A2A Boeing 377 Stratocruiser

[Guest Stratocruiser]

>Does the 377 simulation have both 2D and 3D cockpits? >GumpsNo 2D cockpit, but the 2D mini-panel is there.

[3-2-1-Now 126]

According to the A2A site, the Accu package adds additional sounds. Is this true?What kind of performance do you get with the B377?Best regards,Robin.

[Guest ICDP]

I have no drop in FPS with the Stratocruiser, it gives the same FPS as any of the default AC. With your PC specs you should have no FPS issues with the A2A B377, TRauppius who has posted on this thread has a lower spec PC than you and has reported that his FPS is good. The accusim pack does add extra sounds (apart from the obvious engine management, or missmanagement if you prefer :)Check out this link to see what Accusim has to offer.http://a2asimulations.com/accusim.html

[Guest ICDP]

Hi Gumps,There are no 2D cockpits screens, there is a 2D panel that allows you to see status reports and allows you to manage cowl flaps and intercollers etc. With the accusim pack your crew actually give audio feedback on many of the aircraft systems. With SP1 you will not get manual turbo control, this is only available with Acceleration installed. Not sure if there are other SP1 problems though.

[Guest JIMJAM]

I own the plane and Accusim,sp2,xp.I cannot get the ils to work. Navigating from one vor to the next works but I cannot get the ils needles to do anything.So I am sol if the airport is ifr.Not running the plane without the addon, I thus far have heard only one crew voice. Are they all the same?I am proof you can just scan over the manual and not burn the engines up or wreck the plane.After a dozen flights,all Ive broken was a stuck cowl flap opened mistakingly at high speed.Highest Ive been is 20 grand.I was hoping on some more crew interactivity but I guess I have not really done anything to get their attention.Sure wish that flight Attendant woiuld bring me my coffee!Ahhh the good ol days when men wore suits and women wore dresses when flying.Any ideas on why my ils is not working?

[Guest ICDP]

Hi JIMJAM,I read about your problem on the A2A forum. Is your ILS always broken at every airport or just a select few? ROB has found a problem with the ILS (both needles are connecetd to GS) and a fix will be released.

[TRauppius 0]

I have had a few more days with the B377 now and it continues to amaze with small unexpected details that add to the realism.For example, the cockpit windows will slowly be cloudy due to accumulated condensation as the temperature drops with altitude and if the humidity stays high enough. It sort of just creeps in until you finally notice it and activate the windshield defrost control on the pilot's-side sub-panel; then it slowly melts away. Nice touch.The crew workload is high compared with modern automatic planes. You constantly have to watch and fiddle with turbocharger controls, intercooler flap settings, cowl flaps, pressurization, fuel management, etc.The VC from the flight engineer's position is especially neat as you can swivel around and zoom in-out on any/all positions. The VC panels/gauges are the sharpest, most readable at any zoom level, I have yet seen.I stand by my earlier FPS statement, but the texture demands are very tough in some of the "through the VC foreground to distant scenery background" looks. My 256M/7600GT barely gets by. Sometimes I have to momemtarily revert to "windowed" mode to fix the onset of menu blurries that occur when I am approaching the texture limit.I wonder if there will be soon be 3rd party paints for airlines like TWA and United?:7 :7

[Guest ICDP]

I am in the process of uploading a 3 part painkit to avsim now. I managed to reduce the size of the PDSs to 3 zip files of around 230Mb in total. So hopefully we will see some repaints apperaing in no time.

[FlyingsCool 3]

Ugly??? I love this plane. I was a small child at the end of the prop era, and have very fond memories of them, having lived near Hanscom AFB and attending Thunderbirds shows every summer.I've always been so impressed by the guys who flew these things and had to manage the systems and the flying, and really helped develop the knowledge that we have today that allowed us to advance to the systems that we have today, managing fuel burn and all that goes along with flying planes.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

[Guest JIMJAM]

Ive made 6 or so 100 miles short flights.I was able to pick up the loc out of KCAE but the needles were far to sensitive to navigate by. With a visual on the runway and watching the needles, the instrument just did not work correctly.At bout the middle marker they came back together but even the slighest deviation and they went to their extremes.Again at the inner marker, they came back centered and stayed there.Needless to say I would have written it up and not trusted my life to it.

