G36 Improvement Project

This is the improvement project for the MSFS default G36. It all started as a simple edit of some configuration files but it has since grown into a fully-fledged modification that improves all aspects of the default G36 and introduces new features. This was made possible with the help of the community consisting of both enthusiasts and G36 pilots (for a list of contributors, see the end of this post).



Current version: 0.64

The 0.6 update adds an all-new engine start simulation to the G36, a working electric fuel pump, more activated and functional switches, updated flight dynamics, system improvements and better lighting effects.



Features:

Flight dynamics/performance

  • Adjusted climb and cruise performance to match the Bonanza G36 POH charts.
  • Adjusted flap and gear drag
  • Slightly reduced pitch effect due to elevator deflection + propwash
  • Slightly increased nosewheel steering angle
  • Added drag due to cowl flaps. This causes a 3-4 kts cruise speed loss.
  • Decreased yaw sensitivity by lowering deflection rate as a function of speed
  • Increased overall stability: less ‘twitchy’ feeling

Engine & Fuel system

  • Completely overhauled engine parameters: realistic fuel flow, mixture-EGT interaction, engine performance at all pressure altitudes.
  • Simulation of the electric fuel pump
  • More advanced simulation of engine startup:
    • Cold starts: correct use of the fuel pump, throttle and mixture required depending on engine and ambient temperature
    • Under some conditions, idling the engine too soon after start may cause it to quit.
    • Flooded engine: pumping too much fuel to the engine may cause it to ignite slower or not at all.
    • Flooded engine start procedure (mixture low/cut, throttle halfway) may resolve this.
    • A hot engine running idle with little airflow may quit because the fuel evaporates. (Hotstarts WIP)

Systems

  • Added new working systems and switches:
    • Airco (has a negative effect on engine performance, you will see a few kts lower cruise speed)
    • Airco and ventilator switches are functioning and part of the electrical system
    • Annunciator test
  • Electrical system overhaul:
    • Completely revised electrical buses: all individual systems hooked up to the correct bus
    • Bus tie logic added
    • Correct voltage indications of BUS2 due to reverse current blocking diodes
    • Correct alternator loads
    • Made all indications smooth, rather than instant jumps to a new value
  • Autopilot tweaks
    • Fixed holding the wrong altitude at non-standard atmospheric pressures
    • Max pitch and bank angles adjusted for smoother AP behaviour
    • Added maximum and minimum IAS_ref speeds for FLC mode
    • Adjusted autopilot PIDs
  • Integration with the Working Title G1000 mod, with customized ENGINE, LEAN and SYSTEM pages.
  • Completely redone G1000 annunciators: all annunciators of the real G36 were implemented (except for door open warnings)
  • Corrected fuel gauge scale

Textures & effects

Checklists

  • Interactive checklists for every stage of your flight that follow the POH


Installation:

1: Download and install the latest version of the Working Title G1000 mod

2: Download and unzip the folder ‘z-bonanza-g36-improvement-project’ in your MSFS Community folder

Important note: make sure that the mod is loaded AFTER the G1000 mod. Mods are loaded in alphabetical order. The release versions therefore have ‘z-’ at the beginning of the folder name to automatically ensure a correct loading order. For contributors: if you have installed the mod from your fork or local clone you have to manually ensure the loading order is correct.

This is what it should look like:

image



FAQ’s:

Q: Does this mod support the G1000 NXi available through Marketplace instead of the legacy 0.4.0 version?

A: This mod supports both variants, the G1000 legacy 0.4.0 mod and the G1000 NXi addon. Note that the NXi addon is under regular development and your experience may vary. Also be aware that the NXi addon is missing engine page support, which will be implemented later.

Q: I am not seeing the engine pages in the G1000?

A: Make sure to download the Working Title G1000 mod (download link on main page in the description). Also ensure a good load order as explained under installation instructions

Q: The manifold pressure shows ‘NaN’?

A: Make sure to download the Working Title G1000 mod (download link on main page in the description). Also ensure a good load order as explained under installation instructions

Q: The mod isn’t working?*

A: First make sure the load order is correct as per installation instructions. If the problem persists, it is usually due to a conflict with another mod in the community folder. The best thing is to remove all other mods and slowly add them to see what causes the conflict. Aircraft, gauge and lighting mods are the prime suspects.

Q: The engine won’t start?

A: Since v0.6, the engine start is modelled. Fuel must be pumped to the engines, cold engines need to warm up and overuse of the fuel pump and throttle prior to engine start may cause it to flood. If you correctly follow the start procedures, the engine should almost always start on the first try, unless under extreme conditions. If your engine is flooded, setting the mixture low (~20%) and the throttle about halfway to clear the excess amount of fuel efficiently. Note in reality the mixture is cut for this procedure, but the sim is hardcoded not to start with the mixture at 0%

Q: My engine quits after landing?

