Aerosoft Diamond Katana 4X released!

[Akatsuki]

DA20-100 Katana is released!

http://en.shop.aerosoft.com/eshop.php?action=article_detail&s_supplier_aid=11388&s_design=DEFAULT&shopfilter_category=Flight%20Simulation&s_language=english

[ryanbatc]

$34!!!!

That's a steal!!!!

I'm at work I think I will end up buying it -even though I wrote in the other thread it was too slow LOL

[Akatsuki]

I'm a bit surprised about the price, but in a good way, i was expecting it to be higher. :jump:

[Alan_A]

I'm a bit surprised about the price, but in a good way, i was expecting it to be higher. :jump:

Same here. Surprised that it seems to be a bargain.

Heading off to download now.

[vampire163]

Even more of a bargain if you had the previous version - 14.95 Euro with the discount!!!

That's a steal... downloading now. :salute:

[Kiwikat]

Just got home, just got downloading!

I know what I'll be doing once I finish my homework! :jump:

[ryanbatc]

Dang. Getting a CTD while loading the plane from default C172.

Off to the support forum!

edit: I fixed it... there was a stray gauge definition in the panel.cfg that called for the RXP GNS530W - I only have the 430 so I commented out that line and it works.

If you have the same problem do a search (find) in the cfg for "RXP"

Simply comment out that line with two // (slashes) and you're good to go

//gauge47=rxpGNS!GNS530, 1245, 1140, 790, 570


http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r43/ryanbatc/1-8.jpg

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r43/ryanbatc/2-5.jpg

[Kiwikat]

This plane sure has a lot of things going on with it. I'm definitely going to have to read the manuals...

Nice model, flight model, sounds, systems, and FPS. Gets a thumbs up from me! :wavey:

[stiz]

how is it on frames??

[Kiwikat]

how is it on frames??

I was getting 35 (locked @ 35) solid over FTX Darrington and Concrete. Pretty darn good in my book! :jump:

[ryanbatc]

how is it on frames??

I notice a bit of a hit... it's on par with Carenado's latest offerings... so I lose about 20% fps vs default c172.

Still not too shabby!

I already broke my engine, ran it out of oil (yes, oil, not gas lol) - its taking 5+ minutes to fix - this plane is nuts!

[Alan_A]

Only had time for a brief flight (after a lot of time figuring out how to do the walk-around). It's extraordinary. The maintenance routine is great, but it's also worth noting how well it flies. It comes across as a very light airplane (landing in a 17-knot, 90-degree crosswind was interesting) but at the same time it's remarkably stable. It holds trim well, it holds altitude well, and it doesn't have any of that twitchiness you associate with bad FSX flight modeling. Sounds and atmosphere are top-notch. Superb frame rates. I had high expectations and they've been met or exceeded - looks to be one of the great FS airplanes.

[CodyValkyrie]

The gentlemen who produced this aircraft is known as Marcel Felde. He is also highly associated (being the main developer if I recall correctly) with the original Katana and the DO-27 that was produced through Digital Aviation. He produces excellent work.

(PS, I'm working on the video)

[Gdavis101]

I had no issues with frame rates, love this plane!

[dvj]

I have been flying this aircraft for about 2 hours, doing touch and go's out of Dillingham. This sim sets a new bar in flight sim realism. Running about 40 FPS around Hawaii X. The walkaround feature is totally unexpected.

Big splats on the canopy!

I am very impressed with the direction that freeware and payware developer's are going these days. More, more, I want more. My highest rating on this one. :salute::salute::salute::salute::salute:

[dvj]

I had no issues with frame rates, love this plane!


That's "Bug splats". Don't want you guy's to get the wrong idea.

[snowbird552]

Incredible plane, handles just like the real one. One gripe though, none of my saitek panels work with it, and trying to change freq's with the mouse is a pain with track ir.

[IanHenry]

I got the Katana for £13 because of the discount scheme, and I have to say, it’s probably the best £13 I’ve spent on a Flight sim product, I’m loving it!
Absolutely fabulous flying it over Earth Simulations Shawbury Fields package, I think this is about as real as FSX can get.
I’ve only flown it briefly, and I’m finding it a real learning experience.
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[ryanbatc]

Incredible plane, handles just like the real one. One gripe though, none of my saitek panels work with it, and trying to change freq's with the mouse is a pain with track ir.

You can use the configure it to use default xml key commands... window shift+3 opens that stuff.

I also use TIR - the mouse clickspots are waaay to small for the radio inner knobs and GPS. You can also disable the shuttering from the config panel.

