New Super VC10 Panel Upgrade

[sauviat 137]

6 hours ago, vololiberista said:

A brief update re progress

Thanks for the brief, always appreciated!

[vololiberista 205]

More news.

The latest infusion of Docetaxel kept me awake last night. So instead of counting sheep I mulled over a couple of problems with the electrics panel.

There are still some bugs in the battery supply system and the TRUs. But the KWs and KVars are working correctly. The next move was to eliminate the avionics switch from the ignition panel. The 10 doesn't have one! The avionics come on when one or other bus systems are live. This works nicely but still needs some tweaking. So the avionics switch has been deleted.

The next step therefore is to move the battery switch to the main electrics panel. In real life there are no switches of that nature on the ignition panel. This is slightly more complex as I have over time added other functionalities to that operation and I have to ensure that they continue.

The electrics icon now has a left click and a right click function. The left click is as before but the right click toggles the electrics panel on and off. The electrics panel will also load automatically when you click the Engine Ts&Ps icon. This is to facilitate the start-up process so that you can engage the generators at the correct times and control the output. On my system the electrics panel sometimes takes a few seconds to load the first time in memory and this may happen to you as well. Nothing to be alarmed about as it only happens the first time it is loaded.

 

[sauviat 137]

Again, thank you for the update and your continued dedication to the Super VC10.

[vololiberista 205]

    There are now 65 elements programmed into the Electrical Panel. I'm expecting 70ish in all. Don't worry though that doesn't mean you will have 70 things to do. There's a lot of duplication and quite a lot of background stuff. Creating an AC system from scratch was one problem. Integrating the DC and AC systems, adding Ground Power and rewriting the "Battery Switch" and "Avionics Switch." There is no avionics switch in reality. Again something that MS didn't think through very well for commercial aircraft. So instead the radio switches now work and also perfom as the avionics switch.The Split System Breaker also works now. That allows you to either run the electrics manually or automatically. Set to "Auto" any fault is automatically compensated for, as per the real a/c. "Manual Split" means that the two AC circuits "A" & "B" are separated. In time, in future upgrades, the failure system will rely on which buses are running. There is quite a lot of redundancy, but with the ELRAT there is very little that will work. That will all come in time though. So now I am approaching the testing phase to ensure that all the elements integrate correctly and dispaly the correct readings.

Tomorrow litle will be done as I will have another infusion no.4 out of 6 and to cap it all my wife has a slipped disc.  So there is much chaos in the camp at the moment!!

[vololiberista 205]

The autopilot on the real a/c has a "flare" setting which is used in conjunction with the autothrottle. Thus giving the a/c autoland capabilities ( Bear in mind that the AT is a limited function type. i.e. up to a max of 180kts). That does work in DM's model as does the INS which is a must. The VC10 never had GPS not even in the RAF role. The RAF had a very basic FMC which was connected to the INS sytem.

I Bet JF have not modelled P7. If that is not at the right point at full throttle the take-off has to be aborted.

[Luis Hernandez 564]

I confess I haven't read the whole thread. How many parts is right now the download, apart from the DM VC10 itself?

[vololiberista 205]

Just now, Luis Hernandez said:

I confess I haven't read the whole thread. How many parts is right now the download, apart from the DM VC10 itself?

If I recall about 8. Not all of them are large though. The reason for that is the size limit imposed by avsim. I am about halfway through the engineers panel. So I might repackage everything. The whole panel upgrade is more than 1Gb hence the problem.

I've been a bit bogged down with some coding issues which I solved today by reversing some of the logic. Just a shot in the dark that worked. Quite why it works is still a mystery but at least I can now progress.

 

[vololiberista 205]

Final straights / Short Finals if you will.

Final testing of the electrics panel is under way. Testing for anomalies etc.,

Plus a few loose ends. Not bad I would say for someone in the middle of chemo! However.....

Also in preparation for correctly displaying cabin temperature on another panel I have separated cabin temp from flight deck temp. The left controls control the flight deck and the right the cabin. Consequently there are now two dials. Mousing over them will show the temperature that has been set.

One of the reasons for doing this is that for some time now, every Winter, passengers have been complaining vociferously about how cold the cabin was when boarding. I had to make up all sorts of excuses to avoid having to tell them that the cabin aircon/temperature only worked when engine three had spooled up. That has now all changed and the temperature can be set when ground power is live. Amazing what one can do with an electric panel!!

 

 

[vololiberista 205]

Starting work on the manual now. Also still a couple of anomalies to iron out. The next update will include more than 200 new elements, gauges, functions and additions for you all to worry about lol!!

This is old school flying at its best!

[vololiberista 205]

Still a few bits and bobs all minor. But, I have not been well and have upcoming surgery which may intervene depending on how I feel. If all goes well I will upload to avsim in a week or two.

[Ted Striker 338]

I'm looking forward to trying your VC-10 panel after the manual is completed but health comes first. Best wishes for your upcoming surgery and recovery.

Ted

[vololiberista 205]

Hi Guys,

Managed to escape from hospital after more than 6 weeks. I had to be wheelchaired to the bathroom less than 3 metres away. I'm still not 100% but hopefully I can resume work in the forthcoming days. I still have two major operations scheduled for July but I'll try to get everything uploaded before then.

Also there is a problem with the lan requiring a new card before any uploads can be done. There only remains a page or two for the manual to be done. And get this, for engine restarts you will have to recycle the series switches to clear the circuits of any residual current before reconnecting the generators. That's as real as it gets. 

 

 

 

[Ted Striker 338]

6 weeks! You must be clawing the walls. Your dedication and effort to the VC-10 panel is admirable. Don't stress yourself worrying about it although you are probably wanting to focus your mind on something other than doctors and medicine now. Best wishes to you.

Ted