The Cherokee is "Special"

[kevinsue]

I have quite a number of A2A aircraft and many others from various publishers but I have to say that the Cherokee 180 is my all time favourite flight sim aircraft. I have been simming and involved in real world aviation since 1978 and in all that time, things on the computer are just that...a poor simile of the real thing. But for some reason, the little Cherokee 180 seems to have a life and personality of its own. I have been involved in many flight simulations over the years including Falcon 4, DCS,FSX, and all the versions of P3D but for some weird reason, the little Cherokee seems to come to life and become more than just a PC simulation. I don't know why but the Cherokee seems to transcend the "digital" realm and become a "real" entity. I have flown the real versions of these aircraft and nothing I have experienced in a simulation has come close except for the C182 and the Cherokee to make it feel like the real thing on a PC. Just waiting for the glitches to be ironed out to try flying with VR Occulus Rift or maybe just drive down the road and do it again for real.

[Nick - A2A]

Isn't she just Kev! I've been fiddling around with P3D PTA settings a bit and grabbing a few screenshots to try and get the balance of shadow and sunlight just so. I still can't get over how three-dimensional the cockpit can feel. It must be wonderful when experienced in a VR environment.

Nowadays I probably spend more time flying the Comanche which is an equal work of art in rendering terms, but it was the Cherokee which hooked me back into the hobby...



Cheers,
Nick

[n454mw]

Nick, all I can say is WOW! I would certainly be interested in your PTA settings when you get finished tweaking them. That looks fantastic!
Mark

[DHenriques_]

I have quite a number of A2A aircraft and many others from various publishers but I have to say that the Cherokee 180 is my all time favourite flight sim aircraft. I have been simming and involved in real world aviation since 1978 and in all that time, things on the computer are just that...a poor simile of the real thing. But for some reason, the little Cherokee 180 seems to have a life and personality of its own. I have been involved in many flight simulations over the years including Falcon 4, DCS,FSX, and all the versions of P3D but for some weird reason, the little Cherokee seems to come to life and become more than just a PC simulation. I don't know why but the Cherokee seems to transcend the "digital" realm and become a "real" entity. I have flown the real versions of these aircraft and nothing I have experienced in a simulation has come close except for the C182 and the Cherokee to make it feel like the real thing on a PC. Just waiting for the glitches to be ironed out to try flying with VR Occulus Rift or maybe just drive down the road and do it again for real.

Scott and I have talked about this very thing on end. Both of us agree that there is "something" about the Cherokee that sets it apart from anything we have ever done. The plane as rendered by our artists is somehow "different". The interior draws you in and sits you down in a scenario you find extremely difficult to believe isn't real.
The first time Scott sent me the images of the cockpit during our development stage I laughed and actually suggested that he had sent me an actual photograph of a real 180. It wasn't. It was absolutely superb work and craftsmanship by our A2A development team. From the very first moment I brought it up on the monitor I felt I was actually IN the aircraft.
I had given many hours of duel in the aircraft and knew it quite well having flown it from both sides of the pit.
When we got the sound suite all of us at A2A knew this plane was something "special", and time I believe has proven us right.
Even today, after we've released more airplanes and improved the Accusim program, the 180 remains so special I keep it constantly on the system and enjoy flying it.
The proof about the plane for me is the reaction of pilots who visit my wife and me, many are instructors, some actually the finest instructors in the United States. When I show them our A2A planes and they ask to try them they all marvel at the Cherokee and enjoy flying it as we shoot the breeze about the days when all of us taught students to fly this airplane.
Yes, our A2A 180 Cherokee is something unique in flight simulation. It has "personality", and I believe will always remain a corner stone in our history as a company.
Dudley Henriques

[AKar]

I agree completely - there is something in Cherokee that takes it that one step above the other A2A products in immersion factor. I think it has to do with that depth the cockpit has in it, it just looks so real especially with cockpit shadows enabled, and you can easily almost feel the movements of the airplane from how the shadows dance over the panel.

Just about the only thing I'd think A2A's modeling and texturing would benefit from, would be an at least optional used feel; now the cockpits feel fairly sterile, and lack that crunchy feel of 50 year old lining, plates and plastic with newer stuff bolted on and in between. That would in particular benefit the airplanes that have inherently flatter cockpits than the Cherokee we all love!


Oh...also the exterior model is just great! An old one from P3Dv2 days I think.



-Esa

[rictus]

The cherry is now the only plane I have installed on P3D... Beyond being my favourite aircraft I've had the privilege to fly in real life, the A2A Cherokee is just alive, smooth and joyous to fly. Predictable, stable, but never boring!

[Nick - A2A]

Nick, all I can say is WOW! I would certainly be interested in your PTA settings when you get finished tweaking them. That looks fantastic!

Thanks Mark, but my current PTA presets are almost entirely the work of 'Pe11e' as posted here. I've just been experimenting with them a bit, as P3D with HDR active tends to give white paint schemes an excessive level of 'glare' in my opinion, washing out all the detail. (Not just with the PTA presets I mean, but in general).

Looking back over some old FSX screenshots of the beautiful exterior whilst rearranging my Dropbox stuff really brought this home.