[snowbird552]

You can use the configure it to use default xml key commands... window shift+3 opens that stuff.

I also use TIR - the mouse clickspots are waaay to small for the radio inner knobs and GPS. You can also disable the shuttering from the config panel.

Think I got them all working now. Thanks!

[mfitch]

This plane is fun now that I have figured out all the panels. My initial training was in a DA20-C1. I found the stall horn sound in Aerosoft's model brought back memories. The handling seemed similar (recognizing the difference in engine and the constant speed prop). This will fill a goodly number of hours until they release their C1 version.

[skyhawka4m]

Here's hoping we'll see more "N" numbers.

[Felixthreeone]

I would like to see a C-1. Sentimental reasons.

[SADT]

A plane like this must be good if you get better frame rates than the default aircraft, with much, much higher systems fidelity! I seriously am getting better frame rates than the default - with no stutters either - another feature of my default flights! :wiggle:

Great work Marcel :salute: :applause:

[Barfly]

This is an amazing little airplane, a nice break from the usual fast mover stuff. Very, very realistic feel, just a joy to fly!

[mfitch]

I would like to see a C-1. Sentimental reasons.

They are working on it for later release.

Today enroute to Anacortes the Katana had engine failure. I was close enough to achieve a safe landing. Afterwards the service menu did not show any failures. I'm not sure what it was modelling, but it was actually fun. I would hate to have it happen in reality, but this was fun.

[Vitus]

They are working on it for later release.

Today enroute to Anacortes the Katana had engine failure. I was close enough to achieve a safe landing. Afterwards the service menu did not show any failures. I'm not sure what it was modelling, but it was actually fun. I would hate to have it happen in reality, but this was fun.

Carburetor icing maybe? I once caught on ice during decent. I didn't notice it until it was too late and crashed a few miles before the runway....

[mfitch]

Carburetor icing maybe? I once caught on ice during decent. I didn't notice it until it was too late and crashed a few miles before the runway....

Actually that was my guess. My German wasn't good enough to identify "carb heat" without later checking the manual. I came through rain indicating lower temperatures.

[Vitus]

Actually that was my guess. My German wasn't good enough to identify "carb heat" without later checking the manual. I came through rain indicating lower temperatures.

In that case just pull all the levers and you can't miss it. :icon_lol:

[flyingip]

I immediately found a bug on the center console of the airplane, but then was brave enough to fix it myself :salute:

Can you find this rather annoying bug?

[FlameOut]

Ha Ha :applause:

[spotlope]

Actually that was my guess. My German wasn't good enough to identify "carb heat" without later checking the manual. I came through rain indicating lower temperatures.

A life-saving tip for you: fly the N-reg version - the cockpit is labeled in English in that one. :salute:

[flyingip]

A life-saving tip for you: fly the N-reg version - the cockpit is labeled in English in that one. :salute:

I found out that won't work either! During run up, try pulling cabin heat and Carb heat. You'll notice a RPM drop with the Cabin heat knob, and not with the Carb heat one .. Pointing your mouse over the Cabin heat knob will indicate a 'Carb heat Tooltip' :icon_lol:

This is a deadly machine.

[IanHenry]

A life-saving tip for you: fly the N-reg version - the cockpit is labeled in English in that one. :salute:

Yes this is the same with the British G reg one.

Ian.

[spotlope]

I found out that won't work either! During run up, try pulling cabin heat and Carb heat. You'll notice a RPM drop with the Cabin heat knob, and not with the Carb heat one .. Pointing your mouse over the Cabin heat knob will indicate a 'Carb heat Tooltip' :icon_lol:

This is a deadly machine.

Wow, that's kind of a big oversight. I haven't flown it enough to have experienced carb icing yet, but come to think of it, I did wonder why I wasn't getting an RPM drop with carb heat on. I'll mention that on the Aerosoft forums if no one else has.

[vora]

This and the radio bug are already on the patch list (http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/44908-known-issues-faq/page__view__findpost__p__301652).

[AndyE1976]

Looking forward to the Aerosoft shop coming back on-line so I can get this.

Found a couple of real life DA20's for sale at less than $70k. I like to fly GA aircraft that I could conceivably own in real life, particularly when they exhibit the level of fidelity that this one appears to.

[trisager]

Looking forward to the Aerosoft shop coming back on-line so I can get this.
I didn't have the patience to wait, so I got mine from simmarket: http://secure.simmarket.com/aerosoft-online-da20-100-katana-4x.phtml

[Lenop]

What a fantastic little aircraft it is. Totally on par with A2A Accusim, and even slightly better in some ways. I mean, the Katana needs to be cleaned once in a while! The windscreen gets dirty, dirt accumulates in the cockpit. Fantastic stuff. Also the walk-around feature is great.

