±Recent Visitors

Recent Visitors to Com-Central!

±User Info-big


Welcome Anonymous

Nickname
Password

Membership:
Latest: HighestAce
New Today: 0
New Yesterday: 0
Overall: 6648

People Online:
Members: 0
Visitors: 525
Total: 525
Who Is Where:
 Visitors:
01: Downloads
02: Community Forums
03: Photo Gallery
04: Community Forums
05: Community Forums
06: Community Forums
07: Statistics
08: Photo Gallery
09: Community Forums
10: Home
11: Community Forums
12: Home
13: Community Forums
14: Home
15: Photo Gallery
16: Community Forums
17: Home
18: Home
19: Member Screenshots
20: Home
21: Photo Gallery
22: Community Forums
23: Community Forums
24: Downloads
25: Downloads
26: Downloads
27: Community Forums
28: Community Forums
29: Community Forums
30: Community Forums
31: Your Account
32: Home
33: Member Screenshots
34: Member Screenshots
35: Community Forums
36: Community Forums
37: Photo Gallery
38: Home
39: Community Forums
40: Community Forums
41: Photo Gallery
42: Home
43: Community Forums
44: Home
45: Community Forums
46: Photo Gallery
47: Community Forums
48: Community Forums
49: Community Forums
50: News
51: Community Forums
52: Photo Gallery
53: Community Forums
54: Community Forums
55: Home
56: Home
57: Photo Gallery
58: Community Forums
59: Community Forums
60: Community Forums
61: News Archive
62: Home
63: Photo Gallery
64: Community Forums
65: Downloads
66: Member Screenshots
67: Member Screenshots
68: Home
69: Community Forums
70: Community Forums
71: Community Forums
72: Community Forums
73: Home
74: Home
75: Photo Gallery
76: Members List
77: Home
78: Community Forums
79: Community Forums
80: Community Forums
81: Member Screenshots
82: Photo Gallery
83: Downloads
84: Downloads
85: Community Forums
86: Community Forums
87: Community Forums
88: Member Screenshots
89: Community Forums
90: Home
91: Home
92: Home
93: Community Forums
94: Member Screenshots
95: Photo Gallery
96: Community Forums
97: Community Forums
98: Your Account
99: Community Forums
100: Community Forums
101: Community Forums
102: Community Forums
103: Photo Gallery
104: Community Forums
105: Home
106: Community Forums
107: Home
108: Photo Gallery
109: Community Forums
110: Downloads
111: Members List
112: Home
113: News Archive
114: Home
115: Photo Gallery
116: Home
117: Home
118: Home
119: Home
120: Home
121: Community Forums
122: Community Forums
123: Downloads
124: Community Forums
125: Community Forums
126: Photo Gallery
127: Your Account
128: Community Forums
129: Home
130: Home
131: Community Forums
132: Community Forums
133: Home
134: Photo Gallery
135: News Archive
136: News
137: Home
138: Community Forums
139: Member Screenshots
140: Home
141: Home
142: News Archive
143: Community Forums
144: Home
145: Member Screenshots
146: Home
147: Home
148: Community Forums
149: Photo Gallery
150: Photo Gallery
151: Community Forums
152: Home
153: Photo Gallery
154: Home
155: Home
156: Downloads
157: Photo Gallery
158: Downloads
159: Home
160: Community Forums
161: Home
162: Community Forums
163: Home
164: Community Forums
165: Community Forums
166: Home
167: Home
168: Community Forums
169: Community Forums
170: Community Forums
171: Member Screenshots
172: Home
173: Community Forums
174: Community Forums
175: Photo Gallery
176: Member Screenshots
177: Community Forums
178: Home
179: Photo Gallery
180: Community Forums
181: Community Forums
182: Photo Gallery
183: Community Forums
184: Community Forums
185: Photo Gallery
186: Community Forums
187: Community Forums
188: Community Forums
189: Downloads
190: Community Forums
191: Home
192: Home
193: Home
194: Photo Gallery
195: Photo Gallery
196: Photo Gallery
197: Community Forums
198: Community Forums
199: Photo Gallery
200: Community Forums
201: Photo Gallery
202: Home
203: Downloads
204: Photo Gallery
205: Community Forums
206: Community Forums
207: Home
208: Community Forums
209: Photo Gallery
210: Your Account
211: Community Forums
212: Community Forums
213: LinkToUs
214: Member Screenshots
215: Community Forums
216: Photo Gallery
217: Home
218: Community Forums
219: Community Forums
220: Photo Gallery
221: Home
222: Home
223: Home
224: Community Forums
225: Community Forums
226: Community Forums
227: Community Forums
228: Community Forums
229: Member Screenshots
230: Community Forums
231: Home
232: Home
233: Downloads
234: Community Forums
235: Community Forums
236: Home
237: Downloads
238: Community Forums
239: Downloads
240: Community Forums
241: Photo Gallery
242: Home
243: Photo Gallery
244: Home
245: Community Forums
246: News
247: Home
248: Statistics
249: Photo Gallery
250: Home
251: Home
252: Downloads
253: News Archive
254: Community Forums
255: Home
256: Community Forums
257: News Archive
258: Home
259: Community Forums
260: Member Screenshots
