Jets

[Matthew Avery]

i have downloaded some jets from various sites, but it seems there is a common factor. on jets like the 777 and A330, when i get to 20,000ft and over, i lose speed. eventually, it gets harder and harder for me to keep going and i have to switch planes. is there any download to fix this?

thanks

[ozzy72]

Matthew, it is probably not a problem with the aircraft. Flying jets at high altitude is quite tricky, and you need to consider all the factors, especially thrust versus angle of attack. If you are trying to fly a 747 like an F15 you're bound to come to grief.
Try flying more gently the higher you get (just like real pilots). Don't try and get to FL500 in 3 minutes.
If you let us know exactly which 777 and A330 you have I'm sure someone here can tell you exactly how to fly them so they are smoother than a cashmere codpiece.

Ozzy

[Paz]

This sounds very similar to the problem I was having in my post 'high altitude flight', if you read that post you will see that I was having a very hard time achieving and  flying a learjet at high altitudes.
After considering everyones ideas as to what the problem might have been, I still don't know, because I have performed many high altitude flights without a problem. I don't use realistic weather at this point so I don't think that would be a factor.
I have had this problem in aircraft other than the learjet also, but it has not been consistant.

[BHOFMX]

Matthew:

I was having the same problem
Iwent to the local airport and talked
to a pilot, he took me out to a Lear 45
an we did a dry flight.
1 take off
2climb to alt,  15000 or so
3 trim plane to level flight
4 turn on AP
5 set to desired alt and heading
6 fly with the AP
7 on decent use AP down to 10,000
8 remember, below 30,000 speed 325
 or less
try this, it easy, just get your AP set first

BHOFMX  

[Smoke2much]

When you say dry flight did you stay on the ground?

Will

[BHOFMX]

 :'(
Yes
Never heard the baby run
I'm about 2 miles from the
airport that is the home of
Walmart aviation. I set on my deck
every morning and watch 15 to 30
big beautifull bird go over my house at
1000 ft or less

Bhofmx

[MattNW]

Dry flight means you don't pilfer a couple of those little bottles that airlines carry for a mid flight cocktail.  ;D

[Smoke2much]

[quote]

[BHOFMX]

He was more than happy to

They also have FS2002pro on
a terminal in the lounge

Bhofmx

[Smoke2much]

Do they pilots play fs2002?   I would have thought that would be the same as me playing the critically acclaimed Microsoft NHS simulator.  The strange thing is that no matter how much they attempt to modernise it it never quite runs properly....

Will

[BHOFMX]

They play and are impressed by
the way the planes fly!
after all ,,it is a game,,
They get to do stupid stuff they
can't do in the big birds, ai,, buzz
the tower and made bad jestures
at the controler

Bhofmx

[darkhorse]

[quote]

[BHOFMX]

Matthew

Walmart avaition is based in
Rogers Ark, about 10 miles east
of the General offices.

ID# KROG

They are the charter service owned
by Walmart. they have Lears and
Ciations,
They are not marked but for a small
name on the tail.

Bhofmx

[Whiskey_Zulu]

i have downloaded some jets from various sites, but it seems there is a common factor. on jets like the 777 and A330, when i get to 20,000ft and over, i lose speed. eventually, it gets harder and harder for me to keep going and i have to switch planes. is there any download to fix this?

thanks

There are several possible problems/solutions here;

1. add-on is an underpowered piece of crap

2. You accidentally dropped the speed brakes or your 727 is using a two-engine panel and you turned one of your engines off and didn't realize it (happened to me)

3. You are getting behind the power curve (happens in stock 777 and all stock jets, and pretty much every realistic commercial jet).

About getting behind the power curve...  Hi-performance jets are very different from general aviation piston-driven aircraft.  Flying the lear for the first time I was like, "WTF am I doing wrong??!?!"

It's called "getting behind the power curve."

It's technical but imagine a graph with speed on horizontal axis and horsepower/thrust on vertical axis.  Now imagine a big "U" shaped curve on the graph.  At a moderate airspeed (say 150 knots) you can fly using only a little power--the bottom of the "U".  Going faster (say 300 knots) requires more power--so the right side of the "U" moves upwards to the right.  However, you can also fly at, say, 100 knots--but it requires full power, and your nose is pointed very high.  This the top-left end of the "U".  Think of an airplane trying to hover--that requires a lot of thrust.  This is the "back side of the power curve."  The problem is once you get here you get "stuck"--power is at max and airplane is stuck at a high pitch attitude, can't climb, and can't accelerate.  The only way out (for airplanes of normal power/thrust) is to drop the nose, descend, and pick up speed.  (An F-15, however, has so much extra thrust it can just power it's way out of the back side of the power curve.  The Lear, B747 etc., cannot.)

The tricky part with jets is it's easy to get stuck on the back end without realizing it.  After rotation you have so much thrust you can just pitch up 20 degrees and watch the VSI peg the needle.  Then you hit like 25,000 feet and can't go faster then Mach .5 and can't climb.
 
The solution is to fly as close to Vne as possible and still climb (this is especially true for the Concorde add-ons I've tried).  That insures you won't get behind the powe curve.  Conservatively--this will work for any jet that isn't underpowered--climb at 85-90% thrust at 320 knots (to Mach .68) getting 2000-3000 fpm climb, and level off at 35,000 feet or so.

I like to do near red-line climbs.  Using the autopilot, set Speed = 260 (because IAS always lags about 10 knots), and adjust VSpeed to keep the autothrottle at 90%N1.  At 10,000 feet, set Speed = 280 (smaller jets) to 320 (bigger jets), drop VSpeed to 1500 or 2000 until IAS = what you setin the autopilot, then increase VSpeed to keep N1 at 85-90%.