L749 Propeller Reversing not Working in VC

[ottero4]

First Post.

I found the L749 and the L1049 early in December when the L749 was released. Great flying aircraft on FSX SP2. You need to be commnended for your work.

I fly the aircraft exclusively in the VC and find only one control to land the aircraft not working. The propeller reversing does not work. It does work in the 2D panel but not the VC. It's a little awkward to land in the VC then switch to the 2D panel after landing just for this last step.

Most of the airports I land the Connie at have 7000+ foot runways so this is not a problem but going into KSFF (Felts Field near Spokane, Wa) with only 6000 ft uses most of the runway when only brakes are available. This is near home and was the original International airport for Spokane when the Connie was flying.

I have been watching the forums ever since the L749 was released and no one has brought this up. I may be the only one with this issue. If so, it's only a minor issue in an otherwise great airplane.

Any suggestions on fixing this would be appreciated.

Otter04

System: Core Two Duo at 3.0 Ghz, 3GB mem, Nvidia 9800GTX, WIN XP 32, FSX SP2.

[Tom/CalClassic]

Works OK for me:

1. Get on the ground
2. Throttle to idle
3. Click the red Reverse lights just under the autopilot
4. Increase the throttle to around 30" MAP.
5. Decrease throttle to idle and click the lights again to go back to forward thrust.

Hope this helps,

[ottero4]

Dec 30, 2009 14:04:59 GMT -5 Tom/CalClassic said:

Works OK for me:

1. Get on the ground
2. Throttle to idle
3. Click the red Reverse lights just under the autopilot
4. Increase the throttle to around 30" MAP.
5. Decrease throttle to idle and click the lights again to go back to forward thrust.

Hope this helps,

Appreciate the quick reply but it din't work for me. Interestingly, when I do what you suggest in the 2D panel, since it still doesn't work for me in the VC, the throttles automatically go to 35 inches of manifold pressure as soon as I touch the buttons (in prop reverse mode) and don't return until I touch the red buttons turning the reverser off. My joystick throttle is at idle all through the procedure.

I have tried what your suggested as well as the following in the VC:
1 - Pressing the buttons but they do not turn on and if I throttle-up, I take off again.
2 - Grabbing the reverser handles and pulling back with the mouse but nothing happens. The arrow turns into a hand and it closes when I press the left mouse button and pull back but nothing moves.

The 2D panel buttons work fine as described above.

Like I said in my opening message, it's a minor annoyance in an otherwise great aircraft.

Thanks for trying,

Otter04

[Mike]

I had the same issue yesterday. The problem turned out to be me not following proper landing procedures, as I haven't flown for a week or so, and what passes for a memory gets worse as I get older. When you're on final approach, make sure you put the props up to full fine. There are 2 reasons for this. Firstly, for safety reasons, you may need full power quickly to go around on a missed approach. Secondly, the prop blades need to be at or close to full fine to enable the quick transition to reverse pitch.

All the steps that Tom mentioned are also prerequisites to get this feature to work properly, and you'll find you only need a short runway to land the 749 if you follow the process. Beyond this, I'm not sure what else is likely to be wrong, but you could check you have the plane installed properly.

Cheers,
Mike

[sunny9850]

Depending on your landing weight 6000ft should be easy to do with just brakes.
Try what Mike has mentioned in addition to the list already provided by Tom.

Do you have controller axis assigned to throttle, prop and mixture ??
They can on occasion throw a wrench into the gearbox.

If that still doesn't work let me know and we'll try something else

Stefan

[ottero4]

Hi again,

Took another flight this evening and made sure my prop pitch was full forward just before landing as Mike suggested but no luck getting the reversing buttons to light up in the VC.

Thanks for the encouragement Sunny but I have no problem landing the Connie on a 6000 ft runway. With 35% fuel, a full passenger and freight load, and a 100 knot over the fence speed, I can usually bring the bird to a stop in about 4000 ft. The Connie is really a joy to fly either on or off the autopilot.

But I still want to be able to use all of it's features and that includes the reversers.

It's looking more and more that there is something unique in my FSX setup that blocks this function in my VC. I'll keep on looking and may eventually find it. I may even reinstall and see what happens.

Thanks for the suggestions. I am always open to more.

