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Jahn Constellation - System and Other Failures - Questions

BendyFlyer

BendyFlyer

Charter Member
I am aware that if you exceed certain parameters on the engines or airspeed limits, things break or fail but I guess I am curious as to how these things are modelled and does the modelling include random failures.

I have been spending a bit of time with the Connie L-749 and trying to get a good handle on this machine and so far so good but yesterday I had my first engine failure which took me by surprise in the sense that all temps and pressures were normal and the aircraft was in the cruise, I could see no obvious reason for it to fail. Hence the question above as it aroused my curiousity as to how these events are modelled in FSX etc.

On another note, the Connie handles well and the feathering system worked fine and the blades took up the correct angle. It would not restart so a 3 engine approach back to the field was done which apart from the atrocious weather conditions, cloud rain wind etc, the Connie handled or responded very well. A good experience all up.


Even managed a pic on the way back.

 
Radials just do that some time . . (why we don't have them anymore!).:adoration: Glad to see you are enjoying the Connies. Rate them up there at the top of freeware contributions to the community. L749 is probably my favorite, but also the Starliner, oh, and the Willy Fudd, etc. Were you watching the CH temps, MAP and rpm limits on the UI chart pop up?
 
I'll have to find this one and get it back into my P3D.

Also didn't the Connie have a reputation of being the "best twin engine aircraft" of its time because of engine shutdowns?
 
I think it was "best three-engine airplane" ;)
I can't remember: what this Connie in FS9 format, or native FSX ?
If it's in FS9 format, the cockpit will not be clickable in P3D :/
 
Daube said:
I think it was "best three-engine airplane" ;)
Click to expand...
Well worth the try ... flying in on three engines :untroubled: ole MJ's Connie work well in FSX .. simply drag it over, I then add , HELLS , like the rest of you guys and really build on it ... it is a worthy collection :encouragement:
 
And that's why you don't fly bananas with wings and leave your money with Don Douglas instead. :tongue:
 
I guess it would require a whole new thread - maybe but the L-749 is not native FSX but a port over, despite this the VC is about 85% functional and the textures and graphics are excellent. There are a number of later fixes or tidy ups, such as the FDE (air files), cockpit textures (Windscreen pillars and colours), alternative Connie sound packages, that really make this old girl as good as any native FSX in my humble opinion.

I have the Abacus and JF versions and they do not compare really and both have been relegated to the file and forget bin and again in my humble opinion were only port overs as well. The JF model in particular is just not right, the undercarriage and wheels are out of proportion, the engine cowls are wrong and the nose section is well yuk.

As an old piston engine driver from the real world I do not find the Connie a problem or difficult but you really need to work the engines via the FE panel and not the pilot position. I came across and old manual for the early Connie and noted that in the checklists the pilot flying handed over engine control to the FE who tidied things up and fine tuned the cooling, fuel etc.

The aeroplane is a delight and when you realise what a big aeroplane it was (is), you just cannot throw it about due to its inertia and size when low and slow and the fact that your touchdown speed is actually lower than most modern aircraft then you really appreciate what a great bird it is. The only place the Connie will bite is on take off as it is a slow climber till cleaned up and on approach where if you get behind the drag curve it can really bite hard. Just remember no aerobatics, in real life the manual says in my words - "spin this and it will fall apart around you".
 
Having well over 1500 hours flying in the Connie, as aircrew, the Navy had a saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" engine failures, were kind of routine, flights from Midway Island over the Alutien Islands and back lasted about 14-15 hours, and it was a very good three engine aircraft. Only time it bothered me, was the first time. Half way up the track , lost number 4, and I was sitting up front having a bite to eat, looked out the porthole, saw one not turning, and headed to the back to tell the first tech, that maybe we should get ready to ditch, he had a good laugh, I didn't. Loved flying in her, nice comfortable flight (most of the time). And listening to the drone of those slow turning engines, it was easy to fall asleep, when I was of duty.
 
:encouragement: Nice one Don and Bendy, I would love to hook into the JF Connie , a rebuild , lotta stuff working, now looking needing the tweaking , course adding all the new tricks we have today. :very_drunk:
 
In 1961 or 62, I stood along the ramp with lots of other gawkers and watched a C-121 from Otis AFB land with only three engines.....the other (#3) had burned through its mounts and fallen into the Atlantic north of Kindley AFB, Bermuda. The fire had also ruined the starboard tires so they were ground to bits on the roll-out and hot rubber went back onto the elevators, doing more damage.
The crew calmly cleared the plane and let the emergency vehicles take over. One of the crew told me the phrase "lost an engine" just took on a whole new meaning to him.
 
Like that story about 3 engine runs, looks like the habit stuck when the P-3s came along they routinely shut two down and motor along on two for most of the time. Still thats why Lockheed gave the Constellation stainless steel firewalls. Me I only ever had two engines two play with so if one went down you went home, otherwise like you guys it was out there till bingo time and never mind the weather.

JFs sim reproduction of this aeroplane seems authentic to me, barring the sounds and other sound packages, to my ear they never sound right in cruise or from outside view, as you say a Constellation had a distinctive synchronised rumble that you never forget, not offensive but sort of magical actually, its a sound we never hear in the skies anymore, shame!

Interesting that the Connie had the same wing section and shape as the P-38, I can see why they did the triple fin tail, saved a lot of weight and solved the propwash problem, the sim version seems right even down to the lack of real rudder authority in high winds, from the sim it seems the Connie had some real limits in crosswinds not that you could not do it but it could get untidy at rotate and touchdown, you dont get that heavy aircraft damping feeling in the sim but thats common to all in the FSX system, it is modelled poorly or for whatever reason, the motion cues are out.
 
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