Turbo Commander Progress
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Nick's statement that the Twin Commanders are "the first Black Square aircraft modelled and textured professionally" is the most unbelievably humble instance of "selling yourself short"...
So stoked for everything to come.
P.S. Mayhaps could we get an FAA Flight Check bird with the King Air? Although their B300s have a ton of modifications (to such a degree that they are hardly recognizable as KA300s), would it be possible to represent some of the superficial differences on the exterior? (E.g. the two window deletes on the left side, extra antennas, winglets.)
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Hey Nick! Looking forward to the Turbo Commanders! In the latest update you released yesterday I couldn't see it in the photos but is the bottom triple flash beacon light going to be modelled if not already? Would loveeeee to have that!
said in Turbo Commander Progress:
Hey Nick! Looking forward to the Turbo Commanders! In the latest update you released yesterday I couldn't see it in the photos but is the bottom triple flash beacon light going to be modelled if not already? Would loveeeee to have that!
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Forget about the triple flash beacon, if you want to see Nick work his magic, lets see how well he does the nosewheel steering system. My guess is, he'll knock it out of the park.
I'll describe it as our instructor did when I bought my Commander 840 (690C):
I don't care who you are, what your background is, how many hours you have, or what you've flown in the past. I'm telling you right now, you CANNOT just get in this airplane and taxi it. By the time we're done, you'll be a master. But there's no pilot on earth that could just get in this airplane and taxi it without instruction.For the uninitiated, the nosewheel steering on all of the Turbo/Jetprop Commanders, 690 through 695B, is hydraulically actuated. The rudder pedals function mostly as you'd expect conventional rudder pedals to work. Slide them back and forth and it moves the rudder, and the toebrakes are typical toebrakes. The pedals, however, are in no way physically connected to the nosewheel. Instead, the first one to two inches of toebrake travel commands the steering actuator to turn the nosewheel in the direction you press. Press further than two inches, and you get brake. The actuator is extremely lethargic and lazy, and there is significant anticipation required when making turns. Want to make a 90 degree left turn? Press the right toebrake into the steering range about 5 seconds earlier than you think you should, and wait. When it starts turning, you need to apply left steering input about halfway through the turn to have it going straight again at the 90 degree point. Any later, and you'll overshoot the turn.
It also behaves completely differently (read, BAD) at low speeds. In fact, the steering actuator isn't even powerful enough to turn the nosewheel when the airplane isn't moving forward. The airplane is considerably easier to maneuver and taxi when you keep it going a little fast.
Much of taxiing this airplane well is understanding how to use beta and differential power to your advantage to help the steering actuator get the nosewheel pointed where you want it.
This whole thing makes takeoffs really interesting until you get used to it. Line up on the runway and keep it rolling to make sure the nosewheel is straight. Then, advance the power levers until they click past the flight idle detent and get the power in quickly. We do this to accelerate the airplane through 40 knots as soon as possible. 0-40 knots on the takeoff roll is what I like to call the "range of goofiness" where its ridiculously easy to overcontrol with the steering and lose directional control. Any directional changes you need to make form 0-40 with a bunch of takeoff power applied need to be made as quick little taps on the steering input. As soon as you've got 40ish knots of airspeed, the rudder is effective, and you immediately drop your toes down to the bottom of the pedals to prevent unintended steering inputs at high speeds, which can quickly send you heading for the weeds.
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle, and I have no doubt he'll implement it perfectly, if he hasn't already.
Cheers.
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Forget about the triple flash beacon, if you want to see Nick work his magic, lets see how well he does the nosewheel steering system. My guess is, he'll knock it out of the park.
I'll describe it as our instructor did when I bought my Commander 840 (690C):
I don't care who you are, what your background is, how many hours you have, or what you've flown in the past. I'm telling you right now, you CANNOT just get in this airplane and taxi it. By the time we're done, you'll be a master. But there's no pilot on earth that could just get in this airplane and taxi it without instruction.For the uninitiated, the nosewheel steering on all of the Turbo/Jetprop Commanders, 690 through 695B, is hydraulically actuated. The rudder pedals function mostly as you'd expect conventional rudder pedals to work. Slide them back and forth and it moves the rudder, and the toebrakes are typical toebrakes. The pedals, however, are in no way physically connected to the nosewheel. Instead, the first one to two inches of toebrake travel commands the steering actuator to turn the nosewheel in the direction you press. Press further than two inches, and you get brake. The actuator is extremely lethargic and lazy, and there is significant anticipation required when making turns. Want to make a 90 degree left turn? Press the right toebrake into the steering range about 5 seconds earlier than you think you should, and wait. When it starts turning, you need to apply left steering input about halfway through the turn to have it going straight again at the 90 degree point. Any later, and you'll overshoot the turn.
