The pilots panel of D-IBUF is completely conventional,
as opposed to the copilots side with two Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) displays of which the
upper one with the Attitude Situation Indicator and Flight Director is marginally visible on
the small inset on the synthetic VFR approach photo
in the section History of the real Do 128-6 D-IBUF.
Here a first overview of the complete FS2002 main panel with the Radio Panel
and Overhead Panel. You may move directly to the detailed explanation of any item over which
the mouse pointer turns into a hand by left-clicking on it with your mouse, and you can return
to this overview by left-clicking in the detail-picture. However, general instruments which
are present in (just about) every plane are not separately explained:
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Please note that for correct display of the flight instruments all boxes
in Extras/Settings/Instruments must be checked and in Extras/Settings/International
Measuring Units must be set to US-System.
The Thommen Airspeed
Indicator displays Indicated Airspeed in Knots.
MARKING |
KIAS VALUE |
SIGNIFICANCE |
Red Line |
63 |
Minimum Control Speed |
White Arc |
63 107 |
Flight Operation Speed (with FLAPS 2) |
Lower Limit |
63 |
Maximum Weight Stalling Speed |
Green Arc |
73 150 |
Normal Operating Range |
Lower Limit |
73 |
Maximum Weight Stalling Speed |
Blue Line |
90 |
Best Rate of Climb Speed |
Red Line |
150 |
Maximum Operating Speed VMO |
The Horizontal
Situation Indicator (HSI, gauge by Dai Griffiths)
is explained here as an exception due to its complexity and usefulness of which many flight
simulation enthusiasts are unaware.
With the Course Dial the default direction of Compass Rose may be adjusted. The course is digitally
displayed in the upper right corner with a V in front. The Course Indicator shows
in the direction of the VOR or ILS localizer received by the NAV1 Radio. The Deviation Bar
shows the lateral offset from the radial (VOR) or localizer beam (ILS) center. Full scale Deviation
Bar displacement (2 dots) represents the following deviation from beam center: VOR ±
10°, localizer approximately ± 2 ½°. The small aircraft icon in
the center shows ones position in relation to the vector or localizer beam.
The Glide Slope Indicator displays the vertical offset from the ILS glide slope. Full scale
deflection (2 dots) of the Glide Slope Indicator represents ± 0.8° from beam center.
The Heading Bug Dial allows adjustment of the Heading Bug which can be used to memorize the
next Heading you want to aim for. This Heading is digitally displayed in the upper left corner
with an H in front.
Red flags labeled GS (Glideslope) and Heading may show up on the left
or right margin of the gauge when either part of the HSI is not working properly, either due
to no sufficient signal available or electrical failure.
As you can see the HSI is an incredibly versatile navigation aid when you know how to interpret
and feed it with appropriate NAV1 radio Information.
The Flap
Position Indicator with its polished
brass front plate and screws houses a drum with three markings: UP (0° Flaps), 1 (25°
Flaps), 2 (43° Flaps). A flag with diagonal lines may cover the flap positions thus indicating
that the flaps are currently moving or no electrical power is supplied to the Flap Position
Indicator.
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The Torque Indicator is marked in lb ft x 100 (1 lb ft = 1.35582 Nm) and displays
the amount of torque (turning force) transmitted via a reduction gearbox from the power turbine to the propeller. Please
note that torque at MCP (Maximum Continuous Power = approx. 400 SHP at 1900 Prop RPM) is 1108
pound - feet (upper limit of the green arc), the region marked yellow should only be used for
emergency power up to the red line which indicates the absolute maximum of 1246 lb ft
(equivalent to approx. 450 SHP at 1900 RPM). When red line torque is attained the yellow TORQUE caution
lights in the annunciator panel will light up to indicate that full power is available and
to remind you to get back to the green arc range as soon as possible so as not to overheat
the engine and overstress its gearbox - thus reducing it's TBO (Time Before Overhaul).
ATTENTION! You can overtorque and thus wreck the gearbox in a lot of clatter if you set the props to the FEATHERed state and
add too much power, so make sure you never exceed the red line limit of 1246 lb ft!
The Interturbine
Temperature Indicator (ITT) displays gas temperature between the
compressor turbine and the power turbine in °C x 100, comparable to a certain extent to
exhaust gas temperature (EGT) in a piston engine. The OFF position is marked as well as the
starting limit which is 1085°C. This means the transient starting temperature may NEVER
exceed 1085°C! The further below 12% Ng you set the condition lever to idle during engine
startup (or the further the power lever is from the ground idle position) the higher the ITT
starting transient will become due to no sufficient airflow being developed yet inside
the combustion chamber to allow for proper continuously burning flames and enough cooling air
around the combustion chamber walls. This can damage the combustion chamber linings to the
point of disintegration and thus completely ruin a turboprop engine and as a faint possibility
even set it afire (there are two red FIRE
warning lights in the annunciator panel), and believe me it will happen in this FS2002
simulation if you do not adhere to the simple but important rules laid down in the starting
checklists! Normal start transient will be around 600°C.
