Posts by Overloaded

Quote from Redtail

Ah my backyard

You must be from the NY area. With the exception of Gabreski, I've flown from Republic to every airport on that area of the sectional, several times IRL. Got my Tailwheel endorsement at Brookhaven. Learning VOR navigation and triangulation was fun when I was in flight school (before GPS). I never really cared for the NDB.

There will always be a residual core of VOR and ILS stations kept on to keep the system working in the event of a satnav outage. Big plane inertial reference systems are not precise enough with error increasing over time. It’s prudent to use all the navaids available in a plane, just to be sure.

I never flew in the U.S., used a SkyVector NYC chart in a search for convenient funny VORs. Here is a VOR listing example from the UK Airpilot. Look at how far out Jersey VOR had got before its update. The magnetic north pole movement has increased greatly so out of date VOR variation will become a bigger effect.

One way to get accurate sim VOR navigation is to look up the published VOR variation and compare it the local sim variation, presuming that the sim database is up to date. Another way is to plot a long track over the VOR north arrow in SkyVector and observe any difference from local magnetic north. Real world protractors are used over the VORs in paper charts. Estimating the plotted radial using the VOR compass rose in SkyVector is probably good enough. Published fixed routes work fine.

Sorry to disagree, the VOR radials are based on the last survey and recalibration of the station which might have been done many years previously. Look up SkyVector and you can see nearby VORs where the track between them gives radials which are several degrees off a simple reciprocal e.g. not 360 and 180.

The VOR must be used with the printed north extended arrow symbol, not using a track plotted against true north from a nearby meridian and corrected for local magnetic variation or using an electronic direct plot such as with SkyVector or the Aerofly navigation feature.

If you use an aviation chart the track must be plotted off the printed VOR symbol magnetic north arrow.

A very long flight can take you into an area with a different magnetic variation so two perfectly calibrated VORs can show non reciprocal radials.

Published routes with radials give the proper bearings for the VOR in use.

This example from the New York area shows a massive 2 degree difference over only 44 miles. The expected pairs would have been 235/055 and 053/233. This format is typical of a radio nav chart or a SID or STAR plate. An approximate radial can be read off the VOR compass rose, Deer Park outbound here looks between 050 and 060 degrees.

Quote from Jet-Pack

The headings that you find in our aircraft are all magnetic and account for the 15 degree difference between true and magnetic north.

Correct in the SFO area, magnetic variation is zero in part of Switzerland. The VOR symbol north arrows there point straight up. Aerofly local variation is correct world wide.

A full set of cockpit controls would be nice, the Cessna type working engine mixture would be welcome.

The FS/FS1 version must have been very early as there is no seperate prop control even though it is available in FS. Just Flight will surely do a big improvement for the FS2 version.

I looked up real world Duchess pilot’s notes and it is flown with higher than usual power settings, the recommended cruise is 24” of throttle with between 2,500 and 2,300 rpm. The 180 hp engines have to work hard with the weight of a complex light twin’s equipment. The FS Duchess flies alright with these higher than what would be intuitive power settings (allowing for the non simulated independent propellor controls).

Quote from J van E

Official Just Flight's Duchess 76 AFS2 page

Just had a look at a real world photo of the G-BZRT and I really LOVE how the plane in the sim seems to be a 100% copy of that real world plane! Up to the smallest detail! Nice!

The velcro strips on the instrument panel are for the UK CAA’s instrument rating training blind flying screens which totally block the outside view to the left seater but which are angled so as to provide a normal view to the instructor or examiner in the right seat.

It would be brilliant if they could be simulated in the new Duchess. The screens could be a view option with perhaps in addition, the screen ‘letterbox’ which was opened at the ILS decision height to allow the student to land the twin (always flying with a simulated failed engine🤢).

No simple head hood cheating there!

Quote from Jet-Pack

Because that part was not updated with that update... or did you see it in the notes

Oh I see! Well I won’t remember the (initially) stealthy (PC only) P-38 throttle closed elevator authority fix then .

Mixture in all the piston planes would be nice Jan.

beta

My 2 GB GTX950 crashes with VULKAN and a high/ultra graphics mix but I would have expected that anyway.

The 737 manual ADF tuner still does not work (it really would need working audio ident's to be trustworthy).

The VULKAN lower shadow quality giant shadow segment is still present in external views but not in cockpit view.

Brilliant! Autojohn.

I have a twin throttle joystick and rudder pedals. I have left throttle setup as throttle and right as collective. Thirty plus years ago I had manual twist throttle flying an Enstrom F-28. The instructor didn't teach or the helicopter lacked governor. I have enabled the governor on/off switch on my joystick to enable manual throttle flying and better mountain flying in FS2.

I use FS2 trim a lot to keep the cyclic spring force as low as possible for light finger tip control.

I get the impression that the more basic devices listed struggle a bit. With future developments tending to be more demanding I’d suggest going higher than the base level devices. Hopefully 2019 will expand significantly before too long, extra storage space might be useful in the future.

Quote from autojohn

Here's my list:

- functioning carb heat

- I've only flown at 2 airports, but there are no windsocks

- the flare is too weak

- the yaw when reintroducing throttle at the bottom of an auto is too much

- The acceleration is a bit off. It picks up at about 21.5 " which is fine, but then won't accelerate to 60 uless you add power.

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Are you experienced in flying real world R-22s Autojohn? My helicopter time is very limited and is from many years ago so I would eagerly welcome real world pilot input assistance to get the FS2 R-22 simulation as genuinely authentic as possible.

