The Piper PA-28 Cherokee family ofaircraft has been a mainstay in general aviation for many years. Sincefirst production in 1960, there are now numerous variants availablewith a wide range of upgrades to suit the needs of the pilot thatflies it.

Just Flight have recently released three variants of the PA-28R,the Arrow III and Turbo Arrow III/IV, available either as two separatepackages or combined as a combo pack for all three.

Having produced a range of high-quality aircraft for all majorflight simulators on the market, today we take a look at the JustFlight Piper PA-28R range and see if it holds up to their usual highlevel of quality. The Arrow III is also a Just Flight "speciality",being one of their major common releases across every flight simulatorplatform on the market, meaning they have a lot to aim for with thisone!

PA-28R Arrow III

The 'basic' package is what we'll take our first glance at. ThePA-28R Arrow III features all of your standard steam-gauge cockpitfittings, alongside a range of Bendix King radio and communicationspanels and options for GPS and GNS flight computers.

Systems on the PA-28 have also been realistically recreated,including fully functional circuit breakers and working landing geardrop when in an emergency or when flying at low speeds.

The Arrow III also features original Lycoming IO-360 enginerecordings natively working alongside the MSFS Wwise sound engine. Asa result, you get the feeling of sitting in the cockpit of one ofthese aircraft as the sound engulfs you on your virtual journey.

This variant also includes eleven different liveries of Arrow III'sfrom all around the world.

PA-28R-201T Turbo Arrow III

The Turbo Arrow III is an engine upgrade on the classic Arrow IIIbody. Featuring a Lycoming TSIO-360, it is the first turbochargedvariant of the PA-28 family, with an upgraded nose cowling to sit thebeefy 6-cylinder turbocharged engine.

It features the same cockpit layout as the standard Arrow III butincludes a turbocharger fixed wastegate and overboost simulation,meaning you'll need to keep a closer eye on your gauges as you'll notea progressive engine failure if you damage the wastegate by overboosting the engine (more on the progressive failures of this aircraftlater in the article).

The Turbo Arrow III also features authentic sounds from theTSIO-360 engine, meaning those familiar with this particularconfiguration of aircraft will feel right at home when taking it for avirtual flight.

Five liveries based on real-life Turbo Arrow III's have beenincluded with this add-on.

PA-28RT-201T Turbo Arrow IV

The Turbo Arrow IV breaks away from the classic Cherokee look witha T-tail configuration over the standard low-rear-wing but keeps thesame Lycoming TSIO-360 6-cylinder turbocharged engine as the TurboArrow III.

Once again it features the same cockpit layout as the other twovariants, including added turbocharger overboost simulation andfailures, meaning once again you will need to keep a close eye on yoursystems before inadvertently blowing the engine up.

The T-tail rear wing also means the aircraft in terms of in-airstability ever so slightly pushes the nose down, but this is easilyadjusted with the electrical elevator trim to keep the aircraft justas steady as the Arrow III's.

Download And Install

Installation of the Just Flight Piper Arrows (both the bundle andindividually) is very simple and only requires a few steps. Afterpurchase at the FlightSim.Com Store, download and run the installer,input your activation key when prompted and from there the rest of theprocess is automated.

There are four manuals in total, amounting to 219 pages ofoperational information to help you get going. This includes manualson use for both the Arrow III and Turbo Arrows, as well as OperatingData manuals for both. These all give you information on how tooperate and even look after your virtual aircraft. The Arrow III andIV have a lot of systems depth making these worth the read to know youraircraft.

As an added extra, the in-sim default checklists have also beenadded, going through all of the procedures for flying the PiperCherokee.

Exterior Model

All three aircraft models share common features amongst each other,including the cockpit shell and wings. Both turbo models of Arrow havebulkier engine cowlings while the Arrow IV has its rear wing mountedon top of the tail. Each looks like their real-world counterpart andhave plenty of detail right down to each panel and bolts securing themin place.

Textures are done in 4K resolution and look fantastic within theMicrosoft Flight Simulator world. Liveries look just like theirreal-world counterpart with weathering applied to age the aircraft,making them look well-used. Decals and text on the aircraft are alsoclear and can be read, adding to the high level of quality the PiperArrow package has.

Animations and effects have also been added and recreated to theaircraft, with full wing surface controls, landing gear movement,doors and hatches all moving as you would expect to see on real-worldaircraft. Touching down on landing you can see the wheel dampers ineffect as it softens your contact with the runway.

Lighting too has also been accurately recreated and looksfantastic, especially when flying at night. Microsoft Flight Simulatoralready has a fantastic lighting engine that developers can use totheir advantage, which in this instance has been done with full wingand tail lighting, as well as a strong and bright landing and taxilight when low to and on the ground.

