First look at the Lionheart Creations Bellanca Super Viking in Microsoft Flight Simulator

[@jonbeckett]

**Yes - I know I said "Lionhead" when introducing the aircraft - of course it's Lionheart :)**

[@outdoorsdelmarva5691]

I flew in a 1970 Super Viking, scared the dog crap out of me. Was not use to the power this puppy had. A great crosscountry plane for sure. Lots of room inside. Nice to see it on thee market. Thanks Jon.

[@jonbeckett]

It's stupidly fast...

[@GulfCoastTim]

From what i see here, I like this plane. Going on my to buy list.

[@jonbeckett]

You'll love it.

[@garysmith5256]

FYI for those interested: Lionheart has appreciably updated this plane, already implemented in Marketplace. The toe brakes fixed, climb/cruise performance now realistic, no beacon light bleed-through, wind noise from the storm window, maybe other little details I haven't found yet. A huge improvement over the original release herein reviewed.

[@jonbeckett]

I'll get to it soon :)

[@justsvero]

As I saw this plane this morning in the store I was short before to buy it. But I remembered the problems I had with the P3D variant. Especially the autopilot. Which was not really behaving like a Century III model I'm knowing from many other simulated planes. So I resisted to buy it. And wait for some more brave one :D And unfortunately as I see here my sceptical thoughts were right. Too bad. As I like the design of the aircraft. But Lionheart has for me personally the tradition of "skipping" the last finishing touch on the planes. I have several planes from him in P3D. And now two in MSFS: the Trinidad and the Jungmann. The only plane so far where I do not regret of installing it is the Bücker Bü-131 Jungmann in MSFS from Lionheart. Maybe because it is so simple that you cannot make much wrong in the details. I can agree: it's the little things that end up spoiling the fun. Especially since I really like these more vintage GA planes. Lets hope the Bellanca will get some finish. Then it will probably land in my hangar too. But currently for me it's not worth the 25 Euro I have to pay for it.

[@unkameatgoodbar2315]

One of the most underrated GA aircraft on the market...flight characteristics are very similar to the actual aircraft...300hp non turbo and a turbo version...handles turbulence better than cessnas and pipers

[@eagle_one_69]

Thanks for doing a review on this. I think I'll wait until it receives more updates.

[@dillank3240]

According to the manual, to use autopilot with VOR navigation, you have to set it to OMNI mode. I think you had it set to NAV. I might be wrong. I had some trouble getting it to follow a GPS course. It eventual accomplished the task, but it took a couple of tries. I'm not sure what I did wrong. It is on sale right now, $10 USD, I believe, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's fast and fun, as you said.

[@AllThingsFlightSim]

As a realworld Viking owner the biggest issue in the sim version is the climb rate and acceleration simply put the real plane doesn't climb that well I was getting 3000fpm at full power. Hopefully this issue is fixed as besides this issue the plane feels almost like the real thing I've been flying for 15 years.

[@GulfCoastTim]

Great to hear from not only an actual pilot but owner of this plane 👍

[@jonbeckett]

Yep - I thought the same, but obviously have no frame of reference, so kept my mouth shut :)

[@wootle]

The developers need to speak to people like you! I wish they did so they catch all these errors.

[@AllThingsFlightSim]

@@wootle The folks over at Lionheart did and we worked together to get the flight model very close to real

[@wootle]

@@AllThingsFlightSim That is awesome and the fruits of that will be seen in the game for all to enjoy thanks for your real world input!

[@mikecoffee100]

Hello , whats this ohhhh looks alright and I used to see these at my local aerodrome from time to time. Am Glad that we have reviewers Like to You Thank You .

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome

[@TheRealOzWookiee]

@Jonathan at 4:04 you say that you don't think it would be much effort to swap the GPS for the WorkingTitle one. I regret to inform you that you are incorrect. Whilst the WT has increased the user functionality of the GPS it has also caused nightmares for many developers to integrate and setup in their planes. (Speaking from experience). The developer Discord that Lionheart and I are members of has many pages of discussion on this topic. LOL. So much so, that instead of a hidden GNS530 in our Norseman, we put the 3000X instead as that was easier!

[@jonbeckett]

Maybe that's why then :)

[@jwilson0514]

Your reviews of planes are fantastic and you are my go to when reviewing MSFS planes now. Kinda getting tired of the worthless planes on the market that arent worth the money. Appreciate your reviews. Im pretty sure you fly in real life because you have alot of IRL training cues I picked up on. Anyway, Im digging the content of reviewed planes.

[@jonbeckett]

Not a real world pilot :)

[@arclight4625]

Like you said hopefully they fix the issues. It's a nice looking aircraft and the view from the cockpit is pretty good as well. Would be a nice plane to do some touring in. I think I'll wait till they do an update, but it's on my list, it would be nice to get the updated Garmin added. I sometimes wonder, just how many issues arise from other mod conflicts. I have probably 80-90% of the aircraft available for this Sim, short of some of those crappy addons in the marketplace, that I don't need to name . Not to mention probably 100 airports as well as the the ground mesh addons. Thats a lot of possible conflicts. I wouldn't want to be a developer for these flight sims...

[@jonbeckett]

Completely agree.

[@James-xt5cc]

The brightest landing lights on the planet. 😂😂 Indeed! Great review. As a huge GA fan. Nice looking aircraft. Not really familiar with the developer, but those "little" bugs you pointed out to us is just too much to ruin my sim. Ill keep an eye out for future updates and see where it goes. I do hope they are corrected though. As always your reviews much appreciated.

