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I have FSPS as well, and have modified many an FS aircraft cockpit in my day. Some payware aircraft VCs lend themselves to native modification, but there are others, like Flysimware's Lear, that do not. All of the gauges of the VC are part of one system/.mdl file. It does not look as if any native changes to the VC are possible via FSPS, or by any other way that I know of. That's typical of very systems intensive FS aircraft. I do have some gauges that over the years I have found are all but indispensable, in all of the FS aircraft that I've flown. I've added them to the Lear, but the only way to do it is to add additional windows to the panel.cfg (not the VC sections) and add the gauges that way. It's worked out pretty well for me.

I've had the plane for awhile and I just love it. Its one of the relatively few FS birds I've had that has me interested enough to commit to really learning it. I'm still in the phase of learning to hand fly it. I've just about gotten the hang of that, and will then move on to practicing IMC flying. I've not as yet gotten to the autopilot phase of my "training" program, as I strongly feel that gaining true proficiency with any new FS airplane I purchase (particularly one as complex and as overpowered as this one) starts with understanding the fundamentals of hand flying it. Takeoffs with this bird are indeed a challenge. The Lear can get away from you easily unless you're on your toes. You have to be right on top of the power reduction schedule or you'll be busting the 250 knot limit before you know it. It also wants badly to climb. I've found it to be routine, even with the trim set properly, to be doing 4000+ fpm seconds after I'm airborne, especially at the relatively light gross weight that I practice at. Closely managing the fan (N1) speed is part of the ticket. No sooner than you're airborne and the gear is up, you should immediately get that N1 speed to under 70%. If you want to keep it at under 3000 fpm closer to 60% is better. In no time you'll be at 200 kts. Make sure that the flaps are up by then. I've found that the Lear will easily climb at 3000 fpm, and will continue to accelerate, in the neighborhood of 60-65% fan speed. Mind you' I've been flying it at no more than the maximum landing weight to facilitate pattern work. At the same time you have to be on the trim and putting forward pressure on the yoke immediately after you quit the ground, unless the initial altitude that you're looking for is well above 3000-4000 agl. If you plan, after initial climb out, to level off below 10000 feet it's also essential to plan ahead, and get your N1 speed to the neighborhood of 50-60% (depending on your gross weight) by the time you've stopped your climb. Otherwise she'll blow through 250 knots before you know it. The airfield that I've been practicing from is in the neighborhood of 700' msl. To really challenge myself in getting a handle on the Lear I've practiced takeoffs at 98% N1, at only 14,300 lbs gross, with the goal of leveling off at 2000' msl and at under 250 kts. It's a handful, but It can be done.

I have to confess that I've become spoiled with most of the airplanes that I've flown in FS. I've become too used to digital readouts of, among other things, the radar altitude and mach speed. Flysimware has done a simply amazing job with the Lear; it's amazing. But I still have a way to go in getting re acclimated to the old school, analogue instrumentation, and the Lear's airspeed indicator is unlike that of any aircraft that I've flown. I still haven't quite figured out the correct way to read the mach indicator. Is the actual mach indication at the very top of the curved drum, at the "mach" designator, or is it at the red notch between the 330 and 340 kt indication on the main dial? I'm also a bit confused regarding the radar altimeter on the attitude indicator. When I have it turned on, and am practicing approaches and landings, it doesn't seem to be indicating anything. The numbers don't move, nor does the needle. Mind you, I haven't started practicing ILS approaches just yet. Is it because I don't have any ILS frequency tuned into the NAV? Any help would be much appreciated!

I guess that I'm getting hung up on the "map," or "remap" term. Is it that the tail hook command should automatically work in actuating the steer lock? Should it be already working that way by default?

Hi, thanks for the fast response. I'm familiar with the settings--->keyboard assignments section of FSX. The tail hook is currently assigned to Shift+Q, as is standard, apparently. But with my flight loaded, with the Lear at the runway, I click the Shift+Q command, and nothing happens. I'm assuming that the there is a "assign" or "mapping" step that I have to take elsewhere first--so as to get the steer lock to recognize the Shift+Q keystroke. If so, I don't know where I need to go in FSX to do that. Or is it somewhere else--in the aircraft.cfg or panel.cfg? Please advise. Maybe I'm making this more complicated than it is. Thanks in advance.

