Simworks Studios Van's RV-8 released

[RobM]

Van's RV-8

Packed with features and multiple variants, the SWS Van's RV-8 is is the kit aircraft you want to have in Microsoft Flight Simulator! Just fly around or aerobatics? Glass cockpit or steam gauges? Taildragger or tricycle? The SWS RV-8 is an all-in-one rendition of the iconic kit airplane, created...

simworksstudios.com

14.99 EUR, only at SWS's store for the moment.

 

[RobM]

Now up at the Marketplace.

 

[Bomber_12th]

This has been, for me, one of the most highly-anticipated releases of the year, and its been very well worth the wait! I think this could easily be my new favorite aircraft in MSFS. I don't know what I like more, the visuals, the flight dynamics, or the sounds, they're all brilliant. The textures are so highly detailed to the point that you can't appreciate it all until you move the camera down to the surface level of the aircraft. The flight dynamics feel very unique, very much like an A2A Accusim aircraft - the feel in flight is very stable, with responsive controls but that are not twitchy in the least - I have however yet to experience the full flight envelope, but which I'm sure is spot on for how much Vans was consulted/worked with SWS to make sure it was accurate. When you move the aircraft around in the sky, it feels like it has mass, but you can also really throw it around too. The engine dynamics work correctly - lower the RPM, and the manifold pressure increases, and vice-versa. The sounds are absolutely phenomenal, inside and out, and could very well be my new favorite MSFS sound set too. One of my favorite experiences with the aircraft thus-far was just taxiing around and performing an engine run-up on the ground with the canopy open - the dynamic wind noise off the prop is I think the most realistic I've ever heard captured/reproduced in flight sim. Listening with headphones, I'm sure I could easily do some damage to my ears, but it sounds wonderful. Every aspect of this product is finely crafted, and I expected it would be for how closely SWS worked with Vans to get everything tuned and tweaked just right. A very detailed user manual too.

I'll try not to bombard this thread with screenshots, but here are a few:

 

[jmig]

I too, have been looking forward to this release. I bought it this morning, but haven't been able to fly it yet. Looking forward to climbing into the cockpit.

Now, if Alex and company would just get the much delayed PC12 update out.

 

[rvn817j]

I'm looking forward to trying this. There are a few things I see in the pictures that are kind of unusual for an RV-8, but overall it looks pretty nice.

 

[ryanbatc]

I'm looking forward to trying this. There are a few things I see in the pictures that are kind of unusual for an RV-8, but overall it looks pretty nice.

Out of curiosity what are those things? I've never flown an RV8 but man what a hot machine!

It's a very nice addon by SWS - low cost with a lot of nice features

 

[rvn817j]

I'm not trying to cast any shade on the work done by SWS as each RV-8 is a custom aircraft (built by a different person, using different tools and a different shop). Also, I did not do a "rivet count". Overall, the model looks great and I bought it last evening.

The few things I noticed are: (1) tail wheel tapered, tubular spring is slightly curved (all that I have seen are straight and that is the way it ships from Vans Aircraft), (2) Tie down ring on bottom of empennage (never seen one on an RV-8 and I just tie the tail wheel), (3) Sheet metal lines around / near front of canopy and cowling appear unrealistic (e.g., in the RV-8 plans the baggage door in front of the canopy is a curved rectangle, each corner 90 degrees, and that is not what is shown on the model). (RV-8s have a removal tie down ring under each wing, so the tie down rings do not interfere with aerodynamics of the plane.)

In my RV-8, I use MPH, some others us KTS, so my max flap speed is 100. I think, but did not confirm, the model uses KTS as the white line on the speed tape starts around 96 KTS. I flew several circuits around KLVN last evening and "felt" like the model required more power than I normally use in the pattern (maybe due to the extra tie down ring (lol)). In the pattern I need to reduce power to 1100 rpm to slow down to less than 100 mph, deploy flaps and add power to about 1700 rpm (granted, I have a fixed pitch prop, but should not be significantly different). I rarely have to go above 2000 rpm on final (unless I really screwed the pooch or there is a strong wind down the runway).

I have not done any aerobatics yet, so no opinion on how the aircraft handles in that regime. With a few tweaks, this aircraft will be great.

Edit: I was flying the GX3 equipped aircraft. Looking at photos of the steam gauge equipped aircraft I see that the airspeed white arch is also not representative of real aircraft speeds.

 

[ryanbatc]

I'm not trying to cast any shade on the work done by SWS as each RV-8 is a custom aircraft (built by a different person, using different tools and a different shop). Also, I did not do a "rivet count". Overall, the model looks great and I bought it last evening.

