TF-104 sim skunk works

Does anyone else have this issue:

When I hit the afterburner, within a second the fuel flow and RPM drops.

I haven’t even reached mach-1 so far.

Cheers.

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Do you have the button to activate AB for the f/a-18 mapped to a throttle axis?

No I just use the throttle axis on my throttle quadrant, when I push it through the gate, the afterburner starts, but cuts out with RPM loss and fuel flow drop after a second or so.

I will try this again tonight without joysticks to see if that’s the problem.

I’ve done some more testing, its not the hardware.

Whenever I fly above 10000ft, with the afterburner ON, the fuel flow drops to 600, RPM to 67%.
The afterburner flame remains visible but there is no engine thrust.

Then when I descent below 10000ft, the engine restores itself.

At thrust settings below the gate (no afterburner) the engine behaves normally, effectively I cannot use the burner above 10000ft.

Any suggestions what might be the issue? thanks!

Does anyone know where to get support for this product?

Orbx sends me to the skunkworks facebook, there I cant leave a message and their official website has no contact details.

help-desk@simskunkworks.it
Have you tried running the plane with an empty community folder? There may be another addon conflicting. I hate to be that guy, but I’ve never had this issue and I’ve never seen anyone report it.

Hi thanks I’ll try that email.

I have tried to un-install the starfighter from the hangar, but that results in MSFS CTD.

I’ll leave here my latest support ticket. Not only to show my grief and warn others before buying this product, or for that matter anything from the MS market place. But if anyone has a suggestion of how to get support I’d be grateful. thanks.

Since buying the TF-104 there has been an issue with the aircraft that above 10000ft the afterburner cuts out, which basically makes this aircraft unusable.

I’ve been in contact with the developer by email on 27/april and they replied that the issue is known and they are working on it.

On their facebook they posted a new release version 3.2.0 is available whichs should have solved the problem.

however on the market place after updating it is version 3.0.3 that is the latest, which is unusable.

I have attempted to contact sim-skunkworks again on their support email address, however now it’s no longer in use.

I have requested a refund wich was declined.

Instead I received a copy-paste standard troubleshooting advice that is not even applicable to my problem, including the advice to contact your developer: help-desk@simskunkworks.it which I already said is no longer contactable.
To my grief my support ticket was marked as solved, which it is rather not solved and I am left with an unflyable aircraft which I payed for, cannot use and do not have any support.

Could you please take an action that at the least makes me feel I am being taken seriously, my request is actually read and understood and perhaps you could try to see why the latest version 3.2.0 is not available on the marketplace. then could you contact the developer? because I purchased the software with you, in the Microsoft Store.

Many thanks for the help.
Rico

Not much you can do, I’m afraid. You’ll just have to wait for Microsoft to update their Marketplace. This is why I only really buy scenery on the Marketplace as MS takes weeks to release updates. If you’re going to buy aircraft, either buy direct from the vendor, or through OrbX or Contrail which are normally updated within days.

Their helpdesk email is unreachable? That’s not good, since a few months ago they said they were calling it quits (but would still update existing works) then they reversed course and released the single seater. Their Facebook replies look to be about 2 weeks old and I haven’t seen them reply on here for a week or two. Hope all is well with them!

At Microsofts own request, I’ll share their response with the community.

Hi Rico,

Unfortunately there is not much that we at MSFS Support can do in this matter. Community feedback is looked at most often in these cases, so make sure to leave feedback in the Marketplace and the forums (which I see you already have).

Sorry to say, but as you mentioned that there is little you can do;

You are representing a third party developer. Advertising their product, collecting money, willingly whilst having the knowledge that their product is currently broken, unusable, and the developer is neglecting any communication.

I believe MS should take responsibility and stop selling this product until it is fixed.

Secondly I am strongly of opinion that (and others) are legally entitled to a refund until this is fixed.

And If this ever get fixed, I would be more than happy to re-purchase this software.

