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Post by oldpilot76 on Sept 22, 2017 16:40:59 GMT
Hello, all at VSKYLABS and on these forums. Let me apologise now if I am posting in the wrong place. I am new to the forums and I have to say that, learning ANY forum rules is harder for me than learning, eg., how to programme the (simulated) Boeing FMC\CDU! May I say how much I have been missing a decent Dakota/C-47/DC-3 in X-Plane 11. Yes, there was a fairly good DC-3 which I had in X-Plane 10 but that model can not be installed in X-Plane 11. DC-3 enthusiasts will know which model I mean. I really love the work VSKYLABS have done on your own C-47/DC-3! I love it! It flies beautifully by hand (if you can compensate for X-Plane's inherent over-calculated adverse yaw on take-off.) I love it even more because it is a continuously evolving project; getting better all the time. May I request these two additions/changes to the aircraft: 1) If there are to be C-47\ Dakota versions, please can there be the navigator's astrodome built in to the model/s? 2) Please can you upgrade the Sperry Gyropilot to maintain a steady heading, given adjustment (optional setting) by the pilot for gyro drift? (I am sure that some of us would also like to have the GPS mechanically coupled to the control surfaces, as in the Sperry Gyropilot, although I do accept that such a feature would not be realistic.) Thank you and best regards. oldpilot76 (Frank)
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Post by VSL-Admin on Sept 23, 2017 21:32:37 GMT
Hi Frank This is the perfect place to write your post ! Yes, the VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 Flying Lab is an old-school flying platform, although I'm trying to add some modern solutions for the modern pilots (but the default will remain old-school). Your requests: autopilot "enhancement" is under evaluation, and the C-47 view dome is a planned upgrade, that I have intentions to add in the future! Welcome to the VSKYLABS forums! Please feel free to write your thoughts and suggestions JetManHuss.
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Post by oldpilot76 on Sept 25, 2017 14:44:21 GMT
Hello and good day JetManHuss, Thank you again for your kindness and for your great support. Can I please be really greedy and ask you to consider two further requests? Thank you in advance for that. Firstly, if I may ask, would it be possible to keep the green luminous glow of the instrument pointers and numerals for night flying in any future update to the instrument textures? The night textures in the cockpit are lovely and very atmospheric. (If I may go off topic for just a couple of lines, I believe that during WW2, women who worked in the munitions factories were given as one of their many tasks the job of applying the luminous paint to the dials of aircraft instruments. They did that by hand, using artists' brushes and in order to aid them in applying the paint precisely, a painter would dip her brush in the paint and then tease the sable bristles to a point using her lips and saliva. Because the paint contained radium, the radio-active material which provided the luminosity, many poor women in later years developed lip cancer.) Secondly, could you please consider building in the (hopefully system-integrated) primer switches? I notice that there is room on the panel between the starter switches and the oil pump switches, if the latter pair were moved to the right and the recognition light indicator were moved to above the starter switches. The re-positioning is of course only my suggestion; you may well have a better idea should you think it worthwhile to action my request. Many thanks for your consideration JetManHuss Warm regards, oldpilot76
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Post by VSL-Admin on Sept 25, 2017 22:18:59 GMT
Hi Thanks for your useful inputs! Yes, I am familiar with the Radium history...off topic but related to the Radium story: I've read that in the 1939 movie "The wizard of oz", the scene with the massive snow falling on Dorothy...well, the massive snow was Asbestos powder and flakes... Back to the DC-3...instruments panel and night textures look and feel won't change in future updates! Although textures will continue to be improved... Regarding the primer, what exactly do you mean by referring to a "primer"?
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Post by oldpilot76 on Sept 26, 2017 17:03:50 GMT
Hello JetManHuss, Thanks for your prompt response. My reference to the "primer switches" was based on my experience of two examples of other DC-3 simulations (MAAM DC-3 and Manfred Jahn's C-47, beta) I have come across in FSX, in which there are instances of fuel primer switches which need to be operated in conjunction with the starter switches. The starter switch is a spring loaded toggle switch. When it is operated by a mouse click, it stays put until it is released by a second mouse click. In that way the starter switch is turning over the engine whilst the primer switch is depressed for a couple of seconds at a time, introducing fuel to the spark plugs in the cylinder head. When the engine fires the primer switch is released and with the second mouse click the starter switch is released. To my mind, the primer switch is a bit like the choke control in an old motor car, pre 1960s, where the choke was used to inject neat petrol into the cylinder head, whilst the starter switch was pulled out until the engine fired up or until the carburetttor flooded - Oh! What fun it was! The foregoing is only an account of my own understanding (perhaps wrong) of the starting sequence in two other examples of flight simulator aircraft. I plead ignorance of these things in the real aircraft in which I have no experience at all. My hope is that, as the VSKYLABS DC-3 project matures, so will the level of the systems modelling. Many thanks, oldpilot76 (Frank)
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Post by VSL-Admin on Sept 28, 2017 10:26:37 GMT
Hi, Got it ! Thanks. ...I'm about to end a vacation...my apologies for having to postpone my full reply...I will reply as soon as I can! JetManHuss
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Post by oldpilot76 on Sept 28, 2017 21:15:37 GMT
Thank you. Please enjoy the rest of your vacation
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Post by VSL-Admin on Oct 5, 2017 20:53:34 GMT
Hi Frank! Thanks! ...Just got back from my short vacation. Ok...it took me a few seconds to get into your last question (priming during startup)... Well, the VSKYLABS DC-3/C-47 Flying Lab Project will not include the complex start-up algorithm in the near future (complex meaning the while process from first switch to engine running, including the need for dilution/priming). It is a part of the VSKYLABS and the project concept. However, down the road in the future, these enhancements may be added. I hope that you are enjoying the plane JetManHuss.