The few things I noticed are: (1) tail wheel tapered, tubular spring is slightly curved (all that I have seen are straight and that is the way it ships from Vans Aircraft), (2) Tie down ring on bottom of empennage (never seen one on an RV-8 and I just tie the tail wheel), (3) Sheet metal lines around / near front of canopy and cowling appear unrealistic (e.g., in the RV-8 plans the baggage door in front of the canopy is a curved rectangle, each corner 90 degrees, and that is not what is shown on the model). (RV-8s have a removal tie down ring under each wing, so the tie down rings do not interfere with aerodynamics of the plane.)

In my RV-8, I use MPH, some others us KTS, so my max flap speed is 100. I think, but did not confirm, the model uses KTS as the white line on the speed tape starts around 96 KTS. I flew several circuits around KLVN last evening and "felt" like the model required more power than I normally use in the pattern (maybe due to the extra tie down ring (lol)). In the pattern I need to reduce power to 1100 rpm to slow down to less than 100 mph, deploy flaps and add power to about 1700 rpm (granted, I have a fixed pitch prop, but should not be significantly different). I rarely have to go above 2000 rpm on final (unless I really screwed the pooch or there is a strong wind down the runway).

I have not done any aerobatics yet, so no opinion on how the aircraft handles in that regime. With a few tweaks, this aircraft will be great.

Edit: I was flying the GX3 equipped aircraft. Looking at photos of the steam gauge equipped aircraft I see that the airspeed white arch is also not representative of real aircraft speeds.

Mostly things a non RV8 flyer would never notice hehe...

As far as the speeds - another RV8 flyer with a similar G3X equipped aircraft was helping test with them so perhaps his RV8 is a little different?

Off topic were you flying last night by chance, probably a little before sunset? I had a soccer game with my kids near flint hills refinery and I saw an RV8 fly over a few times.

 

[jmig]

I just flew the RV-8. Wow! What a nice airplane. I did have a couple of problems. One, the G3X would never come on. I had the battery and both Avionics switches on. So, I just switched to the analog version. With it, I had an ILS freq. dialed in the TDN 750 but the HSI had flags and never picked up the LOC or GS. I did have the AP switch off, as I was hand flying.

I am not worried, I will figure them out. If anybody likes this airplane but is on the fence. Buy it! It is cheap and a delight to fly. A plus, in my book at least, it is fast. I was easily doing 180 kts.

 

[rvn817j]

Just to be clear, it was not speeds I was talking about, it was white archs / lines on air speed indicators AND power settings on approach and final (and those other appearance issues).

My RV-8 is similar in color to my avatar. No I was not flying, but I prefer evenings for pattern work.

 

[jmig]

Just to be clear, it was not speeds I was talking about, it was white archs / lines on air speed indicators AND power settings on approach and final (and those other appearance issues).

My RV-8 is similar in color to my avatar. No I was not flying, but I prefer evenings for pattern work.

Jay, What are the recommended speeds and power settings? The manual doesn't cover them. At least, I didn't see anything.

 

[rvn817j]

John - One of the interesting things I have discovered after building my RV-8 (over 20 years ago,S/N 80017)...real builder, owner, operators share their experience and information. One of my favorite sites is vansairforce.net. All things Vans aircraft (and more). The reason I say this is because there is tons of information about the RV-8 available on-line. There are several different RV-8 pilot operating handbooks (POH) available by doing a google search. You will find some small variation in speeds and other operating procedures from one aircraft to another due to build differences and installed equipment. (The Van's Aircraft website also has some really good information.)

So, advertised stall speed is 58 mph and Vne is 220 mph. Flap extension speed is 100 mph or less. On the MSFS model I note there are 3 flap position. On my aircraft I have any number of positions from fully extended to fully retracted, but I use one half and full (unless very strong wind down the runway for which I might not use flaps). I've found on the MSFS model that full flaps essentially adds drag, so only use if high on final.

For my aircraft I slow below 100 mph on downwind, extend one half flaps (trim to relieve back stick pressure), slow to 85 near end of downwind (trim to relieve back stick pressure), turn final and fully extend flaps, continue to slow to 75 near the fence (continue to trim), slowly reduce power so as not to settle too fast, wheel land at a little under 70 and fully back on power, come back gently on stick while tail wheel gently settles, once tail settles hold stick to gut...gently brake (unless more needed). All the time dancing on the rudder pedals and using aileron inputs as needed.

I've found this MSFS model requires rudder pedals (and mine are at my other place).

With regard to power...in MSFS just use what you need to maintain the appropriate speeds / altitudes. I stated earlier that I think this MSFS model requires more power than I would normally use in an approach in my RV-8.

Hope this helps. John, if I give you too much information you may just go out and get a RW RV-8!

