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DreamFleet Piper Archer III For FS2004
By Nels Anderson (25 April 2007)
he Piper Archer is a
plane that's pretty special to me. In the early 1990's I learned to
fly in the Warrior, a similar plane except for being 20 hp less
powerful, and since being licensed most of my 1000+ hours of flight
time have been in an Archer II. Perhaps you know it, since that exact
plane was the subject of an earlier DreamFleet creation, originally
for FS2002 and upgraded for FS2004. Andrew Herd reviewed it
here
shortly after it came out. The DreamFleet Archer II was one of the most
complex GA planes released up to that time and also became perhaps the
most popular GA add-on. So, with that history, when DreamFleet announced
a new version, this time an Archer III, naturally I had high expectations.The Archer is a member of a large family of aircraft. The family as a whole is known as the Cherokee, with the earliest Cherokee model dating back to the early 1960's. Since then there have been many variations, and though the actual word "Cherokee" has been dropped from the latest models the family resemblance is obvious. The Archers are the 180 hp version, and an outgrowth of the earlier Cherokee 180. The Archer II got the tapered "Warrior wing" that is the main external visual difference from the earlier models which have a straight and rather chunky looking "Hershey bar" wing.
The Archer III, which is the subject of this review, was introduced by Piper in 1994. Externally, other than sporting generally more modern paint schemes, the only major visual change is in the cowling right behind the spinner. Inside is a whole different story. Piper has made major changes to the cockpit which make it look like a different plane. Gone are the 1970ish plastic overlays and instead we have a nice flat metal panel. Things have been moved around too, with a totally new overhead panel now holding a number of switches. Whether this is actually a good thing is something I've heard real pilots debate! But this is how newer panels look so the Archer III fits right in with its era.
External view over Boston
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Wide view of virtual cockpit
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Flying the Hudson River at night
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DreamFleet is of course well known for doing highly detailed models of general aviation planes, and modelling them after specific real planes owned by flightsimmers, and the Archer III is no exception. N9277Q is owned by Chuck Roberts of New Hampshire and given how close he is we're going to have to get the two DreamFleet Archer models together one of these days; but that will be the subject of a future article...
Installation
DreamFleet's installation system is likely to work for you without a hitch, but it can't be said to be simple. It's a five part process and you can't simply leave it, go away, and come back with the installation complete as you will have to interact with it several times. The reason for this is that the package is made up of several somewhat separate components, including the plane itself, the DreamManager that allows you to install repaints and most importantly the RealityXP avionics which are actually a full separate package blended into the Archer.So, though I had to sit through it, agree to several EULA statements and click my way through the steps it all worked and when it was done the plane was installed and ready to fly.
Close up view of the alternate livery included in the package, showing
details like ropes, open doors and fuel tanks. Also note that the wheel
pants have been removed; just one of the many options.
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A close view of the standard livery from the rear.
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An even closer view of the front with the tie downs remove and the pilot
ready to go.
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External
After all these years of flying one I just find the Archer to be a very visually appealing plane, and DreamFleet has done a fine job of correctly capturing the look. The default paint scheme is one that's quite popular in the real world and just looks good on the plane. Only two paint schemes are included, but that's hardly a drawback for reasons I'll get into later.Being pretty familiar with the real Archer (I wonder how many pre-flights I've done over the years...) a close examination of the externals of the DreamFleet version showed no obvious flaws and a lot of detail. All the curves, dimples, rivets, etc. are there, right where they should be. Just about every possible moving part actually moves too, so as you go through your flight you will see the plane doing just what the real one does. I really can't see anything I'd want DreamFleet to change or fix.
Special features are included too, like doors that open and tie-down ropes that appear when the plane is shut down. Looking inside you'll also see a realistic pilot inside whose head moves around--he's obviously a well trained pilot who is practicing "see and avoid"!
Wide view of the interior. DreamFleet includes little details like a vent
window that opens.
