PMDG DC-6... It's alive !

Tim-HH said:
Given the fact that the DC-6 in one of my all-time favorites it's hard to curb my excitement
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Same here! :)

My heart skipped a beat when i read an update announcement by PMDG boss Robert Randazzo on the Avsim frontpage the other day. All about the 777 forthcoming upgrades and 744 v2. Nothing, nada, not even one word about the DC-6.... I knew it! It has been scrapped ! This was too good to be true ! :toilet_claw: :pop4:


Pretty nasty trick by Mr.R..... When i checked the PMDG forum to investigate further it was only by coincidence that i clicked the post i linked to in this thread. I don't know if it was on purpose but Mr.R carefully omitted 'DC-6' in the topic title. It possibly was the 'unique twist' that triggered my curiosity. Can't tell you how pleased i was to read the content of his post. I hope Mr.R won't play a trick like this again because i'm not sure if i'll survive... :wink:

What's your speculation, Tim ? Will we find this wonder underneath the Xmas tree ? :rolleyes:

cheers,
Jan
 
Well...I'm going to have to bite on this one.

Considering the complexity of running a four engine radial and the demands on the engineer, I'm going to have to train my wife. lol
Just getting this aircraft to altitude is a major undertaking. With real time systems integration it's going to be off the chart.

Seriously, if this aircraft is a fly by the book quad radial it's going to be super demanding for a single sim pilot. With the PMDG modeling ethic built in, this will certainly be a magnificent piece of equipment. I'm going to remain a two sim guy once the new LM sim is installed, but if I have to fly the DC-6 in FSX I'll just struggle through. Poor me.

Crank up the stereo baby....this one's going to sound good!!!
 
Javis said:
I really hope PMDG will come to their senses and steer away from their current non supporting stance towards P3D. So for the moment you can keep your money in your pocket, Pat. Or... you must belong to the ever so fanatic propliner lover camp, like me... :smile:

Cheers,
Jan
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Jan, I am not a great fan of those screaming banshsees, tubeliners or flying cigars or whatever people want to call them. The only ones in my sim with the exception of the iFly 737NG are the default big jets. I like to keep cool wit those big fans either in front of me or on the wings.

I love flying GA or Warbirds.
 
gman5250 said:
Seriously, if this aircraft is a fly by the book quad radial it's going to be super demanding for a single sim pilot.
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I have a hunch PMDG might provide us with a virtual crew to help us master this beast, like with A2A's accusim B-17 and B377. The're both a joy to fly but still keep you on your Qui-Vive. :smile:

Crank up the stereo baby....this one's going to sound good!!!
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You bet!

 
Javis said:
One could ponder about the fact that the current FSX DC-2 model is already too much nearing PMDG quality for PMDG to warrant a new project like that. I think the same goes for the freeware DC-3 model.
That's only in light of my 2cents, of course.
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Thanks Jan, we dit our best, you know all about it!
Cheers, Rob
(who will collect his beer next week ;-) )
 
Finally another sign of life: PMDG Forum :jump:

The biggest news is probably the fact that the DC-6 will be released first for X-Plane. But the FSX version shall follow shortly. I'm just happy that the project is still going strong after all these years of silence. And it's sounds very promising...almost a little bit like Accusim :)

Greetings
Tim
 
Impressive, but what worries me is all that complexity without an A2A-Captain of the Ship-style crew assist. It's going to be a handful. I'm probably just reflecting my biases but I stayed away from the A2A 377 'til the crew came along, and I'm not sure how eager I am to cope with three flight-deck jobs on my own...
 
Holy Moly, Tim!! You nearly gave me a heart attack!! :dizzy:

Sjeeezzz, this news is really the only reason why i visit the Avsim/PMDG forum just about every day ( for about 3 years.... ) and here you come beating me to it ! I guess you must've done pretty much the same, haven't you ! :wink:

Despite the great news and particularly the amazing VC screenies i couldn't help letting out a sigh too..... Here PMDG have us FSX propliner afficionados waiting for 3 years for news about their exiting DC-6 project and now it is finally presented all of a sudden X-Plane is the word... :grey:

Can understand they want to develop for as many serious flightsim platforms as possible but why has my ever most anticipated flightsim model got to be the XP testbed ! It's not fair !!