261: Community Forums
262: Community Forums
263: Photo Gallery
264: Community Forums
265: Community Forums
266: Home
267: Community Forums
268: Home
269: Home
270: Home
271: Member Screenshots
272: Home
273: Community Forums
274: Home
275: Photo Gallery
276: Community Forums
277: Community Forums
278: Community Forums
279: Community Forums
280: Member Screenshots
281: Home
282: Photo Gallery
283: Photo Gallery
284: Home
285: Community Forums
286: Community Forums
287: Home
288: Community Forums
289: Community Forums
290: Community Forums
291: Community Forums
292: Member Screenshots
293: Community Forums
294: Home
295: Photo Gallery
296: Home
297: Community Forums
298: Community Forums
299: Community Forums
300: News Archive
301: Community Forums
302: Home
303: Contact
304: Home
305: Community Forums
306: Home
307: News Archive
308: Photo Gallery
309: News Archive
310: Home
311: Photo Gallery
312: Community Forums
313: Home
314: Community Forums
315: Community Forums
316: Home
317: Community Forums
318: Photo Gallery
319: Photo Gallery
320: Home
321: Home
322: Community Forums
323: Community Forums
324: Community Forums
325: Downloads
326: Community Forums
327: Home
328: Community Forums
329: Community Forums
330: Community Forums
331: Community Forums
332: Photo Gallery
333: Member Screenshots
334: Photo Gallery
335: Home
336: Photo Gallery
337: Photo Gallery
338: Community Forums
339: Community Forums
340: Community Forums
341: Member Screenshots
342: Home
343: Home
344: Member Screenshots
345: Community Forums
346: Community Forums
347: Photo Gallery
348: Community Forums
349: Community Forums
350: Community Forums
351: Home
352: Community Forums
353: Community Forums
354: Community Forums
355: Home
356: Community Forums
357: Downloads
358: Community Forums
359: Home
360: Photo Gallery
361: News Archive
362: Community Forums
363: Home
364: Home
365: Community Forums
366: Home
367: Community Forums
368: Home
369: Home
370: Home
371: Home
372: Home
373: Community Forums
374: Community Forums
375: Community Forums
376: Community Forums
377: Home
378: Home
379: Community Forums
380: Home
381: Downloads
382: Community Forums
383: Member Screenshots
384: Community Forums
385: Photo Gallery
386: Community Forums
387: Downloads
388: Member Screenshots
389: Community Forums
390: Community Forums
391: Member Screenshots
392: Home
393: Home
394: Home
395: Community Forums
396: Photo Gallery
397: Home
398: Home
399: Community Forums
400: Photo Gallery
401: Photo Gallery
402: Home
403: Community Forums
404: Photo Gallery
405: Home
406: Community Forums
407: Community Forums
408: Photo Gallery
409: Community Forums
410: Community Forums
411: Home
412: Community Forums
413: Community Forums
414: Community Forums
415: Community Forums
416: Community Forums
417: Home
418: Community Forums
419: Member Screenshots
420: Community Forums
421: Community Forums
422: Photo Gallery
423: Community Forums
424: Community Forums
425: News
426: Photo Gallery
427: Home
428: Home
429: Home
430: Home
431: Photo Gallery
432: Downloads
433: Member Screenshots
434: Community Forums
435: Photo Gallery
436: Downloads
437: Home
438: Community Forums
439: Member Screenshots
440: Downloads
441: Photo Gallery
442: Community Forums
443: Community Forums
444: Downloads
445: Photo Gallery
446: Community Forums
447: Home
448: Downloads
449: Photo Gallery
450: Home
451: Community Forums
452: Home
453: Community Forums
454: Home
455: Community Forums
456: Member Screenshots
457: Home
458: Community Forums
459: Member Screenshots
460: Member Screenshots
461: Community Forums
462: Community Forums
463: Community Forums
464: Community Forums
465: Member Screenshots
466: Photo Gallery
467: Community Forums
468: Member Screenshots
469: Home
470: Home
471: Home
472: Community Forums
473: Home
474: Home
475: Community Forums
476: Community Forums
477: Member Screenshots
478: Home
479: Community Forums
480: Community Forums
481: Downloads
482: Home
483: Photo Gallery
484: Downloads
485: Community Forums
486: Community Forums
487: Home
488: Home
489: Photo Gallery
490: Photo Gallery
491: News Archive
492: Community Forums
493: Downloads
494: Member Screenshots
495: Home
496: Community Forums
497: Community Forums
498: Community Forums
499: Community Forums
500: Home
501: Community Forums
502: Community Forums
503: Downloads
504: Community Forums
505: Photo Gallery
506: Community Forums
507: Home
508: Community Forums
509: Home
510: Home
511: Community Forums
512: Community Forums
513: Community Forums
514: Community Forums
515: Community Forums
516: Community Forums
517: Home
518: Home
519: Photo Gallery
520: Community Forums
521: Community Forums
522: Photo Gallery
523: Community Forums
524: Photo Gallery
525: Community Forums

