Tech

I am the same. To call this site anything to do with "support" is a joke. I bought the GNS 430 in January last year and still unable to get it to install. No help from Flight 1 who sold the product nor RXP's Jean-Luc who has been missing in action since a Happy New Year he posted in January 2023.

I don't want to run this issue in two forums. It was posted here because it's ESP and the only Rxp support mechanism

Well, still nothing from "No Support" Not even my money back for a purchase that never worked. Why is Rxp even allow to remain on Avsim purporting to be a support service.

There was a thread back in 2003 that related to the Bell 206 start sequence not correctly performing as the real aircraft. The answer then was that the engine will start whenever the 'mixture' is not at idle cutoff. This did not simulate the real B206. Also, the shutdown was the same with the engine speed (N2) and rotor speed (Nr) still running at flight idle with the throttle in the idle cutoff position. I am running a circa 2011 Flyit version of the B206 with a hardware replica of the collective and instrument panel. No mixture control naturally with the turbine but a fuel valve as per the real B206. If the fuel valve is turned on, the engine N2 and Nr will start without pressing the start button and the throttle at cutoff. When the start button is pressed and held, the N1 (Gas Producer) accelerates to peak at 20% and even with the throttle opened to the flight idle detent, the engine will not run until the fuel valve is then turned on. The correct start sequence should be; Throttle at idle cutoff, fuel valve on, fuel pumps on, press and hold start button and at 15% N1 open the throttle to the flight idle detent. At this point the engine ignites and accelerates to where the starter is released at 58% N1. Then engine now being at self sustaining speed will increase to a N1 flight idle speed of around 61-63%. The correct shutdown procedure should be; Throttle reduced to the flight idle detent, to shut the engine down the detent button is pressed and the throttle rolled off to the cutoff position where both the N1 and N2 (and to a slower extent the Nr) slowly return to zero. The fuel valve in the real aircraft plays no part in controlling the start except that it opens the fuel supply to the engine's fuel control unit (FCU) which will then meter the fuel to the engine by the throttle during starting and shutdown, and by the power turbine governor (PTG) during engine running. As this is now 2023, is there a Bell 206 aircraft.cfg or .air that more accurately mimics the correct start/shutdown sequences? Thanks Geoff

Maybe it's prudent now to advise all users of Reality XP products, and if their products are currently working within their simulator, do a backup image (not a copy like I did) of the entire drive that the sìm is installed on. Acronis is a good product for this. I wish I had that is for sure. At least you will get it back to the same as it was at the time the image backup was made. In the mean time it looks like we've been screwed by an company that still advertises a support and refund service that does not exist.

Debuss I have encountered the same issue with the GNS 430 when a copy of the SSD was made. Got the same orange splash screen. The 430 was working before that. I feel it might be a licensing issue but despite posting back in October last year and then again a number of times after that along with PM'S to RXP, I have had no reply. So I bought a new copy of the 430, went through all the processes of installing, still the orange display. This doesn't help you I know but maybe my venting will aid my mental recovery from dealing with a company like this. This looks like a one man show to me, not a 'real' customer support type company. Geoff

This is now March 2023 and still no reply from Reality XP Support. I have paid for a product that will not install. Sent PM'S to RXP, still nothing. Wasted my money.

Still no reply from Reality Support!!. Out of desperation I went ahead and purchased online the GNS400W v2, read all the online stuff about installing on a non internet computer, still no luck in getting the GPS to show. Indeed it appears the install has shifted some paths to Addon scenery. Does anyone know if the original Reality product should be fully uninstalled before installing a purchased new version? The licensing of the original one was the initial issue and I don't have the proof of purchase information (key, .lic) for the original as the previous owner of this Flyit sim has no knowledge of it hence buying a new one using the Flight1 'wrapper" via RealityXP. Geoff

When can we expect Reality XP support to recommence? I'm waiting to make a purchase and after contacting Flight 1 they say I have to contact RXP Support about my problem. Geoff