I have made a few flights in a real Katana and what stikes me most with the flightmodel of the virtual one, is that it replicates the wobbly, floating, carried-by-the-wings-feeling closely. Wonderful!

I noticed the Katana seems to be getting not a lot of attention here. So, for the ones still thinking about getting this one and to the ones loving A2A accusim, get this little airplane too! You'll love it, it has real A2A Spitfire like character!

Oh, I'm in no way associated to DA and or Aerosoft! Or to A2A.
It's just amazing to see what some companies have accomplished with Flight Sim addons. Thanks to you all.

[Alan_A]

What a fantastic little aircraft it is. Totally on par with A2A Accusim, and even slightly better in some ways. I mean, the Katana needs to be cleaned once in a while! The windscreen gets dirty, dirt accumulates in the cockpit. Fantastic stuff. Also the walk-around feature is great.

I have made a few flights in a real Katana and what stikes me most with the flightmodel of the virtual one, is that it replicates the wobbly, floating, carried-by-the-wings-feeling closely. Wonderful!

I noticed the Katana seems to be getting not a lot of attention here. So, for the ones still thinking about getting this one and to the ones loving A2A accusim, get this little airplane too! You'll love it, it has real A2A Spitfire like character!

Oh, I'm in no way associated to DA and or Aerosoft! Or to A2A.
It's just amazing to see what some companies have accomplished with Flight Sim addons. Thanks to you all.

Agree completely. The Katana is turning out to be one of the really great FSX experiences. And it's a bargain at the price.

More and more, I find I'm restricting myself to just the most detailed/accurate/atmospheric FSX aircraft - A2A, PMDG, the Uiver DC-2, etc. The Katana fits right in with those.

If you haven't yet checked it out - do!

[spotlope]

What a fantastic little aircraft it is. Totally on par with A2A Accusim, and even slightly better in some ways. I mean, the Katana needs to be cleaned once in a while! The windscreen gets dirty, dirt accumulates in the cockpit. Fantastic stuff. Also the walk-around feature is great.

I have made a few flights in a real Katana and what stikes me most with the flightmodel of the virtual one, is that it replicates the wobbly, floating, carried-by-the-wings-feeling closely. Wonderful!

I noticed the Katana seems to be getting not a lot of attention here. So, for the ones still thinking about getting this one and to the ones loving A2A accusim, get this little airplane too! You'll love it, it has real A2A Spitfire like character!

Oh, I'm in no way associated to DA and or Aerosoft! Or to A2A.
It's just amazing to see what some companies have accomplished with Flight Sim addons. Thanks to you all.

I agree, too. The only reason I haven't been posting about how great this little plane is, is that I've been flying it too much to surf the forums. It's an incredible piece of work, and not to be missed if you're into GA at all.

[stiz]

i still cant get it started useing the realistic mode .. guess i better read that manual thingi ma jig :icon_lol:

[IanHenry]

SP 1 (beta) is available over at Aerosoft, which fixes most of the problems people have found with the aircraft.
It’s interesting the comparison with A2A’s Accusim, because Marcel and his team have been doing this sort of modelling for many years, check out the Digital Aviation Dornier Do-27. It’s getting a little long in the tooth now, being a port over, but I still roll it out occasionally.
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Ian.

[spotlope]

i still cant get it started useing the realistic mode .. guess i better read that manual thingi ma jig :icon_lol:

One thing I've learned with this plane is never to ignore a warning, no matter how insignificant it seems. Just the other day, I was getting ready to do a short flight - everything was going good, engine sounded tight, the runup went well, and takeoff proceeded without issue. The only thing that was off was my engine oil pressure, which was barely registering. I just rolled my eyes and put it down to a code glitch. Sure as shootin' (and just as I was over a string of particularly steep mountains, naturally), the engine conked out. Thanks to the Katana's glider heritage, I was able to drift along engineless until found a logging road to set it down on. Once I was on the ground and shut down, I started digging through the maintenance reports to see if maybe I had something to do with that dead mill. Sure enough, I'd left the cap off the oil tank when I checked the levels. I guess it was slowly but surely slinging out out of the tank until it ran dry and seized.

Another quick one: just last night, I was trying out the new 1.01 patch. I went through the normal pre-flight and startup routine, which is tattooed on my brain now, when I noticed that switching on the fuel pump didn't extinguish the fuel pressure warning light. By now, I'd learned enough to check by my right ankle - yup, the fuel selector was in the off position. That's a new one for this patch, btw - in the initial version, it always seemed to load "on".

