Lockheed L1049G...what did I do wrong?

L

LonelyplanetXO

Charter Member
Ah, the pain of new, super-accurate models...Took that fab new Super Connie from [FONT=&quot]Manfred Jahn[/FONT] for a spin Auckland to Wellington. Wowee, this is a truly great model in every way. Read the manuals, (sort of)...Departed NZWP Whenuapai for NZWN, Wellington international. First thing, keep the climb rate & power conservative...select what I think looks kinda like the right tanks (selected tanks 1 & 4 and didnt change em - just watched the fuel gauges carefully) ... climbing out, about 14000' engines start to surge... a few minutes investigation of fuel show no probs, but dead slow and can't get her to stop surging. Then a thought...Robert Sanderson's Sea Hurricane has a manual two stage supercharger... look for a supercharger hi - low setting, found it, flicked it over and we're away! (yeah, found that in the manual, later) Ok, climb to 18,000, then 20,000' big headwind, gosh she's slow (gs 232), but no hurry. Then, over NZOH #4 stops. No explanation, just went inop & feathered. back off the remaining three to be safe (looked ok), check fuel again, scratch head, descend to 12,000' and attempt a relight. No go. So call ohakea to make an emergency landing - it's ifr, request denied... bollocks. So proceed to Wellyton and make an acceptable 3 engine landing (lucky it's a nice day - Wellington is famous for blowing it's tits off). Try to restart #4 at the gate. Nope... so what caused the failure?
 
LonelyplanetXO said:
Super Connie from [FONT=&quot]Manfred Jahn...[/FONT]so what caused the failure?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but you might keep a close watch on the BHP numbers in the status pop-up. If the readout changes from white to yellow, back off of the pitch a bit. The following is from the "readme",

"(7) Engine failure is likely to occur when the engines are operated at
2800+ RPM for longer periods of time (watch out for this especially
after take-off) or if Spark control = ADVANCE at 2400+ RPM. Depending
on altitude, engines may fail within three to five minutes. Use the
Prop pitch master lever or the Engine pitch simicon to adjust RPM as
required for the current flight situation (see checklist). On the
Status panel, the engine h.p. readout uses the following color codes:
white - OK, no danger of engine failure;
yellow - the current power setting will cause damage if left too long
in this configuration (even after throttling back or adjusting
RPM it will remain yellow until the internal engine failure
Counter is back to zero (may take a couple of minutes)
red - immediate action required – reduce throttle and prop pitch."

Hope this helps.
 
Hi,

If you don't want failures, there is a switch in the VC that will inactivate them; do that each time you fly.

You can monitor your engines' health by bringing up the status board (right click on one of the icons - forgot which one).

Hope this helps,
 
Hi,

You can monitor your engines' health by bringing up the status board (right click on one of the icons - forgot which one).
Click to expand...

That's the simicon with the checkmark (kneeboard simicon)

If you don't want failures, there is a switch in the VC that will inactivate them; do that each time you fly.
Click to expand...

That's new for me.
Nevertheless .. I spend 30 minutes in the docs and in the VC and don't find this switch or hotspot (or any labels corresponding to this function)
Mr Gibson .. can you help to locate this switch.
Thank's in advance.
In the same time I will investigate in the gauges and panel.cfg .....
 
There is a certain realism going on here. Before the advent of three-hole jets, some called the Connie "the world's fastest trimotor" in reference to its frequency of engine failures, though not everyone agreed that the slam was deserved.
 
hehe Mick, yes I've heard Connies are mechanically fragile - those compound blowers were famous for blowing...engines..
Thanks Hurricane, I think your guess is on the money as spark was advanced at the time (not really sure what this does, but it seemed to go better with that set). I'll need to read the manual a whole lot more carefully.
I appreciate the ability to turn off failures but think i'll persist with it, for now anyways. All that complex code does make her a lot more interesting to fly. The status board will allow me to "cheat" until I get used to the appropriate settings for different heights/loads... meantime I'll head for the pub and await a replacement engine to be flown to Wellington hehe..