[3-2-1-Now 126]

How do you go trans-atlantic in this then? :D I'm used to 3 hour crossings with the aid of an INS, so this is going to be a bit slower! :DI've had to cut the sim back to no visual detail to get reasonable performance. :( The clouds and water are all I care about though! Flies fine once she's airborne.Maybe I should ask at the other forum, but I find it very difficult to accelerate. Granted, she's near MTOW, but it seems things like the cowl flaps add more drag than I give them credit for, and climbing is a very slow affair.Are there any performance figures? What is the optimum clean climb speed for example?Best regards,Robin.

[Gypsy Baron 10]

>Ive made 6 or so 100 miles short flights.>I was able to pick up the loc out of KCAE but the needles were>far to sensitive to navigate by. With a visual on the runway>and watching the needles, the instrument just did not work>correctly.>At bout the middle marker they came back together but even the>slighest deviation and they went to their extremes.>Again at the inner marker, they came back centered and stayed>there.>Needless to say I would have written it up and not trusted my>life to it.There is an acknowledged problem with the ILS instrumentationimplementation. It seems both needles were inadvertently connectedto the glideslope. A2A is working on a fix, as I understand it. Paul

[Yoda967 23]

Robin,The additional sounds that come with the Accu-Sim expansion pack are incredible. The crew makes verbal reports about engine status, airspeed, height above ground on approach, and so on. The structural sounds are a hoot -- the airframe creaks in turbulence and during steep turns, there are rattles and bumps and bangs on takeoff and landing, the windshield wipers squeak, and the brake sounds have to be heard to be believed.The real payoff with Accu-Sim is the engine modeling. The manual says you're likely to spend more time in the Flight Engineer's seat than in the captain's, and that's been my experience. These engines need care all the time: manifold pressure, prop pitch, torque, fuel flow, cylinder head temperatures, carburator air temperature, oil temperature...it's all there, it's all manual, and it's a LOT of fun.

[3-2-1-Now 126]

Unfortunately that update is going to have to wait a short while. :(Any suggestions on trans-atlantic crossings? Or is it a job for a timer and lots of heading changes?Best regards,Robin.

[lonewulf 1]

I'm wondering a bit about the fact that no more postings have been done in this thread. I happened to come across this incredible piece of aviation when I entered A2A's forum to ask for some specific information about the handling. Fortunate enough they even invited me to act as a beta-tester for the Servie-Pack1 upgrade and that's how I got involved in this great piece of simulation in the FSX world. I should state at this point that my flying career stopped a few years ago after 37 years of aviation accumulating 15'000+ flying hours spread on 70+ different A/C types. Unfortunately the B377 is not on my list :( . As far as radials are concerned a short episode on a DC3 was my only experience.Yes, at first sight the B377 may look ugly but after a very short time I became really attracted to it. There's one thing that I found out quite quickly: it's not the A/C that you just load, smash the throttles forward and eventually get airbone. It really need to be operated within it's operating envelope and that's what makes it so interesting. I wonder if some of you guys have really taken it to the end and studied the manuals thoroughly to e.g. make a real transatlanctic crossing, maybe even with real weather/winds or go for a continental crossing based on simple VOR/NDB navigation, maybe ending up with oil levels getting too low but still with enough fuel in the tanks?I have crossed the atlantic a few hundred times in a modern jetliner but admittenlty none of those cossings was as exciting as the ones I did on the Stratocruiser - and be it only sitting in front of my computer, calculating new headings to stay on the minimum-time track as accurately as possible, watching the fuel consumption and so on....I would like to share my experience with this wonderful bird with others and maybe encourage some of you to expand your knowledge in complex piston aircraft.Oskar