• Review: Beechcraft King Air B200 HD Series

    by
    Nels_Anderson
    Published on 12-09-2012 05:01 PM
    12 Comments
    Pages: Review: Beechcraft King Air B200 HD Series  Next

    Review: Beechcraft King Air B200 HD Series

    By Raymond Andersen

    The Beechcraft B200 King Air is a fixed wing, twin turboprop civilian and military utility aircraft that fits 1-2 pilots and has the capacity to transport up to 13 passengers for a distance of up to 1800 nm. The B200 King Air is part of the Beechcraft King Air family that covers the model 90 series, 100 series, 200 series and the 300 series. Originally the 200 and the 300 series were marketed as the "Super" King Air family, but the "Super" was dropped back in 1996.

           

    Beech Aircraft Corporation (today Beechcraft Division of Hawker Beechcraft) started production of the B200 back in 1972 for the US military and in 1974 they began the production of the civilian version which has been in continuous production ever since and is now the aircraft in its class that has the longest production run of any civilian aircraft.

    Specs

    • Produced by Beechcraft
    • First flight October 27th 1972
    • Introduction 1972 (civilian 1974)
    • Role: utility aircraft
    • Status: active
    • Built: 3550+
    • Unit costs: US$ 5.24-7.57 million (2009)
    • Primary users:
      • U.S. Armed Forces
      • RFDS Australia

    I received this add-on directly from Carenado and the download went as usual very quickly and completely without any issues. The connection to the Carenado download server is super so the download time was very short.

    The installation also went as expected - very easy and quick by using the very user friendly installation wizard. By activating the installation wizard the complete installation was carried out automatically.

           

    After the installation was finished I opened my FSX folders to verify if the installation wizard had installed the files as I wanted it to. In this case the files were installed perfectly.

    Hereafter I opened up my FSX to check my virtual hangar and to see if the aircraft were also correctly placed in here - I found the King Air together with other add-ons that I have from Carenado so everything was installed perfectly.

    I quickly discovered that with this model from Carenado you also get additional liveries which I think is superb - you have several civilian versions together with one military version from the Swedish Air Force. Very nice detail indeed.

    When you purchase this add-on from Carenado you both get an FSX version but also a Prepar3D version. This you get free of charge and I find that to be really superb customer service. However in this review I will only describe the FSX version.

           

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    12 Comments
    1. kaloska's Avatar
      kaloska - 12-10-2012, 01:46 PM
      Hi !
      This is a promo "review", not a test and this is not the first ! Where are the good old in dept tests in this site ?
    1. pierretoussaint's Avatar
      pierretoussaint - 12-10-2012, 02:37 PM
      With not one mention of a single instrument in the cockpit, or how the aircraft compares to the actual in terms of performance (which you can easily find on the internet to compare speeds for a given configuration) you give this 5/5 stars. Based on what??? And you thank Carenado for "sharing" this airplane with us? If you have to buy something, then it is not being shared WITH you...its being sold TO you. What's going on with reviews on both sites now-a-days???
    1. kaloska's Avatar
      kaloska - 12-10-2012, 03:10 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by pierretoussaint View Post
      With not one mention of a single instrument in the cockpit, or how the aircraft compares to the actual in terms of performance (which you can easily find on the internet to compare speeds for a given configuration) you give this 5/5 stars. Based on what??? And you thank Carenado for "sharing" this airplane with us? If you have to buy something, then it is not being shared WITH you...its being sold TO you. What's going on with reviews on both sites now-a-days???
      +
    1. Warbirdsim's Avatar
      Warbirdsim - 12-11-2012, 02:46 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by pierretoussaint View Post
      With not one mention of a single instrument in the cockpit, or how the aircraft compares to the actual in terms of performance (which you can easily find on the internet to compare speeds for a given configuration) you give this 5/5 stars. Based on what??? And you thank Carenado for "sharing" this airplane with us? If you have to buy something, then it is not being shared WITH you...its being sold TO you. What's going on with reviews on both sites now-a-days???
      ?? I don't understand your comment - have you read the review?

      I think its a good review that gave me all the information I needed, so that I could decide if I wanted to purchase it or not.

      Warbirdsim
    1. normac's Avatar
      normac - 12-15-2012, 08:18 AM
      Nice to know that you could fall in love with the sound of these turboprop engines ... but if I firewall them will they blow up? For me that would be much more interesting to read about in a "review"!
    1. scottb613's Avatar
      scottb613 - 12-15-2012, 09:51 AM
      Yeah - concur - seems many of the reviews lately seldom mention the negative points anymore... A quick trip to the unofficial Carenado support forum - - - lists many bugs/complaints (many of which are a reoccurring theme for Carenado products) - including a very interesting read from a real B200 pilot... I'd like to see more of the good with the bad included with future reviews...

      Regards,
      Scott
    1. RaysAviation's Avatar
      RaysAviation - 12-17-2012, 09:08 AM
      Hi all,

      Thanks for the feedback even though some was not that positive.

      All I want to add is simply that I write how I found the add-on to be, and I have tried out a lot of flightsim add-ons and this is in my oppinion a very good add-on. If you disagree then that is of course also okay - that is just your oppinion. I write a review which will be read of several thousand peoples in the various medias that I publish within, and it is impossible to satisfy everyone.

      I will of course take the comments into consideration for future reviews and I still thank you all for your input which I find to be usefull and positive critisism.

      Rays Aviation
    1. scottb613's Avatar
      scottb613 - 12-17-2012, 09:24 AM
      Hi Ray,

      LOL - and it case it was less than obvious - thanks so much for taking the time and putting forth the effort creating a detailed review... You obviously spent a great deal of time flying and documenting all the material for your review... I should have included that in my initial comment as well... It was a good read...


      Have a good day - sir...

      Regards,
      Scott
    1. violudusan's Avatar
      violudusan - 12-17-2012, 11:34 PM
      This is one product I have anticipated for a while now. I work as a first officer on a King Air 200 in the Canadian Arctic and I was looking for a product that I can use to practice my skills on my time off. I have asked Carenado if they would give me a free copy of the software and in return I would do an impartial, realistic review, but they have not answered my request.

      So far this review is more like a promo. I find it more of an endorsement rather than an accurate review. I shall purchase this product and I would be more than happy to return here and do my own (and more in depth technical) review, based on the experience I have flying the real aircraft. If you would like to contact me, I can be reached via e-mail vludusan@gmail.com (or Facebook - Vio Ludusan)

      Of course, I can provide proof of my real world experience flying this aircraft...


      Kind regards

      Vio
    1. kaloska's Avatar
      kaloska - 12-18-2012, 01:21 PM
      Good idea Vio, this would be great, because modelling the turboprop in FS is a very special task. We like to know how perform this stuff, like sounds, airfile, systems compare to the real life. I know, this is not an in dept simulation (not hotstart, like in Aeroworx), but what is Your experience ?
    1. violudusan's Avatar
      violudusan - 12-21-2012, 11:06 PM
      kaloska,

      Thanks for the reply. I just returned from my 2 week rotation up North and this weekend I will dedicate myself to flying this aircraft for FS. I will get back to you guys in a few days with my feedback.
    1. bravohotelone's Avatar
      bravohotelone - 02-09-2013, 09:13 AM
      Having now owned and flown this plane for the past month I have to say I find this plane amazing. It has quickly become the plane that I fly the most. The greatest reason is how real the gauges and cockpit are.
      Over the years I have purchased over 100 planes, many which are dismal disappointments. Some like the recent Phenom 100 by Feelthere is absolute crap in comparison. I just hope that Carenado keeps up the excellent work they have displayed in this model.