Thanks all for your comments. I hope I haven't hijacked this thread and if the moderators wish to move it I understand. cagarini Sounds you might be doing your autos from a zero airspeed start. That's ok if you are doing engine failure in the hover but not how we teach autos. At zero airspeed you have a high power setting to drive the rotor whose blades are at a high angle of attack, so if you shut the throttle the drag on the blades is high thus a rapid fall in RRPM. All entries into practice autos is done at altitude whilst at cruise speed, by first lowering the collective then closing the throttle (don't shut the engine off). We do engine failures in the hover from around a skid height of 20', close the throttle, let the aircraft begin descent then use all the collective to cushion the landing. Practice these with a bit of head wind will make it easier. Low level low speed engine failures from about 100' are a different technique again. Remember, you are not in autorotation until you have established an upward airflow into the rotor by means of the helicopter's descent, as its this airflow that keeps the rotor turning to produce lift. Try this..... Dial in 10 to 15 kts of wind. We never risk the helicopter doing practice autos in nil wind. If you have a Radio Altimeter (Radalt) fitted set the bug to 100'. The art of pulling off a good auto is to enter it correctly by always maintaining the correct balance (pedals to centre the ball), adopting the Autorotative Descent Speed of 50 to 60 kts (I initially use 60 Kts). This speed range is important as less than 50 kts or greater than 60 kts will increase the rate of descent markedly thus reduce your range to reach a landing site. The 206's Best Rate of Climb Speed (BROC) and Minimum Rate of Descent Speed (MROD) is 52 kts indicated. This is the airspeed where there is the highest power margin available thus the lowest collective setting thus the lower blade angle of attack along with drag. All a bit tecky I know. Turn into wind and with the collective maintain the RRPM within the limits of 90 to 107% RRPM not the N2 needle which may not be together with the rotor needle during this procedure. The higher the RRPM the more energy you will have for the landing. At 500' agl slowly open the throttle to flight idle (fully open) remembering to correct the balance every time you alter any of the controls. At 100' agl do a gently flare of say 10o nose up to slow the rate of descent without causing the helicopter to 'balloon' ie climb. At low level (a judgment call this one) raise the collective a little to further reduce the rate of descent then with the cyclic lower the nose to level the skid and use the collective to cushion the run on landing. That's how power recovery auto is done in the real world, but we're in a sim who only has the fixed math values of the .cfg and .air files to set how our helicopter flys and reacts. Coupled with a 2D image on the screen, our eyes are missing their true depth of field function we use in the real world. Thus the rate of closure in a sim is not presented accurately to us. Attempting to pull off a successful engine off auto in a sim is so none representative of a real auto IMO. So don't be disappointed if you can't do nice autos in a sim, mine are still very ordinary as I instinctively fly as I would the real aircraft. Peter I can only answer for ops here in Oz. Most single engine helicopters are only VFR whilst the multi-engine ones usually rated for IFR. Predominately IFR rotary are procedurally handled the same as for fixed wing using the same approach procedures both precision and non precision. There are some rotary specific approaches such as to helipads and helidecks too. Rotary in VFR conditions can make use of special low vis rules that allows us to scoot along at 700' agl, vis of 800m and at a speed for obstacle avoidance simply because we can land most anywhere and don't need runways as fixed wing do. The pilot is responsible to ensure the landing area is "safe for landing" and have the permission of the owner of the land. Local by-laws sometimes restrict helicopter ops too. Sorry, very long winded again!! Geoff

