Small but oh so mighty! First Look Just Flight PA38T Tomahawk (MSFS)

Best in class for stall turn! 11:18 For those who like models with accurate flight dynamics! Walkaround feature 02:20 Startup 04:29 Takeoff 08:09 Aerobatics 09:59 Spinning 13:03 Night 14:11 Downwind Land 15:10 Forced Landing 17:07 A little gem of an aircraft flown from Land's End (EGHC). Let me know what you think.
Just Flight PA-38T (MSFS): www.justflight.com/in-develop...
#cgaviator #realpilot #msfs

[@cgaviator]

🚨 ALL TECHNIQUES FOR FLIGHT SIM ONLY! NOT FOR REAL FLIGHT!

[@quaser2000]

I used to fly this exact real world aircraft at British Airways Flying Club, Booker, in the 1980’s. Lovely aeroplane however you really wouldn’t have wanted to do aerobatics in it, or spinning. Great little aeroplane. Thanks for the video.

[@cgaviator]

I believe that! But give me a challenge and I’ll accept! 😂

[@ItsMe-nk7mx]

Me too, first flight in it in summer 1998.

[@nothinglessness]

This brings back fond memories of learning to fly in a Tommy at Teesside 23 years ago! The school definitely did not allow spinning in them though but later as an instructor I did and seem to remember the tail being rather flexy 😬

[@cgaviator]

Perhaps I should have look backwards! 😬

[@Retset]

I did my optional spin training (optional - oh, yes please, I opt!) on one of these and later, as an instructor, had the pleasure of taking up students who wanted their optional spin training. Spins like a top! A chunk load of power and opposite aileron can make things go rather blurred!! They seem to have got this little aircraft absolutely bang on and the spin really looked like a spin. Another gem (as you said) from Just Flight.

[@cgaviator]

Agreed and agreed! I remember 6 turns in the Tucano would have it bucking like a bronco! Was always fun to provide the calm talk through while the world was a spinning blur!

[@maxwellcrestborne4251]

Brilliant! I'm def buying one. PS what's a good add-on thats a true Shorts Tucano simulation? There's the RPSimul. Embraer Tucano, but also the Iris PC-21. Have you a recommendation? + Thanks Very Much for all your brilliant videos!!

[@davidtsw]

You did a great job demonstrating how to fly this thing. Clearly JF cooked up something special and well done to you for showing the community how good the handling of this plane is. Gonna have to decide between this, the Da40 from COWS or whatever A2A release for my next plane!

[@cgaviator]

Depends how quick you wanna fly I guess! Good luck deciding!

[@belgeode]

Been hearing a loooot of good things about this bird. I am buckled up and watching!

[@cgaviator]

🫡

[@rjs1138]

This looks great, fantastic attention to detail and a nice little tool for sightseeing. Thanks for the preview! 👌🇬🇧

[@cgaviator]

Pleasure!

[@jordandegraaff]

I would enjoy seeing you fly an airliner too. Although, you can fly the military variants of this big planes. We need to see you do aerobatics in those.

[@cgaviator]

Check my video where I do crazy stuff in the Antonov! 😅

[@user-jc5uf7nh5z]

Another lovely video.Thank you Chris. Regards Rob

[@cgaviator]

My pleasure, a bit more chill, back to basics

[@pcwizardman]

Did a lot of flying in this aircraft back in the day so I too hold it in fond regard. It will definitely be a purchase for me!

[@cgaviator]

I’m always a sucker for that reason! Gotta be done!

[@pcwizardman]

Me too

[@Charles_Bro-son]

These are such awesome graphics.

[@cgaviator]

Excellent modelling for sure! Expect nothing less from Just Flight 👍🏻

[@petercrowhurst]

Looks awesome. Your video's are really good quality Chris.

[@cgaviator]

Appreciate you saying, takes a lot of editing!

