The Transcontinental Discussion and Questions

One of the fellows at the FBO came up with an interesting question.

What if I make a mistake in my fuel management and end up putting down (Forced Landing) in a remote field. I safely land and the plane can take off again but I need gas. I did not crash and the Duenna will report the Latitude/Longitude of my landing.
​

So we dutifully knocked on the glass door through which one dreads to pass. Posed the question to Miss Nellie and got a frown. "Can't these young pilots handle fuel management? These aircraft have gauges, you know."

Then she sighed and said, "One supposes that racing pilots are just different. Yes, we shall make a provision for this circumstance."

See the NOTAMS for the rule.
 
Rumours abound that Mr. Arthur Godfrey will be onsite this weekend, reportedly to do a live broadcast. While this has not been confirmed, a brand new Navion (not known to be his) was seen parked near the Race Central scoring facility...

View attachment 94557

Stay tuned!
We'll be back shortly, but first, a message from our friends at Frigidaire

 
MM said:
One of the fellows at the FBO came up with an interesting question.
What if I make a mistake in my fuel management and end up putting down (Forced Landing) in a remote field. I safely land and the plane can take off again but I need gas. I did not crash and the Duenna will report the Latitude/Longitude of my landing.
​

So we dutifully knocked on the glass door through which one dreads to pass. Posed the question to Miss Nellie and got a frown. "Can't these young pilots handle fuel management? These aircraft have gauges, you know."

Then she sighed and said, "One supposes that racing pilots are just different. Yes, we shall make a provision for this circumstance."

See the NOTAMS for the rule.
Click to expand...

Hahahaha, thanks MM.

with the 2000lbs fuel restriction, it means flying till your out of gas, and pray for a nearby airfield. :)
 
Question(s) regarding Wartime Emergency Power; some aircraft have it, some don't. Some model it realistically (damage to engines after prolonged use), some less so (unlimited usage). Will WEP be permitted during the race, and if so, what restrictions or provisions will there be for it's usage? (For example, a plane with unlimited use might be restricted to five minutes of it per flight, while one with realistic modeling might be allowed to overhaul the engines/reload the aircraft so they have a full allotment of WEP for each flight.)

*Ducks behind a desk as he awaits Miss Nellie's response.* :kilroy:
 
Hey RedGreen, I have the A2A P51-D with accu sim and I was able to flat out run it at 71" manifold pressure for over an hour with no engine damage so not sure how accurate the engine damage is for it.
 
I think the A2A P-51 is pretty rugged in that regard, though whether you can run it at 71" for three hours or so remains to be seen. Historically, the later model Merlins could take a bit of a beating. I know from experience that the earlier Merlin in the A2A Spitfire I/II is NOT as durable and will cook quite spectacularly with only moderate abuse.
 
Well I tried it out last night, the WOP3 P51-D with accusim can go flat out at 71" MP in WEP for 90 minutes no problem (90 minutes I ran out of gas having only 2000lbs).
 
I ran the A2A P51 at WEP for about 10 minutes one time. An engine with near 80hrs on it. When I landed, the engine had much damage.


Thanks Roman for the scenery.
 
Hello All,



I may have missed it, but I did look ... :icon_eek:

At least 3 days prior for a Team entry, but what's the deadline for a Solo entry?
 
salt_air said:
Hello All,



I may have missed it, but I did look ... :icon_eek:

At least 3 days prior for a Team entry, but what's the deadline for a Solo entry?
Click to expand...

A Team Of One is still a team! :) Besides, the 3-day rule is slightly "squishy" and no legitimate entry will be turned away. As long as Miss Nelly is happy with the paperwork...
 
ATTN: RedGreen (Dave),

As you know, the question of unlimited War Emergency Power (WEP), or just very high manifold pressure, has been one of years-long debate. The current practice is clearly unrealistic and worth thinking about from time to time. Accordingly, we went to see Miss Nellie, expecting a long blackboard discussion of temperature, metallic alloys, and fluid dynamics. Instead, she had a quick matter-of-fact reply:

"There is no straightforward way to monitor or restrict the use of War Emergency Power (WEP). Since our requirement is to use the unmodified .air file and aircraft.cfg file, those aircraft that have unlimited WEP will be able to use it."
​


Several times, we have thought about doing a special event with Gunter "Teson." The event would be centered around his "Real Engine" addon program in order to introduce more realistic engine management techniques. To be sure, we have to be careful because some pilots just don't want to deal with such issues. And there are some practical issues in building configurations for the aircraft involved. Nevertheless, we would be truly happy to pursue the idea if people are interested.
 