Staff Online:

No staff members are online!
T-38 autopilot tricks & tips :: Archived
Discussions about the FS2004 game.
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page     Forum Index ›  FSXFS2004 :: Archives

Topic Archived View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:09 am
Post subject: T-38 autopilot tricks & tips

Had another great group flight in the T-38 last night (S!~ and thanks to Hoppa, EXOS and Lurps!) with a full-speed afterburner run all the way to the destination (WOOHOOOO!!), and thought it might be a good idea to share observations about that neat, but finicky, vacuum-tube-driven 60's-era autpilot.....since it's always a subject of pain & pleasure in these flights!

You'd think it's pretty basic stuff, but each of the 3 basic features has some kinda fun little quirk! After turning the A/P on - either by the "Z" key or the funky 50's kitchen-gadget dial switch at the bottom of the panel - ya got the following.....

Altitude Hold (middle button):
Wayyy different from the standard A/P. The only thing this gizmo controls is rate of climb, and that's it. It can go up, down, or keep you where you are - well, more or less. And this is all that a real jet pilot back in the day needed, right?

Now for the funky twist : When you turn it on using the "ACQUIRE" switch, it's tiny little brain looks at your current altitude, not vertical speed....and sees, for instance, the altitude of 8,500 ft...and it says, "Hey that looks like a good number for me to climb at, too!"....and correspondingly, sets your CLIMB RATE to that exact figure....and UUUUPPP goes the nose, trying to climb at 8,500 fpm (which it'll do)! Gets to be real fun when you hit the button at much higher flight levels.....it's a mad dash for the little knob at that point, cranking the climb rate down to something realistic!

Somewhere behind the panel, my guess is there's a blue wire from the A/P connected to a yellow wire on the altimeter. But the plane flies and as long as no electrical fires break out, crew chief says it's no problem!

So the trick here is......if the plan is to climb out from departure at 4,000fpm, get the A/P master switch turned on early and be sure to hit that ACQUIRE switch right as you are passing through FL040 (4,000 feet)....Bingo, you've beaten the thing at it's own game, becuase it now reads pretty close to what you wanted, and just a little fine-tuning on the knob is the only thing ya need to fuss about.

Ohhh...but......yeah, you could try to set it at 2,000 feet for a shallower climb.....might work, might not. I've had cases where it just wouldn't turn on at all below about 2,000 feet. Could be a safety feature, but...wasn't Ralph Nader too busy going after GM back then to get involved with Northrup?


Heading (bottom button):
Or, "Course Acquire" as the label by the button says, and that's the truth to it. Like the altitude hold, this part of the A/P grabs a reading from one instrument and locks it in. UNlike the Alt. Hold, it uses the right intrument, and not the G-meter or the fuel gauges! So, it's easy.....fly the plane and get on the desired heading you want, and hit the switch. At that point, you can use the heading bug on the HSI to drive the airplane around, but c'mon....that's not how the 6-million dollar man Steve Austin would fly the thing, is it? And besides, when this part of the A/P is turned on, guess what? The heading bug moves at 5 or 10-degree increments! Turn this off, and then the heading bug can be fine-tuned at 1-degree increments. Why, is anyones guess. Stop asking questions. So what I do for minor corrections is just turn the heading off, bank a little, get on adjusted course, hit the switch again, done.

Again, it's a strange quirk. Maybe the vacuum tubes are gettin' old. I got a matched pair of Groove Tube 6L6's for my old Fender amp that I'm not using, might try swapping 'em in to my personal T-38 and see if it improves things...

Hey what about GPS heading? So glad you asked....there's no NAV/GPS switch in the thing of course (that'd require the crew chief to drill a hole in his precious panel, which he refuses to do apparently) ......so, slaving the A/P course to the GPS plan doesn't seem to be in the cards for us.

But, lest we forget, this plane has more in common with 60's automotive technology than late-model aircraft tech, and as such, we can just hotwire the dang thing! All you need to do is find the wires under the dash, so......Hehe....load any other plane, like the Cessna or whatever, flip the GPS/NAV switch in that cockpit to "GPS", then get back in the T-38 (preferably, before takeoff!) and you're all set. Hit "Z" and she banks right over and tracks the GPS flight plan.....smart little bugger eh?


