Flying Guide Beech Duke B60 Version 2.0

Transcription

Beech Duke B60 Version 2.0
Flying Guide
Welcome to this flying guide for the RealAir Beechcraft Duke B60 Version 2 for FSX.
This update of our Beechcraft Duke is not merely a service pack, or a bug fix, but a comprehensive
update offering a number of major improvements and the addition of many new features that were
not available or technically possible when we first released this ever popular FSX addon. Included
are many improvements and enhancements which we believe create the most immersive experience
possible for simulator pilots in FSX. Creating this update has taken us the better part of a year of fulltime development.
Accompanying this guide you will find:
è Relevant extracts from the official Duke B60 Pilot’s Operating Handbook including both checklists
and performance charts.
è A ‘Config Panel’ application, offering you highly customisable options relating to performance,
graphics, animations and custom sound effects.
è A guide to the Duke’s Bendix/King autopilot.
è Frequently Asked Questions, for those subjects which might need further clarification.
Our Flying Guides are intentionally written in plain english and we avoid as far as possible unnecessary
or obscure descriptions which can serve to confuse rather than enlighten.
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Contents
List of New Features in Version 2
4
Major Updates
4
Additional Updates and Improvements
5
Version 2 Flight Model Updates
7
General Handling Improvements
7
Engine Improvements
8
RealView - Advanced Sound and Animation Effects
10
A Brief History of RealAir’s RealView Effects
10
List of RealView Advanced Effects
11
Aerodynamic Sound Effects
12
Yet More Sound Effects
12
Sound Effect Volumes
12
Setup Guide
13
Advanced Animations
Flight Model Realism
13
14
Joystick Settings
15
Video Card Settings
15
Exterior Model Options
16
Frame-Rates16
Loading the Duke V2 For the First Time
16
Balancing the Sound Effect Volumes
17
Config Panel
18
Changing Settings ‘On the Fly’
19
Config Panel Options Explained
19
Trouble-Shooting the Config Panel
23
Virtual Cockpit
24
Views26
Mouse Interaction
30
VC Details
33
Unusual Switches and Gauges
35
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Pressurisation39
Pressurisation Controls
40
Using the Pressurisation Controls
41
Standard GPS
42
Mouse Interaction
42
2D GPS
43
Additional GPS notes
43
Reality XP GNS 530/430 Integration
44
Reality XP GNS Installation
45
Using the Reality XP GNS Gauges In the Duke
46
Trouble-Shooting 47
Reality XP GNS 530/430 Support
47
Landing Lights
48
Flying the Duke
49
Loading the Duke ‘Cold and Dark’
49
Manual Engine Starts
49
General Flying Tips
50
General Handling in FSX
55
Autopilot56
Gear-Up and Emergency Landings
57
Engine Shut-Down During Flight
57
Flying On a Single Engine
57
Trouble-Shooting59
Reload Aircraft
59
Animations59
Sound Effects
60
Graphics Issues
60
Config Panel
61
Reality XP GNS Integration
64
Support65
Credits66
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List of New Features in Version 2
The Duke V2 now features 3D landing and taxi lights
Major Updates
ü High definition 2048 pixel textures.
ü Exterior 3D model and texture enhancements.
ü A major update to the virtual cockpit modelling and textures, including a more detailed cabin and
higher resolution textures on the panels, providing improved detail and clearer panel labels.
ü More character and ambience in the cockpit textures, including dust and minor wear marks.
Subtle details are revealed as sunlight moves across the cockpit.
ü Custom sounds on all cockpit switches, table, doors, armrests, and more.
ü Extensive custom camera animations simulating engine and ground vibration, overspeed and stall
buffet, propeller torque reaction, landing forces, plus more.
ü Extensive custom sounds designed to enhance the custom camera effects.
ü Many more custom sounds and animations all designed to breathe life and character into the
Duke.
ü New exterior liveries.
ü Five all-new panel and cabin colour schemes.
ü 3D model and texture performance optimisation to ensure similar performance to the previous
version, despite the much higher texture resolution.
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ü Multiplayer performance optimisation to allow for good performance, and trouble-free flying in
multiplayer.
ü Extensive flight model improvements.
ü Improved, more realistically sized gauges with dust, dirt and finger marks on gauge glass (with the
option of hiding these dust and dirt marks if that is your preference).
ü Improved gauge lighting.
ü 3D lights in exterior and VC views.
ü 3D landing lights with custom runway light splash.
ü Completely reworked VC night lighting.
ü Improved click spots and the option to disable them for EZDOK camera and Track IR users.
New cabin textures with five distinct colour variations
Additional Updates and Improvements
ü An option to keep the textures in memory for a smoother and faster transition between cockpit and
exterior views.
ü Turn coordinator bug fixed (turn coordinator allows for perfect rate-one turns).
ü Improved VC glass texturing.
ü Screws added to the panel face.
ü Optional suspension and touchdown sounds for both hard and soft FSX runway surfaces.
ü More complex generator load modelling.
ü Improved Reality XP GNS 530 and GNS 430 integration - RXP Unlimited installations are now
supported, for example 2 x GNS 530 or 2 x GNS 430 with cross-fill.
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ü Engine icing improvements.
ü Custom pressurisation code with more realistic operation and extra controls when compared to
standard FSX pressurisation.
ü More realistic audio panel functionality.
ü Control surfaces and yokes move realistically in response to trim commands.
ü Control yokes and control surfaces move fluidly in response to autopilot commands.
ü ADF dip simulated (user selectable).
ü Three dimensional blurred propellers - the blurred propellers are not just a flat, two dimensional
plate - they have depth when viewed from the side, and the propeller twist is visible even when
blurred.
ü Pilot headset added and the pilot’s head features smoother animation.
ü Flap buffet animation (flaps gently vibrate when lowered).
ü Optional flap failure when safe flap operating speeds are exceeded.
ü Improved cockpit door animation. The door closes with speed, and gently buffets if not properly
latched. Wind roar can be heard when the door is open and the engines are turning, even while
parked.
ü Overspeed flutter animations on the ailerons and yoke, with accompanying sounds.
ü All switches and knobs can be operated by the mouse wheel in addition to our other interaction
methods.
A note on the landing touchdown camera effect
A few users of our V1.2 Turbine Duke have reported their dislike of the touchdown ‘thump’
camera effect we included in that release. The Version 2 B60 Duke includes a much more advanced
touchdown thump effect that will react to the smoothness of your landing, so if you do a ‘greaser’
you will see almost no camera movement, whereas if you thump the Duke down hard while side
slipping you’ll see an appropriately large movement from the view-point camera. If you still dislike
this effect you can disable it altogether in the Duke V2 Config Panel.
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Version 2 Flight Model Updates
General Handling Improvements
Turn improvements
The most significant flight model improvements relate to turning.
The turn coordinator in the previous version of the RealAir Duke was not accurately reporting
turn rate, making it difficult to fly an accurate rate-one turn. The flight model would still allow for
an accurate rate-one turn if the correct bank angle was flown, but the inaccurate turn coordinator
caused the pilot to unknowingly select the wrong bank angle to achieve an accurate rate-one turn.
We spent some time fine tuning the turn coordinator to allow for perfectly accurate rate one turns.
In addition to the turn coordinator improvements, we have improved the rudder and yaw dynamics
so that turning is somewhat tighter but without compromising RealAir’s renowned ability to allow
spinning and side slipping, and proper yaw response so often entirely missing in other FSX addon
aircraft.
Improved turn coordinator and climb performance
Changes to climb performance
We have researched all the currently available views and theories about winglets and their effect
on aircraft performance. The consensus is that winglets can very slightly lower stall speeds,
provide significantly better climb performance and also a discernible improvement in cruise.
While this is still a somewhat controversial subject, it is generally accepted that there is a benefit in
attaching winglets to twin-engined aircraft such as the Duke. In Version 2 we have acknowledged
the consensus by adding a perceivable improvement in the RealAir Duke B60’s climb capability.
Whereas the published climb performance is around 1600 feet per minute at gross weight, the Duke
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V2 will exceed this and depending on temperature, pressure and other weather settings in FSX, is
now capable of a climb rate that is nearer 1,800 feet per minute, or even more in cold conditions.
While we cannot confirm the absolute accuracy of this change, we are confident that it is not too
far off the mark and we feel our customers will enjoy the improved performance. In addition to the
winglet performance, modern day Duke B60s that have been subject to rebuilds and now have new
engines are likely to possess a general performance increase as engine technology is much improved
compared to that available at the time of the Duke’s first appearance back in 1966. Moreover
turbocharging efficiency has also improved and these aspects are now reflected in the RealAir
Duke’s overall performance.
Spin improvements
We believe that accurate spinning, side slipping, and proper yaw response are absolutely essential
qualities for any simulated GA aircraft where spin avoidance is a key safety requirement. Although
the Duke and most other twins should not be side slipped for any extended time, and not spun
deliberately, we think it is important that any sim aircraft should react properly to pilot control
input.
In addition - and we think for the first time in any aircraft designed for FSX - The Duke will now
not only spin realistically through the classic technique of stick back at the stall and full right or left
rudder, but will also enter a spin solely by keeping the stick fully back at the stall. While a spin will
not always happen in this situation, it will if other conditions are right. You may need just a little uptrim to provoke this kind of spin.
The Duke V2 also has improved stall buffet and shake dynamics with accompanying sounds, together
with high G effects. If you pull too much angle of attack at certain speeds the Duke will respond with
accelerated stalls, wing drops, incipient spins and full spins.
Engine Improvements
More realistic start-up and shut-down
Using new animation techniques and flight model engine enhancements, we have extended the
start up time so that instead of the default almost instant piston engine starting seen in most addon
aircraft, there is an appropriate delay which reflects a coldish engine. To enhance this start up, left
and right propellers do not turn at exactly the same speed or take exactly the same time to fire the
engine. In addition, torque vibration affecting the airframe is fully represented and not only that, its
strength is adjustable through options in the config panel.
Smoother response to RPM changes
In addition to the flight model improvements, the response to prop and engine controls have been
vastly improved in the Duke Version 2. Conventionally, FSX has been poor at providing smooth and
accurate response to fine or coarse propeller angle changes. In default FSX piston aircraft you will
notice that any more than very slow changes in propeller pitch using the prop control levers results
in oscillations and sometimes wild fluctuations in the propeller rpm readings on the rpm gauge.
Moreover FSX propeller angle changes were not properly reflected by a changed tone in engine note.
In V2 we have overcome these limitations. You will find that after take-off if you wish to reduce
the prop rpm to a typical climb rpm or perhaps even lower for the cruise, the props react almost
instantly and with minimum oscillation or instability.
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Improved sound changes with RPM changes
In addition to the smoother RPM changes, you will hear the note of the combined engine and prop
sounds not only lower substantially in pitch or note as you reduce RPM, but also in volume. Thus
cruising or climbing at 2000 rpm will produce a more accurate and substantially quieter and less
intrusive sound level, when compared to flying at maximum RPM.
Improved stereo separation
In the original RealAir Piston Duke our customers appreciated the wide stereo separation and
extremely convincing dynamic sounds of the Duke’s engines. In Version 2 we have gone further still
in making the core engine sounds very widely separated so that the left engine really does emanate
from the left and vice-versa with the right. The engine sounds have also been further tweaked so
that the overall engine note is perfectly coordinated between interior and spot views, and spot view
uses the full potential of stereo placement of different timbres of sound depending what your view
angle is.
Please note that our engine sounds work best with a simple stereo speaker setup. Using 4 channel
surround sound will not improve the sound quality or enhance the simple but effective stereo
separation. While FSX claims to support surround sound, in practice there is nothing to be gained
beyond a conventional stereo/2 channel setup.
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RealView - Advanced Sound and Animation Effects
Included with the Duke V2 is a comprehensive collection of advanced animation and sounds effects.
A Brief History of RealAir’s RealView Effects
As far back as 2004, RealAir Simulations was the first developer to include animation and
aerodynamic effects which enhanced the standard behaviour of FSX aircraft. We were the first to
implement pilot inertia view effects in FS2004, and Microsoft adopted a similar effect in their first
release version of FSX.
We went on to provide engine failures with oil, smoke and flames in our Spitfire, and were the first
developer to introduce convincing stall buffet sound and visual effects in all of our aircraft. Many of
these and similar effects were then adopted by other developers, who then took our innovations and
went a few steps beyond.
Starting with the RealAir Legacy, and now with the Duke B60 V2, these custom sound and animation
effects are the most advanced offered in an FSX aircraft. The RealView effects are present in all
stages of flight, from startup to taxiing, take off, manoeuvring, and landing.
The RealView effects are not a separate addon for which we charge a separate price, but are an
integral part of this aircraft, having been designed in great detail to suit the specific characteristics of
the Duke. They have also been designed to work together in a seamless, harmonised way.
Airframe vibrations, yoke and aileron flutter, plus accompanying sounds when flying above Vne
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List of RealView Advanced Effects
Please note: Most of these advanced effects are user-adjustable or can be switched off individually.
ü Needle and cockpit vibrations, both of which you can customise in strength or turn off completely.
ü Engine start-up and shut-down propeller torque effects. When you start-up or shut-down either
engine, the cylinder compression in the big piston engines creates a torque reaction that gently
rocks the Duke’s airframe. This effect is perfectly coordinated with accompanying sounds.
ü Stall buffet effects that feature a newly designed ‘shake’ of the airframe when you are on the cusp
of a stall.
ü High G sounds and subtle animations when you pull substantial amounts of positive G.
ü Hard landing effects which shake the aircraft and create a visible and audible ‘thump’ when you
land. The softer your landings (in flying parlance a ‘greaser’) the less noticable this effect will be,
while the harder your landings the more violent the effect. You can fine-tune the strength of this
effect or turn it off altogether.
ü Runway surface vibration effects as you taxi and take off, also customisable.
ü Gentle flap vibrations at normal speeds.
