Pure fantasy, this is my super-dooper five-seat personal wonderplane with 'go anywhere' ability.
The performance is realistic rather than futuristic but it is still a great cross-country machine and although it certainly isn't STOL, it can be operated from surprisingly small fields, including unprepared surfaces.
It is pressurised so you can operate above 10000 feet without sticking a tube up your nose but don't expect to be flying up there with the big boys... Due to the inaccuracies of the FS jet engine (FS2002), your altitude performance isn't too sparkling either but she will blat along at 290 knots all day at 12000 feet. You can climb higher to avoid the occasional mountain, of course. :-)
"Unreal Aviation" refers to the fact that my aircraft designs are unconventional rather than unrealistic and so this is no jet fighter. She is intended to be a family runabout and long-distance tourer for visiting those far-flung tropical bays. She is intended to be easy to fly, takeoff and land with none of that 'elevator on a spring' nonsense that M$'s own aircraft seem to be afflicted with.
Installing:
Unpack to a spare folder then drop the Merganser23 folder into your main Aircraft folder. Drop the fx_heat_haze.fx file into your default Effects folder. FS2002 users must move the entire Unreal folder in the aircraft's Panel folder into their default Gauges folder. If you already have an Unreal folder (thank you for downloading my aircraft) then just overwrite it, the contents will just be added. FS9 users can leave this alone. The gauge works the subtle smoke effect automatically.
All the other gauges are default Lear and Cessna and you should already have those.
Flying:
CTRL E will start the engines.
Takeoff - Land:
Taxiing is very easy and the speed is easy to control. Steering has a tiny bit of lag due to the aircraft's inertia so don't over cook it.
Line up and select anything up to full flap. Set the elevator trim so that it is in the middle of its range. Firewall the throttles and keep straight with tiny dabs on the rudder pedals. When you reach 85 knots ease back on the yoke and hold the nosewheel off the ground. You will be flying by 100 knots.
The aircraft MUST be positively rotated on takeoff otherwise you will be going by road!
For a much shorter takeoff haul back on the yoke as soon as you start rolling, as long as you are lined up into wind and don't need the nosewheel on the ground to steer!
Raise the gear as soon as you are established in the climb and before you reach 200 knots. Raise the flaps in stages if you have selected full flap for a short-field takeoff.
Landing - Land:
WARNING. The spoiler key works the canopy. The canopy cannot be opened in flight! (Go on, you know you want to...)
Gear down below 200 knots. Lower the flaps in stages at 180, 160 and 140 knots respectively. Fly the approach at 90-120 knots it isn't critical.
Aim to cross the threshold at 90 knots and touch down at 80 or so, again, it is not critical and you can go to fairly high alpha without stalling and the stall is benign. Dump the flaps as you land and feel free to stomp on the brakes as soon as the nosewheel is down.
There is no reverse thrust but you really don't need it.
Takeoff -Water:
To taxi, you will need a lot of throttle to get moving but back off once you are. Lower the water rudder to improve steering (lever on the left of the panel or press SHIFT W) but keep the speed down to 25 knots or below and remember to raise it before takeoff or you could crash!
Set elevator trim to the middle of its range.
Line up into wind and select one notch of flap, as in reality, any more than this could damage them as they drag in the water (FS isn't realistic enough to do this). Firewall the throttles and wait...
You will gradually start to move and should be flying by 100 knots. Raise the flaps once established in the climb.
You can also get off the water more quickly if you employ a similar technique to the 'land' short-field takeoff (i.e. haul back on the yoke until you're airborne).
Landing - Water:
Close the throttle completely and allow the speed to bleed off to 180 knots before lowering the flaps by one notch.
Wait.
Wait some more.
As you get close to the water (best viewed from the spot view), start to hold off just like landing a glider...
Wait.
As the speed drops below 120 knots you can safely touch down or wait some more. She really wants to keep flying in ground-effect but eventually (keep increasing your angle of attack to hold off until below 90 knots) she will splash down. Raise the flaps as you touch to prevent damaging them. You can also land without flaps at roughly the same speeds as with them; it just takes longer and uses up another county...
As she comes to rest, she will sink a little with the water lapping over the wing trailing edge (the wings act as sponsons) but with plenty of freeboard to keep you dry if you open the canopy.
Tip:
If you bring up the throttle console (SHIFT 3 or click the button on the panel), you can open the panel a crack for ventilation during taxiing by moving the spoiler lever slightly. This can also help to balance the thrust on the water for smoother taxiing.
Close the canopy before flight as even a tiny crack will degrade performance to a dangerous level.
You will have noticed that she flies in ground-effect really well and if your journey is over water, you can drop to 10 feet (or less) and save a lot of fuel. Try it and see just how fast you can go on lower throttle settings in ground effect. Watch out for boats though, they are difficult to avoid at over 350 miles per hour!
This aircraft is FREEWARE and must remain so.
It has been uploaded to www.SurClaro and www.simviation.com ONLY. If you got it from another site then it didn't come from me....
That's it, have fun.
Kevin Bryan
Unreal Aviation
whirlybug@cix.co.uk
