Murfman

When that one word was associated with another word, feelThere, it was a different story. Wish they'd start making airplanes again. I realize they look a little dated now, but in their time I thought they were quite nice, particularly ther PIC series. Tom

Matthew, very nice paints. You must be very talented considering the troubles others have mentioned in attempting to do Carenado repaints. I am much enjoying them, and I so much appreciate your contribution to the community. Thank you! Tom

@ Daniales, The proper way to shut down this bird is to use the start switches. First make sure that the start mode switch ( the one between the two start switches) is in the ground position. Right click on one of the start switches so it goes to the off position and hold for a few seconds. Then as the engine winds down, below 35% RPM, I believe, move the power lever into the beta position (F2) and then back into Ground Idle. Your engine and prop will now be in the start lock position, ready for the next start. I saw a video in which the pilot shut down both engines at once and then moved both power levers into the beta position and then left them there. You can do this, too, but you have to press the start switches separately and then press F2 to move both levers back simultaneously. After your next start, don't forget to move the power levers back into beta momentarily and then into GI, or you won't be able to advance the levers to full power (because they'd still be in start lock). Good luck, Tom

I, too, have been longing to see this airport make its way into FSX and P3D. I think I can offer you guys some hope. The following link is from an AirDailyX notice about Bill Womack's upcoming KACK. Check out the last paragraph of the story. http://www.airdailyx.net/fsnewsbreaker/2016/8/9/bill-womacks-kack-hes-back?rq=%20KPDX Regards, Tom

Todd, I just discovered your post after coming back to this subforum upon downloading V2 of the Phemom 100. This is a treasure of a find and no doubt will prove to be quite useful but, no doubt, a little frustrating when I likely discover the disparity between the real package and the one implemented by Carenado. Nevertheless, thank you very much for the link. Regards, Tom

For starters, the FSX version won't model circuit breakers.

Great news! I've been looking forward to this ever since I first saw the screen shots over a year ago, which caused me to get drool all over my keyboard every time I looked at (longed for) them.

There are some Jar Design videos on YouTube featuring X-life. You can get an idea from these of what it's like. In one sequence I saw, an ATR turboprop liner was being tracked. Unfortunately the props weren't turning, which looked kind of strange. This is, I suppose a drawback of using planes meant for static scenery. I wonder if JAR will figure out a solution for this.

SABA?

Mike, If you have the time and inclination, there's an extemely detailed 3-part review of the MD-80 on the Flightsim481 you tube channel. Here's a link to the first video: Good luck on your decision. Regards, Tom

Don't forget the freeware airports by Mister X6. Off the top of my head they are Juneau (PAJN), Portland (KPDX), San Francisco (KSFO), Los Angeles (KLAX), and San Diego (KSAN). There are others, but I can't remember without looking them up. You'll find them on the org or Aerosoft freeware page under a different author name. They are unbelievable good for freeware. Happy flying! Tom

A portion of this video appeared yesterday on CBS Morning. No one bothered to explain who Austin Meyer was; pretty sure the general population has no idea. It was actually a stunt done on a private road with a "safety" pilot in the right seat. http://youtu.be/ifpBWxTKhLU

Those of you who are considering moving to P3DV3 mainly because of improved memory management should consider FSX:SE. Those who think that memory management in this version of FSX hasn't been signiificantly improved are IMHO mistaken. Pilots, let me introduce you to Jordan King, if you haven't yet. He has his own YouTube site by that name. In several of his videos he puts FSX:SE some rigorous testiing. Below is one of them.

Thanks to D'Andre of AirDailyX for bringing this to my attention. If you go to your Carenado aircraft download page you will not notice anything different, but you may notice the number of available downloads has increased. When you download the Extension Pack you will find that it is now v. 1.2. I haven't tried it yet, but I did install it. I bought the original Nav Pack but didn't install it because of all the problems people were having. Apparently it makes some changes to the aircraft as well, so it is recommended to uninstall and reinstall the aircraft before adding the new extension pack. Here's what D'Andre had to say: "Fixes: - Problem with the Flight Plan when trying to add or modify some waypoints (it was deleted) -LOADING message in inset map was showing all the time. -Some departure procedures shows NONE in the options lists. -CRS knobs updated. -Windows order were redefined. - Minor bugs fixed. Customers should download the package again from the link provided. Downloads and installations were increased. You should uninstall the aircraft before installing this new version." Here's hoping we get better results with this version! Tom