Otter04

[emfrat]

Dec 31, 2009 1:11:45 GMT -5 ottero4 said:

It's looking more and more that there is something unique in my FSX setup
Otter04

Hi -
The various Connies really take FS9 to the limits, but because of that clever design, (which is why they work so well in FSX) they can be susceptible to odd things in individual setups. In my FS9.1, I had an 'invisible spoiler' problem with the L-1649; it turned out that I had an axis calibrated for a spoiler, even tho' that axis was no longer assigned to that function. The result was that when I set the cowl flaps for climb, using an incremented switch on my CH Quad, I was actually deploying the 'spoiler'. As soon as I decalibrated the axis, it all started working.
I use a CH Yoke/Quad/Pedals setup. Having the Throttle Quad released the levers on the yoke, so I reassigned one of them to a spoiler control, and calibrated that axis, using my FSUIPC. I think I wanted to use the other two for water rudders and wing fold, but I couldn't get it working so I just left them alone. A while later, the 1649 turned up and I had a problem!
I remembered about the spoiler, and unassigned the axis, but the calibration was still active, and that brought me undone

You are certainly in the best place to get help, and your experience with the Connie in FSX and its eventual solution will add to the knowledge base we already enjoy for FS9.
Keep in touch
MikeW

[tipwriter]

Hi all,

Until sofar i've used the reverse pitch only with the Saitec Pro Flight Yoke.

Due to this topic I tried to revere pitch by means of my keyboard and also by means of a old THRUST joystick.

I had the same resut as described above. In 2D and 3D for both the 749 and 1049 connies the throttles increase automatically to 35" MAP.
Could be the settings for the Saitec yoke, but disabeling the joystick did not solve the problem.

I fly with FS9 on Win7.

Tipwriter

[vhbob]

I fly an imaginary freight operation around the Washinton / British Columbia area using Connies and DC-6s in FS9. While I am lucky enough to have the reversers working perfectly, my problem is, how do I stop the right hand main gear of the "Super G" from sinking into the concrete no matter how gentle the landing ?. It's one thing for the folks at SEATAC to have to hold a 747 while a 1049 lumbers down the ILS but they are getting mighty upset at the furrows in the taxi ways. Can any body help with a fix ?. The reason I fly in the U.S.A. is that it looks genuine enough to me while the default FS9 Australia sure dosn't look like home

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

The increase to 35" MAP is a "feature" - it increases the throttle automatically.

Hope this helps,

[sunny9850]

Ok ...here is trick #2...but as with so many things with the Connie there is a slight catch

Open the aircraft.cfg file and find the following section:


[GeneralEngineData]
engine_type= 0
Engine.0= 6.562, -31.417, 0.000
Engine.1= 8.858, -14.701, -1.969
Engine.2= 8.858, 14.701, -1.969
Engine.3= 6.562, 31.417, 0.000
fuel_flow_scalar= 1.0320
min_throttle_limit=0.0300
master_ignition_switch= 0 //Master Ignition Switch
max_contrail_temperature=-20 //choose temp c below which contrails occur

change the bold line to:


[GeneralEngineData]
engine_type= 0
Engine.0= 6.562, -31.417, 0.000
Engine.1= 8.858, -14.701, -1.969
Engine.2= 8.858, 14.701, -1.969
Engine.3= 6.562, 31.417, 0.000
fuel_flow_scalar= 1.0320
min_throttle_limit=0.00990
master_ignition_switch= 0 //Master Ignition Switch
max_contrail_temperature=-20 //choose temp c below which contrails occur

Then try your reverser action again.

The catch: When loading a saved flight with engines running they may die on you...especially on FSX.
At present state you will also have slower flap and gear response if you loose an engine or more in flight and close the throttle on the remaining engines ( not likely since you need more power on those remaining engines to remain airborne )

As for the sinking gear:

Check the status gauge before landing and check if the hydraulic system is showing up red (failed) or green (intact).
The only thing I can imagine is that you are lowering the gear at too high IAS and the system breaks as it should.

Cheers and Happy New Year
Stefan

[coenraad]

I had the problem of the buttons in VC not working in the L1049. What i do is when i land totaly lower prop rpm, and then use CTRL+F2 that also engages the prop reverse.

[vhbob]

I may have done the wrong thing by attatching my sinking Constellation query to the prop reversal discussion, being a bit new to this, but thanks to Stefan for the quick solution. I should have checked the max. gear extension speed instead of using it as a speed brake. The lack of flaps should have pointed me to a hydraulic problem. It all works fine when you do it right !.
Now if i can just find a cause for the occasional total power loss.....

Thanks again, Trev. ( vhbob )

[sunny9850]

Typically it's best to keep threads about an issue to topic so that it doesn't get too confusing and possibly easier to find with the search function.

If a complete read of the included manual doesn't solve the power loss problem simply make a new thread and give as much detail as possible as to when and how it happens (Take-off, climb, cruise....power settings and so on). The status gauge will give helpful clues in most cases.

As a wild guess I would say you probably exceed failure parameters somewhere.

At this point I am fairly sure that an unmodified L-749 does not have any great surprises left.

Stefan