Hi,Please don't shoot me down. The Duke is is a terrific implementation of a real aircraft.I'm only a computer pilot and usually enable automixture for instance. I've only just installed the Duke, and can't stop the props from feathering. I'm sorry to be a philistine, but can this beautiful and complex aircraft be set up in FSX to take care of mixture and prop settings automatically?I usually fly with instruments like the GPS on a separate monitor. I can't find a way to move a copy of the Duke's GPS?Does anyone with Track IR find it noticeably less efficient in looking around the Duke's instrument panel?Apologies for asking stupid questions about such a well simulated product.Jim H.

Hi,Please don't shoot me down. The Duke is is a terrific implementation of a real aircraft.I'm only a computer pilot and usually enable automixture for instance. I've only just installed the Duke, and can't stop the props from feathering. I'm sorry to be a philistine, but can this beautiful and complex aircraft be set up in FSX to take care of mixture and prop settings automatically?I usually fly with instruments like the GPS on a separate monitor. I can't find a way to move a copy of the Duke's GPS?Does anyone with Track IR find it noticeably less efficient in looking around the Duke's instrument panel?Apologies for asking stupid questions about such a well simulated product.Jim H.

The RealAir manual specifically states you should have automixture 'off'. This is true for all RealAir aircraft I have purchased, as they design their products for realism in terms of manual input. I find the mixture control is very easy to use, and responds excellent to input. This aircraft is a 'gas hog' (it was/is in real life) so finding the 'sweet spot' between performance and fuel usage takes some practice at cruise. To keep my power up on climb, simply pull back on the mixture when the engine sound begins to drop; you will notice the fuel mixture needle will move to the right and higher rpm's will be achieved. At cruise I reduce my MP, pull back on the mixture to 'peak' (needle farthest 'right' on the fuel flow gauge), then keep pulling back until I archive the fuel efficiency I require (needle then moves 'left' on the fuel flow gauge until I achieve the usage/power settings I desire/need for my flight). Then I reduce my prop. Also keep your eye on the CYL temp. If is gets to high close to the red, you can always try opening the cowl flaps first, or if leaned a bit too much (overheating of the engine can result) you may have to enrich the mixture to keep things cool.Now, as the RealAir manual states, the mixture control in FS is highly exaggerated unfortunately, (especially in a turbo model) and you actually have to lean your mixture when you may not have to touch it at all in the real aircraft until you reach 9,000 feet or so.All of this is in the manual....I cannot speak for dragging the GPS.....I use TrackIR, and I'm a bit puzzled by your statement about 'inefficient'. Could you explain further?

The RealAir manual specifically states you should have automixture 'off'. This is true for all RealAir aircraft I have purchased, as they design their products for realism in terms of manual input. I find the mixture control is very easy to use, and responds excellent to input. This aircraft is a 'gas hog' (it was/is in real life) so finding the 'sweet spot' between performance and fuel usage takes some practice at cruise. To keep my power up on climb, simply pull back on the mixture when the engine sound begins to drop; you will notice the fuel mixture needle will move to the right and higher rpm's will be achieved. At cruise I reduce my MP, pull back on the mixture to 'peak' (needle farthest 'right' on the fuel flow gauge), then keep pulling back until I archive the fuel efficiency I require (needle then moves 'left' on the fuel flow gauge until I achieve the usage/power settings I desire/need for my flight). Then I reduce my prop. Also keep your eye on the CYL temp. If is gets to high close to the red, you can always try opening the cowl flaps first, or if leaned a bit too much (overheating of the engine can result) you may have to enrich the mixture to keep things cool.Now, as the RealAir manual states, the mixture control in FS is highly exaggerated unfortunately, (especially in a turbo model) and you actually have to lean your mixture when you may not have to touch it at all in the real aircraft until you reach 9,000 feet or so.All of this is in the manual....I cannot speak for dragging the GPS.....I use TrackIR, and I'm a bit puzzled by your statement about 'inefficient'. Could you explain further?

