not happy with A2A Connie

[01thomas]

Hi
I bought the A2A Connie for P3Dv4 earlier this year and I've now racked up about 120 hours doing short, medium and long flights. While everyone waxes lyrically about the A2A Connie, I have many gripes.

1. The use of the mouse wheel is inconsistent. In some instances one has to roll the mousewheel forward to increase the value (setting the transponder) and in others one has to roll the mousewheel backwards (setting the Nav and Com radio frquencies).
2. The mouse wheel could be used for setting the throttles when making delicate adjustments like synchronising the engines: place your cursor on the respective throttle and then rolling the mouse wheel can make minor changes in throttle position.
3. Why are the 2D panels accessible only by a two-fingered Shift-x? Has the Connie team considered implementing invisible clickspots?
4. The autopilot: we are presented with a Sperry... and an ultra-modern GPS. Why not give us a decent, integrated modern autopilot? You may answer that the modern autopilot is inconsistent with a 1950s cockpit, but so is a GPS. Could we have an option whereby the modern autopilot takes the place of the Sperry, visually as well as functionally, in the Configurator maybe?
5. I find the navigator map (Shift-4) very unrealistic. Is it supposed to show our route? If so, where does it get our route from – the P3D route planner? Looks-wise it came from a comic book. Besides the navigator's notes alongside, I think the P3D map is much more realistic. And I think you missed an opportunity by not making the map visible on the navigators table.
6. The aircraft.cfg file indicates the empty weight is 49 400 lbs and the Max Gross Weight is 90 000 lbs. According to the table on page 70 of the manual that makes this a Constellation L049A – correct? We are also told that it has either R3350-C18BA3 or-BA4 engines. This means that manual leaning is not implemented.
7. Another issue is the amount of fuel: the Fuel Loader refers to the amount of fuel in gallons, but gallons are a measure of volume. Pounds on the other hand are a measure of weight and in aviation weight is far more important than volume. To complicate matters not all Gallons are the same (Imperial vs. US). We can assume that as Lockheed is an American manufacturer that American gallons are meant but assumptions should be avoided. May I humbly suggest that we are given an option when setting up the aircraft: Pounds or gallons, possibly also in the configurator?
8. On page 79 the manual says we can “start those big beautiful engines by the book”… but how are we to know what “by the book” actually is? Surely that should be in the manual? It shouldn't need YouTubers and Twitchers to explain how to perform mundane tasks like starting the engines. This should all be in the manual. If it is in the manual it's well hidden. All I have found is the bit about the mixtures and primers, and we we all know there's more to it than that.
9. AlanCXA651 has numerous videos on Twitch and they’re a great help. Without them I’d be lost. But his videos wouldn’t be necessary if the manual was better. The manual is a great marketing tool, spending a lot of time expounding on the features and benefits (eg. COTS and AccuSim) of this Connie but it tells us very little about how to operate the Connie realistically. As a manual it's borderline. Step-climbs don't even get a mention; how is a simulator pilot to know when to step-climb a 1950's propliner. In my experience the pitch of this aircraft doesn't change much (enough?) to use as an idicator, even on an 8-hour long-haul flight.
10. There doesn't seem to be anywhere where one can see the current weight of the airplane in flight? The F.E. needs this in order to compute the landing weight so that the captain can compute the approach and landing speeds. Of course the fuel tank levels on the FE panel are calibrated in gallons and of course I can multiply gallons by 6 but we shouldn't have to. And to add to all the inconsistencies, the fuel-flow guages are calibrated pounds-per-hour.
11. Are the V-speeds only available at the end of the manual? The pilot flying needs to know these before he starts his take-off roll. They should be in a checklist or a POH, accessible during flight (shift-F10) but there are no checklists - another feature missing from this model.
12. Could we somehow brighten up the cockpit during night-flights? One shouldn't have to stooge around in the dark to find the fuel crossflow/dumping levers or de-icing switches or whatever at night. In real life the crew most likely had torches with them, but we don't have that luxury. I have all the lights blazing away but that only helps for the flight panel and the FE panel. The rest of the cockpit is bathed in darkness.
13. Finally, does the Professional version of the Connie differ from the Academic version? If so, what are the differences and how are we to be told which one to go for?

There are many areas for improvement. In my opinion, this is a beta-model and not a well-finished payware aeroplane. This is my first A2A purchase and I'm very disappointed with it.
Thomas

[bobsk8]

Connie is one of my all time favorite aircraft to fly in a sim, and i have been doing this for decades. Sorry you are so unhappy with it. Maybe you should try designing your own.

[AviationAtWar]

3. Why are the 2D panels accessible only by a two-fingered Shift-x? Has the Connie team considered implementing invisible clickspots?

All A2A planes are this way with the exception of maps or checklists, sometimes. With complex aircraft such as the Connie I believe they are already pushing the limitations of the sim and adding something like this may not be possible, or at least feasible.

5. I find the navigator map (Shift-4) very unrealistic. Is it supposed to show our route? If so, where does it get our route from – the P3D route planner? Looks-wise it came from a comic book. Besides the navigator's notes alongside, I think the P3D map is much more realistic. And I think you missed an opportunity by not making the map visible on the navigators table.

