Too many faults, can't land, can't take off, no afterburner flames.
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:disappointed_face: There is a lot to like about this Concorde, from the sound of the engines spooling up to the great cabin views down the hallway to the cockpit. So far I have almost spent more time trying to fix errors, including reinstalls, then I have flying it. On landing, if I use autopilot to go from 4,000 ft to 3,000 ft the plane just keeps descending right into the ocean. It does the same thing on take off if I set the altitude as I am climbing. It either crashes to the ground, or keeps on climbing. I have the newest version installed and while the afterburners turn on, there are no flames or increased smoke from the engines.
I can live without the flames. I am tired though, of embarrassing crashes while flying on VATSIM. Sad to say, my freeware Concorde behaves more responsibly.
I have flown Concordes on VATSIM for over fifteen years. -
Hmm.. forgive me if these are all dumb questions. Just trying to help if I can (not much lol!). Are you using P3D or FSX? I only ask because I'm on FSX:SE and not sure if things are the same for P3D...
You do have the autopilot switches engaged as well as activating ALT HOLD?
The V/S defaults to 3000 fpm, even if you only want to change the alt by a few hundred feet, but that can be changed in the aircraft.cfg file.I've not investigated the reheat visuals, but I'm sure the flames were present. Because the piano keys cannot be separated so that the throttle only operates in dry thrust, I ignore them and just use my throttle lever to apply reheat... or not (3..2..1.. noise! :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes: )
I have notcied that in order for the autopilot to behave reasonably then Concorde needs to be really light on approach, say no more than 15000 lbs total fuel remaining and she does hunt around on the GS and the ILS radial. I need to try and understand the max_pitch_velocity, max_bank_velocity and max_throttle_rate to see if I can make her more responsive. We are limited by the fact that the FSX AP uses trim inputs and not control surface inputs... I had shied away from any tweaks until the update had come out...
I don't use VATSIM, so I cannot embarrass myself in real time in front of my peers! :smiling_face_with_halo:
I only hope that collectively we can get there because as you say, there is a lot to like about this bird !
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HighBypass, thanks a lot for your kind reply. I feel sometimes like I am in an old war film about the early days of the B24. It kept crashing but the orders were to keep flying and it would get better. It did get better. I fly FSX sp. 2.
Hmm, maybe I should not turn on reheats at all and just go full throttle.
I have tried both using the levers, and simply pushing the F4 button. Still no flames or smoke.
I wouldn't have thought that too much fuel at the end of the flight would affect the autopilot. Yes, I do have autopilot switches engaged when hitting ALT HOLD.
When you fly a Concorde on VATSIM people expect that you know what you are doing. I have flown them into Atlanta and other pilots will line up to see a Concorde landing or taking off. -
@Cropduster47 Hi, sorry to hear that you keep having issues with Concorde. I did test everything that you're referring to in FSX before the update went live and there were no issues with the airplane at that time. I've just checked again, and reheat flames are working fine, autopilot tracks with a standard 3000fpm climb or descent unless otherwise instructed and holds correctly. It's very hard to diagnose why you're having these problems on your computer. Do you have any weather programs running, as these are known to affect sensitive or "unusual" flight dynamics for aircraft like Concorde?
I'm hoping we can solve this as soon as possible for you. It does seem as though something external to Concorde is upsetting things, as the update you have there is the same one as on my machine, so it should function identically unless something else is upsetting it.
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Burner flames, I should have added, are working via both full lever throttle and by clicking the reheat switches. Tomorrow I will check the landing phase at 25,000lbs and the ILS again to make sure everything's working the way it should be - Concorde is fairly sensitive in final approach so always ensure airspeed is 200-210 knots indicated until the last 500ft, when manual control can be taken and the airspeed can be reduced to 190-200 knots indicated. Some back-stick is required to hold her then, there's a lot of ground-effect before touchdown as a result of those big delta wings, and you'll need to "fly" the nose wheel onto the ground before reverse thrust is applied, again just like the real Concorde.
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@Cropduster47 Hi, I did the FSX landing test as promised this morning just in case I'd missed something. Fuel weight 25,000lbs, AUTOLAND ( ILS ) engaged, Heathrow 110.30 ILS RW 27R, fair weather set for the sake of clarity, 210 Autothrottle approach airspeed and Centre of Gravity set just aft of centre to help the autopilot maintain trim. Concorde tracked in so I took this image at Decision Height. Concorde remains sensitive to lateral movement when tracking an ILS though, so it does need to be hand-flown to the ILS entry point as accurately as possible, as far out as possible, to ensure minimum hassle in the approach. Hope that this helps.
