This Flight Simulator 2004 aircraft was produced with Abacus FS Design Studio 2, FS Panel Studio, and Paint Shop Pro 7.
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Installation FS2004:
-Extract the contents of the main zip file VS44AAT.zip into FS2004's Aircraft folder. This should create a structure something like the following:
- c:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9
--- Aircraft
----- Sikorsky VS-44 AAT
-------- model
-------- panel
-------- sound
-------- texture.aat
-Once these files are extracted, Flight Simulator 2004 should exhibit a new entry under Aircraft/Select Aircraft on the menu bar:
--Sikorsky / VS-44 Flying Boat Avalon Air Trans
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SIKORSKY VS-44 'EXCAMBIAN' IS RESTORED AND ON DISPLAY AT NEW ENGLAND AIR MUSEUM, WINDSOR LOCKS, CONNECTICUT.
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Changes From Original version [vs44aea.zip]:
-New aircraft.cfg and .air file, intended to correct nose-heavy characteristics.
-Re-arranged flight deck, to simulate air-taxi configuration with only 2 crew instead of 5.
-Added seating, to increase passenger capacity to 47.
-Avalon Air Transport colors.
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Flying the VS-44:
The VS-44 is a flying boat. It lands and takes off from water. You can fly from seaplane runways (like X44 Miami FL, NK30 Brooklyn NY, 07L Agawam MA, or 22CA Sausalito CA). It does not have true landing gear, but it does have beaching gear, which allows it to be positioned on land at an airport at flight startup. MAKE SURE YOU GET RID OF THE GEAR WHEN STARTING A FLIGHT FROM WATER. Use the G key to attach or detach the beaching gear. If you want, you can take off and land on the beaching gear, but this is not realistic behavior. The beaching gear was NOT RETRACTABLE, but was floated out to the plane and attached in the water before towing the plane up on shore for maintenance. Once back in the water, the beaching gear was detached and floated away before takeoff.
Avalon Air Transport used VS-44 as a short-hop air taxi, so much less fuel was carried, and max gross weight was only 51,500 pounds. FOR SHORT RANGE FLIGHT, REDUCE FUEL TO KEEP GROSS WEIGHT UNDER 51,500.
The VS-44 was originally used on long-range (3000 mile) flights which could last 20 hours or more. With 23000 pounds of fuel, max gross weight was 59,500 pounds. FOR LONG RANGE FLIGHT, REDUCE PASSENGER LOAD TO 32 OR FEWER. CHANGE CENTER TANK CAPACITY TO 1300 GALS IN AIRCRAFT.CFG.
If you want to do long-range flying, check the fuel flow gauges in the 2D Engine instrument panel. You need to keep fuel consumption at 1150 pounds per hour to make 20 hours duration. Keep the fuel flow under 290 pounds per hour per engine during cruise.
Fuel flow is in 100s of pounds per hour.
Oil temp is Fahrenheit, carb temp and cylinder temp are Celsius.
Fuel quantity is in inches. Use the mouse tooltips to see percent.
There are small icons in the 2D panel for displaying the electrical panel (including engine starters), engine instruments, ADF radio, overhead panel (also with engine starters), overhead throttle levers, checklists, ATC window, map window, and GPS.
See the kneeboard checklist for manual engine starting procedures. You can start the engines with the Magneto/starter switches in the Virtual Cockpit, on the overhead panel above the pilot, or on the flight engineer's electrical panel.
For assistance with the Sperry Autopilot, see the Microsoft Flight Simulator Learning Center, Index (letter D), Douglas DC-3, Flight Notes, Using the Autopilot.
ADF radio (only 1) affects the radio compass with the red needle. It picks up NDB signals.
Nav radio (1 or 2) affects the radio compass with the green needle. It picks up VOR signals.
The virtual cockpit may be better viewed if you hit the minus (-) key once or twice, to get back to a 75% or 50% zoom.
