Warbirdsim Mustang Collection installation

[SSI01]

I'm discovering when it rains it pours.

I recently acquired a copy of the Warbirdsim P-51 Mustang Collection for FSX. This was offered at a ridiculously low price from Britain and after waiting about 2.5 weeks it showed up in the mailbox.

After installation - by the book - I discovered a couple of things. All basic external textures appear beautifully. I have no - none - fuel gauges in this aircraft, neither on the floorboards nor over the left shoulder where the fuselage tank gauge ought to be peeking at me. There is no supercharger installation in the cockpit. The breathing oxygen tank pressure gauge reads at near empty, and there's no way to turn on the supply manually, although the blinker will start to function at 10 grand.

The book also says I can make the drop tanks (three types, if I'm reading this right) appear and disappear on the aircraft by clicking on a spot on the dash near the switches that set up the tanks for dropping. No soap there, either, since the switches as depicted in the manual don't appear on the dash. Likewise, there is supposed to be a spot near the map case on the left cockpit wall that will cause the checklist(s) to appear if desired. Nothing there, either.

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium, with an AMD Phenom II X4 940 processor, 3.00 GHz in this rig, 12.0GB RAM, 64-bit OS. My FSX is the Gold Edition that is supposed to include SPs 1 and 2, or the equivalent.

[ZsoltB]

Where did you buy?

[SSI01]

Good morning.

Bought it through British flightsim site "Flightstore." Nov 24 2017. Received from UK via air mail. Product is a CD, "Mustang Collection," by Warbirdsim. Comes with instruction manual, glossy paper, nice printing job. IIRC at least one other person who frequents this site bought it too, but haven't seen any post(s) from them about using the product.

[pfflyers]

Hi SS,

I bought the same CD deal.

I have the package installed (at least parts of it) and all my models show fuel gauges in the vc and display 75 gallon drop tanks when the "show/hide payload" switch is clicked.

It takes some fiddling with my eyepoint to see the fuel gauges.

I can confirm that the aircraft does load with low oxygen levels; that never bothered me as I fly my Mustangs barnstormer style. I can also confirm that none of my models seem to allow interaction with the supercharger in the vc; again, that never bothered me as I fly low-level mostly.

I'm running FSX/SE on an XP(!) machine.

[Josh Patterson]

Is this the "Mustang Tails" collection from Warbird sim? I have that and the Cripes 'A Mighty Then and Now from them and they both work in FSX Gold. I did however have a similar problem (if your gauges are missing from the instrument panel) with Razbam's Banshee. My gauges showed up, but no indicator needles. To solve that problem I reinstalled the Banshee to a folder on my desktop and manually copied the gauges into the gauges folder, then everything worked. (I also had a no gauge problem on one variant of Virtavia's Gloster Javelin. No gauges at all. The panel folder for the early variant was missing the cab file, so I copied and pasted it from the other panel folder.)

[Bomber_12th]

With regard to the gauges, they're all there (there is no way they can be missing, as they are modeled into the aircraft). As pfflyers explains, you just have to move your viewpoint around in the cockpit to see them, just as you have to do with the real aircraft. We didn't make any concessions - unlike other Mustang products, ours was actually modeled for visual accuracy/authenticity, and more often than not, directly from the original engineering blueprints. The gauges are located just as they are in the real aircraft (if you find them located in any other way on another flight sim Mustang, I'm sorry, it was done wrong).

The switches for the drop tanks are different in different variants of the P-51D/K, as per original. On early P-51D's/K's, the drop tank/bomb switches are located on the lower left side of the instrument panel. On late P-51D's/K's, the drop tank/bomb switches are located on the center panel below the instrument panel. This change happened half-way through the P-51D-20-NA production block, when the zero-rail rocket system with control panel was built into the aircraft from the factory. I'm sorry, but there is no manipulable oxygen controls and the supercharger always remains on automatic - the product is not advertised as anything else. We did later add more functionality to the supercharger system and 3-position switch on the Mustang Tales models, but which unfortunately isn't present on the earlier products.

Part of the early P-51D/K cockpit configuration - engine controls on center panel, drop tank/bomb controls on instrument panel:



Part of the late P-51D/K cockpit configuration - engine controls on instrument panel, drop tank/bomb controls on center panel.

