After playing Flight for a while, I have a few questions. I think I've figured a couple out but would still like verification on those as well.

 

1) How can I determine how much fuel to take on a trip?

The job says transport 900Kg of Cats or something and I have a light aircraft!

Next the invisible copilot says we have too much fuel to take off, followed by a comment that we don't have enough fuel and need to land as soon as possible and refuel. I confuse!

 

2) How can I gain altitude quickly without stalling?

I have mixture set to 'auto' in options because I'm a noob and don't want to mix my planes drinks.

Some of the challenges have steep climbs through hoops and some airfields are surrounded by mountains.

My current method is to circle around, spiraling higher.

 

3) How can I turn the plane around on the ground or even back up if possible, to avoid obstructions or keep

on the runway?

I have found I can hold the brake and throttle up the engines to almost turn on the spot.

Before that I experimented with independent left and right brakes and low speeds but still ended up in the trees on bush runways.

 

4) How do you handle extreme weather like wind of > 75kmph?

Can you climb high and fly above the wind or rain? It takes me about 20miles to climb to 5,000 feet and those clouds reach 10,000 feet.

In little planes like the carbon cub I almost fly backward so a long flight becomes infinitely long in strong wind and I just give up.

1) How can I determine how much fuel to take on a trip?

 

Well, since there is nothing in flight that calculates it for you, you can go two routes; the more technical of which is actually looking up the characteristics of a particular plane and then calculating your payload, including the weight of the fuel, the distance you are flying, the weather, the speed you intend to fly etc to come up with how much fuel you will need. The hanger screen gives you some information.

 

The copilot will sometimes help you with comments which are not always accurate.

 

The alternative is to kind of wing it!

 

2) How can I gain altitude quickly without stalling?

 

Each plane is going to have a different stall speed. I aint a pro, but rule of thumb is that stall speed increases as you get higher so you have to go faster to stay above the stall speed etc...... In my case, becoming familiar with the handling characteristics of the aircraft was the only real way to approach the challenges you are talking about. You just have to stay very aware of your airspeed.

 

How can I turn the plane around on the ground or even back up if possible, to avoid obstructions or keep

on the runway?

 

Flight has no way to back up!! People find ways to avoid the need, or go to the map screen and move the plane backwards minuscule amounts there to accomplish the same thing.

 

4) How do you handle extreme weather like wind of > 75kmph?

Can you climb high and fly above the wind or rain? It takes me about 20miles to climb to 5,000 feet and those clouds reach 10,000 feet.

In little planes like the carbon cub I almost fly backward so a long flight becomes infinitely long in strong wind and I just give up.

 

You can fly above inclement weather, but I think its been established here that no real pilot would want to take a small plane out in that type of weather. Presuming you survive, FLIGHT will give you a very real appreciation for exactly why that is!! There is actually an award for flying backwards. ^_^

 

Being caught in FLIGHT in bad weather in a small plane is a hair raising experience.

1) How can I determine how much fuel to take on a trip?

• Find the POH (pilot operating handbook) for the aircraft in use.
  
• Lookup fuel burn at the power setting you are going to use e.g. if flying a Piper Warrior II - 8.8gph for 65% power (or you can just observe it and determine accordingly for the FLIGHT aircraft being used).
  
• Determine time enroute based on power setting. Add one minute per thousand foot of climb plus 10min for the approach plus a minimum 1 hour for reserve.
  

Example: 100 minutes enroute + climb from S.L. (sea level) to 10,000MSL (10min) + approach (10min) + 1 hour for reserve = 3hrs... so an absolute minimum (3 x for a Warrior 9gph) of 27gals fuel.

 

Next the invisible copilot says we have too much fuel to take off, followed by a comment that we don't have enough fuel and need to land as soon as possible and refuel. I confuse!

 

Just a couple computer generated messages not taking either into consideration... guessing you are both over Gross Weight & not enough fuel for the trip (based on how the program calculates what you need).

 

2) How can I gain altitude quickly without stalling?

 

Determine from the POH (or actual experience) what is V_y (Best Rate of Climb - quickest altitude, shortest time). With steep terrain nearby... circling over the airport to a higher altitude can be required.

 

 

3) How can I turn the plane around on the ground

 

Yeah... stepping on / releasing one brake with a touch of power can work.

 

I don't think "pushback" is available for FLIGHT.

 

 

4) How do you handle extreme weather like wind of > 75kmph?

 

Typically? Stay on the ground.

1) How can I determine how much fuel to take on a trip?

 

The dialog where you add fuel to the aircraft tells you how far you can fly on the fuel you have on board. It's not very accurate, as I can often double the distance it shows, but it's good enough until you can estimate fuel usage yourself.

 

2) How can I gain altitude quickly without stalling?

 

If you have the HUD showing, go full power and raise the nose until you see the stall warning indicator. Keep the indicator on the left. That's probably going to be about your best rate of climb.

 

For challenges, try to keep your speed up so you don't slow down too much when you have to climb. There are times when I've had to circle around to gain altitude, but I suspect if I did it right I wouldn't have had to circle.

 

3) How can I turn the plane around on the ground or even back up if possible, to avoid obstructions or keep on the runway?

 

If you aren't on a mission, you can exit the plane, walk to where you want the plane to be, then go to the hangar and select your plane again. The plane will be moved to the location where you were standing, facing in the direction you were facing, and you will be in the cockpit.

 

If you're on a mission, good luck. Try not to get in a situation where you can get stuck. Full left brakes and left rudder, and blip the throttle, although this can annoy passengers. Most planes turn left a bit easier that right due to engine torque.

 

4) How do you handle extreme weather like wind of > 75kmph?

 

Stay out of it. Or if you find yourself in it suddenly, tough it out. It can be fun to fly that way if you're in the right mood.

 

You should only encounter those kinds of winds in Intermittent Thunderstorms (but only in random places west of Molokai in Hawaii, dunno where the storms begin in Alaska) or Heavy Weather (whatever that one's called) where you will always get 68 knot winds at Upolu on the north tip of the big island in Hawaii. As far as I know, those are the only two weather themes with such extreme weather.

 

Hook

Thanks for all your responses fellow Airmen!

If you have the HUD showing, go full power and raise the nose until you see the stall warning indicator. Keep the indicator on the left. That's probably going to be about your best rate of climb.

 

Let me amend this. That's probably your best ANGLE of climb. Best RATE of climb will be with the stall indicator somewhat farther left, probably without the stall indicator showing at all. If you're trying to gain altitude quickly to get past an obstruction (trees at the end of the runway, lip of a canyon during a challenge, next ring, whatever), best ANGLE is what you're going for. Best RATE will get you to the observatory quicker than best ANGLE, but will take more ground to do it.

 

So, do what I said above, but call it best angle of climb, not best rate.

 

Hook