Attention all DC-3 fans !

[Javis]

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Should go to Robert this time around. As always highly appreciated.

@ Bendyflyer: Thanks a lot for your elaborate explanation, sir ! Various white and red lighting it will be ! One personal question if i may : do you have the A2A B-17 by any chance ?.... Amongst other innovative, never seen before (atleast not by me...;-), features it has a wonderful simulation of a typical fluorescent lighting system. I would love to have that in our VVC as well. Is there any comment you might have on that ? Thanks mucho again !

@ Carl: no worries, mate, i was just talking about our brand new ADF radio. Will not be 'abused' at all. Just a few paintchips here and there and a general 'at work' appearance. ' A modicum of restraint' .... I learn something everyday, you know, my native language is not English. How this would sound in dutch ? : " 'n ietsie pietsie terughoudendheid "

Cheers,
Jan

[Javis]

And now for something *not so* completely different :

Being a flightsimmer as well as a Dakota afficionado and if you examine this photo with a bit of interest, what would you say might well stand out particularly here ?.... :



It took quite a while before it occured to me so i have the utmost respect for anybody who notices it 'on the fly' so to speak. ( i might have to add that i have been looking at a gazillion DC-3/C-47 cockpit photos in the last couple of years/months/weeks/days/hours/minutes and there simply is no other Overhead similar to this one (not that there's a DC-3/C-47 cockpit that looks exactly like another in the first place of course ))

So, what do you guys say ?....

[cavaricooper]

Jan-

Is it the old Comms stuck at the ends....? Most overheads do without those there, it would seem. Only the retrofitted new radios occasionally make it up there... Usually....?

The bungee seems much more common in comparison

Best- C

[mgchrist5]

Being a flightsimmer as well as a Dakota afficionado and if you examine this photo with a bit of interest, what would you say might well stand out particularly here ?.... :

Assuming both mag switches are set to 'off', could it be the asynchronous mag switches? Most of the pics I've seen seem to indicate that Dakotas have mags with similar '1+2+Both' patterns. Just a random guess!

[BendyFlyer]

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Should go to Robert this time around. As always highly appreciated.

@ Bendyflyer: Thanks a lot for your elaborate explanation, sir ! Various white and red lighting it will be ! One personal question if i may : do you have the A2A B-17 by any chance ?.... Amongst other innovative, never seen before (atleast not by me...;-), features it has a wonderful simulation of a typical fluorescent lighting system. I would love to have that in our VVC as well. Is there any comment you might have on that ? Thanks mucho again !

Cheers,
Jan

Sorry no I don't have the A2A B-17. I have some of their stuff but not that one. If I could add one comment, and it is a hunch based on having flown a number of aircraft who had their genesis before
WWII and after was that English aircraft manufacturers had a thing for RED cockpit lighting but the Americans did not and did both red and white. DC-3 or C-47 was not much better but remember you always had additional lighting via the compass, autopilot (sperry), radios and a few other gauges. Red was supposed to assist with overall night vision accuity or something but it turned out to be incorrect and you could see a red lit cockpit at night just as good as a white lit one so it did not hide you either! End of the day it really was about the journey that aviation was on and still on, discovering what worked and what did not! And we all might miss the sound of a round motor but none of us miss a leaky cockpit on a winters night or day either.

[jankees]

the elastic strap holding the emergency exit in place perhaps?
I used straps like that to bind my luggage to the rear of my old BMW bike...

[Ian Warren]

the elastic strap holding the emergency exit in place perhaps?
I used straps like that to bind my luggage to the rear of my old BMW bike...

JK we didn't have to require a bungy to keep the locks on the emergency hatch, required a spanner handle to get them to move mind you its been sitting in the museum since 1977.

[Alan_A]

What's that that's taken the place of the radios in the ceiling panel just forward of the "emergency exit" sign? The unit with the two hand cranks and the knobs (valves?) color-coded for port and starboard?

[CG_1976]

Aviation Bush Rule #1 Subsection 3c Canada. Thou shall not insult Bungy's nor Duck Tape.

I have and will Admit to using a Bungy on the CC138 once at flt 7500Ft for 7 minute's to eat lunch cause the darn AP failed. Eh one has to Canuk rig stuff ya know.

