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Retired man looking for some Carenado repaints for planes that struggle with frame-rate for me. Carenado DO-228-100 Carenado D18S I like to fly in the Orbx South America areas (Argentina-Brazil) for their excellent frame rate on my older system. I prefer registrations appropriate to the areas, but unconcerned whether the livery or registration is real world or hypothetical. One thing I've found (although I'm no expert) is that the more recent HD releases also have huge textures inside of a common folder, not sure if that is dragging down performance, or not. Seems like it would, so maybe those textures can be reduced? Lower resolution liveries or textures always appreciated. Thank you
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Dornier Do-228 100Publisher: CarenadoReview Author: Stuart McGregorSuggested Price: $37.95/images/fsc/wbicons/pilot-shop-buy.png /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_6.jpgThe AircraftThe following article focuses on thefabulous Dornier 228-100 from Carenado. The model being reviewed ispart of their HD range for X-Plane 11, and in particular version 1.2released in November 2017. The aircraft itself is a twin turbopropand is specifically designed for short takeoff and landing (STOL)operations. The real life aircraft has been around since the early1980's and is well tried and tested. Getting StartedOn the face of things, the purchase price is at the higher end ofwhat is available these days, so at $37.95, may not be withineveryone's budget. Hopefully this review will give you some inciteinto the features of the aircraft and whether the asking price is afair one or not. /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_5.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_2.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_7.jpgI purchased my copy over atwww.fspilotshop.comand as with most sites of this nature there is a good description ofthe features, what is included in the package and also the minimumsystem requirements. It is a large download at 660 MB, and based onthe description provided, to get the best out of your prospectivepurchase, you will need a system with a pretty powerful CPU and GPUwith at least 4 GB VRAM. Installation is straight-forward enough, simply unzip thedownloaded file and drag and drop it into your Aircraft folder. Thefirst time you start the 228, you will be required to enter a licensekey, however this is provided with the download and only takes acouple of minutes to enter and activate. I had no issues. Various documents are provided, and these include a variety ofprocedures, reference documents and recommended graphics settings forX-Plane 11. For this review, I did follow the designer's advice withrespect to visual effects, texture quality and anti-aliasing, so Ibelieve my observations and experience are a fair reflection of whatothers might experience. One thing I didn't do, was crank up thereflection detail as suggested, as I found this totally killed myframe rate. Throughout my test it was left at Minimal. /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_8.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_9.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_10.jpgFor reference, my own system consists of an Intel i7 5820K 3.3 GHzCPU, a GTX1080Ti 11 GB GPU and 32 GB Kingston RAM. I also have a numberof Saitek panels and 3 x 27" screens, and my test flights were allcarried out in and around my home town airport of EGPD. Initial ThoughtsLooking from the outside, the distinctive 228 is well proportionedand in keeping with the real aircraft, although this is pretty muchwhat you would expect from a seasoned design team such as the folksover at Carenado. Even with the reflection detail set to minimal, theaircraft's external surfaces have a nice shine to them, and thegraphics quality is extremely realistic. Some of the details include:dirt and grime around the engine covers and the fuselage, highlypolished prop spinners, extremely life like landing gear and tires,static wicks on the trailing edges of the elevators, rivets, screwheads and much much more. The 228 from Carenado really does itsreal-life name sake justice, and I for one was pretty impressed withwhat I saw straight out of the box. I liked the animated headmovements of the aircrew, although, if I wanted to be pedantic, therewas no corresponding movement of the crew's arms when the yoke wasbeing manipulated. Yes, pedantic I know... /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_11.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_12.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_13.jpgAnyway, as far as external sounds go, I have never been around areal 228, so it is difficult to know what it really sounds like,however, the engine sounds do have that characteristic turbopropwhine and the heat haze coming from the engine exhausts just adds afurther nice degree of realism. The various taxi, beacon and landinglights are bright and easily distinguishable, although they all seemto have an unrealistic halo around them in my opinion. However, thisis probably more an artifact of X-Plane than the 228, as I have seenthis elsewhere. From one of the on-screen menus, you can open a number of doors andbaggage compartments, and again the texture details and dooroperations are extremely realistic. This is where you also get yourfirst real glimpse of the interior. /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_15.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_16.jpgMoving inside, the high-quality textures and level of detailingcontinues; from the detailed texturing of the seating in the cabin, tothe air vents and exit signs situated around the aircraft. Therereally are so many little details. I have been lucky enough to reviewseveral aircraft over recent months, and I can safely say that the 228is by far one of the most impressive. The bar certainly has beenraised with this aircraft, and it never fails to amaze me at thequality that design teams like those at Carenado keep ondelivering. Moving up through the cabin (various views are available from asecond pop out on-screen menu) you arrive in the stunning cockpit,with views from both the pilot and co-pilot seats, overhead panel,autopilot and radio panels and also each of the engines. To behonest, I could have just sat and watched the engines for hours, asthe level of detail and realism is really something to behold. Oneother feature I really liked was the moveable pilot/co-pilot seat armrests on each of the cockpit seats - just fabulous detail. /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_17.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_18.