 Aircraft
behavior troubleshooting |
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Aircraft
tips
Default GPS fix
The default
GPS gauge can be modified for night lighting if you are
familiar with hex editing. In the original GPS.GAU file,
the byte at address 76F0 is 04. Changing it to 00 will prevent the background BMP
from lighting at night. (See below)
Adjusting the volume
of aircraft sounds
With some
aircraft it is possible to vary individual items in the
sounds. This example is from the float Beaver's sound cfg
file:
[WIND_SOUND]
filename=wind3
minimum_volume=3000
maximum_volume=4500
minimum_rate=0.60
maximum_rate=0.90
minimum_speed=40.0
maximum_speed=120.0
It is possible to edit the min and max volumes.
Adjusting the power of
your brakes
The
.air file of aircraft only has a True/False for brakes - no parameter for
increasing or decreasing their power.
If you have
"Aired" (a .airfile editor), have a look for
field 1101 - Main Dynamics. There is an entry there
for braking factor.
Glideslope
SET
AIRCRAFT REALISM TO MEDIUM
We've found the easiest way to fly the G/S is to get a
bit below it and fly into it, however that if the
localizer is not active, then it does not G/S lock, and
it will fly level and not descend. For the whole APR
to work properly, this must be true:
LOC is ACTIVE (i.e. the
bar moves as you fly to the runway), and you are below
the G/S (still) after the LOC has become active. If you
let it fly level towards the runway, as the G/S moves
down, it will capture, then it'll descend.
Adjusting rudder and
trim sensitivities
In the
aircraft.cfg there is a section called [Flttuning] and in
it - flight controls. The default figures are
"1" with a max of "2". I have found
some "sensitive" controls on different aircraft
and have successfully adjusted them here - try setting
the values lower - start small, say 0.80, and work
from there.
(That section also has the trim sensitivity for all axis
- We find them slow to respond on some A/C in FS2k2 too)
Changing the fuel
capacity of your aircraft
Look for this line in the aircraft.cfg file...you should
be able to modify it...use Notepad to open....
LeftMain=-3.9, -2.1, 2.5, 46.0, 0.0 //Longitudinal
(feet), Lateral (feet), Vertical (feet), Usable(gallons),
Unusable (gallons)
RightMain=-3.9, 2.1, 2.5, 46.0, 0.0 //Longitudinal
(feet), Lateral (feet), Vertical (feet), Usable(gallons),
Unusable (gallons)
fuel_type=1 //Fuel type: 1 = Avgas, 2 = JetA
number_of_tank_selectors=1
Setting the temperature
gradients to reflect accurate fuel usage
Before setting
the fuel usage, or even flying a jet to high altitudes,
the temperature gradients must be set first. After much
experimentation, We find the best overall settings are
these:
In the Temp/Pressure
menu of Weather section:
Set Temperature to "0" (zero)
Set Altitude to +59 feet.
Set Dew point to +59 degrees
Set Baro to 29.92 in.
Then Save a Situation to hold these settings.
Believe it or not any other settings or adding temp
layers make the overall temps gradients HIGHER and do not
conform to the 3.5 deg per 1,000ft Lapse Rate.
Autopilot
and 3rd party 747's
Some 747s
imported into FS2K2 have trouble with the autopilot. They
exhibit excessive positive trim and lose airspeed,
ultimately stalling. This may be related to the
"porpoising" effect. It can be a fight to get
an aircraft to cruising altitude and keep it there. The
control loop including the flight model, the engine
power, the autopilot control system and maybe our
computer speeds, seems to be tuned differently.
An operational workaround for this is to not let the
autopilot control airspeed. When you turn on the
autopilot, set it to control course and altitude. You
must leave the airspeed control on manual, and control
airspeed yourself using the throttle. You will get more
power by doing this than the autopilot will allow if it
is in control.
This will require some attention during the climb,
although not excessive. It's easy to go overspeed on
takeoff when you're busy, so watch that. You may have to
adjust some initial trim problems. When you get over
10,000 feet, you may not be able to achieve or maintain
290 KIAS. It's likely that during the climb the aircraft
will lose speed slowly even at full throttle, but you'll
probably be able to get to FL350 or better without
dropping below 250 KIAS. It's pretty painless.
When the aircraft reaches cruising altitude, switch on
the autopilot speed control and see if you can achieve
and maintain your cruising speed, or if the speed drifts
down. If it drops, you'll have to switch speed control
off and maintain manual control, checking the speed
periodically and adjusting the throttle. The aircraft
seem to work fine on descent, including throttle control
during approach.
