Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted October 31, 2015 Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 Sacre Bleu! Holy Shit! I had this on my wish list for a very long time but as I had no practical use for it (as if that has stopped me before) and it looked hard as fark to fly. So I succumbed to a mere 25% discount and bit on it. I doubt I will fly it often as it most definitely is a handful to manage...it flies beautifully, but so much to keep track of temp and power setting wise I am terrified to "Open Her Up" and exploit it's speed just yet till I get more comfortable with the systems and how they react. Hands down the hardest plane in my hangar to take off and land...the view forward when the nose comes up is complete obstructed shite...can't see anything till just before rotation speed and keeping on a runway is terribly difficult (I took off from the grass margin next to the runway ), even with the canopy open and sitting with my head above the frame..., and landing is nearly as bad trying to stay On the runway once down. It is even harder than the little stubby GEEBEE racer...wow. Anyhow...enjoy some pics. She is definitely a gorgeous plane and Aerosoft did it justice with an outstanding (A2A) quality rendition of it. The H1-B model with longer wingspan (34 instead of 25 feet) with increased range, lower stall speeds...but lower speed. (I think I will be flying this one most ) BTW, I did read the manual before jumping into this bird...HIGHLY recommended/required reading. The product description mentioned that beta testers of this plane averaged 6 blown motors before completing a successful flight, I believe it, especially if they didn't read up on the systems first. I was expecting to do the same, but managed to not blow mine on my short hop from Mt. View to Oakland. Beginners luck combined with some pre-orientation I suspect. In reality, I probably incurred some damage to the landing gear on my first landing...Not a greaser by any stretch of the imagination. Cheers. Coff. P.S. Apolgies for no VC pics. It looks amazing ofc...I'll add one down the line after next time I take it out for a "scare". Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted October 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2015 I think I will be Fun Flying this (useless for Airhauler) aircraft for quite a while for cross country prop flying. It is a gorgeous plane to fly...so long as it is flown in moderate power settings. Too long trying to Push It...and yeah. I blew an engine from overheating the cylinder heads on flight #2 from Mt View to the coast. Flight #3 went Very Very Well. I restarted a new flight from Concorde-KCCR, and headed roughly west towards Tahoe/Reno...no nav aids , gps or maps...just dead reckoning and "local experience". Passed Tahoe about 5 miles to my port side...not too bad...but would have preferred passing to my starboard side as that would put me between the lake and Reno. More piccies: The VC, as promised. Very very nicely detailed everywhere. Love the chain/cable/crank systems, they are all animated too. Figured out how to use the "Seat Lifter" (this and the other VC shots are from flight #2). And the GEEBEE regains it's crown as hardest plane to take off in my hangar, hence my inclination to fly this plane more often. Some Enroute shots between KCCR and Tahoe/Reno vicinity: Took her up to 15,200 for the cold thinner air, averaged around 275IAS, I played around a little bit with power settings, but made no attempt to go over 300IAS... and made very fast time until... ...looking up from Netflix in time to spot Tahoe passing on the left...confirming that the classic autopilot works splendidly holding heading and altitude. The mixture setting on this plane is actually the easiest to figure out of any plane I have...awesome indicator here. .08 is best Power, .0625 is aprox best economy/power setting to get max range. Alternately, the exterior view is very helpful determining if you are running too rich: Smokey=Too Rich, Smoke cuts off=mixture trimmed, Engine Squeals and Seizes=mixture to lean...hehehehe. Turning around for KTVL: Approach was busy, I put the Carb heat on a few times to make sure the drop in altitude didn't choke the carburator bore with ice...seeing the mixture gauge needle fluctuate around seemed like a "hint" that could be happening. About 45 second "Warm Ups" occasionally didn't hurt anyhow. Gear down once I was under 170 IAS, Flaps down at 140 IAS I landed too hard again...controlling the vertical speed on approach is something I need more practice at...it wants to be a brick, but I believe I was in the "OK" range this time, and came to a stop just after the numbers...def. had room to float down better than I did...sigh. Very fun to learn this thoroughbred race plane. Taxi to parking: Cheers, Coff. (edit to add: Thanks to a link to a Mutley's press release, I just realized that this plane was released way back in 2008...incredible detail for a model that old. RESPECT to Aerosoft for this level of model, of this 'vintage'...it compares to recent A2A birds in "realism feel and look", as well as systems "bite you in the ass" factor...Bravo) Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted November 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2015 Update: No pics till OZx starts working, but wanted to report on yesterday's exclusively H1 flying...man what a lovely bird. Continued familiarising myself with the plane on a trip over and back down california. From KTVL I headed north to the corner of Cali/Oregon and landed for a break/landing practice. Passing Reno/Stead heading up the Cal/Neva Border. Approaching the corner, just above