Classic Aircraft Simulations J3 Cub Released!

[Mr.Mugel]

It's sad the lack of interest shown in a product such as this on this forum - its been a completely different reception in every other online community that I've seen that's been talking about this Cub. I guess it's hard to know just how special this addon is until you experience it for yourself - the first time you grab hold of the prop and feel the compression of the engine, the way the side doors are affected by the prop blast, by the wind, and by inertia, the way it feels taking off or landing in a crosswind (different than any other taildragger I've flown yet in MSFS), and paying the consequence for not operating the aircraft properly (from pre-flight to engine shut-down, there are items that if not done right they'll eventually cause you issues/harm to the engine). The amount of passion and skill that have gone into it is second to none. When other developers don't do a thorough-enough job in depicting an aircraft in the sim, it leaves room for another developer to come along and do better than what was accomplished before.

You have already sold it to me with your screens and comments. Downloaded it and will try it later. Sounds like a hoot!

 

[Bomber_12th]

There's not an excessively-detailed user manual, but for me that's been half the fun, to go exploring to find all that the product has to offer, and to actually have to use my brain to figure things out (including figuring out that it's best to move the mouse up or down when pulling the prop through, or opening the side doors, etc., rather than moving the mouse left/right). The user manual that the developer has made (as posted to Discord, and as I've attached earlier in this thread), provides all of the information needed to operate the aircraft as per reality and to keep the engine/systems healthy - from turning the prop through/lubricating the engine during pre-start, to making sure you're using the mag switch to turn the engine off and not the fuel cut-off.

Among so many details that are accurately simulated - if you do pull the fuel cutoff, the engine will still run for a little while more until all of the fuel still in the lines/reaching the carburetor gets used up (this isn't good for the engine and will cause the engine health to deteriorate). In other details, the animations of the whiskey compass alone are a marvel.

Also, as an added tip, if you find the click spots on the side doors to be too difficult to use at times, the bottom three nuts on the right-side windscreen post also provide click spots for the top door, bottom door handle, and bottom door.

 

[Bomber_12th]

Some screenshots showing the effects of "Panthering" the Cub.

 

[DennyA]

Hah, fun that you posted that! I'd just popped over to report my excitement that I lost a wheel on a hard emergency landing. I understand Microsoft's reasons for not having crash damage (licensing agreements with aircraft manufacturers and respect for actual pilots), but it's cool to see the results of a flubbed landing.

The awesome thing here is that the author could have charged more for this plane, given the attention to detail, superb flying qualities, and these kinds of cool extras. But given the number of Cub variants I already had on hand, a $20+ price would have had me passing and I'd have never known. So I'm glad he offered it at this very reasonable price!

 

[Tom Clayton]

For those who are wondering: there is no GPS or moving map on the tablet. It would perhaps be nice to see in a future update, as a lot of modern J3 pilots often use battery operated tablet GPSs in flight.

There's always the in-sim "VFR Map" in the meantime.

 

[vipgroup]

Bomber, I love your enthusiasm for this little gem. Can you please confirm that the registrations are customizable? I fly mostly in Canada and UK, so would want to place a G or C reg on the side! There is speculation that this can be done, but we've not heard from an owner confirming this. Thanks in advance for your input. - Kenneth

 

[DennyA]

Bomber, I love your enthusiasm for this little gem. Can you please confirm that the registrations are customizable? I fly mostly in Canada and UK, so would want to place a G or C reg on the side! There is speculation that this can be done, but we've not heard from an owner confirming this. Thanks in advance for your input. - Kenneth

Yes, they're customizable. The N-number on my inverted crashed J-3 is my personal one. You can customize the registration, and where it appears.

 

[Tim-HH]

You have already sold it to me with your screens and comments. Downloaded it and will try it later. Sounds like a hoot!