I actually called into a R-22 school a few years ago to get some fresh time in, thankfully there was no-one in💰

Quote from Jet-Pack

How can I reproduce this?

Place myself 15 nm out with the location dialog and then fly it towards the runway?

The mutinous copilot was active if a similar flight path route was present in the navigation page even though the 737 was flown manually. This uncommanded throttle activity was present in repeat manual flights which shared the destination runway with the inactive route.

With the route deleted and a (clearing?) Cessna flight carried out from a new airport followed by a 737 flight from a third airport the throttles were perfectly normal in an all manual flight.

A repeat no-route 737 flight into the original airport runway also had normal throttles.

The 737 is quite bad, if you pull power 15 miles out to get 180 knots and flaps 5 ... all in manual, the mutinous virtual copilot opens up the throttles again. No autoflight involved from fresh boot and 2019 start.

Quote from Redtail

I got my tailwheel endorsement and basic aerobatic course in the Super Decathlon as well. It's the only TW airplane I've flown, but boy the most fun plane as well!

My first hands on aerobatics was in the earlier Citabria version, ‘airbatic’ spelt backwards. It was my first time starting a fuel injected engine, I had to, the instructor in the back seat didn’t have the full engine controls so I had to fuel pump prime her and start her initially in idle cut off. It seemed so strange, sophisticated and high tech’ at the time. We did nearly all the flying inverted, out of Moorabbin in Melbourne, Australia

There was talk of FS2 getting a Ju 52/3m, possibly from outside.

The NASA Foilsim program has unfortunately died with Java but a simplified version is working off their web site. The pressure distribution across the chord isn't available but lift and drag for various aerofoils can be demonstrated. I tried a 3% thickness 2% camber foil to represent a propellor blade. The relative airflow direction hitting the blade depends on the airspeed and propellor rotation speed, imagine the airflow coming from say a nominal 45 degrees.

The pics represent the lift and drag of a prop in cruise, feathered and windmilling at low rpm with the relative airflow approaching the blade stall. The numbers are arbitrary and the relative wind is simplified but it gives an idea of how disasterous it is to have a failed feather in the event of an engine failure. The windmilling prop has an enormous rearwards thrust and the drag keeps the rotation speed low maintaining the coarse negative angle of attack on the blade.

Thanks for the fun video Roy. You need to assign prop speed keys or buttons in the control menu to get proper engine noise variation. The only change you had there would be from the low throttle automatic constant speed prop control hitting the maximum fine pitch stops where any further reduction in throttle/manifold pressure would result in a fall of engine rpm.

I'm sure you have it settled now but the power set controls your rate of descent as well as speed. The cockpit airspeed indicator reads in mph not like the knots top display. 110 mph with half flap is good for finals, full flap over the fence at 100 mph, flaring at about 95 mph should work well.

(For constant speed propellor planes use the manifold pressure gauges to set power. 15 to 10 inches is a low range for slowing and descent. It is not simulated but 40 to 50 would be real world full power settings in supercharged or turbocharged planes like the P-38 and Corsair).

REALLY LOUD drone from unsynchronised prop speeds in variable pitch/constant speed multis would be nice. Engine nacelle noise isn’t that variable, constant speed prop’ exhaust noise change is noticable on opening the throttle for take off, less so in flight and the exhaust outlet location can affect cockpit noise. Don’t some big brother administrations demand light aircraft silencers/mufflers!

Quote from aero4428

My sense is part of the issue is related to what you mentioned -- the RPM is staying too high even at relatively low manifold pressure settings. I.e., the engine in real life has more of a braking effect than what is currently being modeled. I am going to see what RPM the actual plane drops to at 11 inches MP and 110 mph -- the conditions from abeam the numbers and base leg.

And the anti rotation drag from the ‘flicked angle’ airflow encountering what resembles the wing of the FS2 Sopwith Camel flying inverted.

An airflow driven flater pitch blade acts like an upside down thin cambered wing so the airflow on the rear/reverse side will be flowing against unstable, increasing then decreasing pressure unless the rpm and airspeed dependent coarse relative flow direction totally stalls the blade. The rotating blade will be generating significant ‘lift’ in the reverse direction unless the engine stops when the simple turbulent flow past the blades will produce less rearwards force.

I tried Xplane 10 mobile on a pretty powerful Google Pixel C tablet and it was a constant crashing pain. With the long wait for the Aero helicopter I gave it one last chance on an iPad Pro 9.7" and it worked perfectly. I regret buying a high end android tablet especially as android FS2 development froze just as I got it!

Brilliant Jan !

The reverse levers would twitch up and hard back down again at about 10% throttle if a control axis was assigned to reverse thrust.

I deleted my (blue) control axis for throttle and found a sneaky unselected rudder pedals (via an analog to usb adapter) (orange) duplicate input on the throttle axis. With the orange axis deleted everything is back to normal.

BIG, BIG THANK YOU Jan.

And there were hidden orange inputs in elevator and aileron, my helicopter hover has gone from embarrassing to pretty good INSTANTLY Ha ha ha!

Thanks again.

“Centre view for VR” now constantly regenerates as key ‘SPACE’ which had been my prefered reverse thrust assignment. Is this new since the update?

I have tried to delete my current reverse thrust key and have checked the entire multi-page control setup menu for duplications and cannot find duplications of ‘SPACE’ or any of my replacement alternative reverse thrust assigned keys or buttons.

I have tried to assign either a joystick button or a different unique key (page down or B) as reverse thrust and I cannot get it to work. I cannot move the reverse levers with the mouse drag or mouse wheel either.

I only had one reverse key or button assigned at one time.