It also behaves completely differently (read, BAD) at low speeds. In fact, the steering actuator isn't even powerful enough to turn the nosewheel when the airplane isn't moving forward. The airplane is considerably easier to maneuver and taxi when you keep it going a little fast.
Much of taxiing this airplane well is understanding how to use beta and differential power to your advantage to help the steering actuator get the nosewheel pointed where you want it.
This whole thing makes takeoffs really interesting until you get used to it. Line up on the runway and keep it rolling to make sure the nosewheel is straight. Then, advance the power levers until they click past the flight idle detent and get the power in quickly. We do this to accelerate the airplane through 40 knots as soon as possible. 0-40 knots on the takeoff roll is what I like to call the "range of goofiness" where its ridiculously easy to overcontrol with the steering and lose directional control. Any directional changes you need to make form 0-40 with a bunch of takeoff power applied need to be made as quick little taps on the steering input. As soon as you've got 40ish knots of airspeed, the rudder is effective, and you immediately drop your toes down to the bottom of the pedals to prevent unintended steering inputs at high speeds, which can quickly send you heading for the weeds.
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle, and I have no doubt he'll implement it perfectly, if he hasn't already.
Cheers.
@SinkRate said in Turbo Commander Progress:
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle
I'm impressed that you know exactly why 99% of the features in my aircraft are implemented
What excites me is exactly this kind of uniqueness, and it's what still gets me most excited about working on my aircraft. As you may have read in my last development update, I have already implemented this, and it's surprisingly accurate to what I experienced flying the real machine. The only thing I would add to your description is that the system is so touchy at taxi/takeoff speeds that almost any movement of the actuator results in a departure from the centerline that would be shameful in any other aircraft. The way I described it to a pilot friend was, "the only way to maintain centerline is to enter a meditative state, and merely think about actuating the pedals, rather than actually moving your feet."The system is optional, and disabled by default. I've also added an option to control the steering via the rudder axis, for anyone who doesn't have rudder pedal hardware, because I didn't want them to miss out on the fun.
I'm still very much looking forward to your feedback, btw, @SinkRate. Please don't think I've forgotten you for beta testing. I just want to make sure the sounds are nearly done before sharing the aircraft, since they are surprisingly important to the whole experience. I have a feeling that you will be the hero beta tester for this particular aircraft (there is always one), in just another week or two. Looking forward to it!
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@SinkRate said in Turbo Commander Progress:
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle
I'm impressed that you know exactly why 99% of the features in my aircraft are implemented
What excites me is exactly this kind of uniqueness, and it's what still gets me most excited about working on my aircraft. As you may have read in my last development update, I have already implemented this, and it's surprisingly accurate to what I experienced flying the real machine. The only thing I would add to your description is that the system is so touchy at taxi/takeoff speeds that almost any movement of the actuator results in a departure from the centerline that would be shameful in any other aircraft. The way I described it to a pilot friend was, "the only way to maintain centerline is to enter a meditative state, and merely think about actuating the pedals, rather than actually moving your feet."The system is optional, and disabled by default. I've also added an option to control the steering via the rudder axis, for anyone who doesn't have rudder pedal hardware, because I didn't want them to miss out on the fun.
I'm still very much looking forward to your feedback, btw, @SinkRate. Please don't think I've forgotten you for beta testing. I just want to make sure the sounds are nearly done before sharing the aircraft, since they are surprisingly important to the whole experience. I have a feeling that you will be the hero beta tester for this particular aircraft (there is always one), in just another week or two. Looking forward to it!
@Black-Square Sounds good!
Once we connect, I'll share some photos of my 840 with you, and tell you all about why I think the -10 690C is the ultimate Commander. Talk soon!
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@SinkRate said in Turbo Commander Progress:
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle
I'm impressed that you know exactly why 99% of the features in my aircraft are implemented
What excites me is exactly this kind of uniqueness, and it's what still gets me most excited about working on my aircraft. As you may have read in my last development update, I have already implemented this, and it's surprisingly accurate to what I experienced flying the real machine. The only thing I would add to your description is that the system is so touchy at taxi/takeoff speeds that almost any movement of the actuator results in a departure from the centerline that would be shameful in any other aircraft. The way I described it to a pilot friend was, "the only way to maintain centerline is to enter a meditative state, and merely think about actuating the pedals, rather than actually moving your feet."The system is optional, and disabled by default. I've also added an option to control the steering via the rudder axis, for anyone who doesn't have rudder pedal hardware, because I didn't want them to miss out on the fun.
