Am I doing something wrong?

[Guest Ruahrc]

I downloaded the tutorial flight and loaded the pdf onto my laptop computer so I could have access as I flew. Instead of flying the included flightplan I made my own, and just converted the instructions in the text to correlate with my flight plan (i.e. program different waypoints into the FMC, different weights, etc).The whole flight went along all right (I made it in once piece, and rather smoothly at that), except I noticed a couple of things.The climb performance of this airplane is very poor? I was flying at FL220 for my flight, and near the end I was only making 400fpm climb. Also, once I achieved cruise level, my plane had excessive pitch up (5 degrees up), this does not seem realistic? I was flying at about 180KIAS, about 200-210 knots GS. That figure seemed a little better given I was into a headwind.Also could someone please explain to me the function of the TOP/MCR/MCL/MCP knob (next to the fuel gauges in the bottom of the panel?). They set little bugs on the Torque gauge which I presume are the max limits that should not be exceeded for that phase of flight, but they first of all seem very low (I was running about 80% TQ for my climb, when the bug was all the way down at like 65) and also do not correlate with the reference charts availble for download? (which also seem too low. I tried following the chart and did not have enough power to climb)I am also having some problems with the prop RPM I should be running at. The tutorial called for 1050/900rpm climb and 900rpm cruise. Which again if I had kept 900rpm in climb I would not have made it to FL220. 900RPM in cruise seems okay although I lose a lot of speed and also the engines sound very loud (strangely enough the percieved noise decreases when I up the RPMs to about 950-1000).Then on the descent, the tutorial called for -1800fpm and 70% TQ. If I put in this combination of power and descent my airspeed quickly reached dangerous levels. I had to throttle back to about 40-50% TQ to keep my speed in check.Lastly- could someone tell me what some ballpark figures are for climb/cruise/descent TQ and RPM values are? And what to expect in terms of cruise speed/climb speed/descent speed? Like I said this was my first "by the book" flight of the Dash8 so maybe I just need more practice but I stayed as close to the numbers as I could following the tutorial. But if I did not take some pilot's liberty with the power/rpm settings I don't know if I would have made it. Maybe there is an FDE update somewhere I did not install or something? (I bought the Dash8 just recently because of the sale, and so whichever version I have is whichever version you get when you download it off the web)It's a fun aircraft though and nice panel! You should make a Q400 and Q100/200 as well!Ruahrc

[Guest Phoenix_7]

have you tried the advanced tutorial for FS2002(should work in FS9), it was written by a Dash 8 Captain,,it can be found at the Phoenix sitePSS SUPPORTsupport@phoenix-simulation.co.ukhttp://www.avsim.com/pss/phoenix.jpg

[Guest Ruahrc]

Yes, in fact the tutorial I was following was the Advanced one. I found that it contains pretty much the same info as the basic one- just a little more commentary regarding real-world differences and also some more detailed explanations as to why some procedures are as they are.I did a couple more flights with the plane, they seemed to go better- I guess I am just getting used to it. It still climbs very slowly if I follow the TRQ bugs (<500fpm at FL230) and still cruises with a 5 degree pitch up, but at least it makes it there.I'm having a big problem with the LOC/GS autopilot though. It does not track a localizer properly... it comes in about 2 degrees off heading and about 200ft off center. If I let the AP fly it to the ground it would land on the taxiway beside the runway instead of the runway itself. Anyone else have this problem? Any way to fix it?Ruahrc