Fly Manual !

[jackpilot]

As my MCP is not yet back into business I fly manual. Already did it (and posted about it) but right now I cant cheat. As you may see in the pic, it is not alive.
I had fun tonight between Amsterdam and London Gatwick at dusk..
It is a rather short flight, cruising  FL 220 at 300Knt. No ATC just Chatter to keep my concentration (and you need tons of it), a paper map and approach plates.
Guys you have to try that. So much better than turning knobs.
Getting smoothly at FL220 and staying there within the 50ft rule while navigating just shy of the Barber Pole is a challenge.
I use the POSKY 700 and I am very happy with the flight model.
As long as you do very fine adjustments,  treat her like cristal, watch the trim and let her time to react., that bird can be flown nearly hands off and descend on rails at constant speed if properly configured.
Big Grin when I pulled the reverse on 08L.
Great fun, had to share.

[XOrionFE]

Awesome Jack.   That sounds like a lot of fun.   Real flying!

Scott

[Maurice]

I always thought that as you get older, you want/need less stress in your life. Looks like you still need the stress  . I will have to try that some day as you are obviously enjoying yourself with the added stress 

Maurice

[dharrison]

Good stuff Jack,

You should also try some VFR at 250kts... Now that is fun!

Don

[jackpilot]

Yep Don.
Check that post, some good info and data on low and slow.
http://www.cockpitbuilders.com/community/index.php?topic=1172.msg8920#msg8920

Edit to this post:
-I added Quick-Map on the the lower DU (See Pic) Great help for lateral cross referencing when coping alone with two jobs!
-Flying manual incudes power management.. no AT and,,,no need for TQ motorization (if there was ever a need!)

[NeoMorph]

You can't fly the ATR 72-500 Manual... it's nearly 500 pages long and wouldn't reach Vr 

[matta757]

Jack,

Sounds like a blast but also very challenging. It's important to not forget that when we are flying our sims, we really are doing the work of 2 people at once. So I can only imagine how difficult it must be to manage altitude, power and speed while at the same time navigating using paper charts and the like. For sure really fun, but tricky at the same time!

Regards,
Matt

[jackpilot]

As for any flight, real or sim, planning is the key
Writing down the route points, frequencies and headings.
Memorizing the various approaches, presetting the radios ahead..etc

A simple pen and a sheet of paper clipped on the yoke are incredibly efficient at that.
They allow instant information retrieval while leaving your hands free.
We tend to be so much dependent on screens and buttons that we cannot cope with some situations because  we only have two hands!

We can fire up the sim in no time compared with a real aircraft and set it on the runway threshold in 5 mn flat.
But Sim or Real, a flight has to be carefully prepared and this takes an awful lot of time. Otherwise the whole exercise will be mediocre at best. And you are right Matt, coping with two jobs makes it even more necessary...and fun.

[Boeing Skunk Works]

Three jobs is always fun too. The more the merrier.

I'm not sure what sim you're flying, but mine takes a lot longer than 5 minutes to fire up and configure. At least 30 minutes for planning too. Usually closer to 45.

[jackpilot]

I'm not sure what sim you're flying, but mine takes a lot longer than 5 minutes to fire up and configure.

My Windows start up files include PM GC /PM sound/wideClient/(+dedicated softs like CDU/simkits/ GoFlight depending on the computer)
All PCs and monitors are controled by one switch, (each PC is started manually, to avoid Overload) so it takes actually less than 5 mn to have the full Sim humming and all screens on. Clicking on "previous flight" and here you go.
But I agree 100% with Mike, planning the new flight takes a good 30mn and even much more if you include going to the graphs and charts for speeds, fuel, runway length, etc
(I know there are softs to do all that but... )

Cheers

[NeoMorph]

I have to agree... I'm very much a noob where these high precision sims are concerned (used to the old Cessna and plotting the VOR/NDB flights and forgetting fuel weight and stuff... I just topped off the tanks and flew until I needed to land for a fillup when I reached 1/3 of a tank. I did use approach charts and Jeppesen maps but that was it... I wonder what ever happened to those maps?

Now however... 

The ATR is probably not as complicated as the big jets but I've never played with something that needs so much to be done. I did try just setting up the altitude in the AP and turning it on... and the darn thing refused me lol. Then later it turn itself off, I turn it on and then a second later it pitched nose up and turned it off again.

Part of me is screaming "RUN BACK AND FLY YOUR 182 MANUAL AGAIN!"... 

[jackpilot]

Everything with props, even turboprop,  is more complex than a jet.
Power management of a prop plane requires more than handling a simple set of power levers.

Jets are for Kids, Men fly Constellations, DC3-4-6, ..etc
(not my saying, just a reprint...lol)

[NeoMorph]

Oh god... I was flying a manual IFR approach into Birmingham, UK... Everything was going OK until the sheer amount of traffic kept stepping on my transmission heh (or they beat me to the transmit button at least).

So there I was, flown up from London on manual and was coming in... 15 miles on final and I was above the glide path.. started to reduce height when I must have hit an air pocket or something because all of a sudden I started dropping like a rock and then... AIRCRAFT OVERSTRESSED!

I was actually less than 5 degrees down angle at about 180 knots... god knows why I dropped... I think I might have had a bug hit because my  Saitek MultiPanel suddenly displayed 99990ft Alt even though it was not on autopilot. 

Overstressed... yup, sure was!