[@jonbeckett]

You're welcome :)

[@hobanagerik]

That’s a huge beacon light. 😮

[@Sekuru_Dread]

Wow Jonathan Thanks for the Video. It seems all these releases all have some major bugs. Is this the result of the culture of early access trends or just a disregard for quality as some of these Devs seem to not conform to higher quality standrds and be ever so willing to bring to market add-ons that do not perform within the Specifications of their actual real world counterparts.

[@GumperVanLier]

Second son of Krypton... LOL. That's a good one. The autopilot needs fixing before I would purchase it. Also, the price is too high. Needs to be around $15. I guess they'll fix it along with the beacon light. There are so many planes like this now so it really needs an update. Why the older 530; I don't get that. Although expensive, the steam gauge Baron is my favorite right now. Nothing comes close for small aircraft.

[@jonbeckett]

Yep - the black square aircraft are great

[@rolandgardiner3059]

Thanks Jonathan for another informative review. Might take a look if they fix the bugs.

[@jonbeckett]

Fingers crossed!

[@jmskelly59]

Thanks for the vid Jonathan. I suggest you try out their Quickie Q200. It's an absolute handful to land and a very quirky design. I have their Trinidad also but the Q200 is by far my favourite.

[@jonbeckett]

I'll take a look :)

[@normanbyrne9868]

Great review as always. That said, which would you prefer? This plane (the Lionheart Super Viking) or the Carenado Piper Archer?

[@jonbeckett]

Carenado.

[@hobanagerik]

For the 530, there is a WT addon on the MP to force it to use the WT 530 if the plane doesn’t natively support it.

[@jonbeckett]

I have it - or at least I think I do - that's why I was so surprised to see the legacy 530

[@gflo2781]

Interesting how you can release a product and not have tested these obvious features like the beacon light or AP pitch. It's an interesting enough aircraft, so I'll be keen to see how long a fix takes for the current bugs, as I may want it at some stage! As you say there seems to be a theme with annoying bugs in a lot of the recent releases, so I always try to find a good review (like this) before I consider purchasing anything lately!

[@jonbeckett]

It may be they need money to finish development - and the only easy way of doing that is to release it early. Maybe the marketplace needs a flag for "early access" or something ?

[@Squirel]

I hope they fix those little issues because it looks like a great GA plane.

[@jonbeckett]

It could be good :)

[@elpiloto100]

I think there has been an update that fixed a lot of the issues that you pointed out. Would you be able to do a quick re-review of this so we know if this is worth buying?

[@jonbeckett]

When I get around to it :)

[@garysmith5256]

Didn't wait for reviews but bought it straight off and spent several hours with it. Problems with autopilot: it's worthwhile to read the manual, included in the aircraft folder. The idiosyncrasies are explained, and it seems to me that it works quite well including ILS capture. There are a couple other known bugs explained as well. GPS: funny, I get the contemporary 530. And I'm not seeing the beacon on the panel... On the disappointing side: it appears that the manual is a not-quite-completely-converted revision of the FSX version. For example, I don't see the % power displayed when mouse hovering over the throttle knob, as promised. And that points to the real shame, because there's nothing on the panel. No EGT. The fuel flow will show variation with leaning but until it's pulled to near starvation there seems to be zero effect on engine performace. Maybe it is asking too much to build in at least some ability to foul things up or destroy them outright if the engine is operated in arcade game fashion but evidently not. Firewall it all day, run it full rich at 8000 ft, no problem... 😢 My other gripe is simple sound. Not a whit of difference window/door open or closed. Too picky given the price point? I don't think so. Those couple of little things set the difference between "game mode" and the immersive simulation that all of MSFS is trying (successfully) to achieve. The Viking is otherwise such a masterpiece. Would it be so difficult to make it just that bit more true to life?

[@AlphaIndigo]

"Second son of Krypton"

[@perpetualomega]

I bought this in FSX, i loved it. It was my daily driver. This just looks horrendous.

[@jonbeckett]

We will have wait and see :)

[@mr.ros-gamerbr1511]

😉

[@RedRuffinsore]

Am I misremembering that the original Bellanca Viking had a metal wing, but fabric covered fuselage?

[@jonbeckett]

Not sure ?

[@RedRuffinsore]

@@jonbeckett From Wikipedia..."The aircraft fuselage is constructed from tubular steel overlaid with fabric, while the wings are fashioned from spruce with a plywood skin"

[@localizer363]

I don't understand how the developer can release a plane with such obvious bugs like this one has. I also think all of the gauges look too washed out. Kind of like the sun is shining on the panel, even in the shade. I do hope the developer straightens out this aircraft because I would purchase it if everything was fixed.

[@jonbeckett]

I agree

[@nickarthurnight1019]

SECOND SUN OF KRYPTON!!! LOL

[@JacobTJ1]

do you fly vr?

[@jonbeckett]

Nope

[@JacobTJ1]

@@jonbeckett you should try

[@ZiggyAir]

Why would anyone buy it when there are plenty well done planes that also fly very well.

[@mikecoffee100]

indeed whyy

[@hobanagerik]

You could ask that of any release.

[@jonbeckett]

That's going to be the challenge for all developers going forwards - the bar is getting higher and higher in terms of what is expected, and acceptable.

[@ZiggyAir]

@@jonbeckett yeah, and we need to push that bar up.

[@mikecoffee100]

@@jonbeckett The people have spoken.

[@donaldholman9070]

What a shame.

[@johnglubney3228]

I bought this and it's completely unflyable. On takeoff, the tail comes up and flips the plane over nose first.

[@jonbeckett]

It's difficult sure - but not impossible :)