OK, I’ve beaten my head against the wall A LOT over this plane and for nothing. I come to the same conclusions I had before. This plane is utterly broken fundamentally and is incapable of flying even casually. Its fuel system is so badly broken it defies even the explanation I try to give here The flight model is broken because it varies hugely with what you get cold-and-dark vs. starting running on the runway, and the avionics are broken because the panel ALWAYS has modern and gyro instruments simultaneously so they compete with each other and the result is trash for both.
And if you SOMEHOW, despite the utterly broken fuel system, get the thing started from cold and dark, you’re immediately hit with this huge and uncorrectable roll to the left.
OTOH, if you start running on the runway, you don’t have this problem. Why?
Seriously, this plane is a huge disappointment even given that it’s a $15 “Local Legend” or “Famous Flyer”, whatever. I don’t expect much from such things above basic functionality and this plane doesn’t have that by a longshot. Yes, it looks quite nice. Yes, the engines sound pretty good, but everything else is trash. This extends even to the liveries. There were only 10 of these planes ever built and they served only 2 US airlines But NEITHER of those historical airline liveries is included. We get 1 single real livery, for a former T&WA example later sold south of the border. All the other liveries are fantasies. They don’t even include the original Pan Am livery of the sole surviving example.
Anyway, back to the fuel system. I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out but in the end definitive answers eluded me.
For starters, the names of the tanks on the W&B screen don’t agree with the tank names on the selector valves which, TBH, were assigned by somebody with no knowledge of the actual system nor a firm command of English, and thus they make no sense. Nor do they agree with what little evidence is available (see video above) as to how the fuel system actually worked.
Seriously? “Inboard Extra” and “Outboard Extra”? And even “Main”? I’m frankly disgusted by this. Especially because despite trying all combination of valve settings, I never could keep all engines running reliably when starting cold and dark.
So the best I can say about this plane at present is that if you want a REASONABLY successful flight, start it on the runway with 100% fuel and only fly 1/2 the max range or less because otherwise the broken fuel system interferes… Anything else is going to have dead engines for no reason. And even with this, just use the Garmins as they’re always there even if not visible and their presence borks the gyropilot.
As I’m in a bad mood after all this, I’m also going to point out the IDIOTIC position of the GPU cart.
You see the 2 obvious problems here, right? If not, I, as a professional rampie, will elucidate. First off, the GPU is in front of the plane which means it has to be moved AFTER engine start or the plane itself can’t move. The GPU should ALWAYS, if possible, be positioned aft of the wing and outside the tailplane. That way, the plane can move forward until the tail is past the GPU, then it can turn. But the 307’s GPU is in front of the wing and it’s attatchment to the tug is UNDER THE PROP of #3 engine, so there’s no way to move it out of the way of the plane due to #3 prop spinning by that time. The stupid rampie who put the GPU here would be immediately fired by his FBO for gross incompetence.
Geez, what a bad product the 307 is. Sure, it looks and sounds good, but it’s fatally flawed in basically all other aspects.