Back when PMDG made the DC6 for X-Plane10, I used it to make many legs for around the world series. Absolutely great fun to fly. I had an uncle whom was one of the designers of the real world DC6. Thanks for the video and the continued hard work. 👍
Hi Jonathan, great video as always. This one pointed out a couple of real world issues. As a real world pilot that operates a complex aeroplane in India regularly, the weather was pretty accurate for a good day! Also you pointed out the human factors issues about operating when tired. It manifested itself in this case where you turned from downwind to intercept the ILS. The gyro pilot was actually doing what it was designed to do (I think). From what I could see, it seemed like you forgot to monitor the speed during the turn by not increasing power. It’s not a surprise at all as the workload was very high at that point. As a result, the aircraft tried to maintain altitude with the gyro-pilot by trimming up, but it was essentially stalling (V/S -1000 fpm or so). You recovered it just in time amazingly, but the fault wasn’t with the aircraft systems (from what I could see). Give yourself more time! Thanks again for the vid, for someone who is not a pilot IRL, you do a fantastic job! Love the DC6 by the way!
Yep - I was just tired - and it was a great example of how you can drop the ball when you're tired :) I missed the speed, and then of course the autopilot cranked in all the trim it could - which I had to fight to unwind on approach lol - there's a reason these old planes had two pilots too :)
I was managing four DC6 in the early 1980s flying race horses around Australia plus of course freight. The company was a now defunct Ansett Airlines. I went on a number of flights for familiarisation purposes and understanding the operations. One thing about these aircraft was to have a crew of at least three. Two pilots and a flight engineer. While you are able to fly this sim the level of complexity due to lack of current technology should be acknowledged. Most airlines aircraft also had a navigator as well.
Yep - it's a handful :) I was just tired - and it was a great example of how you can drop the ball when you're tired :) I missed the speed, and then of course the autopilot cranked in all the trim it could - which I had to fight to unwind on approach lol - there's a reason these old planes had more than one pilot. If I had extended downwind to stabilize the approach and give myself more time, everything would have been fine.
"You can inject water" (it was generally around 50-50 Water & Methanol.) One of my favorite aircraft in MSFS Switching from localizer to approach always tricky
Yep - I was just tired - and it was a great example of how you can drop the ball when you're tired :) I missed the speed, and then of course the autopilot cranked in all the trim it could - which I had to fight to unwind on approach lol - there's a reason these old planes had two pilots too :)
Oh fml, of course I miss the stream I’ve been waiting for🙄🤦🏼 31 hours of flying and jet lag does that to you. Just like Kolkata irl, had these horrible smog clouds about 500ft above the runway. Will say, did have a chuckle about the trees, it was pretty much concrete near the airport
To answer a question, BMEP is brake mean effective pressure. It's a way of measuring torque to arrive at a mean effective pressure (if spread uniformly over the piston head) at brake, which is when the piston is at its highest and lowest distance of travel in the cylinder. It's measured in pounds per square inch freedom unit. The gauges derive the BMEP from RPM and MP. There's no direct reading from the engines. The formula is: BMEP (psi) = 150.8 * TORQUE (lb-ft) / DISPLACEMENT (ci) Each P&W Double Wasp CB-16 has a displacement of 2804 cubic inches. Torque (lb-ft) = horsepower * 5252 / RPM Horsepower is going to be closely related to manifold pressure on a carbureted piston engine. There are performance charts toward the end of the DC-6 POH that are based on BHP (brake horsepower, very similar to HP except it doesn't take auxiliary components into consideration) that will provide MP, RPM, and blower gear (low, high) settings. Personally, I like to stick to specific BMEP settings for each stage of flight rather than worrying about BHP in the tables. I use flaps rather than throttle changes for approach and landing if possible as it's a bit more realistic for radial simulation. It's also fairly common, from what I've heard from DC-6 and DC-7 pilots, to climb at around 300 ft/min. The aircraft is certainly capable of a lot more, but engine longevity is a major focus with these types of aircraft. Takeoffs are generally level with the horizon sans any obstacles. of course, the nice thing about the sim is we don't have to pay to maintain 4 double row radial engines. Even when they were new, they required so much maintenance that airlines developed an efficient process of just rapidly swapping them out and working on the removed engines in the shop while the plane would keep on operating.