Virtual Cockpit How To:
-Move from pilot to copilot seat --- Ctrl-Shift-Enter to move right
-Move from copilot to pilot seat --- Ctrl-Shift-Backspace to move left
-See the cargo and passenger compartments --- Shift-Backspace to move down
Ctrl-Enter to move aft
-Return from the lower deck to flight deck --- Shift-Enter to move up
Ctrl-Backspace to move forward
Engine How To:
-Adjust Prop Pitch --- Overhead panel or flight engineer panel, use 4 "toggle"
switches by the green lights.
Click and drag up to increase prop RPM, down to decrease.
When you are at min or max RPM, the green light goes on.
-Feather Props --- Overhead 3D panel, use 4 red buttons at top.
-Adjust Cowl Flaps --- 2D Engine instruments panel, use yellow levers at top right.
Click slightly to the right (+) of each lever to open
incrementally, slightly to left (-) to close.
-Adjust Mixture --- 2D Engine instruments panel, use red levers at top left.
Click and drag to set.
-Adjust Carb Heat --- 2D Engine instruments panel, use green levers at top.
Click to toggle on/off.
-Adjust Throttle --- 2D Engine instruments panel, use black levers at top.
Click and drag to set.
--- 2D Overhead throttles panel, click and drag to set.
Radio How To:
-Select ADF Radio Frequency: --- Select the frequency band using the upper 4-position switch on the ADF radio. Select the frequency by clicking to the right or left of the crank in the middle of the radio. Left to decrease, right to increase. The ADF radio is at the top of the radio operator's panel (2D and 3D panels), and on the center console between the pilot and copilot (3D only). Both controls affect the same radio.
-Select Nav Radio Frequency: --- Click outside the image of the tuning knob to change the frequency unit values (110, 111, 112, etc.). Left of center to decrease, right of center to increase. Click within the image of the tuning knob to change the fractional frequency (110.100, 110.150, 110.200, etc.). Left of center to decrease, right of center to increase.
-Select Nav1 or Nav2: --- Look for the RMI2 selector knob in the gray area in the middle of the radio operator's panel. On the 2D or 3D panel it is just to the right of the ADF radio. Click on the knob to toggle between Nav1 and Nav2 as the source for the radio compass with the green needle.
-Hear the Morse Code signals from the radios: --- Click the round Audio knob on the ADF radio to toggle sound off and on. Click the toggle switch on the far right of each Nav radio to toggle sound off and on.
Use the Exit command (Shift-E) to open and close the passenger and cargo hatches.
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Known issues:
-Performance. The real VS-44 cruised at 75% throttle, but on this model use 50-60% throttle for cruise economy. Top speed may be a bit higher than actual.
-Panel. I only had a few photos of the Avalon Air Transport cockpit, so much of the instrumentation is guesswork. The cockpit was significantly changed from the original AEA layout. To permit the plane to be flown by a crew of 2, the flight engineer, radio operator, and navigator stations were removed and the controls consolidated in the pilot/copilot area. I tried to indicate this in the main instrument panel and the 3D cockpit. But I left the 2D popup windows pretty much in the AEA configuration.
--Center Console: Dick Probert moved mixture, carb heat and oil cooler shutoff to the center console. My center console has mixture, carb heat (non-functioning) and cowl flaps.
--Radios: I have one photo which seems to show a nav radio on the ceiling, so I approximated that in the 3D cockpit.
--Throttles: I find these hard to use with mouse, especially in the 3D cockpit. I mostly use the keyboard.
--Prop Pitch: On the actual plane, you pushed switches up repeatedly to increase, down to decrease. On this model, you click and drag to set. When you hit max or min RPM, the green light comes on realistically.
--Cowl Flaps: Were not really the yellow levers on top of flight engineer panel, as I show them. Those levers on the real plane controlled the oil cooler shutters.
--Fuel Selector: My fuel selector switch is fictitious. On the real plane, there were a group of valves on the floor behind the center console.
--Reserve tank: I couldn't figure a way to select the reserve (100 gallon) tank on the fuel selector switch. If you select all tanks, it empties with the rest of the tanks.
