From a big picture perspective, the Taylorcraft BC-12D is a relatively simple airplane. Fitted with a conventional engine, fixed pitch propeller, no flaps, simple avionics, and few other frills. The aircraft could have been pretty good on its own with no additional features from any sim developer, however, Got Friends is not that kind of developer. Here is another great instance where a simple plane can be given a long list of options to make it into airplane that you want to fly or tailor it to the mission you want to go on while filling it to the brim with things that make you feel like you’re in the real thing. Let’s talk about the Taylorcraft BC-12D from Got Friends!

Disclaimer

Got Friends provided me with a preview version of the aircraft and let me write a couple of previews before it came out. Then I turned my experience around with a full review of the airplane. As always, my thoughts are my own and Got Friends does not get a preview of my review nor any editorial control over what I say. And with that… on with the review!

A bit of history

Founded by Clarence Gilbert Taylor in Bradford Pennsylvania in 1935, the self taught aeronautical engineer was also responsible for the Taylor Cub and several other designs. Developed from the Taylorcraft A, the Taylorcraft B is a high-wing monoplane with two seats in a side-by-side configuration. It was delivered in both land and floatplane configurations from the factory and used welded steel tubing and doped aircraft fabric for its fuselage.

Variants were produced through the late 1930s before the definitive BC-12D series started production in 1945. Despite the age of the aircraft, Taylorcrafts are still flying world wide but most typically in the United States and Canada.

What’s included

Third party developers Got Friends have built the Taylorcraft BC-12D for both MSFS 2020 and 2024 and then loaded it up with a ton of options. Core to the experience is a detailed 3D model inside and out, PBR textures and materials work, custom Wwise sounds, four main variants (standard, bush, ski and floats), and several dozen liveries.

New to this aircraft is something they are calling “Reactive Motion” which you can boil down basically to the aircraft’s components all reacting realistically to the physics of flight. Inside the cockpit there are various grab handles which will react naturally to the motion of the aircraft in flight. Roll to the left and watch them sway. Push forward or pull back on the stick and see them move. But it also extends to the aircraft’s doors and exterior panels – forget to secure them after an engine inspection or neglect to lock the door and they will bang around and generally cause you trouble. There’s also an optional set of fuzzy dice that you can hang in the cockpit… and why not right? I’ve left them on at all times because its just too much fun.

The aircraft has something called the “Craft Pad.” With its pad and notepaper aesthetics you can make many modifications to the aircraft. Hang a reflex bow off of one wing, a pair of antlers off the other, toggle a built in starter (or “hand crank” the old fashioned way with the mouse), select the pitch of the propeller from several different options (each with their own impact on performance), and pick your avionics options.

The avionics are worth talking about separately because you can choose between a classic cockpit with no frills at all or you can start adding things in a KAP-140 autopilot, GNS 430, or even the PMS50 or TDS GTN750 with touchscreen interface. There’s an outside air temperature gauge and even an AOA indexer as an option. You can also adjust the position of the gauges, moving each one of them around to your liking or to replicate a specific Taylorcraft aircraft. There are so many modifications out there in the real world that it only makes sense to provide for similar adjustments virtually. Its all adjustable and it works simply and easily.

Visuals and sounds

Got Friends do some really great work with their visuals and the Taylorcraft lives up to the reputation. From the texture and materials work to the 3D model, everything about the BC-12D is superb.

You’ve got sharp details everywhere, particle effects for tires when you try skimming the water, more particle effects on different types of terrain, and at least one easter egg in there too if you look really hard around the airplane.

The cockpit in particular shines with sharp details through and through. It looks weathered and worn but it also looks sharp and readable at a glance. Critical, especially with analogue cockpits. This one is simply brilliant! Everything is nicely detailed and in addition to all of the other adjustments you can also choose between three different cargo options.

The engine cowlings open and you can get a good look at the engine on your aircraft. This is a really fun detail for the airplane.

I’ve already talked about reactive motion before but I can mention again that this physics based effect is very cool to have within the airplane. It really helps build visual immersion that matches the movement of objects inside the airplane cockpit with the visuals on the outside. With a dynamic airplane like the BC-12D, it just makes a whole lot of sense. The fuzzy dice option helps!

The work to get the aircraft to this place is clear, however, it comes across as natural and effortless though I’m sure it required painstaking work by the developers. It makes the aircraft feel like it belongs in the virtual world of MSFS like few others.

