Jump to content

Aircraft Upgrade : Beechcraft 1900D HD XP11 by Carenado


Stephen

Recommended Posts

Car_B1900D_Header.jpg

 

Aircraft Upgrade : Beechcraft 1900D HD XP11 by Carenado

 

In my monthly "Behind The Screen" post back in August 2016 I noted my overall "best of" ten aircraft. Listed at number six was the Carenado B1900D regional 19 passenger airliner. It is not hard to not really like the B1900D, it has everything to want you to keep jumping back into that left-hand seat and to do another flight. It is best of course in the regional point to point routes, nothing too long and something that can easily fill in a few hours of you leisure time. But more than that the 1900D is simply a great simulation, very intimate, involving and with the just sheer great feedback from a great twin turboprop airliner.

 

So here is the X-Plane11 version of the B1900D from Carenado, an upgrade to the new simulator is always going to be a good thing, but with an aircraft like the B1900D its got to be a great thing.

 

Overall there isn't anything really new on the XP11 version except to configure the aircraft to the X-Plane11 specifications. There is more change in here than what you would think that is required but everything here is mostly under the hood in more than what can be visually. The only noticeable visual areas are the textures.

 

Even in the Scottish gloom of EGPH (Edinbourgh) the 1900D looks far more glossy and the panel work is far more pronounced and with better normal mapping. (normal mapping is the raising of pixels to simulate say panel lines or rivets)

 

Car_B1900D_Ground EGPH 2.jpgCar_B1900D_Ground EGPH 1.jpg

 

The Carenado B1900D was never a lightweight, or frameweight aircraft. And the new textures are going to have a slightly more heavier effect again and another side-effect of the texture changes is that it effects the xEnviro weather plugin quite severely to the point I couldn't fly the B1900D with the plugin activated, were as the earlier B1900D has no framerate issues. (The effect on xEnviro could be the current v1.06 in having not being updated as to this review's date).

Carenado has also invested in for these PBR (Physical Based Rendering) materials authored with some industry-standard software used by the film and gaming industries. And the resulting effects are very good.

 

Car_B1900D_Flying 1.jpgCar_B1900D_Flying 2.jpg

Car_B1900D_Flying 3.jpgCar_B1900D_Flying 4.jpg

 

The B1900D does look outstanding in the right lighting conditions and the effects work well even with an older livery like my FlyBe colours. 

 

Car_B1900D_Flying 5.jpg

 

The performance and flight physics have also been adjusted to the new X-Plane11 thrust parameters as has the newer ground fiction physics that will also need to be adjusted to.

 

Car_B1900D_Ground EGPH 3.jpgCar_B1900D_Ground EGPH 4.jpg

 

The Beechcraft is still quite tricky on the takeoff, so you will need a fair bit of skill to keep the 1900D central to the line, but this is still a great simulation, I mean you wouldn't want the aircraft to fly on rails now would you...

 

Car_B1900D_Ground EGPH 5.jpgCar_B1900D_Ground EGPH 6.jpg

 

The X-Plane lighting effects have been adjusted so they look authentic, no blobs here.

 

Car_B1900D_Ground EGPH 7lg.jpg

 

This is one aircraft to love in the manual aspect, the aircraft is lovely under your rudder and yoke control.

 

Instrument Panel is still one of the very best in X-Plane. Sheer authenticity abounds.

 

Car_B1900D_Panel 1.jpgCar_B1900D_Panel 4.jpg

Car_B1900D_Panel 2.jpgCar_B1900D_Panel 3.jpg

 

It is a complicated cockpit, but still based on the famous King-Air series of Beechcraft aircraft. The Physically Based Rendering materials and textures have gone overboard in here, all areas are better and the reflections perfect. The PBR lighting effects lift the cockpit's realism as well.

 

There is still great features, like the lovely yoke with it's built in trim buttons that actually work. Pedestal is a piece of art...  nice to look at and to use.

 

Car_B1900D_Panel 5.jpgCar_B1900D_Panel 6.jpg

 

Carenado have gone back to the standard X-Plane manipulator system and away from it's own featured tree style scroll manipulator. There are two reasons for this. One is that now the default manipulators have a scroll wheel function now built in, but the second reason is more interesting in that it sets up VR compatible click spots for the use of Virtual Reality that is coming to X-Plane11 in the future (October 2017 is noted, but I wouldn't hold that as completely kosher, it may change yet).

