CJSouthern
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Posts posted by CJSouthern
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Hi folks,
Something to add to the whiteboard for when you start the TBM900 / XP12 update.
For a while I've been plagued with seemingly random in-flight engine failures despite the engine being new or correctly maintained and being operated well within limits.
I've traced this with 100% certainty to when using Ctrl + T to speed up simulator time (so I can have the speed of a jet whilst retaining the sim experience of a superb model and the ability to operate from short fields). I've been monitoring the Turbine wear DataRef ... it increments slowly as expected (even when at increased sim time) (I estimate several months of flying before a failure occurs) and then at some point - WAM - it's at 1.0 - engine is on fire - and I'm going down. Sometimes after only a few hours on a new engine - sometimes after a few days.
This has happened a dozen+ times now and every single time it's when I've been at an elevated sim speed. In contrast, now that I've restricted myself to time 1.0, I haven't had a single failure.
Would be absolutely superb if this little bug could be addressed when you do the update - it would make a HUGE difference for me.
Many thanks,
Cheers,
Colin
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"TBM930 and Xplane 12 - How long we have to wait? :-)"
For a TBM 930? I'd say we'll be waiting a very long time. A TBM 940 with autothrottle would be even better!
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Hi @david_wi,
Not that I'm aware of.
I can't speak for the developers (I'm just a user), but with the apparent focus being on an accurate simulation experience (ie not a "game"), I wouldn't expect a quick start procedure anyway; that's probably something more likely to be available for the TBM930 in MSFS2020 (which I class as a "pretty but hopelessly unrealistic flying game" far more than an accurate aviation simulation) (no flames please; I own both and as a licenced pilot that's just my opinion).
Personally, I find most of the fun is in powering up the aircraft - configuring the avionics - starting the engine correctly - and just in general treating it with the reverence that it demands.
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4 minutes ago, Pils said:
Forum support has always been best effort, but there’s not been many posts tbh. As far as development support, an update for X-Plane 12 will be worked on in the coming months. Priority has been/is the CL-650.
I understand that, but a cursory read-through what has been posted reveals few replies and even fewer genuinely helpful ones (TBH, many appear to be on a scale labeled "short & unhelpful" at one end through to "snarky and condescending" at the other.
I could be wrong, but I have to wonder if it's not so much the CL-650 "being the priority" as it is a negative experience for many in the TBM900 forum turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. If it's the former then there's probably not a lot I can do. If it's the latter then (I hope) there's still an opportunity to expend a little effort and show a little kindness to those who struggle with the aircraft (like I did initially) and rebuild the community.
I feel the frustration of those having issues; they do a bit of Googling - end up here - post perfectly reasonable questions - and receive nothing of use in reply. If this lack of support is discovered by others pre-purchase then that will probably lost some sales too. From where I'm sitting it's just a lose/lose whichever way I look at it. And that's a pity IMHO.
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On 10/4/2022 at 5:54 AM, quereataro said:
I am sorry to seem ignorant regarding this subject but I've encountered this problem upon my first attempt to fly the TBM. Unfortunately it may be my 72 years but I find NOWHERE the procedure "engine motoring" which is the message I am receiving every time I load the airplane. It is not referenced in any of the documentation I received upon buying this aircraft. After having it ONE day, I have asked for return, de-activation and refund and was told T@A says none. in any of the documentation I received upon buying this aircraft. after spending $114 I am stuck.
Can anyone help this old guy out?
Hi @quereataro,
I'm only 62, but I feel like I'm catching you up!
I apologise for the lack of quality/timely responses to your post; there was a time when things were different around here (very different), but TBM 900 support appears - for all intents and purposes - to have all but dried up completely, which is a pity because in my opinion it's still the best all-round aircraft for folks wanting a realistic experience when operating out of smaller fields.
To answer your question, engine motoring refers to turning the engine over using the starter, but keeping the ignitors off and fuel flow shut off. If you engage the starter with the ignitors and fuel off it runs (off memory) for 30 or 60 seconds and then cuts off - or you can shut the starter off manually by pressing the starter switch to the lower position ("abort").
The procedure is necessary in 2 scenarios:
1. If your're wantng to start the engine again shortly after stopping it when the ITT (Inter Turbine Termperature) is still above 150 degrees C (ie the engine is too hot to start normally), or
2. The combustors are flooded with fuel (eg the throttle has been opened with the Aux Boost Pump turned on, but the starter and/or ignitors not turned on) which would result in an excessively hot start if ignition were to occur.
