D18S Amphib Next ...

[Willy]

Thanks Milton, Gaab, BendyFlyer and Aspen!

I've been using the autopilot switches from the Spartan in the Beech, but might have to give the Lear a shot again.

I've been working on the wood vc panel this morning. Yesterday, I redid the cabin and vc floor. I still haven't got the new seat covers installed.

Not done on the inside yet, but definitely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (probably a freight train)

 

[aspen31]

Hi Milton
The fixes work fine. Thanks for your quick responses. We are all very fortunate to have a designer such as you who offers such great airplanes - this D18 has been a favorite since FS2004 and it continues to impress - too bad my airmanship continues to find ways to lag behind.
All the best!
Warren

 

[Milton Shupe]

Hi Milton
The fixes work fine. Thanks for your quick responses. We are all very fortunate to have a designer such as you who offers such great airplanes - this D18 has been a favorite since FS2004 and it continues to impress - too bad my airmanship continues to find ways to lag behind.
All the best!
Warren

Thank you Warren. I assure you that all my projects are what they are thanks to great team member talents. We cannot forget their contributions, the sum of which are greater than my own. I provide the easels; they provide the masterpieces.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Gérard, those are awesome screen shots, and it seems you like to fly in the same places I do.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[BendyFlyer]

Attached is the official fix for the VC Lear autopilot clickabililty issue, and for the cabin light switch on the main VC panel.
I also added the light switch to the 2D panel. Thanks to Gaab for modifying the switch code and to BendyFlyer and Aspen for finding/reporting the issues.

Thanks for that Milton. Fix applied, give it a run later, yesterday ran into mountains NW of Vancouver in cloud, ouch!!

 

[BendyFlyer]

This is a question for the amphibian folks - Is there a limiting or maximum speed to deploy the water rudder? Seems basic I know but all my flying has been in proper flying boats, not these float variety's with retractable wheels on the floats.

 

[WND]

Bendy:

My quess is that you would deploy the 'water rudders' just before you got slow enough to lose your 'main' rudder control .. Of course with a twin, you can use 'differential power' to stear somewhat..

Bill

 

[BendyFlyer]

WND, sounds about right to me, by deduction I figured it would have to be a very low speed given the relatively flimsy nature of the water rudders I have seen on amphibians with floats, I wondered how robust they were given the physical forces once deployed in the water of say wave action and heavy swells for example, not that FSX really provides that level of realism.

I did a bit of a search aournd for some reall life operations or check lists and that indicates that they are only placed down after landing and when the aircraft has slowed but curiously for take off are left down until after take off has been achieved and are then raised. As for twin engined aircraft they were considered superflous due to differential power.

 

[Milton Shupe]

This is a question for the amphibian folks - Is there a limiting or maximum speed to deploy the water rudder? Seems basic I know but all my flying has been in proper flying boats, not these float variety's with retractable wheels on the floats.

"Seaplanes mostly have ​

water rudders that are used at lower speeds​

and are retractable (actually, they tilt out of the water flow).​

​

At higher speeds, like takeoff runs and landings, high speed taxis, they are retracted ​

and the primary means of steering is the plane's rudder. Water rudders are connected to the regular rudder pedals."

It's been a long time since I was close to the info, but as I recall, water rudders were to be used <10 knots (maybe less than 6 knots). Otherwise, use differential power, aileron drag, open door drag, rudder to assist under powered movement. I have the rudders set to be used at very slow speeds, <8 knots, so if you wish to use them at faster speeds you should decrease their deflection in contact points 8 and 9. Of course that makes them less effective for low speed maneuvers.

point.8=5, -12.5, -6.417, -7.50, 1600, 0, 0.00, ​

20.0​

, 0.00, 0.00, 0.65, 1.00, 1.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
point.9=5, -12.5, 6.417, -7.50, 1600, 0, 0.00, ​

20.0,​

0.00, 0.00, 0.65, 1.00, 1.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
​

 

[BendyFlyer]

"Seaplanes mostly have ​

water rudders that are used at lower speeds​

and are retractable (actually, they tilt out of the water flow).​

At higher speeds, like takeoff runs and landings, high speed taxis, they are retracted ​

and the primary means of steering is the plane's rudder. Water rudders are connected to the regular rudder pedals."

It's been a long time since I was close to the info, but as I recall, water rudders were to be used <10 knots (maybe less than 6 knots). Otherwise, use differential power, aileron drag, open door drag, rudder to assist under powered movement. I have the rudders set to be used at very slow speeds, <8 knots, so if you wish to use them at faster speeds you should decrease their deflection in contact points 8 and 9. Of course that makes them less effective for low speed maneuvers.

point.8=5, -12.5, -6.417, -7.50, 1600, 0, 0.00, ​

20.0​

, 0.00, 0.00, 0.65, 1.00, 1.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
point.9=5, -12.5, 6.417, -7.50, 1600, 0, 0.00, ​

20.0,​

0.00, 0.00, 0.65, 1.00, 1.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
​

Thanks Milton.

