First impressions

[MartinRex007 390]

1 hour ago, ryanbatcund said:

Surprised they didn't add G500/600 integration for this bird

I don't have that either but this would be an acft that would have that sort of panel upgrade 

I was thinking the same thing, perfect aircraft for the G500/600! Just watched a video of a C421 with that setup!

[fppilot 4,347]

6 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

Got some help on the forum with a few pages from the original manual, and have sent Carenado/Alabeo some suggestions which I hope will find their way into a patch.. stay tuned..

Does Alabeo have a better history on timely patches than Carenado?

4 hours ago, skully said:

We're at 20,000 feet here, 2100 lbs under gross weight (5400 lbs) running 237 kts true on 223 lbs per hour.

That's less than 40 GPH and I understand from Alabeo support, which by the way got back to me almost instantly, that this bird can load a total of 213 gallons, or 1278 lbs. At those cruise settings and consumption a four hour flight is doable.  That could reach over 1,000 nm with even a light tailwind.  How much payload can be loaded with that full fuel load?

Oh!  I'd love to put that working stormscope into the Milviz B55 Baron.  The DBD gauge is there (DBD=dead by design, ha!)

Another item I like is the COM2/NAV2 radio set. There is another team somewhere that feels that is not necessary when you have a GTN in the panel.  But what then if that one GTN should fail.  Handheld Icom transceiver I guess?????

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

3 minutes ago, fppilot said:

Does Alabeo have a better history on timely patches than Carenado?

 

Not really, but there is always one update, and the trick is to get as much into that one update as possible..

[skully 1,045]

3 hours ago, fppilot said:

Does Alabeo have a better history on timely patches than Carenado?

That's less than 40 GPH and I understand from Alabeo support, which by the way got back to me almost instantly, that this bird can load a total of 213 gallons, or 1278 lbs. At those cruise settings and consumption a four hour flight is doable.  That could reach over 1,000 nm with even a light tailwind.  How much payload can be loaded with that full fuel load?

Oh!  I'd love to put that working stormscope into the Milviz B55 Baron.  The DBD gauge is there (DBD=dead by design, ha!)

Another item I like is the COM2/NAV2 radio set. There is another team somewhere that feels that is not necessary when you have a GTN in the panel.  But what then if that one GTN should fail.  Handheld Icom transceiver I guess?????

Frank, the actual aircraft has a max fuel payload of about 630 lbs.

Maximum TO Weight of 7450 lbs and max landing weight of 7200 lbs.

Max fuel range of 850 to 1100 miles will vary depending on how much you throw in the back, power settings, altitude, winds etc.

I am really putting the 421 through the paces and just having a blast flying her. 

For some real fun, try a takeoff at max gross weight on an average July or August day here in Las Vegas of 112-116 degrees and to add some spice, fail an engine right after takeoff. RIP

Here are some performance and engine settings numbers for the stock 421C and the upgraded RAM package for comparison:

http://www.ramaircraft.com/Aircraft-Engine-Upgrade-Packages/Performance/421C-Performance/SM045C4-421C-Performance.htm

Weight and Balance Calculator:

http://trumpetb.net/alph/wb421.html

 

 

[fppilot 4,347]

47 minutes ago, skully said:

Frank, the actual aircraft has a max fuel payload of about 630 lbs.

Thank you for that info. Basically that's a pilot and three trim pax, and little in the bays.  Watched some Youtube videos tonight of a pair of pilots flying out of and into KOSU in Columbus, Ohio,  They completed flights from Columbus to Ft Lauderdale and back without refueling..  

I just completed a flight in the C310 from Bloomington, Indiana, to Austin, Texas, with 4 on board and about 150 lbs in the bays.  Flight was over 5 hours.  Have to look back at my total burn, but it was a full fuel load and about a 40 minute fuel supply left on landing.  Will compare that to the Golden Eagle. 

I fly with real time wx based on real world events, mostly athletic events, and I select the aircraft from my fleet that best optimizes the flight, based on souls on board, distance, time enroute, and fuel burn (cost).  The C310 is my long flight economy winner at this point. Will do some number crunching to see how this 421 factors in.  Higher, faster, but also higher burn. Endurance is there when light, but....

[Pidder 22]

In my first flights with this wonderful bird i found some minor bugs:

- Pitot Heat 1 and 2 can be switched on, but only 1 can also be switched off

(- Fuel Selectors: both are impossible to switch off, only right main or left main is possible)
Did a restart auf P3D4 and than both switches are working fine, cut off was possible

- even with Battery switch off you can switch the dome lighting on

Hope here also Alabeo will fix this points in their update, i've sent a request. 

