Sean's "Quick-Review", after a couple hours with it on my system:
The Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II is an unpressurized, 14-seat (two crew, 12 passenger) twin-turboprop oriented toward small commuter airlines and government services. It was in production between 1983 and 2013 by Reims Aviation in France, in cooperation with Cessna. It's basically a modified Cessna 404 Titan (which you can get from Carenado's sister-company, Alabeo).
The F406 is Carenado's latest release, coming out on 22 October 2015 for US$37.95. It is currently available directly though Carenado's shop, and will likely be available through 3rd-party vendors such as Simmarket in the coming days/weeks.
It's an extremely versatile aircraft, and in my opinion, Carenado always has and continues to do well with aircraft in this class.
My Specs:
Hardware
- Intel i5-2500k overclocked to 4.8Ghz.
- Nvidia GTX970 4GB.
- 16GB DDR3 RAM.
- 2x Samsung 840 SSDs (250GB).
- 27" Dell U2713HM monitor.
Software
- Windows 7
- FSX: Acceleration.
Hardware Flight Controls used
- Saitek Pro Flight Yoke/Throttle
- Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals
The installation:
The F406 uses a single installer compatible with FSX, as well as P3D (including P3Dv3). Installation requires an internet connection to verify the user's email address and issued serial number for the product.
Installation is fairly quick, and seems to use approximately 1 Gigabyte (1GB) of harddrive space.
Following installation, one can access related documentation (see below) in the Carenado folder, located in the main FSX folder where you have the simulator installed.
Additionally, three other installers are included in the aircraft's folder "Carenado F406_Caravan_II" located in your FSX/Simobjects structure. These installers cater to those with the Flight1 GTN750 and/or RealityXP GNS530 addons, with the third installer allowing the user to revert to the included Carenado (default) GPS units. As a GTN750 user, I was excited to have the option of full integration with this addon.
The documentation:
Looking in the "Carenado" folder under the appropriate aircraft via the main FSX folder, the user finds eight (8) PDF files and two notepad files with installation and operating details for the aircraft.
The following is included:
- P3D user notification document stating that RealityXP integration is not available for P3D users.
- Carenado GNS530 Users Guide
- Copyrights
- Emergency Procudures
- Normal Procedures
- Performance Tables
- Airspeed References
- RealityXP advisory stating that only the Com1/Nav1 unit in FSX is replaceable (can't switch out the second default GPS with RXP)
- Recommend sim settings for Carenado products
- Weather Radar manual
The exterior:
Those who know Carenado products will not be surprised to hear that the visual aspect of this addon is stunning, as usual. The exterior model looks to be highly accurate and is convicning when comparing it to images and videos of the real deal. Of note are the following exterior animations, catered to with a pop-up menu:
- Static elements (chocks, remove before flight tags, pushback cart, etc).
- Multiple opening doors, including the baggage compartments spanning the aircraft.
- Removable baggage pod on the belly that impacts flight performance.
All other exterior animations are to be expected, and it's also worth noting that as with Carenado's other more recent prop/turboprop releases, the spinning prop discs shimmer in the sun in a strikin way, when you have the camera angled correctly. This seems to be a visual effect unique to Carenado at this time.
All exterior lights on the aircraft are "modeled in" rather than being called in the aicraft.cfg file. This has in the past caused contention between those who do not think the lights are bright enough, and those who enjoy the extra visual advantages of modelled lighting. The taxi and landing lights of this F406 are what's known in the community as "Lotus-style" lights, after the revolutionary L-39C product which enabled true illumination of the ground and surrounding objects from the lights. Additionally, you'll see reflections of the flashing strobe lights at night.
The beacon lights are also striking as I have not seen a style quite like this yet in Carenado's products (though I don't have many of their latest). The red beacon illumination is both modelled into the bulb, and is provided as a larger visual effect. The coloration of the visual effect to my eyes looks more like a pinkish-purplish-red, but it's unique and it works.
The navigation lights are modelled in stritly to the bulbs, and I can see some users complaining due to their lack of illumination intensity. It may be worth trying to add in additional nav lighting via the aircraft.cfg if possible.
The aircraft comes with six liveries:
- Blank white for repainting*
- Green/Yellow/Grey US registration (my favorite...based off of a real Era Alaska aircraft!)
- White with multicolor pinstripes US registration
- White with black and red pinstripes French registration
- Modern White/Black/Red French registration (based off of a South African example)
- Hellenic (Greek) Coast Guard
*At this time I'll point out that unfortunately, Carenado's texture templating continues to be dissapointing. The textures are broken up into innumerable segments on each dds file, making repainting truly difficult.
If you have noticed the lack of repaints for many of Carenado's and Alabeo's more recent products, this is why.
A few other visual features:
- Trailing-link landing gear
- Three-blade propellers
- Two crew members in the cockpit (I asked about a single pilot option prior to release but they said no)
- Typical FSX features such as self-shadowing, bump mapping, etc.
The interior and avionics:
The interior of this aircraft is fully modelled (cockpit and cabin) with slight weathering on a grey panel, white walls, and brown upholstry. As expected, the texturing is top notch and is very immersive - typical of Carenado's latest releases since they started advertising "HD textures" for the cockpits.