ü Complete flap failure simulation. If you fly with the flaps down above their safe operating speeds,
you will hear the flaps ‘fluttering’ and see violent flap vibrations. If you ignore these warnings and
continue without retracting the flaps or slowing down you will hear a loud bang as the flap control
mechanisms fail. If this happens you will be unable to retract or extend the flaps, and the flaps
will vibrate violently in the air stream. Only a landing and slowing down on the runway will stop
the vibrations. Reloading the Duke will restore the flaps to their working state. This effect can be
enabled or disabled.
ü If you exceed VNE the whole airframe will shake, subtlely at first then becoming more violent,
accompanied by vibrations in the yokes and ailerons. This alerts you to the immediate need to slow
the Duke down to avoid further damage. This effect is adjustable in the config panel.
ü As you lower the landing gear you will hear and feel the wheels as they lock down and as they
retract into the wing wells. These effects are accompanied by a multitude of sound effects which
harmonise with the animations.
ü Lowering the landing gear exposes the struts and wheels to the airstream and you will hear the
wind creating drag on the struts in the form of a low pitched rumble.
ü The cabin door, when opened on the ground, will cause a rise in engine and airstream noise if
the engines are running. Above a certain speed, either on the runway or while flying, attempting to
open the door will result in similar sounds but the door will also only partially open as the airstream
fights to keep it shut. The faster you go the louder the airstream and engine sounds. The door will
only fully open at or below taxi speed. Above this speed the airstream holds the door partially
closed, with appropriate animations of the door ‘straining’ against the wind.
ü The folding table animation is perfectly coordinated with appropriate sounds as the table opens
and closes.
ü Inside the cockpit the yokes move smoothly in response to autopilot and trim commands.
ü When you add up trim, not only does the elevator trim-tab move down, the elevators deflect
upwards and the control yokes moves aft. This effect is speed sensitive just like in real life - for
example at standstill you’ll see no control surface or yoke movement, only the trimtab will move.
The ailerons and rudder respond in the same way.
ü A comprehensive set of aerodynamic sound effects (see below).
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Aerodynamic Sound Effects
As you manoeuvre around the sky, a comprehensive collection of sound effects will react to your
attitude, airspeed and control yoke input. These sounds do not just switch on and off and are not
fixed like a generic effect. There are literally hundreds of separate instances of these sounds which
smoothly transform in volume and intensity according to the type of pitch, roll and yaw manoeuvre
you execute, and in addition these effects can be influenced by changes in outside wind-speed,
direction changes, gusts and wind sheer.
For example, if you gently roll the aircraft with small aileron movements, you will not hear any
sound effect. But if you are above a certain speed and bank the Duke more positively, you will hear
a subtle airstream effect as the wings slice through the air. If you pull the yoke back beyond a gentle
amount then (depending on your airspeed) you will hear the change in airflow over the wings, and
when positive G exceeds a certain amount you will hear louder airflow effects and the straining of
the airframe structure. If you attempt to yaw the Duke beyond a small amount, for instance if you
are deliberately side-slipping or making an uncoordinated turn, you will hear the airstream change
in volume and intensity as it collides asymmetrically with the fuselage. This effect can also kick in
during a spin or in steep turns at low speed when the fuselage gets out of alignment with the Duke’s
heading. Generally speaking, all these sound effects change dynamically according to your airspeed,
attitude and control input.
Many of the other advanced RealView sound effects work in concert with the animated effects. For
example when the landing gear is raised or lowered you will hear the doors shut and the ‘thump’
of the wheels hitting the stops inside the gear well or a ‘bump’ as the struts extend to fully open
position. You will also hear the gear doors open and shut.
Yet More Sound Effects
Each switch, dial, rotary control, knob and button has not only an accompanying sound but these are
customised to suit the position and type of the switch in question. Even the armrests subtlely squeak
as you move them, and quietly ‘thud’ into the upper position or quietly ‘clunk’ as they engage into
their cradles when moving downwards.
Sound Effect Volumes
For information on balancing the custom sound effects with the standard FSX sounds, please see the
‘Setup Guide - Balancing the Sound Effect Volumes’ section on page 17 below.
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Setup Guide
Advanced Animations
The custom 3D landing lights in the The Duke V2 rely on the ‘skinned mesh’ animation technique. In
order for these animations to work you must have ‘advanced animations’ enabled in FSX. To do this,
go to ‘Settings/Display/Graphics’ and make sure ‘advanced animations’ is ticked. There is virtually no
disadvantage in having this option ticked all of the time, as it will not cause any drop in frame rates
and almost all FSX aircraft these days will be using skinned mesh animations in one way or another,
so it is well worth keeping this setting enabled.
The Duke V2 landing and taxi lights will only be visible when ‘Advanced animations’ are enabled.
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Flight Model Realism
Important! Many of the core features of the RealAir Duke V2 will only work properly if your realism
settings in FSX are adjusted correctly. Our flight model relies on having the general realism slider in
your FSX aircraft menu to be set FULLY RIGHT. Even one tiny notch less than maximum general realism
will disable all the painstaking features we have built into the flight aerodynamics. You will need
general realism to be set to maximum for the correct roll rate, yaw control, side-slipping, stalling and
spinning, and in fact all general handling, to be as we intended.
It is essential to set the ‘General’ realism slider to 100%
In order to enable gear up landings (so-called “belly landings”) you will need to switch off the
collision detection in FSX’s realism menu. Keeping it switched on is not only unrealistic but instead
of belly landing FSX will close the flight when you collide with an object or overstress the airframe.
P-factor, which tends to turn piston engine aircraft to the left, especially with a high angle of attack
and high engine power, is best set with the slider halfway, but not much less if you want realism. The
Duke V2 does not require much right rudder on the take off run but does require a little right rudder
at low speed and high power.
Propeller Torque factor, which tends to slightly roll an aircraft to the right with sudden or high
power and a high angle of attack, is not much of a problem in the Duke. While there is some tendency
to roll it is not at all prominent. We recommend setting the Torque slider anywhere between halfway
and two thirds.
Gyro drift is exaggerated in FSX and we recommend you set this slider well to the left.
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Joystick Settings
We recommend setting your main joystick or yoke control similarly to the illustration below. Placing
the sensitivity sliders to approximately one third will ensure that you can have fine control of
the first third of joystick movement for pitch and roll, while still allowing full deflection for more
extreme manoeuvres. This affects slewing however, and if you find that using your joystick for
slewing results in sluggish slewing movement, you might wish to set the sensitivity sliders a little
higher.
Recommended control sensitivity settings
Video Card Settings
It is essential to enable anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering in your video card settings.
Without AA enabled the 3D panel and gauges will appear ‘jaggy’, and the 3D gauges will appear
to have severe ‘shimmering’. 2x AA is the absolute minimum we recommend. Any video card
manufactured in the last few years will be capable of running 4x AA with almost no reduction in
frame-rates. The higher the AA setting you use, the better the panel and gauges will look, and the
less shimmering you’ll see, but it is essential to balance this against getting adequate, stutter-free
frame-rates.
Generally speaking 4x AA is a safe bet. 8x AA will only yield a small visual improvement over 4x, and
on most video cards 8x AA will produce a very noticable frame-rate reduction. This is even more so
with 16x AA. Low frame-rates, and frame-rate stuttering will mean the Duke will not handle nearly
as well as it would at higher frame-rates, so it is definitely worth being conservative with your AA
settings (see the ‘Frame-Rates’ section below).
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Exterior Model Options
Within the Duke V2 Config Panel is an option that allows you to choose whether or not you want to
keep the VC textures loaded in memory while in the exterior views.
For most systems we recommend selecting ‘Keep VC textures loaded in memory while in exterior views’.
Choosing this setting means there will be absolutely no time spent waiting for textures to load when
you switch back to the VC view after being in any one of the exterior views - the VC textures will
appear to ‘instantly’ load.
In contrast, if you select ‘Do not keep VC textures loaded in memory while in exterior views’, then
the time it takes for the VC textures to load when you switch to VC view can be quite long. This
setting will use less system resources when in exterior views and is the recommended setting for
multiplayer flying or if flying on an older PC with below average performance.
Both settings will result in identical fps in VC view. You are only likely to notice a difference in exterior
views or in multiplayer.
Frame-Rates
While many sim forums are awash with tweaks and FSX.cfg settings which attempt to extract every
possible performance improvement out of FSX, some of these tweaks can actually make things
worse, or at best offer some improvement while at the same time increasing the possibilities
of a crash, freeze, display issue or other stability problem that rarely is caused by any loaded
aircraft alone. Running the Duke with your sliders all at maximum is not recommended until you
have first flown the Duke on modest or low graphic settings. Thereafter we recommend that you
gradually increase the detail in scenery and other graphical options until you arrive at a workable
compromise.
Many of the Duke’s flying characteristics rely on a reasonably high and smooth frame rate of
approximately 30 fps in order for the flight model to display at its best. While 25 fps is adequate for
procedural flying (for example navigating under autopilot) a frame rate much below this will start to
affect the fluidity and fidelity of the aerodynamic responses, together with far less pleasing movement
and manual pilot control input.
Using a modest but reasonably up to date computer, you should be able to easily achieve 30 frames
per second in the Duke, provided you are not at large, graphically intensive airports, or are using
heavy amounts of road or air traffic.
Higher specified computers should be able to deliver a higher frame rate than this.
Loading the Duke V2 For the First Time
When loading the Duke V2 for the first time, FSX will inform you that it wants to run a custom
RealAir gauge. Click ‘OK’ to allow this gauge to be loaded, after which FSX will not need your
permission again.
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Balancing the Sound Effect Volumes
All the custom sound effects, including flaps, gear, extra wind effects (apart from normal airspeed
wind), stall buffet, G effects, aileron flutter, flap vibrations and other custom sounds are set in terms
of master volume so that they balance well within the custom sound suite. Therefore to balance
them with the default FSX controlled sounds like cockpit, environment (meaning normal wind
sounds), and engine volumes, you will need to adjust the three main sound sliders so that they
balance to your satisfaction with the custom sounds. For example, to hear louder custom sounds as
described in the above sections, turn down the engine volume slider. To turn down the custom sound
effects, increase the three main sound sliders then turn down the overall volume of your speakers. In
this way you can fine tune the balance between nearly all of the available sounds.
As a general rule, we recommend setting all three sound sliders initially at between half and two
thirds, then re-balance these sliders together with your overall speaker volume in order to achieve
the overall sound balance you prefer.
Use the FSX Sound Settings dialog to balance the custom sound volumes.
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Config Panel
The configuration panel is central to setting up the Duke exactly as you wish. It enables you to
control many aspects of the Duke’s graphics, sounds and special effects, in addition to options for the
integration of RXP’s GNS gauges, The config panel is accessible through a short cut placed on your
desktop, or you can open it by navigating in windows to your FSX\RealAir\Duke B60 V2 folder.
The Realism Options page of the Duke V2 Config Panel
Important Note! We highly recommend installing the Duke V2 ‘as administrator’ even if you
have windows User Account Control switched off. We also recommend that each time you run the
configuration panel you right click on the short cut (represented by the Blue RealAir Logo) and run
the config app also ‘as administrator’. This will ensure that all the changes and options you make are
properly saved and implemented when you load the Duke in FSX.
While being similar to the original B60 config panel, this new version expands the number of
options available to you, and accessing these options simply requires opening the appropriate tab
then clicking on the radio buttons for each option. Most of the options are self-explanatory. We
recommend first flying the Duke with the default options enabled.
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Changing Settings ‘On the Fly’
Not only are options available for graphics, sounds, visual and sound effects and a host of other
variations possible, but the Duke V2 can load these options without having to restart FSX. In order to
change options while still running FSX, please do the following:
1. Change your screen to windowed mode if it is not already in that state, by pressing ALT ENTER on
your keyboard.
2. Pause if necessary (you can set FSX so it does this automatically in the next step).
3. Minimise the window. FSX will now be ‘suspended’ but still running.
4. Open the Config Panel and change or choose your different options, press save then exit.
5. Now maximise FSX or press ALT ENTER again to go full screen, then press the ‘reload aircraft’ key.
Handy tip: To use the ‘reload aircraft’ command, you must assign a key to it by going to ‘Options Settings - Controls’ in FSX. For detailed help on how to do this, see the ‘Trouble-Shooting - Reload
aircraft’ section on page 59 of this guide.
Config Panel Options Explained
The Duke V2 config panel is very simple to use. Most of the options are straight-forward and require
no further explanation. However some options might not be obvious to all. Below we explain some
of those less-obvious options.
ADF dip
In real-life, while tracking an NDB station, bank angle can have a small effect on the ADF needle
reading. This error is greatest when travelling directly towards or away from an NDB, and reduces
to zero when travelling at 90 degrees to the NDB. This error can make flying an NDB approach much
more challenging.
If you would like to see this ADF dip error simulated in the RealAir Duke, select ‘ADF Dip Enabled’ on
the Realism Options page of the Config Panel.
If you would prefer the ADF needle to point directly towards the NDB station at all times, select ‘ADF
Dip Disabled’ on the Config Panel / Realism page.
Advanced users: In real life the magnitude of the ADF dip varies depending on the aircraft and how
the ADF aerial is setup. We have simulated a moderately strong ADF dip, intended to help real-world
pilots practice dealing with this phenomenon. If you feel that it is too strong or too weak as it is, and
you are familiar with editing FSX XML gauges, you can alter the strength of the ADF dip. To do this
navigate to ‘SimObjects/Airplanes/RealAir Duke B60 V2/panel/config’ and open ‘AdfDip.xml’. In
the comments section of this file you will find instructions on how to modify the ADF dip strength.
Please note this is for advanced users only! We only recommend you try this if you are familiar with
modifying FSX XML gauges! If you do not modify this file correctly the ADF dip simulation may stop
working altogether. Be sure to backup this file before modification so you can revert to the original
file if necessary.
