Patrick Scharnowski Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 A few shots that I took on my glide into the Rapid Bay airfield. They are edited a bit for a more photorealistic look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Real nice mate them two over the water look great. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitzer Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 Ah, so you pulled the trigger mate, so what is the verdict - how does it compare to the Katana? I'm waiting for it to appear @ flightsimstore as I still have some credit there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Cracker shots, Patrick ! Love the halo . Btw, the Swiss livery model got a Vario, saw it ? Got her up nicely to 12.000 in a thermal. Paul, if you like this kind of aircraft, it's a nobrainer... The Dimona rocks (IMO). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Scharnowski Posted May 15, 2011 Author Share Posted May 15, 2011 Thanks @Heiko I didn't too much gliding before, other than playing the missions with the default glider. I need to relearn it, I think. Ah, so you pulled the trigger mate, so what is the verdict - how does it compare to the Katana? The most notable difference is that it doesn't have the ground maintenance/walkaround stuff. Other than that it's excellent! The engine modelling is very nice. You have to use choke when it's cold and you need to remember to open the choke again when the engine warmed up (and of course you hear the difference in the engine sound when the setting is not right). If the engine gets too hot or you overrevv it it breaks. Remember the cowl flaps and to switch the prop governor to AUTO. The Dimona being a motor glider you can shut down the engine mid-flight and when you set the prop governor to gliding mode you can see how the prop slowly stops windmilling and how the blades just as slowly move into the feathered position. The same is true when you want to start the engine again. It takes over a minute for the prop blades to return to their fine position that allows you to restart the engine, so the engine start needs to be planned ahead a bit. Also, when you sideslip the wind noises change considerably and the stopped prop can start moving a bit when the forces are strong enough. It's nicely done. Oh, and the engine sounds great too, a bit like a gas-powered lawnmower. The pronounced nose down flight attitude took some getting used to. I even thought it was a bug at first. But it's perfectly normal and rewards you with a great visibility all around. The fligh model seems to be great as well, as far as I can tell. It has a very long gliding range for a motored aircraft. Remember our Dodo flight from the Australia tour from the Cape Jervis lighthouse to the airfield on Kangaroo island? That's about 10-11nm and I made it there from 3,000 feet by just gliding. I touched down just behind the fence of the airfield after almost hitting it. Long story short: highly recommended! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Kae Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Katana is in the hangar for a while, Dimona is sooooooooooo much fun, love the quirky dynamics and how AWESOME is the engine diesel effect ? Great shots too ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blitzer Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 As I have said many times to Patrick lately, I've very much curbed my spending payware aircraft not so much because I don't want to but because my virtual hanger is so stuff full of great planes that I simply don't find time to fly. However, I'm still making room for those that push the boundaries beyond "normal" aircraft so this one is now firmly on my radar. I have been trying to convince Patrick about the Discus for months (which I've had for a while now) so yes this one does appeal, and perhaps it maybe the stepping stone for Patrick to bite the bullet, see sense, be brave and get the Discus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Scharnowski Posted May 15, 2011 Author Share Posted May 15, 2011 Maybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 The pronounced nose down flight attitude took some getting used to. This one got me too at first. But when you have a closer look you will notice that this is more or less an 'optical illusion' caused by the canopy frame . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Scharnowski Posted May 15, 2011 Author Share Posted May 15, 2011 Not really. This is me flying straight and level at 1,000 feet. Joachim Schweigler confirmed the nose down attitude and that the Dimona flies a bit like a helicopter, leaning forward like that. Apparently that's because of the considerable lift that the huge wings create and that has to be compensated by pointing the aircraft downward a bit for level flight. Notice the curvature at the trailing edge of the wing. It's almost like deployed flaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 You are flying full throttle... do you Try with 2500 rpm ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Scharnowski Posted May 15, 2011 Author Share Posted May 15, 2011 You are flying full throttle... do you Nope. The attitude is like that with normal cruise settings. I don't think I'm doing something wrong when the developer of the aircraft, who also flies the Dimona in real life, confirmed that this is accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Yes, of course he would know . We had also one in the Club. I think the airfile is very well done - trimmed to best glide it looks perfectly fine. The FX 63-137 is a high-lift low Reynolds number airfoil that's correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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