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Post by oldpilot76 on Oct 6, 2017 8:59:09 GMT
Thank you, JetManHuss, good to have you back Yes, I am enjoying your plane. The combination of your VSKLABS DC-3 and X-Plane 11 is unbeatable and is my idea of flight simulation. To date, there is no other DC-3 that is modelled in X-Plane that compares equally with yours. I do hope that, as the project progresses, more and more of the systems modelling will be introduced. Yes, I am expecting too much, too soon and especially since you have provided the aircraft at such a reasonable price. Your time is valuable and I know that profit is not your motivation, but as the aircraft evolves it would be natural that some major updates would come at additional cost. Well, even if the cost doubled or more, it would still be worth it to have the most authentic DC-3 in any home flight simulator. More power to your elbow! Looking forward to v2.5, hopefully in mid-October as scheduled. oldpilot76
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Post by bobididou on Oct 26, 2017 23:16:05 GMT
In the last version 2.5a...the rain effect disapear when i engage x enviro or skymax does the effect only working with the weather of xplane?
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rrw
New Member
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Post by rrw on Oct 27, 2017 0:49:15 GMT
Dear JetManHuss,
Thanks for letting me relive the 1960's when I owned a DC-3, and flew out of downtown Knoxville. Love your work...yeah here comes the 'however'-
I got the recommended materials you recommended, and I have a software issue. I am running on OS X 10.12.6 and got a box that exceeded the recommended basic requirements of The Pilot Store and the X plane people. I have flown 3 models out of the version 11 stable without any software issues, until the DC-3 went berserk, I started out on X-plane auto pilot after the DC-3 went in circles when I applied power. The auto pilot got the craft for long enough to go through a forest of trees and successfully got airborne. It flew and landed correctly. I then tried the same tactics, but I could not control the plane, no matter how hard stood on the right brake. I tried shutting the power to a minimum on the strong side, and could not get the twirling in circles to stop. I did resort to 'fix this plane' and all was well, until the next takeoff, but I did the fix, and all was well.
Okay, what's my problem? Help is appreciated and needed.
Thanks,
Richard R Wynn
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rrw
New Member
Posts: 6
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Post by rrw on Oct 27, 2017 0:51:34 GMT
Dear JetManHuss,
Thanks for letting me relive the 1960's when I owned a DC-3, and flew out of downtown Knoxville. Love your work...yeah here comes the 'however'-
I got the recommended materials you recommended, and I have a software issue. I am running on OS X 10.12.6 and got a box that exceeded the recommended basic requirements of The Pilot Store and the X plane people. I have flown 3 models out of the version 11 stable without any software issues, until the DC-3 went berserk, I started out on X-plane auto pilot after the DC-3 went in circles when I applied power. The auto pilot got the craft for long enough to go through a forest of trees and successfully got airborne. It flew and landed correctly. I then tried the same tactics, but I could not control the plane, no matter how hard stood on the right brake. I tried shutting the power to a minimum on the strong side, and could not get the twirling in circles to stop. I did resort to 'fix this plane' and all was well, until the next takeoff, but I did the fix, and all was well.
Okay, what's my problem? Help is appreciated and needed.
Thanks,
Richard R Wynn
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Post by VSL-Admin on Oct 27, 2017 6:55:09 GMT
Dear JetManHuss, Thanks for letting me relive the 1960's when I owned a DC-3, and flew out of downtown Knoxville. Love your work...yeah here comes the 'however'- I got the recommended materials you recommended, and I have a software issue. I am running on OS X 10.12.6 and got a box that exceeded the recommended basic requirements of The Pilot Store and the X plane people. I have flown 3 models out of the version 11 stable without any software issues, until the DC-3 went berserk, I started out on X-plane auto pilot after the DC-3 went in circles when I applied power. The auto pilot got the craft for long enough to go through a forest of trees and successfully got airborne. It flew and landed correctly. I then tried the same tactics, but I could not control the plane, no matter how hard stood on the right brake. I tried shutting the power to a minimum on the strong side, and could not get the twirling in circles to stop. I did resort to 'fix this plane' and all was well, until the next takeoff, but I did the fix, and all was well. Okay, what's my problem? Help is appreciated and needed. Thanks, Richard R Wynn Hi Richard, ok.. From your description, I understand that by saying "auto pilot" you mean that you've set the aircraft to be controlled by AI (flown by X-Plane and not manually)? By saying "fix this plane" - what do you mean? (what did you do?). In general:
Make sure that you are using a "clean" installation of the aircraft (without any tweaks or means or fixes that has been done on it by anyone or anything). The aircraft has 2 engines. Make sure that your throttle is set up to operate both engines (if you have a single throttle), or that each throttle controls each engine. By your description, one of the scenarios that goes in my mind is that when you apply full power, only one engine is spooling up, resulting the circles that you've talked about. You can set it up in the Joystick settings in X-Plane. If that is not the issue, then I recommend locking the tail wheel before you start taxi. It will allow you a "novice" mode of operation that will make the life much easy while taxi, with less chances for ground loops. There is an illustrated quick guide in this web page, just scroll down the page. If you're still having issues/don't know how to lock the tail wheel, let me know.. : www.vskylabs.com/2017/06/vskylabs-dc-3-c-47-flying-lab-manual.html If you are beyond these two actions and/or still having problems, please let me know. We'll keep work it out JetManHuss
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rrw
New Member
Posts: 6
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Post by rrw on Oct 29, 2017 2:19:00 GMT
Dear JetManHuss,
Thank you for your interest in my issues. Sadly the issue of twirling has not dissipated, nor given any indications of cause.
