January 31, 201412 yr Third, there is this darn annoying beeping from the minute you get into the cockpit. Radar Altimeter. Annoying I know. There should be a switch to turn it off, or just set it to alert at a different altitude to use it.
January 31, 201412 yr Commercial Member Just remember, it's illegal to fly it the United States, unless it's for an air show There's two of them in Canada I believe... one of them right here in my own home province. So that said, there's plenty of Orbx coverage to fly it in and still be on the right side of the law! The An-2 was one of my favorites of 2013 as well; still easily one of the best planes in my virtual hangar. It virtually reeks of vodka character... ^_^ Jim Stewart Milviz Person.
January 31, 201412 yr @stevefromio Steve, I sincerely meant no offence with my snarky comment. What I should have said is: "Yes that AN-2 is quite the detailed, realistic and frustrating add-on. Possibly the best FSX airplane of 2013. The noise is the radar altimeter when you open the aircraft in an FSX flight (not from cold and dark). Best to read the manual thoroughly as the simulation is very good...just ask anybody that has gotten an engine fire in the first 15 minutes of their first flight with it. The Sibwings forums are also a MUST visit as there is good information there and even updated FDE. Hope you end up liking this cantankerous beast as much as I do." Sorry again for any offence. My MSFS 2020 repaints: Flightsim.to - Profile of HStreet Working on MSFS 2024 versions.
January 31, 201412 yr Search around for Sim Launcher (high quality front-end for FSX, donation-ware). This will give you C&D for every aircraft, including the An-2. Then, the radar beeping will not occur anymore and you will get to experience this aircraft fully, each time you start a flight. No need to shut it down, save your flight etc'. Those days are gone. :wink:
January 31, 201412 yr Commercial Member just ask anybody that has gotten an engine fire in the first 15 minutes of their first flight with it Which is likely most everyone.. the lure of jumping into a new plane prior to opening the included documentation is just too great! :lol: Jim Stewart Milviz Person.
January 31, 201412 yr I was reading the manual. It doesn't say very much, but it does have a good history of the bird. It does mention, "Partly simulated pneumatic system." What is a pneumatic system, and does partly simulated mean this isn't very realistic?
January 31, 201412 yr Just got it, but there are some problems -- I think. First, the panel labels are in English. Only a few are in Russian. I doubt this exists on the real plane. Second, There is a GPS button on the panel, but there is no GPS in the cockpit. You just get a pop-window GPS. What is up with that? Third, there is this darn annoying beeping from the minute you get into the cockpit. And despite all of that, it is still IMO one of the best addons of 2013! Bill
January 31, 201412 yr I was reading the manual. It doesn't say very much, but it does have a good history of the bird. It does mention, "Partly simulated pneumatic system." What is a pneumatic system, and does partly simulated mean this isn't very realistic? A pneumatic system is a system that uses air to actuate things like brakes or flaps - compare with a hydraulic system which uses a fluid. In the An-2's case, at least the brakes are actuated pneumatically, as you can hear when pulling the brake lever. Which aspects they simulate and which not I can't tell you though, as I didn't have the opportunity to fly a real An-2 yet...
