Virtavia Martin SP-5B Marlin released!

***Ferry_vO*** · March 31st, 2014, 04:36

Get yours here: http://secure.simmarket.com/virtavia...rlin-fsx.phtml

Other vendors will surely add it to their inventory in the next days.

***Roger*** · March 31st, 2014, 04:41

Thanks for the hu Ferry!

**YoYo** · March 31st, 2014, 12:29

Hello???!!!
Anybody in home? No any "the user" screenshot and opinion after the first touch?

***icycle*** · March 31st, 2014, 18:45

I have it, and its a little "quirky" for me. Visuals are excellent, but having issues with artificial horizon & autopilot not working - at all. Also, once I land on the water, plane will not accelerate beyond 90 knots, and as a result, cannot take off. Sent a note to support. May have to try to delete & re-install.

Bill

**tommieboy** · March 31st, 2014, 20:58

Originally Posted by icycle

.....Also, once I land on the water, plane will not accelerate beyond 90 knots, and as a result, cannot take off....

After you land on the water, try holding down the Ctrl key and press the F4 key, and then see if you can take off. Might be a prop pitch setting issue.

Tommy

***icycle*** · April 1st, 2014, 06:33

I think I narrowed down the issue I am having, to something in the gauges....

On a whim, lined out the Autopilot gauge that came with the plane in the panel config, and dropped in the Alphasim B52 AP (very old, but functionally similar). Lo and behold, when loading up in FSX, the Artificial Horizon works, the Autopilot works, the flaps work (a little thing "missing" that I had not noticed before), all up to 1-2 minutes, or 1000ft, and then there is a quick "stutter", and Artificial horizon cuts off, the autopilot cuts off (can't be re-activated), and the flaps stop working!

Crazy things that seem unconnected, but all seem to fail at once. Tried deleting & re-installing a couple of times, and no change.

All pretty silly actually...

Bill

**tommieboy** · April 1st, 2014, 08:20

Originally Posted by icycle

.....the Artificial Horizon works, the Autopilot works, the flaps work (a little thing "missing" that I had not noticed before), all up to 1-2 minutes, or 1000ft, and then there is a quick "stutter", and Artificial horizon cuts off, the autopilot cuts off (can't be re-activated), and the flaps stop working......

Just checked this morning, and my artificial horizon and flaps work as expected. I haven't gotten around to testing the autopilot yet.

Tommy

**YoYo** · April 2nd, 2014, 14:12

Manual for this model: http://www.virtavia.com/temp/Virtavi...n%20Manual.pdf .

**tommieboy** · April 2nd, 2014, 16:11

Originally Posted by tommieboy

.....I haven't gotten around to testing the autopilot yet.....

OK, just spent about half an hour running the autopilot (via the 2D pop-up panel) through the basic features; heading, altitude changes, level flight, etc. and all seems fine on this end. Works the same whether the 2D pop-up panel is access from within the VC or the exterior views.

Tommy

**dvj** · April 2nd, 2014, 22:07

Where are the screenshots? No one?

***TARPSBird*** · April 3rd, 2014, 00:02

Leaving NAS Sangley Point, Philippines.

***fsafranek*** · April 3rd, 2014, 08:00

Originally Posted by icycle

Crazy things that seem unconnected, but all seem to fail at once. Tried deleting & re-installing a couple of times, and no change.

After Bill's emails to Phil at Virtavia we all ran a series of additional tests on the AP (both the included and substituted others) and could find no issues. Baffling but isolated.

***icycle*** · April 3rd, 2014, 10:15

Frank,

Sent a follow up to Phil(support) this AM. Was able to "fix" with a little thought. Isolated the issue as something "electric", as some of the gauges were inop, as were the flaps. Out of curiosity, opened up the Albatross aircraft.cfg file, and noticed that all of the entries had "0" for minimum voltage (3rd entry). All of the entries for the Marlin had values, some of them high.

On a whim, changed all electrical entries for min voltage on the Marlin to "0", and viola the Marlin now works fine!!

Puzzling, but now it seems to work. Never had an issue like this, for all the other dozens of aircraft that I have (embarrassed to say how many that I actually have, not even my wife knows).

Bill

**dvj** · April 3rd, 2014, 10:32

Just download and went for a quick spin.

- it's a weird looking bird, but great textures.
- flight model seems overly sensitive for such a big aircraft.
- many 3D switches in the VC that look great but don't work. I assume that functionally would come with a later update? One could only hope because the VC is quite nice and is just begging for more functionality.
- rides a little high on the water. So did the Albatross. This can be adjusted
- Sound set not as good as it could be for a big prop like this.
- great for patrolling around FTX, southern Alaska.

d

**mal998** · April 3rd, 2014, 11:02

Regarding flight characteristics here is an excerpt from the Pilot's Flight Manual The aircraft was fairly easy to fly. The Marlin has been designed to be flown with the Realism slider turned full on(full right).

Click image for larger version.

Name: Marlin Flight Characteristics.jpg
Views: 0
Size: 77.8 KB
ID: 6257

click on the photo

**mal998** · April 3rd, 2014, 11:22

As far as the Marlin riding in the water she rode fairly high as is clearly shown in this photo:

Click image for larger version.

Name: marlin in water.jpg
Views: 0
Size: 36.4 KB
ID: 6259

click on the photo

***Ferry_vO*** · April 3rd, 2014, 11:23

Originally Posted by dvj

- rides a little high on the water. So did the Albatross. This can be adjusted

I found a few photos online of the Marlin in the water, and all show the aircraft resting on just one wingtip float.

**mal998** · April 3rd, 2014, 12:24

While researching the Marlin, I came across remarks made by a former Marlin pilot regarding the fact that it was not unusual for the aircraft to carry fuel in only one bomb bay tank. This not only resulted in the aircraft sitting float down on one side but also required the pilot to make adjustments on take off in order to keep the bird straight. I'll try to locate those passages.

Having said that if you would like to duplicate that condition, open up the aircraft.cfg and locate the fuel section. Once you've done that remove the comments // from only one of the external tanks. That will make the aircraft heavy on one side. Be careful taxiing and taking off.

**dvj** · April 3rd, 2014, 13:10

DX10

**tommieboy** · April 3rd, 2014, 13:34

This is a hard bird to get some nice photographic angles on, but I guess that's what makes it different. The prop texture is from my Martin Mars Coastal Command repaint with a bit of tweaking.

Tommy

**tommieboy** · April 3rd, 2014, 13:38

A few more images......

***noddy*** · April 3rd, 2014, 13:42

And I thought this years F1 cars were ugly.

Cracking shots gents.

**tommieboy** · April 3rd, 2014, 13:45

Originally Posted by dvj

DX10....

Wow....that self-shadowing looks so clean and sharp! On my old rig with DX9 that self-shadowing would have sand paper edges.

Tommy

***fsafranek*** · April 3rd, 2014, 13:46

I saw the email just now. Great detective work.

Originally Posted by icycle

Frank,

Sent a follow up to Phil(support) this AM. Was able to "fix" with a little thought. Isolated the issue as something "electric", as some of the gauges were inop, as were the flaps. Out of curiosity, opened up the Albatross aircraft.cfg file, and noticed that all of the entries had "0" for minimum voltage (3rd entry). All of the entries for the Marlin had values, some of them high.

On a whim, changed all electrical entries for min voltage on the Marlin to "0", and viola the Marlin now works fine!!

Puzzling, but now it seems to work. Never had an issue like this, for all the other dozens of aircraft that I have (embarrassed to say how many that I actually have, not even my wife knows).

Bill