Any trike pilots?

I have flown trikes in real life many times, taking flight lessons for a few months out of Brenda Arizona and also one in Albuquerque NM where I had to assist the CFI in landing in rough weather, which I twice had to do and was thanked by both CFI's for the calm way I controlled the trike in those situations.

For those who have not flown trikes and think it would be frightening with nothing below your feet and body but air, it is not if you are used to flying fixed wing and especially helicopters which have similar vis to trikes. Also in a trike you just feel safer, as your body is what controls the trike in flight, not hydraulics or fly by wire. Although called "weight shift" that is a misnomer, movement of the bar, right or left, warps the wing and turns the aircraft to the degree you wish. You apply pressure until the desired bank angle is reached then release, and the pressure required is slight, just like in fixed wing especially if you enjoy flying with a stick as I do in fixed wing.

Part 103 trikes come with two stroke engines although there are some lighter four strokes that might work and still keep them part 103 compliant. LSA trikes and experimental can come with either two or four stroke engines. Trikes are also good in engine out situations and can land on an hanky as I have done before in less than one hundred yards on a dry lakebed near Brenda where my CFI had me practice engine out landings. A used trike can be fairly inexpensive, 7 to 10K in price, cheaper if Part 103, although PPC's are cheaper. Belted in you feel safe and secure, even in chop, which Trikes ride thru better than fixed wing. I have flown aloft in winds of 20 knots and also landed twice in such winds when they came up during flight (normally you do not take off in such winds or fly in winds exceeding 10 knots).

Northwing is probably the best brand of trike out there, and they make a strutted wing which I like, less points of failure.

For FS9, FSX and P3DV4 at Avsim I have a trike I made in FSDS 2, my first project, and it flies best in FS9 and oddly P3DV4 which did not exist when I made it. I modeled the trike exactly based on my flight experience and it cruises between 30 and 40 knots. I custom made the gauges in XML which is why they work in P3D so well. For the most realistic experience in a trike, reverse your joystick axis and try to fly it which duplicates the opposite control inputs from fixed wing.

Regards,

John