Thanks for the info. I'll give up trying to fly the Duke the lazy way! I'll also re-read the manual carefully.Could you give me a little guidance as to where and when to set the prop levers? I've been finding that, shortly into the climb, they suddenly move back to feather and I lose power.On the trackIR, I'm finding it jerky and erratic in moving around the instrument panel, and especially in trying to look more closely at, for instance, the GPS unit. My FPS with the Duke are actually a little higher than some other aircraft, so I wondered if it was how Real Air presented the panel. I can look around out of the cockpit quite smoothly as usual.Thanks for your help, Jim

Thanks for the info. I'll give up trying to fly the Duke the lazy way! I'll also re-read the manual carefully.

:( You will find your experiance more engaging if not always taking the 'easy way out'.

Could you give me a little guidance as to where and when to set the prop levers? I've been finding that, shortly into the climb, they suddenly move back to feather and I lose power.

mmmm...not sure why your prop levers are pulling back to feather 'automatically'. Again, this may be the realism settings you are using.Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that the prop should not be adjusted until after your MP and mixture are set. So, I usually do not touch them until I reach cruise and get my engine adjusted for cruise performance. I then increase for either descent/landing. The setting procedure is in the manual. For the most part though, the prop setting is used to fine tune your MP/mixture settings to achieve the fuel flow you desire for your flight. Also, refer to the Duke POH charts in the documentation, which may be a help to you for guidelines using various power settings.

On the trackIR, I'm finding it jerky and erratic in moving around the instrument panel, and especially in trying to look more closely at, for instance, the GPS unit. My FPS with the Duke are actually a little higher than some other aircraft, so I wondered if it was how Real Air presented the panel. I can look around out of the cockpit quite smoothly as usual.Thanks for your help, Jim

Every aircraft seems to be a bit different. Actually I find the Duke to be pretty easy to use with TrackIR, but as with all aircraft, sometimes it is easier to zoom, and/or the 'pause' command to adjust settings. I actually use voice commands using 'Voice Buddy' to zoom in/out, pause, center, etc. This helps in not having to touch the keyboard when flying. I also have mapped a 'zoom' control setting to my yoke. The Duke also has 'hot spots' to automatically zoom to various areas of the panel with a 'left click', and a 'right click' will return you to the normal VC view.But what you may want to do is find out the best positioning of the unit for the Duke within the tracking window of TrackIR. In most cases I find FSX works best when the unit is centered in the tracking window, but some aircraft may work better if adjusted a bit right, left, for a bit 'up'. Sometimes I also have to 'fool' the unit when using the 'center' command within FSX. I find most times, I look up a bit when 'centering' which helps the longitude of my view within many aircraft by provided a bit of 'down view' which makes selecting some of the lower switches and gauges easier. You may also find you need to raise/lower your default seating position in the aircraft.cfg. I keep meaning to do this in the Duke, as it seems you may be sitting a bit high using the Duke's default settings, I am going to try to lower this setting a bit.Not sure if that will help.

:( You will find your experiance more engaging if not always taking the 'easy way out'. You may also find you need to raise/lower your default seating position in the aircraft.cfg. I keep meaning to do this in the Duke, as it seems you may be sitting a bit high using the Duke's default settings, I am going to try to lower this setting a bit.Not sure if that will help.

I'll go back to basics and learn to fly the Duke by the manual.If you do alter the seating position in the Duke, could you share the method so I can try that?Thanks again, Jim

I'll go back to basics and learn to fly the Duke by the manual.If you do alter the seating position in the Duke, could you share the method so I can try that?Thanks again, Jim

Hi Jim, try this....go into the aircrfat.cfg and find this line:[Views]eyepoint = -7.6, -1.0, 2.25 ////2.53 As you can see, I changed the default seating height (last of the three numbers) of 2.53 to 2.25 ft., but left the original 'remmed out' with '////'.This seems to feel better to me, and may help with TrackIR. At least try it out, or play with that setting a bit and see if it helps your problem at all. If not, you can always replace the 2.25 with the original 2.53

