( RELEASED ) Northrop RF-61C Reporter BETA

[warchild]

Hi Pam.
Ok, I installed the latest aircraft.cfg and .air files you sent.
The RPM problem,as it existed , is fixed. I had full control of the RPMs throughout the entire flight envelope, except:
Now when I slow down, as though for approach and landing, 110-130-ish kts, full flaps and gear down, at about 2000' MSL, although I kept it level at that altitude and adjusted MP to maintain airspeed, I couldn't get the RPM high enough now to match up with recommended values posted in this thread. 30" MP, 2000 RPM.
I could get the MP easily, but the RPM's stayed down around 1800-1500. Again, it depended on MP and airspeed. I didn't try it at any other altitudes. I will later this evening, when I have time. Even when descending at 600 FPM, the RPM's on full high-speed, or full fine, or however you care to say it, they never came above about 1700, assuming the correct airspeed. Just above stall.

Since this was all done at the end of my flight time available, I couldn't get super detailed tests in. Again, I will test it more this evening.
Just wondering: Is there a POH or something similar available? Airspeeds for different phases of flight, weights, MP, RPM's Flap settings, and so on?
I got the flap speeds and full flaps/no flaps stall speeds, cruise speed, etc out of the aircraft.cfg file, no problem, but it'd be nice to have good, Northrup info available to use.

Thanks again, this is a really fun plane as far as the WAY it flies! How much stick or rudder input is needed for different maneuvers etc is very realistic. At least I gotta assume it is, never having flown in a real one
I even pulled a full loop. Great fun indeed!
Pat☺

Hi Pat..

Indeed, it would be nice to have a Pilots Operating Manual from Northrop. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, one has never been made public. At this point, this plane is still mostly an unknown. Thanks to Fliger747 and his vast resouces however, we've learned that at least most of our "guesses" have been accurate. SO, working from that, i can finally dial this in. You will still have to give it gas to start it. Theres no free rides in this plane. The pilot will have to fly it for real as it refuses to slip gently into that Idylic space that exists for first time pilots..
I'm going to pull a bit of old Army on you here. You see, the P-61B had an engine issue. Between 1450rpm and 1900rpm, the engine would try to shake itself apart. The Army, in its sage wisdom issued an edict for the pilots not to operate the vehicle between those two rpms. What that means is that the pilot was supposed to somehow make the engine go from 1400rpm to 2000 rpm without ever touching any rpm in between or risk an article 15.( yeah, thats the army for ya ). SO.
Dont go to 2000rpm.
The settings i originally gave were place holders anyway, and only worked with an engine that was way out of plumb. The corrections i've made have changed the whole ball game as you now have cleaner power throught the entire range and the operation is more in line with the reality that should have existed. try these instead please..

Takeoff:
2700rpm
63In/HG MP

Climbout:
2700rpm
54 In/HG MP

Cruise:
2450rpm
45 In/HG MP

Approach:
2300 rpm
20-30 In/HG MP


Let me know what you find.. Thanks
Pam

 

[Ferry_vO]

Indeed, it would be nice to have a Pilots Operating Manual from Northrop.

I have one for the p-61, not sure it that would be useful..?

 

[srgalahad]

Thanks to all involved in this project. Great plane. So far all I can report is the canopy opens then closes again on SHIFT-E. From inside the VC there is an animation of the canopy sliding back, along with the sound. But then it shows closed again. From spot view there was no canopy sliding back animation. Multiple applications of SHIFT-E always results in the "MAIN EXIT OPENING" red text. Never closing. I'm not calling for emergency services. They'll want to bash it with an ax...

EDIT: Went on another flight and the canopy worked fine. If I can duplicate it again I will note the conditions.

Paul, it sounds like you might have started the flight in a FSX "fuel box". I guess M$ figured that refueling was hazardous and so you shouldn't be able to open the canopy to toss out your ciggybutt. If you open the canopy while in a box it slams it shut on you. Anywhere else, the quirk doesn't happen.To confirm, try recreating the same start position, then, if the canopy plays silly, move a couple of a/c lengths and try again.

R

 

[docjohnson]

Anyone had this happen after flying around KEDW for a while, on approach...

 

[roger-wilco-66]

That looks mighty strange, Jim. Is it accompanied by missing or transparent parts? I'd try to clear the FSX (p3d) shader cache and have another look.


Cheers,
Mark

 

[PRB]

Paul, it sounds like you might have started the flight in a FSX "fuel box". I guess M$ figured that refueling was hazardous and so you shouldn't be able to open the canopy to toss out your ciggybutt. If you open the canopy while in a box it slams it shut on you. Anywhere else, the quirk doesn't happen.To confirm, try recreating the same start position, then, if the canopy plays silly, move a couple of a/c lengths and try again.

R

Ahh, interesting. That may have been it because I had parked next to a hangar. I will test again. Thanks Rob!

