Ultimate Realism: JustFlight PA38 Tomahawk in MSFS with a Real Pilot

It is finally almost here, the first aeroplane I learned to fly, the wonderful PA38 Tomahawk from JustFlight! In this video I'll run through the features, what makes this add on unique and go through a full flight including spins and stalling!
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I am a real world Airline pilot with thousands of hours flying the real aircraft and thought it would be fun to have a look at the detailed simulations of airliners in MSFS and X Plane. Hopefully you find this useful and it brings another perspective to your simulation. Any thoughts or comments are welcome!
This video is intended for home entertainment only and does not reflect or represent any real world aircraft or airline procedures. It is for home flight simulator enthusiasts only and has no real world application. All views expressed are my own.
0:00 Intro
04:35 Exterior
08:50 Cockpit
13:00 Walkaround
17:45 Engine Start
22:58 Power Checks
26:50 Takeoff
31:15 Flight Model
34:40 Spins & Stalls
39:00 Approach
42:45 Landing
45:25 Replays

[@lillysims1968]

The plane they used to model everything from was G-BNKH which my dad owned as it was the 1st aircraft he had brought to start up SPORTAIR but up until last year/year before he sold it off and i believe its now abroard in europe somewhere. I had probably 10 hours or so in the aircraft and i loved it!

[@CambsPilot]

Say hello to your dad for me. I had a great day visiting him down at Goodwood a few years ago for our research. Martyn - Just Flight

[@lillysims1968]

@@CambsPilot i will do. I assume you met Richard sims? Will say hi to him :)

[@320SimPilot]

Great to hear which aircraft it was, thanks for sharing! Also happy to hear the real aircraft was as enjoyable as the sim one!

[@天涯摘星]

so, if possible, may you share the info about this MSFS plane from your father? is it working as real one?😂 you and your father maybe the highest one who can coment on this plane!

[@42LGK]

this is absolutely awesome lol

[@CrashEd1664]

Looks fantastic! I love how more and more GA aircraft are being created for MSFS that feel like you are operating a real aircraft rather than *just* flying a simulation. Top stuff!

[@320SimPilot]

Thanks for watching Ed! Totally agree

[@christopherwalker283]

We used to refer to this aircraft as the TraumaHawk and although I checked out several of my instructors on the aircraft they refused to spin it even though I had demonstrated the spinning to them during the conversions. We operated at an airfield elevation of 5300 feet and were limited to 7500 feet below the TMA so not much room to enter and recover.

[@320SimPilot]

Thank you for watching and for your experience of the aircraft. I also met a few instructors nervous of this machine!

[@kwokng790]

My favourite aeroplane of all time. I learned to fly on it and I used to instruct it. Ex RVR here.

[@samuelashton8787]

Thanks for this! My wife bought me a trial lesson for MerseyFlight in a PA-38 for my birthday, I can't wait! Flying out of Hawarden

[@sawbum]

I learnt to fly on the Tomahawk at the BA Flying Club at Booker in the late 80’s. I’ve still got the original checklist. Can’t wait to fly it again.

[@320SimPilot]

Fantastic! Hopefully it will bring back the memories!

[@vtjake3761]

Loved the stall and spin section. These must be very exhilarating irl

[@deanmountford]

The stall wing drop is too severe if you're in straight and level going into the stall with the ailerons and rudder centered. Will be tweaking that on my system when I get her.

[@320SimPilot]

They are indeed! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@whathasxgottodowithit3919.]

One of the safest Aircraft to spin, as long as you are in a sim. If not wear a parachute and climb to 10k,if you haven't recovered by 5k take to the chute. If I am honest do not spin the real thing, the P38 Tomahawk is not always predictable in spin recovery.

[@peteharrod]

That was a great watch. I've been around your streams/videos since the first MSFS video, and without getting too corny you are the reason I started my journey to getting a PPL, I'm learning in the Tomahawk so to see your review on this is absolutely awesome. Can't wait to get my hands on it and use it as a training aid!

[@320SimPilot]

Thank you for sharing and your kind words! Glad to hear you have been enjoying them!

