Welcome again to another Carenado Review, today is the turn of the C182 designed by Carenado for FSX ( there is a FS2004 version by Carenado). You may now know that I do have a place on the Carenado website for my reviews and I aim to review all of the before the end of the year. Anyway enough about me on to the aircraft.
Background information
The Cessna 182 was introduced in 1956 as a tricycle gear variant of the 180. In 1957, the 182A variant was introduced along with the name Skylane. As production continued, later models were improved regularly with features such as a wider fuselage, swept vertical fin with rear "omni-vision" window, enlarged baggage compartment, higher gross weights, landing gear changes, etc. The "restart" aircraft built after 1996 were different in many other details including a different engine, new seating design, etc.
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Cessna cites the 1990s resumption in producing general aviation aircraft such as this model due to change in U.S. liability laws. In 2005, Cessna began offering the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit as an optional upgrade to the Skylane. Subsequently the glass cockpit became standard equipment.
First Impressions
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In this review I think I am going to start of with the virtual cockpit because I think that where most of you are going to be sitting if you buy this plane. So sitting in the left hand seat of the this C182 what can you see? You can see allot of dials, buttons and knobs to push. However on the whole a very basic cockpit not in simulation wise just that what it like on the real plane. It comes with all the standard analogue instruments that you would expect for basic VOR/NDB navigation. The instruments are of high quality and you can see them even zoomed all the way in in case you get caught in cloud. As it stands at the moment I am very impressed with the efforts that Carenado have put into this aircraft. The radio panel looks like something you would expect to see on something of the age that this aircraft is based, it is again like the C152 a very old basic radio Com's and ADF etc. However what shocked me in this add-on is the fact that underneath the radio panels you are offered the opportunity to use autopilot in your flights. Albeit a very basic one. It took me a while to get used to the autopilot because it only does high control via the ALT button but no vertical speed V/S - which means you get to control your rate of climb/decent. Also if you want to an IFR flight you have the option to use the NAV button so it can follow the GPS which is incorporated into the simulation. With regards to the other features in the cockpit you get to open the side window all the way to the open position and the door opens from the inside via a hot spot on the door. As mentioned in other reviews the seats are well modelled and not like many other sim's that just fuzz the seats out of like the Wilco Airbus shiny seats!! But not with this small little C182.
The virtual cockpit is very impressive and every aspect is though of in this ad don - the fact that I really like about this is that you get the option to do IFR flights like you can on the real aircraft.
The 2D Cockpit
sim's to operate different features of the plane that are available in the VC mode, there are several key commands that allow you to open them up in a different panel for example the trim, fuel etc.
This really sums up the 2D cockpit for this aircraft all of the features about the virtual cockpit do apply to that of the 2D panel also.
The External Model
This is my favourite part of the review. A good external model makes the purchase worthwhile in my opinion. And yet again Carenado have not disappointed, with the C182 being a 6 cylinder aircraft I would like just to quickly mention the sound pack that comes with the plane. I think that the sounds do lack a little bit of realism but not major that it affects the actual realism of the flight. The sound on full power sounds great as all 6 cylinders open in fury causing the nice roar somewhat like the spitfire. I am just a bit disappointed about the idle sounds of the aircraft, but like I said it doesn't affect the actual simulation. Now back onto the external model. On this review I am going to start at the front of the aircraft, the cowling and nose section looks amazing with the very attractive air inlets and the prop look fabulous, even when the engine is started it is very well simulated when cycling through from Idle to Full Power. Moving along towards the back of the fuselage the aircraft design very much differs from that of the C172 the C182 has a more pronounced rounded nose shape that leads onto the canopy and wing area. Like always the cockpit is fully viewable from the outside in, this time with moving body parts on your virtual pilot.
The Flight TestFor this flight test I decided to move away from the standard takeoff - landing. Instead I spent 2 hours traveling around the midlands on a x-country and set the aircraft in 4 different ways for landing. This included a flap less landing, 1 stage of flap (not really standard procedure), 2 stages of flap, and full flap. So what will this entail?
Coventry - Wellsbourne
Wellsbourne - Gloster
Gloster - Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton - Coventry.
As you can probably tell planning this route took quite a while to do on my charts. However for the Gloster - Wolverhampton leg I used the autopilot to test it's functionalities.