 

[Limekiller]

From Flying a Floatplane by Marin Faure (p. 135) "When the landing runout is completed and the plane has slowed to an idle taxi speed, lower the water rudders and head to the dock, ramp, or beach that is your destination for this flight".

On the other side of the process (p.47) "It is very important that the water rudders be retracted before takeoff. Water rudders that are left down during takeoff could cause the airplane to veer off to one side and possibly overturn. Because the rudders don't lock down, they will begin to bang up and down as the floatplane's speed across the water increases. This banging can damage the rudders and weakens the stern of the float, causing the seams to open up and leaks to develop".

Really happy you posed the question. Caused me to dust off this book, got lots of re-reading to do with it.

 

[Milton Shupe]

From Flying a Floatplane by Marin Faure (p. 135) "When the landing runout is completed and the plane has slowed to an idle taxi speed, lower the water rudders and head to the dock, ramp, or beach that is your destination for this flight".

On the other side of the process (p.47) "It is very important that the water rudders be retracted before takeoff. Water rudders that are left down during takeoff could cause the airplane to veer off to one side and possibly overturn. Because the rudders don't lock down, they will begin to bang up and down as the floatplane's speed across the water increases. This banging can damage the rudders and weakens the stern of the float, causing the seams to open up and leaks to develop".

Really happy you posed the question. Caused me to dust off this book, got lots of re-reading to do with it.

Thanks for posting this; it validates what I recall.

Remember too that on take off, on any cross wind, the main rudders will be in heavy use so you do not want the water rudders deployed.

 

[Willy]

My standard technique is to just use the water rudders until I'm pointed into the wind. Then I raise the water rudders and begin my take off. The floats should keep any crazyiness to a minimum until enough speed is up for the regular rudders to start being effective. On landing as said before, once I'm down to taxi speed, I lower them and figure out where my pier or anchorage is.

 

[banjoman1960]

Milton,
when i land on runway and push brackes,i get sparks at the frontweels? contact from pontons and runway............
is this easy to fix?

last fix work´s great

 

[Portia911]

My standard technique is to just use the water rudders until I'm pointed into the wind. Then I raise the water rudders and begin my take off. The floats should keep any crazyiness to a minimum until enough speed is up for the regular rudders to start being effective. On landing as said before, once I'm down to taxi speed, I lower them and figure out where my pier or anchorage is.

Same here for water rudders.

The other oft hard-to-find piece of flying intel specific to amphibs is the speed limit for deployment/retraction of the hard landing gear. One can usually find the equivalent for normal wheeled versions, but I'm sure the tiny amphib wheels and associated mechanisms are less robust and so would likely require different (but rarely published) limits.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Working on another Beechcraft at the moment but after some thought, I have decided to go back and do my original wheeled D18S version. The reasoning behind this decision is that there are so many paints available, and David Carroll's FSX version is not compatible with them. So, look for my original wheeled version to come along over the next month or so.

 

[Willy]

That's great news Milton!

 

[BendyFlyer]

Working on another Beechcraft at the moment but after some thought, I have decided to go back and do my original wheeled D18S version. The reasoning behind this decision is that there are so many paints available, and David Carroll's FSX version is not compatible with them. So, look for my original wheeled version to come along over the next month or so.

Milton I am a just a little confused here. There were 2 or 3 FSX updated D18S available, then I came across Bjoern's package (MSDC-Beech D18S.zip) with textures, new sounds and gauges etc., which I presumed was the go to FSX version, so will your update be different in the sense it will be a pure FSX native version?

The reason I asked that I became really confused about what was what and who had done what with the Beech 18 and all of course used your name on them in some way or other. For example there was one which just a single texture package (some private business aircraft), another restricted to two (Logan Air and BUF) and then there was a third with all the textures (Navy, USAF etc.) that Bjoern later incorporated, and there were two versions of that package before Bjoern's as well. Anyhow I have settled with the Bjoern package for the time being and have been able to add in some additional paints from other packages and older versions without any real issues. I understand you not responsible but would I be correct in assuming that Bjoern's is the definitive FSX modified version until your rework of this wonderful aeroplane comes out.

By the way the more I spend time with this aircraft the more I am impressed with it, a typical Beechcraft just does it right and does it well, and I have flown all the Beeches with the exception of the Staggerwing, the D18, the C90 and the Twin Bonanza, spoiled by their quality. They made really good aeroplanes in Kansas, once upon a time.

 

[BendyFlyer]

Disregard my previous post, it has been answered by the other older thread by Bjoern on the D18S, it is his that is the latest update version.

I hear what you say about flying this stuff. By the time I have done updates for this and updates for that etc etc, I seem to spend all my time tinkering and hardly flying at all. I have a huge backlog of flights that I want to do so it is probably time to do it and have some fun. This will start with the Beech Amphibian, I am off to the Aleutians and Alaska for a while.

 

[Willy]

I did a few paints for Bjoern's that I'm probably going to redo for Milton's new one. If Milton includes the cargo version, the Santa Fe one will get a dedicated cargo version as SF was a cargo outfit.

I'd best get hot on finishing up that paint kit I was working on. So many Twin Beeches, so little time.