Startup for AN-2

[falcon409]

Anyone have the Vlad Zhyhulskiy AN-2 and can lend some insight into how to get the engine started? I've read his manual and it appears that the only direction he gives is that if it doesn't start, crack the throttle just a bit and that will allow it to start. I'm not having any luck with that or any of the other ways (ctrl+E, autostart mapped to my joystick, manually with the VC switches). Anyone found a way to crank it?

[Roger]

Ed, This thread may help: http://www.cbfsim.co.uk/cbfs_bb/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=10124

If not this may be an easy option (taken from another web site):

"Since I'm not a realism junky, I went into the aircraft.cfg and did a search on "auto", it comes up with...
fuel_air_auto_mixture= 1
auto_ignition=1
prop_auto_feathering_available=1
... they were all set to zero and I changed them to a one.
You also have to have a touch of throttle to make it start or it will just try & then quit"

[falcon409]

Yep...I'll give that last one a shot when I get home. Thanks Roger.

[joe bob]

some port overs require increasing the starting torque to operate as intended. I believe this may be one of them. What ever the number is, doubling it for FSX has always worked for me

[falcon409]

some port overs require increasing the starting torque to operate as intended. I believe this may be one of them. What ever the number is, doubling it for FSX has always worked for me
Yea, I tried doing just the tweaks noted by Roger in his post and it still wasn't cranking. I started looking elsewhere for something related to the start sequence and noted that the the Starter Torque was at 0.2. I increased that to 1.2 and it worked, however it's still tough to start. . .not an "every time fix". Not sure that I'll hang onto this one. It's strictly an FS9 aircraft and he states that rather emphatically in his readme, so it's possible that he knows very well that it will be difficult to start when used in FSX.

[Dev One]

Ed,
I don't have the model, but I do remember having difficulty (most unusual for my piston a/c) with my Miles M3A Falcon in porting over to FSX - looking in its .cfg I think I remember having to increase the starter torque to 0.4, as well as increasing the min throttle limit (0.15). The prop MoI also was tweaked. Now in the .air file I seem to remember having to play with table 509, for the 1st two values (the -ve first & the +ve second).
HTH
Keith

[falcon409]

Ed,
I don't have the model, but I do remember having difficulty (most unusual for my piston a/c) with my Miles M3A Falcon in porting over to FSX - looking in its .cfg I think I remember having to increase the starter torque to 0.4, as well as increasing the min throttle limit (0.15). The prop MoI also was tweaked. Now in the .air file I seem to remember having to play with table 509, for the 1st two values (the -ve first & the +ve second).
HTH
Keith
Thanks Keith, I'll give those a look this afternoon. I'd like to hang onto the airplane, but the lack of a consistent start sequence is a bit perturbing, lol.

[falcon409]

I adjusted the Prop MOI and the Throttle Limit and it actually goes through what I would assume the full startup sounds like for that airplane now. Thanks for the input, very much appreciated. It's really a lot of fun to fly and I don't know of another airplane of that size that can get off the ground that quickly, lol. The VC takes some getting used to as there are a lot of switches with no tags, so figuring out what they do takes some time as everything is in Russian. It does make an excellent Bush plane.

[Daube]

I've been using Vlad's An-2 (previous versions, though) for quite a while, both in FS9 and FSX. It was indeed a great plane, but the lack of button labels is quite disturbing, just like you said :D
There are a couple of very nice videos on youtube that show real An-2 startups (with English/American pilots) which are really worth a look.
EDIT: especially that one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxhSmeAqD0g

You might also want to take a look at the payware An-2 startup videos :)

[adi518]

Get the real deal, Sibwings An-2, it costs 20$ and it has serious value. Here's a startup video I made, it's not accurate because it wasn't for that purpose, but it gives you an idea of what you have to do:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPlPi2skGs8

[Dev One]

Ed,
Glad it worked for you, happy to be of assistance!
Keith

[falcon409]

Get the real deal, Sibwings An-2, it costs 20$ and it has serious value. Here's a startup video I made, it's not accurate because it wasn't for that purpose, but it gives you an idea of what you have to do.
Ok, went for the real deal and have been watching the video on one monitor and following along in the sim. When I hit the Battery switch though I don't get the gyro spinup sound and I have lights come on that don't show in the video. I've looked closely at the switch positions and I don't see where the difference is, yet there must be something I don't see that is out of sync. Also, going along with the manual, I'm not finding anything I missed.

[falcon409]

Got it running. I wasn't clicking the start motor switch twice to engage the clutch. As for the "spinup" sound heard on the video. . .I have no idea what that is because I don't have that sound. When he clicks the battery switch "on" there is a sound that I have yet to hear. Anyone know what that is and why I might not be getting it? Bottom line is, despite that, the engine cranks and the aircraft flies. The engine doesn't burn up, there's no smoke where there shouldn't be any, and as far as I know I didn't leave anything laying on the taxiway or runway. All is good, lol.

[adi518]

The spin-up sound is of the inertia starter. It should work once electricity is On and also once the starter switch is On (this switch is located to the left of the magnetos). Then it should spin up. Tricky startup and very realistic. Sibwings are just really amazing developers.

[falcon409]

I think I discovered why I didn't hear it. During the RTWRace I turned Engine, Cockpit and Environmental sounds down so that I could hear what everyone was saying on Teamspeak. I never turned them back up, lol.

By the way, I'm flying the AN-2 on P3D_V2.1 and the interior looks awesome with the lighting effects and shadows.

[Daube]

For info, that same engine startup system (intertia wheel) can be found on the P-47, B-17 and P-40 made by A2A, with the Accusim module.
Starting the P-40 is really a joy.