The Talent Company Limited 'Enterprise' Touring Airship. Version 2.
Replica 'civilianised' British SS Type Airship with a three-crew twin-engined control car that has a touch of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' about it. I have actually considered this as a viable design for a full size Airship for amateur construction, perhaps in an alternative reality where I'm a millionaire...
FS can't really simulate airships but this gets pretty close with a little help from a sneaky little application of secret flaps that will deploy automatically depending upon airspeed and whether the engines are running. She won't loop, roll, or stall either, which is half way to reality. She also reacts to gusts in a most realistic way.
Installing:
Easy, just drop Enterprise_V2 folder into your main Aircraft folder. Manufacturer is listed as Unreal Aviation rather than 'The Talent Company Limited' as I wouldn't want to confuse you, besides which, I haven't finished the novel. :-)
Put the fx_unreal_waterballast.fx file into your main Effects folder.
FS2002 users must move the entire Unreal folder in the aircraft's Panel folder into their default Gauges folder. Do not remove the contents of the Unreal folder. If you already have an Unreal folder in your Gauges folder (thank you for downloading my aircraft) then overwrite it with this one, the contents will simply be added.
The aircraft will not work properly without these gauges....
Flying:
Important. You must cycle through the cockpit views at least once (S key) to activate the gauges otherwise the aircraft will not work properly.
Start your engines with CTRL E. This will get them both up and running. There is a nice air-cooled flat-twin engine sound, which is in keeping with the spirit of the thing. The engines are actually modern but as she is filled with Helium instead of hydrogen, the 500Lbs LESS weight means you can still get off the ground with a full load.
With the engines running the flaps will deploy automatically. You may have to increase throttle slightly to counteract any headwind.
On the command "Up Ship" 4-6 of the ground crew would heave the aircraft bodily into the air and duck away from the rear prop as you firewalled the throttle and climbed away smartly. To simulate this, firewall said throttle. The flaps will retract automatically as you gain speed.
Best cruise on two engines is at 40kts. Rate of climb is very good but for realism you would stay below 4000 feet and normal operational height would be 1000-2500 depending upon the barometric pressure, gas temperature and whether you are carrying that third occupant (and whether or not it's a child).
She will cruise all day at 40kts or you can slow right down to 7-5kts and hover in a light breeze. Try landing on top of a building (M$ ones are hardened for this - crash-detection must be switched on), it's fun.
Auto-rudder /ON is fine if you don't want to make rudder-only turns. The ailerons are there, this being FS you can't remove 'em, but they are not effective at turning the airship at all s'there.
In turbulence, she will pitch and roll and generally gets chucked about. Just like the real thing. :-)
On cross-countries, it helps if the wind is going your way.
To land you should really switch off the front engine to protect the ground crew. They get a bit miffed if they lose any hands and positively livid if they lose any heads!
To shut of the front engine press these keys, one at a time in this order in quick succession:
E 1 M - - -
That's Engine one, Magneto(s) OFF, OFF, OFF. The front propeller should then stop. To ensure that you have full control of the second engine press E 2. Throttle control will return as usual but with half the power. She will climb on one though; this is an airship so the power isn't lifting it, just pushing it forward. (Yes, I know, I know, I AM an aerodynamicist, it's just easier to explain it that way, OK?)
To restart the front engine press E 1 + + + etc. (or just press CTRL E)
You can also use the magneto switches on the panel to stop the front engine only.
The flaps will deploy automatically as you slow down to help create the illusion of near weightlessness. There are no wheel brakes as they would be completely ineffective holding back a dirigible of 60000 cubic feet capacity. It may be light but it has considerable inertia too. You might be blown about when you shut off your engine(s) until the flaps have retracted again. Parking crosswind can help here but remember they didn't keep 'em in ruddy great sheds when it was windy for nothing.
Note: As always, I have included an autopilot so that the aircraft will follow FSNavigator tracks, as I like to sit in the tower and watch her drifting around above my head etc.
If the aircraft seems to have a mind of its own, check that you haven't left the AP on from a previous aircraft. Press Z to toggle the AP.
If you hate the AP then edit the Aircraft.cfg file to remove it.
That's it. I'm quite pleased with it but I'm open to comments....
