Even if I don’t grab the Archer?! I thought we had a deal!
I don’t think it will be out this week still (Wilga) or we’d probably know by now. My money is on next week. Anyway I have a weekend of flying coming up so I’ll probably be beaten into getting the Archer by my own brain by then
Yea that’s a good and nice way of looking at it too. They earned a lot of good faith I feel, for anyone that follows the industry, from all the stuff they do and continue to do for free. A good bunch with the hobby as their main interest, not profiteering. I guess a lot of people (players) don’t really know who does what and so on, and I’m pretty new to the whole scene on this deep a level (although been simming for 35+ years, never got so into the hobby before even though spent probably thousands on satellite imagery addons, planes and so on - but this game is like the dream I had that I never thought would come true in my lifetime so I’m all in!).
I wish I had the money and the disk space for that lol. Disk space I can solve soon but I’ll go bankrupt if I buy everything nowadays! My shopping list is already pretty long and looks like the Archer just jumped the lot?
The great thing about this hobby is, “it’s cheaper than fuel/rental/maintenance etc.” can go a long way towards justifying just about anything. Of course if there’s anyone who will test the limits of that it’s you, but how long has it been since you’ve got this much endorsement for a $20 plane?
BBS Trislander. Unchanged from last month . BBS have done a great job
modelling this eccentric aircraft , including the Heath Robinson - like centre engine failure indicator bulb. BBS have also given us the legendary “Joey” livery, this is the Aurigny Air Services aircraft that was dear to all of us Channel Islanders. Brilliant sounds too - just hear that trio of Lycomings roar distinctively as you open the throttles to take off. And Joey can get upset if you call him “ugly”…
Asobo/Milviz DH2c. Unchanged from last month
Was Asobo inibuilds A310. But I’m not really a wannabe Airbus captain in MSFS - my ideal pilot role models would be Ernest K Gann or Biggles… so I discovered (eventually) the Big Radials Grumman Goose. I love it. Flight model is very different to the Asobo/Inibuilds 40th Anniversary ‘plane, much more stable and with very believable ground and water handling. Can’t be sure which flight model is the most realistic of the two - but the Big Radials Goose has these fantastic bellowing radial engine noises that are very addictive and have me reaching for the volume control, there are some nice liveries, as well as a hidden GPS and radio set for longer flights and a very crude but effective autopilot too ( though I invariably hand fly this one). I can’t put this classic aircraft down just now.. Biggles would have enjoyed flying this amphibian around the world so it makes me smile too….
Asobo Carenado Beech 18. Unchanged from last month.
Orbx PAC750 XSTOL. Unchanged from last month. This really is a most extraordinary aircraft (low wing XSTOL from the Southern Hemisphere). Possibly the most underrated aircraft in the sim in my opinion…definitely not helped by MP erroneously categorising the aircraft as a piston engine rather than the powerful single engined turbo-prop it is (it’s equipped with a 750 HP PT-6 ). There are passenger, cargo, skydiving and Agriculture (crop spraying) variants included along with animated gull-wing doors for pilot and co-pilot. I’m racking up a lot of very pleasurable flight hours on it.
Was the Carenado PC 12. This month its edged out of the top 10 by an amazing new GA aircraft, the Carenado Piper Archer II. Fantastic visuals, as you’d expect from Carenado, with the addition of a beautifully balanced and realistic feeling flight model and great sound, with excellent visibility, this aircraft is very immersive and a real joy to hand fly. There isn’t an autopilot if you’re asking, but why would you want one when this is such a gorgeous aircraft to fly? With a little bit of trimming and good pitch and power, this aircraft practically flies itself anyway. This aircraft feels almost perfect to me - it’s one of the very best aircraft in the sim’, that’s for sure, so I’m going to be flying it rather a lot in the coming weeks and months.
Note: hopefully the Wilga will be released on MP early this month so it may well make it into my March top 10, based on the very high regard that it’s held in by everyone here - the question is, which aircraft is the likeliest to be displaced from my current top 10?
I have plans for a new flight simulator setup build but I don’t own a house yet so it’s on hold for now because the cost of a new car keeps getting out of hand by going up, I’ve looked into every option available including old commercial fishing boats
at the moment it’s the default C208 sounds but to be honest we’re talking about a PT6 turboprop here which isn’t noted for being a special sounding power plant - so I can’t say I’ve really noticed any downside to the aircraft using the default sounds at all. I really want an HS748, F27 or Viscount with real Dart sounds modelled - the trouble with this is that I might just sit on the ramp and start up the engines then let ‘em wind down again without bothering about flying anywhere…..
Simple answer. Get an amphibious camper van. All 3 things in 1. Live in it, drive it, use as boat. With VR you’ll be able to fit your PC inside as well! Not sure if solar power will be enough to keep you totally “off-grid” though!
If you do, let us know what you think of it… I really hope you enjoy it as much as I’ve been..
I’ve got to admit that I haven’t really spent a lot of time using the crop spraying variant - the flying is outside my comfort zone. - but I think Av Angel has a you tube video where she demonstrates the really extreme manoeuvres that this aircraft is capable of…
I tend to use the pax and cargo variants into short strips
Yep. The reason a PT6 sounds like every other turbo prop out there is pretty much every other turbo prop actually is a PT6. Over the years the Canadian designed PT6 has been fitted to something like 130 different types of aircraft.
There are not a lot of engines designed in 1958 still in production. If the PC6 actually survives the switch to electric propulsion over the next few decades, it will in 35 years time be a 100 year old design.
I hope they do add an actual crop spraying mission, that you know, actually monitors and registers what you’ve covered. Would be totally awesome if they added some system on the tablet that lets you pick a small or medium or large or “Oz Sized” farm for a mission and it procedurally finds the nearest farm of that size and sets it up for the task. Get some kind of green light when you’re done. One can dream! If only I knew how to code lol
I can see it now … "This aircraft is rubbish, the spray distribution is totally unrealistic, it does not vary with variations in the fertilizer density and it takes no account of wind drift. "
Hah yeah well obviously all that would have to be taken into account with real-time particle physics and CFD (60fps minimum of course) or it’s a total fail!
EDIT: the HPG firefighting missions is basically exactly this, mechanically.
Because of this, I tend to think that this would acutally be possible. Let’s hope for the best, but certainly, I don’t think we’ll get something like a dynamic crop dusting campaign
I wish I had the money and the disk space for that lol. Disk space I can solve soon but I’ll go bankrupt if I buy everything nowadays! My shopping list is already pretty long and looks like the Archer just jumped the lot? 
