Souped up Lockheed...

Willy

Willy

Administrator
Staff member
I've had this one parked in the hanger for years and never really took the time to learn to fly it properly. I took it out for a quick few laps around Memphis Intl and ended up flying it cross country to my local airport. I could get quite fond it of without trying too hard.
 
Milton's Howard 500 is really nice. I've flown it a bit in FS9 and FSX. In both sims it's a bit hard to slow it down for a landing, but I understand the real 500's had the same behavior. The model and VC are really well done.
 
The 500,one of my favorite birds.Along with the OnMark and LAS Invaders.Who needs private jets!?:icon_lol:

J
 
I'm not a big fan of jets. Twin piston and turbo props up to a point can realistically (and legally) be flown by a single pilot. The first Lears were set up for single pilot operation, but the FAA saw things differently. Most private jets today require two pilots. So... I'll stick to piston and turboprops and no more than two engines. :wiggle:
 
Lord knows I like my piston engines. I've a few turboprops and jets in the hanger, but mostly stuff from the 40s and early 50s. DC-8s, 707s, etc are a bit too new to suit me (but I like the 727 for some silly reason).

I've been thinking about starting another "walkabout flight". Usually the aircraft that I pick for this I end up getting burned out on, but when I'm done, I know it inside and out. I flew my first one right after FS9 came out and I'm still a bit burned out on dcc's XP-38. Last time I went around the world it was in Milton's Beech 18 and while I still enjoy flying it, I don't fly it as much as I used to.

Right now, I'm looking at the Howard and have installed a couple of extra goodies into the panel to ease a long trip. It has the advantage of I don't fly it much anyway.

Ground handling has been a source of much frustration in the Howard for me. I've been steering with differential braking and doing a lot of donuts on the taxiways. I definitely need to get that whupped.

ETA:

When I reworked the default AI traffic to use older aircraft, I had a problem with what to use to replace the default Learjets. I ended up using the no VC version of the Howard and it works beautifully as an AI. Enough so that when I was replacing the Dash-8s and needed a smallish pressurized airliner for out in the mountainous western US and Canada, I did a quick mod of one of the H500 paints as "Western Express". Although I only intended it for AI use, I decided that I liked it enough to put it on a flyable VC version of the Howard. That's it in the screenshots.
 
I love Milton's Howard 500 :jump:

The sounds are superb and it's a delight to fly :applause:

Thanks Milton :ernae:

Pete.
 
A reminder that the Howard 500 tailwheel locks during taxi by pulling back a few degrees on the yoke.

You can also swap out contact point 0 where I put a steerable tailwheel as an option.
 
This (attached) is an interesting read about the history of the Howard 500.

Then, the pilot talks about flying the Howard 500 from taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach, landing, and taxi.

I think you will find it useful.

Dave Cummins validated the flight model and provided pictures for the project. He also allowed Scott Thomas, our panel gauge builder, to fly it back from Oskosh in the left seat from cruise to intial descent.

He was instrumental in making this project right.

Have fun.

There's some videos on my site, one about takeoff and climbout. You might notice how busy the co-pilot is, how long it takes the pilot to go from idle to full throttle on the rollout, the potential icing of the right engine, etc. Scott took this video from the jump seat.

http://www.flightsimonline.com/howard500/Howard500video.htm

Milton
 
stansdds said:
I'm not a big fan of jets. Twin piston and turbo props up to a point can realistically (and legally) be flown by a single pilot. The first Lears were set up for single pilot operation, but the FAA saw things differently. Most private jets today require two pilots. So... I'll stick to piston and turboprops and no more than two engines. :wiggle:
Click to expand...

The Citation line from Cessna (525,525A,525B,Brave and Encore) as well as the Raytheon Premier I are Single Pilot approved by the FAA but quite often the insurance underwriters have different ideas about that.

The same is probably true for the Howard 500....and I would venture that a single pilot could easily fly the highly automated suck-burn-blow types. But the big radials alone in my opinion would be reason enough to bring a second guy along :D :D :D

Milton's 500 is still one of my favorite FS airplanes...beaten only by a certain twin engined Beech and a series of triple tailed Lockheeds ;)

Stefan
 
Looks like the right seat is working hard at being a flight engineer and keeping those radials happy!
 
dandog said:
Looks like the right seat is working hard at being a flight engineer and keeping those radials happy!
Click to expand...
Yes and no. If the cockpit is set up for single pilot operation, then that is all that is really needed for safe flight. The P-38, P-61, F7F, A-20, B-25G and H, and A-26 are prime examples of complex, twin reciprocating engined aircraft that were piloted by one pilot. As Sunny9850 pointed out, there are a few small biz jets that are certified for single pilot operation, but it is insurance companies that do not allow them to be operated as such.

