The A2A Simulations Community

I fly the non-Cots version of the B-377.
Can the cabin heat and or cockpit heat be adjusted?

Tks
Raebo

No. The only adjustment is for the defroster on the Captain's left sidewall.

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I thought I recall the ability to set the air conditioning temps up there near the upper-right of
the FE panel in the pre-COTS. I recall having problems on one flight when I had failed to set
a switch properly in that area.

Paul

I only remember setting the A/C on or off and the pressurization controls, not ever setting the temp.

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Thanks
I thought it a tad cold at -34 cruising at FL 24 on my way to PANC.

Are you sure that was the cabin temp and not the outside air temp?

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Top right of the engineer panel.
One gauge says cockpit temp, one gauge says cabin temp.

Thanks
Raebo

PS when it gets below -35 even my oil tank temp goes very low and is highlighted in red so its hard not to miss, one click brings it back to plus 75 degrees, so no big deal.
Right near ADI fluid add button.

Well, if it's -35 on the ground, then you have to start the plane to get the heaters running anyway. And heating the oil only heats the oil in the central transfer tank, not in the engine reservoirs, so you have to transfer oil. The only way to fix cold oil is to dilute it at the end of the prior flight using the procedure outlined in the manual.

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No its when the aircraft is at altitude.
Next time your flying the 377 put your pointer over those two gauges top right of the FE panel.
Its no big deal other than I'm sure this aircraft like every aircraft ever made with a closed in cockpit had a cockpit heater and a cabin heater that could be adjusted for crew and passenger comfort.
The COTS add on it seems is/was all about passenger safety and comfort, well -20 to -34 is not comfortable under any circumstances.
I would be banging on the cockpit door as would all passengers who were freezing to death.
It appears there is no way for the Captain and or his/her crew to adjust the heat up or down in the cockpit and/or passenger cabin.
The 377 has two great gauges that tell the temperature of the cabin and cockpit however It appears that this fairly basic adjustment function for comfort and safety has been overlooked, would you not agree?

Raebo

Well the thing is you talk about the cabin temp as -35 and then the oil temp and fixing it by clicking on the replenish button. If you're doing that inflight, you're cheating period, if you're doing it on the ground, that's fine, but it doesn't fix the problem with the oil being thick in the engine reservoirs.

As for the cabin temp, I'm pretty sure that there is a thread in here that addresses the issue by saying that the cabin temp in the B377 is controlled in the cabin by the FA, so having the gauge up front is simply a repeater. Once the heater is turned on, it's up to the cabin crew to keep things comfortable. If it's showing really low in flight, maybe Scott can talk about it, but I'm thinking you've not got something turned on.

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I hope your right.
I would love to know how to do it.
Thanks kindly for your thoughtful input so far.
Raebo

A basic check first:
what switches have you switched to "ON"?

For ground operations in cold climate you need
- Air conditioning master
- Body heater
- Ground blower

For flying
- Air conditioning master
- Body heater

It's also equipped with "cooling system" and that has a separate switch. Mainly for ground operation as you don't need cooling at higher altitudes. In hot climate replace "body heater" with "cooling system".

In any case, if you want anything to be done to the air temperature, "air conditioning" master switch MUST be on. Have you perhaps left it off because you thought it's only needed when "cooling system" is operated? It's easy to make this mistake as in certain countries, the meaning of word "air conditioning" is restricted to cooling air below ambient temperature and doesn't include stuff like warming it or circulating it using blowers... just cooling. In B-377 the switch labeled "air conditioning" is a master switch for pretty much everything related to cockpit and cabin heat management, whether it's warming or cooling. Ground blower seems to not be under the master switch, though...

So leave that switched on always... except of course when you start shutting down all systems.

Thank you, the air conditioning switch on my B-377 is always left on.
I still have inside temps that are so cold they would kill the crew and passengers in real life.
Remember I fly the Canadian Arctic.

You have however perked my curiosity though.
What is a body heater? and a ground blower as terms you used that are related to this specific A2A simulation aircraft?

Raebo

Sad to hear the solution wasn't that simple. Do you do the start-up manually and by the book? Have you verified you have electrical system properly set up? Obviously, if you're able to start up the engines battery switch much be on already (as having main battery switch turned off, you can't even get APU power to bus and to starters) but as you have the engines running are the generators on and functioning? Have you checked "BUS" voltage with the selector and gauge on lower right of FE panel? When running APU, or when flying (engines at higher than idle rpm) you should have voltage above 24 volts. If not, are the generator condition lights on or off (next to generator switches)?

You could do a ground check of the heater to keep things simple (provided that Accusim 1.0 works the same way regarding heating as COTS Accusim):

Checking your BUS voltage between every operation:
- battery on
(should read 22-24 volts for full battery, lower for half laden, and lower for colder climate)
- APU: start/run, then connect to bus
(should read around 26-30 volts depending on electric load)
- air conditioning master
- ground blower
- body heater.

It'll take several minutes to show a noticeable difference but the gauge should start to move slowly. (Note: you cannot apply cooling system with APU only. Air-conditioning takes ridiculous amounts of energy to operate and is (AFAIK) safeguarded to not engage without two(?) main engines running.)

If, no matter how certain you are you've switched everything on, it still doesn't make the temperature rise above ambient, I'd try reinstalling the plane and expansion to see if the bug will go away like that. It's an addon on top of FSX and whatever Microsoft makes doesn't work exactly the same way twice... usually. Exception proves the rule.

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As for what the body heater is, I think the "body" basically means "fuselage" (cockpit+cabin+galley+cargo holds+central oil tank) to differentiate it from carb heat, pitot heat, propeller de-ice, wing de-ice, etc. (De-icing aren't necessarily done by heat and can also be implemented with expandable rubber boots that physically break the ice. But even the de-icers based on heat tend to prefer bleed air rather than electricity. Same goes for cabin pressurization even though exceptions exist).

Ground blower is needed to circulate air in the cabin. Just warming up a heat exchanger doesn't warm up the cabin if you don't push air through the heat exchanger. You need airflow for warming and cooling. When you're flying, you get can get airflow from numerous sources: ram air (air passing alongside the plane, scooped as needed into the airplane) or bleed air (air compressed by the turbos providing heat+pressurization to the cabin (tuned for a more precise temperature by complementing it with body heater)).

I don't know how things function before COTS, but in COTS the temperature is maintained around 20 degrees if all the systems are configured as they should be and running.

I think in the real aircraft there were some temperature controls up front in the cockpit in addition to a set at the Attendants station. There are no manual cockpit temp controls in the COTS airplane that I know of, but if you are pressurized and your air systems are configured by the book the temp should be mainained at 20 degrees or so.

If something is screwed up with your air systems in COTs, and the cabin becomes a refrigerator, Heidi the Stew will let you know.

If something is screwed up in Pre-Cots versions of Accusim, or with the Plain Jane Wings of Silver Aircraft without any Accusim at all, I'm not sure that the chances of a fix are all that great.

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