LPXO
 
As I remember it is at your left elbow, but that is from a vague memory - I'm not sure it's even there in the final version...
 
And herin lies the difference between "Flight Simulator 2004 - The Game" and "Flight SIMULATOR 2004"

Sometimes it just doesn't pay to go fast :icon_lol:

Fortunately we have choices.. something simple for the days we just want to firewall the levers and go back to our DVD, and sweet beasts like the Connie for when we want to learn about the not-so-simple joys of flying.

Rob
 
Hi,

Fortunately we have choices.. something simple for the days we just want to firewall the levers and go back to our DVD, and sweet beasts like the Connie for when we want to learn about the not-so-simple joys of flying.
Click to expand...

Indeed .. but don't forget .. we have only two hands .. and a mouse.
In the RL Connie .. it's a lot of more hands for click and push all these buttons and levers and play with the radio and ...... :)
Even in the high end FBW AC they need to be two :) and some pilots are sorry for not be three .....
 
LOL Hurricane. I wont mention my first flight in her:gameoff:...fortunately I'm a reasonable swimmer...
Thanks to everyone for their advice :guinness:. Flew her NZWN Wellington to NZQN Queenstown after rereading the manual and finding that handy simicons status board. Lovely, albeit slow flight with 37 knots on the nose @ FL20. Sure enough, initial settings gave yellows on the board, backing it off a bit fixed the problem. One thing I realised, the initial climb in the previous flight was with superchargers off...no wonder it was slow :) . Lot to manage in this bird. I can see why toob drivers are so well organised. Haven't quite figured out the fuel management yet but getting a clue. Only disappointment this time was a very hard landing at Queenstown, thanks to low vis and a 17 knot crosswind:isadizzy:. Even with all those systems ya still gotta remember the basics!

LPXO
 
Switch to turn off realism ???? I am not aware of that since all of us in the team felt that she deserved a bit of study to be flown "by the book" ..... but I may have forgotten about an addition ( It happens :icon_lol: )

The Spark Advance does just what it's name implies...the spark plugs fire just a bit earlier which improves combustion and therefor power delivered vs fuel burned.
The real world limitation was ( and is in our model ) that above 2400RPM serious detonation can occur which will damage the engines quite quickly.
So be sure that this switch is secured (cover closed ---opposite on the L-1649A but we may fix that) when ever you are at or above that limiting RPM.
Typically you would reduce prop rpm for cruise anyways ...if nothing else to reduce cabin noise somewhat.


The max fuel range operations are explained in detail in the documentation...the tank switching procedure is quite detailed and probably should be tested out at least once on the ground with the Status window open so you can "see" which tank is feeding what engine without having to practice your 3 or less engine approaches.

The engines will not restart above 14000ft....even if you just ran them dry.

As for the Connie being a weak or troublesome airplane....well yes and no. The airplane itself behaved exceptionally well right from the start and actually exceeded most design parameters set for her.

The engine was a similar leap in technology and had a few teething problems to be sure. But that was not just on the Connies....the B29 and DC7 with R3350 had the same if not more problems.

During the development of the Connie project I spent a good deal of time talking to people with more hours and type certificates than I can ever dream to collect to make sure we got things right.
One of them is a friend of mine who after getting his first paying flying job as a corporate pilot in a C-195 spent the rest of his career at American Airlines.
Because American got stiffed on the early deliveries of the Connie the company vowed to never by another Lockheed product....and so they competed against her in the DC-6 and DC-7 on the trans con flights from New York to Los Angeles.
The long and short of it is that AA had to basically firewall the DC-7 on the westbound flights in order to arrive within the allowed crew duty time and paid for it with overhaul times on the R3350s as low as 400h. And apparently tested the 3 engine approach qualities of the Douglas on many occasions as well.

However the Connie did behave much better with less than 4 engines running than the Douglas...again based on a conversations with guys that were lucky enough to have flown them both.