Hi Jim, try this....go into the aircrfat.cfg and find this line:[Views]eyepoint = -7.6, -1.0, 2.25 ////2.53 As you can see, I changed the default seating height (last of the three numbers) of 2.53 to 2.25 ft., but left the original 'remmed out' with '////'.This seems to feel better to me, and may help with TrackIR. At least try it out, or play with that setting a bit and see if it helps your problem at all. If not, you can always replace the 2.25 with the original 2.53

I looked into the Duke aircraft.cfg, but there is no sign of your eyepoint entry in mine. I added it anyway, but I couldn't see any difference.I uninstalled the Duke, and re-installed. I added the eyepoint line to the new aircrft.cfg. I carefully read through the manuals and noted the recommended settings. I set everything up in FSX as suggested. I started up from cold and dark, according to plan. I taxied out to the runway, but despite setting MP, Mixture, and Props as closely as I could from my understanding of the manuals, on the takeoff run, on the climb, and cruising at 5000ft, the props kept shooting back to feather every couple of minutes.As a computer only pilot, trying my best to master this system, the aircraft at present has me beat. I think I would need some kind of idiot's guide of step by step settings to show me where I'm going wrong, because it's obvious it must be me and not the aircraft. I can't find a dedicated Forum to ask about the Duke, rather than bothering the members here.Incidentally, when I opened the new install of the Duke, my Track IR worked perfectly.I love FSX, and bemoan not having any experience of real world flying (only a couple of hours in a Piper Apache). My main satisfaction, as a long time sailor, comes from navigating in the air.Thanks for all your help, regards, Jim

I looked into the Duke aircraft.cfg, but there is no sign of your eyepoint entry in mine. I added it anyway, but I couldn't see any difference.I uninstalled the Duke, and re-installed. I added the eyepoint line to the new aircrft.cfg. I carefully read through the manuals and noted the recommended settings. I set everything up in FSX as suggested. I started up from cold and dark, according to plan. I taxied out to the runway, but despite setting MP, Mixture, and Props as closely as I could from my understanding of the manuals, on the takeoff run, on the climb, and cruising at 5000ft, the props kept shooting back to feather every couple of minutes.

Sounds like your config file might be jiggered here is my entry:[Views]eyepoint = -7.6, -1.0, 2.53 As pointed out this is the install default and it is hard to imagine that the duke installation would leave that statement alone out of the build.Make sure you don't have two [Views] Statements now that you have added one.Your feathering problem could be caused by the feather command getting into the system (default CTRL + F1). If you are using a control system that sends commands to the sim then it might be playing up and sending spurious commands to FSX. Good luck with your problem.

Sounds like your config file might be jiggered here is my entry:[Views]eyepoint = -7.6, -1.0, 2.53 As pointed out this is the install default and it is hard to imagine that the duke installation would leave that statement alone out of the build.Make sure you don't have two [Views] Statements now that you have added one.Your feathering problem could be caused by the feather command getting into the system (default CTRL + F1). If you are using a control system that sends commands to the sim then it might be playing up and sending spurious commands to FSX. Good luck with your problem.

Hi John,Thanks. I did miss the eyepoint entry. It is way down under radios. I've now deleted my entry and edited the original.Thanks for the tip about CTRL+F1. I have only button assignments, and none of them are CTRL+F1. My controls are only CH Flightsim Yoke and Pro Throttle, plus Saitek Pro Pedals.I'd really like to beat this problem.Regards, Jim

Thanks for all your help, regards, Jim

No problem at all Jim.For the life of me, I wish I could help with your prop issue. Rob, from RealAir, pops in here from time to time, so perhaps he will have a thought on this, but I'll tell you, I do not remember anyone else having this problem during all the various discussions following the aircraft's release.Why not try emailing them, Rob will probably return a reply and attempt to help you out.Interesting that you are a sailor. My father was a pilot, and soon after he retired, he was getting ready to move to Florida (Tampa area) and get a small sail boat. He always told me the idea of sailing was very close to flying for him. The two do go somewhat 'hand in hand'.