February 2, 201412 yr The An-2 was one of my favorites of 2013 as well; still easily one of the best planes in my virtual hangar. It virtually reeks of vodka character... Having now flown this for a few hours after taking the time to study the manual and checklists (essential I would say!), I would consider that this comes close to the A2A Stratocruiser in terms of realism and, in particular, the need to nurse the engines. If you just gun the throttle you will be seeing an increasing amount of smoke from the exhaust within minutes followed not long after by an engine fire! There is no doubt however that this a very quirky aircraft - numerous circuit breaker switches to be flicked on the panel before any thing even works; a clutch which has to be activated during the engine startup procedure; a mixture lever (called altitude corrector lever) which has to be pulled backwards rather than pushing it forward for RICH, to mention but a few. However, once you have got to know it, it is one awesome aircraft to fly. It's STOL ability is incredible - yesterday I flew it from EINN in real world weather (deep Atlantic low pressure area just off the west of Ireland with 30kt winds at EINN) and I was able to accomplish a number of vertical take offs and landings with ease! As others have said this has quickly become one of the favourite aircraft in my hanger and, although it is 'illegal' to operate it in the real world USA, I can't wait to use it for a bit of bush flying in Alaska and the PNW. What a find! Thank you Neil for originally bringing this to our attention for to Agood for refreshing the thread, without which I might have overlooked this one completely - and of course to Sib Wings for their incredible product at such a reasonable price! Bill
February 2, 201412 yr I'm wondering a little bit - how do you guys manage to set the engine on fire? I mean, you *never* just fly an airplane flat out for prolonged periods of time, at least not a piston engine, and especially not a high-powered one or a big radial. This is one of the problems with FSX that I haven't had yet, although I have to admit I managed to fry a turbine of the Twotter and two TDuke ones at the beginning, when I didn't know yet that the redline on the TIT gauges actually is just a MSL marker, and the real redline gets lower with altitude. With the An-2, if you look at the sticker on the windowsill left of the pilot's seat you will find manifold pressure and prop rpm settings for the various flight phases. If you adhere to those and keep an eye on the temps, you should not even see smoke. Actually the takeoff settings are far from full throttle too, especially if you've got enough runway and the plane isn't fully loaded. Be easy on the old girl, she's earned it! Having said that, maybe I should "fire her up" once, just to see what happens - but this goes against the grain for me, the one thing you really take care of when flying an airplane is the engine...
February 2, 201412 yr Cowl flaps closed on a hot day will start an engine fire on the beast. My MSFS 2020 repaints: Flightsim.to - Profile of HStreet Working on MSFS 2024 versions.
February 2, 201412 yr I'm wondering a little bit - how do you guys manage to set the engine on fire? I mean, you *never* just fly an airplane flat out for prolonged periods of time, at least not a piston engine, and especially not a high-powered one or a big radial. This is one of the problems with FSX that I haven't had yet, although I have to admit I managed to fry a turbine of the Twotter and two TDuke ones at the beginning, when I didn't know yet that the redline on the TIT gauges actually is just a MSL marker, and the real redline gets lower with altitude. Gotta confess that when I first flew this, I didn't read the sticker on the left or even the check lists - I just jumped in and gunned it as I was just too keen to experience it's slow flying capabilities! But I learned the hard way and soon had smoke and a fire (and I did experience it's slow flying capabilities immediately with an unplanned forced landing into a convenient field!). Surprisingly I still find that on a long approach with the engine throttled right back I sometimes start to get smoke if I need to add a bit of power on short finals - I guess at slow speeds the cooling is poor and perhaps I ought to open the cowl flaps even more? Bill
February 2, 201412 yr Gotta confess that when I first flew this, I didn't read the sticker on the left or even the check lists - I just jumped in and gunned it as I was just too keen to experience it's slow flying capabilities! But I learned the hard way and soon had smoke and a fire (and I did experience it's slow flying capabilities immediately with an unplanned forced landing into a convenient field!). Surprisingly I still find that on a long approach with the engine throttled right back I sometimes start to get smoke if I need to add a bit of power on short finals - I guess at slow speeds the cooling is poor and perhaps I ought to open the cowl flaps even more? Bill Either that (check the temperature gauges, anything below 215°C should be fine), or the engine is fouling up (mixture too rich) when idling on approach - dunno whether that's modelled or not, though. Either case: ideally you plan your approach so that you don't have to put the engine at idle, but can keep it running with some power.
February 2, 201412 yr Ah and before I forget, regarding the note on the windowsill: those notes show stuff in imperial units, while the instruments are metric. So you should convert the manifold pressure from inches of mercury to hectopascal.
February 3, 201412 yr Ah and before I forget, regarding the note on the windowsill: those notes show stuff in imperial units, while the instruments are metric. So you should convert the manifold pressure from inches of mercury to hectopascal. LOL - makes it even more interesting and quirky! Bill
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