A340

[vuong]

Hello everyone,
I downloaded this great a/c and really enjoy flying it. The only problem is that it starts up dead. I mean I have to go thru the entire startup procedure before I can fly. It was fun at first, but now it becomes a lot of work. I tried to save it after I had everything set, but it comes back the same (dead).Is there a way??

Thanks,
Vuong

[slarente]

Hi,

All the flight will start in a dark cockpit if your default flight was saved with a dark cockpit. No matter what non-default flight you select afterwards, you will always start in a dark cockpit. So when you save (with the engines running, etc), make sure that you save it as a default flight and then all your flight will start with with the engines running.

Wow, I'm not sure if I can understand myself here! :-)


Simon

[rhodges]

Vuong:

If you do not mind my asking, which "A340" did you download, and from where did you download it?

Thanks:
RTH

[MadMaster]

Yea, there are about 200 different a340s on the internet....

[prowler]

I would check out your "default flight", as was mentioned.

It's funny that you mention it...I'm always trying to change FS9 flights to act just like yours! Dark cockpit, at a gate. I love doing it from start to finish!

To that end I've tried setting a 2k2 adventure (Great Plains Blizzard, flight 1A) as the "default". It doesn't seem to want to stick, every time I check what the "default" flight is, this one isn't it. Can only certain flights be saved as "default"? In other words, must the flight be in the "other" or "saved flights" folder?

regards,

prowler

[vuong]

I download this A340 from this great site. 18MB worth. BTW, I got it start up with light. Thanks to the first responder, My next question is this: This A340 cruise at 20 degree pitch and lots of power. Any idea? anyone? I can't think of the weight and balance default is the cause!

Thks,

Vuong

[Chris03]

What bloody A340??
You cant just tell us the size of the file!!!

[KCBoomer]

Are you saying that the engine is dead when you start up? If so advance the throttle just a little bit before you load the plane see if that makes a difference.

KCBoomer

[police]

My buddy Mark helped me a lot with long flight with my A340 for FS2004. Here's what he told me and it work. Since then I do only long flight with my A340. I am sure that it would not mind me sharing his great help to me.

OK, that explains why you didn't make it. 0.85M is not a recommended cruising speed for this aircraft. Added to that was the fact that you were at FL290 probably burned more fuel than you had on board.

To fly this kind of leg, I use a basic rule of thumb. When you are cleared for departure, ATC usually gives you a low altitude departure (5000 - 7000'). Use an N1 of about 91% to takeoff, rotate at a good airspeed (165-175 knots) then as you retract flaps and gear, maintain about 1500 FPM rate of climb. The reason is that ATC is sometimes slow in clearing you to the final altitude and that means wasted fuel if your climbing too steep. Keep airspeed at 230 knots below 10000'. When you get your final clearance to your cruising altitude, hit the TO/GA mode on the panel (or select Ctrl+Shift+G on the keyboard). That will set N1 at 95% and automatically hold it there throughout the climb. Then play with your vertical speed to establish a climb speed of 270-290 knots indicated. This will get you up to altitude as efficiently as possible. Watch the airspeed indicator at around 33000', because the mach number will slowly increase at higher altitudes and when it hits 0.78M, again adjust rate of climb (in this case you may need to increase it) to hold 0.78M. Once level, maintain 0.78M for at least the first 1/3 of the flight distance, then calculate your fuel burn (when the fuel flow numbers have stabilized; usually after 1 minute) and calculate the total fuel left. If 0.78M is too fast, slow to 0.76M and recalculate. If you think you'll have a lot of leftover fuel, then try going to 0.80M and recalculate when the fuel flow values are again steady. This is how you manage a long flight like this.

If you intend to fly these types of flights, I would suggest you get FSNavigator. It has the ability to determine fuel load once you input the correct fuel flow values. Don't forget to take into account the number of engines. The SAC Fleet Spec sheet states the A340 burns a total of 4300 pounds of fuel PER ENGINE at FL350 at a true airspeed of 478 KIAS (0.83M), so that's 17,200 pounds per hour total. Higher altitudes means less fuel, as does slower airspeeds.