Phenom 300 released...first impressions

[FLIGHTO 8]

This is mainly an airliner forum so I understand the fascination with intricate procedures but for me I will just stick a GTN 750 in it and go fly.

 

 

Is it possible to shoehorn the GTN in the MFD but still have the engine gauges on the left ? This release is a real shame because the exterior model is the best yet out of Carenado...... The avionics are useless though and the the autopilot is a mess as usual.....

 

I would rather have the GTN in this as unrealistic as it is.... At least it would be flyable........

[warbirds 555]

I think if you look at the Phenom 100 sections and then look for GTN 750 you will find that it has been done and you should be able to find out how from the op. The 300 looks like the same setup so should work just fine.

[ramprat 8]

 

I would rather have the GTN in this as unrealistic as it is.... At least it would be flyable........

YES!  I agree! 

[godimaginedme 25]

Yeah, not taking my chances with them again. . . shame.

[MartinRex007 390]

It would be nice if Carenado and team took some time off from releasing new aircraft and just went back and fixed all the ones they have already released....that would really show there commented to their products....Surprise us Carenado and do the right thing!!! Slim chance of that happening.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Can anybody of you buyers tell me more about these two specific points?

 

Hawker working here cant believe it but with a multi-panel

 

This is all I have done and man it works

 

This was in VOR2 on mfd 

 

Add this to the aircraft.cfg file both of them (lite version)

 

autothrottle_available=    1 

autothrottle_arming_required= 1

 

Once in vc I turn on flc alert - not sure if that matters

 

I have one xml file from Bert that gets placed in your panel folder (in lite version panel folder also) - this was because the altitude was not changing visually in vc when turning Multi-panel knob

 

In your panel.cfg file, add a line:

 

[Vcockpit01]

...

Gauge13=CustomKnobs!Saitek1, 0,0,1,1

 

==================================================

 

Now using it I change the altitude with Multi-panel

Turn vs up around 700 to 1200 on Multi-panel - doesnt matter - higher the vs the quicker you get there

leave it alone and the thing levels off right at the altitude - same goes for descending to an altitude ( lower vs knob)

 

==================================================

 

Works great here - YEAH

[barrel_owl 304]

Thank you brother, but I have the Hawker already working this way. I implemented those tweaks too.

My question was addressed to buyers of the Phenom 300. As I said, I am reading conflicting reports about FLC and other altitude related features. Some claim they work, some that they don't.

 

One interesting detail in your post: you are using Saitek Multi Panels, just as FSMania and other Phenom 300 owners I talked to, who claim A/P features are working as expected. This might be an hint or just a wrong assumption, I don't know yet.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Thank you brother, but I have the Hawker already working this way. I implemented those tweaks too.

My question was addressed to buyers of the Phenom 300. As I said, I am reading conflicting reports about FLC and other altitude related features. Some claim they work, some that they don't.

 

One interesting detail in your post: you are using Saitek Multi Panels, just as FSMania and other Phenom 300 owners I talked to, who claim A/P features are working as expected. This might be an hint or just a wrong assumption, I don't know yet.

 

Hi Buddy forgot mention I use left mouse click on flc button in vc - no multi-panel action there

 

Yup could be that you only have to change autopilot lines mentioned above - not sure but luv this Multi-panel works great on many aircraft - have not tried it on pmdg and axe yet - need to give that a go

 

Negative  out of the box on pmdg and axe - guess have to give Linda a go when I have a chance

[Jim Young 2,356]

Thanks Rich for your input and fixes.  I was looking at the Phenom 100 forum and saw one of our long time members who posted a 3 part video of a flight to Jackson Hole http://www.avsim.com/topic/457279-new-carenado-phenom-100-video-on-youtube/.  He explains in detail how the G1000 is set up and even set up a flight plan.  It's the same one that's in the Phenom 300.  He also recommended turning off the co-pilot's G1000 as it is not needed and it saves on fps.  The Phenom 100 and 300 VC's look almost exactly the same.  In any case, it all works as verified by the videos in the Phenom 100 forum. 

 

Best regards,

[Howellerman 104]

I have to say I don't feel the hate for Carenado. I purchased the Phenom 300 with no qualms. It fits my GA, non-procedural style of flying to a tee.

 

Using SimLauncherX I can set my departure airport, my flight path as defined by Plan G, and load up the family (including the two black lab mooses @ 100 lb each) with sufficient gas to get where we want to go. I start my OPUS FSI weather engine, and fire off P3D 2.5 with everything preset.