Edited June 1, 2018 by Pidder

[fppilot 4,347]

1 hour ago, Pidder said:

(- Fuel Selectors: both are impossible to switch off, only right main or left main is possible)
Did a restart auf P3D4 and than both switches are working fine, cut off was possible

You caused me to do a search for 421C fuel system to learn what the fuel system is like. First discussion I found was for the 421B and it is very interesting reading....

https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/technical/50629-cessna-421b-fuel-system.html

[plicpriest1 0]

So far have been pretty impressed. 

So anyone know where the Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT) guage is at? There is a placard about a temp restriction. So just need the guage (maybe I’m blind).

And yes I know this is a piston engine. Many turbocharged engines have a TIT guage 😉

[skully 1,045]

52 minutes ago, plicpriest1 said:

So far have been pretty impressed. 

So anyone know where the Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT) guage is at? There is a placard about a temp restriction. So just need the guage (maybe I’m blind).

And yes I know this is a piston engine. Many turbocharged engines have a TIT guage 😉

 

Another high-altitude problem is that you may exceed the turbocharger's turbine inlet temperature (TIT) limit before reaching peak EGT. Cessna did not install TIT gauges in most of its turbocharged airplanes, but many have aftermarket gauges (like GEMs or JPI 700s) with a TIT readout.

https://www.avweb.com/news/airman/184350-1.html

 

 

 

[plicpriest1 0]

1 hour ago, skully said:

 

Another high-altitude problem is that you may exceed the turbocharger's turbine inlet temperature (TIT) limit before reaching peak EGT. Cessna did not install TIT gauges in most of its turbocharged airplanes, but many have aftermarket gauges (like GEMs or JPI 700s) with a TIT readout.

https://www.avweb.com/news/airman/184350-1.html

 

 

 

You are correct about Cessna. I flew a TR182 that only had EGT. Just funny there is a placard in the alabeo one lol.

 

So last thought, the FF monitor is tied to the avionics. My preference would be tied to the batteries. Pain to turn on avionics to prime the engine. Or does someone have a better procedure 

[fppilot 4,347]

Purchased this one this morning and am still in the hanger getting my RXP GTN 750 configured and getting acclimated to the layout and controls.  Anyone get the left or right flight instrument lights or the engine instrument rheostats (sliders)  to work?  In front of the throttle quad.  I can get the side and lower panels to work as well as the compass light, but the tooltip'd sliders for the instruments do not adjust anything.  The only control appears to the the Day/Night switch, and that does not adjust brightness.

For the autopilot, is the only vertical speed control via the autopilot trim control?

[Tim-HH 570]

Indeed a great aircraft!

But it seems that the instrument reflections are missing, which looks a bit odd.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

58 minutes ago, fppilot said:

  The only control appears to the the Day/Night switch, and that does not adjust brightness.

For the autopilot, is the only vertical speed control via the autopilot trim control?

I typically turn on the overhead lights in the ceiling.

As for the VS, it is actually the autopilot "Pitch" control wheel.. and yes, that is it.

The way I set up the plane, is that before takeoff, I set the heading bug to the runway heading, push HDG on the autopilot which turns on the FD, and then use the mouse wheel on the Pitch control wheel and watch the FD bars rise accordingly.

I dial in the target altitude, and push the little Arm button.

Then I take off, retract the wheels and activate the autopilot, using my yoke button which triggers the "Z" key.

When things are stabilized, I retract the flaps, adjust pitch and possibly switch to NAV mode..

 

Edited June 1, 2018 by Bert Pieke

[z06z33 763]

Can’t figure out the night lighting. If I click the dome light the panel lights come on,and you can’t turn the dome off without killing the panel lights,and the day night switch does the same. Another issue I found was the gear doors when viewed from below when retracted they appear to still have daylight shining on them.  Anyway I’m really glad to have a C421 again I missed the old flight1 plane. I climbed her to FL390 yesterday before she ran out of power lol and stalled.

Edited June 1, 2018 by z06z33

[fppilot 4,347]

I may have to start with a default airplane and switch.  My FSX crashed three times in a row each time I rolled about 100 ft.  Loaded a saved mid-air flight in the B55 Baron and switched aircraft to the 421 and flew without issue for about 2 hours.  Got the autopilot figured out except for RNAV approaches.  Is there a way to get vertical guidance?  No APR setting....

I also started to run out of resources, notified by the dreaded bongs.  Closed my popup windows and switched freqs to squash ATC and bongs stopped.  Frame rates were normal.

Interesting. Did some fuel burn logging at various altitudes.  I was able to cruise at FL220 at a TAS of 189 with manifold pressure dialed back to 18 and RPM at 22 and at the same fuel burn of around 12.5 per side as the 310 at 12,000 and 176 TAS.  Obviously the difference in TAS at the higher altitude results in a higher GS.  And the 421 can carry +700 lbs with a full fuel load.  

Cockpit lighting controls need to be addressed in an update.