[Javis]

I myself certainly needed a bit more time and atleast a fourth and fifth look before it dawned on me but lets let the cat out of the back. Carl and Alan you are close but not close enough. You should've put your minds together...

That panel in the middle just forward of the Emergency Exit sign is a very rare combination of 2 ADF radios. Didn't see anything like that in the afore mentioned gazillion of other Dakota cockpit photos. I did however have a vague remembrance of having seen it before.... Then the quarter fell :




How about that, éh ?....

The duo ADF panel in the middle and two early nav/com radios at each side. It all fits perfectly.

Anybody here remembers Trev 'DC-3' Morson ? Way back then we used to be FS DC-3 buddies but Trev moved on and flies a real Dakota now for many years already. I believe it was DC-3 Ozark Air Lines N763A that he learned to fly the DC-3 in and that's exactly the cockpit where this particular Overhead photo was taken. So if we put two and two together either the dev of the default DC-3 must have visited N763A for reference or Trev offered him to sent photos.

I have always wondered about this rather peculiar setup of the radios in the default DC-3. I think this has finally become clear now.

What this has been all about is that we now have a wonderful realistic looking 3D rendition of an AN/ARN-7 ADF radio for our VVC but no Nav/Com radios yet. I have spend hours and hours looking for info about this exact type that is used by N763A and thus also in the default DC-3 but without any significant result. On top of that Mike told me that he has no experience with coding this early type of nav/com radio and we cannot use the coding from the default DC-3 neither because that's all 2D.

Outcome is that we need to move forward a few years and use King KX-170A/B Nav/Com radios. I already have the code and unlike the early type in the N763A OH (i can't even find a name for this type. Closest i could find is Collins AN/ARN-14C ) info is available in abundance.

Anyway, i found the combination of the real radio set in the N763A cockpit and the FS default DC-3 rather remarkable, interesting and funny. Just thought i'd share that with you guys. ;-)

Btw, an elastic strap like that on the escape hatch handles is quite common. You can see it in many Dakota pits. Sometimes also used on both Yoke wheels when parked (i suppose to keep the ailerons from moving..) In a video i've seen it strapped onto the yoke wheels immidiately after landing...

Cheers,
Jan

[Daveroo]

sunday night on the science channel will be a hour long show on the Dc3...just sayin

[cavaricooper]

Jan-

I do indeed "remember" Trev, and visit his site often (it being a treasure trove on DC-3 info). Now that you pointed it out, it seems so obvious... A shame that there are none available for you to incorporate in your VVC. There's just something about staying "in-period" I love. Glad your GPS will be pop-up though.... That way it can be completely out of sight when flying over Assam or Juno and Sword (no, no, not THAT Juno ).

Visit http://www.douglasdc3.com. A pretty sad story about the Ozark bird

Best- C

[KellyB]

sunday night on the science channel will be a hour long show on the Dc3...just sayin

Can't find it. Only a Mythbusters marathon.

[Obie311]

the elastic strap holding the emergency exit in place perhaps?
I used straps like that to bind my luggage to the rear of my old BMW bike...

I never trust my Krauser panniers either. I have a web safety strap on each.

[Alan_A]

Now I know why that overhead looked familiar - I've been staring at it for the past year or so, ever since I installed the improvised VVC (described farther back in this thread, somewhere in the messages in the 500 series or thereabouts) to tide me over 'til Jan's is done.

I guess I was a bit thrown, though - not used to seeing it in three dimensions.

Looking forward to using the full-featured one that's in the works...

[Javis]

Sorry no I don't have the A2A B-17. I have some of their stuff but not that one. If I could add one comment, and it is a hunch based on having flown a number of aircraft who had their genesis before WWII and after was that English aircraft manufacturers had a thing for RED cockpit lighting but the Americans did not and did both red and white.DC-3 or C-47 was not much better but remember you always had additional lighting via the compass, autopilot (sperry), radios and a few other gauges.

