I too had the left engine quit after turning off it’s boost pump in cruise. I was actually able to feather and flew for a little while single engine before trying to restart. The restart from feather kind of works… I turned the pump back on, reset the feathering switch and about a minute later the engine fired back up. According to the USAAF manual you should be able to use the increase/ decrease switches for the Curtiss electric props that are modeled here. Unfortunately those switches are inop and you can’t follow the exact procedure. But it did technically work.
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Is this aircraft $15 in marketplace with the discount applied (prem deluxe) - or less than $15 with it applied?
$15 original price.
$10 with premium/deluxe discount.
Perhaps this is answered elsewhere…
If the issue is people are reading the tooltips and they appear backwards, that has to do with inconsistent implementations by different developers.
Some developers show where the switch IS with the tooltips, others show what it WILL BE when used.
The only real way to tell if things are actually inverted is to see what the markings on the panel say about the switch position (or read the real manual for the plane).
Unfortunately, unlike Apple which prescribes everything, Microsoft, well, they leave a lot up to the developer to decide how to do things…
Then again, I’m an Apple hater, so, I live with what is…
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Several sets of manuals for the C-46 are available here…
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“The Sperry Gyropilot doesn’t work properely either …”
I’ve noticed a number of posts about the Sperry Gyropilot not working but I flew for several hours today using it in the C-46 with little issue. The technique I use suggests there is an step missing in the manual. I can’t say if it’s just a missing step in the book or an actual bug in the code but this method works for me:
- get the plane on the initial course & at the altitude desired
- final power adjustments if needed
- trim for level pitch & level the wings
- press the On/Off control switch (#10 in the manual) in the VC (not on your game controller / yoke / etc)
- wings should stay level and altitude should hold with perhaps a slight up/down pitch
- if you need to change the pitch use the “ELE” button on the Sperry in the VC ~ just adding +/- 1 or 2 is often enough for the final trim out (a little more if you purposely want to climb or descend)
- to change course (next way point, etc), turn the “RUD” knob on the Sperry unit in the VC to the desired heading
- YOU’LL PROBABLY SEE the plane doesn’t turn and this is the step I do that’s not in the manual → use the “AIL” knob on the Sperry in the VC to set a right or left bank angle depending on which way the course change is supposed to go → this will initiate the turn (the turn will stop once the new heading is reached OR if you set the “AIL” knob back to zero
- if you turn the “AIL” knob the wrong way - set a left bank instead of a right for example, YOU MAY ALSO see, the plane go around in a big circle to meet the new heading
Caveats:
- I use this technique in the C-47/DC-3 as well (same unit) with similar success
- I have found that using controller buttons or click “buttons” within other software programs for auto-pilot functions (I use SkyElite as well for example) creates mixed results so I always try to use the virtual buttons / knobs for the Sperry
- ONCE, and only once, today when initiating a heading change to the left / port did the plane start turning right away before I made the “AIL” setting; I don’t know why as it didn’t repeat during later course changes and hasn’t been doing that in the DC-3
Anyway, I hope this helps some. It’s been working well for me, once I figured out using the “AIL” setting after setting course, across the various AH planes with the Sperry Gyropilot. A very old fashioned way of doing things which is fun.
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Here’s some initial feedback for MS/AH after the first couple of days flying the C-46:
- lot’s to like and enjoying the plane; fun to fly, great visuals and some nice touches like the cabin door opening, the pilot on the ladder when the plane is “secure”, etc, but it deserves some updates.
A few things I believe are bugs:
- created bug reports for a texture issue on the right side of the fuselage & the lack of auto-hiding the yokes when using the Pilot / Copilot panel views (the code seems to be in the cameras.cfg file but just isn’t working)
- others have created bug reports for VOR needles pointing the wrong way on the RMI gauges when no NAV station is being received
- wind sound inside the cockpit is very loud especially at higher speed despite the windows being closed
- no change in sound, wind or engine, when the windows are open vs closed
Features which are missing (but not bugs per se because they’re not listed in the manual); however, they’re important for immersion as well as a for the sake of such a classic plane in the sim:
- missing slip indicator (turn and bank indicator); I believe the normal spot for that gauge has been taken up by the NAV radio
- missing gear indicator lights; it looks like the spots for them are there next to the fire extinguisher handles so it’s odd they were left out
- there are number of missing sounds, which I think would be fair to say should be part of any plane’s sound set: such as, no sound when the gear is extended / retracted or when the flaps are extended / retracted
- no Instrument View for the overhead panel (which has a number of key switches)
I’ve seen other posts about fuel system issues but haven’t looked at that much beyond using the tank selectors on the pilot’s side so I can’t comment on that.
