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View Full Version : RealEngine v1.4 for Grumman G-21 Goose (FSX)



Badger85
December 9th, 2015, 20:11
Do you like flying the Grumman Goose as much as I do? Perhaps you have the Redux (http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/files/file/633-ozx-grumman-goose-hd-redux-120/) mod to the default FSX Grumman Goose, and you definitely have (or should) the flight dynamics update (http://www.avsim.com/topic/407490-making-the-fsx-g-21-goose-function-and-fly-like-the-g-21-goose/) by L. Dixon. Do you want to take that Goose to the next level? Well, what about adding realistic engine limitations and behaviors to that sim experience, making it somewhat akin to A2A Accu-Sim-like flying? This post is about how to do just that: setting up the great freeware package, RealEngine v1.4 (http://www.avsim.com/topic/411803-realengine-for-fsxfs2004-realistic-aircraft-limitations-and-failures/), to be calibrated for the FSX Grumman Goose.

RealEngine (RE) comes with a detailed manual about how to set up the basic package (moving the files to the right folders, etc.). It looks intimidating at first, but once you actually start following the excellent instructions (assuming you have some idea of your way around FSX directories) you’ll be done in no time. Then you have to calibrate the basic package to your particular aircraft. This is what I did with the Goose and what I want to share with you in this post.

Before getting into that calibration, I must add that I had to modify the procedure in Step E on Page 8 of the RealEngine v1.4 Manual to get the cylinder-head temperature (CHT) gauge in the Goose cockpit to properly display the correct RE CHT values.

Instead of ‘Option A’ or ‘Option B’ that are listed in the Manual, I substituted the default FSX DC-3 CHT gauge for the one in the Goose (I’ll call this ‘Option C’ -- see below). The reason I did this is because the cyl_temp.xml file for the Goose is strangely written in a slightly different format than all the other aircrafts’ versions of this file that I’ve seen. The DC-3 CHT gauge is almost identical in CHT values to the one in the G-21 Goose, from what I can tell, but admittedly it does seem to appear slightly more blurry in the VC of the Goose (and a little more yellowish at night) when I made the substitution (but, hey, it works).

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So, here are the steps for Option C:
1). Navigate to your Grumman Goose folder in SimObjects/Airplanes/ . Then, open the panel folder you wish to modify with RealEngine.
2). Complete ‘Step 3’ on Page 8 of the RE Manual (first item under ‘Option A’).
3). Rename the Grumman_Goose_G21A.cab file to something like @backup-Grumman_Goose_G21A.cab . Essentially, the folder you created in the above step will become the “active” Goose gauge folder and the .cab file will be stored as a backup copy.
4). In the root directory of your FSX installation, navigate to folder SimObjects/Airplanes/Douglas_DC3/panel/ . Within there, open the Douglas_DC3.cab file in WinZip (or similar program) and extract only the .BMP files with filenames that begin with “ cyl_temp_ “ temporarily to your desktop (there should be 6 of those files).
5). Navigate to the Goose panel folder that you opened in step 1 above. Within the Grumman_Goose_G21A/ folder (NOT the .cab file) delete all the files that begin with “ cyl_temp_ “ (there should be 7 files total: 6 .bmp files and 1 .xml file). Keep this folder open for the next step.
6). Copy the 6 files that you put temporarily onto your desktop in step 4 above over to the Grumman_Goose_G21A/ folder that you kept open in step 5 above. Keep this folder open for the next step.
7). Copy also the cyl_temp.xml file from the RealEngine_v14/Aircraft/douglas_dc3 – FS9 FSX/panel/ folder over to the Grumman_Goose_G21A/ folder you kept open from step 6 above.
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That’s it for getting the CHT gauge to display properly in the Grumman Goose! The final part is calibrating the RE modules to be in tune with the specs of the Goose. I’ve done this for you: it’s not perfect, but it’s the best I could do given the aircraft manual, common sense, and comparison to the Lockheed 10 Electra (which uses the same engines as the Goose) .ini file that was included in the RE package.

Feel free to copy over the settings as you see them in the screenshot that you see below over to your own RE Goose modules.

I hope you enjoy the wonderful RealEngine addon to the great Grumman Goose in FSX! Please let me know what you think below, and stay tuned for more Goose enhancement ideas for FSX :)

http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y442/historybuff85/Flight%20Sim/realengine-v14-goose-settings-estimate-2015_12_09_zpsj1swuwpv.jpg

manfredc3
December 9th, 2015, 21:19
Interesting!

Will have a look at that once I am done working on my cockpit add-ons.

By the way, the flight dynamics file is updated to version 1.01

txnetcop
December 10th, 2015, 07:05
Thanks Alex I'll do it tonight. Real Engine is a great utility!
Ted

Badger85
December 10th, 2015, 10:57
Thank you guys for taking a look at the update! Please let me know what you think.

Manfred, indeed the latest version of the flight dynamics update is v1.01: downloadable here (http://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=goose+dynamics&CatID=root&Go=Search) (need AVSIM account, I believe, though).


P.S. After re-reading L. Dixon's document on the flight dynamics update, I think I need to update a couple of values in the screenshot image above. Please let me know if you spot any other mistakes.

Correction 1: On the Status Panel (left-hand side) of the image above, under the MP RPM Limit heading, both Take-Off/Mil and METO should read 36.5" for MP (not 44.0" and 36.6"). Since the Goose's engines are supercharged, as L. Dixon explains, it is possible to over-boost them on takeoff. The real Goose's throttles have a detent at 36.5" for the pilot to know when to stop opening the throttle during the takeoff roll. Make sure to watch for that number in FSX and not over-boost!


Another interesting point that L. Dixon brings up is that the real Goose engines did not use manual mixture but had four auto-mixture settings: Full Rich, Auto Rich, Auto Lean, and Idle Cutoff. The RealEngine module allows you to use those settings to override the manual mixture control! Another benefit of RE with regards to the Goose :)