Now that you mention it i have always wondered about the individual knob on the left side of a more or less 'original' DC-3/C-47 Overhead panel that says 'Compass Light' or 'Compass Gyro Light'. It can be seen in many Dakota cockpits, sometimes even modernized ones.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...l=1#post861370

Do you happen to know which compass it is actually referring to ? And why does it have its 'own' light ? ( if other lighting fails pilots could still see where they were going ?.... ) I suppose it's not the Whiskey Compass that usually hangs in between the left/right windscreen, nore the magnetic compass that often sits in the panel next to or underneath the Artificial Horizon ? Could it mean the 'P8 Grid Compass' that can be seen in many vintage aircraft as a seperate entity usually sitting on a tray or pedestal ? :




This would make the most sense to me but actually i have never seen such a P8 compass in any Dakota cockpit photo....

Red was supposed to assist with overall night vision accuity or something but it turned out to be incorrect and you could see a red lit cockpit at night just as good as a white lit one so it did not hide you either! End of the day it really was about the journey that aviation was on and still on, discovering what worked and what did not! And we all might miss the sound of a round motor but none of us miss a leaky cockpit on a winters night or day either.

Many moons ago, when i was working on an FS ATR-42 model, i had a sim friend who flew as co-pilot on an AA ATR-42. His first job as co-pilot was on a cargo DC-3 (forgat the company name). He told me that underneath the cockpit seats a fully fledged complimentary raincoat was stowed in case it was needed.... During flight thru rain it was normal that water would come seeping thru the windscreen and side window sills sometimes as worse as that it would make instruments stop working... He said it happend not only once that he was sitting there in his raincoat wondering if they would make it to their destination and come out alive...

Thanks again for this valuable information, BF !

[Javis]

Jan-I do indeed "remember" Trev, and visit his site often (it being a treasure trove on DC-3 info). Now that you pointed it out, it seems so obvious... A shame that there are none available for you to incorporate in your VVC. There's just something about staying "in-period" I love.)

Well, the last word has not been said about that, if i can help it... There's an additional problem with the later King KX-170 nav/com radios, they cannot be fitted on the Overhead, much too big deepwise so they need to go on the panel. There's still room but i didn't account for radios inside the panel. This older type would fit perfectly because it's just a little box. ( i would highly appreciate it if someone here could reveal the actual naming of this type ??..... (see photo at the beginning of this topic)).

It's really 'only' a matter of converting the 2D code (presumably available in the FSX SDK modeldef.xml) for use with a 3D instrument. Anyone ??.....

Visit http://www.douglasdc3.com. A pretty sad story about the Ozark bird

Indeed! Didn't know that, Carl. I really feel for Trev. His love bird sold behind his back for only $80.000... Ashame really.

Now I know why that overhead looked familiar - I've been staring at it for the past year or so, ever since I installed the improvised VVC (described farther back in this thread, somewhere in the messages in the 500 series or thereabouts) to tide me over 'til Jan's is done.I guess I was a bit thrown, though - not used to seeing it in three dimensions.

I have looked several times at this photo too before realising what exactly we see here. I have a hunge it must've been the red and green channel knobs that made the quarter fall eventually.

Here's a similar setup but with two seperate ADF radios :

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...l=1#post862859

Would be interesting to know what the instrument is that is mounted horizontally underneath the mag switches.... Looks very similar to the ADF radio but *3* ADF radios ??..... An old style ILS gauge can be seen at the far left of the Captain's panel... Maybe it's an early nav/com radio set....

[jandmbear]

Can't find it. Only a Mythbusters marathon.

Smithsonian channel not science channel

[Daveroo]

Smithsonian channel not science channel

opps my mistake

[CanadaKen]

I don't know about you guys but every time I see this thread get bumped up to UNREAD my heart skips a beat!!!

Ken

[jandmbear]

I don't know about you guys but every time I see this thread get bumped up to UNREAD my heart skips a beat!!!

Ken

LOL! Me too. It's one of the first threads I look for!

[jandmbear]

Any news on this fabulous upgrade?

[musterpilot]

Be patient it might be a early xmas present for us all

[CanadaKen]

bUmP.....please tease us with a few pictures! :-)

I desperately need a DC-3 fix!!!

Ken

[NAVY DOC]

I second that!

Thanks Jan,
Doc