Keith Smith

A number of us have been enjoying the recently-released FlyJSim 737-200, especially with shared cockpit. There is a fly-out on the PilotEdge network on Jul 9 from SAN to LAS with a quick turn to BUR, starting with a gathering at 7pm PDT at SAN, and then wheels up by 7:25pm PDT (or at least in the departure line by that point). The route is PEBLE4.SXC LAX DAG.CLARR2 (for the B732 or any other non-RNAV jet), or use the KEPEC3 arrival if you are RNAV-capable. Some of us will be doing shared cockpit flights and live streaming on twitch (myself and helipilot7), so feel free to follow along. Anyone is welcome to join in any plane you like, but this is primarily a turbojet group flight due to the distances involved. If you want to fly a piston into Vegas or HND/VGT, go for it, but I'd suggest starting a bit closer, maybe from Bullhead (IFP). If you haven't checked out PilotEdge, this is a good opportunity to utilize the free 2 week trial and experience what the network has to offer. Briefly, it's a subscription-based network that offers -guaranteed ATC 15x7 within the coverage area (40 towered airports), - intelligent support for shared cockpit via the SmartCoPilot plugin. The second person logs in with an @ at the end of the callsign, otherwise use the same callsign as the primary aircraft, the server takes care of the rest - advanced radio system using real world frequencies at all times (no controller list). You just tune SAN clearance delivery, then ground, tower, etc. For this flight, it'll be SAN clnc (125.90), SAN ground (123.90), SAN tower (118.30), Socal Dep (119.60), LAX Center (119.95), LAX Center (125.27), LAS approach (125.02), LAS Approach (135.00), LAS tower (119.90), LAS ground (121.10). You don't need these all in advance, but this gives you an idea of the workload that will be involved compared to other flights you have done in the past on networks that don't utilize r/w freqs. There is much more on offer, but for the purposes of this fly-out, that's the most important stuff. Here's a video of the SAN-LAS route being flown with shared cockpit on PilotEdge:

This was a blast:

The Mac 64-bit plugin has been released!

Shared cockpit configuration file currently under development. Two known issues to resolve, one will likely be fixed today, the other, not sure. Here's a video of SNA to SFO (CHANL1.RZS J501 BSR.BSR2) with a 2-crew configuration:

VFR flight from SNA to VNY through the Bravo airspace via the Coastal Route, then we practice the ILS RWY 16R approach under VFR. I'm working the comms, the other fellow (who recorded the video) is doing all the flying. The shared cockpit config file for the 407 has been published on the SmartCopilot site. It took quite a few test flights to get the engine handling working the way we wanted. Either pilot can fly manipulate the throttle without having to request control. This is great for instructors looking to practice autos with students.

Realized the bridge was going to be too hard for many people to deploy. Am pulling the trigger with the voice server upgrade (resulting in a mandatory upgrade for all pilot clients and anything else that connects to the voice server, such as our standalone Receiver application) and will be releasing the full 64-bit Mac plugin. The release date is set for June 10. Edit: jun 17

Will absolutely test it out and let you know what I find, thanks so much for taking a stab at this!

Crank up the audio, video here (forward to 2 minute mark after the ad that we have no control over): http://www.twitch.tv/catstrator/c/4034211 Details here: http://forums.x-pilot.com/topic/6715-shared-cockpit-on-pilotedge/

