GeeBee R2 V1.0 release

[Guest jonpoint]

Hi to all FU3 and GeeBee fiends!The day has finally arrived for the GeeBee to make it's true debut. Today I am uploading Version 1.0, ready to fly. Those of you familiar with either the original, unfinished model or my 'pre-beta' are in for a surprise! This one flies better, looks great, sounds pretty convincing and is a lot of fun to use.It includes a lot of features only found on post-LGS aircraft like wing wires, transparent canopy, 3D engine and a unique callsign. She's a new aircraft, Jim! I won't ramble on too much here - just go fly it and see for yourself :-)http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e502b3253742459.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e502b9054e3a5b0.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e502bc155891f3a.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e502bee563a42fa.jpghttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e502c1a570f16b3.jpgJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Hans_Petter 1]

I'll get it ASAP and try it out! Thanks for this exciting aircraft and thanks to Steve for the cockpit / panel.best regards,Hans Petter

[Guest]

Congratulations to Jon Point, Master Craftsman !And thank you very much.Jim Lynch - Tucson, Arizona

[Guest glidernut]

Well dun Jon, shee,s a real winer. glidernut. :-wave

[Guest Quaxo]

I'm downloading it now! Thanks Jon! :)CristianP.S. Glidernut, where did you take that screenshot?

[Guest glidernut]

About 40 feet awy from the GeeBee, "wat a daft questyon!"."O" I see wat you meen, sory.In the bluw sercal.

[Hans_Petter 1]

It looks great but find this flight model to be a lot more challenging than the previous one. First of all I set a "head tilt to able to see what I was doing:head_tilt 352last_command head_tilt -5This makes the horizon look right in level flight. Otherwise I'd have to use F1 for landings.Then on to the test flights. I haven't been able to take off without scraping the left wing yet. Well, that's nothing new but now the same happens as I land. I come over the threshold at 100 mph, settle, bump and take off again, touch and bump and so on. It seems that the engine keeps pulling even on idle and the aircraft won't slow down. I was cruising and bumping along the entire Coupeville Nolf runway maintaining 60 mph on idle. The readme says we need to use the brakes but I can't start braking before I'm on the ground and staying there :-) Somehow I've managed to stop though, scraping the left wing and running in circles for a while. The strange thing is that FU3 hasn't logged these landings as crashes. The pilot log counter does run so it does register the landings.Flaps: I seem to get three notches of flaps all at once. How many are there? When I tap "F" I hear three consecutive flap movements and the transition is anything but smooth. From 100 mph "clean" the plane noses up to a stall and then comes down again to stabilize at 80 - 100 mph. Now, this seems like deploying flaps at an excessive speed but if the clean stall speed is 100 mph I can't really go any slower. Could it be that the flap notch(es) is (are) too high?Anyway, I can land it "clean" (which is advised anyway) but I'm puzzled why it doesn't settle as I touch down at 95-100 mph and keep some back pressure. It should slow down in no time, just as the Mustang rather than chugging along.Sorry if this sounds negative but I'm really trying to be constructive here. If I'm doing it all wrong I'm sure GeeBee Jim will put me straight. I definitely don't want an "easy" model -- I want a GeeBee that's challenging for all the right reasons.Once airborne the aircraft flies nicely and I can easily kill the torque by kicking right rudder.The visual model is stunning and I like the addition of wires to the views. You've shaved the nose of the aircraft a bit in panel view (F2, F3) and with the above mentioned head tilt setting this looks realistic. best regards,Hans Petter

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello Jon,my compliments and congratulations to that perfect 3D-model and very good flight compromises! The version 1.0 of your GeeBee is much better to fly now then the last beta I received and tested. The engine torque effect is noticable, but now it

[Steve Hess 1]

She a great aircraft! Thanks for the hard work. The on;y thing I noticed is the 5-way starter switch only works the turn the engine on, not off and not all 5 positions work. A small thing really, Thanks again.

[Guest Quaxo]

I just tested the GeeBee. I could do a takeoff without scraping the wings (GENTLY applying power), buzzed around a bit, and landed, again without scraping the wings. I kept it pretty slow on final (less than 90 kts, no flaps). I don't know how realistic it is, but hey, I like this aircraft! :)Glidernut: I didn't recognize the place because the last time I went there, there were no trees... Trees grow fast there it seems! ;-)Cristian

[Guest jonpoint]

Thankyou, Steve, especially for the cockpit!I noticed the same thing after yet another hair-raisng (but sucessful) landing - I couldn't switch it off (with the switch). I will play with the flight model for this issue. It currently doesn't use the 5-way switch. It would have worked OK on the P51 based-model but there simply isn't an entry for it in the GeeBee's model. My sincere apologies - I should have worried more about it but was too concerned with last-minute changes to the flight characteristics. Every change to the model requires testing and I just didn't get that far.There are other changes to be made in the flight model but I'll hold off for a while and just let people fly it and keep taking notes of their comments :-)The 'GeeBee Jim' livery is done now and the models for the racing package are ~80% done (3x GeeBees, 2x P51s done). The 'Arlington Airshow' package is coming slowly 'coz I've been busy with the plane itself ;)Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest]

