Steam Gauge Overhaul - Analog Bonanza

jmig

jmig

SOH-CM-2024
I purchased the Black Square Bonanza overhaul. I am like seriously impressed. I was waiting for the Baron, and still plan on purchasing it. However, just the manual is worth the price.

The gauges are beautifully done and "work." You can have failures (I don't do inflight emergencies. Had enough in RL to last my lifetime) if you like. Or just enjoy the best simulated systems I have seen in a long time. (Are you listing Carenado?)

The manual is very detailed and can be used to understand the operation of equipment found in many GA aircraft.

Since all my RL flying was done in steam gauge equipped aircraft these gauges feel very familiar and comfortable to me. I plan on flying around in the Bonanza (even if the blasted door won’t open) at least until SWS comes out with their PC-12.

I highly recommend the Black Square gauges, if you are a round dial fan.

Mod edit: https://www.justflight.com/product/steam-gauge-overhaul-analog-bonanza
 
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This is a nice mod, I quite like it. I don't think it quite deserves the praise being heaped on it by YouTubers and others.

Although I guess it is the most sophisticated GA single in the sim now, I don't think it is comparable to the Milviz C310 or Flysimware C414. Relative to the existing Bonanza with the G36 Improvement Project mod, the flight model is about the same, and a few more systems are modeled or pseudo-modeled. It is not any harder to start than the stock Bonanza, and I have no idea why there is a 9-minute vid on YT of how to start it from cold and dark. I started it without reference to the manual or checklists using the ordinary process for any stock GA plane, and had no problems. When I checked the manual, I found I was not using the fuel pump exactly correctly, but it still worked.

The best things about it are the state saving, progressive wear, and actual consequences for improper operation. I always welcome any new plane with those features into the sim. Even though only a handful of the 100+ planes in my MSFS hangar deal me eventual damage or wear if I fail to lean the mixture on the ground, run-up and check the mags, etc., I use those few planes to train myself to build good habits that I then also use on the other planes that wouldn't punish me for abusing them. This is good for overall realism and immersion in the sim. That, plus my preference for the analog gauges and the pretty nice interior and panel, make the mod worth using. Whether it is worth $25 for most users is a closer call, it depends on how you like to use the sim. If it is ever on sale for $15 I would recommend anybody to snap it up.

August
 
Interesting viewpoint. I'm an active Beech pilot irl and I think it's the most in depth piston we have so far. It's the little things like signal degradation with VORs or the spike in EGT from running on a single mag that make this addon so much nicer than all the others.

I adore both the 414 and 310... but the 414 is pretty much stock systems/engine (there is a partial turbocharger done by Marc and FSW later after the plane was originally released). The C310 is obviously very very good with lots of wear and tear options too. But the depth of the avionics options and the instruments themselves in the Bonanza are simulated greater than either of those twins. Black Square basically simulated a majority of the EDM 760 (edit 700 the 760 is the twin ver) engine monitor - I still need to read up on that operation for my own flying. I know it get's flak for using the stock exterior model but imo the stock is very good. It was 3d scanned and the texture options (and repaints! have you seen some of them?!) are better than a lot of other payware. The 310 and 414 do beat the Bo in overall exterior sounds with the exception of the turbo whine in the Bo - I love that!
 
From a simmer's perspective, there are a couple of things on the 310 that I think add a bit, even if they are kind of frills, that would be nice to have on the Bonanza and other planes.

Progressive dirt and visual wear on the external model is cool.

Also I believe on the 310 that if you don't put the engine covers and plugs in before quitting, the plane wears more before the next time you fly it. That is fun. (Wouldn't it be neat if the plane knew when it was in a hangar and wore even less?)

I recall that the Accu-Sim planes for P3D kept track of how long it had been since you last flew them, and recommended a fuel additive if you were going to let it sit for so long. I don't know if long periods of inactivity translated into more wear or higher chance of failure. But it would be another thing that would be fun to incorporate on an MSFS plane.

More seriously, I am still exploring the analog Bonanza to see if the engine systems appear to be properly modeled. For example, when leaning the engine. Leaning in flight is a controversial topic among RL pilots with disagreement over the method and whether EGT, CHT, RPM, airspeed, smooth running, or some combination of those should be used as a guide. Leaning on the ground is relatively simple, the consensus seems to be to lean to where the engine runs at the speeds you'll need for taxi, say 1100 or 1200, but quits if you add much more throttle. So you'd find that on your plane by progressively leaning it at 1100 and then running it up to 1500 until you find where it quits. On the stock Asobo planes, there is no such setting. I tried it on the stock 172, and even if I lean it to where it almost quits at 1100, I can still increase it to full throttle and it won't quit. That tells me there's no real modeling of the fuel system there, just a power and fuel flow curve applied to the mixture control. On the 310, the system works as in RL and you can accurately set the ground mixture that you want. I'm not sure about the Bonanza, I haven't done the test yet. But I did watch the video by VR Flight Sim Guy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPgrMtx-Lc, where he took off with the mixture still leaned for taxi (9:50). I was yelling at my screen when he did his cockpit check, "You forgot the mixture! You're gonna stall and die!" but his engine never missed a beat. (He never admitted that he took off with the mixture leaned, but you can see from the position of the mixture handle on his motion rig that he only enriched it at the 11:10 mark when climbing out.) Could be he didn't lean enough when on the ground to starve the engine at takeoff power; or, could be the Bonanza just pseudo-models the fuel system like the stock airplanes. I also haven't experimented enough to learn whether leaning in flight affects the temps as it should. If I find that it is possible to lean with reference to peak temps on the gauges, it will improve my opinion of the mod.

