NOTE: Although this is a FS 8 question, I'm posting it here in the FS 9 forum for lack of a better location. :( Hello!I have a question to ask... I have installed a couple of aircraft that were 'FS 2002/ FS 2004' compatible, and for some reason when I load the sim, the A/C's engine(s) shut down and won't restart. Also, moving the throttle will not increase engine RPM's. Please note that prop trim/ mixture are not affected... the RPM's just won't increase on the tachometer.Anybody ever come across this? Here is one of the A/C in question:http://www.flightsim.com/kdl.php?fid=93064It's a B-17 Shark Fin (although in the description it's called a 'G' Model).Any help & suggestions are most appreciated!Thanks!Alan

I do know the description is wrong for one thing, the 'Shark fin B-17' is any model prior to the E variant (i.e the YB-17, A, B, C and D models). The tail area was increased on the E model and a dorsal fillet added to improve high altitude stability and allow the tail area to be redesigned to accommodate a rear gunner in either the early or late versions of the rear gun fitting (either Cheyenne or Bendix). That modification prompted the nickname, 'the big assed bird' for E variants onwards, the Shark fin name on the earlier variants, is for fairly obvious reasons too, since it does look a bit like one. The G model was the last major variant of the 17. All that means that the documentation may be lacking, or contain other errors, so....The engines on the B-17 (R-1820 Wright Cyclones) aren't, in theory at least, that complicated to operate, but it does depend, as far as sims go, how realistically modeled they are. The real B-17 has a panel over on the right with little toggle switches on it where you have to flip to select the engine you want to start, then hit the starter, and 'mesh' the engine to get it turning, whereupon it hopefully catches and fires up, so it might be that you need to play around with that stuff. Note that if it is realistically modeled, some of the switches do 'double duty' for starting more than one engine, depending on how you have them set. Here is the procedure for starting: Move the Start switch either up or down (depending on which engine you want to start) and after 20 seconds, move the Mesh switch either up or down (still holding the start switch). That will engage the flywheel and energise the booster coil and you should be in business. On the real thing, you should switch off the Start switch within 30 seconds of the engine firing up, to avoid causing damage.The B-17 has a throttle lock, and you have to unlock them to get them to move. The real 17 has a locking lever on the port side of the control stand, which you pull up and forward to lock the throttles, and up and back to lock the inboard throttles only. Fully forward on the mixture controls puts the Stromberg carburetors in the Engine Off setting too by the way, so watch out for that as well. Fuel switches should normally be Open, and Transfer Valves should be closed. Each engine on the 17 has its own independent fuel tank too by the way, so check there is fuel in the thing! That's why there is a transfer valve, in case you need to move the fuel to another tank. Hope that helps a bit.Al

Chock,Thanks for the reply! I'm thinking that the difficulty lies in the actual model of the A/C, not in the starting procedure. If I use the Autostart key (E) on my keyboard layout, the engine will turn over, but not engage. I say that it's an issue with the model because there are other single engine A/C I have installed that have the same difficulty. For instance, with the rest of the A/C in my 'hangar' they will sit and run @ idle speed with no problems; I can run them up to full throttle without a hiccup. A few of them though (like this one) will run for a couple of seconds and then the engine shuts down and will not restart.This is one of the only shark fin B-17's I've seen available for download. I'd like to take it & have a repaint modeled after 'The Swoose', the last surviving B-17D which is being restored at the National Museum of the USAF, but I want to make sure it'll work in the sim 1st!Again, thanks for your reply!Alan :(

What you might be able to do, is tweak the config file to get it working. I'd suggest looking at a config file for either another B-17 (i.e the Wings of Power II A2A or something). If you don't have that B-17, I'd look at maybe a DC-3 or DC-2 of some kind, such as the UIVER or MAAM, since they might have something in their config file you could copy and paste to your 17 config file, or maybe edit based on what you see.If you are doing everything right to start it up, and it is still refusing to do so, then I'd put money on a tweak to the config file getting it going.Al

I downloaded and installed the plane and it works fine.Do you use the default startup flight?Sometimes these issues can be traced to a setting in a user-saved default flight.Hope this helps.regards,Joe

Elaborating here a bit:I have as a default flight the Beech Baron parked cold and dark which means fuel cut-off is engaged. If I load a created or saved flight with another aircraft the aircraft loads with just fine. If I have as a default an aircraft with an engine running but saved a flight cold and dark, when I load it the engine runs and then starves. This is for aircraft with panels modeled after the default aircraft standards.Just go through your pre-start and start up checklists as suggested making sure fire cut-offs are not engaged, fuel cut-offs, throttle position, etc. On a the hot key for auto start bring up the throttle quad window and overhead and watch the levers to see which operate and don't.It is possible that this panel has some special control interfaces that your auto-start hot key will not control.

I downloaded and installed the plane and it works fine.Do you use the default startup flight?Sometimes these issues can be traced to a setting in a user-saved default flight.Hope this helps.regards,Joe

Hello!Thanks N60 & Ronzie for replying; a quick question for the 2 of you, then back to some observations:Are both of you running the A/C in FS 9, or FS 8? If you're running FS 9, then I bet you won't have an issue. It seems to be when trying to use the A/C in FS 8, which is the version I use.All of the testing has been done using the default flight mode. All of the A/C running in the sim are live & hot... no dark & cold cockpits. In Default Flight mode, when I start the sim, the A/C will run for approx 10-15 sec. before the engine(s) shut down. In the instances when the engine continues to operate @ idle speed, there is no throttle response, regardless of using the panel throttle control or the joystick control. Remember, this is regardless of propeller or mixture setting. I've also had the Engine Controls view open and checked control movement corresponding to both joystick AND keyboard inputs; on other A/C everything works fine, but with this A/C there is no functionality.Chock: I'm beginning to suspect that .cfg & .air files are the cause. The only issues I'm having with using FS 9 A/C in FS 8 seem to be the ones from this particular designer. I had to swap and tweak both the .cfg & .air files on another A/C from this designer in order to get it to fly, and I was hoping that I didn't have to do the same thing to the 17. Also, there don't seem to be many B-17's designed for FS 8.Thanks again for the input and suggestions!Alan :(

My bad, I misread that you wanted to use an FS8 plane in FS9.I am using FS9 and do not have FS8.Sorry I can't be of more help.regards,Joe

I missed it too. While there are some differences in flight dynamics, FS8 aircraft can be tweaked for FS9. The reverse is not true especially for the panel programming and I suspect that is the cause. There may be some switches in FS9 aircraft that have no interface (API) calls to FS8. In addition, some gauges in FS9 are written in XML code, not usable in FS8.If you have a similar aircraft working in FS8, then you might try aliasing in the panel.cfg file to the working FS8 panel.cfg file and see what happens.

Hello!Joe & Ron: Thanks again for your replies! I'm glad there are folks out there who take the time & effort to answer my questions, even though I'm using FS 2002!Ron: In your experience, is the panel incompatibility one of the factors that will cause an FS 9 A/C not to work in FS 8? I never thought about the gauge issue; perhaps like you said the .xml language and/ or the API is the root cause. I will definitely give the panel aliasing a try!Thanks again!Alan :(

I never tried running an FS9 aircraft in FS8. My experience FS9 gauges is some minor modification of gauge code in XML of a downloaded panel.

Ron: In your experience, is the panel incompatibility one of the factors that will cause an FS 9 A/C not to work in FS 8? I never thought about the gauge issue; perhaps like you said the .xml language and/ or the API is the root cause. I will definitely give the panel aliasing a try!Alan :(