Jump to content

Bombardier DASH-8 Q400


Recommended Posts

Kia Orana from the Deep South..

 

I just got this ship from Majestic yesterday and am having a dickens of a job with the thing.  I was wondering if anyone here flies it?

 

If so, I wouldn't mind a few tips on getting it to fire up.  It's cold and dark and there is no easy start, neither do other tricks I've tried (like switching aircraft) work.

 

I have tried the manual and I have posted a query at Just Flight. No joy with either so far.

 

 

Appreciate all or indeed, any, response.    Rick

Link to post
Share on other sites

I played with it a few hours before reading the manual :) first off, just look at each part of each panel to familiarise yourself with which bits do roughly what, then ignore for starters the things that won't affect you sitting on the ground, like icing prevention etc. I found it was helpful to flick switches and see what went on or off on the master light panel (overhead bottom). If you think about it logically, first of all you need electrical power, then start APU, engine start (but make sure you understand power and condition lever positions). that will mostly get you mobile. Then you can learn the FMS and start integrating comms, navigation and proper procedures. There really is no substitute for getting in the cockpit, seeing what every last switch button or knob does by playing with it, then reading the manual and tutorials for procedural correctness I'm afraid :)

There are some good resources from the majestic support forum in the way of links to YouTube vids and rw manuals as well...so do look there.

Good luck!

K

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Rick

 

Have you tried flying the tutorial? I found it really useful and after a few times things started to get familiar and I don't usually fly airliners!

 

Joe

Link to post
Share on other sites

Oohhh! Count me in.

 

I've been eyeballing that baby for a few months now. I'm working up the nerve to purchase it. Looking forward to seeing your review, Rob.

 

Above advice worked for me with the PMDG 737 - do the tutorial. PMDG had a neat way: Flight #1 started with engines running on the active. That way you get to satisfy the "need to fly right now" part of the learning process. Then they got down to the details in Flight #2. FMC was, for me, the tough part of the learning curve but once I got my head around it's quirky requirements all went well.

Link to post
Share on other sites

One of the easiest aircraft to start there is. I managed it without any reference to the manual. Which makes me think you may have an issue.

 

Pretty much ready to fire up as soon as you load it.

 

Condition levers, set to cut off

Engine start switches, set to norm

Select toggle switch, set to 2

Hit start button

Right condition lever, set to start

Select switch, set to 1

Hit start button

Left condition lever, set to start

 

When nicely fired up, condition levers to Max.

 

Flight Taxi switch, set to taxi

 

Props will be at 660 RPM. You will be in ground range ready for taxi.

 

One of the best aircraft yet created for FSX. The flight model, coded outside of FSX, courtesy of NASA software.

 

It's even sexier than Mutley.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Ok - I bought the plane (and maybe the farm) and found a download source with enough bandwidth to get it on my system.

 

The good news - I got it from Toronto to Montreal without bending it.

 

Bad news - I'm not sure how.

 

There was a lot of shuffling at the end of the flight. I never did get it hooked up on the ILS and managed a night VFR approach that was sort of near the centreline. No fibbing - this was accomplished with a lot of "pauses" to read the FM. I'm a bit disappointed in the manual syntax (where in the world was the development team?) but it is eventually understandable if a bit stilted. I started out in daylight but it took me so long to get things going that it was night by the time I got to Montreal. Maybe this was a good thing as the runway lighting was a big help.

 

Wish me luck!

 

 

I'm going to try again tonight.

 

The big thing I need to get right is to move the condition levers to the joystick. The way my setup is, the throttles worked fine linked to the joystick (I use a  Logitech Extreme 3D Pro), but the condition levers were not mapped to the top right buttons as are the prop levers on all my other planes. It was great fun stopping everything and prying the CL levers into their appropriate spots with the mouse. Sounds easy, but the sim stops when I hit the pause button so I have to guess how far to move the levers, hit "P" again, see where I'm at, pause again, correct, then repeat for the other CL. It's a bugger on a visual approach.

Link to post
Share on other sites

 The big thing I need to get right is to move the condition levers to the joystick. The way my setup is, the throttles worked fine linked to the joystick (I use a  Logitech Extreme 3D Pro), but the condition levers were not mapped to the top right buttons as are the prop levers on all my other planes. It was great fun stopping everything and prying the CL levers into their appropriate spots with the mouse. Sounds easy, but the sim stops when I hit the pause button so I have to guess how far to move the levers, hit "P" again, see where I'm at, pause again, correct, then repeat for the other CL. It's a bugger on a visual approach.

 

Hi March, how about checking the box for "Show Cockpit ToolTips" in your Aircraft Settings. In most cases it will show the settings as they move, sometimes you might have to move the cursor away and then back over the item for it to register. Not so realistic but I would be lost without it on my 15" screen, especially when there is not a 2D panel available.

Link to post
Share on other sites

It appears I was just impatient. The condition levers DO move when I hold down the buttons. It takes a second or so - unlike the prop controls on most of the other planes where the props move instantly and progress from one state to the other without hesitation. 

 

I did find another issue while I was playing with this: if you're not careful when reducing the prop revs from 900 to 850 at TOC, you can overshoot and reduce the rpm below some threshold and the props go into a (I think it was 1060 RPM) default mode that can only be corrected by shutting down the engine and restarting. This terminated tonight's flight somewhere East of Toronto while I fiddled with the prop rpms and by the time I'd got it figured out the flight was in the outbasket.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

It appears I was just impatient. The condition levers DO move when I hold down the buttons. It takes a second or so - unlike the prop controls on most of the other planes where the props move instantly and progress from one state to the other without hesitation. 

 

I did find another issue while I was playing with this: if you're not careful when reducing the prop revs from 900 to 850 at TOC, you can overshoot and reduce the rpm below some threshold and the props go into a (I think it was 1060 RPM) default mode that can only be corrected by shutting down the engine and restarting. This terminated tonight's flight somewhere East of Toronto while I fiddled with the prop rpms and by the time I'd got it figured out the flight was in the outbasket.

 

Incidentally, the issue you mention isn't a bug, the real aircraft functions this way too.

 

Many real world Dash pilots have found themselves at 1060 RPM for the entire flight.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've just remembered why I stick to jets!     :P

 

Mind you, if I was ever tempted to try those spinny-roundy things, I think it would have to be with Majestic's Dash-8 Q400. I've just finished reading Jane Whittaker's review of it in the current PC Pilot: I hadn't realised that (unlike fsx)  it takes advantage of multi-core processors — the guys at Majestic are obviously very serious about what they do.

 

Cheers,

 

Brian

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...