Opinions on the Virtavia B-36H?

One of my favorite movies when I was a kid was Strategic Air Command. It starred Jimmy Stewart, who was an Air Force Colonel (later a General) at the time and really was a B-36 pilot/commander, which I thought was just too cool for words.

 

I just noticed that Virtavia is selling a B-36H for FSX:SE for a reasonable price here in the FS Store. I would love to hear from anyone who has it as to how good it is- does everything work "as advertised?" Does it fly as well as can be expected for a heavy bomber of the 1950s? Does the VC work? Does everything in the 2D panel work? Any bugs? Etc. etc. blah blah blah.

I also love this plane despite it's lack of sleakiness etc.Very cool development, a very good performer.

The virtavia model's exterior model looks to be nice. There's bump specing, reflective shine and all that.The VC is medium quality. Flat, Only 2D instruments. There is a 2D panel. It's not the best looking cockpit ever.

I tgink it's more of an exterior plane, with nice animation, but a poor quality VC, with a medicore siystem simulation and no manual, but only checklist. To wrap it up, it's pretty bug free. For this price, you can get a high quality aircraft from sibwings, the An-2. In the end, it's your decision. :D

For 6 Turning and 4 burning I have a freeware B-36 Peacemaker that I flew (in hops) from Kadena, Okinawa to March Air Force Base, Riverside. Cool aircraft!

 

The only thing missing is brake squeal. http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/13745/fsx-convair-b-36-peacemaker/

UPDATE: Proper brake squeal implemented!

 

 

 

As pilots joked 'two turning, two burning, two joking (sic), and two smoking, with two engines not accounted for':)

BTW

Does this B-36 have it's own gauges and panel, or is it aliased with something?

As pilots joked 'two turning, two burning, two joking (sic), and two smoking, with two engines not accounted for':)

BTW

Does this B-36 have it's own gauges and panel, or is it aliased with something?

 

If this is aimed at me, the freeware one has a 2d panel of it's own and no VC.

For 6 Turning and 4 burning I have a freeware B-36 Peacemaker that I flew (in hops) from Kadena, Okinawa to March Air Force Base, Riverside. Cool aircraft!

 

The only thing missing is brake squeal. http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/13745/fsx-convair-b-36-peacemaker/

UPDATE: Proper brake squeal implemented!

 

Wow. Downloading now, and THANK YOU for the awesome clip from Strategic Air Command!

Yep.. I've got the whole movie on my puter.. What's good about it is all the B-36 shots

are of the real deal. One of my uncles was in SAC and flew the B-36 in the 1950's.

They had a pretty distinctive sound to them with all those engines going.. On u-toob

there is a home movie of one doing a low pass over a Fort Worth neighborhood.

They said it was so low it whacked a few of the taller TV antennas on a few houses.

 

:pilot:

the freeware one has a 2d panel of it's own and no VC.

 

I got the freeware file you linked, and the panel (2D only, as expected) is aliased to the default 747-400 panel. So I end up with modern flat-panel displays showing 4 jet engines on the EICAS and nothing at all for the 6 recips, instead of 1950-era steam gauges and engine displays matching the number and type of engines installed.

 

Oh, and no brake squeal, either. Tried normal braking using the . key and differential braking using NumPad * and - but no brake squeal can be heard.

 

So now I'm wondering if the hosting site has shuffled some files around and your link no longer points to the particular freeware B36-H that you actually described.

I'll look around to find the 2D panel that I'm using. No brake squeal comes with any of the B-36 downloads because they don't have VCs.

 

It's going to be a little bit of a process to help you get the brakes to squeal, if you are interested.

 

1. Do you have a propliner (3rd party download) from Tom Gibson's site (CalClassics)

or from here that has the brake squeal sound folder and gauge and the brakes squeal when applied?

 

2 If not, download and install gac46v2.zip from the library. It's the one I used in my screenshots for Meigs field. Try it out to make sure you hear the squeal when the brakes are applied. Say yes to all of the old gauges that it uses. Don't let the auto-installer install it to your Sim, since this is a FS2004 aircraft. Do a manual install to a folder you create.

