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Disappointed by DHC6 Twin Otter Extended


Branech

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I recently bought the DHC6 Twin Otter Extended from Aérosoft and I noted the following points :

 

- No NAV / GPS switch
- The instrument panel illumination can be turned on without the battery switch being ON
- The T5 ° C dials do not give realistic values at different engine speeds compared to the videos of the real DHC6
That I saw on You Tube.
- The yokes are not retractable and hide the dials on the bottom of the instrument panel
- When we Sideslip with this aircraft,  it is not really realistic
- Sounds are not really realistic

 

In summary, I love this plane but I am very disappointed by this purchase.

 

So I uninstalled the Twin Otter and I put it on hold while awaiting an unlikely update on the
Points mentioned above.

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Dear Branech,

 

we are sorry you dislike some parts of the Twin Otter.

 

19 minutes ago, Branech said:

- No NAV / GPS switch

 

Please check the manual and you may find something you like ;)

 

19 minutes ago, Branech said:


- The instrument panel illumination can be turned on without the battery switch being ON

 

We use the standart FS engine for the lighting. Unfortunately this bug is in the standart FS engine and thus nothing we can change. Maybe Lockheed will update it with a future P3Dv4 version.

 

19 minutes ago, Branech said:

- The T5 ° C dials do not give realistic values at different engine speeds compared to the videos of the real DHC6

That I saw on You Tube.

 

YouTube, as always, is not a very good source to compare something.
We got our values from real Twin Otter pilots and PT6A simulators and they pretty much match what our sources told us.

 

19 minutes ago, Branech said:

I- The yokes are not retractable and hide the dials on the bottom of the instrument panel

 

You are right on this one, unfortunately no update is planned here.

 

19 minutes ago, Branech said:

- When we Sideslip with this aircraft,  it is not really realistic

 

What would be realistic for you?

I guess you may have some experience slipping gliders or smaller aircraft. I was surprised myself when I first slipped a Cessna how bad it was compared to the ASK21 I flew previously before getting my PPL. It is a totally different feel and I fully agree to you that if you only know smaller planes the slipping behaviour of big planes will feel totally different, even a bit unbelievable. That's at least my impression from changing from gliders to powered aircraft in real life.

Slipping bigger aircraft is not recommended at all due to the enormous shearloads it can cause on the tailplane.

 

19 minutes ago, Branech said:

- Sounds are not really realistic

 

Here again our real life Twin Otter pilots felt quite comfortable with our sounds.
In real life you wear headsets which change the whole sounds compeltly, compared to what a cheap 20$ iPhone mic will make out of a real plane.

Again though, please tell us WHAT you dislike exactly.

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  • Aerosoft

Branech I have no idea where you base your benchmark on and have no idea why you feel things like the side slip are unrealistic. How much experience do you have with that? You fully understand what a sideslip does to a high wing twin with a very boxy shape and the wing profile  the Twotter has?

 

The fact you use YouTube as source and do not really to have read the manual seems to suggest you EXPECT the aircraft to behave differently, but to be honest I feel your expectations might not be as realistic as our product us. 

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

Branech, I was one of the beta test team members for the Twin Otter. My background includes over 6,000 hours IRL from Cessna150s to the Gulfstream II and III. It also includes 30 years as an FAA inspector (now retired) where in the late 80s, I was the principal operations inspector (POI) for a scheduled operator with a Twin Otter on floats in the Pacific Northwest. As their POI, I checked out all their check airmen in flight, since there was no sim available to the operator. I can assure you the Aerosoft Twin Otter flies, sounds, and behaves very closely to the real thing including instrument indications. I have substantial time on PT-6 engine aircraft and the engine behavior in the Twin Otter is as close as you're going to get with the limitations of FSX relative to the price point of the product. We spent extensive time tweaking the start sequence and in-and-out of beta to get it as close as it is.

