Please use this thread to provide general feedback and impressions about this aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. For all bug reports, please create a new topic (or upvote an existing topic) in the Aircraft & Systems section of the forums. Please use the full bug report template when creating a new bug report.
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being best), how do you rate the Flight Model and Aircraft Systems?
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On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being best), how do you rate the Interior and Exterior Graphics?
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On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being best), how do you rate the Audio and Aircraft Sounds?
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On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being best), how do you rate your Overall Enjoyment of this aircraft?
First of all, first! And secondly what a joy. The water effects are amazing. And the ability to start from anywhere on the water shut down is a plus. Two things only at this first viewing: The eight engines four controls is still present. I will continue to beat this drum officially and unofficially. Clicking throttles is fine but how about just the engineers throttles and give us the correct four the pilot has. Secondly the starter sound plays no matter what when you switch views. But those are both minor things. Wonderful aircraft.
More testing with some interesting results. Empty the aircraft acts as expected. But if you put any sort of load into the plane it all goes out the window. At around 50% capacity ~50klbs of cargo the speed will not go above about 40 knots indicated and as such we refuse to fly. I did learn you can ruin the engines attempting as the manifold pressure bounces pass the end of the dial. Disappointing but perhaps more testing is needed. Admittedly anything beyond the first flight is theoretical but a lot of work went into the hydro and aerodynamic modeling of the Hercules.
From Howard Hughes and his Flying Boat "The hull design was only part of the work done at Langley. The wing section was recommended by NACA’s Eastman N. Jacobs and use was made of Langley’s low-turbulence wind tunnel. Carl Babberger believes that the result was “one of the finest low-drag, high-lift sections that was ever put together.” Parkison says that even unpublished ideas were applied to the nacelles so that they and their associated internal cooling systems represented the latest and the best in low-drag design. “All superior,” said Parkinson. “We had high hopes of using it after the war as a research airplane simply because it did have such outstanding aerodynamic and hydrodynamic features. It had probably the largest Reynolds number I’ve ever heard off. We could have gotten a lot of aerodynamic data off of it. It had a finish just like a piano-probably the smoothest airplane that was ever built. That was one dividend from the Duramold plywood.”
