Revised Beechjet landing capabilities

[Christopher Low 5,324]

Well, I have recently completed successful Beechjet landings at Palo Alto, San Carlos, and Sonoma Valley. I also managed to slow the aircraft to taxi speed before the end of each runway (using reverse thrust and toe brakes only).......which would suggest that I can land this plane on runways of 2500 feet without using the parking brake. After all, that would be cheating :-coolI am also getting used to the annoying initial pull to the left when first applying the toe brakes, which is due to the left brake being applied fractionally earlier than the right brake. A small amount of right rudder compensates for this, although it feels like I need the arms of an octopus to handle the joystick, control the throttle, apply the thrust reversers, apply the toe brakes, and tap the keyboard rudder control.........all at the same time !At least that 747 should be heavy enough to overcome the slight problem with the brakes :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.PS. When's that revised stall speed version of the 747 coming Ansgar ? I could do with a challenge :-lol

[Hans_Petter 1]

Chris wrote: it feels like I need the arms of an octopus to handle the joystick, control the throttle, apply the thrust reversers, apply the toe brakes, and tap the keyboard rudder control.........all at the same time !Well, if arms are involved in applying the toe brakes you will indeed need the arms of an octopus :-) My suggestion: If you're serious about flying, please get rudder pedals with proper toe brakes. I haven't quite figured out why most car racing simmers take pedals for granted, yet most flightsimmers skip these controls.best regards,Hans Petter

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Chris, you are amazing! I love the Beechjet too. The GPS (as implemented in the radar screen or HSI) is a great advantage in navigating over long distances, and the autopilot has a few useful features - why not try a flight up the coast to Seattle from (say) Sacramento or San Fran SFO? But you may have to get the old ship out of first gear (or have a long lunch break on auto pilot ;)Cheers,Rob D

[Guest jonpoint]

Hans Petter,"I haven't quite figured out why most car racing simmers take pedals for granted, yet most flightsimmers skip these controls. "It's probably because, for US$50 you have a choice of 20 different wheels, available from Kmart through to EB. For flight sim pedals, it's mail order or nothing, US$150-$400 with only a couple of choices.Just the size of the market I suppose. CH and others haven't done well here though with their pricing. A new set of CH pedals will cost me the equivalent of:3 60GB hard drives or2 17" monitors or3 motherboards (or 2 with P4s fitted!) or3 copies of MSFS2002 or2 X-Box Christmas packs orMy entire Christmas shopping list for the whole family...In fact, if I HAD this kind of spare money for my hobby, I'd probably spend it on a TI4600 video. At least the investment wouldn't all be for one game! Or a new DVD player, or a new fridge that doesn't wake the bird up at night or........... I have borrowed some from a friend (the new CH USB ones) and was not impressed with their flimsy-ness. In fact, CH have really dropped the ball here 'coz their new yoke is a joke (I'm a poet and I don't know it...). Sure, it's got lotsa fiddly levers and switches but the feel... Darn thing flexes when you LOOK at it. By comparison, my 10 year old CH 'Virtual Pilot' with only trims and a throttle feels solid as a rock. Then they want me to fork out the same again for the throttle :-(Like Roland, I'm going to build some, hopefully over the Christmas holidays. I've got a couple of old Sidewinder sticks (well, new USB ones but they were so cheap - <$10 - I got 'em just to rip 'em apart) and I'll go from there - unless someone releases a cheaper, solid set beforehand :-beerchugJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest]

Hi Jon,Good to hear that you're going to try building a DIY yoke. Nowadays, everything is made out of plastic, and that just doesn't do for a yoke feeling. Just some steel rods and tubing will will make lots of difference. By the way, FU-III force feedback seems to work pretty good. By hacking a FF yoke, this FF can be added to diy yokes as well. See http://ftp.avsim.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboa...rum=DCForumID42Pics are gone, if you need them let me know.Just a remark: Rudder pedals need to be very sturdy. The ones descibed in my doc are starting to wear. Metal bars may be more suitable than wood. Good luck building!Roland