Even as a sim pilot, I do find that two engines, even in virtual cockpits set up for single pilot operation, is more difficult than single engine operation. I no longer bother with the beautiful and highly complex four engine aircraft like the CalClassics' DC-4, 6, 7, and Constellation. These have been given new models and realistic FDE's and if you don't monitor everything and operate the aircraft by the book, you will have problems.
 
The L749 Constellation isn't that bad. Keep the needles in the green and it'll fly very nicely. There's also a blue bug on the MAP gauge that lets you know if you're exceeding parameters.

Didn't fly the Howard last night, had too much other stuff going on here. Hopefully will get another flight in with it later today or late tonight.
 
Milton Shupe said:
This (attached) is an interesting read about the history of the Howard 500.

Then, the pilot talks about flying the Howard 500 from taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach, landing, and taxi.

I think you will find it useful.

Dave Cummins validated the flight model and provided pictures for the project. He also allowed Scott Thomas, our panel gauge builder, to fly it back from Oskosh in the left seat from cruise to intial descent.

He was instrumental in making this project right.

Have fun.

There's some videos on my site, one about takeoff and climbout. You might notice how busy the co-pilot is, how long it takes the pilot to go from idle to full throttle on the rollout, the potential icing of the right engine, etc. Scott took this video from the jump seat.

http://www.flightsimonline.com/howard500/Howard500video.htm

Milton
Click to expand...

The same owner recently purchased another H500 in England. I believe they are refurbishing it now, but I don't know if it's a full on rebuild now or just to prepare it for the flight home across the Atlantic.
 
Yep, N500LN is back in the air. At least they flew it for the first time in years back in May. I'm hoping that it was purchased for more than just parts for N500HP. They've already stripped down a third one.
 
I response to my own response, I was under the belief that the Howard (my middle name, don't tell anyone) was required to have a crew of 2.
 
It probably was as most of the Lockheed twin engine types were not originally set up for single pilot operation.
 
stansdds said:
I'm not a big fan of jets. Twin piston and turbo props up to a point can realistically (and legally) be flown by a single pilot. The first Lears were set up for single pilot operation, but the FAA saw things differently. Most private jets today require two pilots. So... I'll stick to piston and turboprops and no more than two engines. :wiggle:
Click to expand...

Piston Twins and Turboprops are often better suited for private missions, but there are suprisingly more single pilot approved jets out there than you think. The Citation I, Citation II, Citation Mustang, Beech Premier 1, Eclipse 500. Just to name a few.
 
Willy said:
The L749 Constellation isn't that bad. Keep the needles in the green and it'll fly very nicely. There's also a blue bug on the MAP gauge that lets you know if you're exceeding parameters.

Didn't fly the Howard last night, had too much other stuff going on here. Hopefully will get another flight in with it later today or late tonight.
Click to expand...

We have gone through our entire series of Connies, the Starliner or L-1649A is just about ready to be updated, and they should all be reasonably "easy" to fly single PC pilot.
BUT we did want to recreate a reasonably realistic simulation of one of the most complex piston powered airplanes in aviation history. And part of that means that none of them are forgiving to ham-fisted flying.
If you are a digital pilot, that knows only on and off for all engine controls they will not be giving you much joy, but a short read of our included manual and a bit of consideration to what you are doing and they are almost as easy to fly as a C-172 :D :D

Stefan
 
The L749 put my foot in my mouth last night. I was at an airport with a 7,000ft altitude and couldn't get it to start for anything. As I was online in multiplayer and holding up the flight, I ended up going to another aircraft, starting it and then switching back. I think I know what I was doing wrong though after more time to think about it. I think the mixture was set wrong for the altitude I was at. As we landed at another high altitude airport, I'll know when we pick up the flight again.

As for the Howard, I've been working on some DC-4 issues for a future online flight and haven't gotten back to it yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top