Flight1Tech

[JustinWheat]

Anyone ever used the Flight1Tech G1000 software? If so what are the pros/cons of the software. Thanks!

[Mark Hargrove]

Yes, I've had it for a couple of years.

It's a very good emulation of the real G1000 -- probably the highest-fidelity emulation available for a flight sim. For a long time, only a few planes were supported (and that's still true as far as I know). The website will have the list. Fairly recently they added support for the Beech Baron 58, which I also bought.

The simulation has a fairly limited panel -- the PFD, MFD, comms panel and an alternate instruments panel.

It's been a while since I flew with it -- as I recall, that's mostly because it has some quirks with P3D (which is my primary sim now). Theoretically, P3D is fully supported, but it behaved oddly in several circumstances and I just didn't want to take the time to sort them out.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to try to answer them.

[JustinWheat]

i have been contemplating whether to buy their g1000 hardware unit. It is rather expensive but I would love the tactile feedback of the actual hardware. That's my personal preference though. Now you said there were some issues with it and P3Dv2? I think I have read somewhere where there was no external models for their aircraft but you could substitute a payware aircraft for the model? Did you have the safe taxi diagram plugin also? I have quite a few questions so I want post all at once. Thanks for your response.

[twharrell]

Justin,

Have you considered the Mindstar G1000? It's a nice package for $50 and can be used in P3Dv2.x. I use it in the MilViz C310 and really like it.

Todd

[JustinWheat]

No I have not considering the lukewarm reviews I have read about it. I'm looking for the best to represent G1000 avionics. Flight1Tech seems to fit the bill. Just trying to find out the few issues it has with P3D. Thanks,

[Mark Hargrove]

I frankly just can't remember now what all my issues were. I know for sure that one of the was AP-related -- the AP would not reliably decouple in the Baron. I had a near-crash situation because when I decoupled the AP on about a 3-mile final it wouldn't let go. Even toggling the AP switch on and off several times, it kept fighting me. It finally let go at about 100' and the plane pitched up about 30 degrees. I was able to recover and fly a go-around, but it had me sweating for a more that a few moments. I was not able to reliably reproduce the problem. Instead, it seem to happen at random, always with APR mode engaged. Don't know if this was a G1000 issue or a P3D issue or a combination of both.

Also, be very aware that there are VERY limited number of planes you can fly with the F1Tech simulator. You're right that they don't provide the actual aircraft -- but because the system/engine has to be modeled for the MFD, they only have about 6-8 aircraft that work with their G1000.

I totally share your desire to have physical hardware to work with. I'm making do for now with a full set of Saitek gear (which isn't a bad place to start, very good value for the cost). I also have a GoFlight MCP and EFIS for when I used to fly the PMDG 737 (and am now waiting along with everybody for PMDG to get licensing issues sorted out with LM so they can port it to P3D). I'd dearly love to have a G1000 hardware setup -- but they're very pricey, and the fact that there are only a few kind-of-lame airplanes supported makes it a non-starter for me.

[twharrell]

Justin,

What, specifically, have you heard about the Mindstar product that you don't like? The Mindstar G1000 is actually a good representation of the actual avionics. Almost every flight school uses it in the Redbird simulator for real world training. I use it in the MilViz C310 and love it. The package includes several variations customized for specific aircraft. The C172, C182, Cirrus, B58 Baron, DA40, DA42, Citation Mustang, are variations that come to mind. Since you are looking for some G1000 hardware to load it on, your aircraft options would be limitless.

Todd

[JustinWheat]

If I remember correctly the mindstar unit does not let you insert victor airways into the flight plan? Correct me if I am wrong. Let me restate here that I fly P3Dv2.2 exclusively now. I don't port any planes over from FSX either. I'm not a huge virtual cockpit fan either. I would rather have the actual hardware with a three screen setup as an outside visual. I'm kind of in the middle right now deciding between a G1000 setup or a JetMax 737. Really tough choice because both have their pros and cons.

[Michael Smith]

I've used Flight1Tech G1000 with an Emuteq G1000 hardware unit for over a couple of years now... When I was using P3D v1.4 I had absolutely no complaints. Now that I've upgraded to P3D v2 I am sorely disappointed that my flight control manufacturer (www.flyelite.com) has not yet released a P3D v2 driver for their control hardware. However, that's not the fault of F1Tech. Their software is a solid product!

[JustinWheat]

So what are you using for external models of the DA42 and Baron 58? How realistic are the flight dynamics in terms of performance numbers, etc? You say the flyelite does not support P3Dv2.2 yet; could you not program your hardware through fsuipc? I know it's a rather expensive purchase so I want to know as much as possible about the product before I pull the trigger. Thanks,