This little birdie will teach you some good flying habits, or in the case of those who once had 'em, will remind you never to ignore a checklist.

[kilo delta]

SP 1 (beta) is available over at Aerosoft, which fixes most of the problems people have found with the aircraft.
It’s interesting the comparison with A2A’s Accusim, because Marcel and his team have been doing this sort of modelling for many years, check out the Digital Aviation Dornier Do-27. It’s getting a little long in the tooth now, being a port over, but I still roll it out occasionally.
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Ian.

That was quick...I hadn't even gotten the chance to take V1.0 out of the hangar yet! Thanks for the HU. :)


Hmmm... still showing as "Diamond DA20-100 Katana 4X (1.00)" in the download shop.

[flaviossa]

It´s a patch set that can be found in the aerosoft forum:
http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/45135-open-beta-101-update/

[Lenop]

That was quick...I hadn't even gotten the chance to take V1.0 out of the hangar yet! Thanks for the HU. :)


Hmmm... still showing as "Diamond DA20-100 Katana 4X (1.00)" in the download shop.

Check the support forums, it's there in the Beta Patch thread. ;)

[kilo delta]

Thanks guys! :salute:

[Kiwikat]

Awesome they got a patch up so fast! :applause::applause::applause:

I wish a certain "other" developer would put that kind of effort into their patches that still aren't out yet. :kilroy:

[vora]

This plane is so hellish close to the plane I fly in RL that I really get excited knowing this same guy is making a Porter.:cool:

[Paul_Yorks]

Am seriously looking at this, given the stellar reviews above - but the Sibwings Birddog has been in my sights for a while too, and both is not an option (especially since Cushman Meadows seems to be screaming at me!)

Anyone who has both care to comment, please? Which way to jump? I am a fan of the SF-260, and the Kodiak, less so of the Cub (a bit too slow for me). Looking to cruise low and (not-too-) slow in PNW. Ta.

[AndyE1976]

The Katana definitely isn't fast, but it does fly nicely. Most of my flights in it have been around 80-90kts.

It lands really nicely, you can setup a really stable ILS approach and it turns on a sixpence.

I don't have the Birddog, but this is up there with the A2A Spitfire in terms of quality.

[stiz]

i've got both, i'd say go for the katana if you love playing with systems, if you like just getting in and going without haveing to worry much, get the birddog :)

[spotlope]

Am seriously looking at this, given the stellar reviews above - but the Sibwings Birddog has been in my sights for a while too, and both is not an option (especially since Cushman Meadows seems to be screaming at me!)

Anyone who has both care to comment, please? Which way to jump? I am a fan of the SF-260, and the Kodiak, less so of the Cub (a bit too slow for me). Looking to cruise low and (not-too-) slow in PNW. Ta.

Geez, that's a tough one. As has been said, if you're into the most realistic operating parameters, you can't go wrong with the Katana. It is pretty slow, though, certainly slower than the Bird Dog. The doggie doesn't have the systems depth of the Katana, but it's got several of the best-looking (and by that I mean completely worn out and grotty) VCs of any plane I've ever seen.

Katana = sleek but looks lived-in, enormous realism when it comes to operating it properly, definitely a trainer (slow and stable)

Bird Dog = several planes for the money (wheels, tundra, floats), looks like forty miles of bad road in the best way possible, a little faster than the Katana, especially if you don't mind wondering if it'll rattle apart at any minute.

Really, you're not going to regret either.

[Paul_Yorks]

Thanks for the comments! Decisions, decisions. Off to vacillate some more.

[Lenop]

Thanks for the comments! Decisions, decisions. Off to vacillate some more.

Please, do yourself a favor and buy the birddog!
Because if you buy the Katana, you'll be completely hooked and you will never fly your 'normal' FSX addons again... . ;) Speaking from experience here. :)

The Birddog (I have their Saab Saffir) seems to be a fantastic addon that probably every Warbird lover should have. But after having experienced Accusim'ed and Marcel Feldes'ed airplanes, I feal planes having not received this amount of life and systems depth to be 'lifeless'.

I mean, I really take good care of the Katana now by flying it completely within limits and make sure my landings are smooth because I do not want any harm to be done to her.

So my 2 cents: buy them both :)
But if you like a 'living' airplane, the Katana seems to me the only one.

[wallyboard]

"Because if you buy the Katana, you'll be completely hooked and you will never fly your 'normal' FSX addons again... "

That is so true. In fact, I wil not be hesitating buying any of his future aircraft.

Cheers
Larry