Back when PMDG made the DC6 for X-Plane10, I used it to make many legs for around the world series. Absolutely great fun to fly. I had an uncle whom was one of the designers of the real world DC6. Thanks for the video and the continued hard work. 👍
Hi Jonathan, great video as always. This one pointed out a couple of real world issues. As a real world pilot that operates a complex aeroplane in India regularly, the weather was pretty accurate for a good day! Also you pointed out the human factors issues about operating when tired. It manifested itself in this case where you turned from downwind to intercept the ILS. The gyro pilot was actually doing what it was designed to do (I think). From what I could see, it seemed like you forgot to monitor the speed during the turn by not increasing power. It’s not a surprise at all as the workload was very high at that point. As a result, the aircraft tried to maintain altitude with the gyro-pilot by trimming up, but it was essentially stalling (V/S -1000 fpm or so). You recovered it just in time amazingly, but the fault wasn’t with the aircraft systems (from what I could see). Give yourself more time! Thanks again for the vid, for someone who is not a pilot IRL, you do a fantastic job! Love the DC6 by the way!
Yep - I was just tired - and it was a great example of how you can drop the ball when you're tired :) I missed the speed, and then of course the autopilot cranked in all the trim it could - which I had to fight to unwind on approach lol - there's a reason these old planes had two pilots too :)
Excellent video.
I was managing four DC6 in the early 1980s flying race horses around Australia plus of course freight. The company was a now defunct Ansett Airlines. I went on a number of flights for familiarisation purposes and understanding the operations. One thing about these aircraft was to have a crew of at least three. Two pilots and a flight engineer. While you are able to fly this sim the level of complexity due to lack of current technology should be acknowledged. Most airlines aircraft also had a navigator as well.
Yep - it's a handful :) I was just tired - and it was a great example of how you can drop the ball when you're tired :) I missed the speed, and then of course the autopilot cranked in all the trim it could - which I had to fight to unwind on approach lol - there's a reason these old planes had more than one pilot. If I had extended downwind to stabilize the approach and give myself more time, everything would have been fine.
"You can inject water" (it was generally around 50-50 Water & Methanol.)
One of my favorite aircraft in MSFS
Switching from localizer to approach always tricky
Yep - I was just tired - and it was a great example of how you can drop the ball when you're tired :) I missed the speed, and then of course the autopilot cranked in all the trim it could - which I had to fight to unwind on approach lol - there's a reason these old planes had two pilots too :)
Oh fml, of course I miss the stream I’ve been waiting for🙄🤦🏼
31 hours of flying and jet lag does that to you.
Just like Kolkata irl, had these horrible smog clouds about 500ft above the runway. Will say, did have a chuckle about the trees, it was pretty much concrete near the airport
I'll be back in the DC6 - I always forget how good it is :)
To answer a question, BMEP is brake mean effective pressure. It's a way of measuring torque to arrive at a mean effective pressure (if spread uniformly over the piston head) at brake, which is when the piston is at its highest and lowest distance of travel in the cylinder. It's measured in pounds per square inch freedom unit. The gauges derive the BMEP from RPM and MP. There's no direct reading from the engines.
The formula is:
BMEP (psi) = 150.8 * TORQUE (lb-ft) / DISPLACEMENT (ci)
Each P&W Double Wasp CB-16 has a displacement of 2804 cubic inches.
Torque (lb-ft) = horsepower * 5252 / RPM
Horsepower is going to be closely related to manifold pressure on a carbureted piston engine. There are performance charts toward the end of the DC-6 POH that are based on BHP (brake horsepower, very similar to HP except it doesn't take auxiliary components into consideration) that will provide MP, RPM, and blower gear (low, high) settings.
Personally, I like to stick to specific BMEP settings for each stage of flight rather than worrying about BHP in the tables. I use flaps rather than throttle changes for approach and landing if possible as it's a bit more realistic for radial simulation. It's also fairly common, from what I've heard from DC-6 and DC-7 pilots, to climb at around 300 ft/min. The aircraft is certainly capable of a lot more, but engine longevity is a major focus with these types of aircraft. Takeoffs are generally level with the horizon sans any obstacles.
of course, the nice thing about the sim is we don't have to pay to maintain 4 double row radial engines. Even when they were new, they required so much maintenance that airlines developed an efficient process of just rapidly swapping them out and working on the removed engines in the shop while the plane would keep on operating.
You know you can move the tablet to an easier position by clicking side edge?
I don't mind it being there :)
Does the DC-6 Have a Transponder ?
Nevermind, I missed it at the beginning of the video