the lake ahead. On Final: From there I headed west directly to the coast... At the coast... Making the turn south... Southbound down the coast to Shelter Cove, getting dim with quite a bit to go yet...: NE lights are starting to come on... Arrived at Shelter Cove just after sundown, with plenty of light to land without major concerns...although I ended up coming in too hot for the short-ish strip and had to do a go around. The landing was of the OK variety, and grateful for it in the low light and restricted vis of the H1 cockpit. This is the first missed approach, actual was busy...but safe. Huge fan of this plane. It's not as "self destructive" as advertised if it isn't pushed too hard, and not too difficult to start up either...brake set, select a fuel tank, flip mags up, mixture rich, prop fine, yell "Clear" for the fun of it, throttle cracked an inch or so and ready to "wiggle" while starter spins up...flip on starter switch, wiggle throttle till she fires steady, reduce mixture, reduce to 1,000 rpm to warm up...easy peasey basic stuff. Like the Twin Otter Extended...preventing engine fires is as simple as Not Firewalling It, for very long...I have only put it that far for a few seconds on take off from a shortish strip. A manifold setting of 37-40 keeps it running all day, RPM seems to give best performance right before the yellow warning mark at 2400 rpm...and it cruises sweetly at 275 -290 mph at those settings. The autopilot works great and holds well even in some pretty bumpy air. It is very basic and only has Heading Hold, and Pitch Hold/Adjust functions only, and works "simply" awesome. And, I lied, Once I managed to Ok and Greese land it a few times...I imported it into Airhauler and am using it already...hahaha...it carries about 1200 lbs of "Snacks" with a 1/2 fuel load. With a full fuel load/AI weight...it will only carry 450 or so pounds...so def useless for the AI's....but hella fun for the Boss. Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 It will take me a little while to compile the images, and I'll probably post them in Flight Sim Adventures section along with some video...but yesterday I recreated and beat Howard Hughes' H1B world record transcontinental crossing by around 30 minutes. Departed Burbank, Ca. around 06:30 just after the morning light on Nov 1 2015...and arrived "Overhead" Newark, NJ after an elapsed time of 6hrs 50 minutes ??seconds. Howard's record was on January 19, 1937 and he crossed in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. This is completely unofficial of course, no one witnessed the take off and landing...but scouts honor...we did it. Cheers to me! hehehe...some strong tail winds the last couple of states didn't hurt. Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 nice one Matt, looks a handful, massive big spinner on the front, is it easy looking around the front with TrackIR? Nice detail on the worn out cockpit....... Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted November 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 Thanks for the comment wain...yeah, much easier with TrackIR (but still clumsy for me due to sitting in a sailboat settee with restricted head room above me), and it has an actual "seat lifter" for Non/Shutoff TrackIR use. It was indeed a handful at first, till I got used to what my hands needed to do (Ie, once learned this is a pretty easy model to fly...landing is still a hella challenge, but I'm getting used to that too. I think the biggest danger to this airplane/yourself would be trying to eeek out every last bit of speed from it, it will go far faster than it can survive. And the detailing quality is amazing for an addon this old. Link to post Share on other sites
Larry 1 Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Super cool looking plane Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted November 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Thanks Larry, it's even cooler from inside, It flies terrific, and the sounds are amazing. And I realize I never mentioned the sound...awesome radial sound set, I haven't heard a "skip" yet, even while recreating the transcontinental record...6+ hours of radial thumping...nice. I am prone to falling asleep in repetitive sound environments...while in the USAF I used to start falling off to sleep while sitting in on C-130 engine run thanks to the prop harmonics. This plane has the same kind of effect with the radial cylinders: , woooooooob,woooooooob,woooooooob, woob, woooob, wooob, wooooooooob,woooooooob,woooooooob, woob woob woob woob, lather rinse repeat....almost mesmerizing. I had a bit of fun recording some video along the TC record attempt/recreation I did on Sunday....of "Howard Hughes (TrackIR) nodding off to sleep while autopiloting" on the TC trip...hehe...not sure if I'll include it in the video I make of the trip. Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,310 Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I remember having this as a freeware aircraft, not as nice looking at all but flew like a bird in the air, yet takeoff and landing was scary as heck. Some sweet shots of it Matt, do not have to say enjoy because it looks like you already are. Link to post Share on other sites
needles 1,013 Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Very, very nice. Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 A beautiful looking aircraft, nicely caught. Link to post Share on other sites
Corsaire31 419 Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Great plane for urgent deliveries of documents (or hot pizzas... ) Link to post Share on other sites
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