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PA31T Cheyenne IIPublisher: CarenadoReview Author: Shawn WeigeltSuggested Price: $37.95/images/fsc/wbicons/store-buy-now-button.png /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/38.jpgIntroductionI have to admit, when Carenado firstannounced the development of their Piper PA31T Cheyenne II for X-Plane11 on Facebook, I was not happy. This announcement followed closelyon the heels of the release of theirBeech 390 Premier IAlight business jet. Why was I unhappy, you may ask? Well, those ofyou who have been reading my reviews for the past several years knowof my love for light piston singles and my relative aversion to twinsand turbine engines. The second major reason for my displeasure wasthe that Carenado still has a bunch of solid X-Plane 10 files thathave yet to be ported over to X-Plane 11. Aircraft like the DiamondDA42, Piper PA23 Aztec F, and Cessna CT182T Skylane immediately cometo mind. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/7.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/8.jpgIn spite of my surly attitude, it should be immediately obviousthat I eventually relented, and decided to review the Piper CheyenneII anyway. What swayed me is what always sways me with Carenadoairplanes...they are just plain gorgeous! The screen shots posted tosocial media were drool worthy and truly highlighted Carenado'sability to make even the most mundane airplane look amazing. The realquestion in my mind, however, was if their Cheyenne II would sound,fly, and perform as great as it looked in X-Plane 11.34. Read on toget my take on it, overall. Sights And SoundsI could get really deep into the weeds talking about the history ofthe Piper Cheyenne but I'm not going to bore you with the minutiae ofthe real world aircraft. If you want to learn more about it, theInternet is at your fingertips. Basically speaking however, the PiperPA31T Cheyenne is a turbine-powered outgrowth of the successful Navajoseries of piston twins with excellent performance similar to the smallBeech King Airs. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/9.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/10.jpgDespite my love for all things piston single, I have always thoughtthe 70's era turbine twins were great looking airplanes. While myaesthetic tastes have always gravitated more toward Cessna and Beechwith their Conquest and King Air series of turbine twins, the CheyenneII has lovely lines that have been impeccably captured by the Carenadoteam. The first thing I did with the Cheyenne II loaded into X-Planewas to pour over the exterior of the aircraft and drink in everydetail. The texture work and attention to detail are as good as itgets with any current production aircraft in the flight simulationindustry. With the Carenado Cheyenne II loaded in a cold a dark state, 3Dobjects such as cones, chocks, and intake, exhaust, and pitot coversare placed on and around the aircraft in their proper places. Amotorized hand tug is also attached to the nose wheel giving the simpilot the impression that the aircraft is ready to be pulled out ofthe hangar and prepared for flight. Clicking on the familiar Carenado2D pop up "O" for "Options" menu provides a simple toggle forinstantly removing the exterior 3D objects and placing the beautifullylifelike pilot and co-pilot in the cockpit. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/11.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/12.jpgAs I've just mentioned, the familiar Carenado User Interface ispresent with the Cheyenne II with the usual 2D pop up "C" for"Cameras/Volume" menu, and the "O" for "Options" menu. All of theusual toggles are present within these menus such as the ability tochange camera viewpoints, adjust the volume, open doors, add/deleteinstrument and window reflections, and change liveries on the fly.Also present with this particular file is the "A" for autopilot tab,which brings up a clickable window of the KFC-300 autopilot. This isespecially helpful when you want to adjust the autopilot while keepingyour focus on aviating and not searching around in the cockpit. The Carenado Cheyenne II comes with five high quality N-numberedAmerican liveries and one default blank white one for all the creativeand industrious painters out there. The paint schemes areexceptionally well done on this aircraft but the lack of variety interms of national representation with the liveries could certainly bedisappointing for some sim pilots not based in the U.S. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/13.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/14.jpgThe texture work and 3D modeling of the interior of the Cheyenne IIis just as good, if not better than the exterior. The cabin feelsspacious and welcoming and gives the impression that this is certainlya step up for passengers used to flying in smaller airplanes. Thegray leather upholstered seats look shockingly realistic and theglossy wood fold out tables and paneling give the cabin a classy,upscale aesthetic. While the interior of Carenado's Cheyenne II looks great, itcertainly doesn't look new...nor should it. This is a file that issupposed to be representative of an aircraft built 40 years ago.While it was undoubtedly "spruced up" since then, some scuffs andscratches in the panels, on the floors, and on the seats, give theimpression that this aircraft is not a hangar queen, but sees regularuse without looking "beat up." This high fidelity texture work speaksvolumes about the talents of the Carenado development team. I'm the kind of guy who appreciates the looks of a great instrumentpanel, and the Carenado Cheyenne looks like an outstanding "office"space for a pilot to work. The panel consists primarily of steamgauges (which suits me just fine) and a nice Avidyne glass display andGarmin GNS 530. Everything is neatly laid out and I didn't find thatI had to hunt around for gauges and switches in order to get theaircraft started. I suppose this is giving more credit to Piperspecifically, but Carenado did an excellent job getting the cockpit asspot on accurate as could possibly be expected. