We are looking to add compass functionality however for now you can have the VFR map up to assist you with the mission.
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We discussed this a lot and collectively decided to have âsteeringâ for gameplay purposes, especially on console.
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Fair enough on the gameplay aspect is there a way for us to edit the correct behaviour in by editing the config files for those of us who would like a more sim experience?
I have to say itâs a beautifully modelled aircraft.
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Because itâs tied into the CFD, unfortunately not.
Ah thatâs a shame you are limited, hopefully Asobo adds more options in the SDK in the future. Thanks for your beautiful contribution!
Oh btw I keep hearing a squeaking sound ever second or so is that something in the engine? It sounds like some squeaking from the controls but it is going off constantly even when Iâm not moving my controls.
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In the outside view?
Thatâs a bug.
The squeaking sound is moving levers, we are tuning the sounds at the moment.
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How to remove the engine cowling? I have not found it searching for the cockpit nor in the manual
Follow the in-sim checklist and it will highlight in blue, far left side of the cockpit there is a clip to click.
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The center of gravity is set wrong by default on Xbox. Should I leave it as it is or change CG values?
It seems to me that the plane is hard to slow down on the ground (the tail slid should scrape more speed I think).
I had to register for the forums just to say thank you to the developers and to give my compliments and feedback for this really enjoyable model. The Jenny was my favorite aircraft from FS2004 and I endlessly fiddled with liveries back in the day, and itâs a dream come true to see it in MSFS at last!
I have around 7 hours logged right now, including the 1918 DC to NY airmail route, and I already have some longer trips planned. Overall, the airplane flies beautifully and is a joy for sightseeing. It feels authentic to accounts Iâve read from those who fly them in that itâs a very hands-on aircraft which demands constant attention. The sounds and visuals are excellent and exceptionally immersive, especially the engine and those exposed rocker arms. I like the decision to include a trim function even though the original did not have it. In fact, the FS2004 version didnât have trim and I would add trim functionality via the config files because holding the stick back during long flights is needlessly strenuous.
My suggestions mostly mirror those above. I do think the heatblur is excessive and interferes with navigation. Seeing a real OX-5 run in person at Oshkosh, there was no heatblur at all, but there was some smoke especially on startup.
On none of my flights did I see the coolant temperatures rise off the stop, even a 2 hour flight which involved a full power climb to 6000ft, so I think that might be bugged.
There definitely needs to be a solution for the long ground roll distance in the absence of brakes. It seems to be the biggest issue next to the heatblur as it makes getting into small airstrips quite difficult. This is an annoying MSFS âfeatureâ that afflicts all light airplanes, and I have seen other third-party aircraft counter it by applying phantom braking force when the engine is below a given RPM to simulate drag which should be present. That may be a viable option.
I do love the simplistic instrumentation in this version, but the lack of a compass and stopwatch is certainly noticeable, and I think they would open up a great deal of fun navigation for a plane from this era.
The mixture/choke control seemed to have no effect on RPM until it was all the way closed, which kills the engine. I donât really know how this is supposed to work since most Jennies Iâve seen donât have this control.
I also felt that the default view is too zoomed out, and also too low (though that might be because I am used to the FS2004 angle).
Some wheel chocks utilizing the parking brake keybind would be a fantastic addition.
The throttle squeaking was irritating at times because my throttle has some random jitter, and it would constantly squeak unless I found a setting it liked, but it sounds like thatâs being addressed.
Another note: I saw some folks saying that it seemed to require more stick push than expected to lift the tail on takeoff. By default, the trim is set to 5% (nose up). If I manually set it to 0% trim, then with 100% fuel and either 1 or 2 crew, the plane gently lifts its tail with no input and only requires a small input to become airborne, which is in line with interviews about takeoff performance. So it sounds like the trim should be at 0% by default, but for some reason itâs at 5%.
Besides those minor gripes, Iâm overjoyed to finally have a Jenny in the sim and I look forward to spending many, many more hours flying this beauty!
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Itâs not so much about how much stick is needed, but rather about complete inability to lift the tail until the plane accelerates past 39 knots or so. After that I have no issues raising it, and the plane can get airborne a few knots afterwards.
39 knots is about the minimum you can fly this thing level (in the air with no ground effect), it seems rather excessive prerequisite for lifting the tail.
A period manual describes the takeoff roll such:
âAfter attaining a few feet headway, raise the tail with controls and keep it in this position to prevent machine from leaving the ground until it is well past its minimum flying speed, at the same time watching your direction carefully. If your course permits keep your machine on the ground until its maximum ground speed is reached. Then, very easily and smoothly, take it off the ground.â
Some videos I found also seem to support the tail being lifted earlier during the roll:
As for the trim I donât find meaningful difference between 0 and +5 for the takeoff roll. Setting it to 0 would raise the hands-off cruise speed to about 60 knots though (from about 53 where itâs now).
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Yes, the tail should lift early. Remember that the tail skid was used as brake in that times!
Is the Center of gravity bug also a problem on PC?
Same bracket but left hand side of the cockpit
âRed Baronâ FTW!!!
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Depending on what surface you are on, wind direction, weight on board and wind speed the tail up speed will vary.
Regarding the CoG, we had to make every effort for the aircraft to simulate a biplane which is not natively supported in-sim so you may see some figures that do not make sense in the W&B page, but do for overall CFD flight experience.
Re coolant, from the notes we have and read it was almost impossible to overheat while there is airflow over the engine, if you do an engine run on the ground then it heats up pretty toasty but cooling (as it was an engine designed for native cooling) was never really an issue.
Re chocks on parking brake, we did actually have these but afraid in-sim itâs either parking brakes that come with toe brakes or nothing so we elected to not have them in.
As Pazdzie22 mentioned, the skid is used as a friction brake to slow the aircraft down and we did extensive testing even on short fields (and actual farmer fields).
As you can imagine itâs a delicate balance of enough friction to slow down and not too much to not be able to taxi.
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I noticed this, too. I havenât personally flown a real WW1-era biplane, but I have flown quite a lot of virtual biplanes in Rise of Flight, along with using the mixture functionality of DC Designsâ PT-17 Stearman, and the way they handle it is that you need to gradually lean out the engine as you climb higher and higher to get the most RPMs (and power) out of the engine. For whatever altitude youâre at, you pull out the mixture lever, and once you hit the right mixture ratio, youâll notice a small jump in your RPMs. If you go too far, though, youâll see that your RPMs will start to decrease, which lets you fine-tune it to the sweet-spot.
The mixture also affects the temperature of the engine. Hereâs a part of a comment on the Rise of Flight message boards talking about it:
"The only other complication to worry about is that the mix affects the temperature of the engine. Leaner = hotter. So at high altitude in a winter setting, you may want to lean the engine more than is optimal for the rpm just to stop it over-cooling: can be a problem with the entente rotary engines. "
I personally think itâs fun and realistic diversion to keep your engine mixed correctly, especially since WW1-era planes donât have much in the way of engine controls or other gadgets, and itâd be great to have it added to the Jenny (versus the on/off effect that the mixture lever has currently).
(The caveat in everything I just wrote is that I donât actually know how the real Jennyâs mixture control works, so I may be entirely off-base in applying other planesâ engine handling to the Jenny.)
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TMV4N4CurtissOX-5.pdf (ox5.org)
The part on the carburettor addresses the mixture. Apparently the engine was fitted for it but it was (normally?) rendered inop.
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So I should leave the CoG at default values which the game tells me are wrong?
BTW, i love the plane, the sounds are perfect. Best engine sound in the game!
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