Ended up picking up the Carenado C172 for FSX this past weekend. I absolutely love the A2A C172, but now that I'm actually using FSX as a training aide, the A2A is becoming a bit of a hindrance. Seeing as how the A2A is actually a 172R, which is fuel injected, the panel layout in the VC (specifically placement of instruments) is starting to cause me muscle-memory issues in the real-world C172M.
When I flew last Thursday morning, as the instructor reminded me to set RPM at 1,000 immediately after startup, I instinctively looked just down and to the right, which is where the A2A 172R's tachometer is located. I momentarily froze. "Where the hell is the tach?" I thought to myself. "Down and to the left," mentioned the instructor, as if he'd heard the question. Embarrassed, I explained the source of my confusion. On with the lesson, which went better than expected. But for a day or so, I wondered what I could to to remedy this problem.
Enter the Carenado plane. It's a model of a C172N, but the panel layout is identical to the one I'm training in, minus the newer radio stack with an older GPS, but I can make due. It's the placement of the gauges that I was more concerned about. And I also found a high-def black repaint of the VC panel that adds the final stroke of similarity.
I regret that I won't have time for another repaint for this one in the 34Q livery, as I've just spent what will probably be my last repaint session for a while finalizing some improvements to my A2A repaint. But I can't see the paint scheme from inside the plane anyway, for the most part, so I can live with this one for now. I'm more interested in the realism and memory aspect of it, which this plane delivers to me.
Now I just need to research how to change the radios to the Bendix-King set, but that's for another day.
When I flew last Thursday morning, as the instructor reminded me to set RPM at 1,000 immediately after startup, I instinctively looked just down and to the right, which is where the A2A 172R's tachometer is located. I momentarily froze. "Where the hell is the tach?" I thought to myself. "Down and to the left," mentioned the instructor, as if he'd heard the question. Embarrassed, I explained the source of my confusion. On with the lesson, which went better than expected. But for a day or so, I wondered what I could to to remedy this problem.
Enter the Carenado plane. It's a model of a C172N, but the panel layout is identical to the one I'm training in, minus the newer radio stack with an older GPS, but I can make due. It's the placement of the gauges that I was more concerned about. And I also found a high-def black repaint of the VC panel that adds the final stroke of similarity.
I regret that I won't have time for another repaint for this one in the 34Q livery, as I've just spent what will probably be my last repaint session for a while finalizing some improvements to my A2A repaint. But I can't see the paint scheme from inside the plane anyway, for the most part, so I can live with this one for now. I'm more interested in the realism and memory aspect of it, which this plane delivers to me.
Now I just need to research how to change the radios to the Bendix-King set, but that's for another day.
