Is there a setting for the flight engineer to simply read out the checklist?

[justinm11 0]

Hey all!

 

Very interested in buying this airplane, but I have a question. I generally stick to single pilot aircraft and or simple multicrew planes since I can't stand not having a Co-pilot. I'm a real world pilot and I just can't get over having to fly a complex multicrew airplane without any help. I see that this airplane has a virtual flight engineer which is fantastic, but all the videos that I see using it, it seems like just a click and watch sort of thing. You start the before start checklist and just listen to it happening, then start the engines and move on to the next step... which is cool, but not entirely realistic. That would be nice for the after takeoff, before landing etc, but not the before starts and that sort of thing. Is there a way that the flight engineer will read out the checklist and wait for you to perform the action? Sort of like FS2Crew. Or do you simply have to click the button and wait for everything to play out?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 Justin

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

which is cool, but not entirely realistic.

 

It's not? You reference FS2Crew in your post. If you've used their latest NGX product, you'd notice that they have different SOP sets. This is because some operators have entirely different mixes of responsibilities for the crew members. The concept of "realism" is one of the larger simmerisms out there, as many do not understand the (vast) amount of variation that exists in aviation. How one operator operates an aircraft could be entirely different from the next. Moreover, how operators operate aircraft today is very different from how they operated back then, even if only for the past addition of the third (or even fourth) crew member.

 

 

 

Is there a way that the flight engineer will read out the checklist and wait for you to perform the action?

 

If realism is what you're going for, this is not how checklists are run. The realistic way would be to call the flow, run the flow, and then run the checklist to confirm the flow was run correctly. The AFE allows for this type of operation.

 

 

 

Or do you simply have to click the button and wait for everything to play out?

 

No. You can either call the checklist and let the AFE do it, or you can do some/all of the actions prior to the checklist and the AFE will run the checklist and correct anything you might have forgotten or left out.

 

 

 

Full names - first and last - in the forum, please.

[justinm11 0]

Okay thanks. That answers my question. I haven't used any of the new FS2crew stuff since I've gotten out of modern airliners, the last one I used was for FS2004. I guess I wasn't clear in my post above. I'm aware how checklists are run, I use them in a real multi-crew environment every day. I just wanted to know if there was an option for the AFE to wait for you to confirm an item or switch an item before moving on to the next one or if it would just truck along and do it all if you didn't. I guess I thought it might get balled up if you started clicking switches and such. Not sure why. I didn't necessarily mean it as read and do. Anyway, thanks for your answer! 

 

Justin Mailman

[Cadmus Hawke 2]

Justin, I sometimes use "Xchecklist" (X-Plane plugin) which lets you create your own checklist and flows. While not linked to the AFE, it does give a verbal readout using your computer's text to speech if you want it to. I typically use this on GA aircraft, but I suppose it could be used for the DC-6 too as a supplement to the AFE.