Carenado Piper Seneca II for FSX

First of all my development and simulation PC is up again after I performed open case surgery on it to replace its motherboard and CPU.

So for Christmas gift I decided to buy myself the Carenado Piper Seneca II for FSX, I had been waiting the whole year for them to post a discount (they almost never do). I love this plane, I wanted to buy the C172 as well but decided the default one is already enough, especially since it is a small plane, I want to get to my destination fast in a general aviation aircraft.

Piper Seneca II First Impressions

This is by no means a full review, just bits and pieces. I took my new Piper Seneca II for a ride, bought it mainly for IFR regional flights in Central America.

I still have to get the hang of handling it smoothly and getting a better feel of the engine. In FSX you don't feel gravity so it is difficult to judge some things, if you don't watch the vertical speed indicator you may not even notice it!.

I like the plane, it has a very nice and well finished interior and exterior with lots of animations. The cockpit (virtual) seems okay but I have to compare it to a picture of a real Seneca II to see how close it is.

One thing I had to do was to modify the aircraft.cfg because the panel light was just nearly useless. That low redish tone was difficult to read. Now my panel illuminates in white, using the FSX "L" key doesn't do much really. If you want better lighting use the black knob just behind the dome light on the overhead.

Another thing is that like most low wing bimotors, the engines will really get in your way when looking out. So, if you want to appreciate scenery you won't see much, also makes it a bit difficult on finals because the engine won't let you judge the edge of the runway.

Final approach MPBO runway 08

When taxiing it is also difficult to see immediately ahead as it looks kind of upwards but don't dismay! the real Seneca has that nose up attitude, been close to one at Pedasi airport. However, it is not difficult to taxi this aircraft, handles well and gives you a real feeling even though I am not a real life pilot.

I don't know if it is me just getting the feeling of it but it seems kind of  "pitchy" but the engines have power. On this final shot I was landing it at Bocas del Toro, Panama (MPBO), was coming a bit high reduced throttles to idle and the plane was descending at nearly 2,000 ft/minute! I think I would have been sick. With some adjustment I got it gliding well to do a good landing on the short airstrip, you can't brake the airplane with the engines so make sure you approach at the correct speed.
    I am yet to read the manual but I didn't see where you could set the autopilot altitude. The plane is excellent for IFR training in FSX though I wish Carenado had put more effort in developing better NAV/COMM radios than using the defaults. Will post more Seneca II impressions as I get used to my new toy.