Carenado Piper Seneca II for FSX is crippled?

[Emilio_G 0]

I recently bought the Seneca II, looked at the 3 PDF files, tried the plane and I have lots of questions of things not documented anywhere in the product. On the internet I found a review of the Piper Seneca II for X-Plane but apparently that version is much better than the FSX version, so compared to what I saw in the X-Plane version review the FSX has

• The vent window (glass) on the pilot side can't be opened
  
• Missing PDF documents such as the reference list, performance tables and autopilot manual, the last two I need sorely...
  
• Some buttons on the panel (front, side & between seats) are animated and seemingly operational but not documented.
  

Don't remember what else off the top of my head but I have been trying to figure out that autopilot and the purpose of some of those switches to properly enjoy this excellent plane.

 

I did however change the panel config so that it lights up in white because though the red shine was nice looking it made it extremely difficult to read the panel at night.

 

So... is there going to be an update (backporting x-plane version functionality into the fsx version)? how can I get the missing documents? they obviously apply to both the x-plane & fsx version, I wonder why they weren't delivered in my ZIP file.

 

Also, the ZIP file delivered to me by PC Aviator only had 3 PDF (missing the others) and is dated 2009. But then on the Carenado site I see two service packs for the Seneca II (FSX), do I have to install those or is my zip file already updated??? the readme files in the service packs don't say a thing about what was fixed, when it was released or what version it is. Is there a way I can figure out what version I have? don't want to ruin my installation.

[GuillermoG 1]

Emilio. How did you manage to change the red light for white. Can you light me up so I can change mine as well?

Thanks

[PMSoares 7]

Hello Emilio!

 

Being a long-time user of Carenado's Seneca in both FS2004 and FSX, and having logged more than 1800 very happy hours as a real-life captain of these birds in my early pilot's career, I would like to comment about your post.

 

"Some buttons on the panel (front, side & between seats) are animated and seemingly operational but not documented."

 

You have the fuel selectors between seats. They have three positions:

 

ON - Engine fed by its on-side tank

OFF - Fuel supply to that engine is interrupted

X-Feed - Engine being fed from the opposite tank

 

Further back in the center pedestal you'll find two buttons that operate the Janitrol gasoline-fed heater system. Basically it's a small heater that uses fuel and lights a small furnace inside your plane... I would not mess with that, don´t you agree? heheheehehe In 7 years flying Senecas, I never dared to turn it on, not even in freezing cold days Get yourself a good coat and you'll be safer. Behind the Janitrol Controls, you have an overheat lamp and the temperature controls for the hot air supply. 

 

Side panel has all its buttons accurately modelled (within some limitations of FSX) 

 

Top row has the magnetos, and the primer buttons. The primer buttons are not functional. They turn the fuel pumps on and inject a small amount of fuel into the cylinders in order to prime them for start. 

 

Second row has the landing/nav/anti coll lights, the pitot heater and the fuel pumps switches. The fuel pump switches have three positions LO/OFF/HI You should use them as follows:

 

Lo For vapour purge during hot/high operations only if you see fuel flow variations. 

OFF - For normal operations

HI - You can use it to prime the engines before start (some planes were not equipped with the PRIME buttons) and if you have a mechanical pump failure in flight. IF, and only IF you lose the engine-driven mechanical pump, you should turn the electric pump on. After turning it on, you should adjust the mixture so that the engine restores up to 75% power. Try doing that in a fully loaded plane that has just lost one engine at 150 ft agl... Yeah.. I had this failure and obviously the electric pump wasn't able to keep the engine turning. Shut it down, feathered the propeller and somehow managed to get back to the departing runway... 

 

"I did however change the panel config so that it lights up in white because though the red shine was nice looking it made it extremely difficult to read the panel at night."

 

The Seneca II panel IS extremely difficult to read at night.. As real as it gets, my friend... I used to fly with a small handheld flashlight...

 

"Also, the ZIP file delivered to me by PC Aviator only had 3 PDF (missing the others) and is dated 2009. But then on the Carenado site I see two service packs for the Seneca II (FSX), do I have to install those or is my zip file already updated??? the readme files in the service packs don't say a thing about what was fixed, when it was released or what version it is. Is there a way I can figure out what version I have? don't want to ruin my installation."

 

I would install the service packs. They fix some issues with ground handling.

 

All in all the Seneca II flies quite nicely and its performance is quite close to its real world counterpart. One thing that is missing (and I have never seen a developer who added this feature in any plane) is the cowl-flap drag. The real Seneca wiuld lose up to 15 knots in cruise with cowl-flaps open. This is not modelled. Also the fuel flow is slightly lower than the real plane and CHT temperatures are quite low. The plane that I flew in real life had a larger fuel capacity.  I've made some adjustments in the FDE and AIR files and now it is flying very very close to the real world Seneca. I've written to Carenado offering some suggestions to improve this bird , but got no response... 

 

Have a nice day!! 

[Robk182 0]

@PMSoares you flight in RL the seneca II, can you tell me the differences betwen the real seneca II and the carenado speaking about the FDE and the Dinamycs .........

 

Redgars from venezuela

[Robk182 0]

Anyone?? @PmSoares?? .........

[PMSoares 7]

@PMSoares you flight in RL the seneca II, can you tell me the differences betwen the real seneca II and the carenado speaking about the FDE and the Dinamycs .........

 

Redgars from venezuela

 Hola Robert! Saludos de Brasil! Sorry for the late reply. 

 

I would say that the Carenado FDE is quite good, compared to the RL Seneca II.   The main differences are:

 

The max fuel quantity of the version that I flew in RL was larger. 123 US Gallons of usable fuel. It's quite easy to adjust it in the CFG. 

 

The real plane has lots of drag caused by the cowl flaps. It's not modelled in any FSX plane that I've heard about. This will make the FSX model climb with a better performance, compared to the RL plane. 

 

Single-engine handling needs some adjustments. The RL plane doesn't behave so well in an engine out situation, although it's flyable. I've lost an engine 4 times in 6 years of flying this plane and I'm still here to tell the story... 

 

Fuel flow in the Carenado Seneca is lower than the RL plane. Bear in mind that the plane I used to fly was a very old/tired/beaten-up plane and its fuel consumption naturally should be higher than a brand-new plane. Easily adjustable in the CFG also. 

 

CHT temperatures could be a little bit higher, but as I've said before, the plane that I flew could be performing worse than a brand new model (It was a 1976 model, and I flew it from 1991 to 1998, so it was a quite old plane by the time I flew it)

 

But all in all you can have a quite good simulation and a very joyful flight with it. This plane has a very special place in my heart, since it was my first command, my first aviation job, and flying the Carenado seneca (with the paint scheme of this very plane that I flew) brings me very nice memories. I think I'll fly if from Sao Paulo to Maiquetia (great scenery by latin VFR) and then will go all the way up the Caribbean Islands. 

 

Best Regards

 

Paulo Soares

[Robk182 0]

Paulo thanks for the reply!! 

 

Happy with your explanation, the airplane its one of my favorites in RL only i have a flights as a passenger, 

Can you give me a hand with the adjustment on the CFG on all that you say, the temperatures, CTH, speed, fuel..... 

 

Its a long flight from there to Miq..... but it will be a hell of fun !! 

 

Redgars from venezuela

Robert Bernard

[Robk182 0]

I just wanna fly the seneca in the sim as the real life seneca..... or the most close ....... !!

[GuillermoG 1]

Hello Emilio.

I read the posts and I am very interested in changing the red cockpit illumination light to white.

Can you please tell me how to do that?

 

Thanks