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martinlest2

My latest adventure, TU-154

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Can I stick my oar in? For whatever reason, the best planes I have ever downloaded from AVSIM and so on have nearly all been Russian - TU154 or Antonov 124s (even a great Antonov 225 carrying a space shuttle on its back - not that I fly that particular version exactly every day). The attention to detail is amazing - sometimes just as good as PMDG, but freeware to boot (so to speak)!The Tu-154b2.zip mentioned is also a fine plane with a good panel and great sounds - I haven't even looked at the Tupolev that all the fuss is about here - I'll be downloading it as soon as I finish writing this. It has its complications, but after several frustrating sessions finding out some of its quirks (Altitude Hold switching off during a climb, should you adjust other parameters, for instance) I only have admiration for those who have put the package together. I still haven't worked out what some of the Russian labels on the controls mean though ...Wanted to post here a word of practical advice for getting to grips with new panels, (especially if they are in Russian, or Sanskrit, or whatever!): I bought a Belkin Nostromo N52 pad and it has become as indespensable to FS9 as the joystick. Once you have programmed all the buttons with macros (easily set up), you can use it to, for instance, switch on APR mode. You see which control lights up on unfamiliar panels - and after a few sessions the complex panel layouts, despite being in Russian with no help file in this case, become perfectly clear. I don't work for Belkin, but can't recommend this little gadget hightly enough.... er, reading this through I didn't have as much of interest to say on the topic as I thought I was going to have! No matter, I'll post it anyway -- then I'm straight on to the Project Tupolev site!Martin

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My small, unimportant opinion is that the Russian freeware people are heros! Generous and dedicated. BOLSHOI SPASSIBA!What's the issue? If you want a free, as-real-as-it-gets (accepting the limits of a PC) aircraft - download the TU-154 and work hard.If not, use one of the default aircraft (whatever they are :-) ) or some of the superb other freeware models.No offence or unpleasantness intended to anyone.http://online.vatsimindicators.net/916312/3.png


Gavin Barbara

 

Over 10 years here and AVSIM is still my favourite FS site :-)

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PMDG already has with their "Express Series" B-1900.In all honesty, there is a market for both complicated & simple aircraft & kudos to PMDG for recognizing that.This sim is so open ended to those on both sides of this issue. And to me at least, that is what will allow it to retain it's appeal to the hardcore & casual simmer alike.Jim

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Can someone kindly help me to get the documentation to this aircraft, which will explain some of the panel function. The link given on the home page (http://www.protu-154.com/docs_e.html) to the manual seems broken - I just get an Error 404 message. A Google search for the zip file elsewhere draws a blank.Thanks.Martin

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Guest mikealpha

Martin,it should be on your disk after installation. Use START -> Programs -> Project Tupolev Tu-154B2 -> Documentation. Or look at /Project Tupolev/Documents.The link on our page refers to the manual of the previous version, we forgot to remove it.Mike

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pugsley, Success! I now have a fully functioning (almost) 2D panel from the earlier model and the VC exists but the guages dont work. Is it even possible to make that happen or not due to using the older guages with the older 2D? I don't mind, Im not a VC flyer anyway. Very few VC's are even close to reality for me so i dont bother. I can see the VC though, all of it.For those who might be interested I changed all the VC textures to DXT3 and now they load a good bit faster. Even after loading them as per the manual, you still get a pretty big pause while using the 2D panels waiting for those big 32bit textures to load. Thanks for the help pugsley, I am now enjoying the crap out of this one, all the sounds work and the panel is almost as good as the 2D which came with the latest version. One word of caution to anyone else doing this, the Engineer panel still will shut things down and the APU panel is inop on it. Due to this I commented the engineer (Bortenginer) section out so now it behaves just fine. I want to fly this thing not work switches!! Hornit

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Guest ThrottleUp

Pugsley - thank you for your tip! I shall do that right now!!!!---------------------------------------------------------------To a lot of people (like me) FS9 is entertainment after a hard days work where we can drown ourselves pretending to be airline pilots and such. Now Im sure there are a lot of you on here who come home after a hard days work and *like* coming home to a hyper-realistic ultra-complex simulation - its just not everyones peice of cake!I admire you all on here who can use such complex add-ons (and have the patience to do so), but I just wanna get up and go! Its not realistic but hey...its a simulation and anything goes!While "lite" versions for "lite" users like myself would be nice I will never clamour for one, I know its a lot of hard work and on top of that its made available for free - can never complain about that!Thanks again to the Tupolev team! :)

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George,Don't you mean 'Hear hear'? All the best,Dave.'Three greens and soft landings':-jumpy


Dave Taylor gb.png

 

 

 

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The work that has gone into this (just the manual, which I printed off, is an amazing document - let alone the plane and panel) is awesome. Like others here, I take my hat off to the dedication of the people who made such a wonderful plane, then gave it away as freeware. Quite outstanding.That said, I spent an hour yesterday trying to start the thing up, and still hadn't got as far as taxiing: remembering how to open each panel is a task in itself, let alone following the instructions on starting the avionics and engines once you are in the right place. I never did get the HSI to jump into life, although the other instruments seemed to register OK in the end. In the end I gave up and took to the air in something else - though I realise this was a first time out, so I need to be patient.If I am ever going to fly this plane, I am going to have to write my own 'quick start' guide, probably comprising a print off of each panel and a numbered sequence of which buttons to press to get the plane airworthy. I found the complexity hugely frustrating yesterday, I must admit, but the quality of the whole project means I shall certainly keep trying to master it: one day, I might even get as far as taking off!Martin

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Guest bigun

Yup Dave, I do. Heck, I'm a Chemical Engineer, so you know I can't spell!:-lol

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Well today I managed to go right through the tutorial - and the 'not ready to fly' warning light actually went out when I got to the runway! Took off fine. Now I can't work out how to operate the AP - no matter what I do, when I get the master on, I can't get the Hold IAS or Hold Altitude to work (or even light up). Don't know what I am doing wrong - I've read chapter 7 more than once.One or two very small errors in the manual by the way: p.26 para 5. third line should read 12 I think, not 311. Also, all references to '44' on page 27 should read 144. Pretty obvious when you look at the panel, but my ageing brain took a while to work it all out... As it was, everything (up to and excluding the AP) worked exactly as the manual said it would!!M.

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Guest ThrottleUp

<<<< Now I can't work out how to operate the AP - no matter what I do, when I get the master on, I can't get the Hold IAS or Hold Altitude to work (or even light up). Don't know what I am doing wrong - I've read chapter 7 more than once. >>>>>>Me too!!!! :( :(I hope an Avsim guru writes us instructions!Cant figure out what I've done wrong...

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Well I have got as far as the autopilot and it has got to be the cleverest autopilot I have used! ...for example if I decide to yank the yoke in anyway it will automatically disconnect that mode! (whether vertical or horizontal) ...for the first time I have autpilot and autothrottle disconnect on my yoke which I really like!The autopilot foxed me at first but hang in there you will like it! :-hah regardsEdhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/109292.jpg"You don't stop playing 'cause you get old. You get old 'cause you stop playing."

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