--Flaps: You can select flaps to 30 degrees, but on the real plane they were limited to 20 degrees after the first VS-44 crashed on takeoff.
-Sound. To save space, this model comes with a sound.cfg file that points to a default sound package, the DC-3.
-Startup attitude: The aircraft.cfg file is set to start a flight from water. This means when you start a flight from land, the plane will be trapped in concrete. You can change these parameters in aircraft.cfg to adjust that if it is a problem for you:
--Start on land-
static_pitch= 4.000
static_cg_height= 11.000
--Start on water-
static_pitch= 2.00
static_cg_height= 7.000
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Authorship:
The visual model is completely original. It is based on drawings in Harry Pember's book, and photographs taken at the New England Air Museum.
The textures are original. The 2D panel bitmap is adapted from a photo in Pember's book.
Most of the gauges are modified from XML gauges supplied in FS2004. Most come from the DC-3. Most of the engine gauge images were adapted from photographs taken at the New England Air Museum.
I consulted many tutorials in building this model. David Eckert provides tutorials on almost every facet of FSDS development at www.daviator.com. Jerry Beckwith explains .air file parameters at the 714th flight test center. Tom Goodrick explains flight dynamics at http://www.flightsimdownloads.com/pub/FlightDynamics.pdf. Marcelo Canovas Vera and Felix J Rodriguez explain how to make a prop disk at http://www.freeflightdesign.com. Arne Bartels provided much reference material for creating XML gauges. I am grateful to the many people who give so much of their time to provide tools and guidance for us.
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Special Thanks:
New England Air Museum Personnel:
-Michael Speciale, Executive Director, for permission to photograph the VS-44 interior
-Russ Magnuson and John Craggs, volunteers, for assistance in photo session
-Rick Spork, for an article on VS-44 from a 1964 issue of Air Progress
-Guenter Kirschstein, for flight dynamics suggestions
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Background:
The Sikorsky VS-44 NC41881 (c/n 4403) 'Excambian' was the second of three VS-44s produced by Sikorsky. Construction of the three planes occurred from 1940 to 1942. The VS-44 was the last fixed-wing plane built by Sikorsky. It held the speed record for crossing the Atlantic by flying boats, in both directions.
The VS-44 was originally designed to carry 32 passengers on daytime transatlantic flights, or 16 passengers overnight. When Dick Probert bought the VS-44 for Avalon Air Transport, he removed the galley equipment and bench seats from 2 cabins, and increased seating to 47 by installing higher-density airline seats.
Avalon Air Transport used the VS-44 for the 26-mile taxi service between Long Beach CA and Catalina Island. Maximum gross weight was reduced to 51,500 pounds and flights were restricted to daytime hours.
The VS-44 originally carried a crew of 5, but Dick Probert modified the flight deck so the plane could be flown by 2.
=Other VS-44 facts:
.The 'Excambian' is restored and polished like a jewel at the New England Air Museum just behind Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT. It was restored over an 11-year period, with about a million dollars of assistance from Sikorsky, and almost 200,000 hours of volunteer labor.
.Famed actress Maureen O'Hara was CEO of Antilles Air Boats and owned the 'Excambian' from 1967 until transferring it to first the Naval Aviation Museum and then the New England Air Museum, where it was restored. She attended the dedication ceremony in 1987 at the beginning of restoration, and again at completion in 1998.
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References:
New England Air Museum, Bradley International Airport, Windsor Locks, CT
-lots of history at the Museum's website, http://www.neam.org/vs44.htm
Harry Pember, 'Sikorsky VS-44 Flying Boat', Flying Machines Press, Stratford, CT 1998
Joseph Juptner, 'US Civil Aircraft Vol. 8', McGraw-Hill 1997
John W. R. Taylor, 'Sikorsky', Tempus Publishing, 1998
'The Queen of the Sky' VHS video, New England Air Museum, for sale at the museum
David L. Johnston, 'The Knights of Avalon', Horizon Line Press, Roseburg, OR 2004
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This model is freeware.
All comments and suggestions welcome.
E-mail: george_diemer@msn.com
