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<Imagination mode = 1 { gt:0 = "on"> <<take note

(Long story short)
Im a millionaire too......and have managed to get my hands on a constelleation L049. Its currently stuck in Gilgit , pakistan ..

http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtop ... 33&t=58855

When i seen it on ''Spicebuy'' for sale, in all the excitment, the fact that the FE panel was mostly inoperative was a fact i seem to have missed......

Again making a long story short, a few days later and im in pakistan, standing next to my "new" connie, funds transfered...it's mine.

Out comes the telescopic ladder (brilliant for traveling with) and a few short moments later i board the aircraft.

Strangly, the cabin stunk of electrical fire...real nasty smell if you know it..

I then entered the cockpit, and to my horror, the FE panel was black, sooty, melted partly and highly inoperative...

There was some guys outside watching what was happening, who must of over heard my cussing in dissapiontment, as they came over to ask if everything was ok, to whitch i explained the situation.

They told me the FE panel caught fire last time someone tryed to start the airplane, a short circuit behind the Gen2 switch and a lot of smoke spewing.

Its a long flight back to the UK, and im not willing to go that far with no engine instruments. Replacing the panel here would be to costly, and time consuming.

Hmmm...what to do...

I know!, ill build a small box and fill it with the bare essentials ill need for engine starting, and some basic info for when in flight!

So i got to work, burning the midnight oil many times over, ripping gauges from old cars, bikes, busses, and E30 mercs!

Following each burnt crispy wire in FE panel back to where there was no burnt copper, i spliced into them and made some new connections to connect what i'll call the "constellation starting Aux Box'' (?)

I've managed to squeez alot of detail into a small box, showing most essential fucnctions.

It looks like this :



I'd like to add that all this was done useing Paint, and Notepad, something i feel proud about - "i did the best i could with the tools i had, boss" !

Lets take a look, starting from top left...

Radial engine Gauge, showing the following :

Inertia wheel activity - Show inertia wheel speed building up, from red to full green (full speed)
Crank rotation - showing rotation direction. As crank rotation speed builds up, arrows get bigger, then spin.

Ignition spark :

This was a mind bender..getting the logic right.

Dizzy cap and rotor arm ignition system setup on these engines. A spark is only produced when the engine is cranking, turning the flywheel, passing a magnet past the coil = spark.
I have modelled this in this gauge.

There is a greyed out image of the distribution cap (12'o'clock), which shows that a pre spark is being produced (small orange lights) and sent (rapid flashing small electric blue light)

Red L.E.D's on each cylinder show the spark plug is recieving a spark. (obviosly with above logic, only when engine is rotating)

When a cylinder fires, a signal is sent back to the gauge to show the fireing sequence. Engines in genral have a cylinder fireing sequence, eg,1,4,7,2,8,3,6,9,5 (< 9 cylinder engine) and i have researched this and implemented it into the gauge for this engine...to the best of my ability and availible information. As the cylinder in quesion fires, you will see it on the gauge. It currently shows the first 2 fireinng rotations.

Below that is a window showing which engine is select, with a nice sliding scale...

Ive made a video showing how it works, keep an eye out for the cylinders fireing, i think it looks cool

Engine 1 and 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERuFNGwmqmY

Same for 3 and 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9n1QGcCAqk

<Imagination mode = 0 { lt:1 = "off">

You definitely get points for imagination and creativity I could start a discussion about why you included the spark plug timing/firing indicator which looks pretty but does nothing but didn't include oil temp which would tell you when it is safe to runup said engine or OAT gauge to tell you how much to prime it, but I won't It would be quite hypocritical coming from a man who built a SPO-15 Beryoza shaped lamp for my desk because I was bored.
This little box of yours is a great project and I hope you keep adding to it Although the graphics really remind me of the fs2002/CFS2 era

Levkovvvv wrote:You definitely get points for imagination and creativity I could start a discussion about why you included the spark plug timing/firing indicator which looks pretty but does nothing but didn't include oil temp which would tell you when it is safe to runup said engine or OAT gauge to tell you how much to prime it, but I won't It would be quite hypocritical coming from a man who built a SPO-15 Beryoza shaped lamp for my desk because I was bored.
This little box of yours is a great project and I hope you keep adding to it Although the graphics really remind me of the fs2002/CFS2 era

Hey Vladimir,

Thanks for the comments

Well, now that you've said it, it would be a good idea to include an oil temp gauge - it's on the 'to do' list.

As for the OAT gauge, i see good reason to have one, but i am unaware the air temp made any diffrence to priming - i just hold prime untill the engine fires, run on prime untill good oil pressure, then mixture rich. How does the air temp effect this?

The spark plug timming / firing indicator ...as of now, as you have given me an idea, still work in progress . -A fowled plug wont spark. Maybe this can be implemented. This would give it more reason
It also doesnt work if the mags are off, giving a secondary indication that mags are ok, or 'on'

Yes the artwork is horrid, i could'nt agree more. Reason for this is im stuck with useing paint. Given those circumstances i think its the best it could be
I'd love to make HD gauge's one day, but all my ''learning time'' is going on understanding/writing XML jargon so currently have no time to learn how to use, say PS.

After adding oil and OAT gauge im going to be getting tight on spare rooom so not sure how much further this one can go. Keeping in mind this box is for essential information only(due room), any suggestions on what else could be included?

Thanks for the feedback!

Added OAT and OIL Temp

Nice Hmm, as you can read accusim variables, why not make a detailed notification panel about the passengers, since people sometimes miss or misunderstand crew notifications?

Levkovvvv wrote:Nice Hmm, as you can read accusim variables, why not make a detailed notification panel about the passengers, since people sometimes miss or misunderstand crew notifications?

Wow - that'd be a great feature! I often leave the sim running on long flights in real time while I work on another PC or leave the room for a while etc. Would be nice to see the last few communications from the cabin crew (and/or flight crew) in case there was an emergency of some sort.

Adam.

Really cool, sent you a PM.

Levkovvvv wrote:Nice Hmm, as you can read accusim variables, why not make a detailed notification panel about the passengers, since people sometimes miss or misunderstand crew notifications?

Great idea!....would need to see how it works and see if its possible.

Warbirds wrote:Really cool, sent you a PM.

Likewise

"Ladies and gentlemen, an update from the flight crew"

The second I saw Paul contacted you, I knew exactly what was about to happen