[Christopher Low 5,324]

Jon,You are absolutely correct. Rudder pedals and flight yokes are far too expensive for me. I would prefer to keep my CH Flightstick Pro........and then use the savings for a completely new PC ! :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.PS. I generally use my right thumb to operate the toe brakes. Does that make me some kind of contortionist ? :-lol

[Hans_Petter 1]

I've got the CH Pro pedals and I've ordered their latest yoke. I know, it's very expensive and I can't vouch for the yoke. I hope it isn't too flimsy. The pedals have been working fine though. I never quite managed to wear out my previous joystick, a CH Flightstick Pro analog. However, I couldn't make it work on Win 2000 so I gave it away to another flightsimmer. Presently I'm using a Logitech stick.My "insistence" on pedals was directed as much to the industry as to the end user. Any computer store has an array of fancy car game controllers and they all include pedals. When it comes to flightsimming, however, one has to look far and beyond to get anything but a basic fighter stick. Well, I guess the market works -- flightsimming pales compared to the plethora of action games. Further, since more people buy other game controllers these are priced more favorably than the strictly flightsim related controllers.I may be atypical on this forum since the only games I care about are flight simulators. Actually, I'm an atypical flightsimmer too since I prefer GA aircraft rather than the heavy metal and I don't even do combat sims. (I'm too busy practicing approaches to shoot at anything :-))From my perspective it makes sense to get the most realistic GA aircraft controllers. The yoke will be permanently attached to some stand since it would slide backwards as I pull up if I just put it on the table. Anyway, FU3 really fits my interests. As most flightsim enthusiasts these days I spend a lot of time in the world of FS2002. But, I always get back to FU3. Recently I've been looking into gliding and soaring and I found that Glidernut was right -- there's no ridge lift in FS2002. To hunt for upwinds close to rising terrain there's nothing like Flight Unlimited. The weather "engine" of FU3 never ceases to amaze me :-) best regards,Hans Petter

[Christopher Low 5,324]

Hans,Combat flight simulators don't interest me. Like you, I find the thrill of a successful approach and landing far more satisfying than blowing enemy planes out of the sky. Since I also like admiring detailed terrain graphics, it makes sense that I stick to civilian flight simulators. After all, you can't enjoy the sights when there's a missile heading for your ar.......... :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest]

Now that 2500 is no problem, how about 1900 feet of grass with trees surrounding? If you head back up to the Seattle region, Vashon and Sky Harbor are fun places to 'play around' in the Beechjet. If memory serves, Sky Harbor provides a moving obstacle (a cow :-lol), that is assuming you haven't modified these airports.Having rudder pedals with toe brakes definately makes it easier. Once on the ground, it's just a matter of hitting / (spoilers) and *, then full reverse, and stand on the brakes!However, without having rudder pedals / toe brakes, 2500 ft. is darn good!Ray - N89864

[Christopher Low 5,324]

Ray,With all due respect, landing the Beechjet at Sky Harbour is a ludicrous idea :-lol The cow is bad enough, but the runway is tipped over at an alarming angle in the centre section :-eekMind you, the slope probably helps the landing (assuming that you are landing the plane on the UP-slope :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest]

"...but the runway is tipped over at an alarming angle in the centre section!" - That's the fun of it!Vashon also has a 30-foot or so dip in the south end of its runway, which is a lot of fun to work with (in the sim).Of course, I would never think of flying a real Beechjet into either Vashon or Sky Harbor, simply because they are grass/dirt (and relatively short). In fact, if the real Sky Harbor looks like it does in FUIII (which I would think it does not), I wouldn't even try flying my Cessna 140 there. I can do 1900 ft. of grass in a 140 (Punxsutawney (N35), PA's runway 1/19), but wildly rolling surfaces, I don't think so.Ray - N89864