172 Really, Really Floats on Landings

[Ike Kant]

I just started using P3D and the beautiful A2A C172 on a powerful brand new Jetlines Systems PC. When I flew real Cessna 172s they did indeed want to keep flying over the runway in ground effects. The A2A sim version does this also but way too much. It just doesn't want to descend down to the runway even a hair above stall speed. Has anyone else noticed this or is it just me?

[Ike Kant]

I just discovered that there wasn't a problem with the sim. On the other hand I have to hand it to the designers for a job well and thoroughly done. Nearly all of my real flying was done from Vance Brand airport in Longmont, Colorado which is 5,052'. My first P3D sim landings were at McMinnville, Oregon which is 163'. Um, the air is a lot um denser down there so floating was much greater than in Colorado. To check this in the sim I did some T & Gs at the much higher elevation and sure enough the ground effects float was just like the real plane. BTW, my wife (who is not even a pilot) was the one that figured it out. I am humbled in the presence of such a profound intellect.

[Molly - A2A]

Don't forget to run the A2A Updater utility found at the top of the forum. They have tweaked the 172 quite a lot since it was released.

[Nick - A2A]

Hey Ike - welcome to the forums.

I'm not part of the A2A outfit, but just wanted to check that you've downloaded and installed the most recent Accu-Sim update from here: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 23&t=41279. It should include quite a few fixes and enhancements not included in the installer you downloaded at purchase.

Cheers,
Nick

...Ninja'd by molleh!

[Lewis - A2A]

Hello,

thanks for the kind words and welcome to the forums. The sim your flying at home really isn't all that different software wise to what our professional clients use for the big flight training sims. As already mentioned don't forget to run the updater too, a whole bunch of updates and new features have been added since release.

thanks,
Lewis

[Killratio]

Ike,

Dangerous ground indeed in respect to the "other half". I find that being far more cunning tends to make up for her being smarter, at least in my case.

With respect to the 172...many of us on beta had many. many hours in the 172R , which is a very different beast from the earlier 172's. Scott also flew and tested one extensively for the development.

Most problems people had were with controller sensitivity rather than the actual model. FSX models are, in the main, extremely docile and fly like they are on rails. The A2A birds fly properly.

As one who suffered horrendously from the real 172R's floating, I can vouch for the sim handling. I can hold my own on low speed handling (most of my flying time being aerobatics) but a story about the "R"....

I was out of time to carry passengers and so had to get my three takeoffs and landings in with an instructor at the club. I came in (on a day of bad windsheer) a mere 10 knots over proper "over the fence speed". After what felt like an eternity I decided to force her onto the ground (please don't judge me ) Luckily my reactions are not bad and the balloon followed by plummet was avoided. However after a total of just under half of a 3330ft strip, the aircraft had bounced three times and still took to the air on power up with no trouble at all.

My humiliation was completed when the check pilot laconically said... "Well, just the two takeoffs left to qualify".....

[Ike Kant]

Thank you for the welcome, suggestions and stories. I downloaded the P3D Academic C172 last Saturday. Do I still need the A2A Updater utility and ACCu-Sim updates? Whenever I sim fly close to sea level from now on I will adjust the surface temperature layer up to about 800' agl to 90 degrees F. That should spread those nasty air molecules out a bit.

[Welsch]

Yes, no matter when you purchase or download, the installer version will be v1.0, so you should always run the latest AccuSim-Updater from the forum afterwards.

[Lewis - A2A]

Hello,

yes as Welsch says you'll still want to run that updater to get all updated.

thanks,
Lewis

[Ike Kant]

Roger Wilco

[Ike Kant]

The recommended file is for FSX not P3D which is what I have. There are no updates listed for P3D v3 that I can find.

[Welsch]

I thought the updater was both for FSX and P3D in the same file? If you run it, doesn't it detect your P3D directory automatically?

[Ike Kant]

There was indeed an option to select P3D v3. With the new updates the plane is much more sensitive to really micro inputs from my CH yoke and pedals and a lot more right rudder is needed in slow stuff. This is with Realism and Sensitivities set to the max, passenger and fuel load perfectly balanced, no wind or turbulence and just a touch of null zone. The effect is much less in cruise but I still get some left turn tendency which will take some getting used to. Does this sound normal? Another little problem since getting the updates is that I don't always get audio in my headsets even thought the computer says they are plugged in. Oh and the plane won't start after priming unless I use full throttle and fine wire spark plugs. That can't be right.

[Welsch]

Regarding the priming - be very, very careful with that, it is very easy to over-prime and flood this engine. Try half the prime you used so far and see where that gets you (and never prime a warm/hot engine at all). Incidentally, starting with full open throttle (and mixture at idle cut-off) is the remedy for a flooded engine.

Slight left turning tendency in cruise sounds about right.

For the sound stuff somebody else might have some more ideas... but make sure the headset is set as the default audio device under Windows, especially if you have several speakers/headsets.
For small audio glitches, quickly muting/unmuting FSX by pressing "Q" twice often clears them for me.

[Lewis - A2A]

If in doubt about the start you can visit the maintenance hangar and the inspect engine panel which will let you know if you have flooded the engine.

For the sound, make sure you default sound device is the one you are using.

thanks,
Lewis