Bert, thanks for going to the trouble to test this. Given the track record of Alabeo/Carenado vs. Flight One when it comes to systems authenticity, I'll have to go with the latter. I've sent my bug list into Alabeo. Hope it does some good. Tom @ n4gix, thanks for your comment. It's nice to have further confirmation! Regards, Tom

Well, Bert, at first glance that does seem illogical, I admit, but when you are in FLC mode for this aircraft, the function of the Nose Up and Nose Down keys changes to setting the commanded speed for the auto pilot. Thus repeated tapping of the nose up button increases the commanded speed which appears at the top of the airspeed scale. Now, I know that you understand that to get the aircraft to increase speed at a given power setting, the autopilot must execute a nose down command to the elevator when operating in FLC Mode. I have demonstrated this to myself numerous times, and of course I scratched my head over it at first. If you think of it in the context of increasing speed, maybe the act of pressing the button with the word "up" in it isn't so illogical. : ) From the all too brief autopilot manual: "10) FLC Key: Activates the Flight Level Change, when you have a higher altitude previously selected will also hold the current speed which can be modified with 9 or 11." "10)" is the reference number in the pictorial diagram for the FLC button. "9" and "11" are the ref numbers for the Nose Up and Nose Down buttons. While in VS Mode the buttons behave as you would expect, i.e., tapping the Nose Up button results in a pitch up command of 100 FPM for each tap, which shows up in the annunciator. I hope this was clear. Or were you pulling my leg? In any case, thanks for your interest! Regards, Tom

Thanks, Gunther, I'll give that a try and report back when I get a chance. Tom

Hi, all, Tim of FS Mania, when making his tutorial/review of the Phenom 100 mentioned that he leaves the Yaw Damper alone because he can rarely disengage it, even when he turns it off, and it doesn't show up any longer on the annunciator at the top of the PFD. I noticed the same thing when using the Phenom 300. While trying to learn the tricks of Alabeo's new C400 Corvalis, I was having a similar problem. After using the autopilot I found that I had almost no rudder control on landing, something which is really noticeable in that plane because it doesn't have nose wheel steering. Now, while it's true that the C400 doesn't have a yaw damper, there is a similar kind of problem going on here. Well, you might be glad to know that there is a fix for the problem, both on the Corvalis , the Phenom 300, and probably for the P100, although I haven't actually tried it on that plane yet. A nice, helpful fellow with the handle JYW came to the rescue. He said there is a known bug with FSX's yaw damper, and that there is a work-around by using a key press. The default key press for toggling the yaw damper is Ctrl D. I tried this on both planes, and I am happy to say that it worked! Happy Flying Tom

Well, I put JYW's suggestion to the test, and I'm very happy to say, "It Works!" :smile: Also, he was correct in that the default key press to disconnect the, in this case, "phantom" Yaw Damper, is in fact Ctrl D. If you don't mind this little cheat, I think you will be happy with this bird, provided you follow my above advice on using the G1000. I certainly am! Admittedly the simulation of the avionics suite is not complete by any means, but it certainly has enough detail to be interesting and enjoyable. If you want a study sim, then this won't be for you, of course. My heartfelt thanks again to JYW for his help in solving this problem. Regards, Tom ​

Hey, JYW, this is great news! I haven't tried this yet, but if it works (and I really have no reason to doubt you), I would definitely recommend this bird as a must buy. Thanks so much for the explanation. If the fault is with FSX, it doesn't sound as though it's something Alabeo will be able to fix. Now I'm beginning to wonder how many other payware planes are affected by this bug, and I just didn't notice. : / And, Lewicide, I'm glad you found my explanation helpful. Thanks for the feedback. Regards, Tom

Sorry the text was so messed up in my post. I wrote it using Notepad and then pasted into the edit box. Not sure why that didn't work. The reason I did it that way was that I have lost a number of long posts previously after clicking the Post button. It was just my. insurance that I wouldn't have to do it all over again.

