Virtualcol CRJ Update Released!

[Ian McPhail 55]

Glynn:  I found that when the plane is on the ground, I can move my control stick and get at the buttons, switches, underneath.  So do go ahead and buy if you are still tempted.

However if I was to move the stick in the air, you can bet your life the AP would disengage.!!

[b1bmsgt 206]

4 hours ago, Ian McPhail said:

I have done it, and I am surprised that it flies so well.

Two questions:

The P3d4 flightplanner only allows the dep and arr aiport.   If you select High Altitude and IFR, there is no generate flightplan button, meaning that there is nothing more than the two end points and only if you physically move the line can the route be varied.

Next, how can I get rid of the control column in order to reach the panel to change the nav source,ND range etc. It must be obvious but I can't find either a view or a way to remove the column in the manual so far.

 

52 minutes ago, Glynn said:

Before I buy this I would also like to know if it's possible to get rid of the control column

As of yet, I have been unable to find any way to hide the columns. Might have to message Virtualcol about it... My workaround is to make a closeup view of the panel in Chaseplane. EXDOK would do the same thing, of course.

 

I saw in another thread that LM is planning on fixing the Flight Planner in an upcoming update. Not sure if they meant a v4.1 update or a Hotfix. Meanwhile, all the stuff you created in previous versions (FSX, v1, v2, v3) will work in v4, as well as PFPX, Plan G, FS Commander, etc generated plans. The other day I used a plan I made in FSX disk version in 2008 with Radar Contact, that came out in 2007, in P3Dv4.  Worked perfectly.

 

Russ

[Ian McPhail 55]

Thanks, Russ (what great service you have given), I too have seen mention in the LM columns that the problem with their flightplanner will be fixed in a next revision.

What a huge opportunity they have of converting their flightplanner into a moving map.  Simply allow it to be undocked - although I suspect it might take more than 'simply' - and then have an aircraft symbol to follow the track.  Planner and Moving Map in one.....and LM I won't even patent the idea!

The control column in the Virualcol CRJ can be moved on the ground manually to access the panel behind.  But In the air it would be somewhat bizarre -'excuse me passengers for this steep turn as I change the Nav Source.  Maybe I need to check the Manual again.

But now for my greatest and most recent problem:  The P3D4 patch that comes with the setup actually reduces the functionality of the FMS...Holy Batmobile.

[Ian McPhail 55]

On reflection I am glad to say I can afford the loss of money in buying this add-on.  I bought it with open eyes, but I now desperately await the RTM of the DA/Asoft version,

You can download the Manual from the Aerosoft site, and just read the difference between the two.  It is not that the DA version is study level, but that it contains nearly the full range of functions correctly modeled.

I have the Virtualcol flying, generally doing quite well, landings surprisingly good: flight deck textures ordinary, liveries very good, and flight planning bizarre.

But it is about 4.5 out of 10 in the world of sim aircraft, sad to say.

[b1bmsgt 206]

13 hours ago, Ian McPhail said:

On reflection I am glad to say I can afford the loss of money in buying this add-on.  I bought it with open eyes, but I now desperately await the RTM of the DA/Asoft version,

You can download the Manual from the Aerosoft site, and just read the difference between the two.  It is not that the DA version is study level, but that it contains nearly the full range of functions correctly modeled.

I have the Virtualcol flying, generally doing quite well, landings surprisingly good: flight deck textures ordinary, liveries very good, and flight planning bizarre.

But it is about 4.5 out of 10 in the world of sim aircraft, sad to say.

It all depends on what you like, what you expect, and what you can put up with, I guess. I will definitely buy the Aerosoft CRJ when (if?) it is ever released, but if it is a frame rate killer, then it will go into the hangar to collect dust. Then I will back the Virtualcol out onto the ramp and put it back into service. We'll see...

 

Russ

[Chock 17,769]

With regard to being unable to remove the control column, you can't do that in a real aeroplane either, you have to shift your view point or reach around the controls, so you could actually regard that as more fidelity rather than less, either way, it's fairly easy in FSX and P3D to press A when in the VC, then zoom pan the co-pilot's view to achieve that.

