POH calls for a powered descent 80-85knts to touchdown and then only reduce power to idle/beta. Aircraft weight makes a reasonable difference to Landing speed too. Letting it drop below 75knts is bad news as by 69 you will losing yaw control.
That manifesto was too long to read. The Kodiak remains my favorite plane in the sim. DHC-2 fast becoming #2.
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Manifesto. I like it. âEssayâ was what I thought. I like the Kodiak a lot. It flies very true to the POH - as much as any aircraft in the SIM. Pitch sensitivity is somewhat peripheral dependent and easily tuned in the SIM. I do like the Twotter and Milviz PC6 too.
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That is a very abbreviated part of the POH and does not take anything into consideration, such as weight, wind, landing strip type etc. Go forward in the POH and there are more charts that show the stall speeds at various weights.
And at empty Kodiak has a Vref of something like 47kts. You wouldnât land any aircraft at 30kts above stall speed.
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I read that review of the Kodiak and also agree that the simulation doesnât approach that ease of handling near minimum speeds. But itâs also a lot better than others who are in my opinion just driving it without considering the performance limitations of the aircraft.
I will agree that it needs some work but still can be rewarding if flown properly.
Oh, Iâm well familiar with the POH. And you are right the stall speed for a completely empty aircraft (5000lbs) at zero bank angle with a most forward CG is a mere 43KIAS.
But who flies the Kodiak in that configuration? I usuallly fly the cargo pod variant at 6800lbs, sometimes heavier, respecting load station limits which usually gives a fairly aft CG. That gives stall speeds of 58KIAS. Which I find accurate and I aim for a Vref of 75KIAS. Before gusts in Live weather you used to be able to go lower, but now itâs too risky.
But that is not the most relevant data for safe operation - the normal procedures are. If you fly close to stall speed in the critical phase of landing you put yourself at considerable risk - as you pitch up to flare, p-factor will increase and you will start yawing to the left more. As the same time you are usuallly entering ground effect you may lose further control as you bleed speed but gain lift and either yaw out into a stall or drop onto the runway at 450fpm⊠You can easily lose 10KIAS in the flare itself.
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I purchased it a couple of days ago and have been flying it since. Here is my experience from the last two days:
Canât rotate at 55 kts definitely but on full throttle and suggested climb rate and torque as mentioned in the cockpit on a sticker, I have climbed at 2,000 fpm at 135 kts. So I donât see a problem there. But it needs to be flown at 80% throttle, anything below eventually causes a stall after a while and subsequently a crash as the stall on this airplane is unrecoverable. So definitely some issues with the power in general.
My gripe is that no matter what weight I add to the shelves it doesnât show any payload in the cabin - just an empty cabin - but with the weight logged.
Secondly, taxi lights and landing lights do not show any illumination. I can see the lights falling on the runway - in an uneven manner - but the wingtips with the lights only show tiny white dots.
Lastly, the aircraft doesnât glide at all. With the throttle set to idle, it stalls and drops like a stone within seconds. The flaps drag doesnât seem realistic either - itâs way too much. Hence, I am not enjoying any smooth landings, and I have been practicing on runways before I head to the backcountry bush strips - the very reason I bought it.
To top it off, Simworks Studios are not responsive either anyhwere. I have dropped them a line each on Twitter, their website and now here, but no response so far.
I also want to know how I would be notified about any updates on this product. I bought it off their website. It was an installer that unpacked itself into the community folder. That did not get synchronized with the Kodiak 100 on the Marketplace and it still shows an option to install it.
Any advise?
Thanks.
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I donât know if Simworks Studios are American based, but keep in mind that yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US, one of the most important holidays over there, so I wouldnât expect any response before next week if thatâs the case.
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I think they are based in Cyprus. Thatâs what their Twitter account states.
Thanks for the response. Happy Thanksgiving.
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SWS are active on their discord. They are talking about an âupcoming patchâ and they are aware of issues related to flaps having too much drag, etc.
John
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I took another flight in the Kodiak and one of the gripes I just was reminded of was the inaccurate ITT at cruise. Should be able to fly at 700-720 degrees at higher altitude but canât. Doesnât make it unflyable but still something that would help ideally be addressed.
nice i totally agree with you:)
I was keen to test the Kodiakâs STOL capabilities so I took it to Rogue River Valley in Oregon.