Suspension settings
Another new addition to Version 2 is the tarmac or grass suspension option. FSX runways have
broadly two kinds of surfaces: those with no ridges or bumps and these are generally runways at
large or regional airports. Some smaller FSX airfields have tarmac or concrete runways which have
an artificially imposed set of regular ‘bumps’ and undulations. These are somewhat unconvincing,
19
as are similar undulations on nearly all grass runways. The grass runways especially create a
uniform and rather predictable suspension oscillation and can also create exaggerated drag as a
consequence of the exaggerated friction in default grass runways and the bucking movement of
aircraft suspension and wheels.
We have made efforts to overcome these anomalies through the ‘grass’ suspension option. This can
be used with both hard and soft surfaces and its effect is to dampen and smooth out the artificial
undulations, while the ‘Tarmac’ suspension stiffens up the Duke’s struts and springs and encourages
more of a ‘bounce’ when landing heavily on hard surfaces.
If you are using a lot of grass runways in a given FSX session we recommend switching on ‘grass’
suspension and also opting for the ‘unsealed’ touchdown and roll sounds which ensure that you do
not get an unrealistic ‘chirp’ when landing on grass when the tires contact the ground.
Both of these options can be changed with FSX running - simply save the changes then reload the
Duke for the changes to take effect (as described in the ‘Changing settings on the fly section’ above).
Flap failure
On the Realism Options page you will find the ‘Flap Failure’ option. When this is enabled it is
possible to irreparably damage the flaps by flying above the safe flap extension speed (known by
pilots as ‘Vfe’). In the Duke the maximum safe speed for the first stage of flaps (or ‘approach flaps’) is
a very handy 174kt, and for full flaps it is 140kt.
Handy tip: The maximum safe speed for full flaps is represented by the end of the white radial line on
the airspeed indicators. In addition for quick reference while flying, all of the maximum operating
speeds for the Duke are listed on the ‘Airspeed Limitations’ placard located on the right-hand wall of the
cockpit, above the co-pilot’s seat and below the co-pilot’s side window.
If you fly above 174kt with approach flaps extended or above 140kt with full flaps extended the flaps
will eventually fail. When the flaps fail you’ll hear a loud bang followed by a clattering sound as the
flaps flutter freely in the breeze. When this happens it will no longer be possible to lower or retract
the flaps, instead when you attempt to move the flaps you’ll briefly hear the flap motor straining as it
attempts to move the damaged flap mechanism.
To repair the flaps and get them working again, simply reload the Duke in FSX.
GPS options
On the Panel Options page of the Config Panel you’ll find a number of GPS options. You have the
option to use either the ‘default GPS 500’ gauge, or one or both of the Reality XP GNS gauges.
Please note: although functionally similar to the standard FSX gauge, the ‘default FSX GPS 500’ in
the Duke V2 has a custom 3D modelled face with custom 3D modelled knobs and buttons, custom
lighting, as well as custom button and knob interactivity.
If you own either or both of the Reality XP GNS gauges, you can integrate these into the Duke using
the appropriate options in the Panel Options page of the Duke V2 Config Panel. If you do not own
either of the Reality XP GNS gauges you will only be able to select the ‘default GPS 500’ option.
The Reality XP GNS gauges are sold separately by Reality XP (see www.reality-xp.com for more
information). We have no connection with Reality XP and cannot provide support for any of their
products.
For more detailed information on RXP GNS gauges and their integration in the Duke’s panel, please
see the ‘Reality XP Integration’ section of this guide.
20
The Panel Options page of the Duke V2 Config Panel
Knob/switch interactivity options
Other options on the Panel Options page are for the interactivity of the radio and gauge tuning knobs
and buttons. All the switches, knobs and radio buttons on the Duke panel can be moved in several
different ways, but almost all of them can be moved by use of the mouse scrolling middle button.
This combined with the other options gives you a completely customised control over all of the
gauges and radios in the Duke. See the ‘Operating the Radios and Gauges’ section of this guide for
more information.
VC view click-spots
On the ‘Graphics Options’ page you’ll find an option that allows you to enable or disable the VC view
click-spots. If you’re not already aware, the VC view click spots allow you to jump between VC views
at the click of a button to quickly and easily zoom in on the more important gauges and switches.
Please see the ‘Virtual Cockpit - VC view click-spots’ section of this guide on page 28 for more
information.
Please note: if you didn’t like the VC view click-spot navigation method in our original B60 Duke or
Turbine Duke, please give it another try in this Version 2 Duke. We have made the VC view click-spots
smaller and provided ample separation between VC view click-spot areas and the other switch and
knob click-spot areas so it is now virtually impossible to accidentally change VC views when you really
wanted to click on a switch or knob. We believe the revised VC view click-spots mean there is now
virtually no down-side to using this method.
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RealView options
The RealView page of the Config Panel allows fine control over many of the custom animations that
are included with the Duke.
For more information on each of the RealView animation effects, please view the ‘RealView’ section
of this guide.
Each slider controls the strength of each of the RealView animation effects. In other words moving
a slider to the right will make the effect it controls more obvious. Moving any one of the sliders to
the left will make the effect more subtle, and moving a slider all the way to the left will completely
disable that particular animation effect.
The RealView page of the Duke V2 Config Panel
A note on ‘shimmering’: The ‘Ground roll vibration’ and ‘Engine vibration on ground’ effects both move
the entire cockpit relative to the pilot’s eye-point. This can cause some items in the cockpit to appear
to ‘shimmer’ as they quickly vibrate back and forth. Moving either of these two sliders to the right will
tend to exaggerate this shimmering. Shimmering is an unwanted by-product of the way FSX renders
3D objects on the screen. Increasing your video card’s anti-aliasing (AA) settings can significantly
reduce this shimmering. Most modern video cards can comfortably run 4x AA with little to no drop
in framerates, and higher settings than this will reduce shimmering even further. But it is extremely
important to not set AA so high that it reduces framerates, because low framerates will make the
Duke (and any FSX aircraft) handle poorly. If you don’t like this shimmering and would prefer to keep
AA settings low, you can opt to turn off the ‘Ground roll vibration’ and ‘Engine vibration on ground’
altogether.
22
Exterior model options
On the ‘Graphics Options’ page of the Duke V2 Config Panel you’ll find an option that allows you to
choose whether or not you want to keep the VC textures loaded in memory while in the exterior
views.
For most systems we recommend selecting ‘Keep VC textures loaded in memory while in exterior views’.
Choosing this setting means there will be absolutely no time spent waiting for textures to load when
you switch back to the VC view after being in any one of the exterior views - the VC textures will
appear to ‘instantly’ load.
In contrast, if you select ‘Do not keep VC textures loaded in memory while in exterior views’, then
the time it takes for the VC textures to load when you switch to VC view can be quite long. This
setting will use less system resources when in exterior views and is the recommended setting for
multiplayer flying or if flying on an older PC with below average performance.
Both settings will result in identical frame-rates in VC view. You will only notice a difference in exterior
views or in multiplayer.
Sound options
The Sound Options page offers just one option that allows you to change between ‘tarmac’
touchdown sounds and ‘grass’ touchdown sounds.
The ‘tarmac’ sounds provide the tyre-squeal touchdown sound associated with hard, sealed surfaces
such as tarmac and concrete.
The ‘Grass’ sounds are intended for use on softer, unsealed surfaces such as grass and dirt. These
sounds do not trigger a squealing or ‘chirping’ sound on touchdown.
The grass and tarmac sound options are intended to be used in tandem with the grass and tarmac
suspension options provided on the Realism Options page, but of course you can mix and match
these as you prefer.
Trouble-Shooting the Config Panel
Please go to the ‘Trouble-Shooting - Config Panel’ section on page 62 for information on how to
solve any Config Panel problems you may encounter.
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Virtual Cockpit
Pilot’s panel featuring 3D gauges and switches
In the RealAir Duke’s virtual cockpit, you will find an environment in which the views are crisp, clear,
beautifully curved and moulded, and there are controls which are smoothly animated and a pleasure
to use. All the gauges, gauge needles and so on are truly three dimensional. That is to say that if you
zoom in and angle or pan your view, every aspect of the gauges maintain a realistic degree of depth.
The panel layout reflects a typical Beechcraft Duke IFR panel as you would see it today. Most
currently operating Dukes have had their original gauges and radios replaced with more modern
equivalents at least once. This is also the case with our simulated version of the Duke.
Many of the original flight/nav gauges have been replaced with more modern Bendix/King gauges
while the antiquated radios in the original Duke have been replaced with digital Bendix/King units. A
Garmin GPS 500 is also present on the panel, which obviously wouldn’t have been fitted to a Duke at
time of manufacture. The panel in our Duke reflects a fairly typical panel upgrade as would be seen in
a Duke that is operating currently. It was designed to have good ergonomics during IFR flight.
Almost all Dukes are privately owned—it is very rare to see a rental Duke so the condition of the
panel and cockpit in our version simulates a well looked after privately owned aircraft. The condition
of the panel, cockpit and exterior is high with only minor wear.
Every switch, gauge, dial etc can be operated via the virtual cockpit. The primary flight instruments
are mirrored from the pilot’s seat (left) to the co-pilot’s seat (right), but the panel is designed around
the pilot’s seat especially for IFR flight.
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Why no 2D panels?
RealAir Simulations was one of the first developers to abandon the old-style traditional ‘2D panels’
in both FS9 and FSX. Our reasoning was this: We make our 3D virtual cockpits and panels so smooth,
efficient and life-like that there is simply no need for the old style ‘2D panels’.
We give you options in our various views to focus in on a ‘fixed’ 3D view just like the traditional
panels used to appear in flight simulator. But the difference is that our 3D panels are sharper, clearer
and run more smoothly than any of the older style panels, thus making ‘2D panels’ in our aircraft
entirely redundant.
If you are new to this concept we urge you to compare and see the difference! Not only can you
pan, zoom and position yourself wherever you choose, but you can also cycle through many view
options, some of which are ‘fixed’ views that enable you to concentrate on the task in hand. For more
information see the Views sections of this guide.
Co-pilot’s panel
The Duke’s gauges are all created as 3D objects with animated parts, in exactly the same way a 3D
modeller would create a retractable undercarriage, aileron or flap for an FSX aircraft. This means
that the gauges are not only truly three dimensional, but the needle movement is tied in to your core
flight simulator frame rate to give the smoothest gauge animation possible. For example, if you are
able to run FSX at 30 frames per second then your gauges will update at 30 fps. If you can run FSX
at 90fps then the gauges will also update at 90fps. In effect this means the gauge animations appear
completely smooth.
By contrast the gauges in most FSX virtual cockpits are made as two dimensional gauges which are
then applied to flat surfaces on the VC panel. Gauges made in this way are limited to a maximum of
18 fps but in practice they often refresh at an even lower rate than that, so they tend to appear jerky
in their movement.
25
Views
Navigating your way around the panel
There area number of methods by which you can zoom in on a portion of the panel in order to see
more detail. The first and most obvious is to use the standard pan and zoom keys in FSX, but that
is not always the quickest or easiest approach. In the sections below we detail the other navigation
methods you can use in our Duke.
The custom light switch view
Custom VC Views
In the Duke virtual cockpit, there are multiple custom VC views that can be accessed by pressing the
‘A’ key to cycle between these custom views. For example when you first load the Duke, FSX defaults
to the main pilot VC view (left seat). If you wish to jump to the co-pilot’s seat, press the ‘A’ key. This
view is very useful, for example, when making right hand turns on to a final approach, where the copilot has a better view.
The Pressurisation controls view (left) and the fuel selector view (right).
26
For the other views press ‘A’ key yet again, or to reverse the cycle of views, press ‘Shift A’. These focus
more closely on a number of fixed views in order to see various functions, gauges and switches.
Every switch or function has at least one view where you can see and use the relevant control.
The rear-seat cabin view
Below is a list of the interior views, which cycle step by step with the ‘A’ key or cycle in reverse with
the ‘Shift A’ keys:
è Pilot View (left seat).
è Co-pilot View (right seat).
è IFR Main Instruments.
è Radios and GPS.
è Light Switches.
è Environment Controls (pressurisation and heating).
è Fuel Selector Switches.
è Cabin - front row looking forward.
è Cabin - front row looking aft.
è Cabin - right rear seat looking out the window over the wing.
è Cabin - right rear seat looking forward.
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VC view click-spots
The Duke VC panel features hidden click-spots to make it easy to jump between the various camera
VC views. The image below shows where each click-spot is located and the legend below this image
explains the function of each click-spot.
Left-click to jump to the ‘IFR Main Instruments’ view.
Right-click to jump to the main VC view.
Left-click to jump to the ‘Radios and GPS’ view.
Left-click to jump to the ‘Co-pilot’ view.
Left-click to jump to the ‘Light Switches’ view.
Left-click to jump to the ‘Environment Controls’ view.
Disabling the VC view click-spots
If you are a Track-IR user or prefer not to have this feature, it can be disabled via the Duke’s Config
panel. To do this open the Config Panel, go to the ‘Graphics Options’ page and select ‘Disable VC-view
click-spots’.
Please note: if you didn’t like the VC view click-spot navigation method in our original B60 Duke or
Turbine Duke, please give it another try in this Version 2 Duke. We have made the VC view click-spots
smaller and provided ample separation between VC view click-spot areas and the other switch and
knob click-spot areas so it is now virtually impossible to accidentally change VC views when you really
wanted to click on a switch or knob. We believe the revised VC view click-spots mean there is now
virtually no down-side to using this method.
28
VC view keyboard shortcuts
To make navigating the extra VC camera views even easier, you can assign keyboard shortcuts within
FSX. By default two key commands are already set, they are as follows:
F9: Jump to the main VC view.
F10: Jump to the ‘IFR Main Instruments’ view.
Assigning keyboard shortcuts to jump between VC views
You can add keyboard shortcuts for some of the other Duke VC views, but it is necessary to manually
add these shortcuts via the FSX control assignment menu. This is done as follows:
è In FSX, navigate to ‘Options/Settings/Controls’.