Same for me! I wasn't that interested in the Cub at first. I bought the A2A Cub for FSX and P3D, but never flew it much. But John, your great pictures and enthusiasm have convinced me to buy it as well. Especially since I know that I will like any addon that you like. And I'm glad I bought the CAS Cub. It's excellent, with so many little details that make it very special

 

[Bomber_12th]

Version 1.1 Released

Just a heads-up to say that the product was updated to version 1.1 as of yesterday, and should be re-downloaded/re-installed if you had the original release version.

V1.1 updates include:

• Added mouse tooltips
• Switched to one click interactions on avionics
• Fixed missing inclinometer ball on clean liveries
• Fixed unable to turn prop after repair
• Added specifications to UI
• Fixed top door getting stuck in closed position
• Slight increase in rudder authority
• Added geometry around aileron cable in top of cockpit
• Fixed Radio not working in cold and dark flights
• Changed cursors on many interactions
• Fixed left wheel rotation stutter

 

[vipgroup]

Anyone suspicious of this "Contrail" site to order the product? I tried to order, and half way through the process my Firefox browser started telling me I "must login to this network to connect with the internet". I was already connected to the internet. Now the notice comes up every time I open firefox. Never had this until starting the order process through this contrail site. Was something on my system compromised by the Contrail site?

EDIT:- I must be jinxed trying to get this Cub. I decided to buy from Simmarket instead. Purchase went through just fine, now it is stuck on the page saying the app will open (I already have it!).... So I tried to click to install app just in case, and it says it cannot open that page as it is insecure...

Think I will go for a drive instead!

 

[Bomber_12th]

I'm sorry to hear of these issues you're having, vipgroup, and hopefully things get resolved one way or another. It was my first experience signing up for an account through Contrail (website/app), but I didn't notice any issues or anything out of the norm (I use Firefox as well).

 

[Bomber_12th]

A fantastic TV series I've streamed several times, over the past couple years, is called "Flying Across Britain with Arthur Williams", in which the host of the show flies his Piper J3 Cub (G-BDEY) to some of the more spectacular and charming airports, airfields and fly-ins across the UK. You can stream the series for free, as I have, through Tubi, which doesn't require an account (you can go to Tubi directly over the internet, or through a streaming device).

 

[vipgroup]

Update... I got my download woes solved, and am now flying a Canadian-reg Cub over the Saskatchewan prairie. Strangely, when looking at the assistance options, I seem to be in a greyed-out "volocopter" setting.... Never seen that before. Anyway, back to exploration. And thanks to Tom and Bomber for their input on the reg customization.

 

[SH427]

It's sad the lack of interest shown in a product such as this on this forum - its been a completely different reception in every other online community that I've seen that's been talking about this Cub. I guess it's hard to know just how special this addon is until you experience it for yourself - the first time you grab hold of the prop and feel the compression of the engine, the way the side doors are affected by the prop blast, by the wind, and by inertia, the way it feels taking off or landing in a crosswind (different than any other taildragger I've flown yet in MSFS), and paying the consequence for not operating the aircraft properly (from pre-flight to engine shut-down, there are items that if not done right they'll eventually cause you issues/harm to the engine). The amount of passion and skill that have gone into it is second to none. When other developers don't do a thorough-enough job in depicting an aircraft in the sim, it leaves room for another developer to come along and do better than what was accomplished before.

If it's any consolation, I know I don't post here much but this comment really sold me on it, I was already leaning that direction, and different folks have different strokes and all that, but this really captures some of the joy of flying that I got from the A2A cub back in the good old days.

Also I don't know how hard it is to close the side door in flight but goodness, is the side of my plane probably dented from the door flying open

Also also, is there any other way to change the registration beyond the MSFS special options menu when you're in the world map? I went and changed mine in the .cfg because I'll probably never fly a German register aircraft, but is there another way that I might have missed?

 

[Bomber_12th]

 

[lagaffe]

Sorry Bomber_12th but the update is for v1.0.1 not v1.1.

