Search the archive:
YaBB - Yet another Bulletin Board
 
   
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print
Sim Flight Training Video 2! **(It's HERE!)** (Read 1637 times)
Apr 15th, 2008 at 1:03am

Mobius   Offline
Colonel
Highest Point in the Lightning
Storm
Wisconsin

Posts: 4369
*****
 
I've made the second flight lesson video and am uploading it at the moment.  The youtube and SimTeeVee versions are ready now and the download should be ready soon:

Youtube (lowest quality - streamed) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fjQklj9MnA

SimTeeVee (medium quality - streamed) http://www.simteevee.com/watch.php?mdid=590


The video covers turns, climbs, descents, steep turns, and slow flight.  Stalls weren't covered because Flight Simulator doesn't like stalls and post-stall flight dynamics, so it wouldn't really be much help.  The recovery procedure for a stall is the same as the recovery procedure for slow flight if you need it. Wink

All the manuevers start out in cruise conditions, which are straight and level flight at 100 kts at a specific altitude and heading.

For the turn section, a turn is made at slightly more than standard rate of 3° per second.  The bank angle for a standard rate turn can be estimated by taking 15% of your airspeed, so at 100 kts, the bank angle for a standard rate turn will be 15°.  Also, to estimate the correct heading to roll out on, take 50% of your bank angle and roll out that many degrees before your desired heading.  That means that if you are flying at 100 kts, a standard rate turn is 15°, so you would want to roll out 7.5° before your desired heading.  So, if you are making a left turn to a heading of 180° under these conditions, you would begin to roll out on a heading of 187.5°.  During the turn, it's easiest to maintain altitude by finding the point on the dash where the horizon line intersects the dash and keeping the horizon line passing through this point throughout the turn.

For the climb, you usually want to climb at an airspeed that is less than cruise airspeed and you'll also want to climb with full throttle (in the Cessna 172).  Since adding power to full throttle while still in cruise flight will result in an increase in airspeed, you'll want to pitch up and slow to climb speed prior to adding power.  A cruise climb is normally around 80-90 kts.  During the climb, it is important to maintain coordinated flight by adding a little right rudder to counter-act the left turning tendencies of the aircraft.  To level out, you want to take 10% of your climb rate and begin to level off that much before your desired altitude.  For example, if you are climbing at 750 fpm, you'll want to begin to level off 75 ft before your desired altitude.

For a descent, power is reduced and airspeed is held constant at cruise airspeed using pitch.  When leveling off after the descent, power is added back to cruise power at the same time that pitch is returned to cruise pitch.  This ensures that there is no significant loss of airspeed while leveling out.  It's important to consider the turning tendencies of the aircraft in this situation as well.  During the climb, the nose was pulled to the left.  In a descent, the opposite is true, the nose is pulled to the right, so left rudder is required to maintain coordinated flight.

For steep turns, it's important to clear the airspace around the aircraft before starting the maneuver.  To begin the steep turn, roll the aircraft to somewhere between 30° and 60° (no more than 60°) and add a touch of power to maintain airspeed and altitude during the turn.  A significant amount of back pressure is required to maintain altitude.  The method of keeping the horizon line and dash intersection point constant through the turn is effective here too.

For slow flight, start the maneuver by decreasing the power to a mid-range throttle setting and maintaining altitude with pitch.  This will cause the aircraft to slow down.  Once the airspeed is within the white arc (flap extension speeds), lower full flaps and use pitch to maintain altitude.  Use power to maintain altitude if necessary.  The left turning tendencies of the aircraft at very apparent in slow flight due to the slow airspeed, high angle of attack, and high power settings.  Because of this, lots of right rudder is required to maintain coordinated flight.  Once the airspeed gets to 40-50 kts, hold the airspeed and altitude constant.  To turn during slow flight, it is very important that only very small inputs to the ailerons are used.  Slow flight is a high angle of attack maneuver and during slow flight, the wings are right on the edge of stall.  By using larger aileron inputs, the increased angle of attack created by the deflecting aileron could cause that wing to stall, leading to a full stall or a spin.  Because of this, turns during slow flight are made predominately with rudder input.  To recover from slow flight, add full power, pitch the nose down, and incrementally retract the flaps.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Wink

***Thans Pete, for updating the link to the SimTeeVee version. Wink
« Last Edit: Feb 18th, 2009 at 6:23pm by Mobius »  

...
IP Logged
 
Reply #1 - Apr 15th, 2008 at 6:50am

Brett_Henderson   Offline
Colonel
EVERY OUTER MARKER SHOULD
BE AN NDB

Gender: male
Posts: 3593
*****
 
Can't wait to see it... especially the slow-flight stuff  Smiley

You've mentioned some oh-so-imporant flying fundamentals, and that they can be practiced points out yet another aspect to MSFS realism.

Flying by the numbers, and the importance of mastering constant "airspeed flying"... maintaining an airspeed throughout a maneuver; as opposed to letting the maneuver dictate the airspeed. This is a technique that will make the transition into instrument flying, that much easier.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #2 - Apr 15th, 2008 at 11:02am

Mobius   Offline
Colonel
Highest Point in the Lightning
Storm
Wisconsin

Posts: 4369
*****
 
The slow flight stuff didn't quite turn out like I wanted, for some reason FS didn't seem to like me doing slow flight.  I couldn't actually get to the point where the stall horn was going off and maintain level flight, but I got close.  Fraps wasn't really agreeing with me at that point either.  I thought I got a continuous shot through all the maneuvers, but I only caught the first half of a turn and a recovery that's not the best, but I think they get the point across. Wink

The videos are uploading now, so they should be available in the next couple hours. Wink
 

...
IP Logged
 
Reply #3 - Apr 15th, 2008 at 2:29pm

Brett_Henderson   Offline
Colonel
EVERY OUTER MARKER SHOULD
BE AN NDB

Gender: male
Posts: 3593
*****
 
Very GOOD stuff...

To those thinking that this seems easy and boring; try it  Wink

Smoothly transitioning in/out of turns, climbs, descents;  '+/- 100 feet'  and  '+/- 10knots', with rock-solid vertical speeds is what flying is all about.

These are the skills you need to drill, until they're second nature. It's a no-compromise foundation for instrument flying... and will get you ready for bigger and faster aircraft. If you can't fly a C172, rock solid and by the numbers; you'll be all over the sky, and scaring your poor passengers, in the 737  Cheesy

Good job.. looking forward to the next ..    Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print