[@Erny_Module]

Fabulous! Chock full of useful info, highly entertaining and a brilliant showcase for the aircraft. Enormous thanks for continuing to provide such excellent vids - very much appreciated!

[@cgaviator]

Very kind of you to say, thanks! My pleasure 👍🏻

[@monostripeexplosiveexplora2374]

I like that you ask the core question on the Traumahawk right in the title.. thumbs up for that!

[@cgaviator]

Figured it was the question to answer! 😅

[@VRFlightSimGuy]

One the best hammerheads I've ever seen in MSFS. Great video sir!

[@cgaviator]

Why thank you! Saw yours also, great stuff 👍🏻 Need to get myself a motion rig. Are you heading to FSExpo?

[@airandrace]

We might make a glider pilot out of you yet 😀, nice forced landing. Love the spin too. Fab video as always and we're big fans of Just Flight. We'll pick a few of these up for our Air Cadets (handling looks more realistic than the (still great to have) Iris Tutor), thanks as always for ideas on the techniques we can teach them with an aircraft like this. Spin recovery lessons coming up.

[@cgaviator]

Never had the pleasure of gliding! And gladly, whenever I’ve had an engine failure, I had another one to back it up! 😅

[@tadman79]

CG, your enthusiasm is contageous! I sure didn't like my 5 hours 20 in this aluminium airbubble in flight school. I much preferred the PA-28.

[@cgaviator]

I was a PA28 man myself!

[@EdgcumbePhoto]

When I learnt in this thing, 70kts was the speed that we used for climbing and descending. One of my instructors at Goodwood would turn the mixture off when doing a forced landing on to the field. The tower got a little vexed if they spotted the prop stopping during the roll out before we added mixture back!

[@cgaviator]

😅 OMG… I bet! Bold move!

[@Jimbo-in-Thailand]

👍👍cgaviator - Nice review! My older brother and I both took initial Private Pilot training in nearly new Tomahawks waay back in 1979 at a flight school at the Huntsville, Alabama Jetport. I soloed in Tomahawk N9723T IIRC and that was a proud day! I loved the little low wing Tomahawk with its bubble type canopy offering excellent visibility and feeling much more fighter-like than the lethargic ubiquitous C-150/152. Even back then some pilots complained about the new Tomahawk's (spin?) behavior and I couldn't understand why as it was so easy to fly. Stalls were a breeze but I remember having to be quick on the rudder to avoid a spin. I do remember the free-castering nose wheel tended to shimmy a little on one of the models I flew, but that was very minor. Sadly the Tomahawk apparently didn't appeal to everyone and that's a shame that Piper eventually stopped production. Yep, I'll definitely pick up this Just Flight version for old time sh*ts & grins!😁😁😁

[@cgaviator]

Don’t make em like they used to! As long as you treat them right, aircraft tend to behave!

[@haroldnicholson8603]

Beautiful video as always Chris, thank you. After a long love-in with A2A C172 and Comanche, I have been sold on the Diamond DA40 as a light single, but this looks Seriously good . Might be tempted when I get the sim back up. Take care.

[@cgaviator]

Too much temptation! Looking forward to seeing what your simpit looks like when fully updated!

[@jamfjord]

Fantastic walkthrough, cheers. No exaggeration to say I've been waiting almost four years for this aircraft, it was top of my list when MSFS 2020 was first released. This video brought back some great memories. Your aerobatics section was a lot of fun to watch... although for most of it I'm pretty sure I could hear my instructor somewhere shouting "HASELL checks, HASELL CHECKS!!" 😅

[@cgaviator]

Haha, thanks, really appreciate it. Enjoy it!

[@thisisadebrown]

What a lovely little aircraft

[@cgaviator]

Yes indeed

[@Wingineer]

Looking forward to this. I learnt to fly in one of these G-OEDB.

[@cgaviator]

I bet there’s a few who’ve had some time in this ‘beast!’

[@4secsharkmr352]

❤excellent plane❤ thx for the review

[@cgaviator]

My pleasure! A joy to fly!