Hopefully the Commando will get an update as has happened for a few of the other Famous Flyers / Local Legends.
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I remember seeing a floating piece of geometry the size of a bolt or so near the rear landing gear.
Will check when at home again.
Thankyou very much
That’s how I use the gyropilot. But it seems to be as inconsistent as the crossfeed system. Sometimes it works like it should and at other times it drifts all over the place (in similar wind conditions).
Also, sometimes the first activation of the gyropilot results in a sudden nosedive, even when I set the pitch angle beforehand, sometimes it doesn’t. This bird is a lottery every time.
At least on the ground that’s not true.When I open the windows on the ground the engines can be heard much clearer. Not just louder, but with more sound detail. When I close them it gets more muffled.
Just a heads up: This bug report was closed as “Closed as by design/intentional from the developer.”
Do I understand correctly that the developer is telling us that a piece of solid steel turns semi-transparent when rotating? 
I take it as a bad joke…
…but what I find difficult to accept is that MS as the contracting authority is satisfied with such explanation (which apparently is a nonsense) and does not require a higher standard. 
Because… what’s next? A 3D model with only one main wheel with the developer claiming it is by design/intentional?
Please tell me if I am too negative 
but I am really loosing hope for the other bugs reported for this bird.
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That’s sad and hilarious in equal parts. 
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Interesting… I do not hear any difference either on the ground or in the air when opening or closing the windows in the C-46 cockpit. Could be old ears I suppose but others have reported a similar experience. I’m on a PC; just wondering if you might be on Xbox and that could be the difference?
I’m on PC as well. Here is a little clip demonstrating the difference:
None of the prop hubs I’ve seen in the real world turn semi transparent. How can something like that be labeled a “feature”? That’s sad. But you can’t help but laugh cause what else can we do at this point.
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Vote with your dollars and quit buying aircraft developed by AH?
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I suppose we could all do that. The sad part is they keep getting contracted to make planes that people like, myself included. The DC-3 is my favorite plane of all time and I only fly it with the Duckworks mod because it needs it. The 307 is a disaster without your mod and that is another very iconic plane. The C-46 is no different. I personally have been wanting one for a long time and I am happy we have one in the sim now. I just wish it didn’t feel half done.
I guess my point is, yes we could stop giving AH money but at the expense of missing out on iconic aircraft that are unlikely to be developed by someone else. If we’re all willing to do that then maybe we’d see some improvement.
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The problem is we are not enough. We serious simmers are a minority.
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Yeah…
Fortunately, Microsoft pretty intently reads the forum, so hopefully somebody will have the piece of mind to reactivate the bug and get it fixed.
My bet is, either somebody misunderstood the post and thought it was regarding the blades, or, the propeller blades are included with the prop hub in the model of the propeller, and AH didn’t follow the usual practice of having multiple propeller models in the model; the propeller with the hub (for static and starting modes), a prop blades only model (for running, to be transparent), and a prop hub only model (for when running), and all are switched on and off at different times depending on the speed of the propeller, and the person responsible for yay/naying the post saw the hub was included in the propeller, so just said, “well, it’s designed that way”, rather than realizing there are ways of fixing it. Or maybe, in typical AH fashion, the logic is wrong in how the models are switched on and off and the bug reviewer is just clueless…
sigh.
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Man I feel this right here. It’s exasperating.
The prop animations at start are a wild mess too. It motors over and then stops, slowly starts again and magically starts. With zero sound too 
I could definitely see it being backwards logic for the prop hubs if this is the type of “logic” they’re programming.
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