C!T ROM 2/ctrom_ii_b.zip/ctrom_ii_b/FLIGHTSI/VLIEGTUI/P_DC-3/DC3.DOC

Text File | 1993-08-01 | 14KB | 241 lines

             Douglas DC-3 Airliner For FS4/ASD - Rod Conklin 76525,3706
                                                 Jim Swan
                                                 Tom Monnone 100033,2150


Introductory Note:

    This is an upgrade to the DC-3 that I orginally uploaded in November
of 1992.  I am uploading a new version because of a rare opportuntity
that I had earlier this month (July 1993).  Tom Monnone, who lives in
Sydney, Australia, was nice enough to forward a letter he received
from Jim Swan detailing changes that Jim had made to my original flight
model.  Jim used to fly DC-3's and modified the plane to fly as he
remembered it.  I believe finding a pilot who flys the aircraft we
upload to FSFORUM is something like finding gold in one's backyard,
so I jumped at the chance to ask Jim's permission to upload this new
version with it's expert "tweaking".  I also found Jim's descriptions
of his experiences with the plane interesting, so I included his
letter with no editing.

    As Jim points out, this is one of many variations that the "Gooney
Bird" has gone through (it is still flying).  Many changes have been
made and can be made to the FS4 version if you have the time and patience
to experiment with things like power and weight or you can fly it
the way Jim remembers it.  I have included the .AFX file and the source
.SIM files for modifications.

    One note.  Tom has discovered that the aircraft will not always
lift off (rotate) if it is saved with a mode file.  I have no idea
why this occurs, and cannot find a solution.  I have noticed this problem
with other AAF-designed aircraft, so I can only conclude that it is
an internal "quirk" in AAF or FS4.  I recommend that you select your
favorite .MOD and then select the DC-3 separately.

    FS5 Note:  Since this plane has been uploaded before the release
of FS5, I cannot predict if it will be compatible.  All the accounts
of changes that I have heard so far do not give much detail about
current AAF aircraft and FS5.

Files in This Package:

       DC3_____.SIM  - Aircraft files for use with FS4.  Just move them to
       DC3_____        your FS4 directory and select them like any other
                       aircraft.

       REFDC3.SIM    - The source SIM file I used to produce DC3_____.SIM.


       DC3.AFX       - Crated aircraft for use with AAF if you have it.

Features:

       - Detailed landing gear and props.
       - Markings for EAST WEST Airlines, Australia.
       - Navigation Lights


Sources:  (Aircraft Appearance):
          Great Aircraft Of The World - Chartwell Books - 1992.
          Modern Civil Aircraft       - Longmeadow Press - 1988.
          (Flight Model):
          Jim Swan - Former DC-3 Pilot.

=======================================================================
   An extract  from letter sent by Jim Swan, retired Airline  Pilot  who
   commenced flying in 1941 and finally relinquished licence about 1983.
========================================================================

   Now for the poor old DC3, when I  first  tried it I
   mumbled a lot, because it did not fly at all like our aircraft used in
   TAA (Trans Australia Airlines) 1946-54  (and later) and in EWA (East-
   West Airlines) 1954 right up to 1975.   We
   used to fly both F27 and DC3 concurrently in EWA once we convinced the
   Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) that it was reasonable.