As far as the FMC functionality goes in the P3D version, it will read and fly a plan you've loaded in, that's good enough for most of Virtualcol's intended market. As far as I am aware they do intend to expand the functionality to match the FSX version at some point, so it might get better for those who want to tweak the flight plan when in the cockpit.

Like pretty much every other Virtualcol add on, it does what it says on the tin and for a reasonable price, so really, my only gripe about it is that it comes in a bit hot on approach and needs you to pop the spoilers to have any chance of making a landing. It's more like a LearJet than a CRJ with those kind of approach speeds lol. Hopefully they will patch that soon.

[Ian McPhail 55]

Gotcha Chocka:  but I guess my personal score holds.

However, speed control on descent is pretty difficult.  The entire throttle operations comes across as if the plane is over-powered. Descents are hard work.

[Ian McPhail 55]

As you have pointed out....

[Chock 17,769]

Note that Shift+A will toggle it back to the pilot's view after you've done that 'pressing A malarkey' to get a quick glance from the co-pilot's seat. Worth knowing that so you don't have to keep pressing A to skip back through all the other views to get to the driver's seat again.

[greggerm 312]

On the Virtualcol CRJ...

I'm looking for what amounts to a very basic set of CRJs, and the Virtualcol sounds like it might be suitable. This might sound like a strange and regressive question, but are it's autoflight features as simple and straightforward as the old default MSFS autopilots? For my particular use case, I need an aircraft that is terribly quick and simple to operate without the muss and fuss of multi-page FMC entries and such.

I also don't use VC's for this particular use case - I usually craft up a 2D minipanel with only the essential instruments needed for a successful flight. I see they have 2D panels, but out of curiosity, did they also prepare a minipanel set?

On other Virtualcol offerings...

Outside of the CRJ, I'm also considering their Dash-8 package or maybe their ATR. Although not official, I'm curious if anyone has brought some other Virtualcol products into P3Dv4 successfully.

 

[b1bmsgt 206]

11 hours ago, Ian McPhail said:

Gotcha Chocka:  but I guess my personal score holds.

However, speed control on descent is pretty difficult.  The entire throttle operations comes across as if the plane is over-powered. Descents are hard work.

Try this fix that I posted in another thread:

 

I went into the aircraft.cfg and did some experimentation. Conducting test flights out of Edwards AFB, I came up with 2 simple tweaks that help quite a bit. These are:

In the aircraft.cfg, find these lines:

[flight_tuning]
cruise_lift_scalar     =1.80000
parasite_drag_scalar   =1.0

 

After backing up your original file, change to

[flight_tuning]
cruise_lift_scalar     =0.90000
parasite_drag_scalar   =2.50000

 

I like this a lot better. You can actually lose airspeed while descending if you want to. Big difference.

I have only tried this in the -200 and -700, but I would think that it should work in the other versions as well. Please report back if you decide to try it out!

 

Russ

[FrankSalo 272]

2 hours ago, greggerm said:

On other Virtualcol offerings...

Outside of the CRJ, I'm also considering their Dash-8 package or maybe their ATR. Although not official, I'm curious if anyone has brought some other Virtualcol products into P3Dv4 successfully.

 

The ATR Series and ERJ-170 packages install and work well. 

[b1bmsgt 206]

12 hours ago, greggerm said:

Outside of the CRJ, I'm also considering their Dash-8 package or maybe their ATR. Although not official, I'm curious if anyone has brought some other Virtualcol products into P3Dv4 successfully.

I have the Dash 8's, and the E-Jets. (E 170/175 and E190/195) They work fine, although they install into the Simobjects/Airplanes folder rather than the Documents folder. If that doesn't matter to you, give 'em a shot...

 

Russ

[EddieB 15]

I noticed the documentation for the P3dv3 has an EasyFMC that's different than the one in V4. Anyone know the status or why this was not implemented in the V4 update?

[b1bmsgt 206]

Just now, EddieB said:

I noticed the documentation for the P3dv3 has an EasyFMC that's different than the one in V4. Anyone know the status or why this was not implemented in the V4 update?

Didn't notice that... possibly some functions aren't compatible with v4.

Or, maybe v4 enables enhanced functionality! I'll have to look into it.

 

Russ