Project Starliner L-1649A VII

[volkerboehme]

Hi all,

I am currently using the Starliner on a long-range flight and I am trying to figure out some handling while I'm on the way. This is the first time I am really using the default FDE on a complex flight as opposed to FsAviator's FDE for version 1.0.

Here are some findings to share:

The plane is handling more easily, I think, it is accelearating better and has better climb performance.

I made the mistake of waiting for pitch to decrease to 0° to initiate step climb. This pitch will only be reached at the end of the green arc on the ASI (Vno?), not in normal econ cruise flight - or unless you have used up almost all of yor fuel, maybe. I was too impatient for that. The plane can easily maintain VSI=500ft/min or more at an initial pitch of less than about 0.6° in level flight at cruise power. The treshold might be even higher.

Full climb power is available up to about FL230, above that, even throttles full open won't give you 43" MAP. But by then, you're almost at your service ceiling, anyway. There is a trapabout MAP, however.

I usually fly my long flights in smaller sections and save the flight to re-load it later. If you reload a flight, make sure that you have the superchargers set in the desired position. On my system, it re-sets itself to 'disconnected' and needs to adjusted before resuming the flight, or it'll cost you a lot of climb power.

The default FS flight planner is quite optimistic regarding flight performance and will calculate a TAS that you might only reach at the end of the step climb, at least in Econ Power.

Currently, I am over Churchill, heading for London, and it seems that I will have at least 45 min holding fuel available on arrival, even considering the slow start that I had before I figured out all of this.

Enjoy your flight.

Best regards,
Volker

[Maarten]

Hi Volker,

Many thanks for sharing your impressions with us. Very interesting and very useful.
Enjoy your flight and please keep us posted.

Cheers,
Maarten

[rmarsh1]

Wow...thanks for this high quality connie! Just completed my first short flight in FSX. Remarkable piece of work. Congratulations to the TEAM.
R

[Howard_S]

Volker,

Shortly before the release of our v2.1 model, its flight model was modified to make our bird perform even closer to the TWA flight manual specifications. We have not yet had time to test-fly it at all altitudes and power settings. We are now working on developing more detailed performance tables that will be more accurate.

Our next release should have these updated flight performance tables that will allow more accurate flight planning for those who fly "by the book."

I also have not had time to update a few checklist items that were modified shortly before this release. Please give me feedback on all of the checklist and reference sheet discrepancies you may find. Don't assume that I know all of them. I'd rather get a lot of duplicate reports on the same item than none at all.

Stay tuned!

Howard

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi Howard,

Yes, the Reference file contains items that have been changed in v2.1; the most obvious of those:

1. Old captain's panel picture
2. Cowl flaps - now change in 5% increments
3. Propeller Set - changes RPM, not pitch (directly)
4. Radio Altitude - should be on a new line, and default decision height is now 0 ft
5. Instrument Approach Indicator - reference to VORLOC no longer needed.
6. Autopilot - new AP features should be listed. I suggest:

TWA Starliners were fitted with a Bendix PB-20 automatic pilot, maintaining directional and altitude control of the airplane.

Throwing the AUTOPILOT switch, the auto pilot master switch, will engage the auto pilot and also the PITCH (pitch hold) and the HDG (heading hold) modes, maintaining the plane's current heading and pitch.

ALT HOLD switch: Activates altitude hold using the current target altitude.

GREEN LIGHT: Clicking this inactivates heading hold and turns light yellow. You now have bank control. Clicking again reactivates
HDG HOLD using the current heading course.

AUTO FLIGHT SELECT switch: This switch has 4 positions:

AUTOPILOT: Normal position for HDG and pitch hold.

RANGE: The plane follows the radial on the OBS to the VOR station received by the NAV1 Radio (49) (nav hold).

LOC: If an ILS is tuned in on the NAV1 radio, the plane will follow the localizer beam, but not the glide slope. Use this mode for initial localizer capture.

LOC GS: Activates approach hold. If this is selected with activated altitude hold, alt hold will remain active until a valid glide slope signal is received or altitude hold is turned off by hand.

TURN: In AUTOPILOT mode (and a green light), this knob will control the heading of your aircraft. Click the middle of the knob to set the current heading. The heading bug on the Gyro Compass does NOT control the autopilot. Click the green light to allow control of the heading with the yoke.

PITCH: In AUTOPILOT mode, this wheel will control the pitch attitude (NOT the V/S) of your aircraft. Click the top of the wheel to pitch down, the bottom to pitch up. Click the middle to set your climb/descent to zero.

7. Gear Lever: In the VC, this lever has a center NEUTRAL position. After raising the gear, return this lever to NEUTRAL after the gear is up. The lever should remain in the DOWN position after extending the gear.