When airflow in and around the combustion chamber has caught up with the
amount of fuel being currently burnt in there ITT will drop back down to a normal 540°C
(idle) up to 580°C at emergency power. Vice versa reducing power temporarily causes surplus
airflow that cools the combustion chamber down so ITT will drop to a low of approx. 400°C
(minimum) and then rise again as airflow is reduced to a healthy level.
The Propeller
RPM Indicator shows propeller speed and
is marked in RPM x 100. A yellowish 4 digit display at the bottom of the gauge also shows the
complete number of prop RPM to facilitate more precise readings.
The Gas Generator
RPM Indicator (Ng) indicates the percentage
of current gas generator RPM in relation to a maximum gas generator RPM of 37000 RPM. It is
the very heart of this turboprop simulation!
The gas generator consists of a series of compressors which in turn are
driven by the compressor turbine. It sucks in air and compresses it to a ratio of about 1:7
(for comparison: automotive gasoline engines compress to between 1:8 and 1:12, Diesel engines
need between 1:18 and 1:23 for self combustion without help from a spark plug) and delivers
it into the combustion chambers. As stated in above section on the ITT indicator carefully
monitoring Ng during startup is crucial for successfully starting a turbine-based engine. Below
12% Ng airflow through the combustion chambers is insufficient to cool the combustion chamber
linings when combustion is initiated, the flames basically burn uncontrolled and overheat the
engine (hot start). The same thing happens if the power levers are not set to the ground idle
position before Ng reaches 51%. Idle Ng will vary from 51% at MSL (Mean Sea Level) up to about
65% in 7000 ft and above due to the thinner air at higher altitudes causing less friction in
the compressor. At the same time higher Ng is necessary to still deliver the same mass of air
into the combustion chambers to ensure that the power output remains constant. That is the
trick with flat-rating: a potentially far more powerful turboprop (same applies to turbocharged
piston engines) engine is simply not given the amount of fuel necessary to attain that maximum
torque (and thus power) output at MSL thus leaving enough headroom to still bring the same
amount of power even in thin air at high altitudes.
Maximum Ng will vary between 92 and 98 % at 1108 lb-ft of torque (MCP),
reaching approximately 102% at red line emergency power.
The second row of engine instruments starts
with the Fuel Flow Indicators
which show fuel flow into the engines in pounds per hour. Fuel flow particularly in the higher
power region is rather accurate in this FS2002 simulation so you can almost fly to the book!
Idle fuel flow is too low (should be around 100 pph per engine) due to limitations in the way
FS2002 simulates the fuel flow of reciprocating engines.
Fuel Pressure Indicators will show standard 23 PSI of fuel pressure whenever the appropriate
fuel pumps are on and the fuel tank isnt empty. Please see section 4.2.2 Fuel Control Panel
for a full explanation of the fuel system of this aircraft. When fuel pressure drops below
15 PSI yellow FUEL
LO PRESS caution lights will illuminate in the annunciator panel.
The combined Oil Pressure / Oil Temperature
Indicators are present in every aircraft with
combustion engines and are thus not separately depicted here. If both needles are level both
values are o.k. When engines are started oil pressure rises rapidly to over 40 PSI whereas
oil temperature will take some time to heat up. V.v. when turning the engine off oil pressure
will drop quickly to 0 whereas oil temperature will take a while to cool down. Whenever oil
pressure drops below 40 PSI red OIL
LO PRESS warning lights will turn on in the annunciator panel,
accompanied by the Master Warning lights blinking and beep. This beep will also greet
you when stepping into this aircraft when engines are off and electrical power
is on, as is the case with the real plane (sorry if it gets on your nerves, but the real pilots
also have to bear it, though they have the option not to put the headset on and thus not hear
the beep before they reset the Master Warning).
Rather important in this section are the
Fuel Quantity Indicators:
The left half shows main tank fuel quantity in %, the right half external tank fuel quantity
in %. If main tank content drops below 173 lbs (approx. 20%) a red warning light at the bottom
of the instrument (Bitmap by Dai Griffiths) will remind you to start thinking about a refill
quickly! For your orientation: 100% in the main tanks equals a flyable capacity of 864 lbs
(about 500 liters or 132 gallons) of fuel each and 100% in the external tanks contain an additional
usable amount of 406 lbs (around 235 liters or 62 gallons) of fuel each.