I flew it very light (4980lbs). This was the cargo pod version with normal wheels. Live weather, but the pressure alt was sea level. 15 Celcius and little to no wind, so ideal conditions really.
I was able to follow short field take-off and landing procedures without difficulty - for T/O on a dirt strip (Agnes, 76OR, rny 18, 2098ft of dirt) I calculated a t/o roll of 760ft with 1180ft to clear 50â obst. Rotating at 50knts with 20 degress of flaps had me wheels up at 68knts after a roll of no more than 800ft. (Bypass on)
Landing at rny 14 at Half Moon Bar (23OR, 1228ft of dirt) was a lot of fun given its crazy approach and a bit more of a challenge. With flaps 35 and a Vref of 73knts 'till clear the trees I was able to make a âfirmâ landing at 60knts (maybe a little bounce). No yawing or loss of control and the landing roll (max reverse and full braking) had me stop in no more than 700ft - calculated stopping roll was 579. Not my finest landing, but I would take it!
I also took off from rny 14. Now that was a challenging departure! The only field I didnât manage to land at even with a number of attempts was 75OR. Itâs insane. Maybe in a KitFox.
So perfectly STOL capableâŠin that configuration and those conditions. Not sure how it would do at 6800lbs. That might be the next challenge. Flaps 35 is certainly too draggy and itâs very hard to maintain a constant speed. Just takes practice and super focus I guess. Video of my âfirmâ landingâŠ
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I have to say that I have not been enjoying flying this aircraft at all with so many issues. I am discouraged to fly it again.
Alex from SWS reponded to me saying when you put the throttle in idle position in-flight, itâs like youâve hit a wall!
Thatâs how bad the flight model is!
The aircraft doesnât glide at all. With nose down and throttle generating power continuously, the landings are very rough and the entire dynamics of the glide path are changed.
Simply put: itâs awful.
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A turboprop at idle thrust has a huge amount of drag, the prop is like a big disc. You need to leave power on right to the flare and sometimes all the way to touchdown.
In the real airplane I leave power on until the main wheels are almost on the runway. The Dash-8 we landed with power on. Itâs not like a piston engine airplane with a fixed pitch prop.
The flap drag has been reworked, Iâve tested it and it is much better.
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Thank you so much for that great video and for indicating the Kodiaks STOL capabilitiesâŠI agree with everything you said
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Thank you for that input.
I have flown other turboprops (TBM 930, Grand Caravan, and more) and their idle thrust drag is not like the one on this one.
There are definitely issues with its power and flight model that need to be addressed.
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In your opinion.
Personally I love flying it. Landings are a joy. One of the best aircraft in the sim and thereâs plenty of users who also think so.
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Could you please quote this statement entirely? I canât believe Alex put it that way. MSFS has some issues, but certainly not a bad flight model at all.
The Kodiak is modelled more realistically than many other GA, especially the stock C208 (even with the mod). People are often taken by surprise by how much more of a challenge it is to fly well. But thatâs why those of us who like it like it so much.
But to take some of the points in your OP
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Rotation. I think you mean to say it doesnât lift off when you rotate. This is correct behaviour. You typically rotate at 60KIAS with a lift off 80KIAS or so depending on load, CG, elevator trim and how aggressive you are with your rotation.
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Glide. The aircraft will glide at 100KIAS (no flaps). Remember to feather the prop. Power off landings are perfectly achievable. Flaps in a no power situation need to be used with caution at the moment given the known issue with excess drag.
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Stalls. Normal power-off stalls are easily recovered. A stall at high AOA with rudder input present (ie typical landing configuration) may well flip you inverted. So very careful power management is required on approach. FWIW I do find the stall behaviour a bit odd and it will certainly enter a spin very quickly if yaw is present.
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Load animation. It varies by model and will show either pax or cargo in a given station. But remember anything loaded onto the cargo shelf, or the external cargo pod bays will not be shown. I have found that sometimes it wonât show all the pax Iâm expecting to see, so there may be a bug.
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Taxi and landing lights. Accurately modelled.
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