In another thread in this sub-forum I attempted to give a quick assessment of the newly released C400 Corvalis. Since it had a G1000 system which looked pretty much like other Carenado/Alabeo G1000 systems, I thought that should be pretty easy to do. What threw me was that the Corvalis has a control unit with features like no other version, to my knowledge anyway. My thanks go to JYW for pointing this out to me. What I reported was that you can't create a flight plan with the FMS knobs, because all they do is adjust radio frequencies. I assumed that this was a bug, when in fact it's part of the set of choices the GCU 476 control unit gives you. The control unit is the panel with the data entry keypad. On the center left of this panel are four buttons labeled PFD, MFD, NAV, and COM. By default COM is active, and this is indicated by a small white triangle. When you push any of those four buttons, a triangle lights up beside it. So, when COM is active, that means that the FMS knobs, both inner and outer adjust the COM frequencies, and pushing the inner knob makes the standby frequency active. To get the FMS knobs to work to create waypoints on the MFD, you must press the MFD button. The NAV button lets you adjust the NAV radios, and the PFD button is supposed to let you make adjustments on the PFD, but as far as I can tell, I don't think it's modelled. Anyway, I feel I owe an apology to Alabeo for wrongly reporting on several features of the G1000 avionics suite. This was due to the haste of my assessment. It was done late at night before going to bed. Now after having spent a few hours with this plane, I have to say that I really like it. That's not to say that there aren't any problems, but I have to say that most of the important features of the G1000 seem to work, including the autopilot, and using them, you can have an enjoyable flight. My main gripe is the loss of full rudder authority after using the autopilot. Just to make sure I wasn't imagining this I flew a closed circuit and did three takeoffs and landings. On all takeoff and landing rolls I had plenty of rudder authority. But after doing this test I took off and engaged the autopilot and then immediately shut it off. After that I had minimal rudder control; in fact the plane acted as if it had a yaw damper. I could move the stick without touching the pedals and my turns were coordinated. How do I know this? By the little slip and skid bar just below the bank angle pointer on the PFD. After landing I had only the slightest amount of rudder authority and had to steer with toe brakes, and actually this works pretty well. The problem would be trying to land in a stiff cross wind. THE AUTOPILOT In my initial report I said that many of the autopilot functions, including FLC, Altitude hold, Altitude Select, didn't work. The problem, I later discovered, is that even though you think you have pushed an autopilot function button, it doesn't always register. The key here is to check the annunciator at the top of the Primary Flight Display (PFD). Make sure that the function you thought you selected is in fact displayed. The following are modes which I tested successfully: Pitch Mode (PIT). While on the ground when you press the FD button you will see ROL and PIT displayed on the annunciator. It's important to know that if, after takeoff, you turn on the autopilot, the plane will not maintain any particular pitch. You have to tell it what pitch you want, and the best time to do this is when you are on the ground. You can do this one of two ways: with FD on, press the Nose Up key until the ADI pitch bar is at ten degrees, or press the GO AROUND button on the flap panel. This will accomplish the same thing; you don't even have to turn on the flight director. Pressing this button will do it for you. If you want to select an altitude in this mode, merely twist the altitude select knob until you see your desired altitude at the top of the altimeter scale. You should then see ALTS on the right side of the annunciator. After takeoff and reaching a safe altitude engage the autopilot, select HDG or NAV and check the annunciator. It should say something like this HDG AP PIT ALTS. Make sure the ALTS is still there; sometimes it disappears. If it does so, just twist the altitude select knob one click and then back again, and it should reappear. You will find that even in pitch mode your plane will level off very nicely at your selected altitude. If you set your power to 25 inches and 2500 rpm during the climb you'll find that your speed will settle in at about 100 knots, which is close to the best rate of climb (101 knots). FLC Mode (FLC) I recommend you start with pitch mode, and when your speed stabilizes, switch to FLC, and you will find that your airspeed will be captured very nicely. Then if you want to change your airspeed press the Nose Up and Nose Down keys. Pressing the Nose Up key will increase the speed displayed at the top of the airspeed scale. This will result, of course in the nose coming down to pick up airspeed at a given power setting. Don't be fooled by the label Nose Up. In this mode as well as Pitch mode your selected altitude will be captured nicely. Just be sure to check that ALTS is showing on the annunciator. ALT Mode. I earlier reported that this doesn't work. I was mistaken. When you press ALT on the autopilot panel, it will definitely capture the altitude you were at when you pressed it. My problem was that I didn't check the annunciator to make sure my key press actually registered. PLANNING A FLIGHT. If you are familiar with Carenado's implementation of the G1000, you will have no or little trouble with this unit. I am admittedly still a little clumsy using the G1000, so I don't know if I was the problem or if the unit is a little glitchy at times. My guess is that I was the problem. Nevertheless I was able to accomplish my intended goals through trial and error. You can create a flight plan from scratch or just load an FSX plan. I tried both and made sure that I was able to modify an FSX plan. When I asked ATC for a specific approach, I was vectored to a transition VOR, and that gave me a chance to try the Direct To function, and I have to say that it worked perfectly. I then entered a GPS approach, activated it, and the autopilot followed it all the way to final. When on final I tuned to the ILS frequency after switching out of GPS mode using the CDI button (I know, this is incorrect, but it seems this is how Alabeo/Carenado handle this function). I then pressed APP, and the autopilot did a beautiful job of tracking the ILS. On short final I disengaged and hand flew to a successful landing (with a smile on my face, of course). One thing I should caution. Before doing any of the above, be sure to turn on the Avionics switch on the overhead. The MFD will display with the switch off, but you can't do anything with it. BUG REPORT If I were to send in a bug report to Alabeo, which I intend to do, I would have to list the rudder problem as the most important. Even with this bug, this little bird is a blast to fly. I'm really having fun with it, but this is a really serious bug and needs to be fixed. A few other little gripes which don't seriously detract: 1) You get a low fuel warning when your fuel level drops just below half, which seem a little extreme to me. 2) The FMS knobs on the GCU 476 unit don't work on the 2D pop-up, which I like to drag over to a second monitor. They work fine on the VC unit, but then you can't see the effect of turning them while you're looking directly at the unit to adjust the knobs. 3) You can't adjust the fan speed on the ECS panel. The fan is quite noisy, so I leave it off. On a positive note, with the panel lights on at night, the flap handle has an illuminated flashing line on it when the flaps are in transit. It looks pretty cool. Another positive: the speed brakes are the same style as the Lancair Legacy, and they are effective! My recommendation: Buy this plane if Alabeo fixes the flap problem. Again, it is a really fun aircraft! Thanks for reading. I hope this little review was helpful if you're considering buying. Regards, Tom ​