I must confess that as many years as I've been a Flight Simulator enthusiast, I've never assigned, or "mapped" a keyboard assignment to one of the controls in the virtual cockpit of an aircraft. The Flysimware Lear 35 manual states that the steer lock switch can be assigned to the keyboard with the "tail hook" assignment, and one of the other folks in the forum mentioned that they were able to do this as well. That, I think, is an all but essential step to take given this feature of the Lear, and all of the multitasking that is also necessary on landing rollout, especially in a crosswind, instrument conditions, etc. I really don't want to have to come to a complete stop on the runway at the end of each landing rollout in order to find the button on the yoke or the pedestal in order to engage it in time to successfully maneuver off the runway. I've practiced moving the eyepoint back, while rolling out, after cancelling the reversers and getting under the 40 knots, then adjusting the power so that it is sufficient to keep moving, then getting the mouse pointer to the button on the yoke--all with the turnoff coming up fast. Of course I have to hold the button down during the turn. It's a real challenge to get the timing right, and make the turn without going into the grass. Adjusting the viewpoint to the pedestal button while moving along on the runway as a recipe for veering off the runway during the time I'm not looking out the window in order to get to that button. It's very cumbersome, and once I start practicing instrument and crosswind landings, it's likely to be a nightmare to figure out and practice. It's becoming clear that using the keyboard command will be the answer. However, I've no idea how to "assign," or "map" it. I'd greatly appreciate such info from one of you gurus out there.

First of all, I'm over the moon with the Lear 35. It's a masterpiece--one of the two or three best addons that I've ever purchased in over twenty years as a Flight Simulator enthusiast. I'm still only scratching the surface of flying this Learjet (by far most authentically modeled for FS), and am still in the process of learning the bird. For me, the first step for a new FS plane is mastering the hand flying part. I'm just now getting the hang of the best takeoff and landing technique for this aircraft. During approach, you definitely have to plan your flap/gear extensions, and well in advance, in order to nail Vref in time and not go off the end of the shorter runways, and to stop in a respectable distance. And as has been noted, she's well overpowered; one has to pay close attention on climbout and be on those power settings so as to not bust the 250 kt limit below 10,000 feet. Otherwise that will happen in no time; this baby wants to go fast. Right now my biggest challenge is getting the nosegear steering re-engaged on landing rollout; I hate having to stop on the runway in order to find and click the white button on the pedestal (I don't have Track IR or the like and have no plans on purchasing it). I'm aware that you can map the function to the tailhook command, but I have no idea how to do it, and I imagine that there must be an easier way. Could anyone offer some suggestions? Thanks in advance.

:Applause: Awesome! I'm licking my chops, with my credit card at the ready! Thanks much.

Hi. For anyone from Flysimware or in the know: I noted that Flysimware has added the Lear 35 to their product page and has released the pilot's manual and paint kit. They've been posted since the beginning of the month, along with the notification that the preview and tutorial videos (along with the Lear itself) are coming soon. In the past, that's meant that release of everything is pretty close. Can anyone offer an estimate on when we can look for it to be available for purchase? Thanks

It looks gorgeous. Flysimware rocks! I've got the FSW Velocity XL, the FSW Cessna 441, and the FSW MU2. You guys drastically improve and raise the bar with each release. I must also say that of all of the vendor releases on the horizon that I've been anxiously following (the Aerosoft CRJ 700/900, the Eaglesoft Citation XLS+, and the Wilco Falcon 7X--which I've just about given up on) your Learjet 35 is the one that I'm most looking forward to, by far. Once you guys announce you've released it, I'll be literally diving for the computer with my credit card in hand. :smile:

I just downloaded and installed version 1.3. The taxi issue is no more. B) Not only is the difference in ground handling of the aircraft like night and day, the improvement in the way it handles in flight is simply astonishing. I took it around the pattern a couple of times, and was grinning to myself the whole time. In 20+ years as a Flight Simulator enthusiast, and having bought and flown more FS airplanes than I can count, I'm hard pressed to recall any plane that I've owned in Flight Simulator that handles as well. The bird is cream smooth in both straight and level and in turns. It was steady as a rock at altitude, even when I was making turns. Ditto on approach; as stable and as honest in handling as one could possibly hope for. I've not had the chance to do a shakedown with the autopilot, or instrument flight yet, but I can't wait. She's a masterpiece. The only outstanding issue that I note at this point is that the beacons still don't oscillate, but I'm sure that'll come in time. For some reason (I don't know why) Flysimware doesn't seem to enjoy the high profile that developers like Carenado or Real Air do. I also own planes from both the latter. For my money, though they're both pretty good in their own right, neither offers the depth of features in their offerings that Flysimware does (especially Carenado). Viva Flysimware; keep up the outstanding work! :-)