In both cases simply turn ignitors off - keep the throttle in the cut-off position - and engage the starter for about 30 seconds. Wait 1 minute for the starter to cool a little - then attempt a normal start.
It's a complex aircraft to master - and it's modelled very accuratly - so "if in doubt" download the actual flight crew manual for the aircraft (which detaiils the motoring procedure - and every other procedure). There are also some excellent YouTube videos from a chap called JasonTBM (who is the owner of the aircraft this model was designed against); one in particular shows the correct starting, taxi, takeoff, and climbout of the sim. If you can't find it let me know and I'll look for it for you.
Cheers,
Colin
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Log attached.
The only extra plugin that I have is the one for DataRefs; I tried disabling that but the problem persists.
No other "weird settings" or custom scenery; it's a stock-standard X-Plane install - no additional scenery - and only 1 other aircraft in addition to the TBM.
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Someone? Anyone?
Things seem to have got very quiet around here since the Challenger 650 was released; No more support for the TBM 900?
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Per the title; I can drag the mask onto the face outlline, but as soon as I release the mouse button it just snaps back to it's overhead holder.
It used to work (but possibly this was a previous version).
Any ideas anyone?
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For what it's worth, I've long since had an issue where the throttle pops across to flight idle all by itself when moving from low idle to high idle -- and that's under Windows 10.
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I had a couple go in quick succession; the first was after I selected reverse pitch whilst still in the flare - the 2nd a short time later was my first flight with the Honeycomb Bravo Throttle quadrant. Not sure if the 2nd was related or just coincidence.
Might just pay to ensure that accelerated wear model is turned off and see how it goes -- might just be a coincidence?
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I had the engine shut down mid flight once (was at 100.2% NG off memory). Never really got to the bottom of it, but it did draw my attention to a number of areas that I didn't know about:
1. Make sure that the accelerated wear model isn't ticked in the maintenance manager.
2. Personally, I check the maintenance manager after every flight -- might pay to zero out everything at the first sign of wear (it's not like it'll cost us real dollars).
3. Ensure that X-Plane isn't set to throw in random failures.
Personally, I never really change the sim speed; instead, I just leave the AP on and set a timer on my watch set to for the next event (usually TOD).
For me the model has been very reliable, but I have had a few "funnies"; the engine shutting off that day was one. Chocks reappearing quite often is another. Throttle transitioning from high idle to normal operation with only low idle to high idle has been commanded (this improved (but wasn't eliminated) after I had to completely reload my PC from scratch after an issue) - and new "doosy" whereby I'll try to change the FLC speed with the mouse and it keeps changing the altitude selected instead.
Few others that might (but I don't think so) be finger trouble that are AP related. I've just learned to live with them; most are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things ... just too time consuming to try and track them down (keeping in mind too that I don't have any addons installed). Just the nature of the beast IMHO; hellishly complex pieces of software that are only 99.9999% perfect.
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I'm using the Honeycomb Configurator to create 3 press events for when I press the PTT switch on the yoke, using the following commands:
sim/annunciator/clear_master_caution
sim/annunciator/clear_master_warning
sim/flight_controls/brakes_max
Unfortunately, none work.
I've done the following fault finding:
1. Tested other commands attached to events for that switch with a stock XP11 aircraft. They work as expected.
2. Tested "native TBM-900 commands" (eg tbm900/actuators/fuel/aux_bp_up) and they work fine.
3. Ensured that nothing is bound to that switch in X-Plane settings.
So on the face of it it's looking like the only time it doesn't work is when I'm trying to issue non-native commands to the TBM-900.
The only possible thing that I can think of is that the documentation in the ...\TBM-900\documentation folder is outdated and that the TBM-900 model is using it's own undocumented commands for the 3 actions I desire.
Any thoughts anyone?
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Sorted. I had an extra "," in the profile which was rendering that section of code inop.
For what it's worth, the Honeycomb Throttle Quadrant is a fantastic piece of kit for the TBM 900; I've never enjoyed flying it as much as I have the last couple of days since I got the new hardware. Highly recommended.
I also now have a great profile for it if anyone needs one (attached) (although it still needs a lot of XP control associations).
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41 minutes ago, Pils said:
Thanks for that - much appreciated.
Looks like the APR light is working just fine in the test - so the only remaining question is "why doesn't it work in the sim"?
- As far as I can tell the DataRef is correctly specified (per the above example)
- I can confirm that that variable does change when APR mode is delected
... just no light comes on. Odd.
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20 minutes ago, Pils said:
You just have to type them in yourself.
Thanks.
