Meljet 747 isue

[Papa9571]

I have downloaded the mega pack 747 that has a bunch of liveries and really like their looks.

The aircraft taxis great and takeoff is as expected. Gear up, retract flaps, climb established at 1800 fpm and speed at 250. ATC gives to Ok to turn to course xxx and proceed on your own navigation. Then come the hard part.

The aircraft refuses to turn. Right or left it doesent matter. The aircraft will bank in the direction and maybe shift 2 or 3 degrees but thats about it. It doesnt matter if I use my joystick or the autopilot. The flight director is on and the needles show the climb and turn but the aircraft refuses to budge.

I finally increase speed to 390 kts indicated, place the joystick hard left or right, apply the max amount or rudder, and finally the aircraft will start to turn. The turn rate is extremely slow, on the order of 1 degree every 7-10 seconds.

This is the second Meljet 747 I nave had this problem with and I dont know if it is something I am doing or if the aircraft has a problem.

All of my other aircraft work fine including the default 747.

Any ideas on how to fix this or should I try and contact MelJet?

[Hyperion2]

Having flown most of the MelJet fleet, I've never experienced this.  Sounds like your autopilot is on.  Double check it.

[commoner]

Try this..............

  Add the following lines in the Autopilot section of the aircraft.cfg file for the airplane you are working on to stop the autopilot setting the heading hold to on.....which sounds like your problem.....commoner  

use_no_default_bank=1
use_no_default_pitch=1

[Papa9571]

Thank you for the quick replies.

Runway heading is 072 and I have to turn to 255 to proceed on course. When I get the clearance to proceed on course I turn on the nav, and set the selector to GPS
The aircraft banks but refuses to turn. I have also tried flying at 070, setting the heading bug to 240 and engaging the heading hold with the same results.

Even with the auto pilot off I get the same problem.

Commoner..I did add those two lines to the aircraft.cfg file and it did produce results, however not the results I would have liked.

I still have a problem making the initial turn with the aircraft banked and the heading indicator staying the same. But now when I release the auto pilot to take control, or just try to return to level flight, the aircraft will bank in the opposite direction, the heading indicator will spin wildly, and will try to complete a roll if I dont catch it. Its almost like the ailerons and the rudder are fighting each other in the initial turn.

I have compared the aircraft.cfg file to the default but there are lines missing and they dont quite compare so I am reluctant to change settings I know nothing about.

I have deleted this aircraft form my aircraft folder, downloaded it again, and re-installed it.  I have searched and found two more at the AFA virtual airline site and downloaded and installed then as well.I have also downloaded and installed the Meljet Aloha 747 but get the same results.

Is it time to beat my head against the wall for a while?

[commoner]

...mmm....I'll download the whole pack and give it a whirl...let you know what I find later.............commoner

UPDATE ....got the package and the rudder is virtually useless as you said..............investigating...commoner

[RollerBall]

I guess this is the 'Mega Pack 1'?

I tried it - turning is no problem. It only has max bank of 25 deg which means it will not turn that quickly - also very high MOIs in the cfg file which means that things happen 'slowly'.

I found out again why I'm not a big Meljet Jumbo fan. FDE is very poor IMO - I do not believe that a real Jumbo at take off even with full fuel at t/o power with a positive rate of climb will attempt to porpoise back down again onto the runway. Sorry.

Also, very pretty external model but no VC.

I've deleted the pack again!

[commoner]

...Been trying to get the Meljet 747 400 flying and though these figures might seem a bit unusual I did a few T/O and landings with them... just replace this area of the aircraft.cfg with these numbers and give it a whirl.........please yourself about the other thing, you can click the hdg hold on and off to release the yaw damper.........try it eh...commoner

[flight_tuning]
cruise_lift_scalar     = 1.0
parasite_drag_scalar   = 1.0
induced_drag_scalar    = 1.0
elevator_effectiveness = 2.0
aileron_effectiveness  = 1.0
rudder_effectiveness   = 3000.0
pitch_stability        = 0.5
roll_stability         = 0.5
yaw_stability          = 0.3
elevator_trim_effectiveness = 1.0
aileron_trim_effectiveness  = 1.0
rudder_trim_effectiveness   = 10.0

