The A2A Simulations Community

UUUGHHHH.!!!

Double woe!!

For anybody who is using hardware...keep your maintenance up!!

Between Accusim failures and real mechanical failure it can bring some grief. I just got my airframe (my non testing, dinkum, this is my real Spitfire airframe) and engine to 10.5 hours. Perfect condition good compression everything.

I have been ignoring a rattle in my rudder pedals for a few days.

I just took off for a 10 minute check flight of the instruments and gauges, got airborne and went to turn onto my planned track...rudder failure.(actual pedals). Rudder hard up against left stop.

I did give it a pretty good go, did a couple of test "landings " at 3000ft, but the cooling was not happenning (the aircraft slipping away from the radiator) and I had to go down or burn up. Turning onto final she got away from me and I stalled...instant spin...and with no ability to give opposite rudder and no height...it didn't end well.

VERY annoyed...I blame Accu-sim..before that I wouldn't have cared about starting "hours" again!!

Luckily the failure was two wires shorting, so I just have to tease them apart and hot glue....re-soldering a wire on teh rudders takes around 10 hours...the entire pit has to be pulled apart! So, cheap lesson.

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

you know you can save the pilots log after a fight? on my pc its in Documents\A2A\FSX\Spitfire Just copy and paste. that way if you screw up or something goes wrong you can just drag it back.

Thanks Andysim,

I know but I try to treat it like a "real" aircraft now the testing is about finished...no "redo resubmit".

I'll just go back to the begining and see how far I can get next time. It serves me right..I wouldn't have flown the real aircraft in that condition!! And I should know better!


Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

In best plummy voice: "Sorry to hear about your prang old chap. Glad you are still in one peice. A perfect example of why the CO forbids victory rolls, as you never know when something could be damaged and just let go".
Depending on the damage to the airfraim in the sim, to start with a new airframe just delete the Spifirelog.Dat file but I expect you already know that.
Cheers,
Stewart.

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"He's talking about our mess bills - Sqn Ldr Brian Lane 19(F)Sqn RAF (Having heard Churchill's 'Never in the field' speech)"

Radeon HD 4870 Vapor-X 2GB, Asus P6T, Intel Core i7-920, 3GB DDR3 Memory 1600MHz Windows XP Home Edition.

Stewart.... (Oh, and notes done and packaged up)

Well after having a total "senseofhumourectomy" over the last couple of days I am just about fit to get the Spitfire airwoRthy again. Tonight off but tomorrow night a few last tests and button presses and then I can assemble the thing again properly.

The radiator shutter needs changing out because it appears there was a logorithmic pot in the wrong box at the store and I copped it!!! Not good when you need a linear response!

Best colonial voice " *&*^*( *(&&*^%& &u^&*^ t$%^* &78^&*^&*(3$% #%$$%*&^^ &$*& AND your cat!!!"

The good thing is it has given me the time to rearrange some of the wiring runs and to drill out some steel rivets to allow easier access to the rudder mechanism.


All in all, it should be ready for Friday 2000 GMT.


Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

Thanks Darryl, I hope the repairs go well and we will soon see another of your great videos. A take off to shut down would be Great (HINT)

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"He's talking about our mess bills - Sqn Ldr Brian Lane 19(F)Sqn RAF (Having heard Churchill's 'Never in the field' speech)"

Radeon HD 4870 Vapor-X 2GB, Asus P6T, Intel Core i7-920, 3GB DDR3 Memory 1600MHz Windows XP Home Edition.

Don't know if you've fixed it yet, but here's a good site that will help find a fix for that BSoD, Darryl.

http://forums.pureoverclock.com/showthr ... 6&page=113

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pj



i7-2600K@4.9gig, ASUS P8P67 B3 DL; EVGA GTX580; 8gig Corsair Vengeance C8@1600; Win 7-64; TH2G w/3x19" VA926; Homebuilt cockpit; 6-pack throttle quadrant; TrackIR5 & EZCA; No blurries.[/font][/size]

Thanks PJ!!! Sorry I missed this when you posted it! I'll chase it up.


Whilst the sim is apart, I have taken the opportunity to swap out some of the "temporary" bits and in the new stuff that has arrived. The fuel button now has the correct brass ring around it and the proper top swing fuel gauge has arrived and will go in this afternoon.

The rudder mechanism has to have a sleeve and bushes put into it and those are being manufactured for me in Perth. After the pot taking me three tries and several hours hanging upside down, to fix, I got a whole 55 minutes flying before the pivot point failed....such is lfe.

Also just finished, Gwyn's drop tank unit he built for me.....for the Mk V when released. I will fit it in a couple of weeks when the whole lot goes back together.












And the real thing in situ...



Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

Great pix Darryl!

As a retired electronic engineer, I can't help to comment on a one of the things I see
there. Since you've most likely put everything back together I hope you used some
RTV or other rubbery insulating substance where the wiring passes through the plates.

That is a prime place for chaffing and subsequent short circuits to occur if there
is any movement of the wiring as controls are manipulated. Anything to isolate
the wiring from the edges of the holes would be prudent.

Can't wait to see that whole kite!

Paul

Cheers Paul,

Yes, I am paranoid about short circuits and plans are well in hand to avoid them. I gave Gwyn no instructions for routing the wires, so he did his usual of putting them "out of sight". I will get the unit in a couple of weeks and will be putting it in as I put the sim back together.

The pic below shows the Bowden Cable that runs from the Lever to the tap (natural aluminium). This is actually where I will be routing the wires after hot gluing them around the switches (brown) and keeping the track clear of sharp edges etc.







I try to hide wiring that comes out of "mechanical" places and shouldn't be there. The Emergency Undercarriage Bottle has its switch wires run through the CO2 pipe..hiding them and making it look like it is soley "mechanical".


Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

That's just amazing detail. Not to mention the complexity of the whole project!

BTW, you missed a great MP session today, once we got some glitches sorted out.

We had 12 or 13 B-17Gs and a single P-47. We could have laid waste to a good stretch of
Queensland had we had ordnance aboard

Paul

Thanks Paul.

Sorry I missed it...I got a little while online with Ron the other night before the rudders failed....

And to add insult to injury, I've had a rotten headache bug that is doing the rounds, so I missed flying for real yesterday too.

Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

At last some progress on MY part...

The side wall bracket/frame which is swaged for strength and to starbord, supports the Windscreen De-iceing Pump.

The bracket is much shorter than the real one and attaches TO the frame rather than being the frame. A nice cosmetic touch though, I feel, as it is one of the more interesting structural features of the cockpit:





And in situ..... first one mine, second picture the real thing...







The De-Ice Pump is still drying but will slip straight in this afternoon. I will also hopefully finish the port side today and if VERY lucky, the Fuse box bracket that sits aft of it.

Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

Nice work as allways Darryl

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Ron
B-17 AIRFRAME 710 HRS PLUS AND CLIMBING




GIGABYTE X58A-UD5 MB, INTEL I7 950, 12GB DOMINATOR-GT DDR3 RAM, WIN7 64, GIGABYTE SUPER OVER CLOCK GTX 560 TI 1GB GGDDR5 1000Mz, CORSAIR 850W PS, NOCTUA NH-D14,
TRACKIR 5 & TrackClipPro

Thanks Ron,

She is looking better each time I add something now.

The De-Ice Pump finally in position after three repaints (one mistake and two impatience)









And a small "while the paint drys" job...my genuine Compass Correction Holders fitted with "repro" cards.

The Placard which goes underneath (for "with drop tank" and "without" ) will hopefully be cut this week.




Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...