dominique Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I was happy that OrbX saw it as a priority to convert the Pago package, one of my favorites, to V3. An excellent ground to be reacquainted with one of the best of the older large piston aircraft of the FS world, the A2A B377. She has been a little forgotten as she was released in the early FSX years and had trouble in P3D V2. So it is an excellent surprise that she works well in P3DV3. Thank you to our fellow simmer Kilstorm tor the headup on the A2A forum. The autopilot is rudimentary (altitude hold, pitch and bank hold), the four engines are easy to blow if you aren't careful enough (but you have a flight Engineer and and a Copilot helping you out to monitor them if you want) and the navigation complex (only a dual RMI and a compass, you catch VOR frequencies but no NAV equipment to keep you on the radial). Her nickname, "Stratocruiser', shouldn't fool in believing that you must fly high. She does very good at 10/15K feet and Pago Pago is an excellent flying ground in the sense that the two main airports are far enough from each other for a meaningful flight with such an aircraft (she is no T-Duke in the climb department if you see what I mean) but close enough to keep you busy. I've been flying her since yesterday in Tim and Ken's P3D V3 NSTU scenery. Arriving to NSTU from NSFA is a treat as you have to double back, make a procedural turn to shoot the ILD05 approach. Again, YOU and not the autopilot have to drive the beast to stay on the LOC and slope ! Balmy NSFA, a soft wind moves the Samona flags. Early morning, the sun casts the palm trees on the terminal. This is P3D, folks. Shadows :). Slowly climbing out to the LAVEK waypoint on radial 56 from the FA VOR. The needle of the Compass repeater, below the attitude indicator, shows I'm on the proper heading and the RMI narrow needle shows that I'm on a "from" course. No DME of course, so I'll know that I'm at LAVEK when the RMI double needle (not yet activated, I forgot to swith from ADF2 to VOR2 on ground, shame !)) will be near the TUT VOR 119° radial. I'll have then to turn to take that course. And keep it. Remember no NAV equipement, it's up to you to stay on course. The ASN weather is, hmm, let's say, very tropical these days! Winds were moderate and there was a beautiful multilayered cloudscape. A lot of turbs at 10K feet too, I heard strange noises coming from the rear (You have living passengers on that plane). Oh well, the hostesses do the mopping after all. The compression does not do justice to that cloudscape ! Arriving to the Pago area out of the clouds. The CR points to 119° but the RI shows a little drift ! Could do better ! Time to turn to 226° course away from the TUT VOR . The AP bank hold does a good job at keeping the altitude. Look how nice is the shore below with the rocky islets. Indeed a great scenery. Thanks to Tim and Ken (and Ed who did the V3 conversion). I spare you the procedural turn at 13 nm from TUT over the sea. Here we are on final approach. As you see the ILS gauge is more or less centered but, again no automation, you've to center the aircraft on the LOC and follow the glideslope, the aircraft will not do it for you. You may say "but I do that all the time with my GA aircraft". Except that ... ...she's no Cub ! Do I hear a sigh a relief in the rear ? The A2A Strat' is a complex simulation with a well thought career mode and nice interactions between the pilot and the crew, technical and commercial. I tested only the flying part but Kilstorm says on the A2A forum that everything works. A perfect fit for the Pago Pago scenery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voyager Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Nice screenshots indeed! Voyager Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Fine set of shots. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-KDK Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Wonderful set and great narration. So good to see you understand how to fly it. Like the second last shot with the backdrop and every thing hanging down. A beautiful old plane, nice to see it in v3.0. Way to complex for me though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 8 minutes ago, VH-KDK said: Wonderful set and great narration. So good to see you understand how to fly it. Like the second last shot with the backdrop and every thing hanging down. A beautiful old plane, nice to see it in v3.0. Way to complex for me though. Yes she has quite large barn doors for flaps, hasn't she ?! Thank you Martyn, I wish you were right, I actually forgot a lot about that plane and didn't elaborate too much in the post, about my goofs ! She is complex but not out of reach for a casual simmer as you have plenty of help on board for the engine management and the CP or FE tell you when you are doing wrong, overheating the engines or idling too low etc.. But it is true that if you don't have any experience in the ADF/RMI type of navigation, you may find an easier aircraft. Now she is very rewarding in the ego department as you are really in charge of quite a large flying contraption , the autopilot for instance is an help but will not do your job as a pilot. Its funny because I was dead set on buying the Majestic Q400 with my brand new V3 and now I may wait a little bit to enjoy the Strat' before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolf8857 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Nice set Dominique, love the landing shots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbxtreme Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Very interesting flight, sure a great looking bird. Nice to hear comments about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyb52 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Nice set! Best, Lucky ////////// Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Banks Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Fantastic set - and a great story to go with it!! I must admit I was surprised my B377 worked in P3Dv2 and amazed that it works flawlessly in P3Dv3! It reminds me so much in look and feel to the classic CS C-130. A lot of work to do in the engine department (I suppose that's why it had a flight engineer), but so rewarding if you get it right. I love the humour in COTS career mode (Heidi at her "driest"). I found one way of learning (without ploughing through the manual) was to set it to assisted/auto mode and just watch what the engineer does with all those knobs (!). Even if I didn't understand *why*, I found if I replicated the sequence (more or less) I could take off, fly - even land in one piece - without getting too much sarcasm from Heidi. It's a tremendous add-on and your pics show it off well! Adam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted December 14, 2015 Author Share Posted December 14, 2015 1 hour ago, Adam_NZ said: Fantastic set - and a great story to go with it!! I must admit I was surprised my B377 worked in P3Dv2 and amazed that it works flawlessly in P3Dv3! It reminds me so much in look and feel to the classic CS C-130. A lot of work to do in the engine department (I suppose that's why it had a flight engineer), but so rewarding if you get it right. I love the humour in COTS career mode (Heidi at her "driest"). I found one way of learning (without ploughing through the manual) was to set it to assisted/auto mode and just watch what the engineer does with all those knobs (!). Even if I didn't understand *why*, I found if I replicated the sequence (more or less) I could take off, fly - even land in one piece - without getting too much sarcasm from Heidi. It's a tremendous add-on and your pics show it off well! Adam. Thanks Adam. You're right, the 377 VC gives the same feeling and panoramic view than the CS C130. It is a pleasure to see the ground go by below. But the textures are better, she has Accusim and an comprehensive manual . I always missed the latter in the CS Herc'. There's a good tutorial made by a simmer at the big A but it is not enough. Now, on the other hand, the Strat' needs longer runways than some dirt strips in PNG where you may land the Herc' ! And there is Heidi . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Great story and great images! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Harris Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 Very nice shots indeed, and it pushed me to try the B377 in V3 too, and I'm very happy with it now! got the weathered cockpit and the South-Pacific repaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Isn't she a beaut ?! A large beaut but a beaut all the same. A broad ! I've to check the SP livery. I love the AOA livery but it leans on the heavy side, it is slow to load when switching to external view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Nice shots, that plane is a beast cheers Gumby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dominique Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 4 minutes ago, gumbypickett said: Nice shots, that plane is a beast cheers Gumby She is a beast but with less inertia than the 737-200 for instance, the engines spools up faster of course, and I'd a say off my hat with a shorter turning radius (not sure though). She feels more nimble than the 732. But if you want to stay on top you'd better plan your next move, specially true in flying a pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bermuda425 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Awesome shots of increased realism! Season's Greetings, Bermuda425 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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