The map is the same concept as all other A2A planes. A moving map showing airports, frequencies, etc isn't realistic in most of these planes, but I do appreciate it being there and use it all the time. Adding it to the navigator's station would definitely be nice, but again may be pushing the limits of the sim. Adding more and more features would also drive the cost of the aircraft up because so much time has to go into developing systems, which we shouldn't forget.

6. The aircraft.cfg file indicates the empty weight is 49 400 lbs and the Max Gross Weight is 90 000 lbs. According to the table on page 70 of the manual that makes this a Constellation L049A – correct? We are also told that it has either R3350-C18BA3 or-BA4 engines. This means that manual leaning is not implemented.

It's modeled after an L049.

8. On page 79 the manual says we can “start those big beautiful engines by the book”… but how are we to know what “by the book” actually is? Surely that should be in the manual? It shouldn't need YouTubers and Twitchers to explain how to perform mundane tasks like starting the engines. This should all be in the manual. If it is in the manual it's well hidden. All I have found is the bit about the mixtures and primers, and we we all know there's more to it than that.

Starting procedures can be found starting on page 124 of your manual.

10. There doesn't seem to be anywhere where one can see the current weight of the airplane in flight? The F.E. needs this in order to compute the landing weight so that the captain can compute the approach and landing speeds. Of course the fuel tank levels on the FE panel are calibrated in gallons and of course I can multiply gallons by 6 but we shouldn't have to.

Calculating weight is the flight engineer's job. A real Connie doesn't have a scale under it in flight with a gauge in the cockpit.

12. Could we somehow brighten up the cockpit during night-flights? One shouldn't have to stooge around in the dark to find the fuel crossflow/dumping levers or de-icing switches or whatever at night. In real life the crew most likely had torches with them, but we don't have that luxury. I have all the lights blazing away but that only helps for the flight panel and the FE panel. The rest of the cockpit is bathed in darkness.

Using the flood light switches on the engineer's panel you shouldn't have any issues seeing in the dark.

13. Finally, does the Professional version of the Connie differ from the Academic version? If so, what are the differences and how are we to be told which one to go for?

No.

this is a beta-model and not a well-finished payware aeroplane. This is my first A2A purchase and I'm very disappointed with it.
Thomas

I couldn't possibly imagine what your basis for comparison would be, but at least you gave it 120 hours (!) to form your opinion.

[Hook]

Keep in mind that the Constellation is a complicated aircraft. This is what most people are looking for when they buy the A2A Connie. If they wanted a simple version, P3Dv4 has two included.

1. The use of the mouse wheel is inconsistent. In some instances one has to roll the mousewheel forward to increase the value (setting the transponder) and in others one has to roll the mousewheel backwards (setting the Nav and Com radio frquencies).
2. The mouse wheel could be used for setting the throttles when making delicate adjustments like synchronising the engines: place your cursor on the respective throttle and then rolling the mouse wheel can make minor changes in throttle position.

I answered your concerns about the use of the mouse in your previous thread. The mouse could be more intuitive but I find it quite useful. I thought you *could* adjust the throttles with the mouse wheel, but if you also have a throttle control it will override anything you do with the mouse. Also, you don't fine tune the throttles to synchronize the engines with the throttle controls, the flight engineer does that on his panel and he's good at it. Don't worry, all four engines are different and will run at slightly different speeds. This is intentional.

I personally prefer the Sperry autopilot. It's not like you're supposed to slave the autopilot to the GPS. I know a lot of people like to do this, but I know anyone flying the A2A Connie is using the Sperry. Or hand flying it, like I do. I prefer to avoid use of the navigator map as well as the GPS, navigating the same way they did in the 50's.

You can write your own checklist and have it appear in the Shift-10 kneeboard. This is what I did. I have a complete "pilot's checklist" that has everything the pilot needs to do and it doesn't interfere with the automated flight engineer. It also has power settings and speeds for various phases of flight and other information the pilot needs to know.

If any part of the A2A Constellation appears to lack polish, it's likely because the aircraft was rushed a bit for a Christmas release. I think they did an excellent job in any case.

I really enjoy flying the Connie with 200.7 hours currently. Not my favorite aircraft and not the one most flown and I have to be in the mood to fly it, but it is incredibly good. It does have the most hours of any of my A2A aircraft.

Hook

[ratty]

Connie is one of my all time favorite aircraft to fly in a sim, and i have been doing this for decades. Sorry you are so unhappy with it. Maybe you should try designing your own.

That about sums it up for me.

[01thomas]

10. There doesn't seem to be anywhere where one can see the current weight of the airplane in flight? The F.E. needs this in order to compute the landing weight so that the captain can compute the approach and landing speeds. Of course the fuel tank levels on the FE panel are calibrated in gallons and of course I can multiply gallons by 6 but we shouldn't have to.

Calculating weight is the flight engineer's job. A real Connie doesn't have a scale under it in flight with a gauge in the cockpit.

