Finally, my Arrow II...

CLS Piper Arrow II

CLS Update: “piper_arrow_plus_2.zip” by Tim Wright

KMVY scenery by William Shea, for FS-9

Free Flow New England by Scott Gridley

 

Where I have been for the last several years is a mystery, because had I been alert, I would have jumped on this when it happened. I totally missed the 2011 announcement on this site, and others, that the CLS Piper Arrow II was being offered as a freeware aircraft. Now I have always been fond of the Arrow; I always pictured myself with one after I had made my first million. I had some time in a Cherokee 140 way back as a student pilot; it was one of the many planes my instructors chose to use to “educate” me. I liked the little Cherokee with its Hershey Bar wing, it was stable and forgiving, and a joy to fly. In my mind, the Arrow was nothing but a Cherokee with more horsepower and retractable gear; why not aspire to own one. Well, neither my first million nor the Arrow ever happened, until the other day when I found the CLS gem still available for download at a cost of $0.00! It took no time at all to press the download button; I finally had my arrow! Here she is preparing for departure at KMVY…

 

 

 

Tim Wright has reworked the original panel ever so slightly to include elements that CLS, for whatever reason, chose to ignore. Additionally, because of a Macular Degeneration problem, I've added an HSI and better attitude gauge, and some digital read outs that make things easier on my tired, old eyes. I fly exclusively with the 2D panel (a throw back to Sub Logic, I guess), but Tim's reworked virtual panel is as good as his 2D version. Here are a couple of shots of the 2D...

 

 

Aesthetically, this plane is a beauty. This is not a stock livery; it’s a copy of a Piper Warrior paint job I recently saw for sale, N3546M. I liked it and duplicated it for the Arrow. It still needs work, but it’s good enough for government work. Let’s take a quick spin, say over to Nantucket for some lunch. Here's another panel shot (notice the working MP and Fuel Flow gauge), we are lined up and ready to go…

 

 

Outbound, cleaning up the undercarriage...

 

 

Now some history. The model boasts many features not found on your typical freeware planes. Full 2D and Virtual Cockpit panels that are seamless in transition between each other, full moving surfaces, opening door and luggage compartment, etc, etc. A real beauty, in several liveries, none of which were really me, but that could (and would) change. Before that, however, I had to get that puppy in the air! Around the patch we went; what a joy to fly.

 

 

 

This has a much different feel than the freeware planes of its type in my hanger; far more real. I was ecstatic! CLS advertises a top speed of 145 knots TAS and a 75% Cruise speed of 137 knots TAS (and these are different than those in the Pilot’s Manual). So, for the second flight, we wanted to verify those numbers. I took her to 1,000 feet in no wind conditions at 29.92 pressure. In that environment, TAS and IAS should be about equal. The arrow couldn’t get close to either; its performance was hardly better than a Cherokee 140! No wonder they were giving it away.

 

Well, being a perfectionist, and believing that Microsoft names MSFS “Flight Simulator” instead of “Flight Game” for a reason, I set out to do what I have tried to do with other planes, get it up to snuff. I did, and in short order, too. Problem was in so doing, I totally destroyed the take-off characteristics of the airplane. I turned to the place I always turn to when I have a technical type question that’s beyond my meager level of expertise, the Aircraft Design Forum, where I posed my question. The question stimulated several responses, all offering excellent advice as to how to correct the problems with the Arrow. One, very brief and understated response from “Tiger1962” suggested a solution already existed; he offered a zip file name and the information that it could be found in the files on this site. I downloaded the file and followed the instructions to the “T”. The Arrow now flies like the Pilots Manual (which the zip file urges you to download from the Internet) says it should, and not only that, Tim Wright (the individual who created the file) modeled several things into his fixes that CLS hadn’t. There is now a functioning Carb heat, and fuel pump that was not included originally, and Tim has modeled the automatic gear retraction system that Piper included I believe for the first time, in this aircraft.. He also fixed the performance issues.

 

So, any of you who have the CLS Arrow II sitting in the back of the hangar because of its lackluster performance, go get this file by Tim Wright, follow his instructions, and enjoy the Arrow to the fullest!

 

By the way, Tiger1962, who made the suggestion to try this file turns out to be the file’s author, Tim Wright. He has my thanks for helping me, and my gratitude for his effort on behalf of this wonderful little general aviation gem. This Arrow is now worthy of the price that CLS was apparently unable to generate due to all the problems this model had.

 

 

Well, there's Nantucket's south shore just under the left wing, we'll be entering the pattern shortly and things will be getting busy. I hope you've enjoyed this little trip in my Arrow; it's a great little plane to fly. Thank you for taking the time to look at and read my post. By the way, the CLS arrow is still available for $0.00, you just have to hunt around. If you find it, or if you already have it, download Tim Wrights modifications and install them; they make this airplane about as real as it is possible to make it. You won't be disappointed, believe me!

Hi Klee,

 

Nice job all around...

 

Regards,

Scott

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What makes screenshot flight post or report EXTREMELY EFFICIENT and ENJOYABLE is well detailed descriptions accompanying EACH OF all screenshots which you did.

