Although most of the F4U instrument gauges are functional, the fuel gauge seems to never change from 145 gallons. Are there any plans for IPACS to make fuel gauges functional, and to have the possibility of running out of fuel with an engine out? This would make X-country flying more interesting, especially with variable wind direction, velocity, and turbulence.
F4U Fuel Gauge stuck at 145 gallons?
-
-
Totally agree
-
Are there any plans for IPACS to make fuel gauges functional, and to have the possibility of running out of fuel with an engine out?
I am sure there are plans for that but for now fuel flow isn't simulated in any plane. Even the planes that do have a 'working' fuel gauge still keep flying when the guage reaches zero. There also isn't a difference in weight at any time: when you land your plane will weigh just as much as when you took off. So fuel flow isn't simulated in any way right now. I am sure IPACS will look at it sometime in the (far away) future.
-
- Official Post
Fuel flow is simulated in some planes but fuel mass currently does not decrease.
E.g. the A320 and Learjet 45 both have working fuel systems, their fuel quantites decrease over time. But that does not yet kill the engines.
-
Hi jan
As the Starfighter also has working fuel systems is there any way to reduce the mass
Steve
-
- Official Post
Trust me if there was an option it would be in there
We want to add that in, the physics is the easy part. Creating a menu to refuel each aircraft and visualize which tank has which fuel - that will take most of the time.
-
Trust me if there was an option it would be in there
We want to add that in, the physics is the easy part. Creating a menu to refuel each aircraft and visualize which tank has which fuel - that will take most of the time.
Yes, and CG shifts have to be modeled as well. But as a start, modeling just the drop in fuel over time and an engine-out on empty would be great. Wing and main tanks can be treated as one fuel system, draining together at a fixed rate. Having a GUI for managing all tanks separately can wait. As for control of fuel level at take-off: either have it be 100% or provide a control setting where the user can specify the % of fuel capacity wanted.
While it would be desirable to model the rate of fuel consumption based on power settings, altitude, etc., that can wait as well, replying instead of the rate for cruise flight.
-
- Official Post
Yes, and CG shifts have to be modeled as well.
If mass of the fuel tanks decrease that automatically decreases the total mass of the aircraft, the cg automatically shifts and the inertia is reduced. All this happens automatically because of how we simulate the mass. That means if you have tip tanks and drain them first you can have less roll inertia than if you had drained the same amount of fuel from the center tanks. or if you forget to switch left/right you get a serious fuel imbalance, etc. All that will happen automatically once we implement it. No need to fake it just pure physics simulation.
-
Mixture in all the piston planes would be nice Jan.
-
No need to fake it just pure physics simulation.
Music to my ears, Jan. You guys are the best...