[@Russell_G]

Love this review, had an hour or two in the Tomahawk...great fun they are too, thankfully never spun it!

[@cgaviator]

I used to teach spinning, it’s all good

[@BravoAlfaZulu]

you are the best, love it! :)

[@cgaviator]

Very kind, thanks! 🙏🏻

[@geebee2262]

Amazing video as always. A must buy for me, low and slow, Just Flight and a good review from yourself, why wouldn't I buy it! 👍😁🖖

[@cgaviator]

Too kind, thanks!

[@DCSHacks]

Lot of fun!

[@cgaviator]

Plenty!

[@digital_aviator]

Thank you for demonstrating a proper stall and spin. Would love to see an incipient spin, where you hold back, input aileron, keep straight with opposite rudder and see how she handles. Should snap roll beyond 90 degrees to about 120 degrees. Should be able to recover within 200' if you're on the ball. Of course you won't have the effect of hanging in the straps at home tho.

[@cgaviator]

I have been meaning to but never found a model that does it properly. This may change things!

[@Karibanu]

Have tried it, easy recovery. Actually overdid the recovery & went into a full spin the other way, but got out of that in half a rotation too.

[@caiazzo123]

Loverly aircraft Chris ❤

[@cgaviator]

Can’t take the credit I’m afraid! 😁

[@garryadams67]

Looked like St Just airfield at Lands End UK Chris nice aircraft great for sightseeing 😎👍

[@cgaviator]

Yup, EGHC, thanks 👍🏻

[@antonioiozzi4301]

I have all JF Pipers and this will be an instant buy. Love old school aircrafts. No G1000 just normal traditional gauges. WOW

[@cgaviator]

Yeah, I’m not a fan of the 1000! 😅

[@andrewgilbert9108]

That looked like a whole lot of fun. Just Flight do make a great aircraft and it's nice to see them looking at smaller subjects as well as airliners etc. What scenery package were you using ? It looked fantastic, a wonderful little airfield to fly into. Have you seen the work by NZA at all ? They are making some incredible sceneries down in New Zealand, local areas as well as some beautiful airfields. This Tomahawk would work perfectly sight seeing and bush flying down there. Anyway, great video. I had a blast watching you chuckle your way around the pattern.

[@cgaviator]

I have got the scenery but haven’t ventured there as yet! High on my todo list!

[@Briggsy435]

Great video … foi I will be playing with that window all flight

[@cgaviator]

😁

[@seanbauer3623]

Did my spin training in these for my instructor rating years ago. The tail buffets around like mad. Subsequently had a student spin me during a stalling lesson also in a Tomahawk.

[@cgaviator]

So it would easily enter a spin from the stall? Everything I span in need a lot of persuading! 😅

[@seanbauer3623]

No, deliberate spinning required full elevator and full rudder until established in the spin. In terms of the inadvertent spin with the student, short version of the story is we were doing power and flap stalls to the wingdrop. For whatever reason (I think he was trying to preempt which wing was going to drop), the student stomped on the rudder INTO the wingdrop then tried to pick the wing up with aileron. I think we went through maybe two and a half revolutions before I recovered the aircraft. That plus the altitude loss pulling out of the subsequent dive worked out to about 2000ft of altitude loss. I had 10 hours instructing time at the time haha@@cgaviator

[@cgaviator]

@@seanbauer3623 haha… students will always teach you something new!

[@64Pete]

Nice bird, think I'll pick it up. Cheers! ✌🇦🇺

[@cgaviator]

🍻

[@flymachine]

Did some training on the THawk If I dropped the pilot window that it bounced like that my instructor would swat me with his rolled up papers - same thing for timid rudder application - we never spun though.

[@cgaviator]

😂 Paper swatting, now there’s a technique I never used! Perhaps I should have!