 

3. Once this all works, the rest is just adding the [VC02] section of the C-46 panel.cfg to the panel.cfg of the B-36.

 

4. [Vcockpit02]

file=1024background c46 2.bmp

Background_color=0,0,0

size_mm=1024,1024

visible=0

pixel_size=1024,1024

texture=$vc_panel02

 

gauge00=squeaking brakes!BrakeSound, 0,0,20,20

gauge01=squeaking brakes_Sound!dsd_xml_sound3, 0,0,20,18,./sound/squeaking brakes/Sound.ini

 

This is the entry needed for the B-36 panel.cfg referencing the sounds and the gauges needed.

 

Now searching for the 2D panel I am using. http://simviation.com//1/browse-Military-57-47?mark=39218#39218 It's the 5th download on the page. Complete aircraft and an updated version of the first download.

My father was an inspector for convair on the 36 and still has his flight logs and convair company books with specs. and systems. He was on a flight to Alaska at 45,000 ft. when one of the port inboard engine's prop blades sheared off and tore into the fuse. They made a quick landing in New Mexico.

My father was an inspector for convair on the 36 and still has his flight logs and convair company books with specs. and systems. He was on a flight to Alaska at 45,000 ft. when one of the port inboard engine's prop blades sheared off and tore into the fuse. They made a quick landing in New Mexico.

 

HOLY EXPLOSIVE DECOMPRESSION, BATMAN! Wow. Bet his ears bled for a week! Glad all made it down with a heartbeat.

download and install gac46v2.zip from the library

Now searching for the 2D panel I am using. http://simviation.com//1/browse-Military-57-47?mark=39218#39218 It's the 5th download on the page. Complete aircraft and an updated version of the first download.

 

Downloading both and thank you! I'll repost here when I get stuff installed.

 

EDIT: I can't get ANY sound out of the Curtiss C-46, and most of the gauges are missing. My primary problem is that the contents of the downloaded FS9 file's folders don't quite match the folder names and/or contents that I see in any of my other FSX airplanes, including 3rd-party addons. So, after 4 hours of struggling with it in vain, I'm just going to quit and try again some other day. Or not.

 

Thanks for trying, and not your fault at all that it's been so long since I had FS9 that I don't remember anything about it, or how to force-feed FS9 addon airplanes into FSX-compatible formats.

For the heck of it I tried a FRAPS video of a taxi test. It's OK, but it sounds better in the Sim than on this video.

 

download and install gac46v2.zip from the library. Try it out to make sure you hear the squeal when the brakes are applied.

 

I have no sound whatsoever from the C-46 model. No engines, no brakes. Nada.

 

Say yes to all of the old gauges that it uses.

 

Most of the gauges in the C-46 are just missing. I did not get any prompts when loading this airplane, so I had no opportunity to say yes to anything.

 

Don't let the auto-installer install it to your Sim, since this is a FS2004 aircraft. Do a manual install to a folder you create.

 

I did that, then I copied a piece from here and a piece from there (the folder layout and contents are unlike anything I've seen in FSX) into what I thought was the appropriate spot in FSX. Obviously, this is where I screwed up, because so many things (sound, gauges) are simply missing. I can see the Panel.cfg callouts for the gauges, but oddly, when I place the ones that aren't aliased to the default DC-3 into the C-46 folder, they are not found when loading the aircraft. So I have no altimeter, no airpeed, no engine gauges, etc. I suspect that this problem is also causing the lack of any sounds, since the brake squeal is implemented by calling it a "gauge." No idea at all why I don't have engine sounds, though.

 

3. Once this all works, the rest is just adding the [VC02] section of the C-46 panel.cfg to the panel.cfg of the B-36.

 

Thanks for sharing the video of how it SHOULD look in the B-36 if I can ever get the C-46 to work. However, since I can't get it to work for the C-46, showing me how nice it looks and acts in the B-36 is just rubbing salt in the wound. :(

 

If you know of a tutorial somewhere explaining how, specifically, to manually install the FS9 C-46 into FSX from the extracted gac46v2.zip, including WHERE the Gauges, Effects, Sound (etc.) folders need to go, along with all the proprietary gauge files, I would be very appreciative. I believe, but I'm not sure, that the entire problem is down to my bad folder placement in FSX, but I don't know where the FS9-organized stuff should go because so much of it doesn't match my FSX experience at all. Thanks.

