AIRSPEED ENVOY - beta test.

[Molyned]

Now the Turkey has been digested and the port wine emptied, it's back to business ...
I've now posted the FS9 Airspeed Envoy here ready for a beta test. So, if you've got a few minutes spare. perhaps you'd care to take the old bus for a spin around the block and report back here stating whether you used FS9, FSX et.c.). The aircraft should be OK in FS9 and FSX (mainly) but not I think P3D version 4 (?).


A couple of bits of information for those who don't read the 'Readme' until afterwards -
Max. speed - 173 m.p.h. 150kts. Cruise - 152 m.p.h. 132 kts, Stall (no flaps) 72 m.p.h. 63 knts, full flaps - 63 m.p.h. 55 kts.
and -The external air stairs appearance is toggled by the Master Battery Switch.

Get the beta fileset here - https://www.dropbox.com/s/g9oskabwrr1ql ... y.zip?dl=0
Cheers & ATB
Dave M(oly)

[Airspeed]

Hi Dave!
Thanks for this!
Flew out of Denham and took a local tour in FSXSE.
All looks good, and she performs about how I'd imagined.
I was a little puzzled by the rudder animation; on the ground, it appears to move fully L&R, but in flight, it seemed to be so limited that I first thought it may not be animated.
You have done far better than I did with my Oxford; any chance of you modifying it to become an Oxford?
I've not tested every bell and whistle yet, but hope to take another flight tomorrow.

[Molyned]

Thanks for the preliminary report Mike. Er, ever noticed how life is full of little mysteries ? like weird rudder movement in both FSX & FS9 ?.
Haven't solved that one yet - this Envoy rudder uses the same animation code as the Courier which behaves as it should, so why not the Envoy ? I shall investigate further.
The next build will be a MK3 Envoy I think, with more powerful Cheetah engines and blister cowlings. Ater that ... the Oxford will be investigated to see what others have produced so far. No point on trying to improve on perfection.
Cheers
Dave M(oly)

[Airspeed]

Couldn't wait!
All of the pop ups worked as described, though they appeared a little squished down on my display. This was only evident for the round items. It could be my resolution selection (1920 x 1080) causing it.
I left the glass as was, haven't tried changing to FSX glass, no observable negative issues.
Nitpicks:
Your tailwheel steers with the rudder. According to another on line site, the tailwheel was fixed. I would need to check some of my books to see whether the many variants (6A, 6J etc) differed in this regard.
The FS 2004 Phoenix start smoke does not display well in my FSXSE setup. It resembles a burning tyre ignited just behind the undercarriage; it issues a plume of thick black smoke, which rises vertically through the wing - most undignified. I will need to introduce a different effect in my .cfg
Opening the side windows did not seem to increase wind or engine noise.
As I've previously said, I find the Airspeed Oxford and close relatives very pleasing to the eye; this will be an often used aircraft for me, many thanks, Dave!

[Dev One]

I've downloaded her but have a few RW jobs to do before I can get to see her.
I too like the lines of the Airspeed aircraft, I have actually flown in a Consul with my father....way, way back though so not much left in my memory!.
Will report ASAP.
Keith

[JohnWillimas]

Behaves quite nicely but I seem to have a sort of ghosting effect where the cabin can be seen through the fuselage texture. Is this a DX10 thing, maybe???

[Molyned]

A quick reply to John -
Thanks for testing John - yes, the slightly transparency of the VC cockpit etc is indeed a result of DX10 I think. It can also happen with DXT3 in FSX at night because FSX treats night textures differently I believe.
This is unavoidable when using aircraft compiled for FS9 in later versions of the sim .
Cheer s
Dave M(oly)

[JohnWillimas]

Yepp that's it. Problem goes away in daytime. only an issue at dusk / night. Thanks.

[Dev One]

Now I'm having problems - in FS9 with 20 fps set, she's got my Parkinson's......in pitch when on ground & laterally in the air. Increasing them by 1.35 improves but not completely, but may be because of other problems.
Empty & loaded C of G is in front of wing by 6%. I have added weight to Pax 5 & 6, & moved Empty wt C of G to -3.0, this gives about 22 to 24% position for C of G either loaded or pilot only, but this upsets everything else & is very twitchy to trim.
Flaps are now too much pitch up & cannot control it, nor enough trim.
AFSD spots a couple of config errors: Fuel Left needs a comma after 3.0 & Piston Engine entry for Cyl displacement need another rem (/) before both 'cu ins' & 'Lynx'.
So I'm working on it.
Mikes comment about rudder movement - on ground zero speed OK it does move possibly about half what it should be, but when flyiing hardly any movement. 2 reasons come to mind; 1 when animating in Gmax did you move the rudder through +/- 90°? Then in the airfile there is item 519 rudder deflection vs Q (airspeed), this item reduces the control effectiveness but also the visual deflection with speed. I nowadays animate my controls (including flaps) to +/- 90° then the aerodynamic deflection quoted in the config uses those values for the aerodynamics as well as also the visual deflection.
Mikes other comment re: tailwheel - it is technically fixed because it doesn't retract, but I would have thought it was castoring not connected to rudder as in the model.
Smoke problem can be resolved, bounce & temperature values mainly in the fx file.

No problems seen with the model, she looks very good as is usual with Dave's work. Very nice bare metal.

Is the pole that is sticking downwards from fuselage the trailing aerial I wonder? If so needs an 1154(?) fitting!
Keith

[blanston12]

Any chance of recompiling it as FSX native, I have gone completely over to P3d v4 and fs9 models won’t work there