[@digital_aviator]

Speeds for the Tomahawk. 55 KIAS rotate. 70 KIAS climb out should give 500' per min (* it's actually less than the manual due to engines being older), approach speed is 70 KIAS. Fuel pump on for take off, turn off at 500' AGL. The beauty is if IRL you do 70 KIAS on take off and do a 2 minute turn, you will end up on reciprocal heading at exactly 1000' AGL. I have over 56 hours in the Tomahawk and know it intimately.

[@cgaviator]

Beautiful, thanks!

[@Medge2sc]

Nice to see the Liverpool flying school liveries making an appearance

[@cgaviator]

I should have explored more than one

[@Medge2sc]

I learnt to fly in the trauma hawk , brings back a lot of memories

[@cgaviator]

I bet!

[@Medge2sc]

@@cgaviator those grubby yokes are pretty realistic , they got the wing drop on a stall very accurate aswell Can’t wait to have a go I remember just flight used to have a package for fsx with the tomahawk, warrior , arrow and Seneca. As that was the route I was taking it was great at the time , would be good to see it again as the aircraft I did my first solo was modelled in it

[@epictetus8028]

Learned to fly in a Tomahawk - kept screaming "carb heat" at you :)

[@cgaviator]

lol, k realised after I’d finished the edit, figured someone would out me right! 😅

[@ianjeff22]

Hey, I've a quick (probably simpleton type) question re MSFS and Track IR, how the blazers do you stop the highly irritating clipping thing, where if you look around, you end up looking through the seat etc!? All the vids you share, this never happens, so wondered if there is a sort of, magic key you can press to prevent it?

[@cgaviator]

Magic… not so much. Perhaps make sure your view isn’t too wide, maybe reset your camera position slightly forward? Or recenter while you sit further back than usual 👍🏻

[@edwardsp1916]

Looking forward to this. Did the oil temp rise too quick though?

[@cgaviator]

Never looked! 🫣

[@delta558]

It probably did, but there's three lines to control oil temp change and it does both increase and decrease. It looked far worse dropping off suddenly when you shut things down!!

[@timpaterson2872]

Leave the window alone Chris , you will break it ! Thanks as ever, great fun in a small plane. Have you seen the Icon ??

[@cgaviator]

Haha, like a cat and a ball of yarn! 😅 The Icon is fun, just which it wasn’t a default aircraft so it had more detail

[@njyde]

What hardware are you using for the head-tracking? Great video!

[@cgaviator]

TrackIR 👍🏻 Thanks

[@ImpendingJoker]

Not a bad little aircraft but in reference to your comment about living aircraft, I don't think it holds a candle to the A2A Comanche 250. That aircraft is ~the bar for GA aircraft, and this doesn't come close to it. Now I am not personally a fan of the Comanche rl but there is no better GA aircraft in MSFS currently. I can only hope that when the Black Square Dukes can give A2A some competition.

[@cgaviator]

True, there are levels depending on how deep people want to go. The Duke looks to be incredibly detailed!

[@CambsPilot]

Oddly strong opinion given that you haven't flown our PA38 yet but I agree that the A2A aircraft are class leading. Fortunately that doesn't mean that all other GA aircraft can't be more than 'not bad' though, and the feedback has been great so far. Martyn - Just Flight

[@thegermangamer7712]

I have to agree that the Comanche still is the bar. But this aircraft checks all the boxes of a nice add on. I’m very happy that developers like just flight are keeping the market competitive. Engine start could be a little more realistic but I’m a huge fan of the walk around. Great job Just Flight this will be a day one purchase for me!

[@Karibanu]

Yes, the Comanche is wonderfully done, but I don't fly it very much because... well, it's a Comanche. I'm somewhat reluctant to get a Tomahawk too no matter how good it is, because it's a Tomahawk and I'd not really pick one to fly if it wasn't for familiarisation ( unless there's a 180hp version somewhere :p ) Looks good enough to buy to subsidise JF's creation of quirky aircraft even if it mostly sits in the hangar. Oh for a Chipmunk this quality, or some version of Grob.