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 @DC1973 Thanks for your answer. I can turn on the Engage Reheat switch by clicking it and see the needle in the fuel flow gauges move. I can click on the smoke switch in flight simulator and get smoke. I can not get flame effects. When approaching if I am using autopilot and move the altitude down to 3,000, the usual altitude for ILS interception, the Concorde starts a slow descent into the ocean or ground. I have a new computer. I am not using my Active Sky. I am reluctant to fly online anymore with this aircraft  because the plane is a such a ground hugger. Please advise. -
@Cropduster47 There is very little advice I can give at this stage, as Concorde is functioning correctly and I have not been able to reproduce any of the issues you're having. I am not aware of anybody else experiencing them either. I can only ask that you're ensuring to intercept the ILS beams from below ( a requirement of FSX and P3D for some reason to get ILS to work properly ) as trying to intercept them from above apparently upsets the stock autopilot, which is what Concorde uses.
I'm sorry that I can't think of anything further at all that would be causing your problems, but if a reason for them is found I'll make any changes necessary.
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@Cropduster47 said in Too many faults, can't land, can't take off, no afterburner flames.:
Hmm, maybe I should not turn on reheats at all and just go full throttle.
Have you tried that option? I know it's sub-optimal given that Concorde used the "piano keys" for reheat, but since I discovered that there is no option for full dry power via my TM HOTAS X throttle I "live with it" and just back off the throttle when it's time to shut off the reheat.. :pensive_face:
I'm going to have a bit of a play with the cfg file to see if I can get the AP more responsive so it doesn't porpoise about on the glideslope - no offence to the programmers!! . :flushed_face:
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@DC1973
Could it have anything to do with the way the Concorde is installing? This is the compatibility tab on the Properties Install. I install it as administrator. Again after a clean install last night no flames for reheats. -
@DC1973 I have downloaded the new version twice and reinstalled the Concorde at least three times. I can not understand why I do not see the flames or any reheat effects, or why the plane can not hold a 3,000 ft. altitude on approach to an ILS establishment. Sigh. Just have no more ideas of how to fix.
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@Cropduster47 Hi, I think that, reading back across your posts, if you're flying procedural on VATSIM and attempting 3000ft ILS intercepts, then Concorde's basic autopilot may just not be able to respond in time to hold the glideslope. As per the manual, to obtain an ILS requires intercepting the beams as far out as possible. Concorde is not a study-level airplane and is designed for all users, including casual users who may not have any knowledge of proper procedures ( real world ). A manual 3000ft ILS intercept, with proper procedures, should be relatively simple.
I have again checked all that I can but I cannot replicate anything in your reports unless I really abuse Concorde and try to intercept ILS beams at less than 10 miles with the fuel out of balance. A normal, 15+ mile intercept from just below and to the side of the ILS beams allows Concorde to intercept and manoeuvre onto glideslope and sail all the way down without any issues whatsoever. Picture attached, this time at the very last moment of a full ILS approach in FSX.
I have absolutely no clue as to why your reheat flames are not showing - there appears to be no good reason for this as they're not an effect, they're actually modelled in, so they cannot "not" be there. I wonder if perhaps you're using FSX:Steam - there should not be a difference really, but maybe something changed with that version, which I do not own.
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@DC1973 I'm using FSX:SE and I see the reheat just fine.
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@HighBypass Thanks for letting me know. I have not had any other reports of the issues being suffered here and I've tested everything repeatedly. I'm afraid that the problems really do seem to be caused by something at the customer's end, but I can't imagine what they might be - it's very strange indeed!
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@Cropduster47 Is there any reason why you are running it in compatibility mode for windows XP
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Just wanted to drop in and say I bought the FS2020 version of this yesterday and it works beautifully.
One of the best Concorde models I’ve yet experienced and it sounds - at silly volume through my very deep bass speakers - very much like I remember hearing her….
Another top flight, Just Flight product.
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@scania said in Too many faults, can't land, can't take off, no afterburner flames.:
Just wanted to drop in and say I bought the FS2020 version of this yesterday and it works beautifully.
One of the best Concorde models I’ve yet experienced and it sounds - at silly volume through my very deep bass speakers - very much like I remember hearing her….
Another top flight, Just Flight product.
It's actually a top flight DC Designs product, but thanks for letting us know. We are proud to have been able to help with its success.
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@derek said in Too many faults, can't land, can't take off, no afterburner flames.:
@scania said in Too many faults, can't land, can't take off, no afterburner flames.:
Just wanted to drop in and say I bought the FS2020 version of this yesterday and it works beautifully.
One of the best Concorde models I’ve yet experienced and it sounds - at silly volume through my very deep bass speakers - very much like I remember hearing her….
Another top flight, Just Flight product.
It's actually a top flight DC Designs product, but thanks for letting us know. We are proud to have been able to help with its success.
Hi Derek,
Indeed you’re right, it’s a DC Designs product, but, I found it via the Just Flight website whom I presume are the marketers / promoters, so I think my point stands… :D