A: Fuel may evaporate in a hot engine at low speeds and idle throttle. This could occur on a very hot day when coming to a stop after landing. Use of the cowl flaps on approach and landing is advised under these conditions.

Q: My engine quits right away when starting on the runway?

A: This mod is designed for cold and dark starts. The sim initializes the CHT as equal to the ambient temperature. Furthermore, the amount of fuel pumped to the engine initializes as 0. Hence, the engine start/run conditions are not met and the engine will shut down. Follow the start-up procedure to restart the engine.

Q: The annunciator test button is stuck?

A: This happens when you left click outside the clickbox and then hover your mouse over the button and release. Do the same thing to resolve the problem.

Q: The AC Blower switch doesn’t work?

A: Unfortunately there is something wrong with the animation. We have to wait for Asobo to fix this, but since this button was (inop.) by default don’t hold your breath. If you click it, it does actually work. You can see it increases the electrical BUS1 load slightly.



Our contributors (by their MSFS Forum name)
FrettFS, CaptMatto, Coppersens, Uwajimaya, dciskey, Matchrocket, JuiceBox7535, jonasbeaver, Exp232, nickc95, GuiFarias31 and MrTommymxr (please contact me if you are not in this list while you should be!)

Special thanks to kaosfere4829 from the Working Title team for the cooperation on integrating the G1000 mod!



There is a development build that includes the latest changes that we push to the git repository. Note that this build may have issues. If you want to join in on testing or development, please conduct your tests/make pull requests using this version.

123 Likes

I will give this a try, thank you!

Done some further tweaking and turned it into a proper mod that you can put in the community folder, see first post.

1 Like

Hi FrettFS,

thank you very much, the G36 flies much better now!

However, I have the following issue:

  • Below ~800rpm, I get the Low Voltage alert
  • Engine shuts down eventually when keeping it in idle for a few minutes

Defo giving this a try later. I was really disappointed at the current bonanza G36 performance. Thanks for making this. Hopefully Asobo will later on figure it out

We’ll have a few patches to wait for first me thinks, however.

Cheers. Fly safe :slight_smile:

Do you just place the file into the community folder?

1 Like

I believe the POH states that the engine must be kept above 1000 RPM.

2 Likes

I placed the file in the folder and I noticed no difference. I’m pretty sure I did something wrong.

  • I’m not sure if the low voltage warning is realistic. The alternator is not producing enough voltage which leads to the warning. Could be under 22

  • The IO550-B is designed to idle around 600 RPM so I will look into that

1 Like

Silly question but did you unzip it? For me it works from the community folder


1 Like

I released a new version, see first post.

Changed the name of the topic to better reflect what the mod does. In addition to the previous version I added the following changes:

  • Adjusted idle RPM to ~600, which is the idle RPM the IO550-B is designed for.
  • Fixed AP altitude hold bug at non-standard pressures
1 Like

Yea. So just unzip the contents into the community folder? It doesn’t create a new airplane right?

Also just as some real world input. I’ve got about 700 hours. Generally speaking an aircraft engine will idle at about 600 to 700 but you can’t run an engine at idle. You have to move the throttle up to 1000 to keep the low volts from coming on.

6 Likes

A question: when extracting, should you extract the included folder (bonanza-g36-performance-fixes) into the Community folder or should you extract the files IN the folder to the community folder? In other words: should you end up with a folder called “bonanza-g36-performance-fixes” in the community folder or just all the individual files plus the SimObjects folder?

TIA

1 Like

This plane always felt like it was impossible to stop. Brakes were not strong enough. I made the following adjustment from 0.5, now the plane stops MUCH better.

Feedback from AUOSILVER is welcome as I am not a Bonza Pilot, but I would like if I stood on the brakes it shouldn’t take the whole runway to stop.

toe_brakes_scale = 0.75 ; Brake scalar

Just unzip to the community folder. Then you’d have the folder “bonanza-g36-performance-fixes” in the community folder alongside your other addons.

I haven’t noticed this myself. With full toe brakes it will stop very fast. Sure it’s not a controller problem on your side?

Thanks kindly!

Thanks for the input! I guess this makes sense, as the alternators need to spin at a min rev to produce the correct voltage. However, I guess the engine should not shut down, I guess?

Any idea if adding fuel mixture control is possible? Right now the mixture lever is binary, either it’s cut off or it’s full rich