jmig
August 23rd, 2012, 17:24
What a banner day. I spent two hours flying the T-6 II simulator at Columbus AFB yesterday. What a blast! Two things I noticed right away. One, the cockpit is tiny. After getting seated the stick was almost in my lap. If I was any fatter, I wouldn't be able to pull it all the way back. :icon_lol:
Two, the stick requires a lot of force to move. I was surprised at how much force it took to move. It did make landing harder at first because I would move the stick too much trying to overcome the resistance, After a few landings I got better at making the small adjustments. I am happy to report I didn't embarrass myself by pranging the airplane. I did have to go around once, however. :cost1:
For those of you who have and fly the Iris T-6II, you will be happy to know that the Iris seemed very similar to USAF multimillion dollar version in performance. The USAF version does trim up and fly straight and level better, however. Still, it is a sim. The instructor told me on of the real airplane trims much better and the prop drag isn't reflected well in the sim, aka FSX. In the real airplane. when you pull back on the power control lever, the airplane really slows down. He told me they rarely use the speed brake, except in formation.
Here are some pictures of me and the sim.
GRAPHIC WARNING... A fat old man is shown in the pictures. :)
Ready for TO
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Rolling off the perch
71393
A view over my shoulder
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The sim from the outside. I asked if I could put it in the pickup and take it home. Not sure I really want to. I saw a sign in it that said Warning 35,000 volts. Ouch!
71395
Two, the stick requires a lot of force to move. I was surprised at how much force it took to move. It did make landing harder at first because I would move the stick too much trying to overcome the resistance, After a few landings I got better at making the small adjustments. I am happy to report I didn't embarrass myself by pranging the airplane. I did have to go around once, however. :cost1:
For those of you who have and fly the Iris T-6II, you will be happy to know that the Iris seemed very similar to USAF multimillion dollar version in performance. The USAF version does trim up and fly straight and level better, however. Still, it is a sim. The instructor told me on of the real airplane trims much better and the prop drag isn't reflected well in the sim, aka FSX. In the real airplane. when you pull back on the power control lever, the airplane really slows down. He told me they rarely use the speed brake, except in formation.
Here are some pictures of me and the sim.
GRAPHIC WARNING... A fat old man is shown in the pictures. :)
Ready for TO
71392
Rolling off the perch
71393
A view over my shoulder
71394
The sim from the outside. I asked if I could put it in the pickup and take it home. Not sure I really want to. I saw a sign in it that said Warning 35,000 volts. Ouch!
71395