Bruce (a.k.a. brian747)

> "A time consuming task but worth every minute." Absolutely. As the old saying goes, 'there's no gain without pain'. I do feel a little bit sorry for those who haven't caught on to The Fixer, though. Cheers, B.

FSX with DX10 and Steve's Fixer is a superb combination. (P3D? Who needs it?) I've been using that combination for over a year now, and wouldn't consider any alternative. @Wayne and Matt: If you would like a few hints about configuration and usage, you might be interested in the review here: http://www.mutleyshangar.com/reviews/bc/dx10/dx10.htm Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747

Hi John! Briefly, since I have to dash out — > "Does the derate..." A derate is something quite different from assumed temperature (see my post to JohnA for a brief explanation of the differences). > "...apply at altitude...." As I said in my previous reply to you: "...this applies for take-off only...". > "What happens if you input an assumed temperature of 40C?" It all depends on the real outside temperature, of course, not to mention the other factors I mentioned (runway length, runway slope, flap setting, aircraft take-off weight...). So for any given r

Hi John (that's t'other John)! That's an excellent (and far from dumb) question — the concept of using an assumed temperature (a.k.a. flex thrust) definitely seems odd to everyone at first, believe me, and it's certainly not an easy one to "get your head around". Furthermore, I'm no expert at engine parameters, so TBH I'm not sure if I can explain it very well — but I'll give it my best shot. In general, all jet engines are guaranteed to provide the specified thrust at full throttle position at a given temperature (ISA + 15, or 30C) — but if the temperature rises beyond that point the

Hi John! > "So assumed temperature sounds like it is a conservatively high OAT value, chosen for calculating EPR for takeoff." Yup, that's it. BUT as I said, there are lots of other variables too — runway length, runway slope, flap setting, aircraft take-off weight, you name it. Which is why the preferred route is via software rather than using the tables. Having said that, if you check out Peter's video he gives an example of the BA tables in use at KSFO rwy 28L (there's a separate table for each runway and each flap setting, so, as you can imagine, using electronic methods also sa

@John OK, you asked for it.... Airliner engines being a humungously expensive item (especially when you've got four of 'em on board ) there are various measures which are deployed to increase their life by, basically, trying not to push them too hard, since wear increases exponentially with temperature. So when it comes to taking off in a large airliner, full power is only ever used on the relatively rare occasions that the circumstances require it (for example, a high airport on a hot day). But for the majority of the take-offs the accountants that sit on every airliner Captain's back di

Oh dear, it appears that whilst trying to make things clearer I have made things worse - apologies, guys. The problem was an incorrect (too high) assumed temperature, exacerbated by an unusually hot day at Heathrow. This had the effect of reducing the take-off thrust commanded by the TOGA button to a figure which was insufficient to permit normal acceleration and climb out. (So the EPR was wrong, John). The generic performance offered by the default FSX 747 is not remotely to be compared with the highly-tuned performance figures built in to PSX (unless <*cough*> some idiot screws them

Hi John, and thanks for your contribution which has, I believe, enabled me to identify the problem! > "... the rotation was initiated at too low an airspeed for the AC weight and environmental conditions..." If I may say so, I don't think that was the cause, purely because of the extreme accuracy of the PSX sim (good enough for a friend of mine who lives a few miles away and just happens to be a recently-retired 744 Training Captain to enthuse about) and the fact that I rotated as soon as the PNF called it. The PSX FMC is considerably more refined than PMDG's, say, and in the eight mo

I *like* four engines. They do give me a vague feeling of reassurance. But statstically, of course, you're likely to get an engine failure twice as often as you will on a twin-engined aircraft. So why do I still feel safer with four engines? 8-| Cheers, B.