Details on the Start and the Finish and on Scoring are now posted as NOTAMS in the Official Thread.

Please take a look to see if you have any questions about the "Flying Finish" system and the scoring.
 
An update to scenery - optional, FSX only.

Howdy,

Just added some small things to the scenery if you are running FSX. It adds a couple thousand spectators behind the scoring trailer along w/ airshow type static aircraft. (B-52, B-787, SR-71, SU-37, Blackhawk) These are all stock low poly models that come with FSX.

[INSTALLATION]
-Just copy the "FSX_KFRG_CROWD.bgl" over to the Transcontinental 2013\scenery folder while FSX is closed.

View attachment 94600

View attachment 94599
 
Insomnia has its privileges ------

:sleep: And so does membership in American Express, alas it doesn't apply here :icon_lol:

I created a spreadsheet located HERE so you can enter the title of your aircraft/paint that you will be piloting for the race. With the title entry users of FS9 can create an alias aircraft.cfg entry so at least something similar will show up in the multiplayer session regardless of the paint. For users of FSX and FSHost this can be made easier too, especially if one has 100s of aircraft in the hanger. Selecting just one type from a dropdown box of hundreds or thousands is kind of a PITA.

This provides excellent opportunities for realistic photo ops.

Nuttin worse than racing against a 400 MPH Cessna 172!

I donot know if the SOH server has a "auto" model picker or not.. ? Maybe an exercise in futility???
 
Sounds good to me roman, I hate having to go through in fshost and change what aircraft people are in, and I do NOT have a large selection to draw from so usually just ending up picking some warbird i have. Although I wish FSHost would save those entries so i dont have to do them every time.

Great idea.
 
Great idea Roman, thanks! I was thinking about this issue yesterday as well. Your solution is perfect.
 
For what it's worth, an idea to share. I created 1 complete aircraft with just the parts needed to display in MP. Basically it boils down to

1. The panel folder aliases to the C-172 panel - for all aircraft since it will not be flyable.
2. 1 Airfile for all aircraft since it will not be flyable. ( I used a corsair air file)
3. The key part to the aircraft.cfg is just the [fltsim.X] entries, even then you do not need all the excess. (the rest of my aircraft.cfg is for a corsair)
4. Separate sounds for engine types.
5. Used just the model and texture(s) copied from the other aircraft in the hangar..
6. Can just delete the aircraft folder once the race is over and it does not pooch up your aircraft in the hangar.

It took all of 45 minutes to make the aircraft and test while it took over 2 hours to find a freeware FW190 & P-51B.

EDIT - Just tested in FSX and it works just fine with the limited [fltsim.X] entries.. ( Except my FW190 model is not compatible :-( )

A screenie of the folder structure - View attachment 94607

And below is the key part of the aircraft.cfg, notice in [fltsim.7 & 8] Eamonn and ratty (Ian) are already entered :)
___________________________________________________________________________________________

[fltsim.0]
title=CORSAIR
sim=Airfile
model=Corsair
panel=
sound=Big Radial
texture=Corsair
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=Corsair
ui_variation=

[fltsim.1]
title=FW190
sim=Airfile
model=FW190
panel=
sound=FW190
texture=FW190
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=FW190
ui_variation=

[fltsim.2]
title=P-38 number1
sim=Airfile
model=P-38
panel=
sound=P-38
texture=P-38_1
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-38
ui_variation=1

[fltsim.3]
title=P-38 number2
sim=Airfile
model=P-38
panel=
sound=P-38
texture=P-38_2
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-38
ui_variation=2

[fltsim.4]
title=P-38 number3
sim=Airfile
model=P-38
panel=
sound=P-38
texture=P-38_3
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-38
ui_variation=3