è Click on the ‘Buttons/Keys’ tab.
è In the Assignments box, under the Event heading, scroll down until you see ‘View Camera 5
(Select)’. You need to assign keys to this event plus the four events below it. Specifically these events
are attached to the following Duke VC camera views:
View Camera 5 (Select): ‘Co-pilot (right seat)’ view.
View Camera 6 (Select): ‘Radios and GPS’ view.
View Camera 7 (Select): ‘Light Switches’ view.
View Camera 8 (Select): ‘Environment Controls’ view.
View Camera 9 (Select): ‘Fuel Selector’ view.
You can assign a keyboard or joystick button shortcut to any of these events by selecting the event
and pressing the ‘New Assignment’ button. We recommend assigning keyboard numbers 5 through 9
for the events above. That way, when you press (for example) ‘5’ on your keyboard you’ll jump to the
Co-pilot view, and so on. For additional help on assigning keys read the FSX help documents.
Please Note: These view assignments are global across all aircraft, so any changes you make here
could potentially affect other aircraft in FSX. That is why we haven’t mapped keyboard shortcuts to
these events for you. This is a limitation of the FSX view system.
Please also note: There is a limited number of events to map views to, so not all of the Duke’s camera
views can have keyboard shortcuts assigned to them. We have chosen to map the events above to the
most important views for general flying. The other views can still be accessed by cycling through the
VC views with the ‘A’ key.
Some information on the unused ‘View Camera x’ events: The FSX view system is very limited. ‘View
Camera 0’ doesn’t work - this appears to be an FSX bug. ‘View Camera 1’ through to ‘View Camera
4’ are assigned to other views by default, for example, ‘View camera 4’ is assigned to the exterior
top-down view. This left us with only 5 views to assign to the Duke’s extra VC views, and we can only
work within the constraints of FSX.
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Mouse Interaction
Mouse wheel
All of the switches, knobs and levers in the Duke can be controlled by your mouse wheel.
è Rotate the mouse wheel forwards to move a switch or lever up, or to rotate a knob or wheel
clockwise.
è Rotate the mouse wheel aft to move a switch or lever down, or to rotate a knob or wheel anti-
clockwise.
The mouse wheel can be used at all times, no matter which of the mouse interaction methods you have
chosen in the Duke Config Panel.
Click-drag mouse interaction
By default, all of the instruments in the Duke’s VC feature a click-drag mouse interaction technique
unique to RealAir’s FSX aircraft. It works as follows:
For on/off switches: Simply click on the switch as usual.
For rotary adjustment knobs:
For example, the HSI course knob, plus many more:
è To INCREASE the value: Left-click and drag UP.
è To DECREASE the value: Left-click and drag DOWN.
For rotary knobs with an inner and an outer knob:
For example, the tuning knobs on the nav/com radios.
è To rotate the INNER KNOB anti-clockwise: LEFT-click and drag UP.
è To rotate the INNER KNOB clockwise: LEFT-click and drag DOWN.
è To rotate the OUTER KNOB anti-clockwise: RIGHT-click and drag UP.
è To rotate the OUTER KNOB clockwise: RIGHT-click and drag DOWN.
In practice the click-drag method works as follows: To tune the nav or com WHOLE digits, LEFT click
and drag on the knob. To tune the nav or com FRACTION digits, RIGHT click and drag on the same
knob.
This might sounds a little complicated from the above description, but to actually use you’ll find it
quite simple, intuitive, fast and precise. It allows the radios in particular to be adjusted in a realistic
way. No more searching for invisible mouse click areas, waiting for the mouse cursor to change. No
more clicking on the radio numbers when in real life you turn a knob to tune the radio. No more
waiting for values to slowly increase — the faster you drag the faster the values change. If you
haven’t tried this mouse interaction in any previous RealAir aircraft, we encourage you to give it a
try.
If you find you are experiencing difficulty adjusting instruments in the VC when the camera view is
moving around due to turbulence or g effects, switch to a different VC view using the ‘A’ key.
All of the zoomed in views have the camera movement effect turned off to facilitate easy instrument
mouse clicks (see the Views section for detailed information).
30
Left-click/right-click mouse interaction
Rather than the click-drag method described above, you can choose to use a more conventional leftclick/right-click mouse interaction technique in the VC.
To enable this option, go to the ‘Panel Options’ page of the Duke Config Panel and select the
appropriate options on the right hand side of the page.
The left-click/right-click mouse interaction method works as follows:
For on/off switches: Simply click on the switch as usual.
For rotary adjustment knobs:
For example, the HSI course knob, plus many more:
è To INCREASE the value—right click.
è To DECREASE the value—left click.
For knobs with an inner and an outer knob (eg the nav/com tuning knobs), you need to position the
cursor over either the inner or outer knob to affect each knob.
Left-click to move both throttle levers, right-click to move a single throttle lever
Moving the throttle, prop and mixture levers
The throttle, prop and mixture levers are controlled in the following way:
Throttle Levers:
è To move both left and right throttle levers in unison, left-click and drag on either throttle lever.
è To move just one throttle lever, right-click and drag on the desired lever.
Propeller Levers:
è To move both left and right prop levers in unison, left-click and drag on either prop lever.
è To move just one prop lever, right-click and drag on the desired lever.
Mixture Levers:
è To move both left and right mixture levers in unison, left-click and drag on either mixture lever.
è To move just one mixture lever, right-click and drag on the desired lever.
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Three-position switches
The Duke features a number of three-position switches. These switches work as follows:
è To move the switch up—right-click or move your mouse wheel forwards.
è To move the switch down—left-click or move your mouse wheel aft.
The cowl flap switches are three-position switches
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VC Details
Unique VC animations
There are a few unique animations in the VC view:
è Cabin Door: The Cabin door can be opened by clicking on the door handle and closed by clicking
on the exposed part of the open door. The cabin door cannot be opened fully above 30 kt. If you leave
the cabin door open prior to takeoff, the cabin door will be blown shut as the speed increases! If this
happens it will still be slightly ajar. Click on the door handle or press Shift-E to close it properly.
è Folding Table: You can open/close the folding table located on the right-hand cabin wall by
clicking on it with your mouse.
è Armrests: You can lower/raise the armrests by clicking on them.
è Sun Visors: These handy visors, used for cutting down the glare when facing the sun can be
flipped down, or up, by clicking the mouse on them.
Folding table - click to open or close
VC gauge shimmering
You may notice a slight ‘shimmering’ on the VC gauges. This is an unwanted by-product of their high
resolution graphics. This can be reduced by increasing anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering in your
graphics driver control panel. Increasing these values has a very positive effect on FSX graphics in
general, including the scenery, but it will reduce your framerates. See the ‘Setup Guide - Video card
settings’ section on page 15 of this guide for more information.
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Virtual cockpit construction details
The Duke has a complex, highly-detailed cockpit and cabin where every switch, gauge and needle
is modelled in 3D. To ensure unnecessary polygons or textures do not reduce frame-rates, the VC in
the Duke is made similarly to how movie sets are made. If you view the VC from anywhere within
the confines of the cabin the cockpit should appear solid and 100% convincing. If you move the eyepoint outside the cabin things might look strange, and you may notice what appear to be ‘missing’
parts. These ‘missing’ parts have been intentionally left out to improve frame-rates and to allow the
major design focus to be placed on the VC parts that really matter—the parts you can see from the
cockpit.
Panel lighting at dusk
Virtual cockpit lighting
If the virtual cockpit panel appears too dark you can switch on the lights. To switch on cockpit floodlighting click on the ‘Cockpit Lights’ switch just to the left of the throttle levers. To turn the panel
and gauge back-lighting, click on the ‘Panel Lights’ switch next to the cockpit lights switch or press
‘Shift-L’.
A feature of the panel and gauge back-lighting in the RealAir Duke is that it works at all times, day
or night, as it would in real life. In contrast the back-lighting in most other FSX aircraft only work at
night time.
34
Unusual Switches and Gauges
Most switches and gauges in the Duke V2 will be familiar to experienced sim or real world pilots.
However there are some switches and gauges whose functions aren’t immediately obvious. Below
are descriptions of some of these unusual switches and gauges:
Electrical switch panel
Inverter switch: The inverter switch is located underneath the ‘Avionics Power’ label, on the left. It
has three positions - ‘OFF’, ‘MN INV’ (Main Inverter) and ‘STBY INV’ (Standby Inverter). The Duke
is fitted with two inverters — main and standby. Most of the time you should use the main inverter,
the standby inverter is meant for use only when there is a failure of the main inverter. The job
of the inverters is to convert DC current from the batteries and generators into AC current. The
Inverter must be switched on for certain avionics to function, specifically the Attitude Indicators, the
Autopilot and the various anti-icing heaters.
Warning lights - test: Press this button to check whether all the annunciator lights are working.
Electrical switch panel (left) and de-ice switch panel (right)
De-Ice switch panel
These switches are located to the left and below the pilot’s main panel, and are partially hidden by
the pilot’s yoke. Click the yoke to hide it and gain a better view of these switches.
L wshld: Switches the left windshield de-icing heater on or off. FSX does not include any windshield
icing or de-icing functionality, so this switch has no function. However turning this switch on will
increase the load on the generators (see Generator Load gauges). To make the cockpit procedures
as realistic and immersive as possible it is good practice to still use this switch, ignoring the fact it
doesn’t do anything.
Fuel vent (left and right): Switches the left or right engine fuel vent heaters on/off.
Pitot left: Switches the pitot anti-ice heater on or off.
35
Prop ht: Switches the propeller de-icing heaters on or off.
Stall and R pitot: Switches the right hand pitot and stall warning heaters on or off.
Please Note: FSX does not include any functionality for a second pitot heater or stall warning heater,
so this switch has no function. Switching this switch on will however increase the load on the
generators (see Generator Load gauges). To make the cockpit procedures as realistic and immersive
as possible it is good practice to use this switch as if it did work.
Surface - one cycle/manual: This switch activates the rubber de-icing boots that are located on the
leading edges of the wings and stabilisers. In FSX, switching to either ‘One Cycle’ or ‘Manual’ will
activate the de-icing boots. In real life it is a little more complicated than this but FSX only allows for
simplified de-icing boot functionality (that is, on or off).
Pilot air: Opens the pilot’s cabin air vent. Not functional in FSX for obvious reasons.
De-frost air: Opens the windscreen de-frost air vent. Not functional in FSX.
Light switches
These switches are located to the right and below the pilot’s main panel, and are partially hidden by
the pilot’s yoke.
Tip: Click the yoke to hide it and gain a better view of the light switches.
Interior Lights (Panel and Flood): These dimmer style switches are non-functional due to FSX lighting
limitations.
Panel lights: Switches the instrument back-lighting and main panel lighting on or off.
Cockpit lights: Switches the cabin flood-lighting on or off.
Light switches (left), gyro pressure, pneumatic pressure, prop amps, and prop sync (right)
Environment and miscellaneous switches
These switches are located at the bottom of the panel, forward of the throttle quadrant and below
the copilot’s panel. Many are partially hidden by the co-pilot’s yoke. Click the yoke to hide it and gain
a better view of these switches.
Gyro Press GA pilot/co-pilot: The real-world Duke is equipped with dual regulators installed in the
instrument pressure system. In the real aircraft, when set to ‘PILOT’ the Gyro Pressure gauge will
indicate the pressure in the pilot’s side pressure regulator, and likewise when set to ‘CO-PILOT’ it
will indicate the pressure in the copilot’s side regulator. Please Note: This switch is not functional
in FSX, because FSX does not allow for such a relatively complex instrument pressure system. The
switch has been included in our simulated version to make the panel and procedures as close to real
as possible.
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Pneumatic pressure gauge: This instrument measures the pneumatic pressure going into the surface
de-icing boots. For this reason most of the time in normal conditions it will (and should) read
zero. When you switch the ‘SURFACE’ switch to either ‘ONE CYCLE’ or ‘MANUAL’, this gauge will
show a positive reading. See the ‘De-Ice Switch Panel’ section on page 35 of this guide for more
information on the SURFACE switch and de-icing boot functionality.
Prop amps gauge: Measures the current going into the propeller heating elements. This gauge will
read zero most of the time, and approx. 16A when the PROP HT switch is on.
Prop Sync: Switches the propeller synchroniser on or off. Prop Sync will exactly match RPM between
the left and right engines. It is quite slow to respond so patience is required to see any effect. It will
only synchronise the propellers if there is less than 50 RPM difference between the two propellers.
Cabin air controls (left), pressurisation air shut-off levers (right)
Cabin temp mode, vent blower, and cabin temp: These are controls for the cabin air conditioning
system. For fairly obvious reasons these controls have no function in FSX. For maximum realism, you
can still operate the dial/switch even though it has no function, and the Cabin Temp Mode dial will
affect the generator load (see Generator Load gauges).
Cabin pull air on: Again, for obvious reasons this control has no function in FSX. For maximum
realism, you can still operate the knob even though it has no actual function.
Pressurisation controls: See the dedicated ‘Pressurisation’ section on page 39 of this guide for
detailed information.
Pressurisation air temp levers (2): Self explanatory but as with air conditioning controls, these have
no function in FSX. For the sake of maximum realism you can still operate the levers even though
they have no function.
Pressurisation air shut-off levers (2): These shutoff the flow of air from the engines to the
pressurisation system. The cabin cannot pressurisation when both are out. See the dedicated
‘Pressurisation’ section on page 39 of this guide for detailed information.
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Circuit breakers
The circuit breakers are located to the right of the co-pilot’s panel. These are all non-functional in
FSX, because FSX does not allow functioning circuit breakers. Despite this, for maximum realism
they have still been modelled in 3D and accurately labelled.