qqwertzde Peter, As a 13,000 hour helicopter ATP/CP and FI, I find the same thing about flying helicopter sims compared to the real thing. You have to treat it like what it is, a computer. Even the full motion Cat D stuff we fly as part of our annual re currency has its issues. Try this.....with nil wind set, the throttle at flight idle (full open), raise the collective SLOWLY bit by bit scanning every few seconds at the Torque gauge. My Bell 206 in my Flyit sim will commence to lift at 60%. Leave the collective at your commencing to lift TQ plus another 5% and don't touch it. Depending on your setup, if it is a physical lever apply the friction so as to hold the collective so it does not 'fall'. DO NOT look close in, you'll fly backwards. The changes you will see first outside not on the instrument panel. Look into the distance and with cyclic correct any attitude change you see with very small inputs and by a set amount and watch to see the effect. If it is too much remove half of what you just did and see how that goes. Fly by trending not rushing to fix it. By scanning I mean whilst looking outside decide what instrument you want to read. then come inside with your gaze and "take a snapshot" of the instrument then immediately go back outside to your references and analyse what you saw on the instrument. Decide what change you need to make and using this scanning technique make the change. Instruments have a latency so don't expect to see a result instantaneously. But give yourself a break, hovering is not the first sequence we teach newbies, its about the 4th before we even start. In the beginning start with the helicopter airborne and get use to the cyclic first, by setting the collective to say 70% (cruise setting) and keep the helicopter in balance with the pedals by scanning "the ball". Remember the saying "step on the ball" to fix the balance because if out of balance you are side slipping along with not getting a correct airspeed reading as the pitot is cocked off line to the relative airflow. Any change to any one of the controls in a helicopter has a secondary effect on the other two. For example if you raise the collective to climb, the nose will come up and to the right, and the ball will move left (so step on the ball with some left pedal - torque effect). The opposite happens when you lower the collective. Be patient, its not easy but it will come. When you are ready to have a go at hovering, choose an area where there are no obstacles, hover around 100 feet agl and make small changes and wait to see the effect. Until you get proficient at hovering, when landing, do a run on landing around 10 to 15 knots. This will keep you close to above Translation Lift speed where below TL speed more power (collective) is required to replace the lift lost by the reduction of airflow into the rotor as a consequence of the helicopter's forward motion. No one that I've ever met learnt to fly a helicopter in an hour. Cheers Geoff

Trying to take advantage of the Special Sale ending 31Dec22 of GNS 430W v2 fltSim but when I select checkout nothing happens. Click Download E-Commerce installer and open it, a warning message saying it can't find the path. Probably because I'm on a internet computer not the sim computer as sim is a non-connected machine and not located here. Can I make the purchase on my non sim computer before the expiry date? Thanks Geoff

RXP - Jean-Luc I think I need your help! I received a ssd from the previous owner (a university) that worked. The GNS430 and all the bezel functions operated correctly. Then in order to make a back up drive I had a computer shop clone another ssd and now I have the same issue with both drives where the GNS 430 is not starting. I'm thinking it maybe a license issue. The ssd that did work until it didn't, was most likely the original one and now its detected that a copy was trying to be made and the license permission has been removed. I have studied the forum for any clues as to how to restore the license it but have not seen anything. As I was not the original purchaser (Flyit Simulators supplied the software preinstalled back in 2011) I don't have the installation key so purchasing a new legacy product is maybe my only option. Win7 Pro, P3dv2, ESP, is GNS 430W™ V2 (FltSim) the one to get? Thanks Geoff

Thanks, I hadn't seen that. I will exercise some appropriate patience.

This is off topic, but I have posted on the RXP Legacy forum some problems getting a GNS 430 W with a Stand Alone Panel (Bezel I think its called) working. i have PM'd RXP too but see that there has been no activity from RXP for some time. I see that jamie_c just posted here that RXP may no longer be the Support resource for Reality XP. I have searched the Forum for some information about my issue with no luck. Is there any other Support facility of RXP? Thanks Geoff

I am trying to get the 430 with a hardware Bezel to work in a helicopter sim ( Flyit) that has Microsoft ESP and P3d v2. All I can get up is this splash page where the resolution doesn't look exactly right yet. Pushing the power button has no effect. I've searched the forum for a Reality XP running with ESP but not been able to find anything. Does anyone have the 'manual' for this older version circa 2011 that gives the installation details. Anyone running a similar configuration using ESP that might have some clues. Thanks Geoff