[@cgaviator]

@@Karibanu the IRIS Tutor is good

[@WhiteHawk77]

My father had an experience flight for his birthday in a Tomahawk at Swansea airport some years ago, I’ll be picking this up and hope someone will be willing to do the livery for it.

[@cgaviator]

I’m sure plenty will!

[@phil_nicholls]

Have you ever looked back at the tail of a Tomahawk when spinning? It's something that might keep you looking forward for the rest of the flight - frightening. And I remember reading an accident report of one of these having failed to recover from a spin - both control columns were deformed by the instructor and stude's grip as they speared in - they were gripping it that tightly! Not my favourite aircraft TBF!

[@cgaviator]

Yikes!

[@longbiowsix]

and similar incidents is why intentional spins are not allowed today. (@2000 instructional hours on the T tailed beast). Gutsy spin that low. I puckered.

[@cgaviator]

@@longbiowsix I used to teach spinning on the Tucano. Thankfully more benign, and done up at 10-12000ft. A lot of fun!

[@phil_nicholls]

@@cgaviator also used to teach spinning in aircraft more suited to it - and still think it should be taught today, but sadly CAA think otherwise. Though when it comes to the Tomahawk, I’m happy to side with them!

[@Blxz]

Great handling of an otherwise finicky plane. Best glidespeed is 70kt but pretty close guess on your part.

[@cgaviator]

Thanks, much appreciated appreciated 👍🏻

[@peterbassey9668]

First real spin I’m seeing on MSFS to be honest. I’m getting this soon as it comes out.

[@cgaviator]

It’s simple but done so very right!

[@Karibanu]

Ants products - the Tiger Moth and the WInjeel ( I still don't think Chris has looked at that even after some attempts at persuasion :p ) - do a pretty valiant effort & they're both lovely to fly even if they're rather dated graphically. The Comanche does too as you'd expect but why would you want to spin a Comanche...

[@cgaviator]

@@Karibanu if I didn’t have a day job..! 😁

[@MrMonkeyTrousers]

Anyone else hoping for the Mach Loop? 🤪😇 Another great video, thanks. 😁

[@cgaviator]

My pleasure. It would take a while around the loop!

[@Karibanu]

KZbin has a 12hr limit on uploads :p

[@cgaviator]

@@Karibanu 😂

[@MrMonkeyTrousers]

@@Karibanu

[@GuardianSmurf]

Spinning at 1500ft AGL - no fear! Got my PPL training in a '38 many moons ago - no aerobatics included..

[@cgaviator]

I can understand why! 😅

[@Karibanu]

Iron Eagle taught me it's perfectly safe to roll at 20ft agl! Did you manage to get in any unrecoverable situation?

[@cgaviator]

Never! 💪🏻 Not this time anyway!

[@monostripeexplosiveexplora2374]

Never say die, Iron Eagle!

[@Karibanu]

Well, gave it a spin ( not literally yet! ), it... has issues. Yaw is *absurdly* effective on the ground & at slow speed - like twitch your toes & go everywhere effective - & then just disappears at speed, and it's somewhat the same for pitch. Handling overall is just eh, it's not hyper snappy like the worst MSFS stuff but it does feel more like a toy than a flexing aircraft, it's just dull and linear like the updated PA-28s are but needs less control movement. And it literally vibrates in turbulence, like someone's stuck it on the end of a ruler & twanged it, rather than bumping. I'll do some aerobatics later & see if I can break physics, but I can't see me flying this for fun. It's good in a spin, I'll give it that, like the Winjeel. I've chatted to the couple of pa38 pilots I know, both said it shouldn't fly in a straight line & it's impossible to trim out, which is certainly not true of this one which is dead in roll and bizarrs around the tail...