Hi all-- I bought the MU-2 just after its release. It's a work of art, inside and out. I've had no problems starting the engines and getting all of the systems up and running. I've only had one (big) issue with it so far; I can't for the life of me find the correct power settings for taxiing the bird. I've watched the engine start training video several times to ensure that there was not some step I missed, or some setting that I have wrong, but cannot figure it out. Every time I've fired it up and have tried to get it moving, it has taken a minimum of 40% torque to get it in motion. That in and of itself would not seem a problem, but once the plane starts moving it accelerates at an alarming rate; within seconds it's moving at 25 knots and would likely exceed 40-50 knots or more if not for the fact that I've stood on the brakes. :huh: I've ensured that the condition levers are set at taxi, and no more. Numerous attempts have yielded the same result. Throttling back from 40% torque, even a bit, causes the plane to decelerate, and then stop; even with 35% torque it's as if it is glued to the pavement; it won't budge. There's a perhaps 2-3% window of power between it hurtling forward and not having sufficient power to continue in motion. I've had some luck with carefully tweaking the power between 35-40%, causing the plane to burst forward, and then slow to a crawl as I throttle back. As it eases to a stop an even slight increase in the power, to about 38-40% causes the abrupt, whiplash inducing acceleration, that I have to arrest by reducing power immediately or standing on the brakes again. As you can imagine, it's all but impossible to turn without running off pavement or scraping a wing tank when trying to taxi that way. :angry: I noted from Joe's training videos that he's achieved very reasonable taxi speed with barely more than 15-20% torque. I thought that it might be that my plane was overloaded, but its gross weight is just over 10,000 pounds. There has to be something I'm missing; can anyone offer a suggestion?

Hi all-- I bought the MU-2 just after its release. It's a work of art, inside and out. I've had no problems starting the engines and getting all of the systems up and running. I've only had one (big) issue with it so far; I can't for the life of me find the correct power settings for taxiing the bird. I've watched the engine start training video several times to ensure that there was not some step I missed, or some setting that I have wrong, but cannot figure it out. Every time I've fired it up and have tried to get it moving, it has taken a minimum of 40% torque to get it in motion. That in and of itself would not seem a problem, but once the plane starts moving it accelerates at an alarming rate; within seconds it's moving at 25 knots and would likely exceed 40-50 knots or more if not for the fact that I've stood on the brakes. :huh: I've ensured that the condition levers are set at taxi, and no more. Numerous attempts have yielded the same result. Throttling back from 40% torque, even a bit, causes the plane to decelerate, and then stop; even with 35% torque it's as if it is glued to the pavement; it won't budge. There's a perhaps 2-3% window of power between it hurtling forward and not having sufficient power to continue in motion. I've had some luck with carefully tweaking the power between 35-40%, causing the plane to burst forward, and then slow to a crawl as I throttle back. As it eases to a stop an even slight increase in the power, to about 38-40% causes the abrupt, whiplash inducing acceleration, that I have to arrest by reducing power immediately or standing on the brakes again. As you can imagine, it's all but impossible to turn without running off pavement or scraping a wing tank when trying to taxi that way. :angry: I noted from Joe's training videos that he's achieved very reasonable taxi speed with barely more than 15-20% torque. I thought that it might be that my plane was overloaded, but its gross weight is just over 10,000 pounds. There has to be something I'm missing; can anyone offer a suggestion?

Hi, I've been in search, for some time, for a solution to a pressurization system bug that I've been consistently experiencing with the Citation X 2.0 (I'm running it in Windows 7). Have you experienced this? If so, could you give any advice as to a solution? Thanks

All, I've managed to resolve most of the handling issues; just did a test in the pattern with the GS capture mode of the autopilot and it worked great. Still more testing to be done, but all is looking good. Even better, the Lear remained rock solid in its attitude and rate of descent when I disconnected the autopilot (which is a totally different situation from that I've experienced with other FS aircraft I've flown!). I'm coming to truly LOVE this bird, and the 1.1 upgrade is like manna from heaven! I think she's going to be a keeper.

