Aircraft developer SimWorks Studios has provided an update on a couple of projects that they are working on right now for Microsoft Flight Simulator. A bug in their PC-12 that has caused some performance and handling woes has been discovered and we’ve got an update on their Airvan project too.
PC-12, Airvan update
In an update on the company’s Facebook page, SimWorks Studios has a new update on their efforts to further develop their released PC-12. The type’s handling has been a cause of several issues for virtual pilots and it looks like a significant bug in the propeller information has been discovered. Here’s what they had to say:
Starting with the PC-12 we discovered the cause of the very short take-off performance; a typo in the propeller spreadsheet carried over into the game and caused the plane to over-perform at slow speeds. The acceleration has now been fixed and the plane takes off and climbs close to the published figures, but we need to readjust the cruise side (about 15kts too slow) and the propeller drag at idle (not enough drag when descending). A side-effect is that the yawing tendencies due to power setting have been slightly reduced in the approach/low speed range. This made the plane more stable in these speeds and brings it even closer to the measured values. We are currently discussing the possible ways to address this issue as it is the most important flight model bug and will reflect on numerous other handling characteristics.
Curious to see how much this might ultimately help the type’s handling and performance challenges. A significant change like this can potentially have knock on effects all across the type’s performance envelope as they alluded to in the update so clearly this will be a major effort to check and test the PC-12 after making the update.
I’ve got a full review cooking for the aircraft but may hold off to see how this helps sort out the aircraft which is otherwise excellent!
Meanwhile, we’ve also got an update on their GippsAero GA8 Airvan project. They report that coding is 90% complete and they are working on aircraft states and functions. They say that the project is expected to be done at a similar level to their RV series – detailed but without too many extra frills. An €10-15 pricing range is expected. Cheap but cheerful!
Stormbirds 
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