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No room for a passenger, with charts and books cluttering the cockpit.
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A look to the rear.
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Interior
Flightsimmers these days expect a full interior and DreamFleet delivers. As with the rest of the plane, what you see on the interior is all based on photos of the real plane. Having watched this process done on my own plane I can tell you it takes lots of photos but the end results are well worth it.As you look around the interior you'll notice little details like the pilot's vent window that actually opens with a click, a sectional chart on the seat, another bound book of charts...everywhere you look there are nice little details and many of them actually do things too.
Of course, necessary moving parts all do move including the yoke, pedals, flap handle, throttle, etc. so the interior fully responds to your control movements as you fly.
Panel
Flying a real plane, most of your time is going to be spent looking at the panel since you don't have all the flightsim options of external views, tower views, etc. The DreamFleet Archer III offers up a very nice, modern panel to look at indeed. In fact, most light plane owners would likely be quite jealous of the avionics here.True glass cockpits (i.e., the Garmin G1000) are now becoming available in light planes, but this Archer III still has the traditional "steam gauges" for its primary instrumentation. Everything is laid out in what has become the standard manner and all the gauges are clearly readable and smooth operating. DreamFleet, though, has done a lot to enhance even these simple gauges. Through various mouse clicks gauges can be popped up to a much larger size, covered over (to practice partial panel flying) or text can be displayed offering a digital version of the gauge information. It's hard to imagine anything more that could be done with gauges of this sort.
Various other controls can also be popped up as required. As in most planes, some controls are not actually on the panel itself and would not be visible in the normal 2D view nor in the virtual cockpit view without panning around. These things, including the fuel selector, flaps lever, trim controls, etc., can all be popped up as required. Learning all the proper click spots may take some time, but with regular use of the Archer III these things quickly become familiar.
Actually, it should be mentioned that DreamFleet has realized that learning all the clickspots can be daunting, so has provided an alternate means of invoking the common pop-ups via the RealityXP DropStack Gauge. The DropStack sits far up in the left side of the 2D panel, almost unnoticed, but when you mouse over it, it drops down a set of miniature images that let you pop up any one of eleven windows. Clicking on any image cause the associated pop-up window to appear or disappear.
What really makes this plane special and modern is the avionics, and especiall the GPS and the autopilot. It also still has a set of Bendix King radios of various sorts (NAV/COM, transponder, DME, ADF, etc.) which is nice since these are so familiar and easily usable by most GA pilots.
Default view of the virtual cockpit.
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Virtual cockpit with Garmin GNS430 GPS popped up to make it easier to read.
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Virtual cockpit with the avionics (including the S-TEC 55X autopilot, at
the bottom of the stack) plus the ST-360 altitude selector
popped up. Just about anything you can think of can be popped up for
a larger view.
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Garmin GNS430 GPS
The Garmin GNS430, though, makes this plane almost like a mini airliner with FMC. From what I can tell, RealityXP's version of the GNS430 included here replicates virtually all the important functions of the real GNS430 and in fact does so through the use of Garmin's own trainer software which runs in the background.Making full use of this unit takes some reading. Though DreamFleet does supply extensive manuals with the plane, the GNS430 manual is not included. Instead, they send you off to Garmin's web site to obtain the real Garmin manual and that's what you use to learn to run the simulated GPS...it's that realistic. I ended up spending several hours reading through the manuals (Garmin offers both a quick start version and a complete manual) before I felt comfortable doing IFR flights with the GPS but before long I started to get the feel for Garmin's system and was comfortable using the GPS in real time while flying. Your mileage will vary, though, depending on your comfort level with such gadgets. The GNS430 has a huge range of capabilities and seemingly endless menus and though you only used a relative subset of these in a normal flight it does all take a while to get your head around it.