Everyone-- I really appreciate the level of response and the feedback. Negative on Accu Feel, and EZdok. I put aside the experimentation I've been trying with the aircraft.cfg file and restored the original one, to give everything another try and a fresh look. I did some more test flights, taking pains to ensure that I had followed Lionheart's guidance. I made three takeoffs, with the autopilot set to 4000 (no other axis set). I took pains to keep the speed from getting away from me (which is a challenge with this bird), and kept my rate of climb below 2000 fpm. I then engaged the autopilot well below the desired altitude. Still the same vibration/shudder once I neared 250 KIAS (a little later than previous times), that persisted until I had the thing down to under 200 KIAS. The autopilot might as well have not even been engaged, though it was. The plane muddled to 4100, and then drifted down below the desired altitude; on one flight it kept descending past 3500, and was on the verge of going into a dive when I quit the flight. I'm at a loss as to what's going on, given that other FSX users have had no such issues. I've had no choice but to resume my experimentation with the aircraft.cfg file if I want to continue to use the airplane (which I really want to do).

Thanks for the feedback. In fairness to Lionheart, they've now replied to my e-mail and also said that they had not experienced the issues that I'm talking about. Since you have not either I'm all the more perplexed as to what's going on. The vibration issue is something that I experienced several times, and consistently, until I did the tweaks to the cfg file that I talked about. Regarding the porpoise behavior, they had some suggestions about the way I set the autopilot, and that I may have had more than one vertical axis set, though I don't believe that I did. I'll follow up. They had no idea about the vibration/shudder, as they were unaware of any such occurrences. For the record, I like Lionheart, and I'm really pulling for this product, but I'll have to do some more test flying with it.

Hi, thanks for the feedback. I initially tried recalculating the bank, yaw, and pitch MOIs, but that only made the problem worse. I then changed nearly the whole [airplane geometry] section, using the Lear 35 as a reference; it occurred to me that for whatever reason, the actual control surface area values for the Lear 24 were not sufficient to sustain stable flight in the FSX platform, given other factors in the cfg file (many of which I don't really understand). That all but eliminated the vibration/shuddering issue, and some of the porpoising behavior that happened when I had the altitude hold engaged. I've been tinkering with the [flight tuning] section, specifically the elevator effectiveness and the elevator trim effectiveness values, as well as the [autopilot] section (pitch acceleration and max pitch velocities). Dampening the former and the latter values a bit has thus far eliminated much of the porpoising at low altitudes, and virtually all of it when I did a trial at 15,000 feet. At 7000 the issue is still pretty evident, though it is better. I haven't yet found the right combination of values to completely solve the problem, and I haven't tested the changes I made in all the flight regimes I have in mind, but will continue to work on it. To date, I've received no reply from Lionheart, which is disappointing. Until that happens (if that happens), I'll continue experimenting.

Hi all-- I recently purchased the Lionheart Learjet 24B (for FSX). It's a beauty, and a real hot rod (I knew the early Lears were fast, but had no idea that they were THAT fast!). I was also thrilled with its interior and cockpit, and the requirement that specific procedures be followed in order that the aircraft be flown correctly and safely. The level of systems depth is something that, up to now, has been lacking in most of the payware bizjets out there for Flight Simulator. The downside is that I experienced, in FSX, a couple of very vexing flight dynamics issues with the Lear that initially made it virtually unusable. The first is that at speeds above about 215 to 220 KIAS, the airframe would begin shuddering notably. The shudder and vibration would persist, even after I reduced the airspeed. I had to abandon a number of flights almost immediately after takeoff. This happened a number of times, despite many attempts on my part to head it off with different flight procedures (and yes, I made absolutely sure that the yaw damper was on immediately after I became airborne). The second, and most troubling issue was that the autopilot's altitude hold mode did a marginal, at best, job of holding altitude, especially in turns. In straight and level flight, it would porpoise for sustained periods over 100 feet above and below the set altitude; at some flight levels the behavior would even itself out only after a very long wait. If not for the fact that have a bit of knowledge of FSX's aircraft.cfg file, I would have had to abandon using the plane. Thankfully, after numerous trial and error adjustments to the Lear's cfg file I was able to eliminate the shudder/vibration. I've also managed to get rid of much of the porpoise behavior, but not completely (testing continues). My understanding is that Lionheart's project, while compatible with FSX, was developed primarily for Prepar3D; in fact all of the YouTube and Air Daily X footage of it takes place in Prepare3D and in that platform, everything seems to work perfectly. FSX users, though, should be prepared for some possible aircraft handling issues and be willing to spend some time figuring out solutions. The plane's a beauty, and I hope that Lionheart is able to address the issues I've mentioned (I e-mailed them as well) so that no future buyers have to do anything but fly and enjoy it.