   Now my memory of  speeds  is  probably  not
   very accurate, but the real fact was that very few  war-time  aircraft
   flew to theoretical specs on service.  So the figures in  Janes  World
   Aircraft and similar books were design figures  before  all  sorts  of
   things were hung on the poor long suffering aircraft.  So  the  FltSim
   DC3 had a take-off like an F27, climbed like a rocket, belted along at
   about VNe and was almost impossible to stop, let alone do a reasonable
   circuit.  I had a long look at the spec in the design file and decided
   that the  figures quoted were adapted to fit the end result, not to be
   realistic,  eg  9000 dry weight, ours were about  13000  I  think,  92
   gallons of  gas, full tanks was 660 gallons, usual load SY-ML
   (Sydney-Melbourne) or BN-SY (Brisbane-Sydney)
   was 330 galls.  In fact 330 galls was almost a minimum  fuel  loading,
   because with 28 seats (EWA), full cargo lockers (rear locker, port and
   starboard forward lockers) and 330 gallons just  about  made  our  AUW
   which was 26200 at sea level ISA conditions.  Even when,  as  happened
   on certain  flights, we cabin loaded newspapers in lieu of passengers,
   each seat loaded was limited to 200 lbs for structural reasons, so the
   total weight was still the same.   Of  course,  a  cargo  version  was
   another matter  altogether, much more could be loaded and official AUW
   went I  think to 26900, but EWA never operated  to  that  figure,  the
   return passengers after a cargo run objected to sitting on the floor!!

   So,  I set to work to make it  fly at  recognisable  speeds  and  with
   reasonable characteristics - but it was disastrous.  It became obvious
   that to  do that I needed to be able to check on the plan  view  and a
   few other things.  One misleading thing was the power.  I  doubt  that
   the programme recognised two engines, so the statement of  1100  hp(?)
   was not practical.  The DC3 actually ranged from about 1900  HP  total
   to 2400 total except when someone tried to put Dart turbines in and it
   went  up to about 4000 HP.     That last effort still flew alright but
   the conversion and redesign cost was so great they gave it away.  So I
   told myself  I did not know enough about what I was doing and attacked
   it from the viewpoint of many little nibbles.  Finally, it  seemed  to
   fall into place and the main problems associated with the plane as my
   parameters have it operating are:

   1. Stall speed too high.
   2. Apparent engine power does not  match real life powers used.
   3. It is hard to lift tail to flying  position on take-off.
   4. Rotation at lift-off must be exaggerated or it won't fly.
   5. Lift-off speed too high.

   Any attempts to correct these errors cause  domino  effects  down  the
   line and  destroy any realism gained.  However, most manoeuvres can be
   done within 10-15 knots of the aircraft as I  remember  them  and  the
   handling is not too  bad  at  all.   On  the  file  I  called  it  the
   DOUGLASGOONEY  which   gave  me  a  singular  DOS  name   and   one
   recognisable by anyone who flew the aircraft.

   I now set out a couple of Tables:

   SPEEDS AS RECALLED AFTER 18 YEARS        SPEEDS RECOMMENDED FOR FLTSIM
   ---------------------------------        -----------------------------
   Stall - about 60-65kts                   Stall - about 98 kts clean.

   V1=V2=  81 kts.                          V1=81 kts  V2 105 kts.
   Lift Off        85-90 kts.               Lift Off     100 accel to 105
   Initial Climb   95-105 kts.              Initial Climb   105-110 kts.
   Climb           112 kts.                 Climb           110-120 kts.
   Cruise          150 kts.                 Cruise          150-160 kts.
   Descent      to 170 kts.                 Descent      to 180 kts.
   Adjust descent speeds downwards for any rough air conditions.
   Gear Down       150 kts.                 Gear Down       160 kts.
   Flaps Down      125 kts.                 Flaps Quarter   140 kts.
                                            Flaps 3Quarter/full 125 kts.
   Approach        115-120 kts.             Approach        105-120 kts.
   Final I/M in    105-115 kts.             Final I/M in    105-120 kts.
   Short Final     100-105 kts.             Short Final     100-105 kts.
   (This is the stabilised part of the approach, about last quarter mile)
   TTS              95 kts.                 TTS             95 -105 kts.
   (TTS equals TARGET THRESHOLD SPEED- note: at lower end of TTS bracket
   the FltSim version is in a must land position).

   Rate of  Climb averaged about 500 ft/min and this is what I managed in
   the FltSim  version.  In the real world there were infinite variations
   of course.

   If checked with other pilots, you would find many discrepancies in the
   remembered speeds as they varied from airline to airline.   East-West
   for instance  had very short stabilised approaches to save time, other
   operators used to stabilise as far back as the outer marker to prepare
   their pilots  for eventual jet operation.  Even the type  of  landings
   varied from  three pointer (TAA), tail down wheeler (EWA),  tail  high
   wheeler (Ansett-ANA), so there was no "correct" answer.