Yes, the AI is X-Plane, and it's a gas when I turn it on haven't a clue where it'd going.'Fix this plane' is part of the X-Plane rhetoric that may or may not not be found depending on when you push the 'Failures' button, you next get 'Fix All Systems', and on until its done. I have locked the tail wheel- no help. I am operating under a single throttle made by Saitek and purchased from The Pilot Store. If this is the problem I can get another, and really would prefer to operate all the controls with separate switches, levers, et cetera. However, both engines are spooling, as I have set two switches for 'Cockpit' and the second for exterior 'Circle'. I flip back and forth ensuring I have a good start. Thanks again for the info to get the 1943 USAF Pilot's Handbook, which I use.
Further, I have checked several boxes in the X-Plane section which provides for Data Output to be posted and updated on the monitor, and I have included Throttle (commanded) and Throttle (actual). The 'commanded' aways matches, however the 'actual' has a deviation of several ten thousands, i.e. 2.1234 versus 2.1237. I don't think that small amount would twirl the plane like a carnival tilt-a-whirl. Sometimes it twirls clockwise, other times counter clockwise, and the real treat is when it does both. Moreover, last night I landed and was presented with a series of ground loops.
As for the 'clean' installation-that is the most likely culprit. I have a dedicated computed for flying, but that only cuts down the possibility of corruption. Before I knew about Vskylabs, I saw your most excellent work for sale on X-Plane.Org. I bought it and downloaded it. After a couple of days of head banging, I tossed the first copy hoping it was corrupted. I downloaded a second, but there was the twirling waiting on me. But a download is going to pull a copy of the one and same application. I did send an email to X-Plane.Org, and they have not responded at all, despite their claim of 12 hour response. I was in the computers business in the late 1970's , we wrote our own applications. I am painfully aware of the smallest mistake can totally trash months of work, the copy of Vskylabs DC-3/C-47 could have corruption somewhere, that sadly is an intermittent problem- the worst of all problems to solve. The X-Plane 11 was bought on hard disk, and it works- so far.
A question. I use Mac, and some creators haven't figured out their market share has gone up. I would like to try the device you put on your head, and you can get a view of the entire cockpit, or portions thereof, or whatever you choose to focus on. Best Buy has them, but they are PC only. There are some people that claim you can make them for Mac, but I'm not going done that path again. Do you know of any one selling a Mac version? I have worked out settings that give me what I need, but the software hiccups and goes out or in or up or down. I have used the hat on the yoke for six views, but the hiccups screw that up, and I bury the craft in the dirt.
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Post by VSL-Admin on Oct 29, 2017 17:55:02 GMT
Hi Ok...I think I understand what is going on... So..if you are using a clean installation of the aircraft, and your X-Plane 11 is working alright...there is no reason for those ground loops, other that ground control settings/operation. You have to make sure that you have all axes assigned (including the rudder). And that your single throttle is assigned to "throttle" for two engines operations (and not "throttle 1..etc...). When taxiing...note that the aircraft is more sensitive than in real life. It is common, and you have to get used to it. It is not a bug but a result of trying to control the aircraft with electronic device and 2d monitor, and without the use of our senses as we do when operating a real aircraft. So taxi slowly and make constant corrections. Before takeoff, make sure to lock the tail wheel, and again...gently, advance the throttle along with constant directional (rudder) corrections. Taxi and takeoff needs practice and getting used to in the simulator, especially for pilots who come with real life flying background. Once mastered, it becomes a second nature. Regarding the virtual reality gear for mac...I really don't know...but soon I am going to enter this world myself, as a developer. I will remember your question and will get back to you with relevant information. I hope that you will succeed soon to master the ground handling of the DC-3. If you are having trouble, try to set the aircraft in the air (simply click "i" and in that window...upper left...select an airport...and on the lower left...choose to begin in a 10 or 3 miles final). Let me know if you got it! JetManHuss
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