I just bought it last week. As one who has been extremely disappointed with Wilco products before, I have to admit that I've been very impressed thus far. Admittedly, it's early yet, and I've only taken it up for a few preliminary test flights. I've had no CTD or framerate issues; thus far, it and my rig seem to agree with each other very well. I also have the Carenado TBM. While Carenado's wins hands down in terms of the modeling/eye candy detail, Wilco's is not bad. It's definitely comparable to some of the other, higher end payware that I have. I'd say it is in the league of the RealAir turbine Duke that I have, which is absolutely no slouch in the modeling department. I've no idea how a real TBM850 handles, but the differences in the performance of Wilco's vs. Carenado's is striking. Wilco's accelerates and climbs like a rocket compared to the Carenado version's anemic rates. It's also rock solid stable. I never thought I would say this about any Wilco product, but the Wilco TBM is a heck of a lot more fun to fly. I've also been extremely impressed by the documentation; the package is packed with it. There are several manuals dealing, respectively, with operation and performance. The one for the integrated panel is over 90 pages long in and of itself! I went ahead and printed some of them, and am looking forward to learning the plane's systems. As I said, it's early yet, but thus far I'm very happy I took the chance and made the purchase.

Bill, I've been reading, and benefitting, from your posts (including your XML advice) for years. You're TRULY one of the Flight Simulator gurus. :im Not Worthy: I'm beyond grateful that you took the time to provide such a comprehensive and helpful reply. It is just the information I've been looking for!! :smile: Time for me to get back to work on my dream machines. A thousand thanks!

I’ve recently gotten back into aircraft modeling for Flight Simulator after a long hiatus. The last plane I designed for FS was back when FS9 was the latest version. I used FSDS, and had by then gotten a very decent handle on it and the use of the stock animation nomenclature. Now I’ve been sinking my teeth into Gmax, and am well on the way in the process of building some viable designs. It is clear, however, that designing aircraft for FSX is a whole new ballgame, and that I’m going to have to gain some brand new skill sets if I’m to have any hope of getting my creations flying in FSX. It looks as if XML programming knowledge is all but indispensable in that regard. All the more daunting, as my forte is the artistic aspect of design as opposed to that of coding. Even more frustrating in that finding information regarding the basics of XML programming, in regards to FSX aircraft modeling, is probably the most difficult of any kind that I recall. I’ve spent hours, literally, Google searching and surfing the Net, using any keywords that I can think of, regarding a basic tutorial on how to get started, with little luck. I’ve installed and waded through most of the SDK, but it appears that the bulk of the XML guidance it provides pertains to the design of gauges, and not modeling/animating aircraft in Gmax. :search: Can some of you XML aircraft design gurus share answers to the very basic questions of a poor newbie? I’ve looked over a ton of sample code that folks have shared on this and other sites, and I think with some persistence I’ll be able to figure out how to do it. However, I’m dead in the water until I finally get some guidance regarding the following: Where does the actual XML code for the animation of a given aircraft in FSX reside? Is it the .mdl folder, after it is compiled? In other words, at what stage in say, the Gmax aircraft modeling process would I need to write that code, and where would it be inputted? Is it true that none of the stock animations work in FSX? Does any and all animation that I would want to equip my aircraft model with have to be accomplished through XML code? Is it all compiled in Gmax, or do I need another program? (This is a bit embarrasing as I feel like a 1st grader in the midst of PhDs) :im Not Worthy: . I would greatly appreciate any help!