Cessna C185F Skywagon for FSX/P3D

There is no shortage of great Carenado products, and their Cessna C185F is yet another brilliant addition to that list. This Skywagon is available to users of Microsoft's Flight Simulator X and would make a great addition to anyone's virtual hangar. Housing a 300hp engine and receiving Carenado's special treatment, this iconic tail dragger looks as good as it flies.

It will be of no surprise to anyone that is familiar with Carenado products, that this Cessna C185F looks fantastic. Utilizing volumetric normal mapping and specular mapping, as well as dynamic shadows both inside and out, Carenado have delivered an overall level of detail that is extremely high, and all while keeping the entire add-on frame rate friendly. This is particularly evident on the metallic silver and red livery, which is one of the four available. It is always appreciated when we don't have to sacrificial performance to get a great looking aircraft.

Looking great in the hangar is one thing, but looking great in the air is another, and this Skywagon ticks both of those boxes. A full range of smooth and responsive animations, paired with really realistic lighting effects, including beautiful bloom lighting, comes together to create a visually authentic and compelling aircraft model.

Performance wise, you can really feel the pull of that 300hp engine. The weight and balance of this Skywagon feels as close to the real thing as you can feasibly get, and the effect is even more prominent from inside the interactive and fully 3D cockpit. With subtle reflections on the windows and night light effects on the panel, the experience inside the cockpit is very atmospheric. With the ability to easily toggle the yoke, you can easily interact with the rest of the cockpit while staying in the zone and enjoying the experience to the fullest.

The virtual cockpit also features a pop-up manual that contains performance charts as well as normal and emergency procedures, so you don't have to mess around with any hard copies, or minimize FSX to reference them elsewhere. It's a nice addition that makes it very easy to completely immerse yourself in the experience.

Awful. The Cl 185 aircraft loads up ok. However, non of the navigation instruments work. The attitude indicator, compass etc, is also non functional. Non of the shift commands work for the pop up displays. There is, I understand, a comptability issue with FSX Steam Editon for some add ons. I doubt I will be buying any more add ons l I would like a refund on this purchase, but there is no chance of that

Good fun plane to zip around in. No problems whatsoever in installing into FSX:SE. I just installed it as FSX regular. Being able to have a 3d GPS suction cupped to the left window is a nice and useful touch.