I took a look at the default Carenado GNS option initially before instlaling the GTN750, and the avionics and capabilies of this aircraft truly seem impressive. Remember, the F406 is unpressurized, meaning that you'll likely be flying in the weather, rather than over it. As such, you'll get the following by default:
- 2x Aspen EFD1000 Primary Flight Displays (PFDs)...like in their A36 Bonanza.
- 2x Garmin GNS530 GPS systems with Com1/Nav1 and Com2/Nav2 capabilties.
- Digital Transponder
- Bendix-King ADF
- 2x Bendix-King DME systems
- Bendix-King Weather Radar (like in their Caravan, C340, PC-12, and other products)
All gauges and instruments in the cockpit are fully modelled in 3D.
With the GTN750 option, the unit replaces the first GNS530 in the VC, and is fully modelled with 3d knobs and crisp display resolution. All other avionics remain the same.
What may be new to most users unless they have the A36 Bonanza for FSX is the Aspen EFD1000 PFD unit. This is a "glass" attitide indicator and HSI on one screen, and provides it's own moving map, as well as a plethorea of other information such as true airspeed, groundspeed, winds, vertical speed, and more. It's a sharp little unit that, combined with the other avionics, makes it very difficult to get lost! Remember, the Aspen comes as standard - no other purchases are needed.
The aircraft also features an autopilot, with controls on the pedestal under the throttle/prop/condition lever unit. Of note is that it appears to be a two-axis unit, in that while there is a yaw-damper button, it does not seem to do anything. There is also a "soft ride" and half rate option that I have not tried yet. All other standard functions seem to work fine. The user can also control altitude and heading using the Aspen, or a secondary altitude alert window.
Of note are two bugs with the avionics that I have already pointed out to Carenado. I am currently unsure of whether or not these will be addressed:
- The standby attidue indicator show an approximately 4 degree nose down situation when the plane is in level flight or on the ground. This issue was previously experienced by their Navajo and Alabeo's 404. Unfortunately, the standby indicator is not adjustable, so we'll have to see if Carenado fixes it.
- The vertical speed indicator (VSI) seems to show a slight, approximately 30-50 foot decent when on level ground. It's not very noticable due to the incrementation of the reference lines on the gauge (in hundreds) but one can see that the needle rests slightly below zero on a flat surface.
Other features:
- Moving sunshades
- Moving armrests
- Dimmable night lighting
- Glass reflections on the avionics and windows
- Glass scratches on the windows that illuminate when flying at certain angles to the sun...a feature seemingly unique to Carenado/Alabeo.
Cowl flaps...yes this turboprop has on/off position cowl flaps for each engine, controllable from the lower pedestal in the VC. Unique to me, and I will have to read up on proper usage of them in the near future. For now, I'm operating them as I would with a piston aircraft.
Sound:
The F406 is powered by two PT-6 engines, and the soundset is convincing. You get
plenty of bass while powering up and down in the cockpit, as well as accurate sound pitch changes based on the angle of the props, rather than on engine torque output itself. In short, it sounds like a PT-6 powered twin turboprop!
You also have gauge click sounds included in the VC by default as well.
Flying the F406:
Having never flown a real one, this is obviously subjective. It seems to fly by the included numbers in the manuals, and I find it to be a nice, stable platform for handflying. It has a satisfying heaviness on the controls that comes with an aircraft of this size (remember, it seats 14), while also not being sluggish from a performance perspective. Remember, stay below 12500 without supplemental oxygen, or 14000 while flying with passengers, as this is unpressurized. (Note: There is a pilot's oxygen knob modelled, though it's a dummy switch since hypoxia is not simulated). It's quite fun to fly this twin turboprop at these lower altitudes, in the weather. With proper trim set, you can get in and out of relatively small airfields, though I would hesitate to fly this into and out of the smallest rural fields due to it's size and existing take-off and landing requirements.
At recommended cruise torque settings with the props pulled back to 1700rpm, I was getting around 200 knots indicated between 5000 and 10000 feet, which was pleasantly surprising, as I expected it to be a bit slower. I recommend reviewing the manuals as well as the placards in the cockpit (located both on the main panel as well as the pilot's sunshade) for operating limitations and power recommendations.
Thus far, my flights have only been with full fuel and two crew up front. I'll have to explore what it feels like with multiple passengers and baggage. Note that you will have to go into the weight and balance in FSX to reflect even a realistic default load, as the standard configuration is full fuel and one 190-pound pilot, even though two crew members (who appear to each by physically healthier than 190 pounds) are modelled.
In a quick engine out test, the autofeather system worked rapidly and effectively to fully feather engine #1 when I cut fuel to it. The aircraft remained manageable and I was successfully able to bring it back for a smooth, safe landing.
Also worth noting is the aircraft has a full decing kit, which as a placard indicates on the sunshade, authorizes operators to fly this aircraft in icing conditions.
More to come and the yes/no decision:
I'll write more in the coming days as I'm running out of time, and I do want to explore the flight envelope a bit more.
If you can overlook the two minor gauge issues I outline above, I recommend buying this model. If you only wish to aquire it for repainting though, I would advise against it due to the lack of a suitable paint template.
Overall, I'll certainly use this aircraft quite often, as it fits the type of flying I like to do!
Thanks for reading!
Sean