Didn't know about the difference in fps clickpots mean between FSX and XP though.... Talking about that, 'a little bit like Accusim' might turn out to be an understatement, Tim.... ;-)

I tried X-Plane a few times, never could get into it, but i sure can't live with the fact that the PMDG DC-6 is outthere and i'm not flying it !
Anyway, thanks a lot for the HU, Tim ! Despite the, for me, totally unexpected X-Plane trick, sure made my day !! :ernaehrung004:


Tchüss!
Jan
 
Alan_A said:
Impressive, but what worries me is all that complexity without an A2A-Captain of the Ship-style crew assist. It's going to be a handful. I'm probably just reflecting my biases but I stayed away from the A2A 377 'til the crew came along, and I'm not sure how eager I am to cope with three flight-deck jobs on my own...
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I have a hunge they won't let us master this beautiful beast all on our own, Alan. This of course is quite a different kettle of fish compared to the, as RR calls it himself, "Gear Up/LNAV/VNAV" simulations that PMDG has released thru the years. Surely they must have checked out the A2A COTS 377 and B-17 which, because of the crew simulation, are quite pleasant and more or less easy to fly. I, for one, would be very much surprised if we didn't find such an option, or atleast something similar, for us to choose with PMDG DC-6. During atleast 3 years of development a LOT can be achieved ! :)


Cheers,
Jan
 
In many ways a very different type of project from some of the late generation jets. My compatriot Capt Alexi Nocolov and I worked with PMDG on the 747-400 as we were both actively flying the plane at the time. In my view the most difficult part of the project was reverse engineering the computer driven auto flight system. At least the six etc does not have that issue! However there are hoops to clear with regards to the venerable CB16-17 R2800's and the various supercharger settings. Some thought that the flight engineer was the most important part of the crew!

Fairbanks and Anchorage still have some sixes flying daily! Great to hear them cranking up, clouds of blur smoke. A friend who is retired from other stuff is flying one these days.

The four, six and seven though they might look similar are very different planes should one model the engines closely, especially the turbo compound engines of the seven. The complexity of those engines is one reason the plane jane but reliable R2800 of the six are still flying today.

Regards: Tom
 
Javis said:
Did you read Rob Randazzo's comments ? :teapot:
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Yes I have, but my question was more like: "how will it compare with an Accusim bird" ?
I understood they made a precise modelling of the engine behavior, but there isn't anything about "aging" engine, so I'm just curious. This could well be my very first PMDG purchase :)
 
Javis said:
I have a hunge they won't let us master this beautiful beast all on our own, Alan.
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Hope that's the case. Managing a DC-6 isn't exactly fodder for FS2Crew (unless Bryan York decides to go in a completely different direction). But some degree of crew assist would be... well, definitely helpful, and maybe required.
 
Daube said:
Yes I have, but my question was more like: "how will it compare with an Accusim bird" ?
I understood they made a precise modelling of the engine behavior, but there isn't anything about "aging" engine, so I'm just curious.
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IIRC, the NGX (and maybe others) include service-based maintenance, so I'd hope for something similar here. Maybe not as characterful as the Accusim variety but we can hope.

My first impulse was to wait for the P3D version, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to get me to load up X-Plane again...
 
Yep, this would get me into installing x-plane as a secondary sim.

Although, I'd be considerably worried that I just wouldn't be committed enough to master a 'study sim' version of a DC-6, as much as I might want to.
 
Hi Jan,

Javis said:
Sjeeezzz, this news is really the only reason why i visit the Avsim/PMDG forum just about every day ( for about 3 years.... ) and here you come beating me to it ! I guess you must've done pretty much the same, haven't you :D !
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yes, of course :D Although today I was actually looking for some news about the upcoming NGX service pack. So it was a nice surprise.

Javis said:
Despite the great news and particularly the amazing VC screenies i couldn't help letting out a sigh too..... Here PMDG have us FSX propliner afficionados waiting for 3 years for news about their exiting DC-6 project and now it is finally presented all of a sudden X-Plane is the word...
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That's true. On the other hand, I always feared that they might cancel the project somewhere down the road like they did it with the Dash-8. After all they also called it a 'filler project' - just like the Dash-8 project. And obviously there was not much time left between all the 7X7 projects. So seeing today that the DC-6 is somehow part of a bigger picture is quite a relief! I'm now sure that the project won't be canceled and that makes waiting much easier :)

Alan_A said:
Impressive, but what worries me is all that complexity without an A2A-Captain of the Ship-style crew assist. It's going to be a handful. I'm probably just reflecting my biases but I stayed away from the A2A 377 'til the crew came along, and I'm not sure how eager I am to cope with three flight-deck jobs on my own...
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The advantage of the DC-6 is that it has no FE station. So all the controls, buttons and switches are accessible from the pilot seat. Therefore one does not have to switch back and forth between the different stations. That will make it much easier to fly the plane :)

Greetings
Tim
 
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