The Fuel
Consumption Totalizer is equiped
with a counter and registers the total amount of fuel used by both engines (in lbs). The counter
can be reset manually to 0000 by pressing the white button with a left mouseclick. However,
to prevent inadvertant resetting of the counter you must first unlock the button by a left
mouseclick on the lock lever. Another click on the lock will swivel it back into position.
The gauge memorizes its last reading when you choose another aircraft or close FS2002 so make
sure you reset the counter before each flight. If you have filled up the tanks to the brim
and after several hours of flight see the number 2500 approaching you had better find a good
place to land and refuel FAST !
The Whiper
Speed Control allows speed adjustment
of the animated windshield wiper of this aircraft. You do this by turning the knob from the
default low speed position clockwise toward the right via left mouseclick anywhere in upper
half of the knob. Two other possible positions indicating medium and maximum speed knob positions
are also depicted at left. A single click will turn the knob to the desired position, but you
may also drag the red indicator line around to where you want it. The desired speed will naturally
only take effect when the wiper is switched on.
One little curiousity here: Contrary to most aspects of this simulation you have a bonus here
over the real "D-IBUF": for some unknown reason Dornier correctly placed the Wiper
Speed Control in the panel but failed to wire it to the wiper motor - thus only leaving the
wiper to work at full speed J
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This FS2002 panel is fitted with an extensive and fully labelled annunciator
panel. It incorporates a series
of white advisory lights, red warning lights which show that a hazardous condition requiring
immediate corrective action exists and yellow caution lights that show when an impending possibly
dangerous condition exists that requires attention but not necessarily immediate action.
Whenever a red warning light in the annunciator panel illuminates the red
Master
Warning light described further below will flash and a 1000Hz
beep will sound. Likewise a yellow caution light will cause the yellow Master Caution
light to blink. When all red respectively yellow annunciator lights are off again due to the
problem(s) having been solved the master lights will also cease to blink.
In the following now a detailed description (from left to right) of all
annunciator displays of this Do 128-6 for FS2002:
DIM / BRT switch: allows dimming (and v.v.) of the annunciator lights via
left mouse click. In daytime the BRT position (default) is advisable for clear readability
whereas at night the DIM position is better to reduce glare on the eyes.
TEST button: When electrical power is on left-clicking on this button must
illuminate all annunciator lights as depicted above. They should stay on as long as you hold
the left mouse button down and will turn off again a few moments after letting go of it.
BETA LH /RH: In flight advise
operation in BETA-range
and on ground additionally that reverse power can be used.
FIRE LH / RH: Advise that in
the left / right engine compartment the infrared detectors have been actuated. In this FS2002
Aircraft this will only be caused by excessive hot
start due to disregarding the start checklists
OIL LO PRESS LH / RH:
Advise that the left / right engine
oil pressure is less than 40 PSI. This is particularly the case
when engines are off but could also be caused by an oil leak or a defective oil pump.
TORQUE LH / RH: Advise
that left / right torque have reached or exceeded emergency
power torque (1246 lb-ft).
LP COCK LH / RH: Advise
that the low
pressure fuel cock of the left (right) engine is in the closed
or OFF position.
FUEL LO PRESS LH / RH:
Advise that the fuel
pressure of the left / right fuel system is below 15 PSI (fuel
pumps off or tanks empty).
EXT. TANK TRANS LH / RH:
Advise that the left / right external
tank transfer pump switch is on but the LH / RH external tank
is empty.
IGN START LH / RH: Advise
that the left / right engine starter cycle
is engaged (START - in this case annunciator light will blink intermittently due to FS2000
interrupting the starter cycle every few seconds) or manual ignition
is activated.
GEN LH / RH: Advise that the
left (right) generator
switch is off or a left (right) generator malfunction exists
(i.e. left (right) engine is off).
PITOT HTR 1: Advises that
the heater of the pitot
static system (necessary for airspeed measurement) is not switched
on.
BATT: Advises that the battery
is not connected to the electrical system, i.e. is not switched on.
The red Master
Warning light will start to flash
and a 1000Hz beep will sound whenever a hazardous condition requiring immediate corrective
action exists, i.e. one of the red warning lights in the annunciator panel illuminate. This
will continue until either the hazardous condition has been corrected and all red warning lights
in the annunciator panel are off or by left-clicking on the master warning light to reset it.
It will then stay off until another red warning light in the annunciator panel illuminates.
ATTENTION! Unlike with the default FS2002 panels clicking on the Master Warning light will
not open an additional annunciator panel as this is built into the main panel.
Likewise the yellow Master Caution light will start to flash whenever an impending
possibly dangerous condition exists requiring attention but not necessarily immediate action.
No audio tone is activated. Again it will continue to flash until either all yellow caution
lights in the annunciator panel are off again or may be reset in the same manner as the master
warning light.