Some issues or bugs are being considered by Chris (the dev) which can be the next v1.1.
thanks to the advice of a pilot friend: Barnstormer I experienced a potential improvement of the flight model. As the Piper Cub have a very strong reverse yaw from their large wings, with simple modifications we can allows to find a behavior closer to the reality:

[AERODYNAMICS]
fuselage_lateral_cx = 0.9
aileron_up_drag_coef = 0.5
aileron_down_drag_coef = 2.0

and CanadianCaptainMoustach suggested a pre-flight tour which is also half coded in version 1.0.1 since turning around the aircraft on the ground you can already interact with the wings's surfaces : a mouse zone is yet coded to move the surfaces!

 

[Bomber_12th]

I'm sorry for not getting the exact number version of the update correct. I'd edit my post about the update, but unfortunately too much time has passed now/it won't let me.

With regard to the flight model, I personally feel that it already has a very good/fair amount of adverse yaw, which stood out to me immediately when flying this aircraft the first time, which was yet another detail which I've appreciated how great a job the developer of this product has done. I will try your settings though and see how it feels.

For those that might not be aware, by using any one of the preset cockpit views you can use the keyboard arrows to move around the aircraft and perform a complete pre-flight inspection. All of these interactive features are present:

- Grab hold of and move any one of the control surfaces to check their freedom of movement and attach points (ailerons, elevators and rudder)
- Click on the tie-down moorings to add/remove the wing tie downs
- Click on the pitot tube to add/remove the pitot cover
- Click on the wheel chocks and they get placed in the storage compartment behind the pilot seat - open the compartment by releasing the latches and pulling up on the door and you will find the chocks relocated there, which when clicked on will be relocated to the wheels again
- Click on the oil level dipstick and it will unscrew and allow you to check the active level of the oil (you add oil from the in-cockpit tablet)
- Click on all of the cotter pins around the cowlings to remove the cowlings
- As shown earlier in this thread, there is a very interactive method to fuel the aircraft by hand, including removing the fuel cap, adding the funnel, raising the fuel can to the top of the engine cowling, and then manually pouring the fuel can to increase the amount of fuel (if you stop pouring the fuel at any time, the fuel level also stops increasing)
- After priming the engine (if needed), grab hold of the propeller to rotate it through several revolutions (usually six) to cycle the fuel and oil through the engine prior to start
- If the engine ends up flooded with fuel, you ensure the mag switch is off, open the throttle full, and turn the propeller backwards about ten times to clear it (as per reality)

 

[Twice43]

Version 1.1 Released

Just a heads-up to say that the product was updated to version 1.1 as of yesterday, and should be re-downloaded/re-installed if you had the original release version.

V1.1 updates include:

• Added mouse tooltips
• Switched to one click interactions on avionics
• Fixed missing inclinometer ball on clean liveries
• Fixed unable to turn prop after repair
• Added specifications to UI
• Fixed top door getting stuck in closed position
• Slight increase in rudder authority
• Added geometry around aileron cable in top of cockpit
• Fixed Radio not working in cold and dark flights
• Changed cursors on many interactions
• Fixed left wheel rotation stutter

I could dig around to figure it out but you appear to have your finger on the pulse - is the update available from Simmarket yet?
Is it an 'install update over original', or 'delete original first', deal?
Any idea how far away the Tundra & Float versions might be?
Thanks
T43

 

[Bomber_12th]

Twice43, I'm not sure if the update is available from Simmarket yet, though it very well should be. It was made available to vendors on Saturday, and I noticed it through Contrail the same day. When I installed it, it simply installed/overwrote the existing files from the previous installation.

There have been no updates that I've seen as to how soon the tundra tire and floats variants update will be released.

 

[Bomber_12th]

Lagaffe, I tried your flight dynamics modifications, but based on this video (note from 2:00 onward), your flight dynamics modifications make the adverse yaw much more extreme than it is in reality. Going back and checking the default product flight dynamics, they are an exact match, as far as I can tell, to the adverse yaw shown in this video.