Cowl flap switches (left) and circuit breakers (right)
Cowl flap switches
The turbocharged engines in the Duke tend to run quite hot, so to avoid over-heating the engines it
is essential to set the cowl flaps open for takeoff and climb. The cowl flaps should be closed during
cruise to reduce drag and avoid over-cooling the engine. To avoid cooling the engines too quickly
(shock-cooling) it is essential to close the cowl flaps prior to, and during descent.
It is also essential to monitor the Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT) gauges at all stages of flight to
make sure temps stay in the safe green arc. If temperatures stray outside the green, open or close the
cowl flaps as required to return CHTs to a safe temperature.
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Pressurisation
The Duke features a pressurised cabin. This means the pilot and occupants of the Duke can fly at
high altitudes without the need for oxygen masks.
The Duke Version 2 features advanced pressurisation programming that simulates cabin
pressurisation more accurately than the default FSX pressurisation coding allows.
Cruising at high altitude in the Duke’s pressurised cabin
Basic explanation of the pressurisation system
A basic explanation of how the cabin pressurisation works is as follows:
Air is pumped into the cabin under pressure at a steady rate. This pressurised air is provided by the
turbocharger compressors. On the aft cabin bulkhead are mounted two valves—the outflow control
valve and the safety valve. The ‘Pressurisation Controller’ regulates the outflow valve to maintain the
selected cabin pressure or ‘cabin altitude’ while the safety valve is connected to the dump switch as
well as the landing gear safety switch.
Cabin pressurisation is expressed in terms of ‘cabin altitude’. A cabin altitude of 10,000ft means the
air pressure in the cabin is the same as it would be at 10,000ft outside the aircraft. Increasing air
pressure in the cabin reduces cabin altitude.
The Duke cabin has a maximum pressure differential of 4.7psi, which basically means the maximum
possible difference between cabin pressure and outside air pressure is 4.7psi. In practical terms this
means the Duke can maintain a cabin pressure equivalent to sea level while flying at 10,000ft (that is
a cabin altitude of 0ft), and at the Duke’s service ceiling of 30,000ft it can maintain a cabin pressure
equivalent to roughly 13,000ft (cabin altitude of 13,000ft).
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Pressurisation Controls
The pressurisation controls are mounted on the bottom-right of the panel between the throttle
quadrant and the copilot’s yoke. The controls are as follows:
The main pressurisation controls
Altitude Selector: Click and drag on the knob in the centre of this control to set the desired cabin
altitude. This gauge has an inner and an outer reading - the outer reading represents the selected
cabin altitude while the inner reading indicates the corresponding aircraft altitude where the
maximum pressure differential will occur.
Rate Control: On the bottom left of the Altitude Selector is the rate control knob. This regulates the
rate at which cabin pressure ascends or descends to the selected cabin altitude. When the arrow
points straight up cabin altitude will climb/descend at a rate of 500 fpm.
Cabin Climb Indicator: This gauge shows how quickly the cabin altitude is rising or falling.
Cabin Altitude Indicator: This gauge displays the current cabin altitude on the outer scale, and the
current pressure differential on the inner scale.
Cabin Pressure Dump Switch: When pressed this will dump cabin pressure, causing the cabin
pressure to be equal to the outside air pressure.
Pressurisation Air Shut-off Levers: There are two pressurisation air shut-off levers. The left lever
controls air taken from the left engine, and the right lever controls air taken from the right engine.
These levers are the big red levers at the far-right-bottom of the panel, under the co-pilot’s yoke.
Cabin Door: While definitely not one of the cabin pressurisation controls - if you open the cabin
door while the cabin is pressurised the cabin will experience a rapid loss of pressure. In only a few
seconds the cabin pressure will be equal to the outside pressure.
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Using the Pressurisation Controls
Before takeoff, set the Altitude Selector to either the desired cabin altitude on the outer scale or the
planned cruising altitude on the inner scale, plus 500 ft. Before descent to landing, the outer scale
should be set to the field elevation plus 500 ft. Use the Rate Control to adjust how quickly the cabin
pressure increases (Cabin Altitude descends) or decreases (Cabin Altitude ascends).
If the cabin differential pressure reaches its maximum and the aircraft is still climbing the cabin
altitude will climb with the aircraft altitude.
When cabin altitude goes over 10,000ft an annunciator labelled ‘CABIN ALT’ will light on the main
annunciator panel. With maximum pressure differential this will occur at approximately 25,000 ft
aircraft altitude.
The maximum rate at which the cabin can pressurise is approximately 2000 ft/min. It a good idea to
set the cabin rate as low as is practical so that you and your passengers do not suffer ear discomfort!
Make sure both pressurisation shut-off levers are in their off position (both levers in). If you
close one of the shut-off levers, the maximum rate at which the cabin can pressurise is reduced to
approximately 1200 ft/min. Likewise, if one engine is shut-down, the maximum rate at which the
cabin can pressurise is reduced to approximately 1200 ft/min.
If both engines are shut-down, or both pressurisation shut-off levers are placed in the off position,
the cabin will slowly de-pressurise at a rate of approximately 200 ft/min as pressurised air slowly
leaks from the cabin into the atmosphere. Cabin pressure will eventually stabilise when it matches
the outside air pressure.
If you land while the cabin is pressurised, a switch connected to the landing gear suspension struts
will automatically open the cabin pressure dump valve, de-pressurising the cabin. This avoids
problems that could be associated with opening the cabin door while the cabin is pressurised. But you should plan your flight so that the cabin is de-pressurised sometime before landing.
Warning: If you attempt to open the cabin door in the air the cabin will rapidly de-pressurise!
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Standard GPS
By default, at the centre of the Duke panel is the standard FSX GPS 500 screen placed inside a
custom 3D surround, with back-lit 3D knobs and buttons. Functionally it is exactly the same as the
default 2D FSX GPS except the left and right arrows used to navigate the default FSX 2D GPS have
been replaced with the RealAir click-and-drag mouse control feature as used on all the rotary knobs
in the Duke VC.
The default GPS 500. The Nav/GPS switch can be seen at the top, far-right.
Mouse Interaction
Left-click/right-click knob option
Select the knob you want to move (inner or outer) by placing the mouse over it then:
è To rotate the knob anti-clockwise: Right-click.
è To rotate the knob clockwise: Left-click.
è To operate the GPS cursor, middle-click on the inner GPS knob or left-click just to the left of the
GPS knob (see image below).
Left-click to operate the GPS crsr control
Middle-click to operate the GPS crsr control
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Click-drag mouse interaction
As an alternative to the left/right click method, you can choose to navigate the GPS using our clickdrag technique. To select this option, go to the “Panel Options” page of the Duke’s Config Panel. This
method works as follows:
è To rotate the INNER KNOB anti-clockwise: LEFT-click and drag UP.
è To rotate the INNER KNOB clockwise: LEFT-click and drag DOWN.
è To rotate the OUTER KNOB anti-clockwise: RIGHT-click and drag UP.
è To rotate the OUTER KNOB clockwise: RIGHT-click and drag DOWN.
è To operate the GPS cursor, left-click quickly on the inner knob.
Mouse wheel
You can use the mouse-wheel to rotate the knob, you just need to position the cursor over either the
inner or outer knob to do this. You can also use the mouse-wheel to rotate the knob in the desired
direction.
2D GPS
You can access the default 2D FSX GPS by pressing ‘Shift-2’.
Additional GPS notes
On/off
You can switch off the GPS if required by clicking the on/off switch on the left side of the unit (the
small knob marked with a small c).
Nav/GPS
Immediately to the right of the Nav/Com 1 radio you will find the NAV/GPS toggle switch. If this
switch is set to ‘Nav’ then the HSI and autopilot will be slaved to the Nav 1 radio. If this switch is set
to ‘GPS’ then the HSI and autopilot will be slaved to the GPS.
Shimmering
The standard GPS screen has a tendency to shimmer. If this gets very annoying you can switch off the
GPS or you can modify the FSX VC view to remove the momentum effect (head movement). Visit the
various FSX user forums for advice.
Auto DTK or Manual DTK?
DTK stands for ‘Desired Track’. The Duke V2 Config Panel includes an option to set either ‘Auto DTK’
or ‘Manual DTK’. When the HSI is being controlled by the GPS (Nav/GPS switch set to GPS), and with
‘Auto DTK’ selected, the HSI course needle will automatically move to the GPS DTK. With ‘Manual
DTK’ selected, the HSI course needle must be manually set to the GPS DTK bearing. The latter is
more realistic for an aircraft like the Duke.
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Reality XP GNS 530/430 Integration
If you own the Reality XP GNS WAAS 530 or GNS WAAS 430, you can choose to use these units in
place of the standard FSX GPS 500. Integration of the Reality XP units is all handled by the Duke V2
Config Panel.
Duke VC panel with one Reality XP GNS 530 installed
Before setting up the Duke to use either or both of these gauges, it is important to understand the
following:
è The Reality XP GNS WAAS 530 and/or GNS WAAS 430 must be bought separately. Neither the
Reality XP GNS WAAS 530, nor the Reality XP GNS WAAS 430 are included as part of the Duke package.
è Before setting up the Duke to use the Reality XP GNS 530 and/or GNS 430, you must have one or
both of these gauges installed in FSX.
è We recommend using the Duke Config Panel to install the RXP gauges into the Duke. Following
this initial setup you can then use the RXP Configurator to modify the various RXP settings.
è Reality XP sell the GNS WAAS 530 and GNS WAAS 430 separately. If you buy and install only the
530, then you can only install the 530 into the Duke. If you buy and install only the 430, then you
can only install the 430 into the Duke. If you buy both, and install both into FSX, only then can you
install both units into the Duke.
è You can only use two of the same GNS units on one panel if you have purchased the RXP
Unlimited pack. If you don’t have this pack then you can only have one 530, one 430 or one 530 plus
one 430.
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è Crossfill is only available if you have purchased and installed the RXP Unlimited pack. This is
because the RXP gauges only support crossfill with the unlimited pack installed, which is something
we at RealAir have no control over.
New to the Duke V2 is an option to install two RXP GNS 530s into the VC panel (see conditions above)
Reality XP GNS Installation
Configuring the Duke to use the Reality XP GNS 530 and/or GNS 430
1. If you haven’t done so already, install the Reality XP GNS WAAS 530 and/or GNS WAAS 430 into
FSX (see notes in section above), using the installer provided by Reality XP.
2. Install the RealAir Duke V2 (you have probably done this already).
Please note: It is not important whether you install the Duke V2 first or the GNS WAAS 530/430 first. All
that matters is they are both installed into FSX.
3. Open the Duke V2 Config Panel and navigate to the ‘Panel Options’ page.
4. Select ‘Use Reality XP GNS 530 and/or GNS 430’.
5. This will enable a drop-down box that allows you to choose your preferred panel layout. When
you make a selection here, the image below shows how each layout looks in FSX.
6. After selecting the GNS config you prefer, click the Save button (bottom right) and exit the Config
Panel. Now when you load the Duke in FSX the Reality XP gauges will be configured according to
your selection.
Please Note: The Duke Config Panel will only allow you to install whatever GNS gauges are currently
installed onto your computer, and it will only allow cross-fill to be selected if you have the RXP
Unlimited pack installed.
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If you have neither the Reality XP GNS WAAS 530 nor GNS WAAS 430 installed into FSX, then the Reality
XP layout selection section of the Duke Config Panel will be disabled (and appear greyed-out).
Using the RXP configurator
Once the above steps have been taken the RXP gauges will be installed into your Duke V2 using the
default RXP settings. You can either leave it this way and go fly the Duke, or you can now use the RXP
configurator to alter the GNS gauge settings to your liking. There are some limitations - you must
use the Duke V2 Config Panel to select the actual panel layout and install the gauges into the Duke,
and you must use the RXP Configurator to alter the actual RXP settings (whether to have audible
warnings, etc etc).
Using the Reality XP GNS Gauges In the Duke
Mouse interaction
When installed into the Duke’s 3D panel, these gauges work identically to how they work when
installed into a 2D panel (or pop-up window). The only difference is the buttons and knobs are
modelled in 3D. All of the default click-spots and mouse interaction methods are retained. For
example—left click to turn a knob anti-clockwise, right click to turn a knob clockwise, middle click to
enable the cursor, etc etc. See the documents accompanying the Reality XP GNS WAAS 530/430 for
more information.
You may notice when using the VC-mounted GNS gauges that the custom Reality XP cursors flash
when you move the cursor. This is normal and is related to the way FSX renders the cursors on the
VC panel.
We’ve found the screens look best on the VC panel with the brightness turned down slightly.
2D pop-up
To see a 2D pop-up of the GNS units, click on the GNS screen or press ‘Shift 2’. The custom 3D knobs
and buttons are all backlit. The back-lighting is tied to the panel lights.
Nav/GPS switch
The GNS units take control of the Nav/GPS switch, so with the Reality XP GNS units installed there
is no nav/gps switch on the Duke’s panel, instead there is a button on the GNS unit to make this
selection. See the Reality XP GNS documentation for more information on how to slave the AP to the
GNS or nav radios.
Auto DTK or manual DTK?
The Duke V2 Config Panel includes an option to set either ‘Auto DTK’ or ‘Manual DTK’. DTK stands for
‘Desired Track’. When the HSI is being controlled by the GPS, and with ‘Auto DTK’ selected, the HSI
course needle will automatically move to the GPS DTK. With ‘Manual DTK’ selected, the HSI course
needle must be manually set to the GPS DTK bearing. The latter is more realistic for an aircraft like
the Duke.
Why the extra Nav/Com 1 radio with some RXP layouts?
The radio-stack layouts that use the GNS 530 on its own or the GNS 430 on its own also have a
separate Bendix King Nav/Com 1 radio mounted to the side on the panel. Strictly speaking this is not
necessary when the GNS gauges are present because they can handle all of the Nav/Com 1 duties
themselves. But, we feel our Nav/Com gauges are a little quicker and easier to tune, and the readouts
46
a little bigger and easier to read when compared to the RXP GNS units so we’ve placed them on the
panel as well. This gives you the option to use either the GNS unit or our Nav/Com 1 radio to tune
nav1 and com1 frequencies. Including this extra radio has the added benefit of making the panel
look a little better, especially with the single GNS 430 layout, which leaves a lot of empty space if you
leave out the Nav/Com 1 radio.