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/15.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/16.jpgOne of my favorite interior features of the Carenado Cheyenne II isthe excellent night lighting, not only on the instrument panel, butwithin the cabin as well. It is so cool to switch on one of thegimbaled ceiling lights in the cabin and watch the beam play aroundthe interior as you swivel the light. Fumbling my way through the start up procedure, I was able to getthe dual Pratt and Whitney PT6's spooled up and the Carenado CheyenneII ready for takeoff. I swear that I prefer a good piston-engineaircraft, but there is something about the whine of a turbine enginethat is just plain sexy. Carenado has done it yet again with theirsound files on the Cheyenne II and the sounds of the engines coming tolife is a thing of beauty. I love the volumetric sounds on thisaircraft and how the roar of the engines changes depending uponwhether or not the windows or door is opened, or where your virtualcamera is relative to the exterior of the aircraft. Switches make an authoritative "snap" and the "whir" of the gearand flap actuations sound authentic, if a little loud, over the noiseof the engines. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/17.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/18.jpgFlight ModelI'm going to start out this segment of the review with a statementthat may come as a bit of a shock: I don't like flying the CarenadoPiper Cheyenne II. There...I said it. I don't necessarily think theCheyenne II's flight model is a poor facsimile of the real thing; infact it is probably extremely realistic. I just found that, for me,flying this relatively large, powerful, and fast airplane was anaviating challenge I was not prepared for. I was constantly "behind"the airplane and, try as I might, I could never really catch up. The Carenado Cheyenne II's power is downright startling to adedicated piston single guy like myself. This is especially evidentin the takeoff roll and climb-out. Lightly loaded (a little over7,000 lbs gross) I was seeing initial climb rates easily exceeding2,000 feet per minute under standard day, no wind conditions. Mytypical X-Plane 11 mount is Carenado's Cessna 172SP or Just Flight'sPiper Archer III. When compared with those two aircraft, flying theCarenado Cheyenne II is like transitioning to an F-15! /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/19.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/20.jpgMy flight experience with the Cheyenne II revealed that it liked togo fast and hated to go slow. When I flew the airplane slow and dirty(on approach with gear and flaps deployed) control inputs were sloppyand it felt like it was "wallowing." I wrestled the controls to keepit trimmed and level. With gear and flaps cleaned up and at fasterspeeds, the controls felt more responsive and harmonized. I supposethis is true of lighter airplanes (like Skyhawks and Archers), but thedifferences between flight regimes seemed much more pronounced on thelarger, more powerful Cheyenne II. This realization further convincedme that I was not ready for such a high performance aircraft. I'm not a real world pilot so any comparisons I make on anysimulated aircraft to the real airplane must be done through theincluded PDF documentation and any performance data I can scrounge uponline. Having said that, with the limited amount of flight time Iwas willing to put up with in the Carenado Cheyenne II, its simulatedperformance compared very accurately to the real deal. Most of mytesting was in regards to climb performance and cruise speed and theaircraft was consistently within +/- 5 knots of book values. I'lltake that for accuracy in an X-Plane aircraft all day long! /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/21.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/22.jpgGraphical Performance And DocumentationIt is always shocking to me that despite the amount of modelingdetail and picture perfect textures that go into Carenado aircraft,they consistently perform well on my machine (a mid-grade iMac) onX-Plane 11. Sure, adding clouds and weather effects definitely givesthe frame rates a hit, but I came away quite impressed that such agorgeous looking file as the Carenado Cheyenne II performs so well. I have read complaints about Carenado and Alabeo aircraftpossessing sub-par documentation, but I have never found this to bethe case. While there are a few other developers out there thatdefinitely go into more detail, I have always found Carenado'sincluded PDF files to be more than adequate and very professionallyproduced. Their latest Cheyenne II is certainly no exception in thisregard. In fact, every bit of information I was looking for, withregards to aircraft performance and procedures, I was able to easilyobtain within the included "DOCUMENTATION" folder. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/23.