Multiple questions from a newbie

[Ramón Cutanda 4]

Hi,

I am making my first flights with the Pro version and, although I have gone through the manual several times (specially part 2), read each and every topic in this forum, purchased and read the handbook from mach-one-manuals.net and even read in full the "The Long Way Home - Revised Edition" by Ed Dover, which provides a lot of helpful details, I am still stuck with several things. I apologise if I ask anything very obvious, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand certain things. Also, I don't like mixing several topics in one same thread, but opening one thread for each of my questions would monopolize the forum, so I have finally chosen to compile everything in this one thread. I hope that will not be a problem. Thank you in advance.

1. I installed my aircraft a couple of weeks ago and, when I launched the installer, it checked for updates and found none, so I guess I am running the latest version. However, how can I check which specific version I am actually running?

2. I mention this in particular because, from what I have read in the forum, the wing tank refuelling hand pump was not working before the HF1. In my first or second flight I switched tanks with the electric pumps on and broke them. Then I tried to use the hand pump but I could not figure out how to use it. Since that moment, I have tried, with no success, to use the manual pumps in each of my flights but, no matter what I have tried, I have never succeeded. Just to be on the safe side I manually installed HF1 over my previous setup, but I see no change whatsoever in this regard. It is my understanding that the bar pump to refuel the wing tanks is the one ON THE LEFT. But maybe is not...

3. All over the mach-one-manuals.net handbook, setting and checking the air mixture is an important step in every phase of the flight. It is also frequently mentioned in "The long way home";  specially when they had to deal with 90 octane auto gas. However, I found this in part 2 of the manual (v1.3😞

"Because of the peculiarities of the Chandler-Groves carburettor, allocating mixture levers is not necessary but could be useful" (Introduction, page 5)

"As the Chandler-Groves carburettor automatically compensates for altitude, for most operations the mixture levers can be left set to Full Rich." (Mixture Levers, page 31)

So, my question is...

4. That takes me to another question: I am also unable to understand how to monitor the cylinder's temperature. According to the handbook, the base temperature should not exceed 149ºC. However, when selecting the base of any cylinder/engine I always (and I really mean ALWAYS) get a reading near 200 ºC  (offset applied).

6. The engine synchronizer is mentioned several times in the checklists. However, I am unsure of how I should use it. From my experience, the "black and white ball" only "rolls", and only sometimes, in position 1. I don't know what that means or which effect has in the engines. Is moving the selector just enough to synchronize? For how long?

7. Regarding altimeter, I have NO IDEA of how to set it. I have not been able to find the "altimeter knob", or whatever I should use, in the cockpit; nor have I found any mention to it in the documentation. Using the P3D "b" shortcut sets the altimeter to current pressure but... how can I manually set it in the B314?

8. Lighting work as expected at night. However, switching lights on or off have no effect whatsoever in daylight and, more important because that represents a real issue for me, even at dusk and dawn. At a certain moment at dusk and dawn lights finally gets on but, in  those situations, the cockpit is still too dark to operate. I can capture that in a video if necessary.

9. Finally, a request. I really miss the wing catwalks to access the engines! Please consider adding it in a future update. That was such a unique feature of the B314!

Thank you for taking the time to read this extensive post. Any tip you can provide me will be extremely appreciated. Thank you!

Kind regards,

 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Ramón Cutanda

[Ramón Cutanda 4]

22 hours ago, Ramón Cutanda said:

9. Finally, a request. I really miss the wing catwalks to access the engines! Please consider adding it in a future update. That was such a unique feature of the B314!

Moving one of the cameras I managed to peep inside the wings. Awesome! But I wished there was an easier way; such an specific camera view. Thanks!

Edited August 18, 2021 by Ramón Cutanda

[dragonflightdesign 98]

1. If the update checks says you are on the latest version, then yes, there are no hotfixes etc. to be applied.

2. Manual fuel pump works here, but that doesn't mean you haven't found some way to break it. I'll keep trying to break it and provide a fix in the -A version if I succeed.