Sorry, I tend to forget that what now comes fairly easy for me can be confusing to someone who hasn't really done this before.

 

OK, after extracting the 2 folders from the download, CA46 folder (My label for the download to folder) and FSX Panels folder, here are screenshots of how to install.

 

Effects

 

Gauges

 

SOUND

 

Aircraft

 

FSX Panels

 

Once this is working, you will now have that squealing brake sound for any other aircraft that has those lines in the Panel.cfg. I just downloaded the KC-97 from SOH last night and it has that but did not supply any special sound folder with it.

Sorry, I tend to forget that what now comes fairly easy for me can be confusing to someone who hasn't really done this before.

 

OK, I followed your instructions to the best of my ability, and then this happened:

 

 

It's all YOUR fault, MrZippy. :p

 

PS: Thank you!

Looks good, sounds good! I'd smear some grease on them squeally brakes, though! :p

Looks good, sounds good! I'd smear some grease on them squeally brakes, though! :p

 

I'll do that as soon as I find the case of Relative Bearing Lubricant the Crew Chief asked me to bring him.... :pilot:

 

Have you noticed that this B-36 wants to climb at 6,000+ fpm and hit 300+ KIAS during that F/A-18-ish climb profile? Does yours do that? Is there an aircraft.cfg tweak somewhere that I could play with to make this thing behave less like a jet fighter and more like a very, VERY heavy 1950-era bomber?

 

Also, have you found a way to make this beast use the GPS for Nav functions? I can't find a NAV/GPS switch in it anywhere (yes, I know there was no such thing as GPS in 1950, but there's one in the aircraft), and hitting NAV on the AP has no effect whatsoever, even with a nearby VOR tuned in the Nav1 radio.

I have a tendency, as soon as wheels are up and I've changed my skivvies, to engage my auto pilot and auto throttle to keep it near the 250 KIAS as I climb out past 10,000 feet.

I also don't use full throttle for takeoff, more like about 85%.

 

I'm using the 737-400 autopilot as a popup gauge and haven't yet put in a NAV/GPS switch. That might take about 2 minutes. I did do a PITOT switch and GPS ICON. Do you want a sample of my panel.cfg?

 

I also made a small change to the aircraft.cfg to accommodate the autopilot and auto throttle.

I have a tendency, as soon as wheels are up and I've changed my skivvies

Waaayyyy too much information. :p

 

engage my auto pilot and auto throttle to keep it near the 250 KIAS as I climb out past 10,000 feet. I also don't use full throttle for takeoff, more like about 85%.

Yes, I've been doing that since I discovered this bloated Heffalump is actually something of a hot rod.

 

I'm using the 737-400 autopilot as a popup gauge and haven't yet put in a NAV/GPS switch. That might take about 2 minutes. I did do a PITOT switch and GPS ICON. Do you want a sample of my panel.cfg?

Oh, yes, please. Since the panel I'm using now already has a popup AP with AT, I would need some help figuring out how to delete it if I'm going to use the B738 AP and AT.

 

I also made a small change to the aircraft.cfg to accommodate the autopilot and auto throttle.

That too, please. Keeps me from begging for it later when I realize I haven't a clue what needs modifying in aircraft.cfg to accommodate AP and/or AT. :rolleyes:

Here's a screenshot of some of the things I added. I put in a NAV/GPS switch, but with a popup Autopilot, that's not really necessary!

 

 

Here are the changes to the panel.cfg You will need to compare to yours. I'll see if I can color change the changes.