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/24.jpgConclusionNow that we're near the end of my review, did the Carenado PiperPA31T Cheyenne II live up to my expectations of it? Yes and no. TheCheyenne II has a lot of great things going for it and I have alreadygone into the details regarding the visuals, sounds, graphicalperformance and included documentation. These qualities are all topnotch as is to be expected from any aircraft produced by Carenado.Flying the Cheyenne II, however, was, for me, very disappointing. AsI've explained, I just never could get comfortable with thesignificant performance increases, feel of the controls, and heavypilot workload I have experienced with this aircraft. This is by nomeans a slight against the Carenado team and the work they have putinto this file. Nor should it be suggested that I think the CheyenneII has a bad flight model...far from it! I was just so unprepared forthe learning curve associated with the file that it made every flightan exercise in frustration rather than fun. /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/25.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/26.jpgSo...should you, reader, purchase the Carenado Cheyenne II?Honestly, I can't answer that for you. If you are anything like me,however, and enjoy puttering around low and slow in a relativelyuncomplicated piston single, I will warn you that this file may not befor you. The learning curve is steep. If you feel it necessary toignore my warning and really have that longing to graduate to aturbine, I would suggest considering one of Carenado's less complexturbine singles like the Cessna Grand Caravan or Pilatus PC-12instead. More advanced X-Plane pilots used to flying complex twinturbines, will probably fall in love with the Cheyenne II and willlikely find the price tag ($37.95 USD) attractive as well. All inall, the Carenado Cheyenne II is another great release from alegendary company in the business. It just wasn't my cup of tea. /images/reviews/cheyenne/CAR-895-cheyenne-xp.jpgShawn Weigelt Purchase Carenado - PA31T Cheyenne II for X-Plane Additional Screen Shots Additional Screen ShotsThe author provided us with more pictures than would fit in the article,so here are the rest of them: /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/27.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/28.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/29.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/30.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/31.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/32.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/33.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/34.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/35.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/36.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/37.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/39.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/40.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/1.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/2.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/3.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/4.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/5.jpg /images/reviews/cheyenne/t/6.jpg
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/images/notams/notams19/care0613/care0613.jpgFeaturesHigh-end 4K PBR (Physically-Based Rendering) graphics throughout, with ultra-realistic materials rendition (dynamic reflections, realistic metal and dielectric materials, etc.) Custom KFC300 autopilot with detachable pop-up window Rain effect support* In-depth FMOD sound design implementation, including atmospheric distance effects, realistic prop effects, etc. RealityXP GTN750 support (with 3D panel display support)** Extensive VR support with snap points in every passenger seat (all knobs, buttons, dials, handles, etc. also optimized for VR usage) End-user customizable via Manifest.json file. Goodway compatible Engine and prop design re-authored completely for XP11.30's new engine model Librain support also includes visual ice effects on windows.* Requires downloading Librain plugin: Click Here ** RealityXP GTN750 sold separately /images/notams/notams19/care0613/PA31T_3.jpg /images/notams/notams19/care0613/PA31T_5.jpgIncluded In The Package5 Liveries1 Blank texturePA31T Normal and Emergency Procedures PDFPA31T Performance tables PDFPA31T Reference PDFRecommended Settings XP11 PDF /images/notams/notams19/care0613/PA31T_11.jpg /images/notams/notams19/care0613/PA31T_17.jpgPurchase Carenado - PA31T Cheyenne for X-Plane
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/images/notams/notams19/care0520/cheyenne-1.jpgIn a brief Facebook announcement, developer Carenado has announcedthat they have started work on a PA31T Cheyenne light twin forX-Plane 11. It is reported to be "coming soon". /images/notams/notams19/care0520/cheyenne-2.jpg /images/notams/notams19/care0520/cheyenne-3.jpg /images/notams/notams19/care0520/cheyenne-4.jpg /images/notams/notams19/care0520/cheyenne-5.jpgSource
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/images/notams/notams19/care0513/care0513.jpgIn a brief Facebook announcement, developer Carenado has announcedthat they have started work on a PA31T Cheyenne light twin forX-Plane 11. No details yet, but the provided screen shots show developmentis well along. /images/notams/notams19/care0513/cheyenne-1.jpg /images/notams/notams19/care0513/cheyenne-2.jpg /images/notams/notams19/care0513/cheyenne-3.jpgSource