Dark Moment

Yeah, it's not easy to get that right, I confess. In flightsim it's too easy to come in high without realising it and even when on the correct glide path, the old bird needs plenty of time and careful trim and power control to approach at realistic settings. It's good to hear of pilots like yourself paying such attention to the proper numbers, though. We've tried hard to get the MAAM-SIM lady to fly as accurately as possible in all phases of flight, and she's not far off. Maybe just make sure you get that MAP down to 25 early in the downwind leg, and don't be afraid to deploy your first notch of flaps likewise.Good luck!MarkP.S. And yes, I meant to mention that tail-wheel!

Hi CorkeryMark Beaumont here, MAAM-SIM volunteer and VP Fleet over at DC-3 AIrways (www.dc3airways.com)Some things to check:1. Landing speed. Should be 75-80 knots, flaps down, land on main wheels, bring the tail down gently. 2. Crosswind. Max crosswind permissible about 25knots, so you are fine at 7knots but should allow for it.3. You should never need to use anything like full rudder deflection. Rudder will have effect on direction until you drop below 40knots on the runway. Thereafter your steering must be by throttles and toe brakes. You DO need independent throttle control to steer effectively.4. Avoid any use of ailerons on the runway after landing.5. Calibration of your pedals. Although if they are working fine for other aircraft, that should not be an issue.6. Realism settings. The aircraft IS (like any other in FS) much less forgiving if you have your realism sliders maxed. Try them halfway, or even on zero setting for more comfortable control.Prop rotation does pull the aircraft to one side on takeoff (although not as badly as a P-51!) but this should not be an issue on landing where you have throttled back until ready to taxi.I'm assuming, of course, that you do know all the basics i.e. landing upwind, etc. and are flying a proper approach. Landing speed is important. Like the real aircraft, she'll bounce like a baby if you come in too fast, giving you little ground contact (DC-3 tyres are only inflated to 40PSI, less than your bicycle, probably).Hope this helps a bit. Let us know how you get on, and check in at DC-3 Airways to meet some real DC-3 jockeys who can advise you far better than I!BestMark "Dark Moment" Beaumont

Theo, it was done but never uploaded. I'm afraid for many reasons FS has had to take a back seat for me for some time now. When time allows, you'll see more from MAAM-SIM on the DC-3 but I'm afraid I can't give you a firm time right now. Sorry to disappoint... :(Mark

Hi DennisWe must apologise for not having got to making up paint kits for the later C-47 versions as yet. A number of things have got in the way, rather, although we do hope to release something down the road. Bear with us, if you will, and thanks for your interest.Mark

Zzzzzz... Eh? What? Oh gosh, I'd better get out of bed then. Is it that time already? :)Well done Avsim... fantastic performance, and here's hoping we see lots of MAAM-SIM friends at the finest show in the country next weekend.Mark

Hi WillemCongratulations on wanting to learn texture painting! It's very rewarding, when you get it right, but does indeed take some experience to learn what is what!First thing: you will be better to use something else besides MS Paint. This program is VERY limited in what it can do for you. You need a better graphics program. There are some fairly cheap ones out there - you don't HAVE to have Adobe Photoshop - indeed, I myself use a ten-year-old version of Ulead Photoimpact! Others use Paint Shop Pro, or one of the dedicated FS programs... a free graphics program of good quality is to be found at www.gimp.orgYou are on the right track, though, have no fear. Basically, the procedure is:1. In DXTBmp preferences, choose your graphics editor of choice. By default, this is MS Paint, but if you try Gimp or another, then link to that.2. Load the FS extended bitmap that you want to paint in DXTBmp (presuming that you are starting from a template or existing file - you can start from scratch, but I don't recommend that while you are learning! Also, back up any file that already belongs to another plane, before painting on it!).3. Export the file to your graphics program. Yes, it will appear there as NORM.BMP4. Do your editing. At any time, you can SAVE the file and reimport it to DXTBmp, save it as an extended bitmap again, and look at it in FS. DO NOT CLOSE THE NORM.BMP file in your editor, though. This way, you can keep repeating your edits and going through the save process to check your work.5. When you are finally finished, you can close the NORM.BMP file in your editor once you have finally reimported the file to DXTBmp and saved it as an extended bitmap again. It is a temporary file, however, and will disappear; so if you want to keep a copy of it for later, you can save it somewhere under another name. This will not save, note, as a usuable file in FS, but as a working, 24-bit file. So to repeat the process:1. Open FS texture file in DXTBmp2. Export to your graphics editing program of choice3. Edit the file, saving but not closing the NORM.BMP file. Keep DXTBmp and FS running (for checking your progress) in the background (that's what I do, anyway).4. Reimport to DXTBmp. Save back to an FS file.There is a lot more to it, of course; alpha channels for reflections (which can be treated in the same way), different types of extended bitmaps, to use or not to use mipmaps, etc. etc. But get yourself started and see how you go.If I recall, Tom Gibson has some good painting tutorials over at his CalClassics site. Used to have, anyway, I'm a bit out of touch!Hope this helps a little for now, anyway. Good luck! It's all experience and practice. I learned everything I know personally by trial and error, mostly error :(Mark

