Thanks for coming on so promptly, Staiduk.
That Melbourne trip was 'something' - I though that i might not live long enough to finish it! Some lovely screenshots made it worthwhile though - like this one of dawn over the Timor Sea:-
You're the boss over GPS - "But oonder PROtest, surr," as our battery sergeant-major used to say on occasion. Wait till you try flying for hours with nothing but that crappy little compass to look at! :) Still, that's what the real guys had to do.
Glad you didn't rule out going over the Alps. They didn't have pressurisation in 1934, but they DID have oxygen bottles! All I have to do now is FIND the b****y Alps!
OK - for the information of other competitors. IMO, the Comet is the most interesting/beautiful default aircraft on FS2004. And marvellous fun to fly, the power-weight ratio is terrific, she's a true racer.
But the 'interest' starts (and often finishes, at first) when you try to take off. In the first place, the DH88 had British engines, which turn in the opposite direction to American ones. So it swings to the right on takeoff - and HOW it swings!
Make sure that the tail-skid is locked - there's an icon for a sub-panel to lock it. You'll need full left rudder, and maybe some differential brake as well, to keep her straight. The other thing is that she doesn't lift her tail herself, like other taildraggers - you have to push the stick FORWARD to get her to do that. Then get her off as soon as you can, or you'll be visiting ATC in the control tower..........
About fuel, unlike most FS aircraft, some fuel management is required. Have a good look at the fuel panel - there is a 'crossfeed' setting, but the default setting is 'OFF'. That means, of course, that the engines are feeding off separate tanks - and de Havilland's undoubted genius extended to making the tanks of different sizes, so that, late in the flight, the one using the smaller tank is liable to stop! So make SURE that the crossfeed lever is pushed in at all times.
The only other snag comes when you save the flight. When you reload it, you'll find that the crossfeed will have been reset to 'OFF' - so you may be missing an engine.
OK, you think, 'Ctrl-E' to restart. Not necessarily so. Saving the flight also means that the game will have reset the mixture to 'full rich' - so if you're at any height, you'll need to lean it off before you can get the engine re-started. Luckily there's another sub-panel that shows you the mixture settings, so if you are forewarned there's no problem.
Finally, you'll find that saving and reloading the game has also opened the cowl flaps. Make sure to close them again.
OK, I've said my piece. Everything else you need to know is in the 'Flight Notes'. See you for a beer in Cairo - I plan to be first there, of course, so it'll my shout........
