6 minutes ago, Alan_A said:

Both Mathijis and the OctopusG developer posted this morning on the Aerosoft forums that they're going to look to beef up the sound in an update.

Yup saw that. It's a great add-on by the way, very detailed, you have to drain the sump and turn the prop by hand prior to firing it up, and even the landing lights can burn out if you leave them on too long. The engine can be damaged if you don't use the cooling gills properly, stuff like that.

42 minutes ago, Chock said:

It's a great add-on by the way, very detailed, you have to drain the sump and turn the prop by hand prior to firing it up, and even the landing lights can burn out if you leave them on too long. The engine can be damaged if you don't use the cooling gills properly, stuff like that.

That's great to hear - I'd want that in my Annoushka

Reminding myself that I really ought to reinstall the Aerosoft Catalina, too.  

Though the Annoushka does say "Northern Hemisphere Winter" in a way the Catalina doesn't... 

Yeah, I was impressed at Aerosoft making the Catalina P3D V4 compatible so quickly, and for free to those who had it for FSX, the engine simulation on that thing is great and it seems the AN2 is similarly realistic in that respect, I've already managed to jam the engine on it once lol.

Incidentally, I read something funny about the AN2 earlier today regarding how to set it up prior to taxi because of the bewildering  number of switches it has (I.e. lots of them) which said basically you need to flip every switch on apart from the pitot heat because that draws lots of electricity, which is why that switch is guarded! And that does seem to work in lieu of being able to read the Cyrillic placards lol.

I seem to remember doing something similar with the Sibwings version - basically flipping every switch before even trying to start the thing.  But I don't think they modeled the impact of the pitot heater on the electrical system.  Another step forward for fidelity... and more to learn...

 

I’m wondering how they even got data for it in the first place. In order to get data from Antonov, you must own or operate their aircraft, which I don’t think Aerosoft does

5 hours ago, Milton Waddams said:

I’m wondering how they even got data for it in the first place. In order to get data from Antonov, you must own or operate their aircraft, which I don’t think Aerosoft does

There are tons of the things kicking about, over 18,000 of them were built, including a Chinese copy of it called the Nanchang Y-5, so it is easy to gain access to one, and so it's easy to get all the data you need for a simulated version. The engine is no great mystery either when it comes to finding performance data, since the Shvetsov ASh-62 is basically a souped-up Shvetsov M-25, which was itself an uprated Wright R-1820 Cyclone. Moreover, you can easily fly an AN2 yourself; no special type rating is required because it is a single-engine aircraft which scrapes in just under the weight limit allowed for a PPL. I keep meaning to do that some time actually.

In particular, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in the early nineties, AN2s started showing up all over the place in the West; these days you can buy one for less than than forty thousand quid, although you might pay twice that for one in really good condition with low hours. That is peanuts for an aeroplane which any PPL can fly, that can seat 12 people easily and is suitable for dropping parachutists. It would probably be even more popular than it already is in the West if it wasn't for the fact that the AN2 has some restrictions one what it can be used for commercially in several countries.

One thing to be aware of with the AN-2 is it's nasty wake turbulence - worse than what it's size may lead you to believe.

Ignore the music slapped over the top of the vid.

 

1 hour ago, HighBypass said:

One thing to be aware of with the AN-2 is it's nasty wake turbulence - worse than what it's size may lead you to believe.

That's because of its wingspan. While on the face of it, I'd say the AN2 has a wingspan of 60 feet, which in itself is quite large for a single-engine aeroplane, it actually has a wingspan of well over 100 feet when one considers both spans of its biplane wings, which means it is longer in total span than a 737-500, and those AN2 wings have massive flaps and slats which were designed to create a lot of lift, so it's hardly surprising it creates a ton of wake turbulence when one thinks about all that, after all, it can be stalled, have the stick held all the way back and it will still land safely, that is a lot of lift from those wings!

Check this out. Now that's a tough aeroplane; man, those Russians really built those things, didn't they?

 

I wonder if they took the sparkplugs out and turned the engine over beforehand?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q649rDWpoG4

 

Interesting video ... and I actually liked the music: The Smiths "How soon is now?" Ahh ... 80s indie rock at its finest. :-)

One of the very cool things about this add-on by the way, is that it genuinely can do the emergency maneuver which is referenced in the real aeroplane's manual, whereby if the engine fails or you get disoriented in IMC, you can simply level the wings, cut the power, drop full flaps, haul the stick all the way back, and it does indeed land safely at about 25 mph with a survivable descent rate with still quite a lot of aileron authority as apparently the real thing can do. With all that power up front it can also brute force its way out of pretty much any stall you can throw at it too, which makes it an absolutely brilliant bush aeroplane which  can land in really tiny spots, basically it flies like a massive Piper Cub. Great fun. 

7 minutes ago, Chock said:

One of the very cool things about this add-on by the way, is that it genuinely can do the emergency maneuver which is referenced in the real aeroplane's manual,

The Sibwings version (also with an Alexander Metzger FDE) would let you do that, too, as I found out the hard way early on by setting the engine on fire a couple of times.

20 hours ago, Milton Waddams said:

I’m wondering how they even got data for it in the first place.

Further to this, the main aircraft Aerosoft used for development of their simulated AN2 was a Polish-built AN2, production serial number 1G137-60, which is registered SP-ASR. It flies with Antonov Suisse Romande which is one of the liveries you get in the Aerosoft version. You can see the real aeroplane on ASR's website here:

http://www.antonov2.ch/

 

Hey Alan,

If you ever get to fly one, I'd like to come along for moral (or should that be immoral!?) support. 

If you wait for a really strong headwind - say 30-40 knots will you be able to hover her just off the runway?? LOL!