[RollerBall]

[quote]

[flight_tuning]
cruise_lift_scalar

[commoner]

Why don't you just use the default 747 air file, put all those numbers back to 1 and have done with it. You'll at least get an aircraft that flies pretty well - guarantee it. Why waste your time unless you want to completely redo the FDE . 3000 is hardly 'tuning'

....Far too boring...........Roller no offence.... but I'm just having a bit of fun with a pack which I have already given up on, and maybe learning something at the same time.........my choice  don't you agree  to decide whether I consider it a waste of my time or not?................commoner

[RollerBall]

papa9571, just rename the original air file something like

[original}_bak.air

copy over the default boeing 747-400 air file and rename it the same as the original (saves editing every model in the cfg file) and then just fly.

You'll get a nice 747 package that flies well and has none of the annoying original habits. I've just done it and I'm half way to Prestwick from Heathrow  ;)

Worth it if you like the package as there are some nice repaints in it.

[Papa9571]

I really like the repaints that are in the 747 mega pack.

I tried to place some of the textures into the default 747 file with no success.

Rollerball...i did try copying the default 747 aircraft.cfg file into the Meljet 747 and it produced some interesting results. I had UFO's following the aircraft...a red one on the left side several feet behind the winglet, a green one on the right side of the aircraft, several feet behind the winglet, and a white one several feet behind the rear top of the tail. They would even flash occasionally but not in concert with the aircraft strobes.

Commoner...Many thanks for your efforts in assisting me. I tried replaceing that section of the file but really didnt like the results but you gave me an idea I would like to bounce off of everybody.

Instead of editing the flight tuning portion of the aircraft.cfg file why not replace it with the same section taken from the default file?

If that doesnt work, replace a section at a time, leaving the non flight sections alone,  until the correct combination is achieved and the aircraft is flyable again.

Sound like a plan? My only concern is the default 747 fuel burns are inaccurate and give the aircraft a longer range than the real aircraft can fly. I seem to recall that somebody had a fix for that but I cant seem to locate that.

Hell of a way to learn how to design and program an aircraft......eh?



I keep up with these wordy posts and it will take a long time to reach 500

[commoner]

Papa...the beauy or FS9 for me is that it is NOT just about flying aircraft..........it is all things to all men, so go ahead with your ideas and enjoy yourself..........one thing I tried worked just fine apart from having a spare port main wheel which didn't belong there  ::) The UFOs sound fun too ...........I'll be having more fun today and if I find a good way to use all thoes lurvely textures I'll let you know.............commoner

BTW.....hope you made it to Prestwick Roller...you never know when you start modding aeroplanes.....

[RollerBall]

Hey - I didn't say anything about touching the aircraft.cfg file


The problems you are getting are because the reference points and dimensions are different for the default 747-400 and the Meljet version. Obviously, because they are different models.

If you want to change flight dynamics, you change the AIR file.

In the Meljet folder the air file is called

Boeing747-400-MR-MKIII.air

In the default 747 folder, the air file is called

boeing747-400.air

You want to use the default file with the Meljet so you just copy the file over and rename it, backing up the original in case you want to return to it (you won't).

This is the simplest FDE mod you do when you're learning how to edit FDEs.

Until you learn how, don't start messing with the aircraft.cfg file. You can, but as you've found, you immediately get problems with lights, contact points and a few other things.

[commoner]

...yes Papa, I just tried what Roller suggested (the .air file, NOT the cfg) and it's working just fine for me...made a nice little package of it now and I am used to the default 747 so that's good too ...going to test it out for a while to check nothing funny happens......just one thing that isn't too obvious...when renaming it is III capital Is..not as I first did 111,

[RollerBall]

Aha..excellent. Derek, watch out for the ILS though. I found that as I approached Prestwick it dipped below the GS and if I hadn't switched to manual I'd have 'landed' well short of the threshold. I still had a lot of fuel on board though, so that could have explained it.

Might if been a bit harsh with my earlier criticism of the package as I don't think the POSKY aircraft has a VC either, so even with this little FDE change this becomes a not-bad package.