Joe Binka's Grumman G44A Widgeon...the radial powered one

O

OBIO

Retired SOH Admin
I love this plane and I finally got it to the point of being usable by regauging the VC panel with non-XLM gauges...no more over heating 10 seconds after take off. Once I got the plane "fixed" so I could fly it, I very quickly discovered that this plane needed a serious brake job. Even at low speeds, using the brakes would result in the plane tipping forward onto it nose, something flipping all the way over on its back.

Today, in the couple of hours between dropping the kitten off to be neutered and taking Deb to see the eye surgeon, I thought I would work on that issue. Tried moving weights back away from the nose, tried moving the center of gravity....and every time I moved any of that even a slight bit that plane would not fly....it would get into the air in a nearly vertical nose up position.

Finally, I scrolled down through the aircraft.cfg to the Brakes section, and there as clear as the nose on my face was the problem. The toe_brake_scalar thingie was set to 2.75! 2.75!!!! I changed that to 1.00 and all is well. I tested it by taking the plane to 70 MPH, pulling throttle back to nothing and slamming on the brakes. No more tipping over! The plane slowed down nice and sweet as you could ever want.

So, for those wanting to fix the brakes in the radial Widgeon, go to the BRAKES section of the aircraft.cfg (toward the bottom) and change the Toe Brakes to 1.00.

If anyone wants a copy of my tweaked panel for the Widgeon that will allow it to fly without burning up, shoot me a PM with your e-mail address and I will send you the new panel set up and gauges.

OBIO
 
I really like the radial Widgeon too, but my problem seems to be with the autopilot. For some bizarre reason it starts yawing into a slow climbing turn and inevitably ends up stalling out.

I read an article somewhere that the radial mod to the aircraft did nothing to improve its performance in real life and in fact increased it's fuel consumption by some seven gallons per hour. It did look damn good though.

N.
 
I haven't really tried the AP on the Widgeon...let me check it out and see what I can find.

You're right about the radial Widgeon looking good....radial engines make everything look better...heck, even Phillis Diller would look better with a radial engine strapped to her.

OBIO
 
ModdogK

The inline Widgeon has no VC, the radial Widgeon only has a VC. It's a shame the inline Widgeon does not have a VC...it's a good looking bird, but the lack of a VC keeps it out of my hangar.

OBIO
 
No Obio, the radial one is the one I scrapped, I couldn't get the VC to appear-even with the stock gauges/panel installed. I preferred the inline one anyway so it wasn't a big loss to me.
 
It's a darn shame that I can't make heads or tails out of SCASM....if I knew how to work with that stuff, I could take the VC from the radial and stick it into the inline....but then trying to get in touch with Joe Binka for permission to upload would be a whole nuther can of wurms.

OBIO
 
I have been working on the Radial Widgeon for the last couple of days while I have things downloading to enhance me sim (I have a working install that I use for testing and project work....still tweaking my actual flight installs). Anyhoos....I have the paint template nearly done...still need to do the detail work on the tail surfaces, the pontoon thingies, then move on to the interior. I have redone the panel lines on the wings and fuselage and cleaned them up, added lines and details to the engine nacelles/cowls. Took a few odds and ends from the inline Widgeon...the wheel and tire texturing was much cleaner than what was on the radial Widgeon....same file, just more detailed. I also borrowed the Early War (42 to 43) US Navy scheme from the inline and repainted it onto the radial version....

I uploaded 4 screen shot to a Photobucket album so you folks can check out the initial paint in full size views.

http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd251/OBIOandSharkbait/Flight Sim Images/G44A Radial Widgeon/

OBIO
 
Looks good, Obio. To me, the Widgeon is what the Goose should've been - better proportioned and an all-round better looking aircraft; the Goose always looked just a bit too small and cramped for my taste and the long nose and "trolley car" windscreen did nothing for me. At the same time, however, the Widge doesn't look good with inlines; only P & W radials will do, thank you very much - fuel consumption be damned. And any Grumman product in turboprops? Well that's just plain wrong...


N.
 
I just finished up a USCG paint on the radial....basically the USCG paint on the inline Widgeon, done up on the radial. Have a few more I want to do this week, then will get them uploaded. Next weekend will be a busy uploading weekend. Alpha Bobcat, PT-19, PT-26, Radial Widgeon, possibly a couple new paints for Brian Gladden's Volpar.

OBIO
 
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