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advice on patterns (Read 1319 times)
Reply #15 - May 25th, 2005 at 11:00pm

Secondrule   Offline
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Hello Staiduk,

I have been doing some more circuits, and you are right. As I lower the flap, I shoot upwards. I have been trying to control this, but I am not being very successful.

I am also trying to use the throttle to control altitude instead of "diving" towards the runway if I am too high.

I think I am also having issues with my MS FFB2 joystick. I don't think it's working as it should. 

Even though I have the joystick set up to "return to center" on "high", it is still rather "floppy". It doesn't really re-center itself. For example, If I push the stick forward, it will stay forward, unless an "effect" makes it jerk into a new position. If it weren't for the effects I feel, I would think it wasn't working.

thanks,
John
 
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Reply #16 - May 26th, 2005 at 1:07am

Staiduk   Offline
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Hi Secondrule - sorry to hear you're having stick problems - there's lots of folks here who'll be able to help you on that score. I've a FF2 myself; best stick ever IMO. Smiley
Question - is it just on the Twin Bonanza, or on all aircraft?

Now; about the plane:

The Twin Bonanza is easily one of my absolute fave addon planes - the guy that built it ought to get an award; IMO. Man; what a lovely plane. Looks great, flies even better.
BUT - it's most definitely not the aircraft to learn circuits in. The TB is a big, monstrously powerful twin. Aerodynamically, it's also clean as hell - very slick. It's easy to fly; but not easy to fly precisely for beginners.

Secondrule; all this is very much in credit to you - to be able to fly an excellent series of circuits like you did with this plane proves you're no beginner; at least to flight sim, IMO.

Like all aircraft, the TB must be properly trimmed for all aspects of flight. Takeoff; trim for the climb. Cruise; trim to hands-off flight. Descent; retrim again. Drop flaps and gear; retrim, etc.
In real-life flight everything you do is followed by a retrim. Cheesy
In FS; pilots often ignore the trim and just turn on the AP - a waste of valuable simming fun; IMO. In a hot plane like the TB; flying like this can bite hard - the Bonanza can be real cranky at slow speeds (i.e. on approach) if it's not trimmed out. Smiley

Just a general rant on flight-sim trim. Grin

In your case; you could really benefit in the areas you're asking about by practicing good trim habits.

Try this drill:
The TB cruises nicely (without fiddling with the prop) at 190kias @ 2000ASL. (A nice GA altitude. You can fly lots jigher but there's not much point - you miss a lot of scenery that way. Grin )
Take off and head out from the airport; set a 500fpm. climb to 2000ft. Once there; level out and set throttle for 190kias (about 90% throttle). Use the stick to keep the VSI centered; then set trim until the aircraft flies handsoff. (The mnemonic pilots use for this is APT - Attitude, Power, Trim.)
Once the aircraft is flying hands off; do just that. Take your hand off the stick; you won't be using it for a while.
Now: Climb to 3000`just using the throttle. Add just a crack of power. The aircraft will climb gently to its new altitude. At 3000` throttle back to the old setting and let the plane settle to level flight again.
Now reverse it - use the throttle to descend back to 2000`.

Once you've got that down; start using sharper climbs and dives. Climb to 10,000 ft. @1000fpm. Use APT to set your climb properly. Descend in the same way; back to 2000`. Use PAT for descent. (Power, Attitude, Trim).

Now evolve to 'lazy eights'.  Make a 3-minute turn to the left; followed by a three-minute turn to the right. Work to keep your turn rate constant and your VSI nailed on 0. If you can do all that; you've got this flying thing down cold. Grin

Finally; apply all this to landing. Throttle back to flaps range - the white arc on the ASI. This is what's so tricky about flying a clean plane - the Bonanza takes forever to slow down; and you have to throttle back practically to idle to get it into flaps range at all.
Now; when you drop flaps you know it's going to A) add a lot of lift and B) add a lot of drag; so be ready. As you drop your first notch of flaps, add power to compensate for the extra drag. At the same time; lower the nose slightly to keep the VSI centered. It's not hard at all if you can do the drills described above.

As in real life; never start a final descent until your plane is properly trimmed for landing. Base/Final is not the place to be fiddling with secondary controls; that's what the downwind is for.

Try the above - hope it'll help you in your sim practice. Grin

Cheers!
 

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Reply #17 - May 26th, 2005 at 11:18am

beaky   Offline
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Quote:
Hello Staiduk,

I have been doing some more circuits, and you are right. As I lower the flap, I shoot upwards. I have been trying to control this, but I am not being very successful.

I am also trying to use the throttle to control altitude instead of "diving" towards the runway if I am too high.

I think I am also having issues with my MS FFB2 joystick. I don't think it's working as it should. 

Even though I have the joystick set up to "return to center" on "high", it is still rather "floppy". It doesn't really re-center itself. For example, If I push the stick forward, it will stay forward, unless an "effect" makes it jerk into a new position. If it weren't for the effects I feel, I would think it wasn't working.

thanks,
John


The deal with flaps: They're not so much for slowing down as they are for enhancing the wing's ability to produce lift (by increasing the chord of the wing), even at lower speeds (so one can descend without moving forward as much, primarily). If you're always "ballooning" when you add flaps, it's probably because your airspeed is too high. If the airspeed indicator has a white arc (not sure if that twin does), don't lower the flaps at any speed higher than the top of the white arc. And even if you're nicely slowed-up, you should be anticipating the nosing-up tendency that occurs whenever you add flaps. My habit is to apply a little forward stick at the same moment I deploy flaps, and sometimes start trimming forward right away, too (depending on the airplane).
Also; wise move using power for altitude changes. Sure the plane will go up if you pull back and go down if you push forward, but if you want to keep going up, you'll need more power, and if you want to land accurately and safely, you have to reduce power. Changes in pitch should be thought of as being more a way to control airspeed, not altitude.
 

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