 

Aircraft comes with a great (resizable) autopilot that is part of the Electronic Flight Instrument System by Rockwell Collins, which includes the Electronic Attitude Director Indicator (EADI) & Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI) and the altitude selector. The default Garmin GNS530 is updated to the X-Plane11 version which includes the built in navigation data.

 

Car_B1900D_Panel 8.jpgCar_B1900D_Panel 7.jpg

 

Cabin fit-out is excellent, very high quality as design and detailing is top notch. For the back seat flyers the views are excellent.

 

Car_B1900D_Cabin 1 .jpgCar_B1900D_Cabin 2.jpgCar_B1900D_Cabin 5.jpgCar_B1900D_Cabin 4.jpg

 

Rain and Ice effects have been updated, and with the better X-Plane11 environment engine it is very effective and realistic.

 

Car_B1900D_Effects 1.jpgCar_B1900D_Effects 2.jpg

Car_B1900D_Effects 3.jpgCar_B1900D_Effects 4.jpg

 

Liveries

The original liveries have not changed from and still have their very fancy names... AzureWisp, BlackGold, OrangeWisp, BlueShark and SwissAir the white/blank is default.

 

Car_B1900D_Livery Blank.jpgCar_B1900D_Livery N7779E.jpg

Car_B1900D_Livery N1569F.jpgCar_B1900D_Livery N1124X.jpg

Car_B1900D_Livery N6366X.jpgCar_B1900D_Livery Swiss AF.jpg

 

There are six extra airline operator liveries that you can download from the Carenado site once you have purchased the aircraft, and these include - ERA, Air Canada, Air NewZealand new and old, Next Jet and United Express and loads more on the X-Plane.Org including my lovely Flybe.

 

Car_B1900D_Livery ERA.jpgCar_B1900D_Livery Air Canada.jpg

Car_B1900D_Livery AirNZ New.jpgCar_B1900D_Livery AirNZ Old.jpg

Car_B1900D_Livery Next Jet.jpgCar_B1900D_Livery United Ex.jpg

 

For a full comprehensive overview review of the Carenado Beechcraft 1900D then go here: Aircraft Review : Beechcraft 1900D HD Series by Carenado

 

Summary

To fly my sixth favorite aircraft in my hangar and it is now natively in X-Plane11 is always going to be a great thing. The Beechcraft 1900D is one of the very best regional aircraft in X-Plane11...  strike two. One of the best and needs the required skills to fly really well...  strike three, and I can go on like this all day.

 

Mostly there is nothing really new to the original package than the upgrading of the performance, systems, physics and the complete overhaul of the textures and materials to take advantage of the Physical Based Rendering effects. It may not on the surface feel or look a lot, but it makes a big difference in the flesh, what was great is now even greater.

 

The vB1900D is still heavy on your framerate, nothing has changed there and I feel it is a little more heavier again, not by a significant amount, but noticeable. Otherwise there is little to fault it, textures, sounds and that excellent Carenado quality is all in here.

 

As the B1900D is released longer than six months ago. Then this new X-Plane11 package is a new initial release, or you will need to repurchase the aircraft in full to own it, but the deal comes then for the full run of X-Plane11. No upgrade deals either as it is either at full cost or wait for the sales.

 

Could I not have this Beechcraft 1900D in my online flying career, I doubt it, it is just too big a part of my everyday flying experiences and just to big a hole not to fill. This is one of the very best regional turboprop aircraft in X-Plane, based on the great King-Air Series this version is the top of the line in size and performance...  It is just one of the very best and now available in X-Plane11 as well.

