I purchased this aircraft because I actually fly PA28-161s so I thought it would be great to be able to practice the flow of things, maneuvers, etc at home in my spare time. I certainly never expected the aircraft to behave close to the real thing, but I also did not expect it to have something definitely wrong with the G-loads (as well as an improbably low max RPM -- but well, it is an "old Bessie" of an aircraft so I'll work with the RPM issue, although I won't use it for IFR since it can hardly do 500 fpm even when close to sea level, imagine at 8,000ft...).
My main gripe is that the aircraft seems to exceed G-loads all the time, well outside of a plausible G-loading issue. To give an example, in 4 flights, I've apparently exceeded G-loads twice while doing maneuvers I do all the time in the actual aircraft, which are not heavy in the slightest (proof below), but, more importantly, this always happens well within the green arc, so well below the speed at which the aircraft stops stalling (for any single surface full deflection) before breaking apart. So, sure, I'd be ok if I stalled it, but no way, at 105KIAS, in no wind, a 5-7 degree pitch down, wings level, exceeds G-loads. It would be raining Pipers if that were the case.
Here is an example:
1. I'm coming out of some steep turns, I'm just about wings level, at 105 KIAS (well into the green arc) with a very slight climb at around 150fpm:
2. I'm still wings level, at 105 KIAS, my VSI is now at about 320 fpm:
3. I had seen there was an airport just in front of me so I thought I'd dip the nose just a little to see where it was to set up a steep spiral (yeah, I'm studying for my commercial ticket...), so I pitch down, the attitude indicator shows about 5 degrees pitch (timestamped at 28m.28s.03), the VSI has stopped increasing and is still at about 300 fpm climb:
4. A fraction of a second later (timestamped at 28m.28s.08) I've exceeded G-loads and lost all control (you can see the GPS and all lights have turned off). If you look at the panel, I am still pretty much wings level, VSI says about 300 fpm climb, pitch is still between 5 and 7 deg down (certainly less than 10), and I am dead.
5. Or maybe roasted... 😞 you can see my path, and I still have no idea what part of this exceeded G-loads (that's the error I got on screen).
Again, I never expected this to feel like the real thing, I just wanted to be able to practice flow and maneuvers in a way that would be at least a little realistic. This aircraft, as "beautiful" and all as it may be, as Stephen reviewed it above, is, from a pilot point of view, physically improbable which makes it fairly useless and will remain forever parked in my virtual hangar (hey AeroSphere Simulations can I get my money back please?).
Real shame.
Hope this helps anyone else in a similar circumstance as me
cheers
martin
