Thinking about the Dash 7

[Tom Clayton]

I've taken a look at the manual that's available on the Pilot's website, and I like what I see. I'm normally not a passenger pilot (boxes don't scream), but I'm really starting to get interested in this one again. If anyone here owns it, can you tell me if the external registration is baked into the textures or dynamic?

 

[Killbilly]

Relatively negative reviews kept me away from this plane, but that was shortly after release. To piggyback off of Mr. Clayton's question, for those who own this, how much has it improved since initial release?

 

[Aircanuck]

Bit of a rare bear this one, updates have been few but for the most part she's a keeper. Only concern I can pass along is if you move the throttles forward a touch while on the apron then back to idle the a/c has a habit of creeping backwards , as if you've put things in reverse pitch which isn't the case, again the throttles are at idle ?? This scenario appeared after the last update. Not able to help with your registration query I'm afraid.

Regards

 

[Killbilly]

I've taken a look at the manual that's available on the Pilot's website, and I like what I see. I'm normally not a passenger pilot (boxes don't scream), but I'm really starting to get interested in this one again. If anyone here owns it, can you tell me if the external registration is baked into the textures or dynamic?

Well, I took the plunge. It's a pretty nice aircraft, and most of the negative things reviewers initially noticed (including the huge FPS drops) have been resolved (as far as I can tell from a few flights). The interior textures leave a bit to be desired, but they're not so bad that I don't enjoy being in the cockpit. One annoyance is the altitude selection knob rotates the opposite way from the normal mouse logic, but I can get used to it.

Tom, I'm sorry to report that there is no dynamic registration. However, the textures are pretty straight-forward, and a quick pop into Photopea (or similar editor) should be all that's needed to adjust them to your liking. I was able to adjust some textures into my custom paint in less than an hour. Some registration edits should take just minutes.

 

[Tom Clayton]

Thanks! I may go ahead and pick it up from Orbx tonight when I get home - if my brain isn't too tired from dealing with an onslaught of printer tickets...

 

[Tom Clayton]

Well... I bought it. And I'm not unhappy about it. I get my copilot in the cockpit with me so I'm not completely alone, even though my pretend passengers are ghosts. I still wish they'd make a cargo variant....

After watching one of the videos online, I was concerned about the function of the single lever prop/condition controls, but to my surprise, they function perfectly with the mix/condition axis on my controller. The only caveat is that you have to use your controller to put the levers in the first notch (Feather/Fuel Flow) first, then manually mouse each lever back to cutoff before starting the engines. You can start the engines with the axis all the way back, but after you start all four engines, the instant you move the axis, the levers drop back to cutoff and you kill the engines. But it's no big deal to me - I do the same thing with all my twin t-props already.

I did enough of a flight to get a feel for the takeoff roll and partially test the AP. I may need a little more practice getting the hang of the vertical speed, but it captures the altitude once there and flies a VOR beam quite nicely.

I may open up the Pan Am paint and make it a "former" airliner pressed into use for my own imaginary flight service company. I'll get back to you on that one...

For less money than I spend for a steak dinner, I'd say it was worth it. I'm just glad I waited for all the fixes to be implemented.