Hi guys! And thanks. @Geoff The lack of wingflex is the result of using the default 747 for the video ( <grin> I wasn't thinking that it might be posted at the time I made it). IMHO, a tail strike is typically the result of a rotation that's too fast, not too slow — and since I'm using PSX (the professional simulation of the 744) any tailstrike would have been announced loudly and clearly in the cockpit! And yeah, I agree, I really should start to enjoy the view more. (Those who dislike seeing an aircraft in pain, please look away now). Here's a tail strike o

Hi, Mike, and welcome to Mutley's Hangar! As you'll have gathered already, there's lots of good advice available. Flight simming is a huge hobby, with lots of specialist corners for you to explore, so take it gently and, above all, have fun! Cheers. bruce a.k.a. brian747

I know, I know. Me too. I have always gone along with the accepted wisdom that outside views are for wimps and tourists: yer actual real simmer is totally focused on the flying experience, and only the cockpit counts. But today I decided to make a quick video (no rendering or clever stuff needed, just a straight recording as I went along) of an assumed temperature take-off at Heathrow (the Aerosoft version, in case you're wondering). I made it because I have been getting increasingly concerned recently about why I was using up so much runway — until I viewed the video, which instantly

@allardjd Great post, John! I'm with you. Cheers, B.

Thanks for that, Joe. Although it's a bit reminiscent of what they used to say about London: "It'll be great when it's finished". (Cynical? Moi?) Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747

Well done, John! It's frustrating just how long the "narrowing down" process takes, but it's the only sure way of identifying the real culprit, as you know. But it's a great feeling when you do finally nail it. :-) Well done, and the best of luck, B.

Divine twins.

Great stuff, James, lovely pics, well done! :-D Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747

@james >"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" <sigh> Yeah, but.... "It ain't paranoia if they *really are* out to get you" As a home user you may well think that no hackers would be interested in your machine. Maybe you could even be right, if you stay lucky and keep a low Internet profile. But in these days of automated bots and crawlers (not to mention viruses, malware, and rootkits) I have disinfected too many friends' machines that have been taken hostage (for real money) to have that amount of optimism. And when I was still in the I.T. business I saw too many very serious pene

As someone who has standardised my machines on W7, I regard anything beyond that as undesirable. Then I discovered that a recent Windows update (KB3035583) is in fact a “Windows 10 downloader” which blatantly advertises Windows 10 and, it is suggested, will even download it — if you're not careful. On checking my Windows 7 machines I found that all of them were infected with KB3035583. I therefore removed it and took steps to ensure that it won't be downloaded again. If you want to do the same and need help in how to do it I found this link that may help: http://www.myce.com/news/how-to-un

Great PIREP, John! At least this time you had the good sense to get banged up with Jasmine (maybe I should rephrase that) and, hmm, plenty of alcohol. So maybe she's just not your type? Good story, and a fascinating aircraft (though some old-time Harrier pilots I used to know would probably feel that the skill has been taken out of VTOL). Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747

(Forgive me if this is a daft question, but...) has anything been said about the likely quantifiable performance hit? Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747

Lovely moody shots! Well done, Cheers, B.

Nice one, Pete — and nice shots, too! About those PAPIs.... It's so long since I set up my three screens using NVidia Surround that TBH I can't remember what I did, but I'm guessing that as a starting point you might want to search the 'net for a halo.bmp that is more suited to a multiscreen setup? Here's an example discussion of the sort of thing I mean: http://www.simforums.com/forums/can-halobmp-be-edited_topic46083.html Congratulations, and welcome to the ATWC! Cheers, bruce a.k.a. brian747

Requiescat in pace. In the words of John Donne: "Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee." Perhaps our thoughts now should begin to turn to Avsim, and what the future holds.... B.

Hi Wayne! Just follow the link I gave (and the link from there). BOB is a freeware utility — to quote the Orbx blurb: "Meet BOB, the unique free addon from Orbx which lets you get up close and personal with airport and scenery, anywhere in the world. NEW! This V1.1 release adds a control panel where with three different soundscapes for more flexible location specific visits. Now available as a triple installer." Basically, BOB lets you "walk" around your airport scenery to check out the details that you probably won't see from the cockpit, and you can then obviously take a screensh