After having flown the DreamFleet Archer III for a while I had the chance to do several flights in friend's Grumman Tiger which he recently equipped with a real GNS430. Once I stopped trying to click on things and started actually turning the knobs instead I found I could run the real unit quite well, solely based on what I had learned with the sim. I understand that flight schools have discovered this too and are using Flight Simulator and properly equipped planes like the DreamFleet Archer III to teach real instrument pilots how to manage the GNS430.
To really do it justice, the RealityXP version of the GNS430 probably deserves its own review, but suffice it to say here that the unit installed in the Archer III works very well and is a very good match to the capabilities of the real unit. It should be noted that the GNS430 included with the DreamFleet Archer III will only work with the Archer III and cannot be moved to other aircraft. However, you can get a version from RealityXP that can be installed into any aircraft.
Outside view on a nice sunny day.
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The default 2D panel.
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Fueling up at dawn.
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S-TEC Autopilot
The other piece of avionics that makes this plane special is the S-TEC 55X autopilot with ST-360 altitude selector. My real Archer II has a functioning autopilot in it but I find I don't use it much. It's perfectly capable of pointing the plane in the right direction, either by following a heading or by tracking a VOR or ILS. The problem is that it has no control over altitude so you still have to keep your attention on flying the plane and in fact have to watch out since commanding the autopilot to take a moderately sharp turn will cause the plane to descend. Well, the DreamFleet Archer III has an autopilot system that simply does not have these problems. Like any basic autopilot it can following a heading and track a VOR or ILS. But it can also track the route programmed into the GNS430 and best of all it has control over altitude! And more than basic control too as it can not only just hold the current altitude but it can climb and descend at a specified rate and can also track the glideslope on an ILS. Those of you who regularly fly modern jetliners are probably wondering what I'm getting excited about here as these features are nothing special in a jet but in a small GA plane this is pretty hot stuff.Like the GNS430, you'll need to spend some book time learning how to operate the S-TEC 55X. As is the case with the GPS, the autopilot has been modeled so accurately that the included instructions are minimal and instead you are referred to the manual for the real 55X which you can download from the S-TEC web site. The autopilot, like the GPS, is a RealityXP product and is also available as a stand-alone version that can be integrated into any flightsim aircraft. The RealityXP manual pages that are included are actually for the stand-alone version and do not completely match what you get with the Archer III so there is some potential for confusion, but more than likely you'll quickly realize the differences and get onto using it.
Night over New York City.
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A view from below on takeoff.
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Night departure.
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The autopilot is easy to control once you understand how it works. The only compromise required is that on the real unit some functions require that two buttons be press simultaneously which of course is something you can't do with your mouse, but a clever solution was reached where you just click between the two buttons for these functions. This is one of those things you'd miss if you don't read the manual but once you realize how it works it makes sense and is easy enough.
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Flying With Proper Controls
One thing I always emphasize is how much better sim flying is when you have
the proper controls. This is especially true with a light plane like the
Archer where the pilot will actually spend a great deal of time actually
hand flying the plane, unlike the airliners where the autopilot does most
of the work. At a minimum, a good quality joystick is needed as trying to
fly with the keyboard or mouse just doesn't cut it. For some light planes
a stick is actually the correct control.
For many lights planes, including the Archer III, a yoke and rudder pedals
is the way to go. For years I've recommended the
CH Products Flight Sim Yoke USB
and the
CH Pro Pedals USB.
This is the setup I have used for a long time now and I'm quite happy
with it. These are a good match for many light planes and also good
for when you want to hand fly larger planes, though for that you
might also want a throttle quadrant.
There's also another type of control that is handy and that I've only
recently started using and that's the
TrackIR 4 Pro Head Tracker.
Virtual cockpits are now a standard and expected component of any flightsim
aircraft, but to really take advantage of the VC you need to be able to
control where you are looking. Probably the most common way of doing that is
with the top hat switch found on most joysticks and yokes. The top hat
does allow you full control of your view, but it's kind of awkward...you
have no control over how fast your view pans around, it can be hard to get
back to front and center and it does of course required one of your hands
that might really be needed for something else.