[@graeabarth2227]

Really enjoyed the video. Great work! I’m impressed by just how good Just Flights aircraft are

[@320SimPilot]

Thank so much! Me too, they have really impressed me with many recent releases.

[@larrysouthern5098]

GREAT VIDEO...doing those spins brought back some fond memories...I had an Instructor that loved making me do spins.think he liked seeing the look on my face of sure TERROR ..every time..I got used to it after a while...:0))...

[@stayontarget999]

Fantastic video. You do such a great job describing the joy of flight ( actual and sim ). My flying club had a Tomahawk about 30 years ago, it was an interesting plane and it wasn't my favorite, but watching you fly the sim version, and doing stalls and spins, really took me back to my early days of flying. Thank you

[@320SimPilot]

You are very welcome, thanks for watching!

[@MorrisseysMonkey]

Just downloaded it and will give it a bash tonight. I had this on X-Plane 11 and thought it was fantastic!

[@coder236]

would love to see them remaster their other piper series with the same level of details they went through with this one

[@rhydderc127]

I should just grant Just Flight permission to direct debit my account 😂

[@cavok1984]

My sentiments too! They are knocking it out of the park with the quality of their aircraft

[@coldisle]

Well said. I always justify it by telling myself that there are FAR more expensive addictions and most of them are not particularly good for your health. Think of it as an “investment.” Works for me!

[@markburgess4528]

Brilliant review. Quite excited to see you used Shoreham to fly from. Shoreham holds a place in my heart as my grandparents lived there for a few years when I was young and they overlooked the airport and onto the south downs beyond with the imposing Gothic chapel of Lancing college just beyond the airfield. I remember the control tower had a light that flashed a morse signal at night which I found fascinating. The light is still there but now sits on the ground out on the airfield. When we went to see them I used to love watching the planes in the circuit Later in life my ex-wife and myself bought a flat on Shoreham beach which you could see the MSFS representation of in your approach.

[@deanmountford]

The nice thing with that paint scheme on the wings is it's very much like VH-TLA and VH-FTI in QAIRTC/AAFC colors. As you go downwind the runway should be right between the blue and white paint, meaning you're the correct distance abeam the runway and a 2 min turn will place you perfectly on final.

[@stabilo3170]

I did my first solo flight on this bird back in 1990 in Larnaca, I remember it like it was yesterday, rwy 22, left hand circuit over the sea. Great remembering, 5B-xxx, the yellow one. Thanks for this nice video!

[@danielconlon2388]

10 years on I still remember doing my first spin and recovery above Kildare. No amount of ground school and theory truly prepares you for it. Glad we done it multiple times as it would be terrifying if you didn't know what to do. It truly is fascinating and terrifying all at the same time 36:51

[@deanmountford]

One other thing, they have that checklist wrong on checking fuel, you can't reach the fuel caps from behind the wing, that part of the checklist should be moved to when you're in front of the wing. Also would be helpful to see under the cowl so we can visually check the magnetos and clear of any bird nests etc, also they should change "spark plug" to "magnetos" in the walk around. Finally the stall wing drop is far too severe, that did happen before the flow strips were installed but unless you have aileron or rudder input you generally do not get a wing drop on the Tomahawk in a stall. More fun is to set up for an incipient spin, which you hold the nose off, add aileron and opposite rudder to keep the nose straight, gradually you'll reach full aileron deflection and boy howdy you'll flick roll way past 90 degrees angle of bank (like 120+), and then try and recover before 200' loss in altitude :D

[@jamfjord]

Depends on the aircraft; the one I flew had flow strips fitted and still dropped a wing almost every time in the stall. Love that incipient spin description. Points above should probably be sent to Just Flight rather than left here, though - they have their own channel and seem reasonably responsive to comments.

[@andyasdf2078]

Very very nice demonstration of the PA38. The only differences I see are that we used to warm the engine at 1200rpm, never used to test full and free on the rudder due to stressing the nosewheel, and I do not recall doing a mag check at idle during the power checks. These things may be training-specific though. Great video mate thanks for this!