8. Throttle levers: [Add] In the VC in FSX, click on the throttle lock, then right click the reversing levers.

9. VORLOC Indicator: [delete]

10. Speed Brake Handle: [Add] In the VC the gear handle must be in the NEUTRAL position to deploy the speed brake. Move the gear handle to UP position to retract the main gear. Return the handle to NEUTRAL.

11. FE Panel - Engine Start Switch: [Add] See the engine start diagram at the bottom of this document.


The only other thing that I found: in the Checklist in the Before Starting Engines section, the numbering for the FE checklist is misnumbered - the bottom section should start with 13, not 16.

Hope this helps,

[Hans Verheij]

Hi, any idea how to get rid of the hydraulic pressure lamp burning ?
I have read the manual several times but cant find a solution.


Hans.

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

I do not have this problem with v2.1 in FS2004.

Download the 2.1 version, which does not suffer from the burning hydraulic lamp. Link is in the first page of this thread. If you are still getting the lamp burning with the engines running then you must not have installed it correctly, and still have leftovers from a previous version.

Hope this helps,

[Hans Verheij]

Thanks Tom, indeed ,took the latest version for a ride and all is OK now, I was not aware that this was a problem in the earlier version only.


Hans.

[mjahn]

On nosewheel steering, a point that is also raised in another thread.

Dec 19, 2008 13:10:27 GMT -5 mgr said:

One small question though, to me the nose-wheel moves very slow to the movements of my rudder inputs, and such also to the movement the aircraft makes due to this rudder-movement.

Yes, the nosewheel's animation is engineered in such a manner as to dampen strong user input and also relate it to current speed and direction. This will hardly be noticeable as long as the pilot steers gently and at low speed. Or as the French say, doucement does it. Nevertheless agility does not seem compromised, as she can make a u-turn on Seatac's runway, if pressed to do so. You also have the option of using the mouse wheel on the VC steering tiller when in a static condition, which will leave the wheels inclined when parked, as on the real thing. A video of the Lelystad KLM 749 shows the wheels inclined at what seems an angle of 90 degrees, and the highlight of the video is when she actually moves off at that angle. Regrettably, this our model can't do ...

[Deleted]

Hi! This has been asked b4 but would like to ask again how can I get eagle 526's repaints? Also, where can I get reapaints for v2.1?

[Deleted]

A video of the Lelystad KLM 749 shows the wheels inclined at what seems an angle of 90 degrees, and the highlight of the video is when she actually moves off at that angle. Regrettably, this our model can't do ...

Now why would you want to do that? Standard procedure is to straighten the nosewheel before shut down. Perhaps that aircraft was towed into position?

[Tom/CalClassic]

I've seen a lot of propliner pics with the nosewheel turned sharply while sitting at the gate. Wasn't too uncommon back in the era of "terminal turns". Probably frowned on by the management, though.

[Howard_S]

From 1958 to 62, I worked the ramp at KMIA providing ground service for several airlines. My last year there, I finally had enough seniority to be authorized to park the airliners we serviced, from DC-3s to L-1049Gs and the BOAC Bristol Britannia.

The first time my supervisor first handed me the red wands for parking an arriving DC-4, he told me two things:

If you hit anything with the wing, punch out and never come back. Second, always pull the aircraft forward enough to get the nosewheel straight.

Great fun but low pay.

Howard

[emfrat]

Dec 24, 2008 1:03:02 GMT -5 @commander31 said:

Hi! This has been asked b4 but would like to ask again how can I get eagle 526's repaints? Also, where can I get reapaints for v2.1?

The 2.1 Starliner uses the same visual model as the earlier ones, so those repaints will still fit.
Right now, eagle 526 has enough on his plate without being worried by us. Stay cool, respect the man's wishes, and all will be well.
ATB
MikeW

[volkerboehme]

Hi,

a quick addition to my previous post about Starliner climb performance:

I did another test flight starting from a point pretty much right after take off and successfully kept climbing at 500 fpm up to FL250 and cruised with Econ Cruise power afterwards. I cannot really see a point in step climbing using the default FDE (except maybe for CHT, see details below).

Here are the details:
Original flight was started at Max fuel with payload topped up to MTOW. Test started at 98.5% fuel, climb power, shifted to high blower at FL100. I adjusted throttle from FL175 and kept 43" until FL235, with decreasing MAP at full throttle above.
I terminated climb at FL250 and set up Econ Cruise power (39", 2200 RPM). Fuel load was 94.1% at that time, pitch was 0,71°, IAS 214 and TAS 310 kts.

The only item that appeared critical was CHT: The handling notes suggest a CHT below 200°C, I allowed for up to 215°C and adjusted cowl settings from 20 to 40°, which did not make much of a CHT difference anyway. Cruise flight was at a CHT below 195°C at any setting of 20° or below (Checklist suggests minimum drag at 19° cowl setting, I am not sure whether the flight model allows for that).

Comments are welcome.

Best regards,
Volker