Released!! F9F Cougar by Rob Richardson

Cees Donker said:
I must be doing something wrong: after a few minutes the engine stops, though I have enough fuel. Fuel flow is on and there is no overheating. I fly it in FSX.

:gameoff::dizzy:

Cees
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Do you start the engine manually? If so try (the horror) CTRL-E. That's how I've started it on my first few flights. With tanks there's enough fuel to get from Oshkosh to NAS Pensacola. (Just.) I used time compression, but mine's stayed running so far.
 
Thank you Rob for a wonderful add-on!

Well, I've done a few short flights and one XC flight from KOSH to KNPA. I really like the way the Cougar turned out. It pairs very well with my VS Panther and performance is about what I expected. The Cougar has around 1200 extra pounds of thrust but the empty weight us up by almost the same so it's really not noticeable which is probably as it should be. I haven't tried any stalls and definitely no spins. (Back in the 90's a guy in the modelling club had flown Cougars. He said if you get in a spin below 12,000' you'd better vacate the jet because it would probably not recover.) It does however fly a demo routine VERY well! Rob did a great job setting it up. Nothing is twitchy. (Sometimes I get planes that if I pull back even a little on the stick I'd get almost full deflection of the elevators. Early release of the Milviz F-4 was about the worst.) This is one of the few planes I have that I can execute an 8 point roll smoothly in. There aren't many planes in my hangar that I haven't tweaked and the Cougar is no exception. I swapped the sound and smoke effect out with one from the VS Panther. The Panther used a J42 (RR Nene) while the Cougar used the larger but very similar J48 (RR Tay) so I would think they would sound very similar and probably smoke about the same. I also added to flap positions. One at 10 degrees and one more at 15 just for a little more flexibility in the pattern. Getting the Cougar on the deck is pretty easy. Get your power and trim set up and it will almost land itself! Just rock solid. When it's time for a cat shot a bridle is visible and that's a nice touch! I don't know if I can adjust the power of the launch or if I need to trim the plane a little nose down but on launch this thing really tips back on its tail.
With the Cougar now in the hangar let's do a roll call. FJ1 Fury, Banshee, Panther, Skyknight, Cutlass, Cougar, Skyray, Demon, Crusader, Tiger, Phantom, Tomcat. Looks like the jet fighter lineup is complete except an FH1 Phantom and FJ2/3/4 Fury! (And maybe the F6U as it did see very limited service, so I guess it counts.) The attack side is pretty well accounted for as well with the A-3, A-4, A-5, A-6 and A-7 accounted for (and maybe the AJ2 Savage as it did have a jet.)
 
If its accuracy your after Josh you will find the Cougar had just one notch of flap at 22degs for the outboard and 40degs for inboard, no intermediate flap setting can be made, that is according to the pilots notes.

RobR
 
Rob is correct - flaps were either UP or DOWN. Always down for takeoff and landing, period.
 
Mike71 said:
Rob is correct - flaps were either UP or DOWN. Always down for takeoff and landing, period.
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Mike, thank you for the knowledgeable first hand information.
Take-off must have needed very precise handling, I would imagine hitting the ground with the tailskid was a problem waiting to happen?
What was the normal take-off speed on a warm summer day?

RobR


 
robcarrich said:
If its accuracy your after Josh you will find the Cougar had just one notch of flap at 22degs for the outboard and 40degs for inboard, no intermediate flap setting can be made, that is according to the pilots notes.

RobR
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Ahh! I was going off the flap gauge on the panel! Two flap positions IS easier to remember than four! (Just like the EE Lightning I guess!) Either way I still love it!
 
robcarrich said:
Mike, thank you for the knowledgeable first hand information.
Take-off must have needed very precise handling, I would imagine hitting the ground with the tailskid was a problem waiting to happen?
What was the normal take-off speed on a warm summer day?

RobR
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Rob - takeoff speed (knots indicated) did not vary with temp; I realize most civilian aircraft vary this for climbout capability/engine loss, but not in Navy tactical jets in my experience, both in the fleet and as a test pilot, but my flying ended in the late 80's.

Here is what I have from old notes ( speed in KIAS):

TOW (K lbs ) rotate 10 deg
25.0 145
23.0 138
21.0 131
19.0 124
17.0 117
15.0 110

do NOT over rotate - let airplane lift off at 10 deg NU
climb out at rotation speed for obstacle clearance if necessary
accelerate to 150 KIAS / 1000 AGL before flap retraction
gear retraction takes approximately 10 sec - avoid abrupt elevator inputs to maintain safe rate of climb as gear retracts

The tail bumper was never a problem for takeoffs because everyone was paranoid about the danger of over-rotating and causing dangerously increased induced drag from excessive angle of attack.

However, the bumper was necessary because of the very limited tailpipe clearance and a possible nose high carrier landing. Also, the "pull back" from the arresting gear after landing often caused the airplane to rock back on the skag as the retraction process was stopped and the pilot hit the brakes (as signaled by the director).

I will put together some additional performance info over the next few days; the least I can do to enhance your marvelous contribution to our hobby
 
Tail Hook wire contact

I wonder if the tail hook contact could be adjusted so that the wire is in the tail hook instead of riding up the hook to the tail pipe as seen here on the Midway.

Capture.jpg


Current settings:
[TailHook]
tailhook_length= 4.0
tailhook_position=-13.623, 0.00, -1.489
cable_force_adjust=1.99
 
The prototype Me 262 was a taildragger and almost wouldn't get off the ground. Especially true of the first turbojets was a lack of thrust at low speed and the extra drag of early rotation, or in the case of the first 262, three point attitude when added to the adverse inlet geometry could prevent acceleration. Not a lot of thrust till you really got going!

Even in commercial jets there is an issue with possible over rotation due to fuselage length. Boeing for instance recommended a two stage rotation, an initial rotation depending on the plane to maybe 8 degrees, the rotation could then be continued to the target for climb out, usually around 13 degrees. The rotation rate was critical so as to allow the struts time to extend as the weight comes off. Even making an improved climb takeoff from Denver in a 737-400 racing down the runway at about 190 knots! Rotating for takeoff would be enough inlet Geometry change to get the over temp lights wink on, the slightest squeeze on the thrust levers would put them out.

A lot of wing on the F9F! Some of my first officers had flown the F9F in flight school back in the day!

Nice plane from a great era of aviation!
 
fallenphoenix1986 said:
Thanks Rob and happy birthday.

Re. the wire animation, pretty sure its a feature of the SWS carriers:

http://simworksstudios.com/products/navy/uss-midway-cv-41/
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Thanks for that,
I’ve had a look at this software before, the animated wirereally is a nice feature but at fifty bucks its not for this old pensioner!
I can see what the problem is with the wire miss-alignmentbut without the program in question there is not much I can do.
I’d recommend playing around with the hook settings, maybeincreasing the vertical value.

RobR
 
gray eagle said:
I'm using the Midway by SimWorks Studio, I used Win 7 snipping tool for screen capture. (P3D V3)
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I dont have that program unfortunately but the post above yours is relevant, try playing around with the hook settings as described above.
Good luck!

RobR
 
Doesn't the Midway carriers come with instructions for adjusting hook hinge point and length to address the visible contact of the cable to hook? Check the pdf docs. I think it's in there.
 
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