[@320SimPilot]

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@350airbusLnav]

I am planning to do my ppl on this aircraft! Your work is such great quality,as always. You are such an amazing guy and the source of my aviation passion. Keep up the great work

[@Unknown74116]

Great video! The Tomahawk is out now so as soon as i saw it on Just Flight’s website i bought it 🤣 Honestly i don't think I've ever flown such a an amazingly detailed plane in MSFS, its so good! Keep up the good work!

[@simonbaxter8001]

Hope Just Flight have a livery designer with this offering ... I need to have our old club aircraft which I finished my PPL on 🙂

[@320SimPilot]

I have been thinking the same thing!

[@baomao7243]

36:37. It so easy to talk nonchalantly about spins but seeing the spin and recovery from the 3rd person perspective really shows you’re entering test pilot territory. You can really feel it and hear the prop speed increasing at 37:55 .

[@LaidbackJack1]

Love this, best channel on the tube for me

[@320SimPilot]

Thank you, that is very kind!

[@baomao7243]

This looks quite fun. I’ve only seen the outside of a Tomahawk parked at a local airport. But seeing the inside view in MSFS, I notice the Tomahawk combines various features that I liked in flying the C182 and DA-40, while also offering some “nostalgia” features (for me) - e.g., flap deployment lever and overhead door latch, just like the PA-28, which i also flew for maybe 20 hrs of training before getting PPL. Looking fwd to flying this one in VR. I had forgotten how smooth those low-wing landings can be as the plane almost lands itself. Nice !

[@coxy5850]

Those internal plastic trims are in wwaaayyy too good condition! All the Tomahawks I've worked on are cracked, holed and held together with tape, glue and anything else that works! Great vid as always. 👍

[@320SimPilot]

Thank you for watching! Indeed this is a rather well looked after one!

[@MikeSmith-lq2fe]

This took me right back to 1995 when i did my flight training at KSPG in a couple of PA-38s - both of which handled subtlety differently, i might add. I recall stall training (over the Gulf of Mexico) as being a fun but otherwise non event as the PA-38 is easily brought back under control. Unfortunately spin training had been dropped from the programme so alas i never got to experience it. I can't wait to get my hands on Just Flight's seemingly superb representation of an old friend, so i can relive my 30s and finally spin the 'plane to my heart's content.

[@shompirass]

While on my private pilot checkride, my examiner told me specifically not to do any crazy shit as the Tomahawk was one of the only aircraft that really scared her the most

[@chadvader974]

Done a fair few hours in this bad boy with Liverpool Flying School :)

[@alanw.4511]

Dude. This is exciting and exactly what I want to practice.

[@Tomatow]

Did my first solo in the tomahawk at KLNC back in 2018. Miss that old plane.

[@mikecoffee100]

hmmm oh alright went baught this and am enjoying it very very much Thank You. This was a good video thank you

[@cgaviator]

Nice video, great to see the experience shine through!

[@320SimPilot]

Thanks! I enjoyed your aerobatics, sadly I never got to try those in this machine!

[@cgaviator]

@@320SimPilot was it even allowed?

[@cavok1984]

I was honestly a bit on the fence on whether the Tomahawk should find a spot in my hangar as I have the full PA-28 squadron already in there, but I have to say after watching this I think I can make space. What a nice job from JF. 😁

[@ZenonZolek]

Great video, well presented, subbed

[@rayhughes]

Brilliant! - thanks again for a lovely pre release demo!! I trained in a C152 before our club switch to the Robyn 120 series - always remember the stink of AVGAS and the carbon monoxide fumes. Ended up preferring to fly the Piper Archer in various HP ratings because it was one of the most stable low wing aircraft IMHO and didn't really have a stall, more of a flutter.

[@320SimPilot]

You are very welcome and I am glad you enjoyed it!

[@skiddymark]

i have many hours on a Tomahawk in my flight training days. what a sweet aircraft.

[@S_t_i_c_k_y_R_i_c_e]

I'm so excited

[@freddielaker2707]

Sadly Liverpool Flying School closed its doors for the last time recently. Its nice to see Liverbirds still flying after the event.. i can't wait for it to come to market I will definitely get a version.

[@joetheox1202]

Hadn't heard that. What's the reason?

[@freddielaker2707]

@@joetheox1202 I tried to find the link to the info, I dont know if it was a wind up or not so I will look and let you know and apologise to all if it turns out to be bs.