 

[jmig]

John - One of the interesting things I have discovered after building my RV-8 (over 20 years ago,S/N 80017)...real builder, owner, operators share their experience and information. One of my favorite sites is vansairforce.net. All things Vans aircraft (and more). The reason I say this is because there is tons of information about the RV-8 available on-line. There are several different RV-8 pilot operating handbooks (POH) available by doing a google search. You will find some small variation in speeds and other operating procedures from one aircraft to another due to build differences and installed equipment. (The Van's Aircraft website also has some really good information.)

So, advertised stall speed is 58 mph and Vne is 220 mph. Flap extension speed is 100 mph or less. On the MSFS model I note there are 3 flap position. On my aircraft I have any number of positions from fully extended to fully retracted, but I use one half and full (unless very strong wind down the runway for which I might not use flaps). I've found on the MSFS model that full flaps essentially adds drag, so only use if high on final.

For my aircraft I slow below 100 mph on downwind, extend one half flaps (trim to relieve back stick pressure), slow to 85 near end of downwind (trim to relieve back stick pressure), turn final and fully extend flaps, continue to slow to 75 near the fence (continue to trim), slowly reduce power so as not to settle too fast, wheel land at a little under 70 and fully back on power, come back gently on stick while tail wheel gently settles, once tail settles hold stick to gut...gently brake (unless more needed). All the time dancing on the rudder pedals and using aileron inputs as needed.

I've found this MSFS model requires rudder pedals (and mine are at my other place).

With regard to power...in MSFS just use what you need to maintain the appropriate speeds / altitudes. I stated earlier that I think this MSFS model requires more power than I would normally use in an approach in my RV-8.

Hope this helps. John, if I give you too much information you may just go out and get a RW RV-8!

Thank you Jay. This is helpful, especially the heads up on the RV sites. I will try and find a POH to read over.

As to buying a real RV, my airraft buying days are over. The FAA seems to think that having five heart stents, a pacemaker, and being diabetic makes me unsafe to fly. I went around the merry-go-round with the FAA on this. My last time at the controls of a real airplane was last year in Alaska. My host took my wife and me up in his C-206. I got to fly it for about 45 minutes though the beautiful Lake Clark National Park mountains.

 

[rvn817j]

John - With your experience "unsafe" is surely "untrue". I'm close to the cross road of switching from Class III to BasicMed. I'm looking at one more Class III next year and then go to BasicMed....gets me to about 76. After that I'll ground myself to solo flight and only fly with an instructor. (JFK Jr. should have been flying with an instructor so it's not only an old guy thing!)

A guy name Kevin Horton has a very good RV-8 POH available on-line (I just down loaded it). He is a test pilot in the RW, so his POH is full of great information.

 

[Wing_Z]

Nice model, seems to be an issue with Airshow Assistant?
You can insert wingmen, only as long as they are the same aircraft as the one you are flying!
Bit of a disappointment, given its freeware little brother does not have this problem.

 

[jmig]

John - With your experience "unsafe" is surely "untrue". I'm close to the cross road of switching from Class III to BasicMed. I'm looking at one more Class III next year and then go to BasicMed....gets me to about 76. After that I'll ground myself to solo flight and only fly with an instructor. (JFK Jr. should have been flying with an instructor so it's not only an old guy thing!)

A guy name Kevin Horton has a very good RV-8 POH available on-line (I just down loaded it). He is a test pilot in the RW, so his POH is full of great information.

By "unsafe" I mean that the FAA is afraid that I will have an heart attack and crash on someone's house. I downloaded his POH. Good information, especially the Normal Operations & Performance sections.

 

[Tim-HH]

I've uploaded another livery for the RV-8

Download: flightsim.to

 

[Mathias]

...The textures are so highly detailed to the point that you can't appreciate it all until you move the camera down to the surface level of the aircraft.

This made me nosy and I zoomed all the way in into your screnshots. There's indeed a load of micro details added to the surfaces, very nice!
Say John, just out of curiosity, have you figured out if all those tiny scratches are baked into the main textures or do they use an overlayed tiled detail texture?

 

[jmig]

I really am enjoying this model. It is my new sight-seeing airplane. It is a lot of fun to fly. I am using the analog tail dragger version with TimHH's blue and yellow paint scheme. The only thing I wish they had is a G-meter. It seems rather strange that you would have a fully acrobatic airplane and no G-meter. I know it has an AOA gauge. I use it for acro, but I am so use to looking at the G-meter when pulling to a loop.

The other strange thing, to me, is the airspeed indicator is in mph rather than knots. While it does have a knots ring on the inside, I would have thought that nobody still uses a mph ASI, other than pre WWII era aircraft.

 

[rvn817j]

John - Many RV builders in the U.S. go with MPH. Van's Aircraft website lists specs in MPH. (Approximately 11,250 Van's aircraft completed..all since WWII.) Swimming against the current?

I agree that missing a G meter is an issue.