So like on the first impressions part of this review I am sitting in the left hand seat of the C182 ready to start my engine. Because it is a single engine piston it is key operated so mixture goes fully forward and crank the starter over until she sparks. So now I have to engine running I taxi to holding point A for 05 at Coventry ready for my X-Country flight ahead. Taxing onto the runway I advance to full throttle to let all 6 pistons loose and let me roar into the skies. Because this aircraft is a Cessna the take-off speed is generally low normally around 60-70 knots range so after applying small back pressure on my yoke we take-off at about 65knots and climb through at about 1200ft per minute to begin with at 70knots which i slackened of a slight be to allow the airspeed to increase for a more comfortable climb. The first leg was quick and over with in a blink of an eye whilst just playing around with the ever sensitive trim wheel. However, coming in to land on runway 18 at Wellsbourne seemed like a doddle and the aeroplane was very responsive in the slow flight mode as well as power off. Touchdown at Wellsbourne with no flaps seemed realistic as the aeroplane wanted to float on for longer than what seemed normal from my other flights. The touch and go was over with and I was off the Gloster. This is where I took advantage of the powerful engine and pushed her all out at cruise, cruising at about 120 -130 knots which was impressive. This leg I also took some time for a slight bit of stalling just to see how responsive she is in the stall, and like any other attempt on this the stall and recovery was as realistic as you would get. Anyway now for my 1 stage of flap landing at Gloster. The approach was fine and the landing was a bit on the hard side. But after doing a few 1 stage of flap landings in real life Pipers the extra drag on the approach allowed me to come in at the lower speed, allowing me make a touch and go in less that 400ft of the runway. Right so now to the interesting bit, The autopilot mode. After my climb out from Gloster I got to my cruise altitude of around 4000ft on the QNH. I set up the autopilot for NAV and ALT mode the most you can get out this plane. It is very accurate with executing this as it doesn't seem to chase the magenta line on the GPS like some of the other add-ons do that I have, and it holds the height very well even when I encountered some turbulence. Approaching now Wolverhampton after about 1.5 hours in the sky. I do a overhead join, for a left downwind following the same procedures as I would in the real plane. Dropping 2 stages of flap meant that I got quite a balloon of the aeroplane which was counter acted by forward pressure on the yoke ( but just goes to show how realistic this plane is). The landing at Gloster was more controlled that any of my others due to the 2nd stage of flap meaning an even lower speed on approach and more control over the speed. Flaps away and we take to the skies one last time this time back home to Coventry. The flight down to Coventry meant that I had to pass through some of Birmingham's busy airspace. The fact that the autopilot could also do a HDG control allowed me to take a radial from the BHX NDB and join the Coventry circuit via Birmingham. Finally I see myself lined up for a full stop landing on runway 05 at Coventry. Just before the runway (Just coming over the road if you have VFR scenery) I deploy the final stage of flap meaning that I could bring her in at 60 knots and still be flying! Landing was breeze with hardly any crosswinds to test the aircraft with.
So overall, I know I say this alot about Carenado aircraft but they are truly an amazing representation of the real aeroplane and responds in such a way that I would class it as quite a high class simulation for a low price.
As mentioned earlier this is available on the Carenado website for both FSX and FS2004 for the same price.
I would give this plane and overall rating of about 4/5.
What I like about this plane?
Nice to manually fly as well as having an IFR option
What could be better?
Would maybe nice to see an overhaul in the engine sounds and maybe HD textured like seen on new Carenado Aircraft but then again still amazing to use and FPS friendly!
Background information
The Cessna 182 was introduced in 1956 as a tricycle gear variant of the 180. In 1957, the 182A variant was introduced along with the name Skylane. As production continued, later models were improved regularly with features such as a wider fuselage, swept vertical fin with rear "omni-vision" window, enlarged baggage compartment, higher gross weights, landing gear changes, etc. The "restart" aircraft built after 1996 were different in many other details including a different engine, new seating design, etc.
