Things that will catch you out about the ATR72

[el_kab0ng 29]

This will most likely be a running list of things to look out for. Some of these may be bugs, others are just operating procedures based on Carenado's interpretation of the ATR72-500.

1. Unlike the ATR42 from Carenado, it doesn't appear as though you need to click the AUX PUMP button under the parking brake to get the prop brake to engage. I was able to turn on the AUX PUMP in the overhead panel and the prop brake engaged as usual. I'm guessing the center console button is redundant?

2. Ensure you have your condition levers set to AUTO before taking off/climbing out. I use the Saitek set up and noticed (by hovering over for text) that my prop levers might have been in the AUTO configuration visually, but were not actually engaged (lever 2 was, lever 1 was not, causing asymmetric thrust conditions). Fiddling with the levers with the mouse corrected this for me, but YMMV.

3. If you want the plane to follow the FMS, you have to make sure the RNV button is on. It's on when you power up the plane, but as soon as you hit the TO/GA switch, it turns off. Make sure it's on or the LNAV indicator will not show up.

[Meeko 17]

Make sure you check your flight plan as well, especially if you're entering airways.  I did a flight NZDN to NZWN (an Air New Zealand flight).  The route was Runway 32, Bidel2P Bidel Y477 Ladis Y727 Wards Wards5A to Runway 34.  The FMS accepted the routing but I noticed in the legs page Ladis was missing.  Even after starting again Ladis would not appear.  The legs went from Bidel direct to Wards.  I had to manually insert Ladis after Bidel.  I'm not sure other routes would do the same as this is the only flight I have done so far.  Just be aware.

 

Bruce R 

[raystriker 0]

Any issues with FPS?

[el_kab0ng 29]

The flight deck can be a bit laggy at times, but I'm not sure if that's due to Carenado or my sceneries.

[philtosney 0]

I have a long list of things that you need to watch on the ATR 72, many of them relating to the unbelievably poor FMS.

I have problems getting the aircraft airborne, especially on shortish runways. There is a disconcertingly long delay between pulling the yoke back and the nose starting to lift. I definitely have the condition levers set to automatic and the management dial set to TO and the speed has increased to over the VR speed, but the delay is quite long and I've been well past the end of the runway several times on airports in Norway (such as Floro, which should be well within scope of the ATR)

If you load a flightplan with no airways, I've found that the last waypoint entered before the destination airport mysteriously disappears and needs to be entered manually again on the Legs page.

With the legs sequence set to Auto, the leg being flown should turn to magenta as you fly over the first waypoint. This occasionally happens, but usually it doesn't and you either have to select the next way point as the Dir(ect to) waypoint for the leg to turn magenta and even this doesn't work all of the time. The FMS clearly recognises that the first waypoint has been passed because the distance to the next waypoint changes, so why the colour doesn't change reliably is irritating.

In the DEP/ARR screen, if your arrival airport does not have any STARS (eg Isle of Man EGNS), no runways are shown, so the final leg isn't shown at all.

If you enter a STAR with a transition, the waypoints that should be shown are not shown and the route becomes direct from the starting point of the STAR to the transition waypoint. A good example of this is at Dublin, EIDW BAGS1X or BAGS1L STAR with transition LAPMO, which has several waypoints beween BAGSO and LAPMO, but not on the ATR!

If you enter a waypoint identifier (either setting up the flight plan or on the Legs page) which has several possible waypoints, a list of possible waypoints is displayed and the correct one is usually the LAST one, rather than the first (which would usually be the closest to your current position).

If you deviate from a flight plan because ATC has given you vectors before telling you to fly direct to a waypoint on the final approach path, you should be able to use the DIR(ect to) screen to fly from your current position to the stated waypoint and the magenta leg should be inserted from your current position to the waypoint, but that doesn't happen on the ATR and if you select RNV and NAV (which should enable you to fly using LNAV to the relevant waypoint and then follow the flight plan).

I've had several occurences when I've been flying LNAV to a final approach and the aircraft has mysteriously started a turn, and I've needed to switch to HDG mode and manually follow the flight path.

I am using the FSX (Steam) version running on a Windows 10 system, using Pro ATC to provide ATC guidance. I have the latest version of Navigraph (Cycle 2005) installed. My machine is a 16GB Intel i5 desktop machine with a dedicated graphics card. I typically get a frame rate of around 15fps, which compares poorly with the frame rates I get flying more complex aircraft (notably iFly 737 and QualityWings 787).

Although the graphical displays are good, the limitations of the FMS and the many problems I have encountered make it a really unrewarding aircraft to fly.

[HighBypass 2,339]

1 hour ago, philtosney said:

I have problems getting the aircraft airborne, especially on shortish runways. There is a disconcertingly long delay between pulling the yoke back and the nose starting to lift.

Forgive me if you already know this. I haven't got the ATR by Carenado, but this behaviour can happen in almost any aircraft in the sim if you haven't set take off trim.