 

Once the sim has loaded I do a cold and dark start, including setting the LFE in the G1000. All the knobs and switches seem to work, and I can preset the target altitude and vertical speed on the AP. Set HDG to a gentle intercept of NAV and we are ready to roll.

 

Take her out to the runway, preload the engines but keeping N1, ITT, and N2 below orange (ITT saturates first), and off we go. Once airborne I have found that a shallow climb to get some airspeed really pays dividends on ultimate climb rate, and since I don't ever fiddle with FMC programming, *I* have to control all these variables. Keep the speed up, engine loads in range, adjust as necessary. She levels off just fine at target altitude and we are set until we begin our descent. About the only real gripe I have is the G1000 displays Distance to Target instead of Time to Target. I try to do the conversion in the head, but when everything is triple digits it makes it kind of hard for this old noggin to calculate. 

 

The frame hit is there, but not as bad as some I have seen. I guess it is a natural "trade secrets" type of thing, but the senors at Carenado really could learn a thing or two from RealAir and A2A about efficient modelling.

 

Speaking of senors, I have contacted Carenado support maybe ten times, and each time I have been answered back. A little Spanish honey (and respectful attitude) goes a long ways. The last dialogue I had with them was multiple exchanges, all for a problem that was not their fault as I happily informed them at conclusion.

 

I would love to post some pics (she really is a gorgeous aircraft - I can see why she was the recent top selling bizjet according to Wikipedia), but I have not discovered the keys to posting pics at AVSIM. As expected, eye-candy!

[C525B 86]

Can anybody of you buyers tell me more about these two specific points?

 

1. FLC

2. Leveling off at target altitude, both in climb and in descent.

 

I have reports from people from other sites that 2. is in fact working as expected, while 1. needs some minor corrections. Interestingly, however, people who are claiming that leveling off is working properly seem to use all a Saitek Multi Panel. Now I read the report by C525B, which I hold in high regard, and I am puzzled. Reports so far are conflicting.

 

Thanks

 

Hi!  Can you post links to these other forum threads?  I'd really like to see what other people have working for them.  Maybe my problem is that I keep trying to use the Phenom A/P in the manner in which it would be used in the real aircraft, haha. 

 

For the time being, I have to make all level-offs manually by adjusting the V/S.  I made another test flight and I was, in fact, able to make a successful altitude capture using FLC.  That was ONE successful capture out of several attempts.  I hand-flew the airplane and trimmed it out to get it stable before engaging the A/P with FLC, and I used reduced power to shallow the climb rate.  Then, encouraged by success, I attempted another altitude change using the same procedure and it failed.  Almost exactly the same behavior I experience with the Hawker in that regard.  I found a workaround in the Hawker A/P where you can get V/S mode with altitude capture.  It requires you to do things in a very specific order when engaging the A/P or changing altitudes, but once I had practiced it, it was 95% consistent and this workaround salvaged the flyability of the Hawker for me.  But...that same workaround doesn't work in the P300 and I haven't found another one yet, so it's going to come down to XML hacking.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Thanks Rich for your input and fixes. 

 

Welcome Buddy - works for me - hope it can help others

[vgbaron 3,482]

OK, I have it and installed the GTN750 and love it. The engine gauges display if you press the red button lower left of the comms panel.

 

The AP is touchy for me but it does work fine. the procedure I use to climb to and maintain altitude is:

 

Take off - engage AP but leave ALT control alone - the VS wheel will show a attitude reference number which, IMHO is too high - leaving it alone results in a very nose high rapid climb at slow airspeed - I drop that down until I get what I determine to be the best climb rate/speed - as I approach my desired altitude I manually slow the climb rate and then click the ALT button when I reach desired altitude.

 

AP locks on and maintains from there. I am adjusting NAV and speed as we go.

 

To descend to a lower alt - I engage VS mode and set rate of descent using the wheel - when I reach my altitude - I press the ALT button and it locks and maintains.

 

I did notice one thing - if your vertical speed is too great, you can blow through the desired altitude and start a rollercoaster porpoise effect that may take a while to stabilize.

 

Tried a few ILS approaches - no problem.

 

My one BIG complaint - when pressing a button, it is difficult to tell whether it is on or off until the indicator shows on the pfd. The "tooltips" take a while to load - would be nice if there were illumination of the buttons.

 

All in all, I like it and, as with most Carenado a/c - it sure looks pretty.

 

Vic

[warbirds 555]

Did you notice any better frame rates after installing the GTN?

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

OK, that tells me that the ALT HOLD function works.  That is good.

 

But this autopilot should also be able to climb to a preselected altitude

and level off automatically..  without you having to level off by hand.

 

Even the FSX default autopilot knows how to do that  :wink: