Have only recently bought the MAAM DC3 and am very impressed, its a real beauty to fly. I have a few queries though.Is this aircraft capable of following a VOR radial when in autopilot, and if so, how is it set up?, Can you set up an approach for an ILS ?, and what is a realistic altitude or flight level to use. I note that it is fitted with blowers,so I presume this is for pressurisation.Cheers,Neil

FreoWelcome to the world's finest aircraft! You'll have fun with this lady learning how an aircraft was flown - and is flown - without a computer onboard doing all the work!Which brings me to your questions. I would guess that you have been used to flying those big noisy Boeings or something equivalent! The Sperry autopilot is a different animal to the typical modern Bendix autopilot such as found in your FS Cessna. You can set it to hold a course/heading or rate of climb and descent, but it will not follow radials. Furthermore, when you wish to make changes of course or pitch, you should disengage the Sperry, make the correction manually, and then reengage it on the new heading. So no, you cannot set up an automatic approach for an ILS in that respect, but of course you can fly one manually. I should point out for interest that when the DC-3 was originally launched, there were no VORs or ILS beacons to use! If you were lucky, you might find an NDB or two, but early aircraft shipped with only a HF radio. The R4D panel you have has been modernised to add VOR and DME equipment. The DC-3 is not a pressurised aircraft. Thus average cruising height is anything between 2-8,000 feet; typically around 5,000 feet. The aircraft's ceiling is around 22,000 feet, but the air gets thin up there and pilots need oxygen ... you wouldn't want to take your passengers that high willingly! The C-47B, with its two stage blowers, was specifically designed to fly "The Hump", though, and did fly up to that height with freight aboard.The blowers are as described; they are nothing to do with pressurisation, as the aircraft has none.You'll find lots more about this in the manual. Have fun!MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]

Hi Mark,Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated. Cheers,Neil

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! It isn't very often I get to correct Mark, since he's our resident DC-3 expert, but yes, you actually can follow a VOR with the R4D.You do this by turning all three of the Sperry's sensitivity wheels all the way to the left to zero. Then you can turn on the AP, either with the master switch or the key command Z. Making sure your Nav 1 radio is tuned and receiving a station, and that the OBI indicator needle is centered, hit Ctrl+N. Presto, change-o, the plane will swing onto the bearing to the VOR. Tune the OBI as you wish and the plane will fly the selected radial. If you also want to hold an altitude, hit Shift+Z.Basically, all of the standard autopilot functions, not including auto-throttle functions, are available for which there are key commands - you just have to zero out the Sperry so it will not overide. See your kneeboard for a list of all the AP commands.I was going to sentence you both to 50 lashes with a damp tie-down rope for not reading the User's Manual, but it seems I'll have to perform a little self-flagellation since it appears that it's no longer covered in the current manual! Ouch! Ouch! OUCH!! BTW, the B-25's 'invisible autopilot" works this same way.Bill RambowMAAM-SIM http://www.fssupport.com/maam/maamsim_neon.gif

Yeah, but ... splutter, splutter ... you can't ... but .... oh, never mind :)Forgive me for flying mine like the real one! Next time I'm in the cockpit for real I'll suggest to the pilot that he hits Ctrl+N and see what happens ;-) MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]