DC-3 Great stuff! Plus some observations on the VC

[Guest Ruahrc]

Sorry for the slew of postings- just recieved the DC-3 CD today. I am pretty happy with the plane! Flies like a dream and has such a unique "character" of operation that is not really captured by the default craft. The interactive checklist is pretty cool too!I got the plane configured up using controls from my CH Yoke and Throttle Quadrant, so I have physical control of each lever like the real bird, and also by using the up/down toggle buttons on the TQ, I have simulated the "three-finger" startup arrangement. (There is no command for "VIB" in FSUIPC so I have it just be another starter command. Is the "vib" function on the panel a custom one, or is it just a renamed version of a default FS command?) Flying the DC-3 is quite enjoyable with the setup!Regarding the VC- I had some reservations as to gauge refresh rate, and I must say that although it is a little slow for my liking, if you operate the DC-3 properly things typically aren't changing very rapidly anyways. I took a quick test flight in Alaska following the kneeboard checklists and also the info I had gained from watching the videos. VC gauge refresh was not too big a deal on the flight (I flew completely from the VC, save opening up 2D popups to operate some systems). The weather, however, was clear skies during the daytime and no wind. When the going gets rough VC gauge refresh rate might pose a bigger problem.I did run a few experiments, however, you might be interested in the results:I do not know much about FS aircraft design but I have heard that VC gauge refresh rate is dependent on the number of [vcockpit] sections in the panel.cfg file. I looked at the DC-3's panel.cfg and saw that there were 7. The default Cessna only has 2. Curious, I performed two simple mods to the DC-3 panel.cfg to see their effects.1) removed all but 2 of the [vcockpit] sections- the pilot's and co-pilot's main panel gauges. Result- gauge refresh becomes very smooth with just 2 sections- equivalent to the Cessna.2) "condensed" all [vcockpit] sections into one- I did this to see if the results seen in (1) were due to fewer [vcockpit] sections, or the fact that many of the VC's gauges were disabled. I just condensed all the sections onto the pilot's main cockpit panel- not caring about placement or alignment. Visually, everything was screwed up as there were many gauges on top of each other and all distorted. Refresh rate, however, was still just as fast as I saw in (1)! Clearly the sim is not being bogged down by the number of gauges to be drawn, but that they are split up into multiple sections.Anyways that is the limit of my ability to dink around with the panel. I don't know much about coding a VC, but is it that you have to make a separate [vcockpit] section for each planar surface that gets gauges in the VC? That seems to be the case- at least what I have hypothesized from trying to decipher the header section of each [vcockpit] entry. Things like the overhead, hydraulics, etc are on separate planes in the DC-3 cockpit, so maybe condensing of VC sections is impossible.You probably knew this all already, given that you made such a great aircraft to start with. Is there any other solution? Maybe FSX is the answer huh. Anyways just wanted to say what a great aircraft you have produced!Ruahrc

[Dark Moment 0]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Although I could answer your post, I could not answer it as intelligently as Jan Visser could, so will hold off until he has a chance to reply to you presently. Jan has had computer meltdown problems (none of us are safe :( ) and may not be able to post for a little while.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/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

[Guest Ruahrc]

Indeed- but with Winter on it's way perhaps all we'll need to do is just stick the computer out the window :)Unless, of course, you live south of the equator.Ruahrc

[StoneC0ld 5]

>I got the plane configured up using controls from my CH Yoke>and Throttle Quadrant, so I have physical control of each>lever like the real bird, and also by using the up/down toggle>buttons on the TQ, I have simulated the "three-finger" startup>arrangement. (There is no command for "VIB" in FSUIPC so I>have it just be another starter command. Is the "vib">function on the panel a custom one, or is it just a renamed>version of a default FS command?) Flying the DC-3 is quite>enjoyable with the setup!>If I were to take a guess, it's a custom solution.....Looks to me that the starter switch, when clicked alone, simply causes a sound to play that sounds like the DC-3's starter. When you engage the vib for that engine while the starter switch is engaged, it actually activates FS's engine starter, which starts the engine. Vib does nothing if starter isn't engaged. Don't think there's a way to map the 3 functions on the panel to 3 different buttons on the throttle quadrant (if there is, I'd like to know how... :()..