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Guest erahmig

Elevator trim being reset (MAAM-SIM DC-3)

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Guest erahmig

Hi,I'm looking for help or advice. I've encountered an occasional problem in which my elevator trim setting is reset to zero (i.e. no down or up trim - neutral).First, some background. I typically fly with FS2004 (FS9.1) in windowed mode, not full-screen mode. The window is maximized. I fly the 2D panel and do not use the VC.It happens like this: after leveling off at cruise altitude, setting cruise power, and trimming for level flight, I click the CP-> icon to go to the co-pilot's view in order to close the cowl flaps. Sometimes when I click the CP-> icon the airplane will balloon up into a steep climb. When this occurs it's because the elevator trim has been reset to zero.Why does this happen? Is there any way to prevent this?Thanks for any help.Eric

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Hi Eric,I know it seems like I say this quite a lot, but I can't duplicate that behavior here, nor do I recall anything like this coming up in beta testing or since release by customer reports. When I switch panels or when I go to the enlarged IFR panels, the trim remains steadfastly where it was last set. I can not even get that yellow dot to misbehave when the Sperry is engaged and panels or views are switched.We had a very long and thorough beta test using many testers and systems, and the R4D has been out for quite some time now. So when something odd like this shows up at this late date, it is almost certainly related to some other program, utility, or add-on the user is running inside or alongside FS that is causing an unwanted command. Perhaps someone else will come up with a cause and solution to your problem. Please keep us advised if you solve the mystery. Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, Young, Womack, Sodja & Beaumonthttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim.maamsim_logo2.gif


Bill Rambow

MAAM-SIM

www.maam.org

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Guest erahmig

Hi Bill,I've done software tech support before so I know it's frustrating when you can't reproduce problems.This same effect that I described (with the elevator trim resetting) also happens when the FS window is resized although that is not how the problem is happening to me. I know that the manual that came with the MAAM-SIM DC-3 describes how the fuel selector settings will be reset when the window is resized (and this does indeed happen).I noticed while investigating my problem that the elevator trim will also be reset to zero when the FS window is resized. To test this I created a flight at the default airport and runway in the MAAM-SIM passenger DC-3. I changed the elevator trim setting, even though the plane was just sitting on the runway. I then restored (or 'un-maximized') the FS window and then re-maximized the window. Sure enough, the elevator trim was reset to zero, along with the fuel selectors as described in the manual.I thought maybe this was a bug in FS. I tried doing the same thing with the default DC-3 and the default Cessna 172. Neither of those planes showed any symptoms of the elevator trim or fuel selector settings being changed when the FS window was restored and then re-maximized. I picked these two planes because one uses .gau gauges while the other uses XML gauges. I thought maybe that had something to do with the problem.I'd love to help you nail down what is going on but I'm not quite sure how to begin.I tried logging the events in the FSUIPC log and did manage to capture the event. However, it's not very helpful. There is no way to determine the source of an event from the FSUIPC log. I was hoping to be able to find which gauge or which piece of software was doing this but that's not possible with the FSUIPC log.So, I'm not sure where to go from here. Do you know of any way to trace events?Thanks for your reply.Eric

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Hi Eric,OK, the resizing trim reset I CAN dulicate. Funny I never noticed that before, but then I generally don't do much resizing in flight, and when I do it's usually because I'm multi-tasking and have handed over to the Sperry.We'll hand this question over to the giant brain of Fred Banting and see if he can figure it out.Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, Young, Womack, Sodja & Beaumonthttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo2.gif


Bill Rambow

MAAM-SIM

www.maam.org

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Guest pollard

Hi Bill,I responded to this discussion on the DCA forum but we've been shunted over here. You might want to look it up there for some background. For the record here, my explanation for this little bug is this. When you resize the window, FS has to redraw everything from scratch at the new size or resolution. If you're flying in the Pilot's position for example when you do this you won't notice a change until you flip over to the Co-Pilot's position. FS (caught with it's pants down) will have to redraw the new panel from scratch at the new size using the only data it has available, the Co-Pilot's boot-up state with the trim-wheel centered. Hence the conflict. This will happen both ways obviously (Co-Pilot to Pilot) and it's NOT unique to MAAM aircraft. I've seen it in every dual-paneled aircraft I own with a trim-wheel gauge visible on both panels. If ever I need to restore-down from full screen I always do it in a 3D view and then return to 2D when the resolution is back where I started. FS will not change anything in this case because everything it needs to show the 2D is already in the memory. The only thing I can think of in Eric's case is that the 'offending' panel which caused the surge was not correctly loaded into memory before he started his session and was drawn for the first time when he was airborne. It's very easy to forget something when aircraft panels (like MAAM's) are so wonderfully complex!Sir John:-sword

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Guest erahmig

>Hi Eric,>>OK, the resizing trim reset I CAN dulicate. Funny I never>noticed that before, but then I generally don't do much>resizing in flight, and when I do it's usually because I'm>multi-tasking and have handed over to the Sperry.Hi Bill,I never noticed this before either. It's only in the course of discussing this with Ian on the DCA forum that I thought to try this.>We'll hand this question over to the giant brain of Fred>Banting and see if he can figure it out.Thank you very much. I so enjoy flying this plane - I propably spend 98% of my FS time in it. I'd love to have this fixed.Eric

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Hi Eric,Sorry to be so late getting in here but winter has returned to my part of the country with a vengeance and the power has been out for most of the last 2 days! Lots of fun cooking on a tiny single burner camp stove and chopping wood for the fireplace :()Sir John's explanation is correct, resizing the window forces FS to reload/redraw the panel and that subsequent trim changes will not be carried over when the CP panel is opened. This assumes that you have done a window resize while at the main panel, although your first post does not mention this. If this is not the case then I am at a loss to explain the trim reset to zero.The fuel selector gauges are designed to initialize in the "main tanks" positions when the panel loads in order to override any incompatible settings that might be carried over from another aircraft or flight with different tank configutations.The trimwheel is also forced to zero in the same way, mainly because during gauge development it was often necessary to switch out of the DC3 into another plane and then back into the DC3 to check a code change and this always caused a wild change in trim. Forcing the trim to zero cured this annoyance and since I could see no problem with having neutral trim when the aircraft first loads I left it that way. The only cure is to set your initial trim from the CP panel after the window resize and it will remain in synch across both panels thereafter.CheersFred

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Guest erahmig

Hi Fred,Thanks much for taking the time to reply. Hope you don't have to deal with power problems much longer :-(.I understand your answer and I'll have to accept it even though I find the situation irritating. I know Mark Beaumont has a unofficial single panel modification that I might start using in order to work around this issue.That being said I'd like to thank you, Bill, and all the MAAM guys for continuing to support your product and for your prompt and courteous replies.Eric

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Guest pollard

For what it's worth,I don't have any issue with this one at all. I know what causes it and how to avoid it. It's a FS issue and it's not unique to MAAM software.Sir John :-wave

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