Ammeter and Autopilot Issue

[J_Will]

First and foremost, this is by far the best DC3 and indeed one of the best classic aircraft for flight simulation that I've ever come across, period. She's both beautiful and challenging to fly well. I truly enjoy this "gooney-bird! "

I've notice a couple of things that don't seem to be working correctly. First is that the ammeter on the main cockpit console never moves at all from the bottom left section of the gauge. Not a big deal, but it does detract a bit from the immersion of flying this aircraft especially since it is so prominent in view.

Second is the autopilot which sticks on 0 when I first load up the plane for flight and is impossible to set to a heading because it always just moves back to 0 no matter what. This issue however I know is not with the aircraft but with X-plane itself as all other aircraft like to do this as well. I was just curious if you might know a fix for this.

Thanks for creating this masterful add-on. I hope it has been and will continue to be a success for you.

Edited July 21, 2012 by J_Will

[J_Will]

Also, as an addendum, I've tried to interact with the red switch labeled "ac type a-9" which doesn't seem to be an active click spot or moveable selector.

[Goran_M]

Thanks for the comments!

Regarding the issues you are having...

The ammeter was deliberately "broken". I wanted at least one thing to not work in an aircraft from the 1940's that has seen a few 100 thousand air miles.

I'm not sure what's causing the autopilot issue. This was not a problem when it was released. I'll look into it and discuss it with Cameron and see if we can find out if we can duplicate this behaviour.

[J_Will]

Oh ok. As long as I know that it's supposed to be "broken," it won't bug me that it doesn't work

As for the autopilot issue, don't think that it's a problem with only your DC3; I've had this problem intermittently with almost all aircraft in X-plane for quite some time now. What I noticed is that if I delete the temp files in the main X-plane directory that are created when X-plane starts up and then load it the problem disappears, at least for a short while. Irritatingly the last time I tried that solution just yesterday though, the autopilot worked, but then somehow the click spots for the radio tuning knobs didn't work! Arrrrrgg! This flight simulation hobby certainly takes a lot of patience. The next time I loaded X-plane I had radio control as well as the autopilot problem back, which is somewhat less debilitating than not being able to tune the all important Nav radios.

My DC3 piloting skills are improving at least, though I still haven't managed to get this old bird down without bumping and ballooning onto the runway yet. I'd have some pretty sick and angry passengers at the end of a flight in real DC3.

On another note. I've been doing some painting for this aircraft which I believe has turned out well, but it seems that so far I've only had a paltry number of downloads on the org for my files. Another fantastic painter whom you probably know through the forums, Leen de Jager, has expressed similar sentiments with the disappointingly low number of downloads for his DC3 paints as well. Seeing as how we both do this work in our spare time free of charge and the only payment we wish to see is interest and maybe a few thank-you's here and there, this does prove to be disheartening.

I hope this isn't from lack of interest in the .acf itself! That would really be unfortunate, because this is truly one of the best aircraft available for X-plane today. It always seems like it's the modern jet jockeys who get all of the attention in flight simulation. People are going crazy for the upcoming 777 and eventually the 737 Classic projects. Honestly I am too, but for me it's the 737 classic that gets me most excited, for the very reason that it is old and doesn't just fly itself after you've programed the FMC. Which is one of the many reasons I love this DC3. It's such a deceptively simple aircraft. You can be in the air in minutes once you've got the checklist down. But just as I mentioned before, there isn't a computer flying the plane for you, hence no ILS auto-land to keep you from bouncing down the runway with virtual passengers screaming and throwing up in the aisles.

[J_Will]

Ok the updates are coming fast and furious now. I've figured out the radio tuning problem. It had nothing to do with the deletion of the X-plane temp files. If I turn on the batteries, then I can tune the radios just fine. sheesh

[Goran_M]

I was speaking to Theo about this repaint you did just yesterday. I really like it. It really looks old and adds a lot of character.

There are different markets for different types of aircraft.

We're still very happy with the response it has received.

[J_Will]

Definitely glad to hear it's getting a positive response. Thanks for the kind words on my livery.

For my next file I've chosen a much more well known subject, the 1940's Alaska Airlines livery. I'd actually like to do two different versions of this same livery. What I'm working on now is based on the gorgeously restored aircraft which is currently hanging in the Museum of Flight here near where I live in Seattle, Washington. If I get some time I could even go up and take some pictures of it myself. If I only had a giant ladder! I could get pictures of the interior which seem strangely hard to come by, especially in color. Though this plane isn't the original NC91008, which sadly was lost when it struck a mountain in 1954 on a positioning flight in Alaska that claimed the lives of the two crew members, it is a stunning example of the aircraft none the less.

Then I'll probably do a version of this same livery, of the actual aircraft designated NC91008 after it was retired from being a C-97 in 1949. This one will be made as a down and dirty Alaska bush work horse. Oil stains, grime, dents, chipped paint...it will be glorious!

Edited July 23, 2012 by J_Will

[anthony_d]

Hello Goram Goran / Theo

Don't mind if I jump in here? I've also discovered an autopilot related issue.

I'm pretty sure this is related to the 10.10 Beta, and as such I've reported it on the LR bug report page. However I thought I'd bring it to your attention, since you might be able to engage with LR about it in more detail:

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In 10.10 B4 When I engage the autopilot, it maintains present attitude. However as soon as I adjust the pitch knob, the aircraft pitches up very steeply until the stall warning disconnects the autopilot. No matter what I try, I can't bring the pitch setpoint back down. When I try re-engage the autopilot the DC3 pitches up steeply straight away.

This behaviour wasn't observed in 10.05r1. It worked as expected.

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On a side note, does the Sperry autopilot announce "Ding-a-ling-a-ling: Caution" when disconnected? Such a feature does sound a bit ahead of it's time for a 1940's autopilot !

Edited July 29, 2012 by Goran_M

[J_Will]

I actually fixed that modern "Ding-a-ling" by inserting a blank autopilot_disco.wav into the sounds folder. It's a hack fix, but it works. I'll probably do the same thing for that irritating constant brake skidding sound as well. I swear Austin must have gone around recording sound effects with his old walkman from the 80's for most of the default sounds in X-plane.

[Goran_M]

Hello Goram Goran / Theo

Don't mind if I jump in here? I've also discovered an autopilot related issue.

I'm pretty sure this is related to the 10.10 Beta, and as such I've reported it on the LR bug report page. However I thought I'd bring it to your attention, since you might be able to engage with LR about it in more detail:

-------------------------

In 10.10 B4 When I engage the autopilot, it maintains present attitude. However as soon as I adjust the pitch knob, the aircraft pitches up very steeply until the stall warning disconnects the autopilot. No matter what I try, I can't bring the pitch setpoint back down. When I try re-engage the autopilot the DC3 pitches up steeply straight away.

This behaviour wasn't observed in 10.05r1. It worked as expected.

------------------------

On a side note, does the Sperry autopilot announce "Ding-a-ling-a-ling: Caution" when disconnected? Such a feature does sound a bit ahead of it's time for a 1940's autopilot !

I'll have a look at the autopilot issue with the steep pitching up behaviour. I'm not really sure why it would do this, but I'll have a look.

[J_Will]

I've noticed this also. When the problem occurs, the aircraft will go from nicely straight, level, and trimmed to a wild pitch up. After you disconnect the autopilot in order to right the ship and then try the autopilot again it just flips on and off afterwards. As far as I can tell, once this happens you can't turn the autopilot on again until you reload the aircraft.

[anthony_d]

This seems to be fixed for me in Beta 6. One of those glitches that's come and gone....