 

//****************************************
// Panel for Convair B-36H PeaceMaker
//           by Kazunori Ito
//                  [email]Kazu16643VT@aol.com[/email]
//               2005/11/17
//

[Window Titles]
window00=Main Panel
Window01=GPS Panel
[color="#FF0000"]window02=Auto Pilot[/color]




[Window00]
file=Main_Panel.bmp
size_mm=1024
windowsize_ratio=1
position=7
visible=1
ident=0

gauge00=cv880sw!HSI,647,528,91,82
gauge01=cv880sw!ADI, 500,537,90,90
gauge02=cv880sw!ALT, 355,633,106,98
gauge03=cv880sw!ASI, 355,518,103,98
gauge04=cv880sw!VSI,599,645,76,73
gauge05=Bac111!Surfaces,259,561,76,72
gauge06=cv880sw!TC,497,645,76,73
gauge07=cv880sw!CLOCK, 261,655,63,60
//gauge08=cv880sw!CLOCK,248,431,40,40
gauge08=Bac111!Compass,377,448,56,55
gauge09=Cessna!VOR1,609,426,86,84
gauge10=cv880sw!RMI, 725,429,76,75

gauge11=cv880sw!TOTAL_FUEL,816,444,53,53
gauge12=cv880sw!EGT1,  803,507,91,91
gauge13=cv880sw!N2E1,905,507,91,91


gauge14=cv880sw!GEAR_HANDLE, 928,365,170,98
gauge15=cv880sw!FLAPS,  880,445,53,55
gauge16=cv880sw!SPOILERS_EXT,945,481,19,19

gauge17=Beech_Baron!Strobe Lights, 846,363,15,29
gauge18=Beech_Baron!Beacon Lights,866,363,15,29
gauge19=Beech_Baron!Nav Lights,886,363,15,29
gauge20=Beech_Baron!Taxi Lights,906,363,15,29
gauge21=Beech_Baron!Landing Lights,926,363,15,29

gauge22=kingair!Master_Caution,  483,456,25,19
gauge23=kingair!Master_Warning,  508,456,25,19
gauge24=cv880sw!OVRSPD_WARN,  706,651,29,17
gauge25=cv880sw!PB,  739,651,29,17
gauge26=cv880sw!STALL_TEST,  706,670,29,17
gauge27=Bendix_King_Radio!Bendix-King Radio Nav-Comm 1,801,615,175,86
[color="#FF0000"]gauge28=SimIcons1024!GPS Icon,215,566[/color]
gauge29=KingAir!battery,      195,585,32,56
[color="#FF0000"]gauge30=Beech_Baron!Pitot Icing Switch,560, 470, 25,45
gauge31=simicons1024!Overhead Icon, 215,545
//gauge32=Cessna!Nav_GPS_Annunciator,                     845,408, 30, 28   //  the GPS/NAV switch and anunciator aren't needed!  AP has the switch.
//gauge33=Cessna!Nav GPS Switch,                          873,408, 30, 28
[/color]
[Window01]
size_mm=250,350
position=8
BACKGROUND_COLOR=16,16,16
VISIBLE=0
ident=GPS_PANEL

gauge00=gps!gps,0,0,250,350

[color="#FF0000"][Window02]
Background_color=16,16,16 
size_mm=360,80
position=6
visible=0
ident=OVERHEAD_PANEL

gauge00=737_800!Autopilot,5,5,350,70    //350,70 is the size it pops up at!  This can be adjuted[/color]

 

These are the changes to the aircraft.cfg for AP and AT:

 

[autopilot]

autopilot_available=1

flight_director_available=0

default_vertical_speed=1500.000000

autothrottle_available=1

autothrottle_arming_required=1

autothrottle_takeoff_ga=0

autothrottle_max_rpm=100.000000

 

 

Have a blast!

I put in a NAV/GPS switch, but with a popup Autopilot, that's not really necessary!

 

Do you mean "with the default 738 popup autopilot which has a built-in Nav/GPS switch?" I'm asking for this clarification because the updated version of this airplane that you pointed me to already has "a popup autopilot" with Alt Preselect/Hold, VS, Heading Hold and Autothrottles, but its Nav switch isn't connected to anything - neither VOR nor GPS - and there's no "Nav/GPS" switch on it (or in the airplane external to it) to make it "see" the GPS.

