When the plane loads, the menu pops up as shown on the image. You can then choose to fly using the fun mode, the trainee mode, or the the pilot mode. If you have no separate Extension installed, the default Extension "Carrier Qualification" automatically loads. If you have extra Extensions installed, a new entry allows you to choose the one you want to play with, today.
To select a mode, simply click onto your choice. When an entry is clickable, it is marked with a " > ", for instance, in the picture above, you can click " > fun" or " > trainee" or " > pilot".
To engage this mode, click onto "FUN : No VFI and no failures".
When you're flying with this mode selected, no dynamic failure is active, only those from Xplane are working. If you don't have active failures in Xplane, you will have no failure AT ALL. Nonetheless, the flight model is unchanged.
To engage this mode, click onto "TRAINEE : VFI and failures are ON"
NB : IF you choose to take a course, DO NOT TOUCH JOYSTICK, MOUSE OR KEYBOARD before the VFI clearly states that you can do it. The VFI controls your views and moves, so interfering would make you miss essential parts of the lesson.
By default, two lessons are provided, the first one teaches you how to do a scramble Cold&Dark start-up, the second teaches you how to fly REAL FAST without blasting the engine. Other lessons for the Carrier Extensions are to come shortly, for free.
In this mode, dynamic failures are active. The list of failures involved is quite long, but in short, it goes from the blast of the shaft if you keep manifold pressure above limits for too long to engine fire if you overheat the cylinder heads. (NB : a free Extension will allow to add numerous failures). Even if the default failures of Xplane are NOT ACTIVE, these dynamic failures will have effects.
How does this work? Quite simple actually. Each mechanical organ of the bird is continuously monitored and either tires or restaures. For instance, the oiling system of the propeller governor : if you overload it, eventually the shaft can blast, the engine can seize, the governor system may block on fine or coarse setting... but if you stop overloading it before it has failed, it will slowly re-oil, thus restaure. So there is no way to know WHEN a particular organ will fail, it all depends on the way you pilot the bird. The only advice is : do not blow the limits.
In Trainee mode, you'll benefit of the wize advices of a Virtual Flight Instructor (VFI), that will tell you what to do, what not to do, how to restaure a compromised situation. Listen to him, read his advices !
In this mode, if you have engaged the carrier-mode radio by pressing the carrier button under radio Nav1, the VFI will automatically switch into carrier approach mode when you come close to the Nimitz.
NB : If you are flying in Trainee or Pilot mode, the Nimitz now generates drag turbulences behind him ! So probably you should do your first attempts with the VFI helping you.
If you start from a cold-&-dark situation, in learning mode, the Virtual Flight Instructor will guide you through the "scramble" start-up and take-off check-lists, so that you can quickly learn how to handle the plane from A to Z.
Please note that these advices will pop-up under a "close monitoring" block. This block is an active area as well, clicking on it will silent your flight instructor but IT WILL NOT DIS-ACTIVATE dynamic failures. Actually, it will switch you to "serious" mode.
Dynamic failures are active, no advice whatsoever is displayed. YOU are flying the bird !
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