I’ve been flying high performance jet fighters and air liners an awful lot recently. How about changing things up into something simpler? Enter Got Friends and their still in beta testing Aeroprakt A-32 Vixxen simulation. This small trainer and light sport aircraft is currently in development by the group but they were nice enough to send me a preview to test out. So here’s a little sneak peek on what the diminutive trainer has on offer!

Disclaimer

Got Friends sent over the beta version of their still in development Aeroprakt A-32 for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The final version should be out relatively soon while they squash any remaining bugs with the product. The beta version I have is the 2020 version running in 2024 compatibility mode so there will be a few minor differences when the 2024 version arrives. This is a preview and a journal of my experiences so far and not a review so read on accordingly.

Aeroprakt A-32 primer

The Aeroprakt A-32 Vixxen is a Ukrainian designed light sport aircraft that first flew in 2014. It’s a development of the earlier A-22 and is powered by a 100 hp Rotax 912ULS engine. The aircraft has found some popularity in Europe, the United States and Australia and some flight schools are using the aircraft as an introductory trainer. Got Friends worked with Heavenbound Aviation, a flight school in in Johnstown, Ohio, while developing the A-32.

First flight: Scenic tour around Columbus, Ohio

Got Friends are shipping some scenery with the A-32 when it comes out! Heavenbound Aviation is located at 5OI8 McKnight which is a 1,500 ft privately owned grass airstrip located to the north east of Columbus, Ohio. For my first flight showcasing the aircraft, I wanted to do something in that area using that airfield as a base.

My first impressions of the cockpit are that this is a relatively small aircraft but with a terrific view! Out the sides, out the front, and even the view to the rear are relatively free and open.

It took me a few minutes to get the A-32 started, mostly because I had put the fuel shutoff switches in the wrong position. Also, because this is a beta there isn’t a checklist just yet so I was feeling my way through this. Fortunately, its not a complex airplane and once that was sorted out, the A-32 started up smoothly and we were on our way.

There’s an animated paper pad with checklist items on it including the ability to turn on and off pre-flight covers, remove/add wheel chocks, install the PMS50 or TDS GTN750, add an additional tablet, an AoA indicator, gear accessories and cabin doors. Lots of choices for such a small airplane.

Taxiing out to the grass strip, I dropped the flaps one notch and gave it full power. It didn’t take long and we were airborne! Here we go! The A-32 is quite a light airplane so even a light crosswind will bounce you around quite a bit. Careful control is essential.

After a little familiarization, I was on my way to Columbus cruising over the rural farmland and then over the outlying suburbs before doing a couple of circuits around the city itself. Photogrammetry (or TIN as they are calling it these days) is really good here. The scenery at this time of year is also enhanced by the fall colours which MSFS 2024 does superbly!

Then it was time to bring the aircraft back to the farm. Full GPS and autopilot make this a piece of cake to operate over short and long distances. Though it still took me a bit of time to spot the grass field for landing.

Landing the A-32 is relatively easy, however, if you’re trying to grease it you may need to do a bit of extra stick work to ease it down onto the ground. A few times now while doing some landing practice I thought I was down but then the aircraft dropped even further. You have to get lower than you think before the touchdown happens.

That was so much fun that… I thought I should fly it a few more times!

Second flight: Seward flight testing

Changing things up on my second flight, I kept the tundra tires but swapped out the modern glass cockpit for a more traditional analogue setup. This flight was meant to be a very immediate sightseeing trip around an airport that I haven’t visited in a while and then more of a flight dynamics shakedown. I wanted to see what the A-32 was like in different stall situations and how it’d handle turns in tight mountain passes. No better place than to launch myself from the recently updated Northern Sky Studios PAWD Seward airport.

After taxi, I was taking off into a beautiful late afternoon Alaskan sky. Mountains on either side, the ocean directly ahead, and a smattering of clouds all around. The beauty didn’t end there as I took the aircraft over Seward and into into one of the mountain passes for as far in as I dared.

Then I spun the aircraft around and headed back out. No problem!

From there I did a little testing. The aircraft stalls at power on and drops the left wing sharply if you don’t keep it under control. But this only happens around the 40 knots mark (maybe a little lower) so you’ve really got to let it go to have that happen. Power off its very gentle and recovery is quick and even gentler. All ideal for a light sport aircraft or trainer.

Then I took the aircraft into some slightly riskier treetop flying before then finding an open lake and getting as down low next to the lake as I dared. I didn’t want to have a crash in this just yet so ultimately I poured back on the power and climbed away before returning to Seward.

Third Flight: Out and about around Bydgoszcz

Showcasing another scenery I haven’t spent much time at. Drzewiecki Design’s Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport (EPBY) is an interesting mix of grass strips and aeroclubs next to Cold War era military parking and a modern passenger terminal complete with jet bridge. A real mix and contrast!

For this flight it was a simple out and about sortie. This time flying the standard tire configuration complete with wheel pants.

Taking off on the grass strip into the wind, I then spent some time flying around Bydgoszcz. The satellite imagery is a bit lower resolution here but some custom points of interest from the airport scenery and beautiful autumn skies helped boost the scene.

This third flight had me feeling much more comfortable with the aircraft. Its light to handle though it feels fairly confident most of the time. When you need to go hands off, you can quickly engage the level autopilot and generally speaking the A-32 will just do what it needs to do.

I was curious about the option to enable a second tablet and indeed you can. A 3D table, attached on the right side of the dash, gives you another option for navigation and flight information. You can also use it with the Microsoft 2024 EFB interface too (albeit a small one!) so there’s flexibility here. Its overkill on the glass cockpit version but I can see it adding an extra resource when using the analogue version.

For my landing I brought it in on the concrete runway which feels a bit on the small side when landing an airliner but absolutely gigantic when landing an A-32. I became aware that several of my last flights had me looking at approach speeds in the 140 knot range while this little sport plane was coming in at just 65 knots and even that was probably a little fast for the A-32.

After touchdown I found a nice spot to park next to a DA62 and within view of the airport’s modern civilian terminal.

Final thoughts

Though still in beta, I found no real issues with the Got Friends Aeroprakt A-32. This is a fun little aircraft with about a dozen liveries (at present), a custom airport to fly out of, analogue and glass cockpit variants as well as the option for different sets of wheels. Its not a fast airplane so if you want to fly long distances you may be looking for something else but if you want something in this class of airplane, Got Friends might have just the thing you’re looking for.

I’ll have more to say when the aircraft is out of beta and ready for purchase. Speaking of which, that should be coming relatively soon from what I hear. The aircraft is now in beta so we’ll see what the beta testers find.

Learn more about Got Friends slate of aircraft over on their website!