Phenom Autopilot

[Ernom 0]

After weeks and weeks of thinkiing, readiing reviews and looking for bizjets I finally bought the Phenom 300. I had a very bad experience with Eaglesoft Citation and I used my refund after many hours problems.

So when I got the Phenom I was a bit nervous as I saw ppl were quite negative about it. 

I have to say (maybe because of the all bad talk) I'm quite positive surprised aboutt the ac. 

About the Garmin 1000 and autopilot.....After flying with ifly738 for a while it was a learning period to get used to the G1000 but it's not impossible.

I can agree with the AP issues and I still try to figure out things but it's not in any way a stop block for flying. The fact that I got issue with descend not starting automaticly in vnav and so on is either my problem because I use it wrong or the ap is faulty.

I dont see any such problem in either the AP or the Phenom 300 itself that cannot be fixed in a patch or two.....now if that is going to happen or not it's a different question.

 

Ps: yay this was my first post on the forum!

[Louis8 6]

I ' m having a heck of a time with it to Ermom , but this outfit called FS-Mania on  U-Tube does a heck of a good job with the tutorials and he has one on this bird . I come to the conclusion that a guy has to be retired to learn all this. How a guy with a day job learning all this and keeping his marriage together is beyond me. The only jet i use besides this one is the 737 from PMDG and i fly it like an 'ol lady and my kid is Captain on one  and when he comes to the house and flies it he makes me look sick    :wink:  :wink:  :wink:  :wink:

[sinonquoi 1]

Hi all,

 

I know I'm bad, I know I shouldn't, I know it's silly, but I am actually very tempted to jump in and buy this bird (even though I agree the pricing is outrageous!).

 

I fly the F1 Mustang a lot, it's great but starts to show its age in terms of 3D modelling, no VNAV, it's pretty slow for longer trips and the climb perf is poor, hence my interest in the EMB505

 

Been there, done that, read all the posts, always the same story with Carenado, gorgeous modeling, annoying systems bugs or badly modelled (if at all)...

 

After reading pretty much everything I could find, 2 things really bother me : The AP FLC mode, and the cabin alt mistake (as per Embraer own website, cabin pressure should be 6600ft at FL450)

 

- I understand FLC mode is more or less working and FLC speed syncing with the actual IAS on activation is reasonably easy to fix with "Bert's magic" (typically in the Mustang I take off in TOGA FD mode, push the AP button when stabilized in the climb (so PITCH mode following the FD 8° up), and when the speed reaches 170kts I hit the FLC button, I think it's fairly realistic and I'd like to do the same in the Phenom)

 

- Cabin pressurization : is there a way to have the PFD show "6600" instead of "8000" at max diff pressure (I can live with the climb/descent rate and the displayed pressure differential not being accurate, however not showing the realistic cabin alt really bothers me)

 

Any feedback on these 2 points, which really stop me from buying right now ?

 

Best regards!

[raymar 969]

Hi all,

 

I know I'm bad, I know I shouldn't, I know it's silly, but I am actually very tempted to jump in and buy this bird (even though I agree the pricing is outrageous!).

 

I fly the F1 Mustang a lot, it's great but starts to show its age in terms of 3D modelling, no VNAV, it's pretty slow for longer trips and the climb perf is poor, hence my interest in the EMB505

 

Been there, done that, read all the posts, always the same story with Carenado, gorgeous modeling, annoying systems bugs or badly modelled (if at all)...

 

After reading pretty much everything I could find, 2 things really bother me : The AP FLC mode, and the cabin alt mistake (as per Embraer own website, cabin pressure should be 6600ft at FL450)

 

- I understand FLC mode is more or less working and FLC speed syncing with the actual IAS on activation is reasonably easy to fix with "Bert's magic" (typically in the Mustang I take off in TOGA FD mode, push the AP button when stabilized in the climb (so PITCH mode following the FD 8° up), and when the speed reaches 170kts I hit the FLC button, I think it's fairly realistic and I'd like to do the same in the Phenom)

 

- Cabin pressurization : is there a way to have the PFD show "6600" instead of "8000" at max diff pressure (I can live with the climb/descent rate and the displayed pressure differential not being accurate, however not showing the realistic cabin alt really bothers me)

 

Any feedback on these 2 points, which really stop me from buying right now ?

 

Best regards!

A few items that may influence your decision. One, I hear Carenado is putting the final touches on two new updates, one for the basic Phenom 300 and one for the Navigraph Extension Pack. These should be available soon.

 

The post above was talking about FS Mania videos. This will help anyone that needs to see how the Phenom looks and flies over a long flight. These are good tutorial flights by a real world instrument rated pilot.

 

and last, I am putting the final touches on the Avsim review of the Phenom 300 and although it may take a little longer than usual to make it to the front page, due to some sever related technical issues, it should answer any remaining questions or concerns that you may have.

 

The cabin pressure is accurate and is adjustable. As for the price, I don't know where you are going to find anything of similar value for less money. It has installers for FSX, P3Dv2 and FSX:Steam included.