Cheers,
Nick

[Mithras]

I agree. Its my favourite, I've only had some right seat time in the Archer II and realy miss the Archer yoke and the throttle quadrant. But, yes, the most flown plane on my system.

[Kilstorm]

Just waiting for the glitches to be ironed out to try flying with VR Occulus Rift or maybe just drive down the road and do it again for real.

Not sure what glitches that you are referring to that need to be ironed out. I fly with the Oculus Rift in P3Dv3.4 and the Cherokee has become my favorite A2A GA plane to fly in VR. As far as driving down the road and doing it for real goes, flying this plane on PilotEdge in VR is about as close as you can get.

[pilottj]

After all these years it has been out, the Cherokee is still my favorite plane to practice instrument approaches in. Such a little gem to fly. It really is quite satisfying to fly down to minimums, popping out under the deck, then landing. Even more fun to do it the 'old school' way without GPS, or at least have the GPS turned to some useless page. If you ever want to master the basics old school IFR flying, nothing better than the A2A Cherokee IMHO. It is stable, and slow enough so you can really think about what is going on.

Cheers
TJ

[wingnut116]

This aircraft is a magnificent model. I remember the first time I ever downloaded a freeware version of the cherokee, it was around the same time I was training for my PPL in real life in 2007. I wanted to simulate what I had learned from training and there were certain things that fsx wouldn't allow me to do, like mainly a slip. When A2A released the Cherokee, my flight training days came rushing back to me 8 years later and I remembered almost every word my flight instructor told me back then.
The Cherokee immerses you in a very real environment to the point I almost expected to see my flight instructor sitting in the chair next to me. You guys have done it again and I'm so excited for what aircraft you magically create and release in the future. Thank you for taking the time to not just give us all another addon aircraft, but to give us a living machine that has it's own personality. Also, thanks for being one of the first and best developers in creating a maintenance hangar. I'm an aircraft mechanic by trade and that's the one thing I wondered why no one had done, because maintenance is just as important as flying the aircraft. So thank you again for being... well... awesome and going above and beyond, and setting a new benchmark of desk chair aviation.

Keep up the good work!

[dscott3984]

Nice to see another A&P here flying the Cherokee. I echo all the great comments here and love flying this bird when I'm not flying my own Cherokee 180

[Scott - A2A]

Capturing the engine sounds and then reproducing them in a sim always has unpredictable elements. All engines sound different, some have strange sounds / rattles, harmonics, etc. Then once you have the source, we then have to run it through a bunch of stuff to prepare it. But getting the best possible original source brings a magic, and this forms the base of the sound project.

On the Cherokee, I moved into position to record the engine, and the moment it started I said to the person next to me "OMG, this engine sounds so nice..." It had this throaty rich sound that was as good as it gets with any engine, car or airplane. And then working with this source, as a sound engineer, was a pleasure.

The other aspect from my point of view was the flight testing. This was right after we finished the 172, and there was a lot of energy to properly compare the Cherokee to the 172. And I was really enjoying testing that little Hersheybar wonder. Landing and experiencing how that little elevator could give up if you get too slow on your flare, was just so much fun (and so different to the 172). Most people look at a Cherokee and 172 and think "they fly pretty much the same," but they don't understand how different they are. And I think most of our GA community that flies both, can speak more intelligently than most pilots in regards to how these planes compare.

I've always had a soft spot for the real Hersheybar Cherokee 180. I also know Rob was very into making this interior. He loved the colors and all the different materials. And Michal really worked hard on the key shapes of the airplane, mostly around that nose and cowling.

Scott.

[dscott3984]

The other aspect from my point of view was the flight testing. This was right after we finished the 172, and there was a lot of energy to properly compare the Cherokee to the 172. And I was really enjoying testing that little Hersheybar wonder. Landing and experiencing how that little elevator could give up if you get too slow on your flare, was just so much fun (and so different to the 172). Most people look at a Cherokee and 172 and think "they fly pretty much the same," but they don't understand how different they are. And I think most of our GA community that flies both, can speak more intelligently than most pilots in regards to how these planes compare.

Scott.

The newer taper wing and wider stabilator airframes from Piper like the Warriors/Archers have more of the float and pitch effectiveness of the 172s. These Hershey bar old school cherokees are much different to fly and I have seen many people try to drive the struts out of the top of the wings with getting too slow and running out of elevator. Or even worse, nose first landing when that sucker gives the sudden pitch down to say "nope too slow son"

For me personally, I love the control of a short wing piper. If I'm a little high on final, pull the power and she will sink like a brick. With the 172s, power is at idle abeam the threshold and if you are high turning final and already have flaps in you can't slip them so you are SOL and going around.

[Scott - A2A]

If I'm a little high on final, pull the power and she will sink like a brick. With the 172s, power is at idle abeam the threshold and if you are high turning final and already have flaps in you can't slip them so you are SOL and going around.

Agreed and great point. The Hershey bar can really come down fast whereas the tapered Cherokee, if you are too high / fast, no amount of slipping will get you down in time. This is such a huge feature. On the other hand, if you like to cruise at high alt (12,000 ft), the bigger wing will move you about 6kts faster. Low altitude, the opposite. The cross over point where these two wings are equal is about 6,000 ft.

Scott.