In the latest version of the configurator that doesn't seem possible; the only place one can type is in the search field -- and when they don't appear, there's nothing that can be subsequently clicked on to select it. I have got a work-around working though; I've located the relevant config file and edited it in Notepad.
I just have 1 remaining issue now; I can't for the life of me get the approach light to come on. When I press the APR button both the APR and NAV lights should come on - but only the NAV one does; at this point I'm wondering if it's something as simple as a faulty LED.
Here's the code in case anyone can spot something obvious:
{
"ByteIndex": 1,
"BitIndex": 1,
"ConditionLogic": "",
"Conditions": [
{
"Condition": "tbm900/lights/ap/nav",
"ConditionValue": "1",
"ConditionIsCustom": false
}
]
},
{
"ByteIndex": 1,
"BitIndex": 2,
"ConditionLogic": "",
"Conditions": [
{
"Condition": "tbm900/lights/ap/apr",
"ConditionValue": "1",
"ConditionIsCustom": false
}
]
},
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2 hours ago, Pils said:
Search this link for “tbm900/lights/“, should find what you need. https://github.com/pilsnerish/Xsaitekpanels-Configurations/blob/main/TBM900_xsaitekpanels.ini
Thanks for that. The plot thickens; I can see from your excellent source that what I need is tbm900/lights/ap/nav ... usng the dataref tool I can see that this variable works great ... the only problem is that non of the tbm900 DataRefs appear in the list using the Honeycomb Configurator.
Any ideas as to what I need to do to get them to appear?
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Hi Folks,
I recently purchased a Honeycomb Throttle Quadrant for use with the TBM 900. I've got most of it sorted, but I'm stuck on a couple of things; If I press the HDG, APR, or NAV buttons, the autopilot correctly changes to the requested mode (as verified by the annunciators on my monitor). However, only the HDG button lights up when pressed. The other two buttons work just fine, but they don't light up to say that they're active on the TQ.
I'm very much a newbie with the Honeycomb configurator; but I can see the variable that HDG mode monitors, but I can't for the life of me find the equivalents for APR and NAV modes (mostly just NAV mode I want - I don't ever use APR mode).
I've even gone as far as installing and running the DataRefTool - and I still can't see anything that's changing - and yet the annunciator on the monitor is presumably getting the info from somewhere.
Can someone please give me a heads up here.
Many thanks.
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1 hour ago, akatham said:
Yeah, that is x-plane for you.
https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/topic/238960-parkingtoe-brakes/
Thanks. I guess it is what it is; I'm just surprised that it's not possible (apparantly) to have maximum braking effort assigned to a momentary switch in such a way as it applies max braking when I push it and releases the brakes when I release it - without applying the parking brake control. It just seems all kinds of wrong.
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2 hours ago, akatham said:
brakes maximum is x-planeish for parking brake. So it is working as intended.
That doesn't make any sense. IRL if I'm trying to stop an aircraft in a hurry I'll sure as heck be working the toe brakes hard - but I certainly won't be using the parking brake.
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On my Honeycomb Alpha flight yoke when I assign Hold Brakes Regular to button 3 it works as expected - but if I assign Hold Brakes Maximum to button 3 then it sets the parking brake instead.
Anyone else having this issue?
Bug?
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I must be losing my mind
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Running TBM V1.1.13 on XP 11.55. Previously worked fine under XP 11.52r3.
Hi all - I haven't flown for a few months. When I started XP it updated itself to v11.55. When airborn with the AP configured and engaged on a horizontal navigation mode it disconnects instantly whenever I tap the button to trim nose up or down. I've deliberately crashed the model and sporned a new airframe ... same result.
Also getting an issue with the fuel pump; on v11.52r3 the pump wouldn't come on when set to auto. Now under v11.55 I also get a fuel pressure warning if I start in auto mode; to clear the message I need to go to manual mode then back to auto mode.
Any thoughts anyone? The first issue is a bit of a show-stopper. I don't think it's anything I've forgotten.
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Another option - perhaps just add the maintenance manager to the menu system much the same as we can use for getting to the additional info for ECS / gear / engine etc - and then have a checkbox that hides it all the time when the aircraft isn't moving?
Can't say it bothers me, but would seem like something pretty easy to impliment.
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What issues are you seeing with it?
In-Flight Engine Failures Traced to using X-Plane Flight Model Speed Change
in TBM 900
Posted
Many thanks.
FWIW I have XP failures turned off.
Is there anything I can do to help you get to the bottom of it? Monitor DataRefs etc?