Milviz Beaver - Review / First Impressions

UPDATE: Milviz has, as expected, updated this plane quite a bit since its initial release (and this review), making certain aspects of this review outdated.
- As of May 2018, an updated set of flight dynamics is available that resolves my points on elevator effectiveness on the ground. The tail now pops up properly on takeoff with propwash and forward yoke, and the tail can be help up for nice wheel landings. See here for a quick look at the updated FDE. Thanks MilViz!
• [FSX] Milviz DHC-2 Bea...
As of 09/17, they've updated the following:
- ski bug fixed
- float versions FDE improved (more draggy, feels realistic).
- taxiing turn radius improved with a castering tailwheel
ORIGINAL description: Impressions on flight dynamics after my first day with this plane. We'll look at taxiing, 3 point and wheel takeoffs, 3 point and wheel landings, slips, the stall/spin regime, water landings, and ski landings (skis containing a bug that I'm sure Milviz will address shortly). Forgive the video quality; I accidentally produced an optimized version of the video. The plane itself as well as the scenery looks a bunch better, even on my medium-end machine.
Overall, great plane, great fun to fly, and certainly worth the purchase if you like this kind of flying in the sim!
I'm critical of a couple points in the video. One of them - issues with wheel landings - I will partially retract, as it does wheel land ok if you pull the power off early (as seen during my last landing in the wheeled variant in the video). It's still more difficult than it ought to be to hold the tail up, and especially to raise the tail for takeoff, but those are minor quibbles about an otherwise fine-flying model.
Maneuverability demo: 9:09
3-point landing: 10:30
First 3-point takeoff: 13:25
First Wheel Landing: 15:00
Second 3-point / max performance takeoff: 17:15
Stall / spin regime: 18:00
Full Flaps / Slipping Approach 20:05
Second Wheel Landing - Power Off: 21:01
Floats variant demo / takeoff/landing: 22:09
Skis variant demo / takeoff / flight up Tracy Arm to a landing on the South Sawyer glacier: 29:07
Tongass Fjords X + Return to Misty Moorings Gilbert Bay Airstrip + REX Textures Direct + ASN

[@mathursharad007]

Nice job!
One day flight-sims are going to be the only way one will be able to experience glaciers as they keep retreating.

[@mrjim12miller]

Thank you for a great video and review. I've been on the fence. Ready to buy now.

[@stratochief99]

Those frame rates tho...

[@Vograx]

24:40 To check the gear indicator you have to check the little 'knob' in front of the flaps lever. When it's in the UP position it means the gear is up (for floats) or the ski's are up (for ski versions). Important to be aware of this since ski's UP basically means gear is DOWN, so for ski's the indicator is showing you the opposite of what it does for floats.
Short version: To make a landing using gear the indicator should be DOWN for floats and UP for ski's :)

[@ajcrowley7170]

Ghroznak I finally had a look down between the seats at the gear position selector and pump. I was pretty surprised to see there's no gear indicator?! Am I missing something? I doubt there's ever been a retractable gear airplane built that doesn't have a gear indicator, even a mechanical one out on the float to look down at. Because you care a lot less about where you've commanded the gear to be, and a lot more about where it actually IS. Is there REALLY no gear indicator in the Milviz version of this plane? Anyone?

[@michaelbevington7468]

Very helpful thanks. I just went on the hunt for the best Beaver for P3d v4 and stumbled on to this review. Looks like this may be the one, but lack of any visual indicator of wheels up/down is really disappointing.

[@ballingerfrench6304]

Firstly, this was an thorough, honest, candid, and objective review! In a world where 99.9 percent of flight sim 'reviews' are little more than glowing product endorsements, your video was refreshing to say the least. I fully agree with your observations. The Beaver is another case of Milviz getting so much right but leaving just enough wrong to be completely annoying. The VC is wonderful except for the fact that there is apparently no cockpit glass? Ummm, did this slip by them too somehow? Early on during development, Rob Young from Realair had been commissioned to do the flight dynamics (hip, hip, hooray), but he jumped ship before the project was completed. When I learned about this I knew right then that the Beaver was just not going to live up to the potential of what it could have been. Is it terrible, all things considered? No, but SO much could have been fixed before Milviz released this as a finished product. Again, the potential was there for a really polished version of an ubiquitous bush plane; Canadian know-how and pride in it's purest form.
Unfortunately, Milviz just seems to hang up at a certain stage of development and put products on the market that fall short of what they should or at least could be. Again, with so much that is right, why not work the rest of the kinks out instead of throwing stuff on the market before it's really ready? Overall, the Beaver is a disappointment - more for what they could've accomplished than for what they did accomplish.

