What's Wrong With This Aircraft?

Way back in the day, I had a Jodel in my hangar, so I thought I'd see if I could find one for FSX. I downloaded one from http://frenchvfr.free.fr/, but every time I try to use it, I get about 5 minutes out from the airport and the engine just gives up. Nothing I can do restarts it, just have to glide and hope for the best (it doesn't get very high.)

 

What could be wrong? Is there something in the cfg that could be changed to keep the engine going?

I'll have to give it a go tomorrow. Can't do much on this Android pad! If this is a gasoline powered prop plane, my guess is that the prop RPM (constant speed prop versus variable speed) needs to be adjusted down into the green safe zone shortly after takeoff. If that is not done, the engine craps out!

Generators on? Mixture set right? Prop RPM green?

 

Just trying to think of obvious stuff...

Pat☺

OK, now that I have the download and tried the aircraft.....It has a fixed pitch prop so you don't have to be concerned with adjusting the prop pitch! I found that trying to start the aircraft and have it run was not happening. I made one adjustment to the aircraft.cfg and all is well! I marked the change in RED.

 

[piston_engine]
power_scalar =1.00000                          //Piston power scalar
cylinder_displacement=42.71662                 //Cubic inches per cylinder
compression_ratio=7.50000                      //Compression ratio
number_of_cylinders=4                          //Number of cylinders
max_rated_rpm=2300.00000                       //Max rated RPM
max_rated_hp=65.03957                          //Max rated HP
fuel_metering_type=1                           //0=Fuel Injected, 1=Gravity Carburetor, 2=Aerobatic Carburetor
cooling_type=0                                 //0=Cooling type Air, 1=Cooling type Liquid
normalized_starter_torque=0.80000              //Starter torque factor
turbocharged=0                                 //Is it turbocharged? 0=FALSE, 1=TRUE
max_design_mp=29.92000                         //Max design manifold pressure, (inHg)
min_design_mp=2.99200                          //Min design manifold pressure, (inHg)
critical_altitude=0.00000                      //Altitude to which the turbocharger will provide max design manifold pressure (feet)
emergency_boost_type=0                         //0=None, 1=Water Injection, 2=Methanol/Water injection, 3=War Emergency Power
emergency_boost_mp_offset=0.00000              //Additional manifold pressure supplied by emergency boost
emergency_boost_gain_offset=0.00000            //Multiplier on manifold pressure due to emergency boost
fuel_air_auto_mixture=1                        //Automixture available? 0=FALSE, 1=TRUE
auto_ignition=0                                //Auto-Ignition available? 0=FALSE, 1=TRUE
max_rpm_mechanical_efficiency_scalar=1.00000   //Scalar on maximum RPM mechanical efficiency
idle_rpm_mechanical_efficiency_scalar=1.00000  //Scalar on idle RPM mechanical efficiency
max_rpm_friction_scalar=1.00000                //Scalar on maximum RPM friction
idle_rpm_friction_scalar=[color="#FF0000"].750000[/color]             //Scalar on idle RPM friction
emergency_boost_duration=0.00000
BestPowerSpecificFuelConsumption=0.50000
detonation_onset=32.91117

 

Well, I don't know what to say. Made that little change, and it still died a few minutes out from the airport. At a total loss, I've flown a pretty good number of FS aircraft over the decades.

Well, I don't know what to say. Made that little change, and it still died a few minutes out from the airport. At a total loss, I've flown a pretty good number of FS aircraft over the decades.

 

Don't know what's going on! My flight was for about 15 minutes or so flying a circuit around the area of my test airport and landing.

I've flown this Jodel several times and have never had a problem with it. (The yellow essence switch need to be vertical, pointing at O - ouvert, obviously!)

Well...

 

I'm running it in P3D, but I don't see how that could make a difference.

I wonder, what is your default flight? Is it a cold-n-dark setup, maybe with a different plane, or even the Jodel?

If it is, you could try setting the default flight, and plane, to the original Aircreation Trike over Friday Harbour.

Quickest, easiest way is to get into the FSX.cfg file, the section titled [uSERINTERFACE], the line SITUATION= XXXXXXXXXXXXX, where whatever the XXXXXXXXXX is, doesn't really matter. Just delete everything after the "=" (equals sign), save the file off, and start FSX. It will be the default flight again by, well, by default :D

Sometimes, when you save off a cold-n-dark setup, there is a switch, lever, knob, button, whatever, the engines, avionics, or whatever, need to have turned on, or otherwise actuated somehow, to function correctly, but when you switch to the desired aircraft, like say the Jodel, for example, it doesn't HAVE that switch, lever, whatever. Can't very well turn it on if it doesn't exist, after all, and pffft! Stuff fails.

May NOT be your situation, but it can't hurt to check...

Pat☺

I don't have P3d, so I can't be certain about the details of it's default flight. I presume it's similar in function. I also presume the getting the sim back to he default flight works similarly to FSX.

 

As to using the Trike for default: Well it's the FSX default, and no airplane I've ever loaded after it has given me any trouble getting set up and going, no matter how complex it was. Never had any payware, so I can't speak to those, but I've had some fairly complex birds. I have never set up a cold-n-dark start setup as my default either, but Mr. Zippy has and does. I was using information he had provided in past threads to base my suggestion off of.

I was just offering a suggestion that seems to have worked with trouble like this for others in the past. If it doesn't work in this case, well, it's one more try we've made at helping the OP. No harm done.

Never hurts either to start at step 1, loading the sim's default flight and plane, and moving on from there.

 

Anyway, I wish the OP good luck getting this figured out!

Pat☺