Seneca V first impressions
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Thread: Seneca V first impressions

  1. #1

    Seneca V first impressions

    Made my very first MSFS in-game add-on purchase today and picked up the Seneca V from Carenado that was just released. I am delighted to finally get a piston-powered turbocharged twin, with counter-rotating 3-bladed propellers and classic gauges. It's not the plane with those same characteristics that a I really want :-) but it'll have to do.

    Being fresh out of the oven it has some issues as one might expect with an initial release. Overall I'm pretty happy with it. Price was a bit steep, but oh well.

    Initial impressions:

    The good

    - 3D model seems on par with the defaults I'm familiar with, the textures are nice, the model looks real good, not too frame-rate intensive and there are several liveries. Plenty of eye-candy in the cockpit and passenger compartment. I like the opening/closing doors and window. (It's weird that the defaults don't have animated doors.)
    - It handles well and has good power for its weight and size, don't know how realistic the model is but it seems ok. Haven't spent too much time with it yet.
    - it seems most of the important systems are functional. The weather radar is pretty cool.
    - love the classic gauges and simple GPS and autopilot. I'm not a fan of glass cockpits. :-)

    The not-so-good

    - I was disappointed to see that one cannot edit the flight model, just like the so-called 'premium' planes. Certainly understandable, and I supposed it is the trend nowadays in payware (I don't have any others to compare to). It does take some of the fun out of customizing a plane to one's liking. So this isn't a criticism of the model, just disappointment from a FS veteran longing for the good ol' days.
    - I work with sound professionally, and I'm am probably a bit hyper-sensitive to the sound design, but I am disappointed with the sounds. The sounds are not on par with the defaults' , and kind of underwhelming. They'll do -- and there are a few things that are nice -- for instance, the outdoor sound when you open a window or door, or a nice low-frequency thud when you land -- but it's clear that sound was a lower priority for this package. They're website says the sounds were recorded from a real Seneca, but in my opinion the processing leaves much to be desired. There are some very noticeable processing artifacts that make it sound rather artificial. Maybe they will improve the sounds in an update sometime.
    - finally, some of the switches and pilot views don't work with the mappings on my controllers, so they must be doing something different with those commands than the default planes. Hopefully those will get fixed at some point.

    Looks like I'll be putting the Baron and the DA42 into the hanger now that I've got this one to satisfy my cravings for a piston powered twin. Hopefully someone someday will make the one I'm really looking for. :-)

    -dcc
    - -

  2. #2
    Sounds awfully tempting but I already have quite a full hangar, then again I don't have a payware twin in MSFS. I have to ask what twin are you yearning for?

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Naki1 View Post
    I have to ask what twin are you yearning for?
    I'm guessing you're new to the world of FS. David is the author of what was and still is the best ever series of freeware P-38 Lightning fighters from the WWII era. There was even one that was listed as Donationware with even more details than the free stuff. Back in the FS9 days, if you're a fan of warbirds, your build was not complete without a few David Copley Lightnings!
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  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by dcc View Post
    The not-so-good

    - I was disappointed to see that one cannot edit the flight model, just like the so-called 'premium' planes. Certainly understandable, and I supposed it is the trend nowadays in payware (I don't have any others to compare to). It does take some of the fun out of customizing a plane to one's liking. So this isn't a criticism of the model, just disappointment from a FS veteran longing for the good ol' days.

    Looks like I'll be putting the Baron and the DA42 into the hanger now that I've got this one to satisfy my cravings for a piston powered twin. Hopefully someone someday will make the one I'm really looking for. :-)

    -dcc
    The locked flight model shows up in anything you buy from the MSFS marketplace, since it's part of their copy protection scheme. Payware from other sources (simmarket, the website of a developer, etc...) has files that you can edit normally. It also takes a week or so after release for updates to show up on the marketplace, so I only use it as a "last resort" if stuff isn't available elsewhere.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Clayton View Post
    I'm guessing you're new to the world of FS. David is the author of what was and still is the best ever series of freeware P-38 Lightning fighters from the WWII era. There was even one that was listed as Donationware with even more details than the free stuff. Back in the FS9 days, if you're a fan of warbirds, your build was not complete without a few David Copley Lightnings!
    Nope being flight simming for 20 years and on and off SOH for at least 10 so weirdly missed David's Lightning, although being a Kiwi I'm more focused on Mosquitos for my twin warbird fix.

    Maybe Milviz will convert their Lightning to MSFS?

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Naki1 View Post
    Maybe Milviz will convert their Lightning to MSFS?
    oh, yes, please
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by jankees View Post
    oh, yes, please
    The Milviz Lightning ports over quite nicely, only thing lacking is the pilot!

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  8. #8
    SOH-CM-2024 jmig's Avatar
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    So much for discussing the Seneca V. For the record, I was not familiar with David's P-38 either, and I took up flight simulation just after the Wright Brothers. This is not a knock on David and his airplane. I am just not a fan of the P-38. It is something about a fighter with a control wheel. Reminds me of driving a hot car with an automatic back in the 60's and 70's. It was not manly. Still, the fighter pilot's fighter pilot, Robin Olds got his start in the P-38. So just who am I to question the airplane.