[Bomber_12th]

[SSI01]

OMG! I've been looking at the heater and defrost switches on the floorboards; in the other Mustangs I've got that's precisely where the designers put the wing tank gauges. Thanks for the tip! Next time I'm up there, I'll slide over in the seat a little and take a look down, not at the corner or front of the seat pan, but more on the side just aft of the corner, looks like.

That fuselage tank gauge, I see, is also back there but that requires some fidgeting around in the seat, I never realized it was so far back. My lack of experience is based on where another developer put their fuselage tank gauge, which, again, was sort of perched on the top of the seat back, between the headrest and the side of the seat back. A quick glance over your left shoulder would give you your fuel quantity in the fuselage tank that way.

My flu bug is gnawing at me and I'm going to turn in, but in the AM I'll take a look precisely where your screen shots show those gauges to be. I believe you! It's just more comforting for me to see them with my own eyes.

I do have one question, though - I took one long-range flight in the WBS D model, Phoenix AZ to Seattle, WA. I noted the sequence for fuel burn - not moving the tank selector but leaving everything set to "all tanks" - was external tanks - fuselage tank - wing tanks. I've read elsewhere the sequence was fuse. tank - external tanks - wing tanks. Pilots reportedly wanted to burn off the fuselage tank first because all that gas so close to the COG of the aircraft affected its control response and stability. Which one is correct, based on your research?

[Josh Patterson]

With regard to the gauges, they're all there (there is no way they can be missing, as they are modeled into the aircraft). As pfflyers explains, you just have to move your viewpoint around in the cockpit to see them, just as you have to do with the real aircraft. We didn't make any concessions - unlike other Mustang products, ours was actually modeled for visual accuracy/authenticity, and more often than not, directly from the original engineering blueprints. The gauges are located just as they are in the real aircraft (if you find them located in any other way on another flight sim Mustang, I'm sorry, it was done wrong).

The switches for the drop tanks are different in different variants of the P-51D/K, as per original. On early P-51D's/K's, the drop tank/bomb switches are located on the lower left side of the instrument panel. On late P-51D's/K's, the drop tank/bomb switches are located on the center panel below the instrument panel. This change happened half-way through the P-51D-20-NA production block, when the zero-rail rocket system with control panel was built into the aircraft from the factory. I'm sorry, but there is no manipulable oxygen controls and the supercharger always remains on automatic - the product is not advertised as anything else. We did later add more functionality to the supercharger system and 3-position switch on the Mustang Tales models, but which unfortunately isn't present on the earlier products.

Part of the early P-51D/K cockpit configuration - engine controls on center panel, drop tank/bomb controls on instrument panel:



Part of the late P-51D/K cockpit configuration - engine controls on instrument panel, drop tank/bomb controls on center panel.

I do like the fact that everything is where it is supposed to be, but it's still hard looking around with the hat switch and the veiwpoint change keys. I'm not gonna complain though because the modeling is fantastic, they sound great and are terrific fun in the air! Maybe it's just time I get track IR! (Or Oculus!!)

[Dangerous Beans]

Oculus FTW

[PhantomTweak]

To the best of my knowledge, for what it's worth, the correct burn order for fuel is All for take-off, the fuselage once established in climb, because, as you said, it has a somewhat adverse effect on the maneuvering capability. I understand it can make the bird quite unstable, and somewhat unsafe.
Once the fuselage is empty, or close there-to, then externals, then wings. Naturally, should the plane(s) get bounced by the enemy, the externals are dropped immediately, and the wings are used.
A little info from a real WWII P-51 pilot:

Re: Use of fuselage tanks. Initially we were unaware of the stability problem with a full fuselage tank and so in an effort to conserve fuel we would use the drop tank fuel first. The problem was that in a steep turning contest over Ploesti, our guys were reporting that once the turn had been established, they found themselves pushing FORWARD on the stick with all their strength to prevent the turn winding up. Some succeeded, some did not. Those that could not prevent the turn from getting tighter and tighter reported that the bird would whip over into the most vicious high speed stall snap roll they could imagine. This often culminated with a spin. To the best of my knowledge most were able to recover in the 30,000 feet or so they had available; however, it is possible that some who did not return might have failed to recover.

Within a couple of weeks we were given orders that after takeoff, we would burn the fuselage tank down to 35 gallons which would prevent the above from happening....well theoretically at least.

Cordially, Art Fiedler

Hope this helps a little...
Pat☺