 

Enjoyed reading specific descriptions on each of screenshots!!!

 

I wish everybody would follow this example!!! After your screenshot post, I am glad to know that I am not only person to do that.

 

Regards,

 

Aharon

Glad you found the Arrow Klee, great shots of it!!!!

Awesome simply awesome Klee, your Arrow and post scores highly with reason for you to enjoy!! - Thank you for sharing the great shots and download info.of the plane.:cool::cool:

Cheers!

Thanks, Scott, you were there at the other forum as I was trying to get this thing right, thanks for your comments, my friend.

 

Aharon, my friend, I'm delighted you like the post. You ought to try the little Arrow, take a break from those big, airborne buses and enjoy the freedom of the sky.

 

Thanks for your comment, John, glad you liked the post.

 

You embarrass me with platitudes, Gonzalo, I'm delighted you enjoyed the post, my friend, thank you for taking the time to kook at it and to read it!

Beautiful, and obviously a wonderful plane to fly. I am glad you found it :)

 

If you want, there are a couple of gauges you may enjoy. When I fly FS9, I always use the 2D panel too. It's just what I am used to. I found these two, an HSI and an Attitude Indicator. I put them in almost al my FS9, and many of my FSX planes. The file names are: dfdadi84.zip, and dfdhsi2k.zip. There is also a very good RA gauge, if you want it I will post the file name for you. They are all in the library here.

Just thought you might like to grab them, since you wanted better HSI and ADI...

Pat☺

It is a wonderful plane to fly, Pat, now! Thanks for your kind comments and your encouraging posts over on the Aircraft Design Forum, and for the two downloads. I would appreciate the RA Gauge, when and if you think about posting it. Thanks again, and Semper Fi, my friend!

She's a beauty Klee and you have displayed it extremely well. I know your happy that you found the tweaks necessary to make your new Arrow II behave as it should. Hope to see more of that one around here again. :cool: :cool: :D

You will, Larry, you will. Thanks for your kind comments, my friend.

Wonderful shots shots of your Arrow Klee, she is one good looking aircraft!! Nice job with the paint and gauges as well! :)

The RA's zipfile is dfdra2k.zip. Don't be fooled. They all work great in FS9 AND FSX. I've tested them.

Have fun, and great flights to you!

Pat☺

Thank you, Adam, I appreciate your comments as you are the master. Would that my shots could begin to compare to yours! Thanks for taking the time to read my tome, my friend.

 

Thanks for the file, Pat.

Nice shots Klee, and I really appreciate yourself and Pat sharing the info about upgrading this bird. Thanks gents!:cool:

Glad I could help out a little bit :D

Pat☺

Hi, Steve, you're welcome, glad to do it, and glad you liked the post. Thank you for your kind thoughts.

 

Pat, Thanks again!

Thanks for the informative Posts! I have this same Model, and I'm excited to make the Mods and take her for a spin!

 

Nice paint job, too!

 

Alan :pilot:

Glad you found my post informative, Alan. I hope you find Tim's upgrades as appealing and positive for the Arrow as I did. I was dissapointed with the plane, but after I installed Tim's fixes, I'm thrilled! Good luck, just back up what's there now and follow Tim's excellent instructions and your Arrow will be back in the air very quickly! Tim is here on the forum regularly, and a FlightSim member; he's easy to get to and eager to answer any questions if you have any. Let me know how you make out.

Pleased to see you finally got your Arrow II, she is a fine looking aircraft too! Cracking shots :D

Klee, your Piper Arrow is just beautiful! I have really enjoyed my own copy of it too, and the updated flight-dynamics file from the library really makes nice difference. Your pictures look great! ~Glenn

Steve, Thanks for your kind comments, glad you liked the post!

 

Glenn, Tim's upgrades really make this a most enjoyable little plane. Have you tested the fail-safe landing gear system yet? I have, it works! Thanks for your nice comments about my paint job and panel, I appreciate them.

I agree... the Mods really make this airplane go! The 'auto gear' feature is cool, too!

 

Thanks again for the heads up, Klee!

 

Alan :pilot:

WOW, Alan, didn't take you long to upgrade your Arrow. Pretty neat, is it not? A whole new airplane! And, still available for $0.00 at the flightsim store and other places.With Tim's add-on patch, you end up with something as real as it can possibly get and still be on a computer. I love this plane!!!

Nice shots and great narrative! I got this aircraft when I got the DC-10 package from CLS. For my purposes, it's a sweet plane "out of the box" and I had to take it on a test hop from O08 to KRNO. Busy with the RTW Race (practice, prep, et. al.), but when the smoke clears from that, I fully intend to apply the mods and take her on an extended cross-country trip!

Thanks for your kind comments, Frank, once brought up to standards, the Arrow II is a comfortable cruiser for cross country work, yet she's stable enough to slow down and enjoy the sights if that's what you want to do. I think it's the best plane I have and use it almost exclusively for pleasure flying; I also use a C402 for my VA jollies. Tim's additions really make this airplane superb, and because of them, it's about all I fly. The file to search for (on this site) is "piper_arrow_plus_2.zip" without the quotes, obviously.