The FS9 version of the L-1049 does pretty well with that as well....when we developed the FDE and Failure model I had plenty of opportunity to get proficient at all sorts of configurations :icon_lol::icon_lol:

As for the Xwind landings it actually helps to use a little bit of "throttle steering" to help with runway alignment. And as usual....practice...practice and more practice :ernae:

Stefan
 
Great info Stefan, and thanks again for this wonderful gift. As you can tell, my difficulties emphasise the importance of ****. All the info is in the manuals as long as one actually reads them.
The models themselves are just remarkable - beautiful, well sorted and very complex. Nothing wrong with that! in fact, i'll be sticking with the Connie for a while; it's reignited my interest in FS.
One curious point - I noticed only one pitch control lever - for 4 engines? Then looked at a few pictures of the cockpit/engineers station from airliners.net (OMG it looks _exactly_ like the pictures!) and sure enough, only one pitch controller..amazing detail.
When you say "Throttle steering", you're referring to differential throttle settings? Hum, got track IR, Yoke, pedals, seperate throttle/pitch/mixture - but not 4 of em! But I suppose I can set throttles independently in the VC.
One other query - reverse thrust in FS uses the F2 key by default, which I have assigned to a switch feature at the bottom of the throttle travel. But the Connie uses a different process, I gather reversers are on the engineers panel? - when I touch down and call for reverse thrust I turn around and see the engineer & copilot are gone; probably bailed out after watching my approach. Is there any way to assign reversers to the F2 key (and thus, the beta range on my Saitek throttle)?...or have I not read the manual correctly, yet again (not at home so can't check) :p
Thanks again,
LPXO
 
The Ctrl+F2 controls pitch, not throttle setting. When you're flying a kerosene burner and use F2, you're actually taking the throttle below zero. The Sim won't recognise this with a recip, so the workaround involves actually changing the pitch. Ctrl+F1 takes the pitch to the feathered position and Ctrl+F2 takes it beyond that into the negative. Raise the throttle and now you're blowing air forward.

As for asymetrical thrust steering, I only have a single throttle too (X-52). I select either 1&2 or 3&4 via the keyboard, then I have macro set up in the gaming keys on the far left of my keyboard to reselect all four. I can't remember if the Starliner (the one I currently have installed) came with differential braking via the rudder enabled or if I did it, but that also helps.
 
Y'know Tom, I've had FS9 for 5 years and never knew that. All my props with thrust driven braking are turbo's, which act like a jet from FS' perspective.

So let's test your theory - set up the switch that's in the beta range on the pitch lever with Ctrl-F2 repeating (which makes sense because as you say, that is real beta - pitch, not thrust)... start a takeoff roll and @ 100kias, abort takeoff - pull back both power and pitch levers to beta, then apply full throttle, but no brakes at all...

"She seems to be slowing Captain" I heard #2 say, although it was a bit difficult to understand him over the engine roar and the fact my face was pressed against the monitor (note to self, add seatbelt to checklist) ...Stopped in about 150 metres, had to hurriedly close throttles to avoid backing up. BRILLIANT!!! I'd say you'd only ever need 50% throttle max for braking.

I have differential toe brakes on the Saitek pedals that work perfectly on all wheeled models inc the Connie. The suggestion of setting up the gaming keys is a good one, although I've never had much luck with the Saitek profile thingy...

Cheers!!! LPXO:ernae:
 
Remember that it won't work on just any piston pusher - it has to be set up in the cfg (gonna have to dig into that myself to see if I can adapt it to others). Also, according to the Starliner's reference docs, normal revers is 1500-2100 RPM. I've found that's more than enough to get her going backwards with a full load.

And for the record, I never knew about all this until this thread was started and I decided to read more of the manual myself!:kilroy:
 
Hi,

back to the original post:

I found no mentioning of adjusting mixture. Click the "SM" simicon to adjust mixture. Losing power during climb is probably due to too rich mixture.

You can switch the superchargers to high at about 10'000 ft - at about that time you'll have to have your throttles full open to maintain climb MAP. There is a specific procedure for 'blower shift' in the checklist, but unlike in real life, you won't blow your engine apart if you just flip those switches.