[@Vograx]

I thought the performance on the ground for the Beaver was quite nice. Taxiing is easy and smooth, and allows full 180 turns even on narrow strips out in the bush.
Also for the takeoff I generally just let the plane lift the tail up on it's own and once up at take-off speed I do a gentle rotate and it climbs out beautifully.
Just have to ensure the trim is neutral if you did a few takeoff and landings since using a lot of trim for smoother flying is needed so trim might be off center after landing.
Overall I'm very impressed with the plane.

[@ajcrowley7170]

Ghroznak Agreed that taxiing is very easy. It's just not how a somewhat heavy taildragger actually feels while taxiing. As far as turn radius, the tailwheel won't castor like it should, so turn radius is larger than it should be. As for takeoffs, I've noticed the same thing - the tail comes up on its own around 50-60mph; the exact same thing happens if full forward elevator is held throughout the roll, the tail doesn't come up any earlier. It's like the elevator is barely there on the ground.
All minor points; it flies great once airborne. But we have to be honest here...

[@jimjasutis5046]

Did my first water landing today. Kind of funny that the lake looked huge on the gps and even through the window, but I recorded the whole landing, and when you watch it from outside the lake looks tiny :)

[@tunio14ify]

Very fine review :) Question: what is that nice scenery and environment, clouds etc.?

[@ajcrowley7170]

I'll add a scenery link to the description, thanks. But it's Tongass Fjords X (payware large scenery area in SE Alaska) + the "Gilbert Bay Airstrip", which is a freeware location from Return to Misty Moorings. If you like Bush flying and haven't checked out RTTM, you have to! Their locations are all freeware (though they require the underlying ORBX or FSAddon payware areas) and are spectacular! return.mistymoorings.com/
Environment is REX Texture Direct + Soft Clouds, and weather generated by ASN.

[@tunio14ify]

Thank you, AJ :) Still not knowing what is RTTM? Yes, I love bush flying as I love also aerobatic. Now I'm at last having GTX1070 so I'm just building up my sim hard&soft and I'm pretty novice in it, though remembering times when flying Flight Unlimited I & II & III. I was happy then but missing reality to env (I'm real pilot also) I ended up for a long time. From your list I already have REX, and surely will buy all others from your list. Though not knowing what is better for P3P v4 - ORBX or FSA?

[@ajcrowley7170]

tunio14ify RTTM = Return to Misty Moorings; check out my link above. They're a website that maintains a collection of literally hundreds of freeware bush sceneries in Alaska, BC and the Pacific Northwest. These sceneries are all free, but are built to fit into the respective payware scenery area they're located in - either ORBX's Southern Alaska, Pacific Fjords or Pacific Northwest areas, or FSA's Tongass Fjords X, which fills the gap between ORBX southern Alaska and Pacific Fjords. Watch the first few minutes of my video "Bush Pilot for a Day (part 1), and I show a Google earth view of all the Return to Misty Moorings sceneries. You'll be amazed ;-)
ORBX vs FSA is entirely a question of where you want to fly. Quality wise, I'd say they're almost equal, they just cover different areas of the NW coast.

[@ajcrowley7170]

EDIT: just realized you specified for P3D v4. I'm still stuck on FSX, so I can't help you there at all - though I think I've heard they're both compatible now. Don't take my word for that though. ;-)

[@valkyrie321]

For the record mate, the Beaver has a steerable tail wheel, with 25 degrees on each side of movement. Beyond that 25 degrees, the tail wheel is fully castoring. In other words, the ability to steer the wheel is correct, and it will straighten out if under 25 degrees. Outside of that range, it should castor. This means that prior to takeoff, you should straighten the wheel slightly. Milviz did not seem to simulate this fully castoring effect outside that 25 degrees, but seems to have simulated the steerable portion. It's not perfect, that's for sure, but I wouldn't label it as entirely incorrect.