Cessna cites the 1990s resumption in producing general aviation aircraft such as this model due to change in U.S. liability laws. In 2005, Cessna began offering the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit as an optional upgrade to the Skylane. Subsequently the glass cockpit became standard equipment.Installation
This is yet another Carenado purchase from the fspilotshop.com. So like all the other purchases that I have made with them fail to disappoint me. The download took less that I minute on my computer and bandwidth but the file is not very big meaning that even the low end systems wont struggle with it. The file comes a .zip file which is easily just extracted and placed into a normal folder. The installer came coupled with instructions made by Carenado themselves which is new addition for this aircraft although the installer is pretty much the same. After all the fspilotshop.com checks the Carenado installer runs, it runs with no bugs and get the job done quickly and efficiently with no need to keep typing in annoying product keys. At the end of the installer you get a message saying that it is successfully installed.
This is yet another Carenado purchase from the fspilotshop.com. So like all the other purchases that I have made with them fail to disappoint me. The download took less that I minute on my computer and bandwidth but the file is not very big meaning that even the low end systems wont struggle with it. The file comes a .zip file which is easily just extracted and placed into a normal folder. The installer came coupled with instructions made by Carenado themselves which is new addition for this aircraft although the installer is pretty much the same. After all the fspilotshop.com checks the Carenado installer runs, it runs with no bugs and get the job done quickly and efficiently with no need to keep typing in annoying product keys. At the end of the installer you get a message saying that it is successfully installed.
The moment of truth does this aircraft stand up to the quality of Carenado. Of course it does. You are automatically loaded into the VC or the 2D cockpit because this aircraft comes with both. On first inspection everything seems to look realistic and working along with a basic autopilot system which I will go into a bit of detail later on in this review. The exterior model is yet again an amazing representation of the real aircraft with what seems to be everything that can be simulated simulated, and the textures that it comes are high quality and no blurring or polygon's on the model. So my first impressions are over and I already cant wait to fly this aircraft.
Virtual Cockpit
In this review I think I am going to start of with the virtual cockpit because I think that where most of you are going to be sitting if you buy this plane. So sitting in the left hand seat of the this C182 what can you see? You can see allot of dials, buttons and knobs to push. However on the whole a very basic cockpit not in simulation wise just that what it like on the real plane. It comes with all the standard analogue instruments that you would expect for basic VOR/NDB navigation. The instruments are of high quality and you can see them even zoomed all the way in in case you get caught in cloud. As it stands at the moment I am very impressed with the efforts that Carenado have put into this aircraft. The radio panel looks like something you would expect to see on something of the age that this aircraft is based, it is again like the C152 a very old basic radio Com's and ADF etc. However what shocked me in this add-on is the fact that underneath the radio panels you are offered the opportunity to use autopilot in your flights. Albeit a very basic one. It took me a while to get used to the autopilot because it only does high control via the ALT button but no vertical speed V/S - which means you get to control your rate of climb/decent. Also if you want to an IFR flight you have the option to use the NAV button so it can follow the GPS which is incorporated into the simulation.The virtual cockpit is very impressive and every aspect is though of in this ad don - the fact that I really like about this is that you get the option to do IFR flights like you can on the real aircraft.
The 2D Cockpit
sim's to operate different features of the plane that are available in the VC mode, there are several key commands that allow you to open them up in a different panel for example the trim, fuel etc.
This really sums up the 2D cockpit for this aircraft all of the features about the virtual cockpit do apply to that of the 2D panel also.
The External Model
This is my favourite part of the review. A good external model makes the purchase worthwhile in my opinion. And yet again Carenado have not disappointed, with the C182 being a 6 cylinder aircraft I would like just to quickly mention the sound pack that comes with the plane. I think that the sounds do lack a little bit of realism but not major that it affects the actual realism of the flight. The sound on full power sounds great as all 6 cylinders open in fury causing the nice roar somewhat like the spitfire. I am just a bit disappointed about the idle sounds of the aircraft, but like I said it doesn't affect the actual simulation. Now back onto the external model. On this review I am going to start at the front of the aircraft, the cowling and nose section looks amazing with the very attractive air inlets and the prop look fabulous, even when the engine is started it is very well simulated when cycling through from Idle to Full Power. Moving along towards the back of the fuselage the aircraft design very much differs from that of the C172 the C182 has a more pronounced rounded nose shape that leads onto the canopy and wing area. Like always the cockpit is fully viewable from the outside in, this time with moving body parts on your virtual pilot.