ATTENTION! Unlike with the default FS2002 panels clicking on the Master Caution light will
not open an additional annunciator panel as this is built into the main panel.
ATTENTION! Both lights (including the beep) may greet you when first initialising
this panel when for example the engines are off (which will illuminate the OIL LO PRESS LH
/ RH warning lights) or any other condition that illuminates a yellow caution light exists.
This is not a bug but pure reality as in the real plane. Just left-click on the master lights
to silence the beep and extinguish them.
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4.1.4 Switch Panel (Overhead Panel)
This Overhead Panel is slightly simplified from the original plane's switch
panel due to a few limitations still sticking around in FS2002. Most switches are from default
FS2002 professional edition gauges and thus do not click at actuation. Below is a listing of
the various functions.
LAND-L: Switches landing lights on and off. This aircraft is equipped with
two wing-tip mounted landing lights which illuminate the landing light covers but do not actually
work in FS2002 because Microsoft changed the landing light format. A later gmax model will
of course have them again. This switch normally resides in the yoke pylons.
INSTR.: Switches instrument lighting on and off.
ANTI-COLL: Switches the red anti-collision light (also called beacon) located
on top of the balancing tab of the rudder on and off.
NAV: Switches the navigation lights on and off. They consist of a red light
in the left wing tip, a green light in the right wing tip and a white tail light at the end
of the tail cone. By the way - this navigation light pattern was directly adopted from the
maritime lighting configuration, as are many other aspects of aviation such as titles like
Captain and First Officer or the usage of nautical miles and knots for distance and speed.
STROBE: Switches the three white strobe lights on and off which are located
in the same places as the navigation lights.
PITOT: Switches pitot tube heating on and off.
The pitot tube is the black angled tube protruding forward from the upper front corner of the
vertical stabilizer fin. It has an opening in its front end and some openings along its
sides which are connected to the airspeed indicator with tubes. When the aircraft picks up
speed ram air pressure builds up at the front end but the side openings remain under the static
ambient pressure. The pressure difference between the two locations is displayed as Indicated
Airspeed in the airspeed indicator. The higher the airspeed the higher this pressure difference
is. It remains relatively constant despite changes in ambient air pressure due to altitude
changes. For the airspeed indicator to work properly it is of utmost importance that all openings
of the pitot tube are unrestricted by dirt, insects and ice. To prevent the latter from forming
the pitot tube is equipped with an electrical heating system which must be switched on for
take-off and landing as well as when flying in icing conditions. If electrical power is on
but the pitot heater is not a yellow caution light marked "PITOT
HTR 1" in the annunciator panel will remind you to turn it on.
PROP: Switches the heating pads on the leading edges of the props on and
off.
BOOT: Switches the de-icing boots on the leading edges of the main wing
on and off.
GEN1 and GEN2: FS2002 providing something
worthy of the name "electrical system" the LH and RH generators may be switched on
and off here. Ensure you switch on the generator of an engine as soon as you have completed
its startup cycle to load the battery. This effect is visible in the loadmeter located in the
lower left corner of the main panel - the indicator should move up some way from the lower
OFF position. When electrical power is available but the generators are not working yellow
caution lights marked "GEN
LH" resp. "GEN
RH" in the annunciator panel will inform you of this.
BATT: Switches battery power on and off. Ensure
you start at least one engine and switch on its generator ASAP after it is running to ensure
your battery doesn't run flat. In this aircraft you have about 5 minutes before you run out
of "juice" (another one of the few still lingering FS2002 anomalies...). If you switch
off the battery while at least one generator is generating power a yellow caution light marked
"BATT" in the
annunciator panel will illuminate to make sure you don't forget you are running solely on generator
power.
CAUTION! Many flight- and all engine instruments plus a number of systems
like flaps of this aircraft rely on electrical power to drive them, so it is advisable to take
good care of your battery!
WIPER: Switches the animated windscreen wiper on and off. In the PARK position
the wiper completes its cycle and switches off upon reaching its parking position by the centerpost.
Wiper speed may be adjusted with the wiper
speed control knob situated below the DME on the main panel. Without electricity the wiper
will freeze in its current position as it is electrically operated.
AVIONICS: Switches avionics power on and off.
RUDDER: The rudder trim wheel and indicator. You will most likely need this
if one engine becomes inoperative in flight, but can also be helpful to counter the FS2002
"p-factor" if you haven't set it to zero anyway. Trim changes can be made via left
mouseclick over the appropriate region you want to trim to or with your mouse wheel if you
have such a helpfull appliance.
PITCH DN / UP: The pitch trim wheel and indicator. Should be set to about
two notches UP for takeoff. Again trim changes can be made via left mouseclick over the appropriate
region you want to trim to or with your mouse wheel , though keyboard hotkeys are also available.
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