No problem at all Jim.For the life of me, I wish I could help with your prop issue. Rob, from RealAir, pops in here from time to time, so perhaps he will have a thought on this, but I'll tell you, I do not remember anyone else having this problem during all the various discussions following the aircraft's release.Why not try emailing them, Rob will probably return a reply and attempt to help you out.Interesting that you are a sailor. My father was a pilot, and soon after he retired, he was getting ready to move to Florida (Tampa area) and get a small sail boat. He always told me the idea of sailing was very close to flying for him. The two do go somewhat 'hand in hand'.

Hi,I would guess that uncommanded prop feathering on the Duke, which to my knowledge has never been reported before in the three months since release, is due to either a key command which is active within your FSX/control menu without you knowing, or that addon hardware is commanding the feather routine by mistake. Since there are a large number of users who have hardware products such as yokes, sticks, general controllers and various products working in concert with FSUIPC etc, who do not see uncommanded feathering, it might be useful to review the setup of that hardware.The Duke's feathering routine closely follows that of the SDK-published standard variables in FSX. Essentially, the standard protocol for feathering the Duke is as follows: First move the levers so the prop angles are at maximum coarse (levers pulled back). Then pull the levers back again into the feathering detente, which is the area yet another notch back from this position. The props will now feather. To un-feather, push the levers forward of the detente.It is as simple as that. Any variation on this standard must be caused by either addon software or hardware interfering with the standard lever positions. Best Wishes,Rob - RealAir

If your TrackIR is jerky, make sure you have no sunlight behind you in the field of the sensor. It also sometimes helps to have the sensor further away than the monitor. I put mine on a shelf a little above and behind the monitor and find this smooths out the movement significantly. I also like the user profile called FS 2004 - Optimized Flight by ******* Altuve.Cheers,Noel.

Since there are a large number of users who have hardware products such as yokes, sticks, general controllers and various products working in concert with FSUIPC etc, who do not see uncommanded feathering, it might be useful to review the setup of that hardware.

I once had a problem with my CH Quadrant causing an uncommanded full lean/fuel cutoff movement of the mixture lever in another aircraft (not RealAir). I discovered that this was due to the calibration of the physical device going out of whack causing the virtual version to command a fuel cutoff.Re-calibrating the device fixed the problem.Cheers,

I once had a problem with my CH Quadrant causing an uncommanded full lean/fuel cutoff movement of the mixture lever in another aircraft (not RealAir). I discovered that this was due to the calibration of the physical device going out of whack causing the virtual version to command a fuel cutoff.Re-calibrating the device fixed the problem.Cheers,

Hi Everyone,A few things.I knew the problem couldn't be with the Duke but with my system, and to confirm it I checked another twin had the same problem.After the uninstall-reinstall of the Duke, my Track IR worked as normal, the jerks all gone. I am using the Optimized Flight profile, and it's the best I've tried.Thanks for the tip concerning control calibration. I carefully checked all my controls, and found a rogue axis assignment. Having deleted it, I recalibrated each of my three, fired up FSX, and the Duke now performs beautifully. It flies just as all its fans say it does. I'm really pleased, and without the help here I'd never have solved the problem.Rob,Thanks for taking an interest and lending a hand. Can I ask you if it is possible to get a copy of the GPS up on my 4th monitor? I fly with the VC cockpit view over three WS monitors, and like to have the GPS up on the monitor above.Thanks again to all of you. Regards, Jim

Thanks again to all of you. Regards, Jim

Great news Jim. Enjoy this incredible aircraft.And when taking a long flight, every once in a while, slip to the back seat and watch the world go by, or maybe just take a nap :(