Trouble-Shooting
Reality XP GNS version compatibility
To avoid potential problems please make sure you are using the most up-to-date version of the
Reality XP gauges currently available. Older versions of the gauge can cause some minor, and some
major issues.
FSX version compatibility
The Reality XP GNS gauges require either FSX SP2, or FSX Acceleration to be installed to work
properly with the Duke V2.
Please visit the ‘Trouble-Shooting - Reality XP Integration’ section on page 64 of this guide for more
information on specific RXP integration problems and their solutions.
Reality XP GNS 530/430 Support
We cannot offer any support on matters relating to the operation of the Reality XP GNS WAAS
530/430—you will need to get in touch with Reality XP regarding these matters. We can only offer
support on Reality XP GNS WAAS/RealAir Duke VC integration issues.
47
Landing Lights
Custom 3D landing and taxi lights
New in the Version 2 Duke are custom 3D modelled landing and taxi lights that actually light the
terrain rather than cover the terrain in a white wash (as the default landing lights do). This method
of creating landing lights was first pioneered by Mike Johnson of Lotus Sim in his wonderful L39 and
has since been used by many other developers.
Custom 3D landing lights
The nature of these lights means they will look brighter or darker depending on the lightness or
darkness of the surface they are shining on. On very dark grey runways they will look quite dim but on
lighter grey runways they will look nice and bright. If you use a product like REX to set your runway
textures we recommend setting the runways to one of the lighter grey options to really bring out the
best in the Duke’s landing lights.
Light limitations
With these landing lights it is possible to produce much better and more atmospheric landing lights
overall, but there are some limitations that cannot be avoided. The biggest limitation occurs in low
visibility when the edges of the textures that produce the landing light become visible when they
should be invisible. This results in big square polygons being visible on the ground in front of the
aircraft when near the ground and in low visibility. We have to stress that this is a problem that is
present in all aircraft with this method of lighting, and it appears to be an insurmountable limitation
of this form of landing light. We have been able to reduce the severity of this problem to the point
where the big square polygons are only visible at early dusk and late dawn in low visibility (less
than 5 miles) - at all other times the landing lights appear natural. To do this, we needed to set the
landing lights to become visible at a very low height in low visibility, that is to say the lower the
visibility then the lower you need to be to the ground before the landing lights become visible. In
high visibility the lights will become visible at quite a high altitude. This is not ideal but we believe
it is the best compromise possible given the limitations of FSX in this regard. In real life, if you were
flying in very low visibility the landing lights would only be reflecting the fog back at you, so we
believe this is an acceptable compromise.
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Flying the Duke
Although the Duke is a twin, provided the engines are functioning normally there is little difference
between operating this type and single engine types – until of course things start to go wrong!
The following paragraphs describe operating procedures where they relate to FSX. Many, but not
all, of the actual Duke procedures are emulated in this simulation. For detailed procedures please
refer to the included Pilots Operating Handbook checklists which you can access from the kneeboard
within FSX.
Loading the Duke ‘Cold and Dark’
If you wish to operate the Duke ‘Cold and Dark’—which is loading the Duke with engines, systems
and electrical power off—there are two alternatives: One is to simply choose the ‘Cold and Dark’
starting option in the configuration panel before you run FSX. The other is to load the Duke then
switch off the engines, avionics, pumps, generators, then the battery, then save the flight after
moving to the airfield of your choice. Thereafter you can load this flight whenever you wish to fly ‘by
the book’ and add pre-set scenarios at any chosen airport and in any weather conditions. (Please see
FSX’s excellent help files and videos for more information).
Manual Engine Starts
Starting up from cold is done in this way:
1. From the left hand seat, switch on the battery then the two ‘gen’ switches on the console to the
left of the pilot’s yoke. Switch on the left and right boost pumps. Check that the prop controls are set
fully forward (fine). Make sure parking brakes are set.
2a. To simulate a realistic engine start procedure, set the mixture levers to idle cutoff. Then start
the left engine by hovering the mouse over the left starter switch, and rotating the starter switch to
the ‘start’ position. As soon as the starter motor cranks over, swiftly move the left mixture lever all
the way forward, to fully rich. The left engine will start and after several seconds the RPM and other
readings will begin to stabilise. Repeat the procedure with the right engine. Check the temperature,
pressure and other engine gauge needles are in the green area after the engines are warmed up.
2b. A simpler but slightly less realistic start procedure is to keep the mixture levers fully forward
prior to engaging the starter motor. This method can be a more reliable method of starting in FSX.
2c. When starting at high altitude you may need to lean the mixture to get a reliable start. FSX tends
to exaggerate the need to lean the mixture as altitude increases.
3. Release the parking brakes and carefully increase throttles.
4. Taxi and proceed with planned flight.
For more specific Duke starting and operating procedures please refer to the included ‘Pilots Operating
Handbook—Checklists’, or the kneeboard checklist within FSX, both of which give you more detailed
information about start up procedures.
49
General Flying Tips
Fuel and load
When you load the Duke from any other flight or aircraft, it will have the weight of two pilots, even if
you previously added or subtracted passengers or crew. To load up with a set number or preferred
weights of passengers and/or luggage please go to the aircraft menu and adjust the load, then SAVE
a flight. In the case of fuel loading it is different. The Duke will load with the same percentage of total
fuel available as the last aircraft you flew had, whether it was a Jumbo Jet or a Piper, but you can
over-ride this by again saving a flight with manually set fuel loads.
Taxiing
The Duke will taxi much like any other piston prop FSX aircraft. As with most GA aircraft in FSX
there is quite a sensitive link between the rudder and nose wheel, so care is needed when steering
on the ground.
Please note that in V2 we have removed the option to taxi the Duke with differential braking. The
real Duke’s nosewheel is connected to the rudder for ground steering and Version 2 therefore
simulates that method.
Trim
The elevator trim control is best assigned to a dedicated repeat switch on your joystick. We
recommend setting the repeat slider on this control (within FSX’s control/assignments menu)
to halfway. This generally provides a very usable trim control which you will find is excellent for
manually setting trim as you fly. You can also use the mouse to turn the trim control wheel which is
placed below and to the right of the pilot’s yoke.
In addition there are, close to the main trim wheel, two smaller trim wheels for aileron and rudder
trim. You will rarely need to use the aileron trim unless you have an asymmetrical fuel or passenger
load. It might be necessary to use a tiny amount of right rudder trim while climbing out in order to
counteract the very small amount of p-factor effect, assuming you are flying manually and not on
autopilot.
If using autopilot then the a/p itself will damp out any tendency to swing due to p-factor or torque,
especially if you select the Yaw Damper switch ON.
The elevator, rudder and aileron trim controls and indicators are located on the throttle quadrant
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Take-off
Fully loaded with fuel and passengers, the Duke usually requires one notch of flaps for take-off (this
setting is recommended for all take-offs as a matter of course but is vital if you are fully loaded).
A full complement of passengers will make the Duke somewhat tail heavy and you will therefore
need very little up-trim before take off. Too much trim could result in over-rotation with disastrous
results. With just two pilots and no passengers you will need just a little up trim to assist take off,
but not much.
Duke after take-off
Since the stall speed, fully loaded, with one notch of flaps is approaching 85 knots, you will need
around 90 knots airspeed before you begin to rotate. Always rotate gently. The Duke will become
airborne without fuss and you do not need to yank on the yoke. Once positive climb is established,
restrict climb rate so you are steadily accelerating and deploy gear up. Once safe airspeed is
established you can clean up the flaps and select a higher climb rate.
The Duke’s powerful engines exert both a p-factor and torque effect on the motion of the aircraft,
especially at low speeds on the ground and with high angles of attack when airborne. However the
initial tendency to swing left largely disappears as you gain speed down the runway for take off, and
this tendency can easily be compensated for with a little right rudder. As you rotate, the higher angle
of attack will also promote another brief moment of p-factor swing to the left, but in the Duke this is
not a serious issue.
Cowl flaps
The RealAir Duke is equipped with cowl flaps, which assist engine cooling and help regulate cylinder
head temperature when airborne. The cowl flap switches, to the left of the pilot, have three settings:
OFF, HALF and FULLY OPEN. Cowl flap management is important in keeping the engine operating
at optimum temperature, which is in the upper range of the green area on your two Cylinder Head
Temperature (CHT) gauges.
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Several combined factors influence the CHT and they can be summarised as follows:
• Climbing on full power at low speed requires cowl flaps to be opened, since there is not enough air
flow to cool the engine.
• Cruising at high speed generally cools the engine without the need for fully open cowl flaps.
• Descending at low speed with idle throttle will require cowl flaps to be either half or fully open
since again there is insufficient air flow to cool the engine.
The recommended procedure for the operation of Cowl flaps are found in the Pilots Operating
Handbook.
Power management
The RealAir Duke fully simulates the effects of outside air temperature on engine performance. For
example if you take off with an outside air temperature approaching freezing, the engines will have
considerably more power and this will be reflected in the shorter take off run and much better climb
rate than the published one.
Conversely, if you take off when the outside temperature is, say, 85 degrees Fahrenheit, available
power will be reduced and climb rate will be somewhat lower than the normal specifications.
Climbing
Climb rates and speeds vary according to conditions, load and other factors. Please see the Pilots
Operating Handbook for more details. Generally speaking, the Duke has a good climb rate and you
can expect 1800 feet per minute or more depending on load and altitude at take-off. There is no
definitive climb speed, as this depends on variable conditions, but as a yardstick, 120-140 knots is
a good average. The Duke is permitted to use full and continuous maximum power of 41.5 inches
manifold pressure at 2900 rpm in the climb but this creates undue wear on the engine. For a more
fuel efficient normal climb, set cruise climb which is 35.5 inches and 2750 rpm. The Pilots Operating
Handbook has more thorough details on this.
We have increased the maximum climb rate slighly in version 2 compared to previous versions of the
Duke. For further details see the ‘Changes to climb performance’ section on page 8 of this guide.
Prop and mixture settings
FSX tends to exaggerate the need to lean mixture while climbing. In many real aircraft, and especially
in turbocharged aircraft like the Duke, leaning should not be required, though can be selected, until
typically between 9,000 feet and 11,000 feet is attained.
Unfortunately the mixture routine in FSX does not reflect real-world specifications and we are
unable to alleviate this weakness since mixture control is hard-coded into the core simulation.
Generally speaking, the need to lean far earlier than is realistic is something you should be aware of
when flying any piston propeller aircraft in FSX.
You will realise the need to start leaning the engines when you hear a distinct drop in the engine
note and possibly an indication from a drop in Manifold Pressure at higher altitudes. When this
occurs the mixture levers need to be gradually pulled back. These levers need to be pulled even
further back once the ‘critical’ altitude is reached. This is the altitude after which the turbocharged
engines cannot generate the same power they are capable of at sea level. At altitudes above this the
Duke will require more radical leaning of the mixture and the manifold pressure will reduce even
at full throttle. In the Duke the critical altitude is around 17,000 feet above sea level at standard
temperature.
Note 1: In order to operate the mixture controls manually it is essential to turn off ‘Auto-mixture’ in
your FSX aircraft/realism menu.
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Note 2: Due to FSX limitations, the mixture control must be fine tuned along with the prop controls
and throttle settings in order to acquire the correct power, fuel flow and rpm. In FSX they are interrelated somewhat more than is so in real world operations. In order to set the correct fuel flow, first
set the manifold pressure and prop rpm to the desired value. Then slowly lean the mixture until you
see a rise in fuel flow and hear a rise in engine note. Then lean a little more until the rpm and fuel
flow begins to drop. In this way you will find the optimum economical full flow and the rpm will
settle a little lower. You can then fine tune the props so that the precise desired rpm is achieved.
Power settings at high altitude
From around 18,000 feet upwards the manifold pressure will begin to reduce even if you are
applying full throttle. This is normal and is the consequence of operating in thinner air. As you reach
the Duke’s ceiling of 30,000 feet the manifold pressure will drop to around 25-26 inches hg. In the
real Duke the reading would be more accurately 29-30 inches. This is a limitation of the power and
mixture coding within FSX, but we made efforts to make this as realistic as possible within those
limitations.
High desert cruising
Cruising
As you reach high altitudes the need for mixture leaning will increase gradually until even at almost
full lean, the manifold pressure is dropping. This, essentially, is what governs the engine’s ability to
function beyond the published ceiling, in addition to airframe limitations and safe cruising speed at
altitude. The published ceiling for the Duke is around 30,000 feet above sea level but more realistic
practical cruise altitudes are typically a good deal less than this for two reasons:
Firstly, the Duke’s pressurisation system at very high altitudes puts greater stress on the fuselage
and shortens its life, and secondly the pressurisation system is capable of maintaining safe air
pressure at altitudes up to just below 25,000 feet. Above this altitude additional oxygen may be
required to supplement the pressurisation system.
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Typical cruise power settings
Normal high cruise settings at Flight Level 250 (25,000 feet above sea level) are typically 75% power
which is full throttle using 34 inches manifold pressure at 2750 rpm. At this setting on a standard
day (ISA) the fuel flow will be 22 gallons per hour per engine (or 110 PPH indicated) for a true
airspeed of approximately 239 knots.
With a more typical lower altitude cruise for shorter journeys the settings will be, for example,
10,000 feet: 32 inches manifold pressure at 2750 rpm with a similar fuel flow of 22 gallons per
engine per hour and a true airspeed of 206 knots.
For more economical cruising a typical setting would be 55% power at 10,000 feet which equates to
27.6 manifold pressure at 2400 rpm with a fuel flow of 15-16 gallons per hour per engine and a true
airspeed of 180 knots.