I'm still very much looking forward to your feedback, btw, @SinkRate. Please don't think I've forgotten you for beta testing. I just want to make sure the sounds are nearly done before sharing the aircraft, since they are surprisingly important to the whole experience. I have a feeling that you will be the hero beta tester for this particular aircraft (there is always one), in just another week or two. Looking forward to it!
@Black-Square I'm so glad to hear this feature was studied and implemented.
I researched and coded a fairly detailed systems mod for the old Carenado AC690 in P3D. I spent many hours hours during the COVID lockdown figuring out how to write an XML gauge that used simconnect to replicate this behavior with the nosewheel steering and brakes. Unfortunately, writing a custom engine model was far beyond my abilities, so the lack of proper beta range somewhat handicapped my efforts.
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@SinkRate said in Turbo Commander Progress:
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle
I'm impressed that you know exactly why 99% of the features in my aircraft are implemented
What excites me is exactly this kind of uniqueness, and it's what still gets me most excited about working on my aircraft. As you may have read in my last development update, I have already implemented this, and it's surprisingly accurate to what I experienced flying the real machine. The only thing I would add to your description is that the system is so touchy at taxi/takeoff speeds that almost any movement of the actuator results in a departure from the centerline that would be shameful in any other aircraft. The way I described it to a pilot friend was, "the only way to maintain centerline is to enter a meditative state, and merely think about actuating the pedals, rather than actually moving your feet."The system is optional, and disabled by default. I've also added an option to control the steering via the rudder axis, for anyone who doesn't have rudder pedal hardware, because I didn't want them to miss out on the fun.
I'm still very much looking forward to your feedback, btw, @SinkRate. Please don't think I've forgotten you for beta testing. I just want to make sure the sounds are nearly done before sharing the aircraft, since they are surprisingly important to the whole experience. I have a feeling that you will be the hero beta tester for this particular aircraft (there is always one), in just another week or two. Looking forward to it!
@Black-Square While I never heard back from you re: help with development of this project, are you looking for any beta testers? I'll remind you that I have several thousand hours in all models of Turbo Commander and spent 14 years instructing on them for firefighting operations. To say I'm familiar with them is a gross understatement
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@SinkRate said in Turbo Commander Progress:
This is precisely the kind of system I know makes @Black-Square giggle
I'm impressed that you know exactly why 99% of the features in my aircraft are implemented
What excites me is exactly this kind of uniqueness, and it's what still gets me most excited about working on my aircraft. As you may have read in my last development update, I have already implemented this, and it's surprisingly accurate to what I experienced flying the real machine. The only thing I would add to your description is that the system is so touchy at taxi/takeoff speeds that almost any movement of the actuator results in a departure from the centerline that would be shameful in any other aircraft. The way I described it to a pilot friend was, "the only way to maintain centerline is to enter a meditative state, and merely think about actuating the pedals, rather than actually moving your feet."The system is optional, and disabled by default. I've also added an option to control the steering via the rudder axis, for anyone who doesn't have rudder pedal hardware, because I didn't want them to miss out on the fun.
I'm still very much looking forward to your feedback, btw, @SinkRate. Please don't think I've forgotten you for beta testing. I just want to make sure the sounds are nearly done before sharing the aircraft, since they are surprisingly important to the whole experience. I have a feeling that you will be the hero beta tester for this particular aircraft (there is always one), in just another week or two. Looking forward to it!
@Black-Square said in Turbo Commander Progress:
The only thing I would add to your description is that the system is so touchy at taxi/takeoff speeds that almost any movement of the actuator results in a departure from the centerline that would be shameful in any other aircraft.
For most models of Turbo Commander that's not true. There are two "levels" of the nosewheel steering, the basic and the "upgraded". The upgraded is twitchy but far fewer of the plane have that. The basic one is wimpy enough that when you push that inch of toe travel to steer, you wonder if it's doing anything so you push more and inadvertently go into braking. That's the risk on takeoff. Not that the steering will overpower the plane but that you'll accidentally go into the braking range while trying to steer and feeling not much happen