 

__________________________________________________________________

 

X-Plane Store logo sm.jpg

 

The Beechcraft 1900D HD XP11 by Carenado is available from the X-Plane.Org Store here :


B1900D HD Series XP11
 
Price is currently US$34.95

 

Version 1.0 (June 30th 2017)
  • Initial X-Plane 11 release

 

Also available and developer site : Carenado.com

 

Features:

  • HD quality textures
  • 3D gauges
  • Original HQ digital stereo sounds recorded directly from the real aircraft
  • 3D stereo effects, such as outside sounds entering open windows.
  • Customizable panel for controlling window transparency, instrument reflections and static elements such as wheel chocks and turbine inlet/exhaust covers.
  • Realistic behavior compared to the real airplane. Realistic weight and balance. Tested by real pilots.
  • Realistic 3D night lights effects on panel and cockpit.
  • Individual passenger 3D reading lights and numerous HDR lighting effects.
  • Dynamic loading/unloading of 3D parts and plugin logic for FPS optimization.
  • Ice and Rain effects
Included in the package:
  • 5 HD liveries - 1 HD Blank Livery
  • B1900D Emergency Checklist PDF - B1900D Normal Procedures PDF
  • B1900D Performance Tables PDF - B1900D Reference PDF
  • B1900D EFIS X-Plane PDF - B1900D EVVI X-Plane PDF
  • Recommended Settings PDF

 

Requirements

X-Plane 11  (not compatible with X-Plane 10)
Windows 7+, MAC OS 10.7 (or higher) or Linux - 64bit Operating System
16GB RAM/ 4GB VRAM 
Version 1.0 (last updated June 30th 2017)

 

Download size is 425.60mb, that is deposited into your X-Plane General Aviation Folder at 732.00mb (I created a separate folder called "Regional for these aircraft."

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Upgrade Review by Stephen Dutton
5th July 2017
Copyright©2017: X-PlaneReviews
 
(Disclaimer. All images and text in this review are the work and property of X-PlaneReviews, no sharing or copy of the content is allowed without consent from the author as per copyright conditions)
 

Review System Specifications:

Computer System: Windows  - Intel Core i7 6700K CPU 4.00GHz / 64bit - 16 Gb single 1067 Mhz DDR4 2133 - GeForce GTX 980/SSE2 - Samsung Evo 512gb SSD 

Software:   - Windows 10 - X-Plane 11.02

Addons: Saitek x56 Rhino Pro system Joystick and Throttle : Sound - Bose  Soundlink Mini

Plugins:  XPRealistic Pro v1.0.9  effects US$19.95

 

Scenery or Aircraft

- EGPH - Edinburgh Airport UK 1.0.1 by tdg (X-Plane.Org) - Free

- EGHI - Southampton Airport by Pilot+Plus (X-Plane.OrgStore) - US$19.95

 

Logo Header X-PlaneReviews 200px.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎05‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 3:01 AM, Stephen said:

The Beechcraft is still quite tricky on the takeoff, so you will need a fair bit of skill to keep the 1900D central to the line, but this is still a great simulation, I mean you wouldn't want the aircraft to fly on rails now would you...

Sorry but that reads as if you’re trying to gloss over something bad and make excuses for it and to be honest the negative points in a review are just as important as the positives. So, we all know X Plane 11 has ground handling that feels like you’re on ice but what you’ve managed to confuse me about is if the 1900 is actually better or worse than normal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The point is that I adhere to the point that if I do mention a specific point, like in this case the ground handling of the B1900D then it must be harder than in the usual situation. Yes X-Plane11 has quite different handling and quite worse, but more skill is required to handle some aircraft more than others and the B1900D falls into this category. SD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Consider me no longer confused as what I believe you want me to read between the lines and work out is that you think ground handling is fairly terrible. So thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

PS, just noticed your location. State of Origin 3 in a few hours as I type this so “Go Maroons” :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I confess I've never flown a 1900 so technically I've no idea what I'm talking about, however the Kingair300 was a monster to keep on the runway. The captain usually aided by giving asymmetrical thrust until a bit of rudder authority started to develop. Looks like an awesome machine for xplane! Will check it out after my vacation. Not sure about the FlyBE livery though! Did one ever fly around or is it pure fictional?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A twin-throttle can help with these sort of aircraft in pushing one engine slightly higher than the other to counteract the asymmetrical thrust at lower speeds. Flybe is a real airline. They are regional and based in Exeter - EGTE in the UK. I flew Flybe from Exeter/EXT to Paris/CDG on their Dash 8, I prefer their older livery than the newer purple one, and it suits the B1900D nicely. SD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...