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any,
if not most, of the planes created for use with FS2000 (and
FS98 before it) are airliners. The great majority of the releases
from both the freeware and payware community seem bound to fill this
huge niche. Perhaps it's only supply and demand. After all, many of
the posts on the forums relate to the "big iron." Recently, a new
company named 3AVIA released Flight Line - a collection
of six general aviation aircraft. Hooray! Relief for the rest of the
flightsimmers who cherish the world of general aviation.3AVIA is the brainchild of Ray Pennington. In association with Brian Gladden, Chuck Dome, Mark Keith and Jim Turner, these six GA aircraft are brought to life. Flight dynamics for these planes were created by Ray, Brian and Chuck. Just a few minutes at the wheel should be sufficient to convince most any simmer how smoothly these flight dynamics operate.
There is no manual, but there is a moderately comprehensive readme file. Cautions are issued about the FS2000 turboprop model (which doesn't properly/perfectly model a turboprop!) and cautions about throttle usage, EGT gauge, etc. There's even a support phone number! Since there's no heavy installation procedure, the lack of a manual is irrelevant. The actual installation procedure is very simple. The user must "point" to the installed FS2000 directory and all else is taken care of automatically. Only the planes and a few gauges are installed. I personally find this a joy; there's no extraneous paraphernalia to be uninstalled at some future date. Installation of the six planes (C177 Cardinal, Cessna 310, E55 Baron, MU-2, TBM 700 and a TB-9 Tampico) took about 150 megabytes.
A second fascinating discovery was the EGT and CHT gauges - they work better than just about any gauge of this type I've ever seen! Although the first part of my testing was conducted during daylight hours, I flipped the switch for the panel lights. They have an obvious lighting effect even in the daytime! Last, but not least, the Cardinal has its own unique sound. It has a distinctly different sound from the default Cessna 182 series. After having seen (and heard) numerous small planes using so much from the default Cessna, the sound from the Cardinal was a very pleasant surprise.
After taking off from KLEE I headed north toward KGNV on my "standard" test route. The climb to a reasonable cruising altitude was steady and uneventful. After leveling off at 3500 feet I double checked the instruments to make certain I was following instructions, mainly by making sure I didn't let the EGT climb too high. I got so carried away with the handling (hands-off trim was very easily accomplished) I forgot to pay close attention to the airspeed. I suddenly realized I was trucking along at 160 knots! While this isn't necessarily a danger zone, it's certainly in the "yellow" on the airspeed gauge. This baby can be pretty quick for a small, fixed-gear plane. Now I can hardly wait to see what the next plane presents!
Curiously, the 310 climbs on autopilot at 700 feet per minute, yet the informational display in the selection menu indicates its performance at 1,400 feet per minute. Perhaps a minor tweaking of the air file will settle this minor deficiency.
My first thought was the flight dynamics aren't as good as those of the Cardinal, but this is, after all, a twin, and a pretty nimble twin at that. The flight characteristics are still quite good however. At one point I individually adjusted the prop controls. As one prop began to spin slower than the other, the plane began yawing, properly reacting to the faster spinning prop!
A possible anomaly I discovered was the sound. Although it is a unique sound, when I throttled back the engine sounds didn't appear to diminish much at all. As I'm not a real pilot, perhaps this is normal, but it was certainly contrary to my expectations!
Aesthetically, the 310 is not a pleasing looking aircraft - but that's just my opinion. It is easy to fly, both fun and forgiving. It will be a handy plane to take my buddies (it's a six-seater) to the Gator games!
The Baron (and the others above, as well) have lots of moving parts - ailerons, rudder, etc. The Baron, of course, also has a retractable gear. The cockpit is transparent with a visible pilot.
It seemed difficult at first to get a decent climb speed without firewalling the throttle. The best I seemed to get was just a tad less than maximum throttle. This appears to keep the EGT from reaching its maximum reading.
I had only two gripes with this plane, and they're both minor. Like the planes above, the climb specifications are not matched by the actual performance. An air file editor should rectify the problem rather quickly. Either that, or just bump up the climb rate on the autopilot. The other complaint is simply that the clock (and the sim rate indicator) isn't visible unless you display the yoke. Most yokes tend to get in the way of most panels so it's much more convenient to fly with the yoke removed. I think both these observations are minor deficiencies, detracting very little from the overall "acceptability" of the plane.
The panel will look remotely familiar to simmers familiar with the King Air 350. There are a number of those same turboprop gauges appearing here - and they all work just fine! A small mistake (more of an oversight perhaps) has the GPS toggle covered up by the GPS window! It's a rather simple task to either move the window or edit the panel.cfg file and permanently move either the window or the toggle.
This guy is quick! Cruise speed approaches 240 knots and I had a little trouble keeping it under 250 knots below 10,000 feet. I found myself wishing for more flap potential - it's just about as hard to get it slowed down for approach! For a "quick fix" I dropped the gear. Sure hope the real McCoy wouldn't have ripped the gear off when I did that! Control seemed easy once I got the speed under control. The dual turboprops have lots of power. As a result this guy is more responsive than one might normally expect.
This craft may have excellent potential competing with some of my existing bush planes! It would seem to be well compared to my Twin Otter - but much faster. Short field testing will commence soon!
The plane itself is a pleasing looking craft, but the panel, although quite good functionally, doesn't hold up very well to scrutiny. One can detect pieces of the King Air 350, and I literally mean pieces. As an example, the engine ignition switch is obviously from the King Air. Since the TBM only has a single engine, the panel designer used the left ignition switch - and left the "L" on the switch label. A few annoyances like this one give the panel a bit of a "cut and paste" appearance.
The performance itself is a much better story. The plane flies and handles quite well. It is also quite fast for a single engine. You'll have to watch your speed below 10,000 feet! All the navigational tools you would expect are available. With the performance specs it's no wonder planes like this are used all over the world.
The Tampico is a breeze to fly. Typical of a small trainer, it's quite maneuverable with excellent responses. There's an autopilot as well as a GPS so you can cruise about the local countryside without fear of being lost.
Regardless of the few criticisms I've offered (some may consider them petty - I've just tried to be both honest and fair), these six planes offer the simmer a very nice, practical alternative to an industry that often seems more focused on jet airliners. A lot of talent was used to bring this package to market. I wish them success with this one and those with which they will (hopefully) follow.
Art Burke
Visit 3AVIA at:
ABurkeNC@aol.com
http://www.3avia.com
