First ditching!!

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Stratocruiser2
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Joined: 14 Feb 2016, 06:35
Location: Wales

First ditching!!

Post by Stratocruiser2 »

Yesterday on a flight between La Guardia and Bermuda on G-AHEL, after engine fires (!) which I did not manage to control fast enough, I lost elevator, rudder and aileron control. I can only assume that the fire must have damaged the hydraulic fluid lines but eventually I managed to regain some sort of control using the trim controls. After dumping fuel I made a couple of attempts to line up on the runway in Bermuda but failed as I had insufficient directional control. In addition, the landing gear and flaps would not come down, so I decided to ditch near the shore. A very successful ditching followed after applying maximum nose up trim just before 'splashdown'. I was impressed not only by the sounds from both flight deck and cabin during that event but also by the fact that A2A have managed to simulate floating on water with the Connie, rather than jumping back up to altitude which seems to occur with other aircraft in FSX when they touch the water. Overall an interesting experience but not sure what it might have done for my career as forgot to check the captain's log after the event!

Bill

sirbruchie
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Re: First ditching!!

Post by sirbruchie »

Just curios - what are your realism settings? Do you have detect crashes turn off or is this a case where A2A modeled the ability to ditch without getting a "crash".


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Stratocruiser2
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Location: Wales

Re: First ditching!!

Post by Stratocruiser2 »

sirbruchie wrote:Just curios - what are your realism settings? Do you have detect crashes turn off or is this a case where A2A modeled the ability to ditch without getting a "crash".


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You might well be correct! I have just checked my realism settings and 'ignore crashes and damage' was checked. I have to say that when I first installed the Connie I was sure I had followed the advice in the 049 manual and adjusted the FSX realism settings accordingly, but it seems I did not! Clearly that might be the explanation for the aircraft floating after ditching, but I have now changed my realism settings to detect crashes and might try a 'test ditching' tonight to see what happens (but don't tell BOAC!).

kakarot133
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Re: First ditching!!

Post by kakarot133 »

If I remember, the 377 or B17 manual may have mentioned something about checking "ignore crashes" to simulate belly landings properly.

alan CXA651
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Re: First ditching!!

Post by alan CXA651 »

Hi Stratocruiser2.
If this happens again , you can regain manual control of flying controls by disengaging control boosters/control locks on loss of hyd power , see my training videos.
http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 33&t=58003
regards alan. 8)
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bobsk8
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Re: First ditching!!

Post by bobsk8 »

Detect crashes in a sim is usually a recipe for disaster, even taxiing near some objects
can cause a crash . I never leave it on.
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Piper_EEWL
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Re: First ditching!!

Post by Piper_EEWL »

Oh boy. Sounds like a massive emergency. Congratulations on the successful ditching! Do you know what caused the fires?

The loss of control was probably due to a loss in hydraulic pressure when you lost all the engines. In that case you should turn the boost levers for the aileron, rudder and elevator to off. This will help to regain some control. But be aware the the control will be limited because now you as the pilot have come up with all the force! Did you check the hydraulic pressure gauge by any chance? No hydraulic pressure would also explain why the gear and flaps wouldn't come down.

I also fly with the crash detection off. For me it's just to annoying to get my flight ruined by an FSX fuel truck running into me on the taxiway or if I hit a invisible crash box in the sim. But even with the crash detection on in FSX you can't ditch aircraft. You'll just crash once your on the water. With crash detection off you just jump back into the air. So if you were able to successfully ditch the Connie that credit probably is A2A's.

Happy flying.

PS: I really would like to see your captains log btw :wink:
B377&COTS, J3 Cub, B-17G, Spitfire, P-40, P-51D, C172, C182, Pa28, Pa24, T-6 Texan, L-049&COTS, Bonanza V35B

Stratocruiser2
Senior Airman
Posts: 160
Joined: 14 Feb 2016, 06:35
Location: Wales

Re: First ditching!!

Post by Stratocruiser2 »

bobsk8 wrote:Detect crashes in a sim is usually a recipe for disaster, even taxiing near some objects
can cause a crash . I never leave it on.
Yes, I used to fly with it switched off too for the same reason, but using the Connie I have been trying to follow the recommended realism settings in the manual.
Piper_EEWL wrote:Oh boy. Sounds like a massive emergency. Congratulations on the successful ditching! Do you know what caused the fires?

The loss of control was probably due to a loss in hydraulic pressure when you lost all the engines. In that case you should turn the boost levers for the aileron, rudder and elevator to off. This will help to regain some control. But be aware the the control will be limited because now you as the pilot have come up with all the force! Did you check the hydraulic pressure gauge by any chance? No hydraulic pressure would also explain why the gear and flaps wouldn't come down.

I also fly with the crash detection off. For me it's just to annoying to get my flight ruined by an FSX fuel truck running into me on the taxiway or if I hit a invisible crash box in the sim. But even with the crash detection on in FSX you can't ditch aircraft. You'll just crash once your on the water. With crash detection off you just jump back into the air. So if you were able to successfully ditch the Connie that credit probably is A2A's.

Happy flying.

PS: I really would like to see your captains log btw :wink:
I'm not certain but I think I might have been to blame for the fires as I may have departed LGA with low engine oil levels following a longish flight from Gander - simply forgot to click the oil button in the fuel and payload window :oops:! That might explain multiple almost synchronous fires!

Did a test ditching this evening with crash detection on (and career mode off!) and once again it settled on the water without jumping back into the air, so perhaps A2A have built something in to allow this.
alan CXA651 wrote:Hi Stratocruiser2.
If this happens again , you can regain manual control of flying controls by disengaging control boosters/control locks on loss of hyd power , see my training videos.
http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 33&t=58003
regards alan. 8)


That's good to know Alan. I did actually disengage the control locks but still had virtually no response to control inputs from the yoke or pedals, so the trims were my last resort. To be honest I hadn't really studied the emergency procedure section of the Connie manual, but, knowing the temperamental nature of large pistons, I should have paid more attention to it! Anyway I've learned my lesson the hard way and will have a look at your training videos this evening - thanks for the link.

Bill

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