Eric, I'm curious to what other problems the OLDMODULES trick caused for you. I've used that since I was knee high to a grasshopper on several installations and several computers and never had any issues. Can you pin it down for our reference? Thanks.Mark

Hi LluisWell, you'd certainly not be taking your passengers above FL100... not often, anyway, although it has been done on commercial flights for sure. Not so comfy, though. But the aircraft itself has a service ceiling of approximately 24,000 feet (design spec.. pilots tell me 22,000 feet is more like it). You'd need oxygen up there, of course. The C-47B with its two-stage blowers was specifically designed for the high altitude flying in Nepal over 'The Hump' after WWII. The R4D-6 is the Navy designation of this aircraft.Do get yourself into our forum over at DC-3 Airways (thanks, I got your message). There are many specific charters written for The Hump and for other high alititude journeys, and you'll learn a lot about power management and navigation while mountain flying in the Gooney Bird.Hope this helps.Mark

Hi LouisInteresting post, thanks.The real world Pratt & Whitneys should have the same care that your instructor seeks from you in your 210. We have a few real world C-47 pilots in our gang over at DC-3 Airways (www.dc3airways.com, where you'll find the skies filled with MAAM-SIM aircraft!) and they are very insistent about the need to reduce power gradually - in pretty well all conditions - to avoid shock cooling and the possible disastrous consequences of that. Having cracked engine hardware flung at you by your mechanic is not condusive to good health.Your virtual R4D-6 will not - to date - fall out of the sky if you mismanage your engines in this way, but we're working on further refinements for the dedicated FSX version in due course. Many have asked for "engine failure" possibilities to be built into the models. As you'll know, the likes of prop RPM, mixture, icing/carb heat, cowl flap drag and so on work realistically already; but we know there's more we can do with FSX. Give it time.In the meantime, most of the virtual flyers I know try to operate by the book to get the practice in!Good luck with your R/W transition.Mark Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Others who run Vista (I don't) may comment, Wolfgang, but have you made the necessary alteration to your FSX.CFG file in the new install to accommodate FSSound.dll?Instructions for this are in the installation instructions, if I recall. Otherwise please post again and I'll lay it out here.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Jaeg, when all else fails, there's always the manual :)Do remember, all, that Bill Rambow spent many months of his life and marriage putting together a fabulous manual for the R4D-6 package. It's there for the reading!From the manual, Jaeg:ADJUSTING CONTROL FORCE SENSITIVITY The three SPEED VALVE control wheels at the bottom edge of the unit are used to vary the sensitivity of the Sperry's hydraulic controls. Since it was designed specifically for this plane and panel, Arne has made the center setting of the Mark III's wheels normal for the R4D. Just click on the center of a wheel to set it to normal. When loading the R4D into FS, the wheels will be centered by default. Each wheel controls one axis and is situated below the corresponding gauge and control knob. Rotating the wheels toward a higher number, by clicking repeatedly on their right sides make the controls more sensitive, while clicking on the left makes them less so. You may hold the mouse button down for continuous movement. Don't be thrown by that arrow and the "sensitivity increase" label in relation to the mouse points. Think of the mouse points as where you would initially place your finger to rotate the wheel in the desired direction. Practice using the wheels in conjunction with the "RUD", "AIL", and "ELE" knobs to fine tune your control. Anyone can set digital readouts and push lighted buttons on a modern AP -- but it takes a virtuoso to master the Sperry's wheels and knobs to make the Douglas do your bidding!Arne also provided a copy of the relevant pages from a vintage manual sent to him by Danny Hecht. (see the manual for these, Jaeg)MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

You da man, Tim. Every one is better than the last!MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