Economy cruise power settings
Autopilot should be engaged in all stages of flight except for lower altitude manoeuvring, initial
climb and last stages of descent and final approach, where autopilot is optional depending on ILS or
VOR approach requirements.
Note: The ‘Pilots Operating Handbook - Charts’ PDF has some examples of cruise power settings for
a number of scenarios for various altitudes, speeds, fuel economy and range. We recommend you
look at these examples as a guide to more detailed procedures for climb and cruise management.
Descent and approach
Reduce power and descend at discretion, but keep an eye on the engine cylinder head temperatures
which should remain in the green arc range. The cowl flaps can assist in keeping temperature stable.
The engines should not be over-leaned for the descent. The gear and first stage of flaps can be
deployed at speeds below 174 knots to aid a quicker descent. Set rpm to 2750 for the descent until
close to joining a circuit or before ILS procedures when prop rpm can remain at 2750 rpm or be
changed to full fine (2900 rpm) and full rich mixture should be set. Full flaps can be deployed below
134 knots.
54
General Handling in FSX
The RealAir Duke responds very accurately and with beautifully harmonised controls in FSX and is
easy to handle manually in all manoeuvres but autopilot is advised above 8000 feet due to controls
becoming more sensitive the higher you fly, due to the thinner air at altitude. You will find the Duke
remarkably stable in all aspects of flight. There is a slight dihedral on the wings, which means, very
slowly, the wings will return to level in normal conditions if you do not bank manually or move the
ailerons.
Special handling characteristics and limitations
RealAir is well known for its first class implementation of true spinning and side slipping in FS9 and
FSX aircraft. Although the Duke is not cleared for spinning or aerobatics, it is cleared for slipping for
a maximum 30 seconds duration.
Whether it is cleared or not, we feel that all conventional aircraft should be simulated as having the
capability of a deep stall, a spin, and side slipping because, whether deliberately provoked or not, these
characteristics should always be reflected in the flight model where they are possible, since pilots
make mistakes and we feel it is logical to simulate the aircraft’s natural reaction to flying outside of its
normal envelope, provided the required parameters do not upset normal flight simulation modelling.
We have modelled all of these characteristics into the Duke. Here are the details:
Stalls
The RealAir Duke will stall predictably if the airspeed is allowed to decay and you keep the stick
back and therefore promote an angle of attack higher than that at which the wing can produce lift.
With light loads, the stall will be gentle but requires immediate recovery by a positive forward
movement of the stick and increase in engine power until safe airspeed is achieved and the wings
have regained lift. Do not pull back the stick strongly once flying speed is gained as you might
promote yet another stall.
Stalls with a full fuel and passenger load will be deeper and require more forward stick and
increased power and airspeed to recover.
Spins
Although the Duke is not cleared for deliberate spinning, it will spin. In version 2 of the Duke,
we have improved the flight model to include the possibility of a spin without any rudder at all,
provided conditions are appropriate. This for example could happen if you have selected a degree of
up-trim and you hold the stick right back after a stall, and a wing drop occurs. A spin will not always
happen without additional rudder, but in V2 the chances are now increased by using excessive back
elevator alone at the stall. A spin is however almost guaranteed if you stall and then apply full rudder
in either direction with the stick held back.
To stop a spin, perform the standard recovery by easing the stick forward and if necessary apply
opposite rudder.
Note: Trim in FSX has a profound influence on the likelihood of promoting a spin. That is because,
rather than trim in the simulator being purely a reliever of back pressure on the stick, it also tends to
add to the total amount of available elevator authority. This subject is a controversial one, and there
have been many discussions about what trim precisely does in FSX, but in practice, the higher the
trim, the more likely a high angle of attack will promote either a wing drop or spin.
Side-slipping
55
This manoeuvre is not recommended on twin engined aircraft, but in an emergency, or for training
purposes, the Duke is cleared for a maximum 30 second side slip final approach where height needs
to be lost rapidly. The technique is the same as for single engined aircraft: Cross the controls so that
you are banked one way and yawing in the opposite direction. The slip angle will increase slightly
with more power since the air stream from the props adds to the effectiveness of the rudder.
Stall special effects
The Duke V2 includes a custom stall buffet animation with accompanying sounds. The approach of
a stall will be accompanied by not just the stall warning buzzer but a mild aural and visual shaking
effect which can be seen in the Virtual Cockpit. If you initiate recovery immediately after the onset of
the buffet effect, a full stall will not develop. If you continue with a high angle of attack for more than
three to four seconds after the buffet onset, a deep stall or possibly a spin might develop.
Stall departure
Accelerated stalls
Turning steeply at low airspeed, especially with high loadings, will result in visible and audible prestall buffeting, which can develop very quickly into a wing drop, spiral dive or even a spin. As soon as
you hear and see this effect while turning, then unload the elevator and if necessary increase power
to recover full flying control.
Autopilot
The RealAir Duke comes with a fully functioning IFR autopilot. It has been tuned to provide a
reliable, smooth and elegant deployment of autopilot functions. In most normal weather conditions,
provided you do not fly the Duke beyond its recommended flight envelope, the autopilot will climb,
descend and turn with absolute reliability. It will also capture and fly an automated ILS approach
or NAV/VOR vector with safety, provided you follow correct procedures, set up your approaches
in good time and do not operate the autopilot in weather, turbulence or cross winds beyond the
56
capabilities of either the real aircraft or beyond the limitations of FSX’s core autopilot routines.
There is a detailed Autopilot guide within this package. We recommend you thoroughly absorb this
document before attempting to fly the Duke in IFR conditions.
Gear-Up and Emergency Landings
This simulation of the Duke includes full ‘belly landing’ effects. While it is not possible to simulate
undercarriage deployment failure, you can practice gear up landings by not selecting gear down and
flying a careful approach for a gear up landing. In order for the effects to be seen and heard, please
make sure you DISABLE collisions detection in the aircraft/realism menu and you switch to exterior
view just before runway contact to see the effect at its best.
As the fuselage contacts the runway you will see and hear the effects of sparks, dust, dirt and smoke
plus a wake trail or groove created by metal against tarmac behind the aircraft. The Duke will
come to a shuddering halt, hopefully leaving you and your passengers unharmed if the landing is
successful.
Please note that limitations in FSX prevent the props from ceasing rotation if you didn’t first feather
the engines before ditching.
Sea and lake gear up ditching can also be practised, with the Duke skimming the water surface and
thereafter floating on the water when coming to rest.
Engine Shut-Down During Flight
We have designed the engine and flight model to closely simulate one or both engine shut-downs
during flight. In this way you can practice single engined failure or failures of both engines before
trying a glide approach and gear up or down landing.
To shut down one or both engines, first reduce the appropriate throttle to idle, then reduce the
mixture control lever(s) to fully aft. At this point the engine will not be firing but the prop will still
turn, with appropriate sounds to indicate they are doing so. To completely feather the props (stop
them turning) and thereby reduce prop drag, pull the prop lever or levers fully back then pull them
back right to the red zone. The propellers will then slow and stop, whereupon you will hear just the
ambient wind noise.
To restart the engines if they are feathered, push the prop and mixture levers forward and deploy
the starter motors. The starters will not be required if the props are not already feathered and are
still turning, and if this is the case simply pushing the mixture controls forward should restart the
engines.
Please note: The propeller pitch governors can only alter the propeller blade pitch when the propellers
are turning, so you will not see the propeller blades twist with changes in prop lever position while the
props are stationary. This is perfectly real and normal, and we have carefully coded the propellers to
behave in this way.
Flying On a Single Engine
Practicing an engine failure
You can practice the difficult art of flying the Duke on one engine after simulating a failure of either
right or left engine. In this example we will simulate a failure of the left engine:
Reduce power on the left engine, then pull the left mixture lever fully back. The left engine will now
57
stop. Next, pull the left prop lever back, then pull it again back to the red zone. This will feather the
propeller blades and stop the propeller from turning, which produces less drag than having the
propeller turning in the air stream.
Tip: To move an individual lever use the RIGHT mouse button.
The left engine has been shut-down, and the left propeller has been feathered.
The aircraft will now immediately yaw to the left, since the right hand engine, which is
asymmetrically placed in relation to the centre of the aircraft, will exert a lateral, yawing moment.
If you are flying straight and level then it will be easy to maintain attitude by using RIGHT rudder to
counteract the asymmetrical thrust.
If you wish to climb, especially if you have a high fuel and passenger load, you will need considerable
skill to keep the aircraft straight and be able to climb. If a climb is desired select full power on the
right engine and balance the now more extreme yaw with a larger amount of right rudder. You will
also need some aileron input to balance the rudder tendency to bank the aircraft to the right. In this
situation, your climb rate will be restricted to around 350 feet per minute.
When climbing on one engine, keep the airspeed needle on the BLUE line on the airspeed indicator. This
line indicates the best rate of climb speed on a single engine.
If you allow the speed to bleed off so that you are slower than the blue line indicator, then the
higher angle of attack will require even more rudder and this in turn creates even more drag. The
result, if neglected, will be a rapid slowing of airspeed followed by an inevitable stall. In the same
way, not applying enough rudder to counteract the asymmetrical behaviour will result in the Duke
sideslipping, which in turn results in higher fuselage drag. This will also decay forward speed.
The golden rule is to keep the ball centred to make forward motion as efficient as possible.
A left engine failure is more serious than a right engined failure because you have the additional
influence of p-factor and torque which has a tendency to turn the aircraft even more to the left,
especially with higher angles of attack.
58
Trouble-Shooting
Reload Aircraft
How to use the reload aircraft command
Before we get in to trouble-shooting specific areas, it is worth discussing the FSX reload aircraft
command. There are many times when this command is extremely useful, for example when you
make a change in the Duke V2 Config Panel while the Duke V2 is loaded in FSX, or if the Duke flaps
have failed and you want to get them working again, or when dealing with certain technical issues.
By default there is no key assigned to the reload aircraft command in FSX, so you will need to assign
one. To do this, follow these steps:
1. In FSX go to ‘Options’ - ‘Settings’ - ‘Controls’, then click on the ‘Buttons/Keys’ tab at the top of the
dialog box.
2. In the ‘Event’ column find ‘Aircraft (reload)’. Select this event.
3. Now click on ‘New Assignment’.
4. In the dialog that opens, select the key or button command you want and press ‘OK’. Be sure to
select an assignment that isn’t already used. If the key assignment is already used you will see a
warning message at the top of the dialog box.
5. Now press ‘OK’ on the ‘Settings- Controls’ dialog and you are finished.
Now whenever you wish to reload the aircraft, simply press the key you assigned in the steps above.
Animations
Problems with animations immediately after loading
Many of our custom animations use variables that need to be set to a certain starting value
whenever the Duke is first loaded. Unfortunately FSX will often try to set these variables to the
values that were set when you saved your flight, or the values that were set from the previous flight,
instead of using the values that were written into the code. In an attempt to overcome this problem
we have even written code that repeatedly sets the starting values for these variables many times
per second for the first few seconds after you load the Duke, but even then FSX can occasionally
override these values. For example, immediately after loading, you may very occasionally see the
propellers rotating while the engines are off - this behaviour is caused by the problem described
above. Thankfully there is a simple solution that works almost every time:
All you need to do is use the FSX reload aircraft command immediately after you first load the Duke.
This has the effect of setting the various variables to their proper values.
See the Reload Aircraft section above for help on using the reload aircraft command.
59
Sound Effects
Sound glitching and hiccups
After extensive testing we have found the custom sound coding to be extremely reliable, but in a very
small number of cases, especially on older computers that rely on a not-very-powerful on-board
sound chip, it is possible that you may experience the odd glitch or occasional hiccup. Where this
does occur, we recommend you do one or several of the following things:
1. Check your Direct X settings.
2. Try an alternative method of sound using one of the two options within the sound menu while FSX
is running, then quit and re-start FSX.
3. Reload the Duke by pressing whatever key you have assigned to ‘Aircraft (Reload)’ in the controls
menu of FSX.
4. Try a different windows sound driver, or update the driver you currently have installed.
5. If you have a dedicated sound card or device, use this rather than an onboard sound chip.
Custom sounds stop working
In very rare circumstances the gauge that triggers the custom sounds can stop working. When this
happens you won’t hear any of the custom sounds. We found that it only ever happened when we
spent long periods in FSX changing between aircraft and Duke liveries while making and testing
changes during the development process. If you do experience this problem, the only solution we
have found is to restart FSX.
For us, this problem never occurred when we loaded up only one or two liveries and flew around as
normal - it only ever happened after long periods testing and re-testing changes, where we reloaded
the aircraft dozens of times and often more. Even then it was extremely rare.
Graphics Issues
Low frame-rates
While many sim forums are awash with tweaks and FSX.cfg settings which attempt to extract every
possible performance improvement out of FSX, some of these tweaks can actually make things
worse, or at best offer some improvement while at the same time increasing the possibilities
of a crash, freeze, display issue or other stability problem that rarely is caused by any loaded
aircraft alone. Running the Duke with your sliders all at maximum is not recommended until you
have first flown the Duke on modest or low graphic settings. Thereafter we recommend that you
gradually increase the detail in scenery and other graphical options until you arrive at a workable
compromise.
Many of the Duke’s flying characteristics rely on a reasonably high and smooth frame rate of
approximately 30 fps in order for the flight model to display at its best. While 25 fps is adequate
for procedural flying (for example navigating under autopilot) a frame rate much below this will
start to affect the fluidity and fidelity of the aerodynamic responses, together with far less pleasing
movement and manual pilot control input.
Using a modest but reasonably up to date computer, you should be able to easily achieve 30 frames
per second in the Duke, provided you are not at large, graphically intensive airports, or are using
heavy amounts of road or air traffic.
Higher specified computers should be able to deliver a higher frame rate than this.
