This is the Naval experimental 'Flying Flapjack' by Chance Vought, creaters of the F4U Corsair of WWII fame. This particular model is the V-173 twin engine. I did not have alot to go on per speeds, weights, and so fourth, so I have been working on it. At present, this model is fitted with twin internal mounted twind radialed Wasps. This plane was developed as a high speed fighter that could easily go into slow STOL flight mode and land at incredibly low speeds. The lowest I have been able to land her is 80 knots at which point she noses forward. I am trying to get her to be able to hose up and sink to the ground. If anyone is good at adjusting air config files, please, feel free to help out.
[Installation]
Unzip file and drag and drop into the folder C:/program folders/microsoft games/FS-9/aircraft. The sound is based on the Chance Vought F41U Corsair naval fighter that comes with FS2002. If you dont have it, just copy paste the 'sound folder' from the DeHavilland Comet into the V-173 folder and it will do nicely. But if you have the FS2002 on your hard drive, try copy pasting the sound file from the Corsair into it and your sound will trully be impressive.
Drag and drop all your guages that are in the guages folder, independently into the 'guages' folder of FS-9, (or FS2002, which ever game your are installing your plane into). You have to do them seperately or otherwise the Flight Simulator cannot see 'in' a folder and they will not be visible in the plane.
[Take Off]
Regular take off requires no flaps unless desired.
Stol Take off's; select full flaps setting, (5), hold elevators at full up, select full power, and release brakes. Vehicle should become airborn in 100 Feet.
[Landing]
Stall speed at which this vehicle seems to loose flight (at present), is at 78 KIAS. She flies very hot, (fast) but slows swiftly when throttles are pushed back to zero. When doing a STOL landing, select full flaps, come in hot, select landing point and head towards it, holding plane at roughly 100 to 120 KIAS, then at roughly 20 feet off the deck, push throttles to zero and nose up. She will swiftly loose speed and should land with nose slightly up. When you pass into the 70 KIAS zone, she noses down slightly and falls. Her landing gear are designed for carrier landings, so dont worry about bouncing her.. Developed just for that. I have found that 3 nothes of flaps are good for a nice soft landing. Full flaps for a quick 'carrier' like landing, just dont let her slip under 80 KIAS. (Adjusting elevator trim to up helps a great deal with transitioning through such a high speed plane to a very slow landing aircraft).
You will find that short field landings in this plane are actually fun. I have been doing test runs, adjusting the flight dynamics as much as I know how, trying to get the landing speed down and with the nose higher. In doing so, finding area's and doing tons of touch and goes in straight lines has actually been quite fun. This is a fun plane to fly.
[Climbing Out]
The original Chance Vought V-173 was designed also to fly at high speeds and gain altitude swiftly. The massive propellors were originally meant to act similarly to helicopter blades. Thus in this model, you will find that after doing a STOL take off with full flaps, select flaps to zero setting, nose up to point skyward, 12:00 high, and keep the throttle at full. You will begin to slow at 10,000 feet. You can continue to climb, but not perfectly straight up.
Standard take off's I have found quite easy and flaps actually produce a very balanced take off, selecting zero flaps after attaining good airspeed after take off produces a superb climb out.
[Taxi]
This model is fitted with a steerable tail wheel, but for some reason, doesnt function. I dont know why, but intend to remedy the problem. For now, she must be navigated on the ground with differential brakes, which are a pain. To speed things up I select 'y' in flight simulator and 'slew' to desired position and direction.
[Engine Startup]
Select Control/e. Shut down of the engines is Control/Shift/F1.
[Canopy Open]
In all those films of fighters back when, you would actually see them taxiing about with canopy's popped open, closing them before take off. This model comes with a opening canopy. Select Shift/e. I dont have information as to how the planes canopy actually opened, so I fashioned it to open how I thought that it should. (Pilot to be fitted soon).
[Cowl Flaps]
These are on the engine bonnets to either side of the canopy. Select Control/Shift/V to 'ventilate' engine, and Control/Shift/C to 'close' vents. They hinge upwards. To fully open them, you must engage them numerous times to have 'full open' or 'full close' occurr.
[Engine Bonnette Open]
Select Shift/E/2 in quick succession and the two engine cowling fairings on the top side of the flying body will hinge open revealing the upwards facing twin Wasp radials mounted down in the hull.
[Autopilot]
Basic autopilot is with this model, but must be intered in the keyboard only. No controls on the panel exist for this option. Selecting z activates autopilot. Selecting Control/z locks your alt. setting. Control z unlocks/disengages alt. from autopilot. Control/r is heading. With heading 'on' with autopilot engaged, you can select your setting on the 'odd' compass fitted in the panel. Heading is the rather large arrow behind the actual compass heading needle. Use the knob on the guage to adjust your heading.
Have fun and if you have any ideas about this plane, drop me a line. My email is at william@lionheartcreations.com or wortis@cox.net . I have a fascination for such odd birds that I think should have become more popular then they did.
This model was created with the fantastic Flight Sim Design Studio 2 by Abacus publications, www.abacuspub.com . I cannot accept any responsibility if your computer acts odd when using this plane. Everything is standard and should be very and totally safe. This model is actually quite early and is not fitted with textures yet, which means its need for high memory is almost non existant!
Take care and Gods blessings. Pray for world peace.