August
 
K5083 said:
From a simmer's perspective, there are a couple of things on the 310 that I think add a bit, even if they are kind of frills, that would be nice to have on the Bonanza and other planes.

Progressive dirt and visual wear on the external model is cool.

Also I believe on the 310 that if you don't put the engine covers and plugs in before quitting, the plane wears more before the next time you fly it. That is fun. (Wouldn't it be neat if the plane knew when it was in a hangar and wore even less?)

I recall that the Accu-Sim planes for P3D kept track of how long it had been since you last flew them, and recommended a fuel additive if you were going to let it sit for so long. I don't know if long periods of inactivity translated into more wear or higher chance of failure. But it would be another thing that would be fun to incorporate on an MSFS plane.

More seriously, I am still exploring the analog Bonanza to see if the engine systems appear to be properly modeled. For example, when leaning the engine. Leaning in flight is a controversial topic among RL pilots with disagreement over the method and whether EGT, CHT, RPM, airspeed, smooth running, or some combination of those should be used as a guide. Leaning on the ground is relatively simple, the consensus seems to be to lean to where the engine runs at the speeds you'll need for taxi, say 1100 or 1200, but quits if you add much more throttle. So you'd find that on your plane by progressively leaning it at 1100 and then running it up to 1500 until you find where it quits. On the stock Asobo planes, there is no such setting. I tried it on the stock 172, and even if I lean it to where it almost quits at 1100, I can still increase it to full throttle and it won't quit. That tells me there's no real modeling of the fuel system there, just a power and fuel flow curve applied to the mixture control. On the 310, the system works as in RL and you can accurately set the ground mixture that you want. I'm not sure about the Bonanza, I haven't done the test yet. But I did watch the video by VR Flight Sim Guy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPgrMtx-Lc, where he took off with the mixture still leaned for taxi (9:50). I was yelling at my screen when he did his cockpit check, "You forgot the mixture! You're gonna stall and die!" but his engine never missed a beat. (He never admitted that he took off with the mixture leaned, but you can see from the position of the mixture handle on his motion rig that he only enriched it at the 11:10 mark when climbing out.) Could be he didn't lean enough when on the ground to starve the engine at takeoff power; or, could be the Bonanza just pseudo-models the fuel system like the stock airplanes. I also haven't experimented enough to learn whether leaning in flight affects the temps as it should. If I find that it is possible to lean with reference to peak temps on the gauges, it will improve my opinion of the mod.

August
Click to expand...
This is a normalized turbo. If I understand Black Square's manual, that means it will automatically maintain the correct air-to-fuel ration until it reaches critical altitude (approx. 19,000 msl). You do not need to lean below critical altitude, except to keep from fouling plugs while taxiing.

Did the system compensate for the leaned takeoff? I am not familiar enough with the system to know. However, it is those sorts of things that amaze me about this addon. It is complex and forces you to learn, but it is not so complex as PPMG or some of the DCS fighter weapons platforms. Those complexities my old brain struggles to remember.
 
jmig said:
This is a normalized turbo. If I understand Black Square's manual, that means it will automatically maintain the correct air-to-fuel ration until it reaches critical altitude (approx. 19,000 msl). You do not need to lean below critical altitude, except to keep from fouling plugs while taxiing.

Did the system compensate for the leaned takeoff? I am not familiar enough with the system to know. However, it is those sorts of things that amaze me about this addon. It is complex and forces you to learn, but it is not so complex as PPMG or some of the DCS fighter weapons platforms. Those complexities my old brain struggles to remember.
Click to expand...

I haven't found a POH for a turbo-normalized G36. Based on engine manuals and aviation forum discussion, I understand that the turbo supplies air equivalent to sea-level pressure up to critical altitude, but it does not auto-control the mixture or override your mixture setting. Therefore, although you do not need to lean to compensate for altitude, to the extent that you would manage the mixture when flying a normally aspirated Bonanza near sea level to achieve your power, economy, and/or engine longevity goals, you would do the same in the turbo G36 below critical altitude. It appears that most pilots lean a turbo-normalized engine in cruise at all altitudes because full rich is too rich for medium power settings regardless of altitude.

I also confirmed last night that on the ground, at any mixture setting where the engine runs at 1000 rpm, you can take it all the way up to full throttle without so much as a cough. You get less RPM at all power settings but that's it. So unlike in RL, it's easy to forget to enrich the mixture before takeoff and still take off without any problems. I don't know whether any engine damage is modeled from doing this. I'll probably set my ground mixture at the point where RPM begins to drop off, and be extra careful to enrich before takeoff, just as I would with a stock Asobo plane.

August
 
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