 

Finally, with regard to slips in an aircraft of that size and configuration, I completely agree with what was written by Emi and Mathijs on slipping large aircraft. There's nothing to add to what they wrote except to point out that it's one reason why you use the crab method instead of the side-slip method for crosswind landings in pretty much anything over 10,000 pounds or so. With all due respect, I invite you to share your relevant pilot experience in the Twin Otter with that of the beta testers to help us see why you think we didn't get it quite right.

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Thank you for your answers.

 

1/ MEA CULPA : I found the NAV / GPS switch in the GPS

2/ The instrument panel illumination does not work, when the batterie is off in many aircrafts for FSX/P3D (RealAir Turbine Duke, Milvitz DHC2 Beaver, Majestic Dash8 Q400, PMDG aircrafts etc...)

3/  MEA CULPA : After thorough research, I admit that the indications on the engine dials are realistic

4/ For the yoke, I have no additional comment to make. For me, in this aircraft, a yoke that is not retractable is a problem

5/ My judgment on the  slipping is based on the many light aircrafts that I piloted in the real life and on some FSX / P3D aircrafts which are the benchmark in simulation

6/ My judgment on the sounds is based on comparative videos on You Tube and on the remark of a real French pilot of Twin Otter

7/ The taxi light does not work

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

For 2, I don't remember from the beta why it's that way, but it's far from the only add-on with that behavior. If that's disappointing to you, that's your call.

For 4, Emi's comment is the response, and I'm in agreement with you on that one. There was a solid reason for not hiding it that came up during the beta, I just don't remember what it was.

For 5, I hope you see the two earlier points and mine as well. If not, I for one would not call that a "disappointment" but rather an invalid transfer of what works in little airplanes to bigger ones. Especially in a turboprop, you don't need to forward slip to lose altitude in a hurry; those props at flight idle work better than anything short of flight spoilers. Even in a King Air C-90 (less than 10,000 pounds, compared to 12,500 for the -6), I wouldn't use a side slip for a crosswind landing but rather a crab. Pax don't like slips, and it's another reason why you don't do them in something that size.

For 6, sounds are entirely subjective, and subject as well to how good your speakers/headset/headphones are. Those of us on the beta team with time in the real aircraft agreed the soundset was more than satisfactory.

For 7, it's been a while since I had mine installed, so I'll have to see if it works or not. Which version of the sim are you referring to? if P3D 4v, there's lots of issues with lighting that are sim based, not add-on based. But I'll look.

 

So I think this is a bottom line: the product doesn't meet your expectation of what the Twin Otter is like, although experienced pilots worked to ensure it is a reasonable representation of the aircraft, especially for the money. Your disappointment is based on some points that are entirely subjective, some that turned out to not be entirely valid, some that were design compromises you disagree with, and some created by YT videos which very very rarely truly represent real life, or even the sim. Your shared your customer assessment, some of us associated with Aerosoft shared ours, and now other potential customers can balance your opinion with those other opinions. Probably a good place to leave this.

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I agree with you. Slipping is not useful with the Twin Otter.

 

In fact, sleeping is only one of the flight figures that I use to test the flight model of an airplane.

 

The behavior of the Twin Otter is acceptable when tested in stall (in different configurations), in inverted flight and in spin

 

I recognize that these flight figures (except the stall) are not practicable on the Twin Otter

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

Perhaps you saw Mathijs' request for input on a potential update for the Twin Otter Extended here. Your input would be welcome.

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Thanks for the link of a possible update of the Twin Otter.

I am, of course, ready to pay 7 € and even much more to have a Twin Otter that gives me more the impression of piloting an airplane than piloting a computer.

I will put a message in this section.

Once again, thank you all for your messages and for your attention

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  • Deputy Sheriffs

The taxi light works fine in P3D v4. Perhaps you couldn't find it, since it's not with the landing lights, just as in the actual aircraft. It's with the rest of the lights aft of the engine levers on the overhead.

 

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