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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

Connie Shakedown

falcon409

falcon409

SOH-CM-2025
After selecting the Connie and Electra II as my Propliners of choice I decided to do a flight in the Connie to get used to all the extra bells and whistles. I did a flight from Central Mexico up to McAllen, Texas. The flight itself was without any problems really, climb out and getting to altitude was uneventful. The onboard AP is very easy to use and setting the mixture, MP and RPM's for the altitude I was flying at was not a problem.

The problem came on the approach and landing, lol. I was cleared for rwy 13 at McAllen Int'l and so the descent and turn to base were all without any problems, I set my approach speed at 140kts and 3/4 flaps and everything looked and felt fine. Just as I was approaching the rwy, the aircraft wanted to bank left, not violently, just a hint that it wanted to go that way, I corrected and made the landing. As I touched down I realized the engines had gone silent, so I moved the throttle forward but had no power. I went to the external view and realized all engines had stopped. I have no idea why though.

I went back and replayed the landing and saw that as I made the turn to final at about 4miles out I was getting black smoke from engines 2, 3 and 4 and then they stopped with #1 still turning. . .which is why I felt the sudden turn to the left as I was about to land. As far as I know, everything in the cockpit looked normal. Does this scenario bring any possible causes to mind for those who have some background with 4 engine aircraft?
 
Ed,
Who's Connie are you flying?

I seem to remember somewhere in the back of my mind that I use to fly a Connie and the engines would cut out after a little while. I just can't recall exactly what the issue was, but I have a feeling that it had to do with the electrical system or battery. Maybe it will come back to me. You didn't, by any chance, run out of gas?
icon22.gif


mal

OK, I just checked Manfred's aircraft.cfg on the Connie. Under electrical it shows electric always on=0
I don't really know if that is the problem you had, but it's worth looking at.
 
Yea, it is Manfred's Connie. If it had happened in flight, I could have had time to do some troubleshooting, but just prior to touchdown. . .nope, lol. I can't say that I noticed a loss of battery power really, and the black smoke made it appear that I had redlined the engines, but how do you do that running at 140kts on final? lol
 
I have a couple of his Connies installed. I'll take 'em up for some testing tonight to see if anything shows itself. He did a beautiful job on those aircraft. Also there are alternate VC panel textures available. They look really good.
 
falcon409 said:
Yea, it is Manfred's Connie. If it had happened in flight, I could have had time to do some troubleshooting, but just prior to touchdown. . .nope, lol. I can't say that I noticed a loss of battery power really, and the black smoke made it appear that I had redlined the engines, but how do you do that running at 140kts on final? lol
Click to expand...

I'm not a Connie expert -- that's a very complicated plane to start out with -- but is it possible that prop pitch or fuel mixture weren't set right for a landing?
 
Smokey Joe said:
I'm not a Connie expert -- that's a very complicated plane to start out with -- but is it possible that prop pitch or fuel mixture weren't set right for a landing?
Click to expand...
Those are both likely causes. I also remember something about the spark advance being a problem.
Another thing to remember is that the aircraft was designed for FS9 and consequently there are some systems that do not work well (or not at all) in FSX.
There are also several updates.
 
Hurricane91 said:
Those are both likely causes. I also remember something about the spark advance being a problem.
Another thing to remember is that the aircraft was designed for FS9 and consequently there are some systems that do not work well (or not at all) in FSX.
There are also several updates.
Click to expand...

I'm not asking for links. I don't want to put you to work like that, but do you know where the updates are? I have the L1649A and pulled it out of the archive because of this discussion and remembered how much I like it.
 
Smokey Joe said:
I'm not asking for links. I don't want to put you to work like that, but do you know where the updates are? I have the L1649A and pulled it out of the archive because of this discussion and remembered how much I like it.
Click to expand...

Flightsim.com and a file search for "Starliner Jahn" gives a few results.
 
Hurricane91 said:
. . . . .
Another thing to remember is that the aircraft was designed for FS9 and consequently there are some systems that do not work well (or not at all) in FSX.
There are also several updates. . . .
Click to expand...
When I installed the Connie, there were 4 downloads to get what I have right now:
A download for the "G" model
A download for the "H" model
A download for an update for the "G" model
A download for the the AF and Navy versions (You must have the G&H models already installed for this one to work)

So are there additional updates beyond those?
 
Smokey Joe said:
I'm not asking for links. I don't want to put you to work like that, but do you know where the updates are? I have the L1649A and pulled it out of the archive because of this discussion and remembered how much I like it.
Click to expand...

You're welcome.
Simviation, Downloads, Search, L1649, chose version.
 
Willy said:
You didn't throttle back too quickly did you?
Click to expand...
I didn't think I did Willy, it was more or less a gradual decrease in power as I descended and got closer to the airport. I'll just have to try another flight and see what happens.:salute:
 
Ok, I'm looking through flightsim.com for any additional upgrades for what I have. I found one posted on the 10th of this month (Today) and it says it's for the 1649A but for the base aircraft it says you need to download 1049G. I have the G/H and 121 versions. Is this update for those versions or not?
 
The latest upgrade is for the 1649, not the 1049. There's a thread about it in the FS9 forum.
 
falcon409 said:
When I installed the Connie, there were 4 downloads to get what I have right now:
A download for the "G" model
A download for the "H" model
A download for an update for the "G" model
A download for the the AF and Navy versions (You must have the G&H models already installed for this one to work)

So are there additional updates beyond those?
Click to expand...
It sounds like you've got them all but I'm not sure Falcon. When the L-749 came out I archived my L-1049 and 1649.
Besides the people here at SOH, some good help can be found in the California Classics forum threads. The latest involves an update to the 1649 FDE.

http://calclassic.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general
 
ok, well, what is the latest and greatest by Manfred in the Connie Series? I don't need 4 or 5 variants, I just want one that I can add some liveries to and fly.:salute:
 
falcon409 said:
ok, well, what is the latest and greatest by Manfred in the Connie Series? I don't need 4 or 5 variants, I just want one that I can add some liveries to and fly.:salute:
Click to expand...
The most recent is the L-749. The one I have does not seem tempermental at all. About the only thing I keep a sharp eye on is the prop pitch. There is a status pop-up that displays the data for several systems including bhp output for all four engines. If the bhp numbers are white, OK. Yellow, take action immediately. Pull prop pitch back untill you get white numbers again. Usually I run the pitch around 90%. If I remember correctly, the last time I flew the 749 I ran it flat out without any problems. I will check it again to verify.

Edit. Just ran a test flight in the 749. Full throttle, prop pitch 98-100%. At 280kts indicated, no squawks from the engine room. I still have the 1049 in FSX and like to fly it, but I like the lines of earlier model better.
 
The L749 is my favorite of the Constellations as well. Not as fast as the later Super Connies or Starliners, but real nice to fly. Just keep the gauges in the green.
 
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