Fuel system: A good part of the maual contains an explanation of the fuel system. Depending on fuel requirements, you'd probably run on #5 tank during climb.

But most of all, I'd suggest that you print out the checklist, load the plane to light loads (below max landing weight) and do a test flight. Somethin like Los Angeles to San Franciso will do fine. Follow the checklist step by step. Keep power and airspeed under control. You'll notice that the plane will fly much easier if it is handled in the right sequence.

It certainly is no 'firewall the throttles and fly' plane, but nobody ever claimed it. But it is certainly manageble wit a bit of training and attention.

If you still run into problems, do us a favor and take a screenshot of the status gauge (right click on the checklist icon on the FE panel). This will be most helpful for troubleshooting.

A comment on the later post: Yes, only one master RPM lever. If required, individual engine RPM can be changed using the switches on the Prop Control subpanel (prop icon on the FE panel). The L-49 still had individual RPM levers (as modelled correctly in the FsDzign connie), but the control system was changed in the 649 and susequent versions.

Best regards,
Volker
 
Thanks Tom & Volker. I didnt mention mixture because I find you can set it by "ear" - the sweet spot makes her purr, just adjust it every couple of thousand feet. Since she was parked at Queenstown with 63% fuel I took a run VOR nav back to Whenuapai (about 750nm) . Much more successful flight, alternating views between the VC, Engineers panel in 2D and the manual, trying to work through the various fuel configurations. Not perfect I think but way better. Prior to takeoff, tested the fuel options on the ground as per Stefan's suggestion. One momentary omigod moment when I closed the fuel valve for tank 5 out of order and heard #2 & 3 winding down, but quick action to reverse the error and they powered up again. And a nice landing at NZWP to boot! I have a geeky FS friend (like me) coming round tonight for a flight. I think I'll be demo'ing the Connie :)

LPXO
 
LonelyplanetXO said:
Thanks Tom & Volker. I didnt mention mixture because I find you can set it by "ear" - the sweet spot makes her purr, just adjust it every couple of thousand feet. Since she was parked at Queenstown with 63% fuel I took a run VOR nav back to Whenuapai (about 750nm) . Much more successful flight, alternating views between the VC, Engineers panel in 2D and the manual, trying to work through the various fuel configurations. Not perfect I think but way better. Prior to takeoff, tested the fuel options on the ground as per Stefan's suggestion. One momentary omigod moment when I closed the fuel valve for tank 5 out of order and heard #2 & 3 winding down, but quick action to reverse the error and they powered up again. And a nice landing at NZWP to boot! I have a geeky FS friend (like me) coming round tonight for a flight. I think I'll be demo'ing the Connie :)

LPXO
Click to expand...


Great ...seems we have another convert/addict :ernae:
As for the prop reverse since we unfortunately were unable to assign a real #2 and FE to each of the freely download able Connies we added a little trick to the airplane.
With the throttles at idle power click on the REVERSE lights on the front panel and your virtual FE should set the beta pitch for you.
Then throttle up as needed to slow the bird down....close throttle and click the lights again to return to fine pitch so you can taxi off the active.

If you have a lever set up for the prop pitch it should work all 4 engines in similar fashion.....but a few folks have had trouble with the ranges. But the throttle needs to be closed and remain closed when you bring the prop pitch into beta until the lights are on.
FSUIPC (registered version only)can be a great help there by allowing to set a slightly larger "dead zone" at the bottom end of the throttle axis to ensure there is no fluctuation at just the wrong moment.

The asymmetrical thrust steering while flying on short final of course will be quite hard to do without multiple levers to control at least each wing independently and rapidly.
So you might want to set yourself a 15kt max X-wind limit for now :mixedsmi:

All the praise for the visual brilliance of the airplane series goes to our team principal Manfred. His attention to detail is simply amazing on all of them.
Having had a chance to look at the naked Gmax model I am almost sorry you can't see the wireframe skeleton that makes up these birds.
Works of art.....just like the real one.

Stefan
 
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