thinking of buying

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AbstractArtist
Senior Airman
Posts: 105
Joined: 09 Feb 2018, 03:00

thinking of buying

Post by AbstractArtist »

I am thinking of buying next month. Is ithe B17 modelled real well and How long does it take to get used to takeoffs and landings?

alan CXA651
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Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: thinking of buying

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi.
All A2A aircraft are modelled very well , the B17 was a pre accu-sim aircraft , it was redone for FSX as an accu-sim then reworked again for P3D , i have had the B17 in FSX for some time and found her very easy to fly , and being a member of the 91st bombardment group , i have flown her on a lot of missions , and been badly damaged by FLAK , and still got her back to base .
The eng 4 feather does not work as it should , and can be feathered with eng stationary or running , it should only work with eng running with oil pressure , this is in FSX , do not know if this was fixed in P3D as i dont have P3D , and if you do a heavy landing , you can break the landing gear link , this does not show in the hanger faults , to repair this landing gear link you need to repair everything you see broken , shut the sim down , then restart sim and reselect the B17 at airport of choice in free flight , and landing gear link is fixed .
The secrete to flying all A2A aircraft is to read the manual , and follow the basic recommended control settings that are mentioned in the manuals , and lots of practice , and treat them as if they are real aircraft.
I use for my controls , CH yoke/rudder pedles/two quad throttle units/saitek trim wheel/radio panel/sw panel/trackIR5
regards Alan. 8)
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Styggron
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Re: thinking of buying

Post by Styggron »

it is a fantastic aircraft A2A have. It is one of their early titles.
I had to make an adjust ment to the aircraft.cfgfile just so I could taxi it more easily.

A2A have a 5 part tutorial on the aircraft as well which is very very useful.

The hardest thing for me is always to slow down during descent, I'm always way too fast, go right off the runway into the trees etc.
I usually have to turn off the RPM management for the co pilot and handle it myself to being it all down to a manageable speed. The co pilot can't see to be able to tell I am getting near the airport and I am clearly descending.

Also I get gear failures all the time. I look at the maintenance hangar. Everything is fine.... I take off, crew report failure and I cannot retract the landing gear..... happened to me twice in the same flying session. Like all A2A planes with accu-sim you really need to look after them properly.

reading the manual is key as is watching A2A tutorials. The plane is well worth it...........

I fly it with FSX. Boxed edition
Accufeel V2, C172 , B377+L049+COTS, B17G, Piper Cub,Commanche,Cherrokee,Spitfire,Bonanza, P47,P40,both Mustangs
Aircraft Factory Avro Anson, Albatros DIII,Heinkel He-219, F4U Corsair, P51H Mustang, Avro 504, BF109
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alan CXA651
Senior Master Sergeant
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Joined: 15 Mar 2016, 08:23

Re: thinking of buying

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi Styggron.
If you make a heavy landing , but dont see any faults in the hangar , but cannot retract or extend gear , even when you hand crank it , this means you have broken the landing gear link , only way i have found to fix this , is to fix anything you see broken in the hanger and shut sim down then restart sim , for some reason the gear link was never put in the hangar faults so cannot be fixed in the hangar .
The 91st have a mechanic mode in the pucker mod that some times manages to fix the link .
The link bar is the stay that you see coming from near the wheel going forward to the wheel well just behind the engine and it controls the extention/retraction of the gear both by electric motor or hand crank , so as you can see , if this breaks , the gear will stick in what ever position it failed in , and will effectivly be an unlocked gear if down , or if retracted will not come down , or could jam anywhere in between up or down , then you have to do emergency landing proceedure , which i have to say , i have done a few times on bombing missions .
regards alan. 8)
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WB_FlashOver
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Re: thinking of buying

Post by WB_FlashOver »

Good day AbstractArtist,

Yes, the B17 can have some issues but they are not as scary as all that in my experience. I'm running P3Dv4.5 but ran it in FSX and FSX-SE for years without many issues.

To your question of modelling, flying, takeoffs and landings the B17 is wonderful to fly. However, as stated above, as with all A2A aircraft you will do yourself and huge favor if you RTFM. I would say that landings is the hardest thing to master in the B17. There is little to no suspension and hard landings are the norm until you have some time in her. Taxiing can be a challenge if you do not have rudder peddles and there is a tweak for the aircraft.cfg file that will help with this.

Upon getting some time in her I recommend you start giving your Flight Engineer some time off and manage all aspects of the Old Girl. You will enjoy many satisfying hours in her if you are willing to put the time in.
Fly her correctly
Treat her with respect
Put in the time needed
And you will not regret your purchase. She in not what I would recommend for the half-hearted pilot.

Cheers
Roger
-- Fly Well, Be Nice, Have Fun ! ! !

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Styggron
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Joined: 30 Oct 2015, 14:28

Re: thinking of buying

Post by Styggron »

alan CXA651 wrote: 18 Dec 2022, 03:51 Hi Styggron.
If you make a heavy landing , but dont see any faults in the hangar , but cannot retract or extend gear , even when you hand crank it , this means you have broken the landing gear link , only way i have found to fix this , is to fix anything you see broken in the hanger and shut sim down then restart sim , for some reason the gear link was never put in the hangar faults so cannot be fixed in the hangar .
The 91st have a mechanic mode in the pucker mod that some times manages to fix the link .
The link bar is the stay that you see coming from near the wheel going forward to the wheel well just behind the engine and it controls the extention/retraction of the gear both by electric motor or hand crank , so as you can see , if this breaks , the gear will stick in what ever position it failed in , and will effectivly be an unlocked gear if down , or if retracted will not come down , or could jam anywhere in between up or down , then you have to do emergency landing proceedure , which i have to say , i have done a few times on bombing missions .
regards alan. 8)
Thank you Alan. I am surprised this has not been fixed because it must have been an issue at the time when this was more recent so odd it's not been fixed so it was just left by the wayside? That does not sound like A2A at all.

Yes the hangar did not say landing gear link....... only when I flew back to the airport and landed went to the hangar I saw it so I repaired it and when I tried to fly again in the same session pow, same issue.

So now if I see the broken link I have to shut the sim down every time after I fix it? Goodness........... so surprised it's still an issue.

It's not so much hard landings for me it's too fast. No point getting the copilot to do RPM's because even though it's clear we're on approach they do not reduce the RPM which kind of makes sense so I need to take that over. I just need to lower the RPM, learn to slow down a little. Also still not sure on the turbo dial even after reading pages 69=70 multiple times. It seems to mean whatever the dial is, it will not go over that amount, so might as well leave it on 4-6 then. I see people fly with it on 8 all the time. Not sure if this makes any difference.

Thanks again Alan.
Accufeel V2, C172 , B377+L049+COTS, B17G, Piper Cub,Commanche,Cherrokee,Spitfire,Bonanza, P47,P40,both Mustangs
Aircraft Factory Avro Anson, Albatros DIII,Heinkel He-219, F4U Corsair, P51H Mustang, Avro 504, BF109
Watch my incompetent flying Twitch

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