The TrackIR solves this problem by actually tracking your head movements
to determine what you are looking at. Movements are exaggerated so you can
actually see all the way behind yourself without turning that far (and
while also being able to keep your eyes on the screen). Having this kind
of control really enhances a plane like the DreamFleet Archer III where a
lot of work has been put into giving you a quality virtual cockpit.
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Flying The Plane
Enough on the plane's features, so how does it fly? In order to evaluate the features that make it special I seem to have done most of my flying IFR, along specified routes and finishing with an instrument approach of some sort. This is not exactly how the typical Archer spends most of its time I suspect and certainly not how I usually use mine! That said, the DreamFleet Archer III is a nice stable platform for instrument flight and handled this type of trip quite nicely, just as long as you're satisifed with the 125 knots or so that an Archer is capable of.Taking the plane out for more typical VFR flight proved quite satisfying. Like a real Archer, it's easy to handle and has no bad habits that will get you into trouble. Right from the start of flight I was pleased with the Archer III. Some GA planes seem to be reluctant to leave the ground, so you have to kind of jerk them into the air or wait for an abnormally high speed to be achieved. The Archer III, however, takes to the air smoothly and at a reasonable speed, so right from the first minute of my first flight I was favorably impressed.
While it's hard to truly judge a flightsim plane against a real plane I can say that in all aspects of flight the Archer III felt close to a real Archer. While the power settings did not quite match my Archer II, DreamFleet has confirmed to me that they do match the Archer III being modelled. I was always able to get the plane to perform as I wanted at any point in the flight and right down into a nice smooth landing. The plane handles nicely on the ground too, without the uncontrolable steering some planes seem to have.
DreamManager
The Archer III comes with only two paint schemes, but like any smart developer DreamFleet wants users to create additional liveries. They've made this easy by providing an high quality layed template that is available from their web site. Also, they provide "DreamManager", the replacement for the Config-o-Matic found in their earlier planes. With DreamManager you avoid the need to manually edit the aircraft.cfg file, which no doubt is something that many flightsimmers are still not comfortable doing. Once you have downloaded or created a new livery of your own a few mouse clicks is all that it takes for DreamManager to make it into a flyable plane.
Wanting to test this fully, I decided to try a repaint of my own. It's
been a while since I last did this (OK, it was FS4!) so if I can do it
I suspect anyone who is moderately comfortable with a graphics program
can do it. Much as I like the modern livery supplied, I wanted to see
the plane painted as my own familiar N8439T in its late 1970-ish
factory livery. The DreamFleet template made this easy, as all the
shapes and little details like rivets are already there, so all I
had to do was supply the proper stripes, lettering and so on. From
zero knowledge to completed repaint took maybe two hours and it came
out quite nice (see for yourself, download the repaint
here).
A dusk view of my custom paint job.
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A night view of the virtual cockpit.
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Another look at my custom paint job.
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Conclusion
Well, here I've reached the end of the review and I'm sure there was more I meant to say, but as this has already gotten quite long it's time to round things up. DreamFleet has stuffed so many features into this seemingly simple light plane that you will surely spend hours just trying things, and enjoy doing so greatly. Flying is also a pleasure, whether you're in control on a VFR site-seeing flight or whether you turn control over to the very capable avionics and fly IFR like the big planes do.While there's no faulting the exterior model of the plane, it's clear that DreamFleet has concentrated their efforts on the cockpit and you could not ask for a better, more capable panel in a light plane. While it will take some time to master (finding the right click spots, etc.) the effort is well worthwhile and before long flying becomes just a pleasure.
For Piper fans, the DreamFleet Archer III is simply a must have. Their earlier Archer II has long been my favorite flightsim light plane but it's clear the team's design skills have only gotten better since that plane was released. Getting this plane is certainly something you won't regret.
Nels Anderson
nels@flightsim.com
