I bought this module and will say there is no part of this plane that even approaches bad. With all the objectively poor and dishonest content that’s been dumped into this sim, to try and lump this together with the likes of them is objectively silly.
It is not, nor was it designed to set your world on fire but I’m plenty happy with my purchase and will definitely enjoy it for more casual flights. There are a few tweaks I’d suggest but I enjoy the relative simplicity of this cockpit (I actually wish we’d have a single 430 plus radios and a DME).
From Blackbird’s point of view I’m guessing the PA-30 was probably not a platform they judged worth investing the resources required to make a full-fat module so if the alternative is nothing, I’m very glad to have this.
@WxMarc thanks for sharing my video. I’m glad you like it =) The Twin Comanche requires a bit of rudder to keep the ball in the center, but not excessively.
Looks like we were watching two different videos …
Sure, the visuals aren’t even close to what Carenado can do, but let’s be honest: there are only a handful of devs that even can produce that kind of visual quality.
From what I can see the PA30 may be a little below the previous Milviz/Blackbird products visually but it still looks quite decent to me.
Otherwise, I don’t see anything remotely bad in this video - nothing outstandingly brilliant either. But it looks like a solid product for the price. I’ve seen lots and lots and lots of stuff that costs much more and isn’t even remotely in the same league.
HOWEVER:
I would really really appreciate it if @Krazycolin and Shrike Sim could please include some way to use a GPS unit with a decent map. The PMS GTN750 would be my first choice. After all it’s become so popular (free version) that it can be considered standard.
Nothing fancy: simply include a switch so that we can toggle between the GNS530 and the GTN750.
In a pinch I would also be content with the Aera. Mods for multiple Asobo planes already use your C310 tablet with the Aera. So implementing it probably shouldn’t be hard.
This should really be an “I” statement, not a “We” statement. I agree in that I don’t need any more affordable so-so aircraft. But, as @Archer374 noted, I don’t speak for the general population, I’m sure there’s many people who would like this plane. And that’s what the Shrike brand is banking on ( bad,… dad?, pun intended).
Yes, Blackbird being one of them. This just looks like a lazy cash grab aimed at those who don’t know any better. Nothing wrong with that from a business point of view, but nothing wrong with calling it out either.
I’m not concerned about 4k PBR graphics everywhere; what I expect is equal avionics to the default C172. Why should I pay extra (for a 3rd party add on) to get LESS avionics functionality than many of the default aircraft? I’m not interested in historic aircraft for MSFS; it has modern scenery, modern navigation systems and I expect modern aircraft to have modern avionics. The Shrike Comanche has the default GPS and IF it also had the default KAP140 I’d be “In Like Flynn” at this price.
I haven’t seen any Blackbird/Milviz aircraft that is equal to Carenado visually (while being much better system-wise).
Also a normal Milviz/Blackbird aircraft will set you back 35-45 bucks so for about half the prize I can’t see it being a cash grab.
The MScenery and CaptainSim stuff are cash grabs.
In my humble opinion, if people are going to say that a product is good, bad, or great, they should explain what it is about the product they like or dislike. I weigh purchasing decisions to a degree on user reviews.
Reviews need to be much more than “This sucks.” That helps no one.
Maybe it’s not a cash grab, but about offering a lot more opportunity to experience different aircraft at a price where customers can afford more planes, and they can afford to offer a wider variety due to shorter development times.
Study level planes often sit in my hangar for six months until I master the last study-level plane I bought. I like simpler planes that fly like the real thing (that’s still important to me), but don’t cost $44. (I’m looking at you, Cessna 414. Love you and you’re beautiful, but it’s gonna take a long time to get my money’s worth out of you.)
If you’re looking for pixel-perfect planes with the fluid dynamics of the hydraulic systems simulated at a molecular level, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if some of us like to mix those with a CTRL-E plane that can give us an idea what it looks and feels like to fly a PA-30 without having to drop nearly $50 on it, there’s nothing wrong with that either.
When FS2020 was just a few months old, Milviz had a livestream discussion / town hall and during the discussion I remember them talking about the amount of work it was taking to develop each module for the new sim and debating whether they wanted to split their brand or even to bother developing lower fidelity modules at all. The implication was that a number of their existing offerings would likely not be offered for 2020 if theyd have to sink a full development cycle into each. I actually wrote in to them afterwards saying I would absolutely support a sub-brand alongside Milviz and I’m glad they followed through on this.