Kevin, you are not alone. I get the same warning when the fuel gets a little below half. I'm not sure this is a bug or a design decision by Alabeo. To me, though, it's just a small annoyance. As long as I'm getting an accurate reading on the gauges, I'm OK. Tom

Hi, I jumped for this; wish I had waited for Ryan to jump in. It flies nice, but there are problems with auto flight. The first problem I had was with attempting to enter a flight plan. Neither FMS knob (inner or outer) functioned properly. When I turned the inner knob, instead of opening up the waypoint page, it tuned the standby com frequency, and the large knob did the same. Pushing on the inner knob resulted in a frequency swap. I was forced to create an FSX flight plan, which the auto pilot followed just fine. I tried out a lot of autopilot functions, but most don't work correctly. FLC will not level off at the selected altitude. Even pressing the alt button won't cause a level-off. The only way I could get the autopilot to level off was to use VS mode and hit the Up and Down buttons until the climb or descent was zero. The rate is selected in 100 FPM increments, and it shows up in the annunciator section at the top of the PFD. When you first turn on the autopilot you find yourself in pitch mode. The video that's out shows that there is no nosewheel steering, and, indeed, that is correct; however, if you have rudder pedals you should have no trouble steering with brakes. I suspect the guy in the video didn't have them. This reminds me of another problem. Rudder authority while making your take-off run is fine, but when you when you land, after having used the autopilot, you lose it. You will find that you have to tap your brakes to steer, even with considerable airspeed on the ground. I wonder if this is related to the problem that Tim of FS Mania brought up in regard to the Phenom 100. Once you switch on the yaw damper, you often can't switch it off, even though the annunciator shows it as being off. I had the same experience in the P300. I realize the C400 has no yaw damper, but it seems a similar sort of problem. Anyway that's my quick impression. Now I'm heading to bed. It's after midnight. Here's hoping for a quick patch! Regards, Tom

@Rob I was not saying that you were the guy using the name "Screenshot Artist," but that,IMHO, your talent is the equal of his. Tom