Up, Up, and Away. (How I got Jenny off the ground)

In an earlier post I was looking for help because I couldn't get some of the aircraft off of the ground.

I first noticed the problem when the 172 would not turn up more than 2200 RPM on takeoff. I could get off the ground but it was a long run.

Planes like the Jenny and Vimy were impossible to get airborne because their engines would not turn up enough to acheave flight speed. The would get light, stall, drop a wing and crash.

I found out that It was an altitude problem. I fly out of Marfa, Texas which is at 4880 ft.

Being new to FS9 I was not aware that this sim was altitude sensitive.

Once I became aware of this I did a test and took the Jenny and Vimy to KeY West, Florida where both of them were flyable. Flyable at sea level. not flyable at 4880 equals an altitude problem. Engine horsepower loss due to altitude coupled with a lower air density makes marginal aircraft hard to fly. Easy to fix, add horsepower.

To fix the problem I super tuned their engines using FSACC resulting in a 25% increase in RPM. Problem Solved. The 172 now turns up to 2700 RPM again and I was able to fly both the Jenny and Vimy.

I have to hand it to those guys who made those historic flights in the Vimy. That plane handles like a truck that is stuck in high gear and has no power steering.

Anyway I thought I would share what I learned and how I solved it in case someone else has the problem.

I want to thank those who pointed me in the right direction. That is what these forums do best, share information.

Interesting. Thanks for the update, I had been wondering about that.

Ed

Congrats..Good find..

So is that how your got your nickname DoubleBounce?

I've experienced similar problems with the Vimy but have resorted to lightening the fuel load. And then on several occassions I've had to dump fuel to get over a mountain pass.

I'm not familiar with FSACC - can you tell me more about what it is and where I can find it?

Good morning SpiderWings,

You can find FSACC at http://www.fsplanet.com/22072004.htm

When you try to open the cfg files it will ask what program to use. Tell it to use Word Pad.

When you first open the file use save as and save the original file with another name. I prefix BU to the original file (BUxxxxxx.cfg.)

This will allow you to return to the original if your mod does not pan out.

SpiderWings, last night I was flying around in the Vimy, trying different things-- stalls, etc., and thinking about this discussion of the effects of altitude on performance. So on a whim I slewed it up to 99,999 feet. You know, just to see how it would perform.

First thing that happened was that both engines died -- not enough air, I suppose. I couldn't start the engines again until I got under 20,000 feet, so it was a long glide down. Even so, I think I broke the all-time speed record for a Vickers Vimy!

Ed

Thanks DoubleBounce, I'll check that out and maybe download it when I get some time on a fast connection.

Ed, sounds like great fun! It reminds me of when I did that with a Cessna to show my older brother (the only real pilot in the family) how to land with the flight sim. He says its much harder for him than in real life. (Well that was with FS95). Anyway, I slewed it up to 100,000 feet and told him to come in and I'd show him how it was done on the sim.

I was directly above San Francisco International.

Told him... first you gotta spot the airport.

Oh there it is.... as I banked the stalled cessna hard toward the ground... a rather small criss coss of 4 runways way down there.

Then I told him... just keep your eye on the end of the runway. And so as the entire world proceeded to spin in my view around the rotating end of RW34R (if I remember correctly), I let the Cessna spin downward, while watching the altimeter.

Then at about 2000 feet I slowed the spin into a wide but steep turn, keeping the end of the runway just in the corner of the view, then proceed to execute a rather exciting dead stick landing. Having a nice long and wide runway helped a lot.

He thought I was a smart a**!!! And I was.

That is what I love about flying the sim, you can have fun and live to tell about it.

The last thing heard on SpiderWing's voice recorder --- Hold my beer and watch this.

Ed