60
‘Missing’ parts in the virtual cockpit
The Duke has a complex, highly-detailed cockpit and cabin where every switch, gauge and needle
is modelled in 3D. To ensure unnecessary polygons or textures do not reduce frame-rates, the VC in
the Duke is made similarly to how movie sets are made. If you view the VC from anywhere within
the confines of the cabin the cockpit should appear solid and 100% convincing. If you move the eyepoint outside the cabin things might look strange, and you may notice what appear to be ‘missing’
parts.
These ‘missing’ parts have been intentionally left out to improve frame-rates and to allow the major
design focus to be placed on the VC parts that really matter—the parts you can see from the cockpit.
VC gauge shimmering
You may notice a slight ‘shimmering’ on the VC gauges. This is an unwanted by-product of their high
resolution graphics. This can be reduced by increasing anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering in your
graphics driver control panel. Increasing these values has a very positive effect on FSX graphics in
general, including the scenery, but it will reduce your framerates.
See the ‘Setup Guide - Video card settings’ section on page 15 of this guide for more information.
Shimmering faint white lines, or tiny gaps on the edges of some parts
You may notice what look like very faint white lines, or what can appear to be very tiny, narrow gaps,
on the edges of some 3D parts, and these lines can appear to ‘shimmer’. This can be seen around the
edges of the fuel gauges and elevator trim wheel, and sometimes on the seats and other parts.
Firstly these aren’t actually gaps, and secondly they’re not a result of something inherently wrong
with the 3D model. They are caused by a rendering problem that we have no control over. In a
nutshell, when a polygon is exactly 90 degrees to the viewpoint you can sometimes see what appears
to be a very faint white line on the edges of that polygon. You can test this by turning off the engine
vibrations and then moving the eyepoint. You can see when a polygon lines up at exactly 90 deg the
white line will appear and you only have to move a tiny bit, and as the polygon is no longer 90 deg to
the camera the line will disappear. This issue is completely outside of our control and has something
to do with the way FSX is rendering the scene. This problem is much more noticeable in the Duke
V2 compared to other FSX aircraft because the RealView moving camera vibration effects make it so
your eye can readily notice these lines as they move and vibrate (our vision has evolved to pick out
moving objects), and once you’re conscious of them they remain obvious.
Higher AA settings make these lines less obvious. Very high AA (16x) makes them almost invisible,
although we don’t recommend very high AA for most users due to its effect on fps. If you find these
lines particularly irritating the best thing to do is to turn off ‘Ground roll vibration’ and ‘Engine
vibration on ground’ by going to the RealView page of the Duke V2 Config Panel. This will stop the
VC from vibrating on the ground, which will stop the lines from shimmering and therefore make
them much less obvious.
Windscreen reflections disappear at night
When on the ground at night, with either the taxi or landing lights switched on (or both), the VC
windscreen reflections will disappear. This is intentional - there was an interplay between the
custom 3D landing lights and the windscreen reflections that caused some severe, and very ugly
colour banding. We spent some time searching for a solution but in the end the best fix we found
was to disable the windscreen reflections at night when either the landing or taxi lights are switched
on. The reflections aren’t strong at night so in practice this is not very noticeable. Please understand
that sometimes when developing for FSX it is necessary to choose the lesser of two or more evils and
this was such a case.
61
Long loading times
The RealAir Duke has very high resolution 3D modelling and textures. Because of this it is normal to
have to wait a short time for the aircraft to first load.
If you select ‘Keep VC textures loaded in memory while in exterior views’ in the Duke Config Panel,
you will only have to wait for the textures to load when you first load the Duke. After that you will
experience no waiting when switching views.
See the ‘Config Panel - Exterior model options’ section on page 16 of this guide for more information
on the texture loading options.
Config Panel
Changes made in the Config Panel are not saved
The Duke V2 Config Panel will work as described on the vast majority of computers, but as you can
imagine there can be a huge variation between individual computer systems, individual Windows
installations, different versions of Windows, and individual user account preferences, so occasionally
the Config Panel can encounter problems when attempting to save your desired settings.
If when you make a change in the Duke Config Panel and press ‘save’, you find that your settings
haven’t been saved when you load the Duke in FSX, there are a number of possible causes, many of
which are outlined below.
File permissions and file ownership
The most likely problem is that your Windows installation is not allowing the necessary files to be
modified. It is vitally important that all of the files in your RealAir Duke installation have their file
permissions set to allow changes to be made, and that Windows will allow the necessary files to be
moved, copied and overwritten. It is also vital that the Duke’s files do not inherit file permissions
from any of the folders above the file in the file’s directory path.
Config panel error messages
New to the Duke V2 Config Panel are some basic error messages to help identify any problems with
saving your settings. If there are problems you will see these error messages almost immediately
after you press ‘Save’ in the Duke V2 Config Panel.
‘The Config Panel has encountered an error while trying to modify your aircraft.cfg file with your
chosen suspension settings: Could not set the specified value.’
The most likely cause of this error message is that the aircraft.cfg file within your Duke V2
installation has its file permissions set to not allow changes. To fix this you will need to manually
change the file permissions (see below). This file is located in ‘[FSX root folder]\SimObjects\
Airplanes\RealAir Duke B60 V2’.
‘The Config Panel has encountered an error while trying to modify your panel.cfg file with your chosen
GPS settings: Could not set the specified value.’
As above, the most likely cause of this error message is that the panel.cfg file within your Duke V2
Airplanes\RealAir Duke B60 V2\Panel’.
‘The Config Panel has encountered an error while trying to modify your options.xml file with your
chosen settings: Error saving XML file.’
62
As above, the most likely cause of this error message is that the Options.xml file within your Duke
V2 installation has its file permissions set to not allow changes. To fix this you will need to manually
Airplanes\RealAir Duke B60 V2\Panel\Config’.
‘The Config Panel has encountered an error while trying to modify your realview.xml file with your
chosen RealView settings: Error saving XML file.’
The most likely cause of this error message is that the RealView.xml file within your Duke V2
Airplanes\RealAir Duke B60 V2\Panel\Config’.
Solving Windows file permission and file ownership problems
With the UAC enabled in versions of Windows from Vista or newer (ie Windows Vista, 7 and 8 at the
time of this writing), Windows can be very aggressive in the way it won’t allow files to be moved or
copied. For example, in Windows 7, by default the ‘Program Files’ (and ‘Program Files x86’ folder
in 64bit versions of Windows 7) have their permissions set to not allow any files contained within
those folders to be modified or moved. That means if you installed FSX into the default location
(which is usually ‘C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X’), it might not
be possible to move or modify any files installed into FSX without manually changing the necessary
Windows file/folder permissions. For this reason we (and other developers) recommend installing
FSX to a location outside the Program Files folder, for example ‘C:\FSX’.
If a Windows file permission problem is causing the Duke Config panel to not work, the only way
to fix this problem is to manually alter file permissions in Windows (Windows will not grant any
programs the necessary permission to make these changes). You need to set the file properties to
allow ‘Full control’, and make sure that ‘read-only’ is not set. This will guarantee that the Duke Config
Panel can make the necessary changes. The fastest way to do this would be to change permissions
in the FSX root folder, and then have Windows set all files and folders contained within the FSX root
folder to inherit those permissions. If done this way, you’ll not only fix file permission issues with the
Duke Config panel, but you’ll also avoid any file permission problems you may encounter with other
third party files installed into FSX. Sometimes we have found that this approach doesn’t work and
you need to alter each individual file’s permissions separately. For information on which files to alter
see the ‘Error Messages’ section above.
It is beyond the scope of this guide to show exactly how to change file permissions because it can
vary between versions of Windows and Windows User Account settings. If you google something
along the lines of ‘how to change file permissions in Windows 7’, you should find plenty of
information on how to go about changing file permissions.
Another potential problem is Windows file ‘ownership’. This is similar to file permissions but a
little different. If the currently active Windows User Account hasn’t been granted file ‘ownership’ by
Windows, it may not be possible to make changes to the file. Again the best course of action is to do
a google search for instructions on how to change file ownership. For example search ‘how to change
file ownership in Windows 7’.
We are very sorry that there is no easy fix when it comes to granting file permissions and ownership
in Windows, but that is the nature of these particular Windows security features - only a Windows
User with sufficient permission is capable of changing these settings. This helps stop malicious
software from making unwanted changes to your computer. If at some time in the future you need
to reinstall FSX, installing it to a location outside the Program Files folder should give you a good
chance of avoiding these problems in the future.
63
Registry problems
Another possible problem could arise from incorrect FSX registry settings. When the Duke V2 Config
Panel attempts to change the necessary files to save your chosen settings, it reads the Windows
registry to locate your FSX installation directory, and then uses that registry value to locate the files
that need changing. If this registry value is incorrect, the Duke V2 Config Panel won’t be able to find
the necessary files to make changes to them.
The Duke V2 installer (and all RealAir installers) also reads the Windows registry to automatically
detect your FSX installation directory. This means that if, when you installed the V2 Duke, the
installer automatically and correctly detected your FSX directory with no further input required,
then the chances are that your FSX registry settings are correct and don’t need repairing. If you had
to manually input your FSX directory into the Duke V2 installer, there probably is a problem with
your FSX registry settings.
This latest version of the Duke Config Panel has some extra code compared to the config panels
included with our older aircraft. The Duke V2 Config Panel will attempt to verify your FSX directory
path registry value and if it thinks it is wrong a dialog will open asking you for the correct location of
FSX. You will only need to do this once, this new directory path will be saved and used in the future
whenever you open the Duke V2 Config Panel. This means that even with incorrect FSX registry
values the Duke V2 Config Panel should still work.
If you suspect there might be an FSX registry problem, it is worth making efforts to fix it because
there is a very good chance that this could cause other problems in FSX in addition to those relating
to the Duke. For this there are three possible fixes. The first is to try the ‘repair’ utility in your
windows control panel/programs and features/fsx. The second is to download and run the Flight 1
FSX registry tool. This tool is published for the benefit of all FSX users and can be found on Flight 1’s
website or by performing a google search for ‘FSX registry fix’ or ‘Flight 1 registry tool’. The third and
most drastic method is to uninstall and then reinstall FSX. Obviously this is a big job, especially if you
have a lot of third party software installed and is definitely not recommended except as a very last
resort! Please note that the above described fixes are entirely at your own risk.
Reality XP GNS Integration
Extremely low framerates with RXP gauges installed into the Duke
Problem: When one or both of the Reality XP GNS gauges are installed into the panel of the Duke,
frame-rates in the Duke drop to extremely low values, or FSX freezes.
This can occur due to use of older RXP gauges and is not related to the Duke itself. The solution is
to update your RXP gauges to the latest version currently available. As of this writing (September
2013) the currently available version of the RXP gauges do not display this issue. The latest version
of the Reality XP gauges can be downloaded from the Reality XP website (www.reality-xp.com).
HSI won’t follow GPS course commands
There is a problem with older builds of the Reality XP GNS WAAS gauges and some (not all) FSX
SP2 installations that causes the Duke’s HSI to not respond to GPS inputs. More specifically, the HSI
course needle and Nav flags will not display the GPS course information as they should when the
GPS is set to control the HSI. The solution is to install FSX Acceleration or install the latest version of
the Reality XP gauges. RXP GNS builds later than early 2010 should not exhibit this problem, so it’s
very unlikely you’ll experience it.
64
Shimmering
The Reality XP GNS screens on the VC panel can exhibit fairly severe ‘shimmering’ when in the
main VC view. This is caused by the way anti-aliasing works combined with the FSX moving camera
‘momentum’ effect. You will notice there is no shimmering whatsoever in all of the Duke’s zoomed-in
VC views, because they have the camera momentum effect disabled. You can disable the momentum
effect in the main VC view, but it must be done globally (and therefore will affect all FSX aircraft).
This is done by modifying the VC camera entry in your FSX ‘camera.cfg’ file. We consider this an
advanced technique and we cannot offer help on how to do it, or support if you do try this mod. If
you’d like to try this, we recommend visiting the various FSX user forums for advice.
Other Reality XP problems
Because we did not have anything to do with the creation or sale of the Reality XP GNS gauges, we
cannot offer any support on matters relating to the operation of the Reality XP GNS WAAS 530 or GNS
WAAS 430—you will need to get in touch with Reality XP regarding these matters. We can only offer
support on Reality XP GNS WAAS/RealAir Duke VC integration issues.
65
Support
We welcome both feedback and support queries via e-mail if you are a bone fide RealAir Simulations
customer.
Please thoroughly check the manuals and documents before contacting us with a problem. It is highly
likely that you will find the answer within this guide or the other included documents.
If you have a support issue, it is very helpful if you include in your email the following details:
• Your full name.
• Your order number or keycode.
• Date of order.
• Describe the problem you have encountered as accurately as possible.
We always make efforts to answer queries as quickly as possible, and our average response time is
often within a few hours and very rarely longer than 24 hours.
66
Credits
The RealAir Duke Version 2 was created by:
Sean Moloney - 3D modelling, textures, cockpit panels, gauge graphics and programming, document
writing and presentation, installers, testing, website content creation and design.
Rob Young - Flight aerodynamics, sounds, document writing, testing, and customer support.
Acknowledgements
Reality XP integration
Thanks to Jean-Luc Dupiot for his valuable guidance when it came to integrating the Reality XP GNS
530/430 into the original V1.0 Duke.
Multiplayer guidance:
Geoff Drayson of www.fsmp.com
Geoff very generously helped us get our Turbine Duke working well in multiplayer and shared
cockpit. His help with the Turbine Duke contributed to the knowledge required to make the Duke V2
multiplayer compatible.
Custom sound gauge
Special thanks to Doug Dawson for his wonderful XML sound gauge.
3D landing lights
Thanks to Jon Blum of Vertical Reality Simulations for divulging the incredible intricacies of 3D
landing lights to the FSX developer community.
Testing
Ryan Butterworth, Jerome Zimmermann, Neal Howard
This document written by Rob Young and Sean Moloney, September 2013
67

Flying Guide Beech Duke B60 Version 2.0

Transcription

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