 

The sneak preview says, go get it and have fun.

 

Regards,

 

Ray

[sinonquoi 1]

Thanks for the quick feedback !

 

I have watched the FS Mania videos, they are indeed very good and informative...

 

Are you sure about the cabin alt adjustment ? In the videos at FL450 cab alt shows 8000ft, not 6600, and I don't see any adjustment being made during startup ?

 

Looking forward to the review!

 

Best regards

[raymar 969]

sinonquoi,

 

There are two primary switches that set and control the cabin pressure (altitude). The top switch in the image is usually set to Auto but can be moved down for Manual. Tim G. probably leaves in in Auto - that may be why you are seeing the recommended Altitude in the videos. I am currently level at FL430 and I have the top switch in Manual mode and I can use the mouse wheel to adjust the pressure (altitude) goal. I just checked and the cabin altitude goal is at 6,608 feet. The delta-P is 8.5 PSI so the equiv altitude is a function of cruise altitude, not some arbitrary number. I check the POH and AFM and there are no charts or graphs in either one for a different cabin altitude than the designed system. I also checked the CAE Pilot Training Manual and there is nothing there either. I checked back after about 15 minutes and the cabin altitude is holding at 7,900 feet at 8.5 d/p so I suspect that is the systems design.

 

If you are an Aviation Environmental Systems Engineer and not a pilot, you may not be happy with the system that Embraer has designed so I am going to change my recommendation and suggest you pass this one up and wait for a less expensive private jet that will hold whatever cabin altitude you may choose. You would probably be 'bothered' so maybe one of the future jets will have a cabin pressure system that suits your needs a little better.

 

Carenado does not have any documentation on this system so I use the real world pilot manuals.

 

Regards,

 

Ray

[sinonquoi 1]

[Haggis 3]

A few items that may influence your decision. One, I hear Carenado is putting the final touches on two new updates, one for the basic Phenom 300 and one for the Navigraph Extension Pack. These should be available soon.

 

 

Regards,

 

Ray

 

This is great news, I really like this Jet, but it sure is hard to get a complete flight in with the quirkyness.  I'm actually running it in P3Dv3 pretty well.  

 

Not sure if its normal but I can never add in an arrival after putting in way points, I always have to insert the waypoints after entering in the arrival.  If I don't it mixes the two together, pretty annoying having to keep starting over with the flight plan.

 

Update: I spoke too soon.  It CTD after about 40 minutes into my flight :(  guess it's not quite ready for P3Dv3 yet.  Just have to wait for the update.

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

Thanks for the quick feedback !

 

I have watched the FS Mania videos, they are indeed very good and informative...

 

Are you sure about the cabin alt adjustment ? In the videos at FL450 cab alt shows 8000ft, not 6600, and I don't see any adjustment being made during startup ?

 

Looking forward to the review!

 

Best regards

 

The 8000 ft is hardcoded in the "Gauge_Clock_Dig"  gauge   (one could change it to 6600, if this is more accurate to RW..).

 

As best I can tell, the airplane will go to that number, but if you then switch to manual,

you can lower or increase that number with the toggle switch, at 100 ft per two depressions..

[raymar 969]

I think this is the source of the error.

 

 

Ray

[raymar 969]

sinonquoi,

 

All is well in the cabin pressure altitude department now. By the time you get around to buying the Phenom 300, Carenado will have fixed the glitch. I suspect in their haste they didn't change the Phenom 100 ENV specs or just overlooked this one. It seems to be a straight forward fix and I am using Bert's mod for now.

 

Turns out it was not so simple. There were also some changes required in the aircraft.cfg file for Pressurization limits to keep the system within limits.

 

Regards,

 

Ray

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

I've now re-coded the pressure controller so that it provides a more linear pressure curve

all the way to 45000  (6600)  and back down.

 

Hopefully Carenado adopts the idea..

[Caribpilot 56]

Ray,

 

Will they be adding the correct transponder feature for the G1000 and fix the cabin light switch in the next update? I'm also keenly interested in whether they will add all of these upgrades to the Phenom 100.

[raymar 969]

Ray,

 

Will they be adding the correct transponder feature for the G1000 and fix the cabin light switch in the next update? I'm also keenly interested in whether they will add all of these upgrades to the Phenom 100.

I have no connections with Carenado or Carenado Support. I do send them direct emails when I discover items that needs to be fixed and sometimes I get replies. If not, I resend them until I do get a proper reply, not just confirmation that they got the email.

 

It seems like the Transponder problem is a carry over from previous models. Is this a new or different problem than the one we have be complaining about already?

What specifically is the problem with the cabin light?

 

I suggest that everyone send their list of non-working, incorrectly working, or missing items directly to Carenado and request a 'full reply', not just confirmation that the email was received. It is important to know that they are fully aware of these problems and that we expect them to be corrected. It is not unreasonable to expect an explanation or status of the corrections being requested.

 

Regards,

Ray

[RobdeVries 28]

Hi Ray,

 

How's your review coming along?