That's the point: our flight engineer doesn't communicate the weight to the pilot and the gallons-thing makes it difficult (not impossible) to calculate the aircraft weight ourselves.

I couldn't possibly imagine what your basis for comparison would be, but at least you gave it 120 hours (!) to form your opinion.

My basis for comparison are the freeware Constellations which the Manfred Jahn-team created for FS9 back in the day, the Douglas DC-3-series which Manfred created for FSX and P3D and the Aerosoft Airbus A320-series.

Thank you AviationAtWar! I appreciate your taking the time to write a meaningful reply

[Paughco]

OK, today I will fly my Connie. It's my least flown aircraft, so we'll have to drag her out of the hangar, give her a wash job and thorough pre-flight. I volunteered to plan next Sunday's MP flight, which is soon to be posted on the MP forum. At this early stage, it's going to be a Connie (or equivalent) flight, involving relatively short takeoff from Haines, a route over some very scenic scenery, to a landing in Valdez. I'll have career mode off and will be using the Shift+6 autopilot. Maybe I'll have to review SIM CFI's YouTube vid on how to operate the Sperry autopilot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qenyu16K82A).

At least the Connie doesn't try to run off the runway on takeoff like the Mustang or Spitfire, or try to ground-loop like the T-6! Hey, I'd fly my Connie in the Bluegrass Airline's Great London to Sydney Air Race (https://bluegrassairlines.com/operation ... index.html), if only DC-3 Airways would let me log the flight hours into their system. That one will be in my C-47.

Seeya
ATB

[01thomas]

Paughco, what is MP?

OK, today I will fly my Connie. It's my least flown aircraft, so we'll have to drag her out of the hangar, give her a wash job and thorough pre-flight. I volunteered to plan next Sunday's MP flight, which is soon to be posted on the MP forum. At this early stage, it's going to be a Connie (or equivalent) flight, involving relatively short takeoff from Haines, a route over some very scenic scenery, to a landing in Valdez. I'll have career mode off and will be using the Shift+6 autopilot. Maybe I'll have to review SIM CFI's YouTube vid on how to operate the Sperry autopilot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qenyu16K82A).

At least the Connie doesn't try to run off the runway on takeoff like the Mustang or Spitfire, or try to ground-loop like the T-6! Hey, I'd fly my Connie in the Bluegrass Airline's Great London to Sydney Air Race (https://bluegrassairlines.com/operation ... index.html), if only DC-3 Airways would let me log the flight hours into their system. That one will be in my C-47.

Seeya
ATB

[Paughco]

Multi Player. Here is the link: viewforum.php?f=79. Check out some of our previous missions. Also, here's a rough tutorial on how to get started flying in MP, A2A Misfit Squadron style: viewtopic.php?f=79&t=63659&p=486575&hil ... ed#p486575.

It's easy! It's fun! It's sort of like the flight sim version of that segment in "On Any Sunday," where the guys are just out riding dirt bikes together for fun. Check out JoinFS. Get signed in on the A2A channel on Discord (Lewis has to let you into the group). I recommend familiarizing yourself with JoinFS and Discord as described in the link above before you join in a flight, but please, definitely consider joining in!

Oh yeah - our motto is "What's the worst that can happen?"

Seeya
ATB

[Oracle427]

Weight of avgas = gallons* 6

[bobsk8]

Hi
I bought the A2A Connie for P3Dv4 earlier this year and I've now racked up about 120 hours doing short, medium and long flights. While everyone waxes lyrically about the A2A Connie, I have many gripes.


7. Another issue is the amount of fuel: the Fuel Loader refers to the amount of fuel in gallons, but gallons are a measure of volume. Pounds on the other hand are a measure of weight and in aviation weight is far more important than volume. To complicate matters not all Gallons are the same (Imperial vs. US). We can assume that as Lockheed is an American manufacturer that American gallons are meant but assumptions should be avoided. May I humbly suggest that we are given an option when setting up the aircraft: Pounds or gallons, possibly also in the configurator?



Thomas

As far as the fuel issue is concerned, if you go to shift 4 where you load the fuel, on the bottom left you will see that it either says Imperial or metric, which you can change. It then shows you how many gallons of each will be loaded. Just multiply the number of gallons by the weight of the fuel. Simple.

[Oracle427]

Weight of avgas (lbs) = US gallons* 6
Weight of avgas (lbs) = Imperial gallons* 7.2

[bobsk8]

Weight of avgas (lbs) = US gallons* 6
Weight of avgas (lbs) = Imperial gallons* 7.2

Or if one forgets that. :

One imperial gallon is equivalent to approximately 1.2 U.S. liquid gallons.

So 6 x 1.2 equals 7.2

[Paughco]

Or use the excellent fuel planner posted by Sailor512. Here is the link to the link: viewtopic.php?f=133&t=64605&p=492635#p492635

I've also posted the file on the MP topic on A2A Discord.

Seeya
ATB

[Tomas Linnet]

I always use this chart: https://flytag.co/jet-fuel-conversion.html