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_19.jpgSitting in the left-hand pilot seat, I thoroughly enjoyed thecrispness and clarity of the instrument panels, along with the wornand well used glare shield and yoke. No detail has been overlooked,and all of this really immerses you in a world that feels so close tothe real thing you could be forgiven for thinking you really were incharge! I found lots of clickable features, as well as buttons andswitches, all of which were more than enough to keep me happy forhours. These features coupled with the default X-Plane FMS and Garminpanels was sufficient to keep me occupied both on the ground and inthe air. I also liked the noticeable change in sound volume onclosing the pilot's cabin door, and this is also replicated if youdecide to open the pilot's window for a breath of fresh air. All ofthese features once again adding to the level of realism and overallexperience. With everyone on board, baggage loaded, doors closed,safety brief complete...off we go... /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_20.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_21.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_22.jpgOn The GroundI admit, my first attempt at taxiing the 228 was a complete andutter disaster. More like a F1 car accelerating away from the startline than a gentle meandering aircraft taxiing to the hold point. Itwas purely down to way too much power and prop on my part (much to myembarrassment), however, once I had the balance point sorted out, myexperience and more importantly that of my passengers wassignificantly improved (thankfully). I did find myCH Products throttle quadsensitive down at the low speed end of things, however if this is anartifact of my hardware, or the actual aircraft I am unable to say, sojust something to take note of for prospective buyers. In all honestyit didn't really detract that much from my overall enjoyment once Iknew what to expect. /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_23.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_24.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_25.jpgTaxiing at nighttime was something I really enjoyed, as the nightlighting in the cockpit and cabin is fabulous, and it genuinely feltlike I was onboard. Once I had mastered the driving, taxiing the 228was nice and smooth, and I experienced frame rates around the high20's to low 30's when navigating around EGPD. This was the same bothduring the day and at night. One final feature to mention before we get in the air, is theoptional instrument and windshield reflections, again accessible fromone of the onscreen pop out menus. Personally, I really like thissort of attention to detail, but if you don't, they can easily beremoved with a couple of mouse clicks. It is also worth pointing outthat in my tests, I saw no noticeable difference in frame rates withor without these reflections. Pushing the prop leavers to full and easing forward on thethrottles resulted in a very noticeable change in pitch emanating fromthe turboprops, I could virtually feel the engines explode into lifefrom just behind my head. Keeping the 228 straight as I launchedmyself along the runway was straightforward and stable, as was themagic moment as the 228 eased itself into the air. So up, up wewent... /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_26.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_27.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_28.jpgIn The AirNice and smooth.... gear up was accompanied by the reassuring soundof the hydraulics kicking in, and we were airborne, climbing steadilynorthwards away from Dyce. I should have mentioned that the 228 comeswith a half a dozen liveries (from the UK, France, Germany - Marines,the Netherlands & Chile), as well as a blank texture, so if yourfavorite isn't already there, you can create your own. Once airborne, I was able to set the Honeywell autopilot via the3rd and final pop out menu. I should also mention that as far as Icould tell, my Saitek panels worked well with no additional scriptsrequired, and I was able to control everything very easily with verylittle fuss. There really isn't too much to say about the actualflight characteristics, other than I found them very smooth throughouteach of my test flights. In the cruise, I found the 228 to be really easy to fly, and onceon autopilot, I was able to take a closer look at all the features ofthe aircraft in greater detail. I did experience the autopilotdropping out on a couple of occasions, which was slightly irritating,but other than that the experience was highly enjoyable. My framerates from the cockpit were, on the most part, similar to when on theground, although, this did drop into the mid / low 20's at times. Itested it with and without SKYMAXX Pro installed, with no realdifference, and still very much flyable even at the lower 20's. /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_29.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_30.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_31.jpgNow the tricky bit...landing! This was really fun and a bit of achallenge at first, and it took me a few attempts to get all wheels onthe ground in something close to a decent landing. A bit like thetaxiing, the 228 prop and throttle controls were pretty sensitive,especially at low speeds, but this could have been as much my lack ofskill, as much as anything. Just something to be aware of. Once backon terra firma, the taxi back to the stand was nice and smooth - nowthat I knew where to set the power. Brakes on, engine shutdown... doors open... Final ThoughtsFrom the series of short day and night flights I completed, theDornier 228-100 exhibits all the traits of a high-quality paywareaircraft. If you appreciate aircraft like the much-loved Twin Otterand are looking for something with STOL capabilities, the 228 is worthserious consideration. The aircraft on offer from Carenado looks andsounds fantastic in X-Plane 11, and other than the low speed issues Istruggled with at times, handles really well. I did feel it was alittle bit pricey, but looking at what is currently on the market,this is in line with other models in their HD range, and you do get avery well-presented aircraft with lots of features and realism. Ireally have enjoyed trying out the 228, and although the Twotter hasbeen a firm favorite of mine for a number of years, I am now hookedon the very distinctive Dornier 228-100. With a little practice, anda light hand on the power controls, I am sure anyone can master andenjoy the 228. /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_14.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_3.jpg /images/reviews/do228car/t/do228_4.jpgThis aircraft would be totally at home in remote locations whererunways are short, mountains are high and pilots are made! /images/notams/notams17/care1114.jpgStuart McGregor Purchase Carenado - DO228 100 HD Series for X-Plane