Landing Dino's Skyhawk T-4 on a Carrier

[TARPSBird]

I don't really know Jerry. I think it's older and was one of Lazarus' files which he has taken with him and are no longer on the OH. I had a very extended Boat-folder on my old computer which I transferred to the new one.
The folder has this title: USS_Bonnehomme_Richard.
Cees

Cees, I use that very same "Bonnie Dick" folder for USS Hancock (CVA-19) entry in AICarriers. The original download was/is "Essex Class Beta 1.zip" and I don't remember where I got it. When my old HD crashed in late 2021 I lost all of Lazarus's ships except the ones I already had in the sim, and he had already removed all his stuff from the SOH library.

The "speed brakes out" approach with the A-4 works pretty well. I've managed to trap on Hancock several times without loss of virtual life or property. I'm still learning to fly the little jet and maintain control and proper speed. Still fun even if I screw up... No real-world paperwork.

[Cees Donker]

Has anyone flying the Skyhawk encountered this?



It appears at intervals and I find it very annoying! Can it be solved?

Cees

[TARPSBird]

I haven't tried all variants of Dino's A-4's yet but I've loaded the basic A-4E several times and haven't seen the error you're getting. I'm still wondering why it takes so long for the plane to start up... Maybe I should read the manual!
While we're on the subject of strange FSX error messages, Here's an "Oh No!" message (see pic) I get when I select one particular aircraft from my Aerosoft PBY versions. I may be the only person in the flight sim world to have seen this one, nobody else seems to have had it.

Edit: OK, I looked in the manual, now I got it...

"CONTROL+SHIFT+R → READY TO START THE
ENGINES (wheelchocks, power cart and air starter
connected – note, in some instances it is necessary to
press it twice)"

[Duckie]

Has anyone flying the Skyhawk encountered this?



It appears at intervals and I find it very annoying! Can it be solved?

Cees

Cees, I get that warning every time I open the A-4s. Its really annoying but I haven't found a fix yet or the sound.ini its looking for.

[Mike71]

Has anyone flying the Skyhawk encountered this?



It appears at intervals and I find it very annoying! Can it be solved?

Cees

I see it also and do not know to fix but have not tried either.

Regarding starting Dino's A-4s, you need to hook up the "huffer" for air and the electrical cart using the fly out 2D panel. Then you push down the "mushroom" (starter switch) behind the throttle to get the engine to wind up. Move the throttle outboard slightly to hit the igniter microswitch then around the horn ("off detent" to idle at 15-20% RPM. Actually I think the ability to move the throttle lever outboard does not exist in the model - just move it to idle and it should work.

The A-4 series was a great plane, but many weight saving measures meant some other issues - like no battery. In fact the A-4A thru A-4C used the J-65 and had no starter at all! It used a probe with an air impingement motor at the bottom, hooked to a standard huffer. The upper end of the probe was shoved up into a recess in the belly and engaged a gear on the compressor shaft to get it to turn and start. Talk about a GSE nightmare. The GSE support included a huffer that could be carried on a wing station, and a starter probe could be carried in a compartment under the engine known as the "hell hole" - it often was used for baggage as well.

A huffer and starter probe were seldom carried stateside because most bases could service J-65 powered A-4s, but overseas they were often needed to recover A-4s that had diverted to foreign bases for some reason.

[TARPSBird]

Regarding starting Dino's A-4s, you need to hook up the "huffer" for air and the electrical cart using the fly out 2D panel. Then you push down the "mushroom" (starter switch) behind the throttle to get the engine to wind up. Move the throttle outboard slightly to hit the igniter microswitch then around the horn ("off detent" to idle at 15-20% RPM. Actually I think the ability to move the throttle lever outboard does not exist in the model - just move it to idle and it should work.

Hi Mike,
Yeah, I actually looked in the manual (finally, hehe) and saw the CONTROL+SHIFT+R keyboard shortcut for the GSE hook-ups. Cranks up fine now. Thanks for the additional A-4 info. I seem to recall the Blues used the pod-type starters on their A-4's back in the day. Easy to get everybody started on cue.

[Mike71]

Hi Mike,
--- Thanks for the additional A-4 info. I seem to recall the Blues used the pod-type starters on their A-4's back in the day. Easy to get everybody started on cue.----

Yes, they did carry the pods around in the C-130 when doing airshows
so they could all start up at once. Most airshow sites would likely not have that many standard MIL SPEC air start GSE units available at one time I imagine. The Blues had "hot rod" A-4Es basically, so they did had an internal air impingement starter and did not need the probe units like earlier J-65 models.

Another note that may help with flying A-4s around the boat- the MAX TRAP WEIGHT for an A-4E/F is 14,500 pounds - period! (No external bombs (missiles OK), empty drop tanks. I see various videos of aicarrier ops for different planes where those max trap limits are grossly exceeded.

Example - one shows flying a full mission load RAZBAM A-6E flying from the beach and trapping - pretty ugly! The max trap for an A-6E or KA-6D was 36000 lbs, no bombs, no drop fuel.

I like the Virtavia A-4 version so far, but the AoA "donut" speeds on th AoA indexer are off by maybe 10 KIAS (slower than reality). At max trap 14500 lbs on speed is around 123 KIAS vice what appears to be 110-115 KIAS in the model

[mercure]

Has anyone flying the Skyhawk encountered this?



It appears at intervals and I find it very annoying! Can it be solved?

Cees

Hello Cees,

Found the same issue but with my planes on another disk drive than FSX.
Fixed it by creating at the adress noted on the message a directory "Douglas A-4E" and within another directory called "Panel". Put all the original panel files (with the subdirectory Sound etc...).
I said 'Douglas A4E' because it's the name on my error message (and the skyhawk directory name on my other disk btw).
Note: the panel file shows for VC1 some lines like:
gauge90=Sound/dsd_fsx_xml_sound!Sound,0,0,0,0,.\SimObjects\Airpl anes\Douglas A-4E\panel\Sound\Sound.ini
Didn't fiddle with these one but maybe a solution there. Not needed for me now.