Using the FSNavigator
FMS, for whichever mode button you are using (M1 or M2),
in the Options > Settings > FMS tab, set the
Airspeed control to "Set but Don't Hold". Then
the target airspeed will be indicated on the autopilot.
If you are using a panel with RealCRT gauges or similar,
the bugs will still appear properly in the gauges. You
will have to control airspeed manually via the throttle
as described above.
Making
the default 747-400 weight reflect a full load of
passengers
The aircraft.cfg file
states:
station_load.0 = 40000,
-80.0, 0.0, 0.0 //Payload Weight (lbs), longitudinal,
lateral, vertical positions from datum (feet)
This plane is not empty. You must add that to the empty
weight:
max_gross_weight = 875000 (pounds)
empty_weight = 401100 (pounds)
station_load.0 = 40000, -80.0, 0.0, 0.0
should have been
station_load.0 = 400000, -80.0, 0.0, 0.0
//change the value in green and you have
increased the load//
Oversensitive
pitch responses
In the
[CONTROLS] section of the FS2002.cfg file add the entry:
stick_sensitivity_mode=0
Rocking
problems with imported aircraft
Look
through the aircraft.cfg file where 2K2 wrote all the air
file parameters and there's a section called
"[flight_tuning]". This is where the
effectivity numbers are. To fix the rocking issue, adjust
the roll stability to 2.0 and aileron_effectiveness to
1.5. This does well for large and small jets, and
anything that flies high and fast.
[flight_tuning]
cruise_lift_scalar=1.0
parasite_drag_scalar=1.0
induced_drag_scalar=1.0
elevator_effectiveness=1.2
aileron_effectiveness=1.5
rudder_effectiveness=1.2
pitch_stability=1.0
roll_stability=2.0
yaw_stability=1.0
elevator_trim_effectiveness=1.0
aileron_trim_effectiveness=1.5
rudder_trim_effectiveness=1.15
Speed hold with
Turboprops
To get
the speed hold to work with a turboprop, you will need to
make a
couple changes in the aircraft.cfg file. Find these lines
and change them
as listed.
[Autopilot]
autothrottle_max_rpm=20000.000000
//or
any LARGE number
[turboprop_engine]:
maximum_torque=20000.000000
//
This can be set to some reasonable number
First change the MAX RPM value to a large number (set it
to 1000000 if you
like). This is NOT a prop plane, and RPM is not
considered.
Altitude hold
problems
Locate (or
even add) what follows to the aircraft.cfg file:
[pitot_static]
vertical_speed_time_constant = 1 //try a value
larger than 1
Disengage the
wing-leveler
Add
use_no_default_bank=1 in the Autopilot section of the
aircraft.cfg file for each airplane.
Engage speed hold
in turboprops
To get the
speed hold to work with a turboprop, you will need to
make a couple changes in the aircraft.cfg file. Find
these lines and change them
as listed.
under [Autopilot]
autothrottle_max_rpm=20000.000000 <----- or any LARGE number
under [turboprop_engine]:
maximum_torque=20000.000000
<-- This can be set to some reasonable number,
but I use the same as max rpm for the hell of it.
First change the MAX RPM
value to a large number (set it to 1000000 if you
like). This is NOT a prop plane, and RPM is not
considered.
Angle of attack
to steep
If the pitch is
excessive the first thing to adjust is display treu
airspeed. YOu may also want to check [Flight Tuning]
and
adjust 'Lift scalar' to say Lift scalar=1.5.
While in the aircraft.cfg file check that the wing is
mounted on the fuselage at a small positive angle. As the
wing has to fly at a positive angle of attack, a zero A
of I translates to raising the nose to compensate. Review
section [airplane_geometry] from the
default B737:
[airplane_geometry]
wing_area=1137.0 //Square feet
wing_span=94.75 //Feet
wing_root_chord=18.0 //Feet
wing_dihedral=6.2 //Degrees
wing_incidence=1.0 //Degrees
wing_twist=-0.5 //Degrees
Pushbacks
Firstly,
you should press Ctrl + B for a full screen satelite
view, zoom in as well to give yourself a better view.
Secondly, press shift+P then press either key button 1 or
2, "ONCE ONLY" on the QWERTY keypad the
aircraft travels its own length and then turns through 90
degrees, left or right. You can pushback the whole length
of the runway and turn at the end if you desire.
You can carry on making
these single keypresses as often as you like, but you
have to wait for the aircraft to travel its own length
then turn 90 degrees before pressing another key. Shift +
P can be pressed again at anytime to arrest backward
movement or stop a turn, to start again just press it
again