Speed Hold (Top button)
After the above, what can possibly be bizarre about this?!?! Ohhh...nothing.....other than it thinks it's the MOST IMPORTANT BUTTON ON THE DANG PLANE!

It's an auto-throttle that can't decide if it's part of the autopilot or not. You can't turn it on unless the autpilot master switch is on....that part makes sense. But what'll get ya....especially turning onto quick final...is that it stays on when you turn off the A/P.....and, just to make the last few moments of your flight even more interesting, it can't be switched from ON to OFF unless the A/P is ON (yes, read that part twice). This is because it wants to be more important than the lowly A/P switch.

I'm hoping I'm not the only one that's switched off the A/P, set up an approach to the active runway, and then deployed spoilers to start slowing down only to hear....the friggin' engines spooling up! D'oh, dang that speed hold....hurry!...hit 'view' key 3 times to get to the 2D cockpit, turn the AP on....oh dang there goes the frikkin' Altitude Acquire suddenly deciding I want to ascend at 8500fpm, stop it willya!....hit "Z" key by reflex, A/P is off, nose stops rising ...NOW try to turn off speed hold...can't, becuase A/P is off, dummy! Turn on A/P, turn off Speed Hold, turn off A/P, go back to VC, and then...arrrgghh go around because I missed the threshold......and, oh cripes the spoilers were still deployed that whole time, even with the plane climbing, numbnuts!!!, and now that the throttles are finally pulled all the way back, with full spoiler, and nose high, gonna stall OHHH GREEEATTTT....

Shoulda just left autothrottle on and set it down at 200, slammed the brakes and flat-spotted the tires all the way down the runway....

So......it's the most important button on the plane becuase if ya turn it ON LAST, and turn it OFF FIRST, it's happy. The world revolves around the mighty Speed Hold switch!


So, man, maybe this'll help someone besides me......I love this plane more and more every time I fly it. Turning it into a full-on bush plane these days even (hey there aren't gonna be noise statutes at Com-C Wilderness HQ are there?!?!). The A/P on this thing has got that psychedelic 60's flavor for sure, man! Maybe some Grateful Dead or Hendrix next time out to set up a copasetic frame o'mind......

_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."


Last edited by JG300-Stoopy on Mon Feb 28, 2005 2:53 pm; edited 6 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
Uhu_Fledermaus
Aircraft Demolition Expert

Offline Offline
Joined: Nov 28, 2004
Posts: 4369
Location: Blaricum, The Netherlands ~GMT+1
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:05 pm
Post subject: Re: T-38 autopilot tricks & tips

Cool

Great tutorial Stoopy !!

mush appreciated !! Laughing


fled
Twisted Evil
Back to top
View user's profile ICQ Number MSN Messenger Photo Gallery
JG300-Lurps
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 11, 2005
Posts: 167
Location: In back of the sty .... sighting in my Luger ....
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:56 pm
Post subject: Re: T-38 autopilot tricks & tips


I'll be the first to admit that the T38 a/p is very basic .....
BUT ..... Man ain't she purdy and she flies like a well
oiled female college co-ed ..... Mr. Green


Back to top
View user's profile Photo Gallery
JG300-Stoopy
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Jan 05, 2005
Posts: 5840
Location: Group W bench
PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:09 pm
Post subject: Re: T-38 autopilot tricks & tips

Oh, DEFINITELY!!!!!

The whole point of the above wasn't to diss her....not in the least! Just sharing the finer points & info in a (hopefully) humourous way!

Had fun flying her tonite with ya too, buddy, and Dep. Dale.....runnin' up the coast on full burner huggin' the deck...splittin' off to make our approaches from 2 merging directions.....landing within a few seconds of each other......HOT DANG TAMALE it don't get much better than that!!!


_________________
"Once your reputation is ruined, you can live quite freely."
Back to top
View user's profile Visit poster's website Photo Gallery
berlopez
Power User

Offline Offline
Joined: Dec 28, 2006
Posts: 263
Location: Copenhagen.DK
PostPosted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:06 pm
Post subject: Re: T-38 autopilot tricks & tips

Smile Thanks for the tip for the T38, Very nice plane Laughing

I'd llike to ask if the afterburner effects are visible on the model?
At full throttle there are no flames???

_________________
Began simming with Fs2002 have developed my sim and computer skills with these.Dell Vostro 220,Penduim Dual Core E6300 2.8; 2.79 Ghz;3.00GB, Nvidia GeForce 7600GS; High Definition Audio. Windows 7 Pro. My old computer fried.
Back to top
View user's profile Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic    Revive this topic    Printer Friendly Page    Forum Index ›  FSXFS2004 :: Archives
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT - 6 Hours

Archive Revive
Username:
This is an archived topic - your reply will not be appended here.
Instead, a new topic will be generated in the active forum.
The new topic will provide a reference link to this archived topic.