current altimeter, 4117 !!!

[Guest garwig]

So there I was, just a few minutes ago, cruising in my DC-3 at 17,000' over the Dominical Republic on my way IFR from Haiti to St. Thomas. No failures set for the flight. Next thing I know, my altimeter suddenly starts going crazy, says I'm at 6,000' now, and I'm climbing. ATC comes on and says, "Douglas 0DC, you're 700 above your assigned altitude, descend and maintaing 17,000. Current altimeter 4117." Obviously a crazy pressure was reported to Jeppesen by one of the Dominican Republic weather stations, normally highly reliable, I'm sure. I descend about 700', level off, and notice my ground speed at cruise is down to about 100 knots. I doubt if I'll have enough fuel to make my destination at this rate (was pushing it as it was), so it's time to land. Hmm, engines barely respond to throttle inputs now, and the reason why I'm so slow is because I'm not getting much power. Full throttle, adjusted mixture, carb heat on, pitot heat on, fuel pumps on, little effect. Good thing I have to descend anyway. The GPS found the nearest airport, MDBH, and it's at sea level. On short final, just as I pull the throttles back to idle the engines quit. Managed to land, re-started the engines but even at full power I could only get about 25 knots taxiing on the ground. Whew, survived another FS glitch :)

[AlaskanFlyboy 7]

Perhaps the Bermuda Triangle was misplaced? Hehe.----------------------------------------------------------------John MorganReal World: KGEG, UND Aerospace Spokane Satillite, Private ASEL 141.2 hrs, 314 landings, 46 inst. apprs.Virtual: MSFS 2004"There is a feeling about an airport that no other piece of ground can have. No matter what the name of the country on whose land it lies, an airport is a place you can see and touch that leads to a reality that can only be thought and felt." - The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story by Richard Bach

[ronzie 21]

If you lived you must have been flying in a space suit or better yet deep diving suit. 4117, whether in inHg or hectpascals is a heck of a heavy pressure.Density altitude -5,000?

[John Burgess 0]

Did no one warn you you'd been chosen to pilot the next NASA Venus probe. Microsoft are co-operating with the training. They are breaking you in gently. When the outside temp goes over 300 degrees you'll know they are getting serious ;-)All the best,John

[Dark Moment 0]

What the heck were you doing at 17,000 feet, anyway? Bad attack of Boeingitis?Remember that the DC-3 is not pressurised. Although the C-47B, with its high blowers, was specifically designed for "The Hump" and sometimes flown as high as 22,000 feet on that route (but more typically, not higher than 17,000 feet if possible), the fellows who operated those aircraft didn't do it for fun!In the Caribbean particularly, you'd be fine with anything over 2,000 feet in most cases, and would burn less fuel and see more too. Average cruise height for the DC-3 worldwide, however, is typically somewhere between 5,000-8,000 feet.But then what do I know. Someone will probably correct all this.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cathayhk.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/maamlogo2.jpg[/a]

[Guest garwig]

I wanted to test the default DC-3 to see how high it would climb close to full loads. I had the default 5,000 lbs. of cargo and nearly full tanks.It Maintained 35" on the manifold by slightly increasing throttle as I gained altitude. At about 13,000' I reached full throttle and from there power started to discipate. I had to level off temporarilly at 15,000 to gain speed while ATC yelled at me. Interestingly, as long as I kept my climb rate above 200 FPM ATC didn't say anything. On other aircraft I've noticed they get upset below 500 FPM, so it seems there may be something in the aircraft that determines when ATC's rants will begin.