[fltsim.5]
title=P-51B number1
sim=Airfile
model=P-51B
panel=
sound=P-51
texture=P-51B
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-51B
ui_variation=1

[fltsim.6]
title=P-51B number2
sim=Airfile
model=P-51B
panel=
sound=P-51
texture=P-51B
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-51B
ui_variation=2

[fltsim.7]
title=P-51D 'AD-809'
sim=Airfile
model=P-51D
panel=
sound=P-51
texture=P-51_1
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-51D
ui_variation=Eamonn

[fltsim.8]
title=P-51D civ 'N5412V'
sim=Airfile
model=P-51D
panel=
sound=P-51
texture=P-51_2
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-51D
ui_variation=ratty (IAN)

[fltsim.9]
title=P-51D number3
sim=Airfile
model=P-51D
panel=
sound=P-51
texture=P-51_1
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-51D
ui_variation=3

[fltsim.10]
title=P-51D number4
sim=Airfile
model=P-51D
panel=
sound=P-51
texture=P-51_2
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-51D
ui_variation=4

[fltsim.11]
title=Thunderbolt
sim=Airfile
model=Thunderbolt
panel=
sound=Big Radial
texture=Thunderbolt
description=MP aircraft only
ui_manufacturer=Transcontinental MP
ui_type=P-47
ui_variation=
 
For FSX users you can edit the planes.txt file in the FSHost client software folder.

You can add custom entries or simply change the default aircraft that shows up.

default_fsx = Cessna Skyhawk 172SP Paint2​

Changed to

default_fsx = P-38J-camo​

The default plane that now shows is the FSD P-38J-camo. Simply change the title line to what ever aircraft you prefer. It would be a good idea for it to be a frame rate friendly aircraft.

To reduce the frame rate draw on your system convert it to an AI instance.

Copy the aircraft.cfg entry and rename the title line to P-38J-camo AI. For that entry change the panel entry to

panel=AI​

Do not create a panel.AI folder. You only want to point FSX to a non existent panel so the plane will not have functioning gauges. This will also prevent it from showing up in the aircraft selection menu.

If you don't want to listen to the default Cessna sounds find an appropriate soundai folder and drop it into the aircraft folder. The quick and dirty way to create AI sounds is to copy the sound foder and rename it to soundai.

Finally change your default aircraft in the planes.txt file to use your new AI.

default_fsx = P-38J-camo AI​

Using custom replacements.

If you change the line

*Corsair* = Mooney Bravo​

to

*Corsair* = Corsair 1C 1​

Any Corsair that enters the sim will get that paint.

Below are some replacements you can do.

*P-47* = P-47D-20-RE MML
*P-51* = P-51D 'Snooks'​

These paints will only be replaced if you do not have the paint the user is using.


For FS9 changes similar changes can be made to the planes.txt file on the server. The issue becomes choosing aircraft everyone has that would be the replacement. That becomes too difficult to implement. Its also not as flexible as the FSX planes.txt file. For FS9 the replacement is shown even if you have the paint the other player is using.
 
Accu-Sim/Duenna issue?

At the moment I'm on a test flight in the A2A Civilian P-51 about 300 miles east of Long Beach. When I roll the cursor over the Duenna fuel box I get a pop-up message that reads "It seems to me you've got a special negative-fuel-flow engine".

I took off with full tanks (279 gallons), and I've used 95, and I think there may be a problem with the way Accu-Sim handles fuelling. You can't fuel the plane from the FSX Fuel Settings screen, though fuel changes ARE reflected there. Instead you use a pop-up window. Is it that the Duenna is confused? Or have you guys encountered and solved this problem before and I'm too dense to figure it out?

Ian
 
Not sure bud, I recently did a test with the P51-D Military version with accu-sim and the Duenna didn't report any problems. I would suggest you be VERY careful if you have the A2A fuel page up though, as you put your mouse over the fuel tanks and scroll your mousewheel it WILL change the fuel in your tank which may get Duenna all mad.

I didn't however hover over the duenna to see if there was any messages but there were no flags, everything green and validated when i landed no problem.
 
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