Cockpit And Interior

All three aircraft variants have the same cockpit layout with onlyminor differences between the Classic and Turbo models. The aircraftmakes use of a standard set of steam gauges, all 3D modelled with depthadded to the gauge panel, as well as a series of Bendix King GPS, radioand communication panels.

This add-on includes a fully functional cockpit setup including allswitches and circuit breakers that you can manipulate and affect youraircraft with. The fact that everything is functional is especiallyuseful when going through real-life checklists for this aircraft,meaning even as a training or familiarisation tool you will be able toreplicate what you do in real-life within the simulator itself.

I do also like the ability to switch the cockpit layout around withthe EFB, between an all-digital GNS Dual digital radio and GPSdisplay, only a GNS530 with Bendix King radio panel or a full analogGarmin GPS 100 system. There is also the option to add a GTN 750 usingthe freeware PMS-50 GTN 750 mod.

The Arrow also includes an EFB tablet system which lets youcustomise different factors of the aircraft from your starting state(engine on, cold & dark, etc.) to aircraft wear and age andfailures. This system includes a lot of depth and brings the aircraftto life, as you will need to take special care of your aircraft and'maintain' it by resetting the battery and gauges every so often, asyou would on the real thing. The battery simulation in particular israther smart, slowly draining the system as you use it without arunning engine. Lose all of your power and your aircraft will becomestranded.

I have however noted that the pilot models in the cockpit don'tmake use of the default simulator avatars, rather their own pilotmodel which looks good, but perhaps not the one you have selected ifthat's something that you are particular about.

Sound

Sounds on the Piper Arrows are fantastic. All have been sampledfrom the real aircraft and engines to get the best likeness to life aspossible.

Sound samples have been mixed with the simulator built-in Wwiseengine, allowing for the aircraft to sound just as good inside as itis out. This also includes audio for each button and switch on theaircraft, physics-based effects for wind and engine and differentcontact points of the aircraft with the ground, whether or not it'slanding gear on tarmac or the wing scraping the side of a hangar.

For those flying with VR, Just Flight have also gone intoconfiguring the 3D soundscape of the aircraft too, meaning soundsources will be audible from where they have been made, just to add tothe level of immersion you already have.

A lot of care has been taken with the audio of these aircraft.You'll be sure to appreciate the work that has gone into this.

Flight Dynamics

The Piper Cherokee has a steady base to fly with, and the JustFlight Arrows for MSFS are certainly no exception. The aircraft is easyto fly.

When airborne you can also certainly feel the prop drift at play,the aircraft has a slight tendency to drift to the left as it does inreal life, but this is very easily corrected with a minor amount ofyoke input. Climb and descent are easy and speed can be managed withease by manipulating the throttle and your angle of attack.

The T-tail Arrow IV has a slight tendency to push the nose downwhen compared to flying the Arrow III, but this is expected with theraised rear wing changing the airflow to move the aircraft in aslightly downward direction. It only takes a minor amount of trim tokeep the aircraft steady and flying level with its Arrow IIIcounterparts.

Takeoff and landing too take a bit of practice to keep the aircrafton the centerline, but overall this is simple to manage and adds toyour virtual flight experience.

Opinion And Closing Remarks

I have adored flying the Just Flight Arrow III and Turbo III andIV. They are a fantastic set of aircraft and perhaps some of the bestsimulations of general aviation on Microsoft Flight Simulator rightnow.

As mentioned at the beginning, the Arrow III is perhaps theflagship of Just Flight add-ons with a version of this aircraftavailable on all major platforms past and present. It only gets betterand more detailed with each simulator version released and so far, theMicrosoft Flight Simulator version is by far their best.

Everything from the modelling detail to the audio and functions istop-class and overall really help to bring this aircraft to life.

I would highly recommend these aircraft, either standalone or aspart of the bundle to those that enjoy flying their Cherokees or arelooking for a simulation of a GA aircraft as close to lifelike aspossible.

The Technical Bit

Minimum Requirements

• Microsoft Flight Simulator (i.e. the 2020 Standard, Deluxe or Premium Deluxe PC/Steam edition - NOT FSX or any previous edition)
• Processor: Intel i5-4460 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (Intel i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X recommended)
• RAM: 8 GB (16 GB recommended)
• Graphics card: nVidia GTX 770 / AMD Radeon RX 570 (nVidia GTX 970 / AMD Radeon RX 590 recommended)
• Operating System: Windows 10
• Peripherals: Joystick or compatible game controller (e.g. Xbox One Controller for Windows)
• 2 GB hard drive space

Review PC Spec

• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Windows 10 Professional
• 6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 6700K Processor
• 32 GB RAM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660

Michael Hayward

Purchase Just Flight - PA-28R Arrow III and Turbo Arrow III/IV Bundle

Purchase Just Flight - PA-28R Turbo Arrow III/IV for MSFS 2020

Purchase Just Flight - PA-28R Arrow III for MSFS 2020