Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress V1.3 for X-Plane V10.25
Flight manual
F.A.Q
Q: What version of X-Plane do I need to have to fly the B17-G ?
A: It's intended to be used ONLY on V10.20 and up.
Q: How do I install the plane?
A: Simply unzip the downloaded file inside your "aircraft" folder, which is located at the root of your X-Plane installation folder.
Q: Will she work on my low-end computer, I mean, will there be a heavy FPS impact ?
A: Obviously, we can't claim it will run fine on ANY computer as we did about the Ercoupe. Nevertheless, the same conceptualization has been used, so the plane is FPS-friendly. The actual FPS impact will mostly be related to your CPU power - not GPU! - as the main load comes from the very numerous manipulators (several hundred on the main panel). The number of polygons is quite low considering the size and complexity of the cockpit!, around 50000 and 4 main textures, so the load on your graphic card (GPU) should be reasonable.
Q: Will I be able to fly her?
A: Probably, yes. If you're not used to either multi-engined aircraft or tricycle-geared aircraft, you'll probably crash her and kill yourself a couple of times on your first few attempts - but guess what? Hit the replay button and you'll come back to life!
Q: I've read she only works from “Cold & Dark”. Is there a way get around this?
A: From V1.1 is intended to be flown with engines running on start.
Q: Do I need some special settings applied to my Joystick?
A: Yes. You'll find very it very usefull to set a special button for the tail wheel, as it may be quite complicated (and dangerous!) to try and lock/unlock the wheel while taxiing.
Q: Is there any useful general setting I should be aware of ?
A : Yes. Make your mouse as sensitive as your OS and hardware allows, because the switches, handles and buttons are so numerous. Ensure your field of view is set between 70° and 90°. Finally, make sure there are no shortcuts assigned to the arrow keys as you will need them to move around in the cockpit.
Q: Do I need to print the manual ?
A: No, you don't NEED to. But it WILL be useful, at least, to print the check-lists !
Q: How do I access the copilot's commands?
A: Simply click on the driving wheel to switch places.
Q: Can I customize the map?
A: No, changing the carte.png in the Objects folder will not change the Navigator's “brain”, so he couldn't move the scale model on the map as he should. To date, the map works properly only if the plane flies somewhere between Ireland and Moscow - that is, on the area the map displays.
Q: How do I switch on stations other than the pilot’s/copilot’s position? For instance, the bombardier’s position?
A: with shift-0.
Q: How do I use the bun turrets, machine-guns and so on?
A: You can't. They are not operational.
Q: What is the default payload?
A: The aircraft is loaded with eight 750-pound bombs.
Q: How do I drop bombs?
A: You have to set up 2 shortcuts: 1) first shortcut selects weapons, and 2) the second should be a means to release these weapons (space bar is the default means). Do not forget to open the bomb bay doors first (by pressing the "bomb bay door light" in front of the pilot on the instrument panel), or the rest of your flight will be remarkably brief.
Q: What if I do not need bombs for my flight?
A: Simply unload them in the Aircraft menu under Weight and Fuel.
Q: What if I do not drop the bombs?
A: Bombs are worth a good 6000 pounds of payload. This payload will:
- slow you down;
- decrease your vertical rate of climb;
- decrease the total duration of your flight (i.e., your total range).
The B17G, when empty, weighs roughly 45000 pounds, and to that you must add 12000 pounds for fuel and, with weapons added, another 6000 pounds. The aircraft simply won't take-off with over 65000 pounds on board - so you only have a 2000 pound margin left to work with, and this is certainly not much compared to the 65000 pounds the plane actually weights at this point (think ten crewmen at an average weight of 180 pounds). You should, in other words, dump your bombs in the ocean.
Q: With fuel tanks completely filled, X-Plane indicates that the B17 has an total flight duration of nine (9) hours, whereas the manual says it should have ten (10) hours. What gives?
Caution : Innacurate datas to be fix>
A: X-Plane calculates the airborne duration of the aircraft by considering the MAXIMUM fuel consumption at the MAXIMUM altitude the aircraft can reach. This is as you can imagine not quite accurate for real world or in-SIM flight, as you are not supposed to fly the aircraft with full throttle all the time. The B17-G has actually a little more than the 10 hours the manual speaks of, as the actual range of the aircraft in practice will greatly vary according to how careful you are with the engine management. If you maintain full throttle, and full torque, from take-off to landing, and at low altitude (say, under 10000ft), you may find your B17G sucking fumes in as few as two-and-a-half to three hours. If you are VERY careful with the power management, you may keep the aircraft airborne for up to 13 hours. Just keep in mind that water in the English Channel is very rough,and quite cold. The choice is yours, however.
www.khamsin.org - 2014