Douglas DC-7

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Douglas DC-7C
Douglas DC-7C over sea.png
Type Airliner, Historical aircraft
Configuration Low wing aircraft
Propulsion Four-engine aircraft, Piston aircraft, Propeller aircraft
Manufacturer Douglas
Author(s) Syd Adams, Ron Jensen, Kestrel.
FDM YASim
--aircraft= dc7
Status Unknown
Download Download the Douglas DC-7C aircraft package for the current stable release (2020.3).
DC-7

The Douglas DC-7 was a four piston engine airliner based on the DC-6.

The FlightGear model is based on Syd Adams and Ron Jensen's Douglas DC-6. It models the DC-7C "Seven seas" long-range variant for intercontinental services.

DC-7

Specifications

Max Take-Off Wt. 143,000 lbs.
Max Landing Wt. 108,026 lbs.
Empty Wt. 72,763 lbs.
Max payload
Vne (never exceed) kts
Max Cruising Speed 353 kts
Normal Cruising Speed 301 kts
Vfe (max flaps speed) about 150 kts
Approach Speed kts
Landing Speed 100-110 kts?
Stall Speed about 95-100 kts?
Service Ceiling 21,654 ft
Landing Distance 5,249 ft
Take-off Distance 6,365 ft

Basic procedures

Sorry, I do not know the official takeoff/landing speeds and settings. I use the colour marks on the ASI as a rule of thumb.

Press F1 to close battery switch before starting, and again to open it after shutdown. Press Ctrl+F1 to enable the generators (they are disabled at start). Then use the usual keys }}} ! s @ s # s $ s to start.

Features

The engines will heat when they run, pay attention to the CHT gauges at the bottom of the engineer's panel. Press f/F to open or close the cowl flaps. Do not exceed 230°C CHT.

This DC-7 models the original (1950s) equipment. It is fitted with a dual ADF, dual VOR-ADF and dual NAV gauges, HF/VHF com radio, but no GPS, ACARS, ADS, DME or (unless I am wrong) transponder. (The latter can still be used for convenience, but is not visible in the cockpit).

Until the 1960s, aircraft used to carry a radiotelegraph, also called CW radio, to send and receive messages in Morse code. This CW radio is implemented on the DC-7. All you have to do is use your keyboard's 'k' as a morse key. This is a fully manual system, so make sure you know morse code before you use it. It is intended to work over MP, i.e. if someone else flies a DC-7 (or any other model with the CW XML code copied into it), they should hear your morse signals and vice versa, if both aircraft use the same CW frequency. By default, the frequency is set to 333 kHz, you can change it in "instrumentation/cw/frequencies/selected-khz" (a custom radio dialog will come later) if you need to. There are two modes, controlled by "instrumentation/cw/mode": A1 (plain signal) and A2 (modulated signal); all they do for now is sound differently.

Failures:

  • If an engines overheats above 240°C (CHT), it will become unreliable, cough, maybe even stop. However, if it does not reach 290°C, it will work again when it cools down.
  • If an engine continues to overheat, above 290°C, it will melt. This cannot be repaired (currently, not even on ground).
  • If an engine overspeeds (above +- 3000 RPM) for too long, or exceeds 60 inHg MP for too long, it will break down or seize. This cannot be repaired.

Planned failures (not implemented yet) :

  • If you fly too fast with the flaps extended, you will lose them.
  • If you do too much aerobatics, the wings will break off.

To do

Systems

Tune engine temperature script Fix NAV/VOR-ADF bug

Implement pressurization (find how it was operated)

Implement vintage navigation systems e.g. LORAN, CONSOL, DECCA...?

Radios:

  • Improve CW radio
  • Make custom radio dialog

Failures:

  • fine-tune thresholds and effects

Outside

  • Make DC-7CF variant
  • Make more liveries

FDM

A lot, probably.

Cockpit

Main panel:

  • design or find appropriate NAV gauges
  • 3rd row, 1st (left) col: add switch, find what it does
  • Clock: removed - find where it should be and move it

eng panel:

  • 3rd row: adapt flap style, and thermo style (bigger bottom digits) (not essential)

OH panel:

  • Add eng- and elec-related switches
  • Texture the whole panel

AP panel:

  • Add some controls, or at least texture it

Sides/back:

  • Find info about radio op position
  • Make radios

External links

  • Wikipedia article: [1]
  • Forum: [2]