Slightly foggy (L-049)

[Mr.Mugel]

Hi, some more shots from me. Been a while after a great update for my other sim, Assetto Corsa, but I finally managed to take the Constellation a bit further. After practicing ILS approaches in the last flights with fair weather it was time to test my skills. I set up some real soup, 1/4 mile visibility at ground level. Used low Cirrus formations for some foggy atmosphere while flying. Well, today it was Hannover to Düsseldorf. I remotely know Düsseldorf from passing it by train when taking the trip home every couple of months. The southwestern end of the runway is very close to the railroad track which takes a tunnel below the airport hard deck to avoid issues.

 

Well, at least I managed to find the aircraft on the tarmac

 

Uh-oh, do we really want to leave the safety of the ground?

 

Well, up we go, time to get out of this mess. (Btw: Who can spot the error I have done?)

 

Way better up ahead in the wide blue world!

 

Turning to get on route to Düsseldorf.

 

Last shot before I had to cross into non ORBX land, grass wasn´t greener there for sure.

 

Ehm, somebody told me there´d be a runway there?

 

Ah, well, there it is, a little high, but possible. Time to set it back down.

 

Pax weren´t really happy on the flight due to some Autopilot issues but they were happy to leave an intact plane on the airport they wanted to go to.

 

Well, so another trip is done, some real hair-on-teeth approach, especially with the old crate. Was one thing to practice an ILS in fine weather, when the horizon was visible, but something totally different with no visibility of the ground at all. The eyes were just racing between the ILS gauge, the artificial horizon, VSI, ASI and Altitude indicator. When the ILS looked fine, I noticed I lost way too much speed, so up with the throttles, damn, back up to high, and so on.

Also in flight suddenly my Autopilot acted up, going for 3000+ feet/s climb. Had to turn it off immediatly and regained control. When I later tested it again, it went for full down even with the elevator scale below 1. Need to try it again during the next flight.

I wouldn´t say I´d manage in real life (Needs some balls to pull that off in my opinion), but it was a valuable lesson in FS. Anyone else tried this with the Connie? I can only recommend you to do so.

[Adam Banks]

1 hour ago, Mr.Mugel said:

Pax weren´t really happy on the flight due to some Autopilot issues but they were happy to leave an intact plane on the airport they wanted to go to.

 

Also in flight suddenly my Autopilot acted up, going for 3000+ feet/s climb. Had to turn it off immediatly and regained control. When I later tested it again, it went for full down even with the elevator scale below 1. Need to try it again during the next flight.

 

I find that tweaking the A/P controls sensitivity down from the default 3.0 to something like 2.5 helped. I've also (occasionally) had the A/P go haywire on me for no apparent reason. I have OPUS injecting real weather and it usually smooths out severe atmospheric changes, but it didn't seem related to that. I was going to raise the issue at A2A, but haven't had it happen often enough to detect a pattern.

 

Great shots, BTW!!

 

Adam.

[Mr.Mugel]

1 hour ago, Adam Banks said:

 

I find that tweaking the A/P controls sensitivity down from the default 3.0 to something like 2.5 helped. I've also (occasionally) had the A/P go haywire on my for no apparent reason. I have OPUS injecteing real weather and it usually smooths out severe atmospheric changesbut it didn't seem related to that. I was going to raise the issue at A2A, but haven't had it happen often enough to detect a pattern.

 

Great shots, BTW!!

 

Adam.

 

Yeah, the sensitivity is what I meant, I took the habit of turning it down to about 0.2 before engaging the elevator control knob. I than watch if the aircraft has a tendency to climb or fall, tune the AP climb rate until it´s about level and only than do I increase the elevator sensitivity to a higher value (I hardly use values of more than 1.5 for any control). During climb or descend it´s partly easier too, if you just use the trim wheel to keep the altitude change under control.

 

That´s what I love about such aircraft, it´s not just turning a knob to a heading and altitude and watch it fly, the pilot still had his hands full in those planes. In real life, though, I have to admit that the modern systems are stunning and contribute a lot to the comfort and safety of flight.

 

Thanks for the comment!

[Jack Sawyer]

These are great shots Mr. Mugel, but I can't spot the error.  I need to try this, as I love to fly IFR.

[Mr.Mugel]

3 hours ago, Jack Sawyer said:

These are great shots Mr. Mugel, but I can't spot the error.  I need to try this, as I love to fly IFR.

It's not a grave error anyway, but I should have remembered to close the cowl flaps at least halfway. The added drag is totally unnecessary in cold and damp conditions. The B-377 was known for being critical regarding this, as the motor was unable to shut the flaps at full power and take off speed. According to the A2A manual this could easily overstress the engines on take off due to the drag added being a cause for possible engine fires.

[Jack Sawyer]

6 hours ago, Mr.Mugel said:

It's not a grave error anyway, but I should have remembered to close the cowl flaps at least halfway. The added drag is totally unnecessary in cold and damp conditions. The B-377 was known for being critical regarding this, as the motor was unable to shut the flaps at full power and take off speed. According to the A2A manual this could easily overstress the engines on take off due to the drag added being a cause for possible engine fires.

Honestly, I was going to saw cowl flaps, should have went with my gut instinct.  Good ones!