PS. I wanted to say, I really don’t like having to write this, I’d much rather have fun with my dearly purchased software. I hope this get’s sorted soon.

Just wanted to chime in that I’ve experienced the same issue here. Above 10,0000 feet the F-104 just loses thrust and it immediately kicks in if you drop below that. I thought maybe I was missing a setting or something was freezing up or something and it was normal, but this thread makes me think it really is just broken.

Sadly the F-104G version I bought also has a major throttle issue where the throttle is in reverse no matter how I set my controls, even if I set a reverse thrust button. Holding that button will let me set real thrust but the second I release it I’m back in reverse thrust. Very bizarre and I’ve used Sim Skunkworks F-104 offerings on Prepar3d for a while and never had such issues.

I had the same throttle issue with both their TF104 and G91. I didn’t have it, when I bought them a couple of months ago, so I believe it had something to do with one of the MSFS system updates. I bought them both at simmarket. Upon checking the versions over there, I realized that I had an older version of both planes. After I had downloaded the latest version 3, the throttle issue was gone.

I thought I had already, but I went and downloaded the latest version from Just Flight and that did correct the throttle issue. I can confirm the 10,000 ft ceiling for thrust still happens on that one as well though for me.

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Same for me, it’s not fixed yet.

Did you set an extremity dead zone for your throttle? That’s a requirement for the patch to be effective. For myself I had to set it to 4.

I can also confirm that the RPMs drop when on full afterburner when passing above 10000 feet!

Also, once I fly above 30000 feet I can again engage full afterburner without losing RPMs (just like when flying below 10000 feet).
Between 10000 and 30000 it’s possible to fly with minimal afterburner (but not full afterburner).
I find odd that setting an extremity dead zone for the throttle should “fix” this issue.

Moreover, this is not the only problem with the throttle and this aircraft/mod - For example it’s impossible to break the sound barrier while flying straight on full afterburner and above 30000 feet (and I’m trying to do this without external fuel tanks). The real F-104G shouldn’t have any problems breaking the sound barrier (Mach 1.0) and fly above it (supersonically). The only way for this aircraft/mod to break the sound barrier is by doing a steep dive and once you pass Mach 1.0 then it’s possible to fly supersonically.
So and with all this, I think there’s a really big problem with this aircraft/mod’s thrust specially in afterburner regime.

By the way, I have the single seat aircraft mod - the FRF-104G but this should be the same as the TF-104 (same developer).

And there’s also another (BIG) problem with this mod: The aircraft’s navigation system only seems to be able to capture VORTAC stations. I doesn’t seem to be able to capture TACAN stations (and neither VOR/DME).

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I have both and they both behave the same way. Definitely disappointing to see it behaving this way, I never had such issues with their F-104 products in previous sims so hopefully they can get it sorted. The reverse issue at least got sorted so hopefully this one will be good soon.

Hi, i own the single seater version of the Starfighter and have the same problem with the afterburner going out above 10,000ft.

FYI: I have no idea on how to fly properly and the F-104 is my only addon plane so far. Also, which is part of my solution for the problem, I use a controller.

However, I noticed that the afterburner can work above 10,000ft when you don’t move the throttle in the fastest position. In my case that means pressing B (Decelerate) once. After doing that the afterburner kicks in and I could reach Mach 1.4 by going down. No idea if that helps you, but I thought it is worth mentioning.

Sorry to say but the last patch is quite a while ago, devs reported the bug was fixed. I tested and found out it wasn’t. They never replied.
Any support from Microsoft was turned down. No refund available.

I hate to say this, but the 104 is dead and the devs or MS don’t seem to care because it’s still selling and money is going in the bank.

I’ve given up on this and MSFS all together. Waiting patiently for XP12 release, never to look back or spent a penny on any MS product ever. (and my kids and grandchildren too) :wink:

But good luck with the fight if you’re still in it. Godspeed