[@chadvader974]

AFAIK its still going.

[@Wingineer]

My first aircraft also. Can’t wait to relive my first aircraft.

[@oelph]

I agree 100% re. aileron trim. In a sim it's frustrating. The RV10 from SimWorks behaves like this but to extremes. Aileron trim in MSFS does seem to work in a lot of planes even if they don't have the controls for it.

[@adamfarkas5327]

This reminds me of Airfoillabs' C172 for X-Plane. That was/is a very high fidelity GA aircraft.

[@juliashenandoah3965]

Oh wow GA planes truly got to a new standard of visual and system depth nowadays. Lovely! I thought the Black Square Duke will be the only great GA plane this year but this lovely cute flying lawnmower here is beyond awesome too. The quality is outstanding, every screw is modeled in 3D, and even details like the engine latch and other small elements are modeled. This truly catches the spirit of flying, more than any Cessna 172 with G1000. Only that empty place on the instrument panel triggers me a bit ;) I hope there will be an option to add a VOR 2 gauge or a thermometer or something for this round hole to have a perfectly equipped instrument board.

[@320SimPilot]

Thanks for watching! You can indeed add a second VOR/HSI in the EFB!

[@joetheox1202]

Would've liked to see the liverbird flying out of EGGP. It'll be nice if they do a RavenAir livery, my first Tomahawk was G-BGZW.

[@4secsharkmr352]

❤ thanks

[@darrenbrown3128]

They’ve also included the G-GTHM livery which was the actual aircraft I was training in 2 years ago with Cambrian Flight School) (based at Swansea but the aircraft been sold on now). Really can’t wait for this to help me with my training procedures. The flight dynamics look impressive in your video!

[@smokingspitfire1197]

GTHM hasn’t been sold! She’s still at Swansea, Ben has just had her down waiting for the new maintainance company to finish her. She was in the same hangar as my airplane while she was waiting. I think Gotham is back flying or at least will be in the next week or so. Its BGKY that has left in favor of GFCA!

[@darrenbrown3128]

@@smokingspitfire1197 Ah BGKY! My bad! I thought it was Gotham! Still gutted tho! I went up for my first few flights with Chris in BGKY! 😢

[@smokingspitfire1197]

@@darrenbrown3128 Chris will be back soon we hope!

[@flyhalf2]

My first aircraft flown which I earned my PPL on and I recognise that reg 🙂 Sadly I heard recently that that flying school is no longer trading 😞

[@emileguertin]

What replay tool you use - just amazing. Great review with passion.

[@alanw.4511]

That's like asking a magician how he does his tricks. Lots of youtube videos on this subject. You won't find that answer here.

[@gryzor]

I learned to fly on a Tomahawk. It was quite stable *except* when stalling, you had to be very careful with that tail. Sadly the one I flew, crashed years later during instruction in a spin-related incident :/

[@captwozza4817]

Looking forward to the Traumahawk’s release! It was also the first aircraft I flew towards a PPL

[@320SimPilot]

Fantastic! Could be a good but slow group flight!

[@captwozza4817]

Well up for that!

[@simplysimulator]

Great video thanks for sharing - how do you move around the cockpit so freely when I try it seems to only have fixed views on the hat switch?

[@MRAviationChannel]

Hello! im from Argentina, in my city flying club have one Tomahawk! For more security the rotation speed use 65 kn, cliimb 75 and approach and landing 75, bye bye!

[@framerelay2322]

Great video sir, I wanted to ask your what is the ICAO code of that grass airport you took off ?

[@ceegnz]

It looks lovely but I'm not sure where I'd use it. You got me intrigued by your 'possibly the best GA plane in the sim' though, if this is up there with the Comanche this is going to be a heck of a plane. Let me tell you a story about persistence while I watch. I've been thinking for the last couple of weeks that my Comanche was coughing a bit when I wound up the rubber band for takeoff, and the cruise felt a bit unenthusiastic. Nothing I could say 'this is wrong', nothing showing up in the inspections or the walkaround or the engine analyser, but I've flown it enough to think it just didn't sound quite right and it didn't feel quite right. Halfway through a flight last night one of the cylinder liners cracked. Apparently this has been slowly failing for the last 2-3 weeks. Not badly enough to show anywhere, it just was quietly failing in the background, and being tracked, and causing slightly rough running and slightly slow cruise, and getting slowly worse and worse until it was bad enough to show up as a failure. THAT is what earns a plane 'best GA plane in the sim'. This Tomahawk has a high bar to get over !