[@saintuk70]

I wonder what First Class service is like on this BA flight ? ;)

[@cgaviator]

Haha, full galley service including champers inverted! 😂

[@pi.actual]

The Tomahawk will spin just fine it's just that under certain conditions it won't stop.

[@cgaviator]

Never a good thing!

[@joshowenaviation]

has it been released on their website

[@cgaviator]

🤷🏻‍♂️

[@joshowenaviation]

@@cgaviator I did check on justflight it’s still in development so howd u get it

[@joshowenaviation]

It’s in development on their website did u get early access

[@cgaviator]

@@joshowenaviation correct, pre-release preview 👍🏻😁

[@ColinDyckes]

Your deadstick landing is exactly what I was taught not to do in real life 😂. Seemed to work in the sim. Is it realistic?

[@cgaviator]

As mentioned, that wasn’t a good one! Far too tight round final. High key low key is the way forward

[@jciwallcrawler3673]

This aircraft is ‘dont judge a book by its cover’ when its comes to manoeuvrability

[@cgaviator]

Agreed! Well put 👍🏻

[@grahamthebaronhesketh.]

DUDE! I did 550 parachute jumps....None of them were in VR. Have you ever jumped out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft?

[@cgaviator]

Why on earth would I do that!?! 😂

[@grahamthebaronhesketh.]

@@cgaviator I expected you to say that!

[@cgaviator]

@@grahamthebaronhesketh. hate to disappoint!

[@JDSleeper]

It feels like A2A raised the bar for GA.

[@cgaviator]

It raised the bar, but Volvos are still very nice cars even though Ferraris exist! 😂

[@Jigsaw407]

Instabuy!

[@cgaviator]

👍🏻

[@jjsmallpiece9234]

Never mind this light stuff nonsense - more T Mk1 time required.

[@cgaviator]

Yeah, I will swing back to some T1 time eventually! Been a while! 😅

[@jjsmallpiece9234]

@@cgaviator Only my old lot have them now 13 or so with the Reds. Rest were put out to grass a couple of years ago. Old XX306 (ex Reds jet) is now in the carpark at Leeming Bar motorway services on the A1, with kids climbing all over it, as I saw the other day. I can go and take a look anytime, only 25mins away When I was at Valley it was regular to put 30-40 T Mk1s out every day for your guys to break

[@cgaviator]

@@jjsmallpiece9234 I didn’t break any! Ish! 😅

[@jjsmallpiece9234]

@@cgaviator Now I know you are fibbing. The 'best' faults were POE, recorded in the F700 - Pilot Operating Error - no fault found 😬😄

[@cgaviator]

@@jjsmallpiece9234 I’ve had a few of those! 😂

[@swedishbones8937]

This is not a jet, Chris! What happened?

[@cgaviator]

😅 As explained, sometimes it’s nice to go back to grass roots! 😉

[@martinsaviationlife2690]

Best glide speed is not 60 knots

[@ladderman2255]

You need a better mic

[@cgaviator]

Is that an offer? 🫣

[@grahamthebaronhesketh.]

I have to say I did not think much of the real thing.

[@cgaviator]

Always nicer in the safety of your own home!

[@grahamthebaronhesketh.]

@@cgaviator I flew one of Singhs at Biggen hill and I did not like it. Good for spinning so I am told.

[@chrisg9627]

Do NOT USE THIS SPIN RECOVERY ON THE REAL AIRCRAFT ... you will die. Spins in the Pa38 should not be practised below 5000' agl, like wise stalls, because these can quickly become spins. I did almost 10 years teaching on these lovely aircraft, but they demand respect, it is not a Cessna 150.

[@cgaviator]

Valid point, I’ll pin that advice to the top 👍🏻

[@wollyxl]

Been a long time waiting but its gonna be awsome, its the tomahawk 2 only differance is 6.00 tyers ralthen 5.00, and an oil cooler. Oh dont forget to prime it, 4 pumps. 🫡

[@cgaviator]

🫡 Roger that!