ATRguy

Flying a Redbird with whatever software (P3D, FSX, XP) NEVER counts as flying hours. It may count as SIMULATED INSTRUMENT time, but they do not go towards your total time of flying. So if I'm a Commercial Pilot Student, and I have let's say 20 hours of simulated instrument time (whether that's on a Redbird or in a real airplane under the hood) and 175 hours of Total Time flying (in real airplanes) and I go and use a Redbird sim with an instructor (another needed thing for this to be legal), I'll have 22 hours of simulated instrument time, but still only 175 hours of Total Time.

There is a whole world outside the USA. In Canada, the CFI is the Chief Flight Instructor.

You can't log time in this, they're only instrument procedure trainers. So you can log the INSTURMENT time, but it does not count towards your Total Time. They also suck a lot, at everything.

Hey, that's me! And yes, MSFS is/was used there, why wouldn't it be? It has far and away the best scenery out there, and with the right addons (the Aerosoft Twin Otter not being one of them) the flight dynamics are as good as any other sim too. That being said, they're not TEACHING on it. They're using it for familiarity. The people using it are already commercial pilots.

It may have a cabin, but if you aren’t looking at it in MSFS, it’s not rendered and taking up resources. That’s what I meant.

It doesn’t. If it’s not visible in MSFS, it’s not rendered.

This looks fantastic; one of the best looking modern airliners out there. I’m pumped for it.

Here’s how we do it in real life at my airline, since we pushback at my base. We come to the airplane with a GPU attached to it, and it’s almost 100% of the time cold and dark. Power it on, I go do the walk around, the FO sets up the flight deck. After I’m done outside, we finish programming the FMS, get a clearance, all that, etc… the usual preflight routine. I would turn the prop brake on as part of my pre-start flow. So AUX PUMP to pressurize the blue hydraulic system, and that should give you the ready light with the gust lock on. Prop brake to ON, and it shouldn’t take more than 15 seconds for the UNLOCK light to go out. If it does, it’s broken, so call MX. Before we disconnect the GPU, the tow bar is hooked up and the truck is ready. I’d start engine #2 in Hotel Mode. Then start engine one. Disconnect the GPU. With the prop brake on, it’s safer to approach the GPU since the prop isn’t spinning. Of course, never actually go near it or into the prop arc, but it’s still safer without the blades spinning. Brakes off, push back, keep one in feather and the prop brake on. After the push is complete, the ground crew would disconnect the tow bar, and I’d bring engine one out of feather once they’re clear, and push the AUX PUMP again. The six blade props take a while to unfeather, so pushing the button brings the hydraulics up quicker. When engine one stabilizes, that powers the AC Wild system, so the hydraulics are pressurized and the prop brake can be released. Signal to the ground crew “starting two” because the prop will start spinning when you go prop brake off. 15 seconds later, bring that prop to AUTO and then your after start flows and checklist. At a ground station without a GPU or pushback, we usually start it in Hotel anyways just so the aircraft is powered when passengers are boarding, especially in the winter when the sun doesn’t come up. When it’s freezing out in the winter, #2 usually stays running all day long if we’re not at a base with a heat cart and GPU. We would never shut it down when its -40 outside, just the prop brake when the aircraft is at a station. IF for whatever reason the prop brake was MEL’d, I’d start number one, then disconnect the GPU, then start number two after the ground crew is all clear.

It never translates to the sim perfectly; but the real ATR is a pig in crosswinds. The gear is narrow, and there is no nosewheel steering with the rudder. So in a crosswind, it’s a dance between the rudder pedals and the tiller to keep it straight. I’ve landed it at near max Xwinds, and it’s unpleasant. It basically needs full aileron upon touchdown to keep the wings level.

There’s a few things you need to engage/disengage the prop brake. Blue hydraulic pressure at 3000 psi. So either engine one running and in AUTO or use the AUX pump. Gust lock on. Weight on wheels obviously. And engine #2 in either cutoff or feather. That may help.

What problems are you having with Hotel and the AP?

We still have -300 and -400 Combis at work; most of the flight decks are upgraded now. This one of our -400s coming into Ottawa

The 777-300ER sold 6,000 units in three minutes when their servers went down. PMDG said the DC-6 for MSFS outsold every other DC-6, on every platform (FSX, P3D, and XP), within hours of its release. There have barely been anything new for P3D since MSFS came out. Not sure why people are surprised that a game that is much more accessible and doesn’t look 25 years old like P3D does outsells it and has a way bigger user base.

All the data from developers points to otherwise. PMDG even said that people don’t realize just how TINY the P3D market was. MSFS is still huge.

Wait for WinWings.