Airspeed changes

[kenneth2300]

Hello everyone

I have tried to look at all the postings, but I am confused.

Although I know it's tampering with real stuff, is there anyhow I can make my planes go faster? Maybe editing CFG?

Thanx - K

[Captain America]

Open the aircraft.cfg file, scroll down to "Reference Speeds".
In some, not all, aircraft you can change the speeds. You can usually set the overspeed warning to a higher speed. Remember to
back up your files before making changes.

But, why do you want to do this? If it is to make the aircraft more
realistic, that's fine. Any given aircraft has a maximum speed based
on many factors such as weight and design. Too exceed this speed limit would, in real life, damage or destroy the aircraft.

And, most aircraft don't fly at maximum speed all the time and usually don't fly as fast as you would think they do.

The beauty of Flight Simulator is the variety of aircraft.
If you want to go faster, it's more realistic to just get a faster
airplane?

Sometimes I fly the FSD Pilatus Porter that has a top speed of about
140kts, and sometimes I fly the Pilot's SR-71 that has a top speed
of Yahoo, Hang On, Here we GO!

[kenneth2300]

Thanx for the reply.

I see your point, but I have downloaded a Thai 747 that I loooove, but it flies around 300KTS, whereas all my other 747s fly at 500-550KTS....

[slarente]

300 knots at what altitude?

Maybe 300 is only the "indicated" airspeed as opposed to the true airspeed?

[alastairmonk]

Yes:

300kts IAS at 10,000ft = approx. 360kts TAS
300kts IAS at 25,000ft = approx. 450kts TAS
300kts IAS at 35,000ft = approx. 510kts TAS
300kts IAS at 45,000ft = approx. 570kts TAS

http://www.csgnetwork.com/tasinfocalc.html

Alastair

[WildBlue]

Hi K,

To make a propeller-driven aircraft go faster, open the aircraft config file and increase the engine's power_scalar under the heading piston-engine. You might want to slash out the original power_scalar with two forward slashes at the beginning of the line, then enter a new line that boosts the scalar.

Changing the max_indicated_speed under Reference Speeds will keep your Overspeed Warning alert from going off as your airspeed increases above the original red line.

This method will not work on all aircraft, but should you try it, I'm guessing it will work. You can also increase performance by increasing other elements, such as thrust scalar under Propeller, etc. Here's an example for the default Cessna 172:

piston_engine
//power_scalar = 1.0
power_scalar = 1.6 (or by experiment, whatever you decide)

Reference Speeds
//max_indicated_speed = 163
max_indicated_speed = 250

That's the idea, K. Should you fly a jet, the nomenclature will be different. Instead of power_scalar, the thrust will be controlled by static_thrust under TurbineEngineData, or whatever.

I would not hesitate to change any parameter at any time if I wanted my aircraft to perform differently than how it is currently set up. I mean, it's your airplane, your Flt Sim program, your time, your enjoyment, etc. Let others set up their planes the way they want. We're not flying in the real world, regardless of how authentic other simmers might want their aircraft to fly. If we were flying in the real world, we'd all be dead on our first crash. So, how authentic can we really get? But then, that's just one guy's opinion.

To learn what settings in the aircraft config file control what parameters, study the FS2004 Software Development Kit (SDK). It's amazing how you can tweak an airplane to get it to perform just the way you want. Want the gear to retract faster? Want to increase the turning angle of the front wheel on tricycle gear? Want to add a warning beep when flaps are down, but not the gear? ETC!!!

After that, you can begin studying all about the panel configuration file, also covered in the SDK. There you can add and subtract gauges. You can even change the way the panel looks, by creating one of your own in a paint program.

It's a fascinating study. But beware! It's addictive and extremely time consuming! I recommend you just make the changes you want WHEN you want to. That way, you can spend your time flying more and adjusting parameters less...until you want to make the next change.

See ya,
WB

[kenneth2300]

300 is actual airspeed...

[alastairmonk]

Hi Kenneth,

How, precisely, do you determine this, as most airspeed indicators in the cockpit are calibrated in Knots IAS or MPH IAS ?

By "actual airspeed" I take it you mean True Air Speed ? In these cases its helpful if the proper terms are used to avoid any misunderstanding.

Alastair

[napamule2]

Kenneth,
Due to earth being round, think of '300' as speed (mph?) required to cover 300 miles over surface of Earth. At 45,000 ft to cover 300 miles (down below) in an hour will require that you be able to fly faster (up high) because you are flying a longer arc thru air.

This is how 'indicated' is translated into 'true' air speed. Phoney way to do it, and confusing, huh? Sort of reverse logic. But, it's how it's done. So the gauge says 300 ('Indicated Air Speed') as is true at sea level, but, at 45,000 ft that 300 ('Indicated Air Speed') then has you moving a lot faster thru air (True Air Speed).

Enter 'indicated air speed' in google and go read a much better explanation than mine. Just bear in mind the curvature of the earth, and the height the AC is flying at (longer arc) is what's involved.
Chuck B
napamule

[moth01]

Hi,
While your speed capabilities can be altered in any plane, I don't see the point, only if it is for fun. Take an ultralight and fly it around at 300kts, ok, whatever,

The true airspeed is also taking into account the air density at altitude. Air thinner takes nmore speed to get the same airflow over the wings than at a lever where the air is denser.

Take it to extremes, lets say you are travelling at 50,000ft, since the air is so thin, you need to physically move the plane thru space to get enough flow to create lift, and to ram enought air pressure thru the pitot tube, to show the same arispeed as was shown at Sea Level.

Of course, your Groundspeed would be tremendous in this case too.

A good explanation of different airspeeds is here:
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/instruments/q0251.shtml
Gary.