Status of the B747-400 "final" (act. version: V1.17)

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello FU3 friends,it

[Hans_Petter 1]

Looks fabulous! Please send me a beta version and I'll be happy to take her for a test flight :-)Hans Petter

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Looks like the FU3 flagship just improved by another giant leap! RobD.

[Guest jonpoint]

:-jumpy :-jumpy :-jumpyFantastic, Ansgar! As usual, you have moved that bar one notch higher ;) This looks fantastic!Please email me a link as my mail is dodgy at the moment (my office mail is about to be closed any day).Thanks again. I had some glider previews to load today but after seeing this :-eek, I'm going to get some better ones tonight :-):-waveJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Ansgar,You are damn right that I would like to beta test this plane ! Maybe I could test the low speed handling characteristics, and the other best testers can take it up higher and faster ! :-lolI have just returned from a long weekend at my brothers house in Scotland, so feel free to send me the current version....in the new Virgin Atlantic colour scheme if possible :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello friends! :Dthanks for your nice comments! It seems you like it also. ;-)Wait until you can fly it...the improvement of realism is really noticable with this nice photorealistic shots around.Inbetween I finished also the crash models and... @Chris:Yes I also finished a second livery "Virgin Atlantic - Calypso Queen" for it.A little time I still need to give you the upload link, because I didn

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Ansgar,Actually, I was hoping for "Lady Penelope", the NEW Virgin Atlantic colour scheme. Will this be an option in the finished version ?Nice picture :-)Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Ansgar]

Hi Chris,ahhhh gezzzz...I did the wrong one?! :DI

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Ansgar,Never mind, I will just have to wait for Lady Penelope. I'm sure that I won't mind what colour scheme is on the plane when I get to fly it.Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Ansgar]

Chris, and all the other beta testers:I just noticed a problem concerning the size of my newest creation!The file is actually about minimum 17MByte!!! (quality seems to have it

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Could we get Chris to write the "how to fly" file? That would save some space (sorry Chris) :) If there are distribution problems due to size, one solution might be to add it to Cristian's next distribution disk.RobD.

[Christopher Low 5,353]

Good point Robert. It might go something like this.1. Start your engines (press the "e" key, which is situated to the left of the coffee cup holder).2. Contact the tower by pressing the "spacebar" on your dashboard.3. Tell those idiots in the tower which runway you ARE going to use, and inform them that you expect to be able to take off AS SOON AS YOU ARRIVE AT THE RUNWAY THRESHOLD.4. Release the parking brake (press the "b" key).....why don't real planes have simple keyboard controls like this ?5. IMPORTANT....Do NOT touch the trim controls. These are already set up for take-off, and a nice cruise speed of 150 knots :-)6. When you taxi onto the runway, apply a steadily increasing amount of power. Do NOT slam the throttle up to 100 per cent power instantly. Those engines took Ansgar ages to make.7. Let the plane take off by itself, and then reduce power to compensate for the rapid rise of the nose.8. Maintain a steady climb rate by constantly adjusting engine power.9. NEVER, EVER climb to an altitude greater than 5000 feet. If you do, you will notice some strange effects on the horizon (depending on whether you installed the outer terrain scenery pack or not). You will either see an ugly demarcation line where the lovely high resolution scenery meets some kind of weird wasteland, or else an equally ugly expanse of repeating scenery that, well......just looks silly.10. You will receive BONUS POINTS for maintaining an altitude of 2000 feet over flat terrain. This will enable you to see my superb airfield and airport upgrades as you fly, and you may also be lucky enough to be overtaken by an AI Cessna :-)11. When you get bored of flying, you may want to try landing. The first thing to do here is PANIC. Landing is an art. It isn't something that any old idiot that messes around with trim controls can do. You need to have AT LEAST an A-Level in "engine power adjustments". You also need to be able to find a suitable runway to land on. Let's not get silly here and try landing the 747 on dirt strips. Some clever gits on this forum think that this is easy, but it isn't. Stupid more like.12. Anyway, contact the tower of the airport of your choice (let's face it, if it ain't got a tower, then it ain't got a runway long enough for your 747.....with the possible exception of Coupeville NOLF).13. Let the tower bloke know that you are coming in, and that it isn't likely to be pretty. BE FIRM HERE. Don't get fobbed off with comments like "....follow my instructions....". Just tell him to get everyone else out of the way, and maybe have a fire truck on standby.14. Join the pattern at the correct location (I have assumed that you are intelligent enough to have realised that DESCENDING TO THE CORRECT PATTERN ALTITUDE is a sensible idea). Don't waste your time with daft options like ILS approaches. These are only for clever gits who think that they really could fly a 747 in an emergency. Put it this way, I hope that my life never depends on one of these people, because simulated CRASHING is more their line of work.15. Line up with the runway (always a good idea, this one). Adjust engine power so that you are approaching with a sensible descent rate. IMPORTANT: If you notice a building or tree in front of you that is "sticking up above the horizon", then this is a great indication that you are TOO LOW ! Apply engine power until the situation is corrected.16. When you have landed (as if), apply thrust reverse (because it sounds dead good) and also foot brakes if the runway is really short (frequent flyers to Bonny Doon Village will know what I'm talking about). If you don't know which key to press for the foot brakes, then be prepared for some cross country driving. Just remember one point. THE BOEING 747-400 WASN'T DESIGNED TO BE DRIVEN ON ANYTHING OTHER THAN TARMAC. Don't blame me if you get mud splattered all over the landing gear. Next time, learn how to fly.17. When you have slowed down sufficiently, reduce power to idle, and stow the thrust reversers (just press that joystick button again).18. Taxi to your parking spot (you have the option here of actually listening to instructions from the tower). Retract your flaps (because this looks dead professional), and park your plane. You get bonus points for stopping the nosewheel right at the end of the big yellow line on the ground. If this is too difficult from inside the cockpit, then just jump outside (press the F5 key), and control your plane from there (I'd like to see those REAL pilots attempt this) :-lol19. Switch off your engines (I do this by pressing "Button 3" on my joystick, but you might have some complicated (and frankly, ridiculous) method of doing this).20. Sit back and admire the view. That wasn't so bad, now was it ? Who needs to fly at Mach 0.82 and 35,000 feet ? You get a much better view at 150 knots and 3,000 feet...even if the plane IS tilted up at a higher angle than normal :-)Thank you for flying with LOW AIRWAYS. Have a nice day.Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Ansgar]

Hello Robert,to prevent any misunderstandings:The upload problem only exists for the Betatesters, not for you or the other users later!During a beta phase I prevent avsim by storing this files at their server and try to send it directly to the testers. Once the version is tested, completed and OK it

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Ansgar - don't read this:Chris, I loved your manual - I have copied it for my reference :-lol . Thanks for that - I should be able to fly the 747 better now. A couple of points weren't clear - what's this business about lining up with the runway? Is that important or can I skip some of these steps? And this business of keeping the 747 on the tarmac - isn't that a bit limiting?Chris - don't read this:And Ansgar - your English is fine and easy to understand. I was joking about getting Chris to write the manual! Also, I am very keen to learn to fly these things as well as possible, so that one day I can be the clever git who takes over flying the plane when both pilots get fish poisoning and the engines catch fire and the wings fall off and they run out of Scotch in first class :-erks

[Guest Ansgar]

@Robert: :D:D:D@Chris:I just tried to fly most close to your advice and the tower crews blame massively....no talk about all the people standing close to the small airfields where I tried to land close to your manner...Minimum it seems to be a spectacular mehtod to handle my nice bird in this way! :D:D:D