 

[fliger747]

I'l have parts and pieces, or terrain start to black out when my video card starts to get too hot...

T

 

[docjohnson]

Mark,

No parts missing that I could tell, it just seemed like the entire ships exterior and interior textures went nuts...I haven't been able to reproduce it. I'll fly another test flight at another airfield tonight.

 

[mcanx]

Since this was probably considered a WWII spy plane would it be possible to make a Night Recon all black one in the final version? You know like ala Black Widow look. Maybe a rear panel like Seahawks post #26. Any way I updated my panel again. If you are interested here it is. Robert

 

[PhantomTweak]

Well, as best I can tell, if you want to keep the RPMs anywhere near 2000 during approach, as you specified above, Pam, you'll need to keep the MP and speed up above 35" and 150 or 175 KIAS. Anywhere lower, and the RPMs drop to the bottom of the green arc.
I will get more specific data asap.
I have been having some medical situations, as well as my ISP being down for nearly 3 days, so I haven't had as much time to fly, or post, as I would like. None, in fact.
I will do more testing ASAP, though. Things are finally settling down for me.

More to come!
Pat☺

 

[DC1973]

Since this was probably considered a WWII spy plane would it be possible to make a Night Recon all black one in the final version? You know like ala Black Widow look. Maybe a rear panel like Seahawks post #26. Any way I updated my panel again. If you are interested here it is. Robert

Thanks for the panel work Mcanx. Once the Reporter is finished, I'll be working on the P-61C Black Widow variant, which of course was painted gloss black. It also briefly appeared as a test version in bare metal, so the best of both worlds will be available

 

[DC1973]

UPDATE:

I solved the engine problem. It was due to my early modelling inexperience, when I, erm, inadvertently put the propellers the wrong way round

Engines, switches, dials, fuel taps and everything now works the way it should. I have also removed the underside beacon and mapped a new VC texture to the rear seat for those that wish to use it. Further improvements will follow as I pin down little bugs here and there, but I will leave the mapping of special gauges ( cowls etc ) to those who wish to use them from other airplanes. As previously stated, feel free to distribute your revised panels to the wider community once the v1 Reporter is released.

The Reporter appearing low in the sim selection window is due to the fuel truck addition. This can't be helped much. I am also editing the XML coding for the truck visibility so that it cannot be inadvertently selected while flying around.

Some of the cockpit switches don't perform their real-life actions. The gun camera switch actually activates the prop de-ice. This was advised to me by more experienced modellers so that the switches could be updated at a later date as they were animated and ready to go.

Finally, the landing light / nav light connection seems to be an in-built FSX bug. It should be easy for me to solve with a couple of visibility additions to the model.def that will check for the switch bool variable in each case and thus separate the two. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for all the testing and info' - it'll make the Reporter, and the P-61C, all the better for it!

 

[jimjones]

At 84 I thought I'd never see the FSX Blackwidow. Now with the Northrup RF-61C there is a suitable substitute.


What a beautiful aircraft. Many thanks to Dean for his superlative first effort. And kudos to the team. Pam has been a longtime advocate of the widow and has been a significant influence in advancing many efforts getting it completed. How many posts and flight files has she created for the widow and RF-61C?


Were the internal plane shadows and the Fuel truck incorporated in the beta? If not, that may be why I have not seen them.


Again, thanks Dean for your RF-61C and all those many hours of learning and work.


Jim Jones

 

[DC1973]

At 84 I thought I'd never see the FSX Blackwidow. Now with the Northrup RF-61C there is a suitable substitute.


What a beautiful aircraft. Many thanks to Dean for his superlative first effort. And kudos to the team. Pam has been a longtime advocate of the widow and has been a significant influence in advancing many efforts getting it completed. How many posts and flight files has she created for the widow and RF-61C?


Were the internal plane shadows and the Fuel truck incorporated in the beta? If not, that may be why I have not seen them.


Again, thanks Dean for your RF-61C and all those many hours of learning and work.


Jim Jones

Thanks very much for your kind words Jim! The final RF-61C Reporter should be released within a day or two. The fuel truck displays when you open Exit 2.

The P-61C Black Widow will be along too in a month or so, I'm just building the main fuselage and the different cockpit layout. Pam says that it should only require a few minor tweaks to the FDE and we'll be good to go. Robert and the team's P-61B Black Widow should follow some time after that but there's no release date yet, so you should have plenty of airframes to choose from before long...

 

[jimjones]

Looking great and thanks for the good news.

Jim

 

[Seahawk72s]

.....

The P-61C Black Widow will be along too in a month or so, I'm just building the main fuselage and the different cockpit layout. .......

I thought this might be cover art for one of your new novels..?....

 

[DC1973]

I thought this might be cover art for one of your new novels..?....

Thanks Funnily enough the book I'm working on at the moment is set within the world of US Naval aviation, so both of my hobbies are coming together on that project...