Hi everyone! I’ve been loving the Carenado Dakota that we got for free a while back. It makes me want to try my hand at other types of Pipers. Seeing that we have a sale going on right now, it looks like I could either buy the Arrow II and III from Carenado for ~30USD OR the Just Flight Arrow III, Turbo III, and Turbo IV for 55USD.
What do you all think? Is the Just Flight quality worth the extra money (and extra plane?) Is it redundant to buy a Carenado Arrow II when the Dakota is already a fixed landing gear plane?
The Just Flight maybe more realistic regarding flight model (and I even really don’t know if it makes sense) but Carenado are way more immersive with awesome texture and rendering. I don’t’ like the cockpit ambiance of the Just Flight, with my Tobii, getting close up view reveal low res texture.
For the context : real PA28/C172/DR400 simple VFR PPL here, who do not really believe in the flight modelization on a PC with gaming devices BUT use everyday MSFS to simulate systems and train my flow, checklist, situation awareness, mobile real world app…
If textures and counting rivets gives you immersion then by all means go for Carenado over the JF. Not because it’s better in that regards but because it’s cheaper. If you want more on top of that then it has to be JF all the way. Carenado are known for making good looking aircraft but certainly not immersion from systems depth and accuracy. The answer lies in what floats your boat.
Not sure about Carenado for updates (they are not renowned for them), but JF have been very good at continually updating their fleet when something changes with SU’s etc. Also they upgraded to FS2024 with no charge for all their aircraft. I personally have the Warrior which I use whenever I wan’t to go do some old style IFR nav training. I have the Turbo Arrow too. I can’t quantify functionality, of various carenado aircraft, but I have encountered older aircraft not 100% functional and maybe more crucially seldom updated. JF aircraft on the other hand all usually work as expected. Carenado texturing is second to none though if that’s what matters to you.
I prefer the Carenado flight model to the JF one. All the JF aircraft have a trim issue that causes them to porpoise up and down. Carenado models are very easy to trim out. I love the PA34T Seneca V, and the PA44 is also excellent. I know those are twins, and you are looking for single engine.
I am also not a fan of JF sounds. Carenado sounds are usually very good. I say usually because I really can’t stand their PC-12 sounds, so they are not perfect in this area.
I don’t own the Arrow or the Archer. I own the JF versions, but they are not installed. There are very few single engine models that I fly regularly. Carenado’s M20R Ovation is excellent. I’m not sure where the Bonanza went, but that was excellent as well. The YMF5 is wonderful. The 195 Business Liner is highly recommended.
Just my two cents: visually, the modeling of the Piper Arrows isn’t quite up to modern standards, with some interior textures appearing blurry and low quality. I know it’s not a big deal for some simmers, but personally, I prefer aircraft with sharper, more detailed visual modeling. Carenado really excels in this area.
I always find some glitchy system or something just way off in every Carenado plane and I personally find that more immersion breaking than some low res textures so it’s the JF Arrows all the way for me. I prefer the Arrow III even to the turbo variants since the throttle on the turbo models is a little wonky, although I believe the is a fix out there for that. Speaking of fixes, there’s also upscaled interior texture mods for the Arrows that will make those interiors a nicer place to be.
Agree’d the everything about the model is far superiour to anything Caranado or Just Flight have released…. And if you had the A2A in 2020, you get a discount for the 2024 model.
Without steering you toward either the BlackSquare Bonanza or A2A Comanche, which are both much better, the JF Arrow bundle was the first addon I bought for MSFS. At the time it flew very well, then went through a period where it badly needed an update. I flew it again just after the 2024 update and i think it was back to a decent flight model.
I never found a Carenado flight model that was really good. In a normal envelope they flew fine but stalls etc always seemed weird, and engine management was pretty bad. They are beutiful and as a disclaimer I haven’t tried one in a loonnnnnng time. Maybe they’re better in the flight arena than before.
The Native24 Comanche is back on the leaderboard for the most realistic feel of any GA aircraft IMHO - just the handling and feel of the aircraft is enough to put it in front of most anything else for me.
I have both the 20 and 24 version - there is a big difference for me in the way the 24 version flies - with Moza FFB Yoke it’s been incredible. I had to turn down many of the FFB effects because the self-contained A2A flight model already takes much of the ‘movement’ of the plane into consideration.
For me there would be zero question on which one to choose.
I have all of the planes discussed here, and they all provide good experiences in one way or another.
But I have to chime in and add another vote for the A2A (Piper PA-24) Comanche 250. I have more hours in it than the Carenado and Just Flight planes combined. It’s just a beautifully detailed simulation that feels like real flying, with a lot of system flexibility for both GPS and old-fashioned navigation.
They just released a native 2024 version, too. If you’re buying new, note that the version on Marketplace is still FS2020; if you want the native 2024 release get it directly from A2A Simulations or wait for it to work its way through the Marketplace quicksand.
Just Flight because they are native 2024, but seriously, neither JF or Carenado competes with A2A.
On the A2A Comanche, the 2024 is similar to 2020, but has some nice enhancements such as support for 2024 wear and tear, some instrument upgrades, etc.
