You may have noticed that in some of my previous articles, a large amount of the pictures are taken whilst using the Cessna Caravan. The model is not the default Caravan, but the superb payware Wilco/feelThere model. This can be purchased from the feelThere website for $19.99 for the download version, or from JustFlight for £19.99 for the boxed version, which comes with a 30 minute video or real world Caravan operations, and several add-on liveries (Please note that the boxed version only ships on DVD). There is also the option to dowload the 'deluxe' version from the feelThere website, which include the SimFlyer Garmin GNSv4.3, which is worth $17.99 on it's own. The deluxe version costs $26.49. The download version comes with 2 liveries, a DHL cargo livery and a passenger one. All additional liveries can be downloaded from the feelThere website, as can the very easy to use paint kit. For this review I shall be reviewing the download deluxe version.

Passenger // Cargo

Both the exterior and interior of each model are highly detailed Gmax models, which have no impact on frame rates. As is standard now, there is a fully functional virtual cockpit, virtual cabin and a realistic 2D panel. The 2D panel is very similar to the default Caravan, but has had the SimFlyer Garmin GNS v4.3 added into it. The GPS is a little hard to read, but by clicking on it, you can undock it so that you can resize it and move it around your screen to suit your needs. I would advise reading the PDF manual before operating the GPS, as it isn't as straight forward as the default GPS, but that said, it is still simple to use.

2D Panel with GPS windows open

A quick walk around the outside and the attention to detail is still evident.

On the cargo version you can see the parcels waiting for delivery when you open the cargo doors, a nice touch, and there is a little ladder down from the cockpit to help the crew and passengers get on-board.

The flight dynamics have been developed based on real world pilots feedback (and tested by real world pilots) so you can be sure you are getting an accurate model here. The sound set is also taken from the real world plane, so as you can see, you are getting a very realistic experience. Also the developers also offer full support for any issues you may have. I contacted them some time ago as my throttle lever wouldn't go past 98%. They advised me to re-install the product, and re-calibrate my joystick. This worked in the short term but the problem still persists, although I haven't noticed any performance issues due to the lost 2% in power. That doesn't mean to say that it is a fault with the add-on, it could just be my system playing up! Another slight problem I found was that the views out of the side widows in the cockpit were very restricted. I've never been in a C208, so can't comment if this is realistic or not, but it would seem silly to model something like this if it wasn't like that in the real thing.

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