   The same  applied to engine powers as engines differed,  TAA, EWA both
   used P&W  R1830 1200HP, Butler and some others had Wright Cyclone of a
   lower horse-power but details not remembered.

   I found the FltSim4 settings to be TAKEOFF         2358.
                                      METO            2302.
                                      CLIMB           2246.
                                      CRUISE          2077 or 2021.
                                      DESCENT/CIRCUIT 1611.
                                      MEDIUM FINAL     993.

   These powers all correspond to positions selected on F2.

   The following list of  parameters  would  cover  all changes I made.
   Any  letters  not  appearing  were  not  touched   (such   as
   the sensitivities  and stall synthesiser). One interesting  thing  was
   that after I was satisfied that it worked I left  it  for  awhile  and
   then about  a week later it just did not perform.  The  reason  turned
   out to  be that I had done all test flying up till then at  WLM  (S/L)
   (Wiilliamtown RAAF Base - nearly sea level) but had returned to FAIRBAIRN
   (Canberra)  (1850').   So  I  had  to alter  the Altitude Derate figure.

   The parameters now read :

   MAIN MENU.         A                   C                 D
   ---------         ---                 ---               ---
   M  003.99      C  004.99            A  12000          A  00023
   N  06000       D  16384             B   330           B  00015
   O  00004       G  00050             C   100           C  00200
   P  00100       H  00050             E  8000           D  05500
   Q  00050       I  16000             F  6000           E  00750
   T  01005       J  00006             G  10000          F  00070
   U  00010       K  32000             H  01000          G  00010
                  L  10000             I  00000          H  00000
                                       J  017.99         I  00080
                                       N  00008          J  00008
                                                         K  00220
                                                         L  00075

   The letter coding is directly from the "Aircraft Designer" list.

   What I  feel is,  that  if  satisfied   that   people  might  show  an
   interest in trying to make the model perform as it  did  in  the  real
   world,  a small sheet could be included explaining the figures to  aim
   for and  why they are not in fact exactly what the designers intended.
   This of  course would be impossible as with this aircraft there was so
   much development work and change  since the original concept  that  we
   can say   there  are  hundreds  of  separate  sub-types.   But  it  is
   satisfying to have the old girl looking as if it is really trying.

   Mind you  the take-off has to be startling, but  not  more  so  than a
   stunt we used to try out of Glen Innes (GLI) early AM when we often went
   over to Inverell empty, and that was to get airborne on the  600  feet
   of bitumen  at the end of the runways  (before  sealing  days!!).   It
   could be  done with one third flap, full power before releasing brakes
   and rotate at about 62 knots. It would come off virtually stalled, and
   on acceleration,  holding about two feet above the runway  until  making
   normal rotate  speed.  Any power loss would have resulted in immediate
   touch down and hit the stoppers.  It sounds dreadful but in  fact  was
   no more dangerous than a normal take-off  as we always had  plenty  of
   dirt to  spare (GLI Alt 3500').   I probably learned to handle the DC3
   earlier when  TAA were just starting training for possible engine loss
   by having  the check Captains on check locals fail  an  engine  at  65
   knots and  have us keep going.  No-one knew anything about Min control
   speeds in those days and it just flew.   After all  the  possibilities
   were investigated and the principles  of  V1  and  V2  expounded  that
   nonsense ceased very smartly and with any loss below V1 we STOPPED.

  The DC3 is flown on an IBM compatible
  386 computor which runs at 40 Mhz and perform to a pleasing standard of
  realism.  The scenery programme most frequently used is very full but that
  does not seem to cause problems, all radio aids perform closely to the
  real world situation, however I do not use dynamic scenery, random
  weather, crash detect or other items which may slow the computor more
  than necessary.

  I hope that any user of the craft have as much pleasure as I do.