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Update is available 0.113 - Added failures for landing gear.

I have to agree that the only way to feel comfortable with any plane is to get that muscle memory at a level that taxiing, TO and landing become routine. I fly RW and the more I train my brain with XP, the more comfortable I get and the fear of failure is diminished. Ask any pilot, and they will tell you, "confidence & comfortability are the top priority in flying. Anyone can takeoff in a plane. The TBM is not for the faint of heart if you want to truly fly her as you would in the real world. Slamming the throttle all the way and taking off after 10 minutes of prep is kinda like travelling to Barcelona and jumping on a 2500 lb bull and trying to stay on. As with any plane, BEFORE you EVER attempt a take-off - learn about the plane...study the features and specifications...understand how to properly start and taxi and the after all that, do it all over again. I have maybe 50 totals hours in the TBM. That's not a lot. And of those 50, maybe 40 really flying. A lot of Hobbs time and costly fuel went into my enjoying flying this plane. I apologize if I offended anyone, but even the best surgeons in the world don't get into the OR after playing Milton Bradley's Operation for 30 minutes! (for those not quite sure, Google it) Happy New Year and safe flying......

So, for what it's worth, I originally thought the same thing regarding the ground handling. However, I was determined to master it. I am a real world pilot, or used to be before health issues, but I have never flown a TBM so I can't speak for or against how the Hotstart compares other than what the developer states that it is pretty close. Based on all other systems and accuracy I would have to tend to believe that the ground handling probably is also. Not all airplanes are equal. Some handle well, others not so well, some are forgiving, others are death traps. I admit that the ground handling on this plane was very frustrating because I wanted to just jump in and fly. That didn't work too well. So, what do we do? We go back to everything our infamous flight instructors always told us; "Practice, practice and practice some more." Do touch and go after touch and go; which is what I did. What helps me most is moving the rudder trim half way to the right between center and the green hash for takeoff, hold the brakes until 2000 rpm, release and continue to slowly increase torque. For landing, make sure the rudder trim is centered. Not saying it will work for everyone but does for me. I won't make the claim that I've completely "mastered" it yet, but taxi, takeoff and landing is now controllable as I have a good "feel" for the aircraft. Of course crosswinds throws another element to it, but it does with any aircraft. With the level of depth of this aircraft, realism is everything and sometimes that means...practice, practice, practice. As far as mastering it? As pilots do we ever really master anything? Every flight is a constant critique and our entire flying career whether professional or hobby always has good flights and bad flights. This is the only plane I fly in X-Plane now due to it's depth and my perfectionist inner self to constantly improve with this plane. Just my two cents as I certainly can relate to the frustration, but stick with it and it will pay off and bring continued joy with this plane. I leave you with this.... : “It is the professional pilot's bounden duty to know the idiosyncrasies of each type (of airplane), for he must spend a large proportion of his active career exploiting its qualities and compensating for its faults. These secrets cannot be discovered in a ground school.” ― Ernest K. Gann, Fate Is the Hunter Eric