure you need to dance on the pedals a bit so maybe your hardware is holding you back?
Main technique for me is:
Try to come in around 50 to be safe. Can be slower, or faster. Doesnāt matter too much but like any plane you ideally want to stall at the same time as touching down. So depends on wind, weight, altitude etc.
Use full flaps, then retract fully either just before or just after touchdown. Helps to have the flaps control bound to a button or switch you can use without releasing the stick or throttle!!
Reduce power AND prop pitch together (if you have 2 levers move them as one, or maybe even for Wilga bind them both to the same axis) as you come down, then cut completely when youāre sure you want to come down (not too high above ground). She will drop like a stone if you retract flaps at same time (i.e. before touchdown) but the suspension can take it.
Finally, as you do those two things (cut power, RPM + retract flaps) also pull back on the stick gradually but fully and brake quick but progressively if you need a short stop, or take your time and let it roll first if not. If you were slow enough, she wonāt try to take off again but the back pressure on stick is important to give you a lot more steering control and āgripā.
Then dance the pedals but not TOO much. Let it get a bit out of shape and bring it back slower rather than making big corrections and over-correcting constantly. It takes a second to react so give it time and let it flow.
Thanks for the tips - good stuff. Iām almost certainly coming in too fast. Never done the āalmost stallā landing so Iāll try that and the other tips you two suggested. Thanks a bunch.