3. If you had read on in the manual, you'll find a comment that the FOM was never updated when the decision was made to change from Holley to Chandler-Groves carbs. This version of the FOM (and the one found online) is dated March 1939, so it may have been updated later but we will never know. So: Full Rich for takeoff and climb, lean to Cruise in level flight. Otherwise you don't need to touch the levers except in the case of an engine failure, unless you find a supply of 90-octance gas...

4. CHT: the difference is not really great enough. I have already corrected that for the -A release.

5. The engine synchronizer works from engine 4. You select one of the other engines and match RPM by nudging the manifold pressure levers. However, it was deemed to be fairly useless and was discarded in later aircraft; based on that, I'd guess that it was ignored most of the time. It's also very difficult to use in the sim, mostly because you do not get identical returns from the throttle levers except at full open and full closed, even when they are apparently set to the same position.

6. The altimeter... that was always a source of debate. We didn't have a single picture of the B-314 or B314-A cockpit that showed the altimeter in its entirety. Based on that, we decided to go with a purely barometric (i.e. non-adjustable) version. You've heard the expression 'Murphy's Law'? Within the last three weeks I have turned up a photograph of a BOAC hull that clearly shows an adjustment knob on the altimeter. I'm going to ask the mdl team if they can add adjustment knobs to the altimeters when they clean up the -A version, but not being a 3D modeller, I do not know if it is possible at this point.

7. We're at the mercy of the sim with the lighting. I'm aware that some other developers have solved that problem but of course, they're quite rightly giving nothing away. So far, I haven't figured out how they do it.

 

[Ramón Cutanda 4]

1. That you for the confirmation. If I may, I would suggest adding a "changelog.txt" or similar in any of the folders used by the B314 (either P3D\PILOTS_Software\Boeing B314 - The Clipper\P3Dv5 or \SimObjects\Airplanes\PILOTS B314 triple tail). I would find that to be helpful.

2. As I mentioned, I have never, ever, been able to make the pump work. And I try in each and every one of my flights. What I do is:

i) Select the desired hydro stabilizer fuel compartment

ii) Set "Wing tank refuel" to "Both on"

iii) Activate the "Wing tank refuelling hand pump". I am never able to move the fuel from the hydro stabilizer tanks to the wings. With that very same configuration the fuel pumps always work (one, the other, or both); and I have never broken the pumps after that first time I mentioned.

3. Ups... Now that you say it, yes, I read it. But it's been so much information these days that I did not take it into account! Thank you for the clarification.

4. Thanks for the info.

5. Again, thank you for the valuable info.

6. Thumbs up!

7. Sorry to read that. However, at least now I know I am not doing anything wrong!

Thank you so much for your time and dedication. Your B314 is certainly a great plane! Because of its high price-tag for a long time I hesitated if it was worth buying. But now that I am starting to understand how it works, I am getting in love with all its fine details. There are still a couple of strange behaviours that I don't really understand or control, but I need to investigate them further to make sure it is not me doing anything wrong before I ask again for support.

Once more, thank you!

[dragonflightdesign 98]

I've broken the manual fuel pump. I'm not sure how I've done it yet, but I have broken it 😝

[dragonflightdesign 98]

This re-opened the debate on adjusting the altimeter and the conclusion was that we were most likely right first time round, for the following reasons:

1. The aircraft takes off and lands at sea level

2. The majority of the flight is across the sea i.e. does not cross any tall land masses on the known scheduled routes

3. There is no barometric readout on any of the pictures we have (nine out of twelve identified hulls with some possible repeats), so the altimeter could not have been set from weathership reports. Yes, it is possible that the crew carried paper conversion tables but there is a difference between possible and known

4. I have a few period photographs of altimeters with no adjustment knobs (manufactured without them). This, for us, was the 'smoking gun'.

As all landings were carried out VFR, the crew don't need to know the exact altitude above sea level. So... why does the BOAC boat have an adjustable altimeter? All twelve hulls had all instruments replaced at least once and in the majority of the cases, twice, because of the fading of radioluminescence (see the manual). The replacement instrument was not always the same type or manufacturer as the original instrument.

 

[Edit] A note has been added to the manual about this.

Edited August 21, 2021 by dragonflightdesign

[Ramón Cutanda 4]

Once again, than you so much for such valuable piece of information. There are so many things to learn from this wonderful seaboat!