Aircraft engines

[John York]

These used, by default, to be running when opening the sim'. So saving the time wasting process of starting them up.
This seems no longer to be so and frankly, the method of starting provided by the sim' i.e Ctrl/E is far from satisfactory and very often doesn't actually work.

Has anyone found a work-around for this please?

John

[RubyTuesday]

John - This is a purely personal view, but P3D is designed as a learning tool / training aid and part of that is surely a deeper understanding and experience [albeit virtual] of the mechanics and challenges of flight, including management of aircraft engines and systems. I derive great satisfaction from finding out and applying the correct start-up procedures from "cold and dark". Some modelled aircraft are more authentic than others and, sure, some of the instruction manuals are a bit opaque but I find that's all part of the challenge. There are some third party sim aircraft on the market that are getting very close to profession flight sim standards, and the web is awash with "how-to-start-and-fly" tutorials on many popular aircraft. So -- no I don't know a work around for a quick / arcade start, but I would encourage you to try the full start-up check-list approach and see if you don't find a new and rewarding depth to this flight sim. Best wishes RT.

[John York]

I wouldn't mind starting the engines, but employing the 'correct' way very often doesn't actually work! That's what I'm complaining about.

I also realise this is supposed to be a training tool but my interest is wider than just actually flying. Using enhanced photographic or photo real scenery I like to explore (as much as is reasonable) areas and Countries that I'll never have the opportunity to see in real life.

I would say too, that unless people have got a more or less full scale cockpit, as a training tool, P3D like all its predecessors, is pretty useless. Anyone who thinks their largish computer screen and fairly strong computer will teach them to fly in real life is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Its as well to remember too that the LM version was developed using Microsofts FSX and its predecessors and in accordance with Microsofts contractual requirements. If LM really wanted a training tool (which I suspect they already have) there are plenty of full size simulators around the Country modelled on the actual aircraft to be flown. I remember years ago being lucky enough to have a go in one in Crawley, Sussex and trying to 'fly' the prototype of the Comet Airliner before it went into production. A scary experience despite knowing It was anchored to the ground!

Anyway, none of this gets over my problem of getting engines started, especially on the A2A Skyhawk. Which is, or should be, a simple matter of turning the starter key!

John

[WarpD]

Uh... this is the hardware forum.

If you can't figure out how to start the A2A aircraft, go ask A2A. I'm pretty certain they can hep.

[AnkH]

Anyone who thinks their largish computer screen and fairly strong computer will teach them to fly in real life is living in cloud cuckoo land...
[...]Anyway, none of this gets over my problem of getting engines started, especially on the A2A Skyhawk. Which is, or should be, a simple matter of turning the starter key!

Ehm, you blame people who think that a good addon could "teach them to fly" are living in a cloud cuckoo land but then you have the impression that starting a C172 is done by simply turning the starter key? Seriously?

Whatever, if you would read some manuals for more than some seconds, you would have realized that A2A offers a subpanel, accessible by Shift + 3, where you can actually configure if you want auto cold & dark on or off and you can even click on "auto-start". Or, you would have known that it depends on your default scenario: if you have a default scenario with engines running, they will be running if you fire up your sim with an A2A plane (unless in the Shift + 3 subpanel, auto cold & dark is on "on").

Just be aware that there is a bug with P3Dv4.x when using an A2A plane in the default scenario. You might habe issues with your coolie hat switch...