BruceYou should not have to uninstall SP2. Can it be something to do with the order in which you have installed things, I wonder? Or might you have not applied the fix to all texture folders that you use?I can't think why your problem remains, otherwise, but we'll stay on top of it if you have further comments.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Hi BruceAre you running FSX with SP2 or Acceleration Pack (which includes SP2)? If so, look here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...g_id=5861&page=Let us know, though, in case you need further help.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

A pal of mine who is a Concorde fanatic is thinking of getting into Flight Simulator for the first time simply to fly this aircraft. OK, I did nudge him a little. Big learning curve ahead, for sure, but I'll give him a hand. :)This said, I have rarely flown the aircraft myself to date, despite my admiration of the thing; simply because I tend to fly low and slow most of the time, and haven't paid much attention to the various flightsim versions. So I post just to ask the advice of those who know: what are the Concorde options for FS2004, either freeware or payware?Thanks muchly for any input...MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

A pal of mine who is a Concorde fanatic is thinking of getting into Flight Simulator for the first time simply to fly this aircraft. OK, I did nudge him a little. Big learning curve ahead, for sure, but I'll give him a hand. :)This said, I have rarely flown the aircraft myself to date, despite my admiration of the thing; simply because I tend to fly low and slow most of the time, and haven't paid much attention to the various flightsim versions. So I post just to ask the advice of those who know: what are the Concorde options for FSX (if any), either freeware or payware?Thanks muchly for any input...MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Ah, TestFlyer, let me count the ways we love you. A purist! Usually, the question is phrased the other way around!Look for the CONTACT POINTS first line. Perhaps yours reads like this:[contact_points]//GEARpoint.0=1.0, -37.0, 0.0, -1.0, 1575.0, 0.0, 0.75, 40.0, 0.22, 2.5, 0.7, 33.0, 33.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0Make a single change, as shown below (180.00 instead of 40.00):[contact_points]//GEARpoint.0=1.0, -37.0, 0.0, -1.30, 1575.0, 0.0, 0.75, 180.0, 0.22, 2.5, 0.7, 33.0, 33.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0All should now be well, and realistic once more.MarkEDIT: One thing I notice also in this comparison is that the fourth number, -1.0 in the first example, is changed to -1.30 in the second. It is so long since I fiddled with all this that I cannot remember offhand, but think this was to cure a floating tailwheel. Bill? Jan? You could test this, anyway, TestFlyer (that being your name!) as I don't have a working FS just now.... hardware problems.Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

I don't have these lights personally, Jan, but am interested to know if you found an answer elsewhere. Sorry no one could help here.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

AlanI guess there could be a number of reasons for this depending on your various settings, where you are flying, etc. etc. Maybe check:1. Fuel load. If you do not preset fuel loads and selectors but use MS default, MS will empty the left tank first.2. Mixture settings. Check assigments and sensitivities in the sim for the left mixture control, particularly if you have it set up for an axis control such as a throttle quadrant lever. I sometimes find that mine reverses itself for no apparent reason. FS has a few glitches like that.Also check in the sim that you are correctly setting mixture on that engine for your altitude.3. Where are you flying? Need carb heat? Watch out for outside air temperature getting too far below zero...Other than that, we can guarantee that the P&W supplied with your aircraft has been thoroughly checked out before delivery and has very few hours on it! Do let us know whether any of this helps.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Thanks for your good efforts, Hartwig. You'll be pleased to know that you have motivated the team to come ashore from their luxury yachts and climb out of their Beverly Hills swimming pools for a day or two to generate an offical SP2/Acc mod for these two aircraft. Several external (SPOT view) issues will remain when the aircraft are used in FSX... this is to do with the changes in the FSX model/textures compilation, and is part of why we want to eventually rebuild the aircraft completely for FSX... but at least users will have the transparency effect i.e. view out from the VC, that they seek.You'll note that your own files remove any glass reflectivity completely; we'll refine that to give the windows reflective effect from the inside. But again, thanks for your inventiveness! We are pleased to note how well the B-25 flies in FSX, incidentally, considering that it was originally a FS2002 model. Kudos to the legendary Rob Young!MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Well, hi, 1378!Yep, I think there's no problem if using FSInn.You should get online more at DC-3 Airways! There are several sessions a week, often attracting between 10-20 aircraft which makes life interesting in the pattern! For the Airlift reenactment, there were many more, I think. Didn't have the time to fly it myself. I've flown with up to 25 aircraft, however, which is a lot of fun.See you in the crowded skies. Just keep your separation :)MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Hi DomingosAll your questions will be answered if you dig around in the forum over at DC-3 Airways. Start at www.dc3airways.comWe renact the Berlin Airlift annually, to a great level of accuracy and detail, and over a number of sessions; I'll be interested to see what BAV come up with! Bill has pointed you at a couple of good liveries there, although there are other military liveries available to you in our "free stuff" collection at MAAM-SIM.As for the flying triangle - this is a Squawkbox issue, yes, and only relevant to seeing other DC-3s when in VATSIM. We did have a chap sort that out for us at DC-3 Airways, but I'm damned if I can find the file offhand. If I do, I'll post again. SB itself has never corrected the issue.There's no problem in regular multiplayer, although it can be prudent to configure other planes to be seen as default rather than MAAM-SIM, when using a less powerful computer. Hope this helps a little. You will have got the message, above, that all serious DC-3 fliers should join our VA! Although some of our pilots - a number of whom are real DC-3 pilots - take their flying very seriously, we also have a lot of fun too. We like to think that our forum is one of the most useful on the web for the DC-3 and flightsim in general (just like this one, eh, Bill?!) so even a read through should give you some interesting information about your favourite plane.MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

