The Trinidad TB21-GT aircraft wasdeveloped by the French aircraft manufacturing company, Socata. Theaircraft were named after various Caribbean Islands (hence the'Trinidad' designation - there is also a Tobago variant), even thoughthey were rarely flown in that region in real life.

The GT denotes that this specific aircraft is effectively 'TurboCharged' and it certainly flies like a rocket! But before we get tothe performance and general handling of the Trinidad, Let's first takea look at the package's content and presentation. The downloadedproduct comes in the form of an 'exe' file; double click this file andpoint the installer to your MSFS 2020 Community folder.

Once installed, a meaty PDF manual should pop-up. This manualcontains all the relevant specifications of the aircraft, as well aseverything that is required to know about: Cold & Dark start-ups;take-off, cruise and landing speeds; auto-pilot and navigation paneloperations and literally anything else that is required for operatingthe aircraft. It's highly informative, well laid out and easy toread.

Once successfully installed, one will discover that there are 22different liveries awaiting your selective preference - a simplystaggering amount of choice!

Now let's look at the 3D modelling of the TrinidadTB21-GT. Although it's quite a small and compact aircraft, theexterior rendition is of a very high quality. Seemingly, every singlerivet and curve of the aircraft, are superbly recreated and for theundercarriage lovers out there, this module does not disappoint; lookclosely enough and you can see the lettering on the aircraft wheels.Once airborne (which we'll come to later on in this article), theundercarriage retracts neatly into the body of the aircraft,accompanied by a very convincing animation.

Hopping inside the cockpit, the high production quality of thisaircraft continues. I immediately had a sensation and feeling ofluxury and plushness, as I scanned around the interior of the cockpit.It really does feel like you are in the seat of a very expensive andhigh-performance sports car (hence my sub-heading, at the top of thisarticle).

The cockpit screams quality from every single angle; from thetextured leather seats (both front and aft) to the angled displays ofthe dials and controls of the aircraft.

Analog dial lovers are in for a real treat here, as the main dials:HSI, Airspeed Indicator, Altitude Indicator etc, are all in their'old-school' format. There is also a G500 in the centre of the mainbank of controls, as well as a simple, yet highly functionalauto-pilot panel.

One can easily spend upwards of 30 minutes, looking around andinvestigating all the fine details and features that this littlebeauty has to offer. The door handle levers are a must try - but I'lllet you discover this wonderful surprise for yourself!

So now let's take this little darling up for a flight and see howshe performs. For my test flight, I spawned on the active runway atDonegal Airport in Ireland, with my engines and systems all up andrunning. I applied full throttle and released the parking brakes, andwithin moments, the Trinidad had already reached 70 knots, and so Igently pulled back on my flight controls to raise the aircraft of therunway.

Reaching an altitude of around four hundred feet, I retracted myflaps and landing gear, with the obligatory switch to the externalview, to watch the fantastic landing gear animation. I took a curiousglance at my airspeed indicator, to see that I was already surpassing120 knots - the GT (or Turbo) designation is well deserved with thisaircraft!

When I reached an altitude of 1500 feet (seemingly moments), Ireduced my throttle and trimmed for straight and level flight; I aimedfor a cruising speed of around 170 knots.

Now I wanted to see how the Trinidad performed when banking orturning. I turned my aircraft left and aimed for a 30-degree rate ofbank: here's where the Trinidad really comes into its own: once youhave turned the aircraft to your desired bank angle, you can simplylet go of your flight controls and it will maintain its current angleof bank.

If you were to try and replicate the same thing in something likeone of the Cessna aircraft, you will notice that the aircraft willslowly want to correct itself and return to a neutral straight & levelstate. Not so in the Trinidad: as I mentioned, set your required rateof bank and the aircraft will maintain that, until you instruct itotherwise.

Having never flown a Trinidad in real life, I can't say how 'trueto life' this behaviour is; although my instincts are telling me thatthis module is highly accurately modelled. I've never experiencedthis kind of assisted turn/bank with any other light aircraft thatI've flown in any flight simulator; it's almost as though the Trinidadis saying "Don't worry, just set my direction and sit back and relax".It all very much adds to the 'luxurious Sports Car' experience, thatthis module oozes out of its every port and nozzle.

I next wanted to test the auto-pilot functionality. In comparisonto other light aircraft that I've 'virtually' flown before, theTrinidad's auto-pilot panel has a simple layout, with only sixbuttons, all evenly spaced out.

The 'AP', 'Nav' & 'Alt' buttons, all respond predictably and it's acase of it all being very straightforward and simple to use - ablessing for some, no doubt.

After completing a rough circuit, I lined up with Donegal Airport,to come on my approach phase to one of its runways. Slowing down theTrinidad was also very simple: I pulled back my throttle to 25% andthen waited a few moments for the aircraft to appropriately respond,slowing down to roughly 120 knots. I deployed the first stage offlaps and when the Trinidad further slowed to 100 knots, I went to mysecond stage of flaps and deployed my landing gear (with anotherobligatory switch to the external view, to watch the fascinatingaccompanying animation). At this point, the Trinidad felt as easy andas fluid to land as a Cessna 172, or 152. There's lots of time tomake small adjustments and it all feels very instinctive.

Upon touchdown, I employed my wheel brakes and the aircraft came toa very speedy halt - it seems that you really can land this thing on adime. I had arrived at my destination in impeccable style and hadn'teven broken a single bead of sweat!

If you haven't noticed yet, I fully enjoyed and completelyrecommend the Trinidad TB21-GT module. It's very stylish, superblypresented and an absolute joy to fly.

I understand that some people must be somewhat sceptical of productreviews, as they generally concentrate more on the positive aspects,rather than on the negative ones.

But let me leave you with this parting consideration: if my reviewcopy of the Trinidad was somehow revoked, I would go and immediatelybuy another copy of it - whilst the Cessna 172 is still my absolutefavourite aircraft to fly in MSFS 2020, the Trinidad is my firm secondfavourite.

The Trinidad is a worthy addition to any virtual sim-hangar and inmy opinion, it's an absolute must buy!

James Huddison

Purchase Lionheart Creations - Trinidad TB21 GT for MSFS 2020