I'm sorry if this has been discussed somewhere already but I couldn't seem to find it.  After SP1, I'm finding that the aircraft needs A LOT of nose down trim on departure and cruise.  Before SP1 I actually thought the trim behavior was fairly accurate.  I have 25 real world hours in the right seat of a C550 and I remember almost always needing about 2.0 degrees of nose up trim on take off.  Is anyone else having this issue?  

I did not have this add-on prior to SP1 but I too am adding an awful lot of nose down trim on departure... It is behaving like it has double the thrust rating without the additional speed. I do not have any RW experience with this a/c...

 

Perhaps someone who has can chime in?

Carenado modified the elevator forces and added 5% SL thrust in addition to any Air File mods for SP1. I noticed less nose up trim required after SP1 but nothing excessive. I set the elevator trim to near the top of the TO shaded area for takeoff and initial climb out seems correct to me.

 

Regards,

Ray

I finished a very long flight yesterday with SP1 ... I can cruise FL350 now without issue ... filled up and departed St. Maarten (FTs) and ended up in Mexico many many hours later.  Needed to adjust some things with my GoFlight gear, but fully sorted now.  I was impressed that I managed such a long flight and only consumed 200MB VAS (in P3D V2.5 beta).

 

One question for those that know this type of AP system in this aircraft ... the AP IAS ... this will lock speed at current and adjust pitch to keep target speed?  So in level flight keeping the IAS ON is not advised as I assume one would climb over time and an exceed ATC assigned altitude?   IAS seems turns off Alt Sel ... so how can one use IAS to climb at set speed and then level at a desired altitude which should then switch over to Alt hld?

 

I'm enjoying this aircraft, it's a keeper for me.  Thanks for the paints Ray.

 

Cheers, Rob.

Rob, we have so many mods for the AP it is hard to remember the SP1 edition. Most of the functions were screwed up. Bert has fixed practically all the conflicts and INOP buttons. Use IAS to climb to ALT SEL then AP will switch to ALT. (~ 200 knots)

 

Hold cruise speed with Thrust settings. Assuming you are using GTN750. Bert has that fixed into the VC replacing the MFD.

 

Send Bert a PM and he will load you up with the latest fixes.

 

Regards,

 

Ray

One question for those that know this type of AP system in this aircraft ... the AP IAS ... this will lock speed at current and adjust pitch to keep target speed?  So in level flight keeping the IAS ON is not advised as I assume one would climb over time and an exceed ATC assigned altitude?   IAS seems turns off Alt Sel ... so how can one use IAS to climb at set speed and then level at a desired altitude which should then switch over to Alt hld?

 

I'm enjoying this aircraft, it's a keeper for me.  Thanks for the paints Ray.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

Yes, IAS mode, adjusts pitch to maintain the speed at the time it was engaged.

 

But you're right, although the gauge that runs IAS essentially works ok and can hold the speed pretty accurately (after first going down to 500FPM for some odd reason), the IAS gauge's integration with the other (default FSX/P3D) AP features is a bit messed up.

 

Certainly, IAS mode would always be used with ALT SEL mode also armed.

 

And cetainly IAS mode would never be used in cruise;  only climb and descent (although VS is better for descent).

 

If you drop Bert Pieke a PM he will send you the mods that really fix up the AP in these regards.

Concur, I purchased a Sperry SPZ-500 Pilot Manual and Bert has been working diligently to make the S550 work as close as possible to the real thing. There are some areas that cannot be overcome due to FS limitations. IMHO Bert's autopilot and other fixes for the S550 are as close as you are going to get without going custom C++ software to run the entire autopilot. I think he has stretched .xml gauge programming to its max.

Well, I guess this thread is now cold but I wanted to weigh in anyway. I bought this aircraft a week or so ago and tried a flight today from MTH to AGS. In my opinion this product has the poorest executed autopilot I have ever seen in 20 years of simming. It looks nice and hand flies ok but the AP is a total disaster.

Just sayin....

Well, I guess this thread is now cold but I wanted to weigh in anyway. I bought this aircraft a week or so ago and tried a flight today from MTH to AGS. In my opinion this product has the poorest executed autopilot I have ever seen in 20 years of simming. It looks nice and hand flies ok but the AP is a total disaster.

Just sayin....

 

Have you installed the SP2 update from Carenado's website ?

 

Because until I installed that update, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you ..... but the SP2 has fixed a lot with regards to the autopilot.  

 

In case you haven't got it, the SP2 can be obtained by logging in to your account at Carenado's website, and choosing 'updates'. 

Well, I flew another hop today and everything worked ok. I was able to climb and descend ok. I do have the SPs after all. But the whole thing is just not up to the standards of let's say IFLY, PMDG, FeelThere, and other biz jets. I tweaked the aircraft.cfg file a bit to help with the squirrely ground handling but I really hate having to do that for an expensive piece of payware. Also the DTO function in the FMS seems a bit screwy. I really was looking for something in a biz jet that was up to date graphically and could get into short fields. I also have the Flight1 Cessna Mustang and that is a good product as well.

Also the DTO function in the FMS seems a bit screwy

 

yes, agree there, definitely.  The thing to remember with the Carenado Citation's "FMC" is that it's actually just a posh looking 'mask' for the default FSX GPS. :(

 

They are releasing an add-pack for the aircraft that will add Navigraph support, SIDs, STARs, APPs and hopefully then, proper DTOs.  But that's another $9.95, making this one heck of an expensive Carenado, all together.

Thanks for the insight Craig. I'll be flying with this aircraft for the foreseeable future to see if I can get comfortable with it.

Thanks again

I posted a support contact to CARENADO too about all these bugs.

 

What REALLY stroke was the poor engine performance making it unable to climb above FL280.

I checked Craig's post and changed the thrust scalar for my next flight.

 

 

 

What REALLY stroke was the poor engine performance making it unable to climb above FL280.

I checked Craig's post and changed the thrust scalar for my next flight.

 

I get FL350 to FL370 easily. I have even seen FL430 a time or two on really long flights once I burned down the gas some. Default SP2 aircraft.

 

This airplane really requires that you use the correct technique to get her up to the upper 30s lower 40s. If you just try to climb direct or treat this airplane like a Learjet you will be disappointed.

 

She requires some sweet talking and a gentle stroking of the glareshield with an KIAS around 190KIAS at FL350 and decreasing to 182KIAS at FL430.  :rolleyes: 

She requires some sweet talking and a gentle stroking of the glareshield with an KIAS around 190KIAS at FL350 and decreasing to 182KIAS at FL430.  :rolleyes:

Now you know why these 'old school' Cessna jets are knicknamed "Slowtations..."