There's a SP2 for Vista?All that springs to mind (I don't use Vista personally) is that you may need to configure your FSX.CFG file to recognise FSSound.dll. Have you done that?MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

They look fabulous, Tim! Glad to see you back on DC-3s... :)MarkMark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]

Well, my teaser title is not quite my question, but it's relevant.I write this note on behalf of our "think-tank" at MAAM-SIM. OK, that's the same bunch of volunteers that do everything else, but let's pretend we have brains too.To date, MAAM-SIM has produced the Mitchell B-25, Douglas R4D-6/DC-3A and Grumman TBM/TBF Avenger. All of these work in FS2004, and the first two have been upgraded for FSX. The Avenger will be, presently.There is a difference, however, between upgrading an FS2004 model for FSX and producing a model that is specifically designed for FSX.There is little doubt in our minds (what's left of them... thinking hurts) here at MAAM-SIM that the main reason for the group's established reputation has been the progressive development of the best DC-3 model for flightsim; from FS2000 on. Those of you who have supported MAAM over the years will be more than glad to hear, I think, that the DC-3 is top of our list for an all-singing, all-dancing FSX model. Albeit that we have other plans also (a P-61 in due course being an obvious development) our current priority is to get working on a new model of the DC-3 that can take advantage of everything the newest sim has to offer. Despite the presence of a default DC-3 in the last two versions of the sim, we continue to think this progressive development important and worthwhile. If anything, it seems that the default version steers interested parties toward our more complex product, so is to the museum's advantage.As more and more of you are using FSX now, I trust that this is good news. Importantly - and this is the reason for this thread - now is YOUR chance to give us input into what you would like to see in any next generation of DC-3s from MAAM-SIM. Will you post here with your ideas? I've asked the same question over at DC-3 Airways, whose members are known to be partial to the Gooney; between you all, we should achieve some quality input, I trust!As food for thought, we'll most likely consider a couple of different panel variations, for a start, and not limit the product to the R4D panel... although that will be there, of course. No promises of anything too radically different, as varying designs and layouts have to be achieved in VC also, of course, which can be massive work in itself; but, certainly, we'll work on some variations.Textures will be more detailed than ever, as FSX allows the potential to go to 2048 texture sizes (don't worry, you'll have that new computer you promised yourself by the time we finish this bird!). We'll hope to produce a ski version, perhaps... maybe a mosquito sprayer.... specific C47A and C47B types, maybe. More animations. New sounds. Let's have your thoughts. What is missing, in the present model, for you? How would you improve things, in a perfect world? I don't guarantee for a moment that we'll be able to comply with every request or idea posted here (the mention of the words 'Basler Turbo' produces very strange reactions from Maestro Visser in Holland, for example, who is a radial nut like the rest of us!) but all comments will go into the pot and will help enormously. Thanks in advance, and we'll be interested to hear what you come up with!Don't rush your input. This is a new and major project for MAAM-SIM, so we're talking many months rather than weeks before you'll see a finished product. If MS throw any more curved balls at us in the meantime, we'll be ready for them, hopefully! Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontVP Fleet, DC-3 AirwaysTeam Member, MAAM-SIM[a href=http://www.swiremariners.com/cx.html" target="_blank]http://www.paxship.com/avsimlogo.jpg[/a]