 

The popup AP that came with my B-36 is in the lower left corner of this screenshot:

I actually LIKE this unobtrusive, smallish, older-looking AP just fine for the B-36, except for the fact that its Nav functions simply don't work. If I could figure out how to make Nav work on VORs, GPS and ILS's, I'd keep this AP.

 

The Panel.cfg entries for this AP are:

[Window Titles]
window00=Main Panel
[color="#FF0000"]window01=Auto Pilot[/color]
Window02=GPS Panel
Window03=Datastrip

[Window00]
file=Main_Panel.bmp
size_mm=1024
windowsize_ratio=1
position=7
visible=1
ident=0

gauge00=cv880sw!HSI,647,528,91,82
gauge01=cv880sw!ADI, 500,537,90,90
gauge02=cv880sw!ALT, 355,633,106,98
gauge03=cv880sw!ASI, 355,518,103,98
gauge04=cv880sw!VSI,599,645,76,73
gauge05=Bac111!Surfaces,259,561,76,72
gauge06=cv880sw!TC,497,645,76,73
gauge07=cv880sw!CLOCK, 261,655,63,60
gauge08=Bac111!Compass,377,448,56,55
gauge09=Cessna!VOR1,609,426,86,84
gauge10=cv880sw!RMI, 725,429,76,75
gauge11=cv880sw!TOTAL_FUEL,816,444,53,53
gauge12=cv880sw!EGT1,  803,507,91,91
gauge13=cv880sw!N2E1,905,507,91,91
gauge14=cv880sw!GEAR_HANDLE, 928,365,170,98
gauge15=cv880sw!FLAPS,  880,445,53,55
gauge16=cv880sw!SPOILERS_EXT,945,481,19,19
gauge17=Beech_Baron!Strobe Lights, 846,363,15,29
gauge18=Beech_Baron!Beacon Lights,866,363,15,29
gauge19=Beech_Baron!Nav Lights,886,363,15,29
gauge20=Beech_Baron!Taxi Lights,906,363,15,29
gauge21=Beech_Baron!Landing Lights,926,363,15,29
gauge22=kingair!Master_Caution,  483,456,25,19
gauge23=kingair!Master_Warning,  508,456,25,19
gauge24=cv880sw!OVRSPD_WARN,  706,651,29,17
gauge25=cv880sw!PB,  739,651,29,17
gauge26=cv880sw!STALL_TEST,  706,670,29,17
gauge27=Bendix_King_Radio!Bendix-King Radio Nav-Comm 1,801,615,175,86

[color="#FF0000"][Window01]
Background_color=16,16,16 
size_mm=360,80
position=6
visible=0
ident=AP_Panel
gauge00=737-400!Autopilot,5,5,350,70
[/color]

 

So my first task in following your instructions, unless you know of a way to make the existing AP's Nav/App functions work, is to remove the existing AP. I'll dig into it later tonight, and thanks.

For planes like that I have the NAV/GPS switch set as a keyboard entry.

I think shift-n on this box if I remember right.. So I can switch even if the plane

doesn't have the switch on the panel.

You can set that in the controls keyboard setup.

Sorry, I didn't remember where the 737-400 popup AP came from. Then go ahead and un-commment out the // in front of the NAV/GPS switch. You should then have a working switch.

 

gauge32=Cessna!Nav_GPS_Annunciator, 845,408, 30, 28

gauge33=Cessna!Nav GPS Switch, 873,408, 30, 28

Sorry, I didn't remember where the 737-400 popup AP came from. Then go ahead and un-commment out the // in front of the NAV/GPS switch. You should then have a working switch.

 

Thank you! Here's my new panel with the old AP, new NAV/GPS set and new GPS 500 instead of the portable GPS 295 that arrived with the package:

 

And the payoff: Here's me enroute from Elmendorf AFB to Mountain Home AFB, pretending I'm Jimmy Stewart :pilot:

I just don't think it gets any better than this! :)

 

Thanks again for your help.