The Flight TestFor this flight test I decided to move away from the standard takeoff - landing. Instead I spent 2 hours traveling around the midlands on a x-country and set the aircraft in 4 different ways for landing. This included a flap less landing, 1 stage of flap (not really standard procedure), 2 stages of flap, and full flap. So what will this entail?
Coventry - Wellsbourne
Wellsbourne - Gloster
Gloster - Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton - Coventry.
As you can probably tell planning this route took quite a while to do on my charts. However for the Gloster - Wolverhampton leg I used the autopilot to test it's functionalities.
So like on the first impressions part of this review I am sitting in the left hand seat of the C182 ready to start my engine. Because it is a single engine piston it is key operated so mixture goes fully forward and crank the starter over until she sparks. So now I have to engine running I taxi to holding point A for 05 at Coventry ready for my X-Country flight ahead. Taxing onto the runway I advance to full throttle to let all 6 pistons loose and let me roar into the skies. Because this aircraft is a Cessna the take-off speed is generally low normally around 60-70 knots range so after applying small back pressure on my yoke we take-off at about 65knots and climb through at about 1200ft per minute to begin with at 70knots which i slackened of a slight be to allow the airspeed to increase for a more comfortable climb. The first leg was quick and over with in a blink of an eye whilst just playing around with the ever sensitive trim wheel. However, coming in to land on runway 18 at Wellsbourne seemed like a doddle and the aeroplane was very responsive in the slow flight mode as well as power off. Touchdown at Wellsbourne with no flaps seemed realistic as the aeroplane wanted to float on for longer than what seemed normal from my other flights. The touch and go was over with and I was off the Gloster. This is where I took advantage of the powerful engine and pushed her all out at cruise, cruising at about 120 -130 knots which was impressive. This leg I also took some time for a slight bit of stalling just to see how responsive she is in the stall, and like any other attempt on this the stall and recovery was as realistic as you would get. Anyway now for my 1 stage of flap landing at Gloster. The approach was fine and the landing was a bit on the hard side. But after doing a few 1 stage of flap landings in real life Pipers the extra drag on the approach allowed me to come in at the lower speed, allowing me make a touch and go in less that 400ft of the runway. Right so now to the interesting bit, The autopilot mode. After my climb out from Gloster I got to my cruise altitude of around 4000ft on the QNH. I set up the autopilot for NAV and ALT mode the most you can get out this plane. It is very accurate with executing this as it doesn't seem to chase the magenta line on the GPS like some of the other add-ons do that I have, and it holds the height very well even when I encountered some turbulence. Approaching now Wolverhampton after about 1.5 hours in the sky. I do a overhead join, for a left downwind following the same procedures as I would in the real plane. Dropping 2 stages of flap meant that I got quite a balloon of the aeroplane which was counter acted by forward pressure on the yoke ( but just goes to show how realistic this plane is). The landing at Gloster was more controlled that any of my others due to the 2nd stage of flap meaning an even lower speed on approach and more control over the speed. Flaps away and we take to the skies one last time this time back home to Coventry. The flight down to Coventry meant that I had to pass through some of Birmingham's busy airspace. The fact that the autopilot could also do a HDG control allowed me to take a radial from the BHX NDB and join the Coventry circuit via Birmingham. Finally I see myself lined up for a full stop landing on runway 05 at Coventry. Just before the runway (Just coming over the road if you have VFR scenery) I deploy the final stage of flap meaning that I could bring her in at 60 knots and still be flying! Landing was breeze with hardly any crosswinds to test the aircraft with.
So overall, I know I say this alot about Carenado aircraft but they are truly an amazing representation of the real aeroplane and responds in such a way that I would class it as quite a high class simulation for a low price.
As mentioned earlier this is available on the Carenado website for both FSX and FS2004 for the same price.
I would give this plane and overall rating of about 4/5.
What I like about this plane?
Nice to manually fly as well as having an IFR option
What could be better?
Would maybe nice to see an overhaul in the engine sounds and maybe HD textured like seen on new Carenado Aircraft but then again still amazing to use and FPS friendly!
Great... I'll buy the fs9 version, i hate the default cessna that come with the game. Good review.
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