Hans Petter: Maybe I can help. Whoops, there is a Read Me ? I guess that I should get around to reading that. Landing procedure: First take it to a big long, and wide runway, Like McChord. Next forget about the brakes and flaps, you can play with them later.1st - make a effort to come in over the hedge at about 100 kts, and maybe 10 - 20 feet high. The flaps should be up and out of the way. At the 95 to 100 kts that you mentioned, don't try to touch down, because it still wants to fly, and is not ready to land. For practice, use the F-8 view, and press the "Z" key for full zoom. Adjust the F-8 view for Max tail view, using top hat or other control. The key here is to observe the runway, wheels, and wings simultaneaously. It's a very Dynamic view. Every effort must be made to keep the wings absolutely level ! As your airspeed drops below 90 kts, start easing back the stick, now a little faster at 85 kts, watch them wings, keep 'em level. If you have gauged your height accurately, you will acheive a three point touchdown at between 80 an 78 kts. After you get your timing down, you can try landing using cockpit views. I only use flaps if I screw up and get too fast on my base leg or final. Use them only for braking the aircraft during the approach, and get them back up prior to touching down. A planned longer and gentler approach, eliminates the need for them. Let us know how you do ?> Jim

[Hans_Petter 1]

Yes, there's a readme. Among others it says:7. Landing safely is hard, so don't be put off by a few crashes at first! Stall is 100MPH (~90 kts) which is a fairly high speed to put down a 1300lb aircraft. 8. Approach at 115-120mph with flaps down. Do not use flaps 'to ground' but cut power and retract them as you cross the 'fence' and she'll land OK. Try to hold level until she just falls onto the strip. 9. Watch the rudder on touchdown - try to be straight on the tires. She's short, light and, due to the engine being almost half the plane's weight, rather top-heavy on the ground.10.If you scrape the wingtips and bounce around the airfield, you're probably not straight, too fast or leaving the flaps down! My frustration is, I seem to comply with / adhere to all of the above :'( Jim wrote: For practice, use the F-8 view, and press the "Z" key for full zoom. Adjust the F-8 view for Max tail view, using top hat or other control. The key here is to observe the runway, wheels, and wings simultaneaously. It's a very Dynamic view.I haven't tried this yet. I'll go F8 and "Z" to zoom on my next attempt.My guess is that somehow I have a runaway throttle / one that won't go full idle. As I land the latest version of the GeeBee it maintains 60 mph after touch-down and keeps going until I overun (any) runway. I put my toe brakes "to the metal" as soon as all of the wheels are down but I seem to be fighting the thrust of the engine that's supposed to be idling. Also, when I trim it up to the stall limit (80 - 85 mph) in flight and cut the throttle it sinks at a rate of 2 - 5 units (hundreds of feet per minute?) only. A plane trimmed up to the stall limit should sink as a rock with no power. Well, this one doesn't--the stall horn is on and the throttle as far back as it goes but the aircraft hardly sinks. BTW, my default aircraft setting is 75% fuel. I'll try 100% fuel on my next flight to add more weight. Anyway, I'm going to get this right. I'm just puzzled that we seem to be flying different flight models. I found the previous GeeBee beta to be quite manageable but the latest one doesn't quite fly on my PC yet--with you guys it's the other way around. best regards,Hans Petter

[Guest Rich Wren]

Jon you've given us a monster!My congratulations on a fine piece of work. It's all the little details that make this aircraft a joy to look at and fly. The daylight through the cowling is a nice touch, I've not seen that done before, and modelling the cylinders individually really gives a sense of just how big that engine is.I'm happy to say that my first takeoff was almost perfect, I held back to 75% throttle to avoid the worst of the torque and she only needed a small amount of rudder to hold straight. Open the throttle wide as soon as she's clear of the runway and she climbed beautifully. Landing wasn't quite so straightforward though, I'm ashamed to say that on my first attempt to land at Shoreham, the wheels finally touched tarmac halfway down the runway, bounced high, and the next time she came down was in the English Channel. At least she's clean :-) I'll try not to bend it too much in the future, but I'm making no promises.Incidentally, this sort of aircraft really shows up your flying techniques, I didn't realise just how much I rely on the ADI until I didn't have one. I think my rudder skills need some work too.Thanks again for this wonderful aircraft.Rich.

[Guest]

Yes Hans, you must be idling very fast. Just to prove it to myself, I just flew it at a short strip, Half Moon Bay. I came in over the edge higher and faster then I would have liked, maybe 30 feet high, and 105kts, no flaps. ( Yes, Im afraid that I was hotdogging, I am ashamed to say ) Well, I got it down just fine, no wing dragging, using my F-8 tailview technique, and just let it roll out, no brakes. It came to a complete stop, by itself, about 50 yards from the end of the runway, no brakes were ever applied.I think that success comes from getting it down real close to the runway prior to stall, and then the graceful application of up-elevator, between 90 and 80 knots for flare. If you touch it down much before 80 kts, you are going to bounce it. > Jim