[@ivorevans1795]

Pitot and stall warning flap identical to the '68 Cherokee I fly here in Zambia. Will def be picking this one up. Cant believe how well they have replicated the ground sounds, that slightly hollow aluminium flexing sound. Absolutely spot on! Chap I share plane with taxied into a big hole - 90% private bush grass strips here - and we had a prop strike... So SIM really plugging a huge hole at the moment. Seems like we will be grounded for another month whilst full shock test done on motor. Hope the release of this is very soon! Quick question - I found the Just Flight pipers to be very sensitive in pitch. Not sure if its my cheap yoke. This also looked a wee bit twitchy in pitch in the video. Is that the case?

[@dsdsdsdsdsds3139]

just flight make some absolute beauties

[@320SimPilot]

Agreed!

[@alanw.4511]

Thanks

[@alanw.4511]

Thanks very much. I hang out with real pilots and have to buy them beer for info like this. So I am buying you a beer! Do you drink beer?

[@320SimPilot]

Thank you so much Alan, I really appreciate it!

[@joshuaspop8865]

Looks fantastic! I question why they chose this airplane though. Why can’t a dev make a high quality Mooney, Bonanza, etc?

[@320SimPilot]

I am very glad they did choose it! Hopefully they can bring more GA options out in future.

[@einherz]

not perfect for look around but better than common:)

[@petersaint8851]

my left pedal has a clicking noise and without my input from the peripheral, it showed in the braking position and let go. Wondering if there is something in conflict. Does anyone have the same problem and how did you solve it?

[@GR5GTT]

Is carb icing modelled, like in the a2a Comanche? I don’t mean the modelled drop in rpm when using carb heat, I mean the drop in power when carb icing occurs.

[@adb012]

Very nice, but I am quite disappointed that the stall warning just starts sounding at 50 kts and the plane actually stalls at 40 kts, with 2 adults on board and almost full tanks.

[@MCCDEMON]

nice landing even with an xbox controller...thanks for testing

[@GR5GTT]

I recognise that airport! Did you learn to fly that piper there too?

[@jettlethedragonpeeltheoran8915]

What scenery are you using here? I recognise it's Shoreham but it appears to have rendered Steyning College a bit more accurately than the default.

[@tedchen0025]

How can I get the pre release version of this plane like you?

[@einherz]

what the icon in the toolbar? 3rd from left where 3 f-16 ... i haven't that:) ah 4 f-16 actually:) ah and 4rd from left:)

[@peterprow1547]

which airstrip is this? watched through a couple of times but can't hear where you name it!

[@rymdskrotet]

Cant decide: This or the comanche... (nope, not getting both)

[@ericminvielle624]

Hello great vidéo ! do you know the release date ? I'm really looking foward to it.

[@justflight]

This Thursday for release.

[@ericminvielle624]

@@justflight thanks

[@Jedigreeny]

is that Shoreham (Brighton airport)?

[@OrganAviator]

3:21 strange silence. I think you may have forgotten to edit this part out

[@320SimPilot]

Good spot! I had well over an hour of recording to edit down on this one and missed that bit!

[@OrganAviator]

@@320SimPilot it is frustrating editing videos! HAHA

[@alanw.4511]

Intentionally done to see if viewers watch for more than 3 minutes. Winner winner chicken dinner. You have just won the Boeing Thrustmaster yoke and throttle quadrant.

[@OrganAviator]

@@alanw.4511 what are you on about?

[@OrganAviator]

@@320SimPilot Just an update, I’ve purchased this aircraft as a result of this review. It is amazing isn’t it.

[@pilotboy2612]

Just don't spin a traumahawk irl. They're not certified for it. The T tail and an aft c of g could make it impossible to get out of one.

[@WhiteHawk77]

I am ready for trauma. 😁