My point is that, like you say, this is in no way a cash grab and I imagine the decision to do it at all was heavily debated by the staff at Milviz. I say they made the right choice.
For those of us who’ve picked this up, there’s no manual included, just interactive checklists. If you’d like to know the performance data, optimal speeds, etc., here’s a copy of the manual for the real PA-30:
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the purchase! Really, the only “low-end” aspect I can see is the texture conversion. Regular readers of this forum will know that I tend to shake my head at people who are overly demanding about texture detail in MSFS – it’s like they’re looking for things to complain about. But in this case, the nacelle textures are really noticeably rough – jaggies on straight lines and compression artifacts on the paint shading.
I’m assuming these are upscaled from the P3D version. This is something that’s a pretty easy fix and could likely be significantly improved with about 10-15 minutes of work using an AI upscaling app and better image processing. There are plenty of graphics apps out there such as Topaz AI that can do smarter upscaling and lose the jaggies and smooth out shading artifacts like this.
And if we just get a couple of good repaints from whizzes like @pby5a, this will be a non-issue, assuming the plane’s architecture actually supports higher-res textures.
That’s really my only constructive criticism. Cockpit looks wonderful when you’re not looking at the nacelles (watch the road!), and most importantly, it feels good in the air. Aircraft model looks great. I’m really glad to see this series from Shrike/Milviz.
Clicking on the HDG HOLD light turns on heading hold and also seems to turn on altitude hold. It will also perform both GPS and VOR NAV mode if I turn it on using the NAV button on my throttle. Now I will have to try APR mode.
I bought the Twinkie last weekend, having worked out some time ago how to get the PMS50 GTN750 Premium autopilot working on planes without an autopilot. The Twinkie now works perfectly with the PMS50 GTN750 autopilot (or AP keyboard commands) and has had a few other upgrades and improvements too:
Tiger’s Shrike PA30 Twinkie mod
Features ground handling and flight performance improvements.
Fully compatible with all third-party liveries.
Simply drag and drop the “tiger’s pa30 mod” folder into your Community folder.
Flight improvements:
Flight dynamics calibrated to 169KTAS @ 8,000ft with 9gph (each side) fuel flow.
Engine power curves updated.
Constant speed prop logic updated to modern flight model.
Weight and balance adjusted to achieve greater stability and control in flight.
Ground Handling improvements:
Rudder re-configured to create more yaw than roll effect.
Various weathervane effects and associated forces minimised on the ground.
Take-off and landing is now possible in up to 20kts crosswind.
PMS GTN750 Autopilot (payware version only):
Integrated compatibility with the payware PMS GTN750 menu bar app.
Fly a full IFR flightplan with ILS or RNAV approach and landing!
The PA30’s invisible Autopilot can also be used with the keyboard only, see the Readme for further details.
Shrikesim’s model has some very nice details and features, including:
Co-pilot avatar
Opening cabin door
Animated elevator trim tab
Cabin floor hatches to access the circuit breakers and emergency toolkit
If you can slew to the rear seats, the co-pilot’s seat can be folded forward which makes the co-pilot avatar disappear
The gear warning beep is throttle controlled only and sounds when the gear is up and the throttles are lower than 10" MP - extending the flaps with the gear up does nothing.
One note for livery artists - the chrome spinners seem to be baked into the model, I could replace the static (engines off) spinner textures but they changed back to chrome when the engines were started!
Thank you for doing the improvement mod. Much appreciated!
You probably checked it already but is there a separate ‘spinning prop’ texture in the main aircraft texture folder ?
Thank you, yes I checked everywhere and all I could find was a section in the ‘Props’ section of the PA30_Exterior.xml file titled ‘Cone Visibility’ which specifies ‘still cone’ and ‘blurred cone’ states, with no reference to any associated textures. I did change part of a texture which looked like a blurred spinner, but it turned out to be a brake disk lol. I haven’t attempted to edit the .xml section because I assume that I’ll get a ‘still cone’ texture when I should get a ‘blurred cone’ texture.