PilotEdge is pleased to announce support for shared cockpit connections. Users of the SmartCoPilot plugin can now connect to PilotEdge as pilot and co-pilot with both pilots being able to see other traffic as well as being able to use the radios. Attached is a smartcopilot.cfg file for the stock X-Plane 10 Baron based on the sample Baron config file on the smartcopilot site. This file version adds support for syncing of both pitot heats, the ice light, and the com1/2 transmit selection (it was only syncing the RX portion, not the TX portion, which is a separate dataref). Note: the attached file has a .txt extension (to allow it to be attached). You need to remove the .txt extension, it should have a .cfg extension only. SmartCoPilot allows either pilot to manipulate any of the buttons/switches in the cockpit (regardless of who 'has control'). The primary flight controls are manipulated by only a single person, but the responsibility can be shifted from pilot to another with 2 clicks (a request from the guy not flying, followed by a release from the pilot flying). It's a very powerful tool for CRM training, traditional instructor/student training or general entertainment. Add real time ATC into the mix and it's about as close to real flying as I've ever seen in a sim. Here's a twitch.tv video showing the system in action. This was the first live stream of a shared cockpit flight on PilotEdge). The guy on the webcam (Catstrator) is pilot not flying, he's handling the gear, flaps and radios. The pilot flying (who you can hear in the background on the Skype call, much quieter) has the primary flight controls and the HSI/CDI for NAV1/2 since they're a bit far for the co-pilot to reach. The flight is a hop from SMO to CRQ for the ILS RWY 24. I suggest forwarding the video to the 2 min mark (the second time we call for clnc, it was very busy and it was missed the first time) then watching from there with the audio turned up loud to be able to hear the skype call and the ATC. The filed route is the published preferred route: SMO SMO125R V64 V363 DANAH V23 OCN. The cleared route is "fly runway heading until crossing LAX R-315, then turn right heading 250 without delay, vectors SMO VOR, then as filed." Here's how to use Shared Cockpit on PilotEdge with X-Plane 1. set up your shared cockpit connection X-Plane (using the SmartCoPilot plugin) 2. 1st pilot should connect to PilotEdge with standard callsign, eg. N123AB 3. 2nd pilot should connect to PilotEdge with same callsign, but with a @ suffix, eg. N123AB@ Nobody will physically see N123AB@ (on the scope or out the window). N123AB@ will not be able to see N123AB sitting on top of them (that's a good thing). Neither pilot will hear each other on the radio, but they'll hear everything else. Either party can talk on the radio. It's assumed that you'll be using a VOIP system such as Skype or voice-activated Teamspeak to communicate with each other in real time throughout the flight. Do NOT do a radio check by transmitting on the radio and expect to hear what your co-pilot just said. I highly recommend giving this a try (with or without PilotEdge), it's really amazing stuff. The only downside is that you have to know how to set up peer to peer networking (ie, port forwarding and opening up the firewall) to get the shared cockpit working. Once you do, though, the process of flying together on PilotEdge is very straight forward as a crew. smartcopilot.cfg.txt

Do you find that increasing it to 10fm/s makes a difference in the high alpha handling?

Holy cow, I had no idea xplane could handle the high alpha stuff so nicely. Was there anything special about the design of the airplane within xplane to allow all of this to happen?

Will be fun to get this going with shared cockpit, too.

The bar for payware planes moves forward. Legacy products which were once payware calibre don't always remain at that level unless they are updated to take advantage of the latest features and trends in aircraft modeling. Rather than have close to 0 ongoing sales, perhaps the designer wanted to help keep his name out there, or just give back to the community. If the plane was 3 months old, I'd better understand the position, but if the plane is a few years old...not so much.

I'm guessing you meant no harm, but I think your timing is pretty awful.

Appears to be free (it's at the org). Google "multiview plugin xplane"

issue #1) I fail engine-driven hydraulic pump #1 in X-Plane...nothing happens, both pumps show full pressure on the JS32 center pedestal. I then fail the #2 pump and both pumps then show 0 pressure, master caution comes on and now I have a real hydraulic faliure. Shouldn't failing the 1st system have caused some kind of indication, or are they both wired into the #2 system in xplane? issue #2) once I failed both hydraulic pumps, the flight controls froze (which is correct). I followed the procedure in the manual to employ the emergency system. I was able to get the pole into the hatch (pretty neat, by the way!) and restore the flight controls. I was able to open the second hatch and deploy the flaps to 20 degrees. However, when I deployed the gear, I couldn't get them to come down. What am I missing here?

Got the bridge pretty much working, but the deployment and support would've been problematic. It just wasn't a production-grade solution. So, I'm just pulling the trigger and going with a full 64-bit implementation. The first step is a single, unified build for win 32, win 64 and Mac. That is now done...the installation is much simpler than before, it's a fat plugin with a single folder that you drop into place. I just need to pick a date and pull the trigger now. I'll post updates here. In other news, the recently-released Mac 32-bit client does allow you to use the COM2 radio now (like the Windows plugin does). Additionally, ATC can now trigger system failures from the scope. It's pretty neat stuff. That feature is mostly used by commercial clients, but we have tested it with a few retail customers (with their permission...they just didn't know what failure was coming, or when).

There actually is a plugin called MultiView out there. It'll do what you're asking.

Love the Swedish model. World's Largest Pez Dispenser.

Very interesting...I remember seeing a red Waco at SQL on one of my last flights there before moving from the Bay Area to NJ. I say "moving", it was really "being dragged," but I digress.

Here are the 3 tutorial videos: http://forums.x-pilot.com/topic/5641-crj-200-sid-tutorial-using-vor-and-fms

PEBLE4 SID added, that's it for now on this topic.

CHANL1 SID video added.

Here's a series of 3 tutorials on how to fly the PORTE5 (KSFO), CHANL1 (KSNA) and PEBLE4 (KSAN) SIDs using the JRollon CRJ-200 using VOR's for the first portion and the FMS for the rest of the point to point navigation: PORTE5 - CHANL1 - PEBLE4 (hand flown) -

Check the FSAA settings. Try some different modes. Try toggling HDR on/off and note the difference.