    As for the Seneca V. I once flew one in real life. A friend owned it and he took me up and let me fly and land. It was a nice airplane, as I recall. Since, my MSFS flying consists of 15-30 minutes sight-seeing excursions. I want fast and lots of visibility. That plane will give me neither.

    I have the C-182 and the Moody. Neither of them excites me enough to pay $30 more to Carenado.
    John

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  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by jmig View Post
    So much for discussing the Seneca V. For the record, I was not familiar with David's P-38 either, and I took up flight simulation just after the Wright Brothers. This is not a knock on David and his airplane. I am just not a fan of the P-38. It is something about a fighter with a control wheel. Reminds me of driving a hot car with an automatic back in the 60's and 70's. It was not manly. Still, the fighter pilot's fighter pilot, Robin Olds got his start in the P-38. So just who am I to question the airplane.

    As for the Seneca V. I once flew one in real life. A friend owned it and he took me up and let me fly and land. It was a nice airplane, as I recall. Since, my MSFS flying consists of 15-30 minutes sight-seeing excursions. I want fast and lots of visibility. That plane will give me neither.

    I have the C-182 and the Moody. Neither of them excites me enough to pay $30 more to Carenado.
    Hey, the thread was started by "Mr. P-38 Lightning" DCC, what would you expect? He started it!!

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  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Priller View Post
    The Milviz Lightning ports over quite nicely, only thing lacking is the pilot!

    Priller
    And that can be fixed easily. Add the following to the end of your runway.flt file in the P-38's folder, and your apron.flt file if you have one.

    [Localvars.0]
    a157B8476F6a9c=1 ; pilot visible

    August

  11. #11
    SOH-CM-2024 jmig's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Priller View Post
    Hey, the thread was started by "Mr. P-38 Lightning" DCC, what would you expect? He started it!!

    Priller
    John

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  12. #12
    Fun discussion, if a little off topic. :-)

    I'm intrigued with the idea of porting the Milviz Lightning into MSFS. I may have to look into how to port fsx p3d planes and maybe get it. I have the fs9 one (I was a consultant on that one) but not the more recent ones as I never got into fsx or p3d.

    I'm also glad to hear that packages purchased outside the sim Marketplace may have editable flight models.

    Sorry to those coming to this thread for info on the Seneca :-)

    - dcc
    - -

  13. #13
    It wouldn't be SOH if threads didn't take a left turn now and then.

    After reading this thread, I may consider this one if there are updates. Sound is a biggie for me, so if they update that, I might just consider the purchase. And I never knew there was a civilian twin with counter/contra/whatever rotating props. I found a clip of one starting up and find it interesting that the Piper props turn inboard, while the Lightning's turn outboard. I'm slightly curious as to why that is...
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  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Clayton View Post
    It wouldn't be SOH if threads didn't take a left turn now and then.

    After reading this thread, I may consider this one if there are updates. Sound is a biggie for me, so if they update that, I might just consider the purchase. And I never knew there was a civilian twin with counter/contra/whatever rotating props. I found a clip of one starting up and find it interesting that the Piper props turn inboard, while the Lightning's turn outboard. I'm slightly curious as to why that is...
    Here's another left turn

    The original XP-38 prototype had them turning inboard. The directions were reversed on the YP and thereafter as they tried to fix certain aerodynamic issues. The plane still had the stability benefits of counter rotating props, but was quite a handful when an engine went out, especially on take-off.

    - dcc
    - -

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Clayton View Post
    It wouldn't be SOH if threads didn't take a left turn now and then.

    After reading this thread, I may consider this one if there are updates. Sound is a biggie for me, so if they update that, I might just consider the purchase. And I never knew there was a civilian twin with counter/contra/whatever rotating props. I found a clip of one starting up and find it interesting that the Piper props turn inboard, while the Lightning's turn outboard. I'm slightly curious as to why that is...
    The issue with Carenado and MSFS is that they seem to release one or two updates that fix most of the glaring flaws, then give up and move on to the next airplane. This seems to extend to Asobo patches that break something, since some of their airplanes have been reported as being essentially useless for months on end for various issues for some people.

    TL;DR, Carenado stuff is good if it's on sale, but I'd be hard pressed to buy any of their stuff for full price.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by azflyboy View Post
    The issue with Carenado and MSFS is that they seem to release one or two updates that fix most of the glaring flaws, then give up and move on to the next airplane. This seems to extend to Asobo patches that break something, since some of their airplanes have been reported as being essentially useless for months on end for various issues for some people.

    TL;DR, Carenado stuff is good if it's on sale, but I'd be hard pressed to buy any of their stuff for full price.
    I'd have to agree, the price is a bit steep considering the risks and warts, etc. Some pics attached from my current flight as I type

    - dcc
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails cs4.jpg   cs3.jpg   cs2.jpg   cs1.jpg  
    - -

  17. #17
    re; sound. They've copied the A2A concept of headphones in the cockpit so that's why the engine sounds are muffled - I think it's pretty well done. If you want the beefy, bassy, rumbling engine sounds then open the DV - but not above 129 KIAS.
    Jim
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