[@ajcrowley7170]

Agreed, in the sense that she steers like she should. What I felt was missing (aside from the castering as you mention) is the inertia that would be present when stopping a turn. Just because the rudder / steerable tailwheel input is removed doesn't mean the plane is magically instantly going straight. A taildragger will require opposite rudder input to positively stop that turn, otherwise inertia will carry the nose some distance farther through the turn as the rate of turn gradually decrease to zero.
A pretty minor point, to be sure. I'd much rather have the excellent stall/spin characteristics they coded than fully accurate taxi!

[@valkyrie321]

True, to some degree, although you're missing the weight of the steerable tailwheel on the rudder, which adds a signifigant portion of that momentum. I'm sure, under steerable conditions, if you slammed the rudder pedal neutral in the 50 degree ark, she'd straighten out (but your foot might hurt!). That being said, I do agree some of that "weight" feels lost on the ground. Remember, on a steerable tailwheel, the rudder and wheel work in tandem, and are linked (unlike full castoring, which they didn't include).
On another note, I've always been slightly dubious of Milviz, having worked in this industry for so long (no longer). Sometimes they produce decent models, but they tend to inflate their products a bit, with some exceptions. While I like some of their models, some which are touted as near study simulations are missing a lot (such as their P-38). It's a good plane, but in order to mimic the simulation of engine fidelity that they claim, it's missing a lot of the automation that is required to flesh out a P-38L properly. I've found, in most cases with Milviz, they get half there as far as fidelity is concerned (again, some exceptions). Still, I like this Beaver, and it's the best one we have for FSX, both as far as modeling, and fidelity. It's worth the price to me.

[@ajcrowley7170]

valkyrie321 That's exactly the thing... even if you slammed the pedal neutral, she wouldn't immediately straighten out... you'd need to slam in opposite rudder/tailwheel steering to abruptly stop the turn.
That said, this is my first experience with Milviz so I can't speak to the other models but I agree with you - I like this Beaver too! It's definitely the best we have for FSX and well worth the money. I'm not trying to nitpick, just offer an honest review. The very significant good well outweighs the minor bad.

[@valkyrie321]

Agreed mate! Off to Tongass to make sure those U.S. Forest Service Cabins are well stocked!

[@TomHarnish]

Actually, once the tailwheel breaks loose and begins to castor, full opposite rudder won't do much of anything IRL. It'll take brake and a burst of power to stop the swing _if_ you don't have too much rotational inertia. More on how to tame a taildragger, if you're interested, at tailspinstales.blogspot.com/2009/11/taming-taildragger.html

[@jimjasutis5046]

This is my first ever taildragger, so if it is too easy on the ground that is a plus for me :) I have more than enough problems landing let alone steering on the ground. While reading the manual I found this under cruise settings:
(d) Mixture lever set to rich of peak. Carburettor mixture temperature 40°F (4°C).
Am I just missing something? I don't see an EGT or anything marked mixture temperature for that matter.

[@ajcrowley7170]

Jim Jasutis You are correct that there's no EGT gauge, which makes proper leaning challenging. There is, however, a carb air temp gauge. I'm not looking at the panel, but I think I remember it being on the center panel, not far above the carb heat lever. This model simulates engine detonation if you use a high power setting (i.e. takeoff) in cold air without first applying enough carb heat to bring the carb air temp into the green.

[@jimjasutis5046]

Yes, I did see the carb air temp gauge. I also watched a real life beaver pilot talking about his plane. Apparently there are two temps that may take 10 minutes or more to come in range, and you need to wait for them before takeoff.

[@swankiey]

Where in the World is the airport? I like it.

[@ajcrowley7170]

William Swankie It's a fictitious strip on Gilbert Bay in Southeast Alaska. The strip is just called "Gilbert Bay Airstrip" on the Return to Misty Moorings website. If you don't know about Return to Misty Moorings, head over to their website. Literally hundreds of bush sceneries available in Alaska, BC and the Pac Nw coast, all freeware. Your simulated bush flying just got 1,000% better. You're welcome; -).

[@allangamayev3614]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ajcrowley7170]

Remember, this is FSX from several years ago, NOT thy brand new MSFS 2020. I can't wait until we start to see some high-fidelity models in the new sim!