The sound work is similarly strong. The engine has a suitable clatter to it without any drone or obviously repeating clips, the engine power and sound are well connected offering plenty of communication as you throttle the airplane up and down. I really like the little touches too like the door handle sounds, door sounds, the way the sound changes if you open a door mid flight, even the wind noises behind the airplane when the engine is on in external drone camera or walk around mode. You can also hear the ignition as you rotate the prop in manual start mode.

Flying the Taylorcraft

The BC-12D has a kind of split personality. On the one side you have an airplane that is a fairly straightforward general aviation airplane with classic stick and rudder flying at its core. Power comes on quickly, control responsiveness is good in most regimes of flight, and it stalls in a reasonably controllable way around 38 mph. Landing and takeoff are reasonably easy but you have to manage crosswinds in a serious way as the aircraft can get tossed around in stronger cross wind scenarios. Real world reports say 10-12 knots is the maximum and you can certainly feel that in the sim.

That all sounds fine. Now… put the bush tires on, set the fixed pitch propeller to a VSTOL setting, and start doing some back country flying and the Taylorcraft transforms into a bit more of a beast. It can aggressively climb out in short bursts, it can maneuver into tight corners and difficult to approach strips, and you can make some harrowing landings.

Landings can be tricky here as most bushplanes have effective flaps that lower your stall speed but also give you enough drag to drop the aircraft into the space you want. The Taylorcraft doesn’t have flaps so managing power and pitch angle matter a lot for final approaches. Its easy enough on a nice big GA airstrip but its much more difficult in a narrow locale out in the bush. A mix of planning, some carefully implemented sideslip for extra drag, and skillful piloting are needed with this airplane. Moreso than with some of the more modern bushplanes with their lower stall speeds and higher power to weight ratios. The Taylorcraft challenges your flying skill more in these situations.

Go back to civilization, however, and these problems aren’t really much of a factor. So, if you prefer to fly around with bushwheels and off the beaten path airstrips you can but you can also have a sedate general aviation cruiser with its standard wheels and optional wheel pants for that classic experience.

Real world Taylorcraft pilots have weighed in saying the most of the flight dynamics presented are very accurate to the aircraft. There are two exceptions and both are landing sequence related. Reportedly this sim version floats a little too much below 40 mph. Its caused me some grief during landings and it seems to be an area where a few tweaks might be needed. The second is more of a core sim problem where landings are made more difficult by the transition to ground physics. This is something that MSFS 2024, for all of its advancements, has not quite mastered the way other sims (X-Plane and Korea IL-2 Series notably) have done brilliantly.

Skis and water

I did a little flying with both the skis and amphibious versions. The ski version is very weather specific and its on snow that it performs best. The handling isn’t too different from wheels but its a little less forgiving in some senses and both takeoff and landing need to be done as gently as possible.

MSFS 2024 is definitely better at water takeoff and landing than before and that works well for the Taylorcraft. It does like the weathervane with even the slightest crosswinds so you do have to be cautious with the airplane. It also likes to bounce and can become airborne and then crash back down again if the takeoff isn’t handled correctly.

Got Friends have added a very cool feature that lets you get a paddle out where you can then push the aircraft off of a dock, canoe style, using the joystick to give directional control. Its very immersive and it solves amphibious aircraft problems in a fun and interactive way!

Final thoughts

Regular readers will know I tend to err on the class half full side of things most of the time but I do try and present as objective and critical viewpoint as I can when I review things. That said, its tough to find anything wrong with Got Friends release of the Taylorcraft BC-12D.

While the project many not quite have the system depth of A2A or Black Square its also at roughly half the price point and so for within the $25 USD range that this aircraft sits in, little else can compete with how thoroughly these developers have engaged with the subject matter.

This is a relatively simple airplane but Got Friends have extracted every last little bit of detail that they can from it. The optional starter or hand cranked propeller, the options for autopilot and various GPS panels or the ability to set it up with just the bare minimum. You get to choose all of those things and so many more options right down to setting your own custom propeller pitch. All of that plus great flight modeling and visuals makes a simple airplane quite a well simulated experience. Experience is the word because this is just a great experience! Through and through.

It looks great, it sounds great, it flies great, it has a huge list of customizations, and its quite simply one of the best general aviation experiences you can have in Microsoft Flight Simulator for the price. If classic general aviation or bush plane flying appeal at all to you, you’ll give serious consideration to buying Got Friends Taylorcraft BC-12D.

Got Friends Taylorcraft BC-12D is available exclusively through the Marketplace for $24.99 USD.

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