Can't located CVN-65 in Free flight - New Purchase [Closed]

[zepol4436]

This will be my third post on this issue with no response

I just recently purchased the USS Enterprise Aircraft Carrier for FSX Steam, Order #40611 through Simshack.

It appears the download and install process worked okay, and the scenery add-on in the scenery library (settings) does display the label "Team SDB USS Enterprise_West_coast" correctly, but in free flight the carrier does not appear. I followed the manual's instructions: Flew out of NAS Marimar, runway 24R on a heading of 257 at a speed of 300 knots. I pass San Clemente Island and fly beyond it by 1/2 hour and never see the Carrier.

What can I do next?

Thanks,

Bob

[mickeyd]

Have you installed the included saved flights? We also recommend installing the RFN Gauge which will assist you in finding the carrier. Full instructions are included in the manual. It's a big ocean and a relatively small ship. I have contacted my colleague to take up the reins as he's more knowledgeable re. carriers.

[zepol4436]

Thanks for the reply, Mickey:

Yes I have installed the saved flights for San Diego and can call up and land on the carrier from that "load". But still can't find the carrier in free flight. Are the manual's instructions to fly a bearing of 257 a valid course? Also in the load a saved flight scenario, on a second pass, the FA-18 runs out of fuel. How can you refuel?

On the subject of the RFN gauge... no I didn't install it. Where do I find that download?

Thanks,

Bob

[fsafranek]

Reposting what I wrote in your first request (more info there). Sorry I missed them. I come by here at least every other day but must have been at the wrong time of day.

You asked about how to find the ship in free flight ...

Start looking around. Seriously. A ship, even one as big as a carrier, can be hard to spot on the vast ocean. While you are flying out there the ship is also moving. I've made that flight many times and have had to fly circles for a long time before spotting her. Easiest way to spot her is from external spot view (things look bigger) and on the horizon so don't fly too high.

But that can be frustrating and is why we also included the saved flights that will put you about 10 miles behind the carrier with fuel adjusted for a safe landing. The ship runs on a roughly 25 mile course before turning around and coming back so depending on where it is when you join the flight it may be going away from you, coming towards you, or in the process of turning around. If it isn't where you want it or you just can't find it then restart the flight.

You can restart the flight and that should put the fuel back to something like 20% in all internal tanks. Under "Options/Settings/Controls..." you can also assign a key sequence to add about 25%. I use "CTRL+SHIFT+=" to add fuel. If you find you have too much fuel you can use the key combination of CTRL+SHIFT+D to trigger a Fuel Dump (on/off). Of course you can always pause and edit the values under "Aircraft/Fuel and Payload...".

The RFN gauge is included in the package as described in the "Advanced Versions" section (pages 11-13). You don't need to download it from somewhere else.

[zepol4436]

Thanks for your response, FASFRANEK.

Will with a little rethinking about heading, I realized that the coordinates for the carrier location at start requires plotting a bearing to that point, which is not 257, but more like 225. Arriving at that point then heading 257 from there got me to the Carrier... boy, after several days of flying back and forth on the 257 bearing, it was a nice surprise to find it.

Now my only gripe is that when I land and try to save that scenario, then loading the saved file, the plane falls into the water. Hence, launching a plane is only allowed right after landing. If a simmer can't land (it is tough) he can't experience launching a plane.

However, I do cheat... I land the T-45 (much easier), then load the FA-18 to launch. The other neat thing about using the T-45 to land, if you miss the landing and go around, you don't run out of fuel.

I am having fun trying all the different combos to make this program work for me.

Thanks

Bob

[zepol4436]

That's WELL, not WILL...

[fsafranek]

The latest version of the RFN Carrier gauge (v4.21) allows you to designate four spots on the deck where you can begin a flight.
The gauge can be downloaded from the Royal French Navy website at http://royalefrenchnavy.restauravia.fr/.

The version of the gauge we included is v3. Our "shipbuilder", Sylvain Parouty, is also the designer of the gauge. If you want
to try the latest version download it from the link above and be sure to read the manual thoroughly especially noting that in the
current v4.2 the frequencies have been changed for many ships including the Enterprise. Any support for this should come from
RFN but I did the English translation of the manual so it should be easy to follow.

The other option is to use AI Carriers to put the ship in front of you and then Slew to the deck. Then taxi to the catapult.

[zepol4436]

Hi Franek,

Thanks for the input... been traveling so I didn't see this until today. I Appreciate your response.

Thanks again,

Oh, BTW I do have a questions:

How do you change formations in the aicarrier cfg file. Can you do it externally on the keyboard with a combo of CTRL or Shift + number while in the actual free flight?

Thanks,

Bob

[fsafranek]

How do you change formations in the aicarrier cfg file. Can you do it externally on the keyboard with a combo of CTRL or Shift + number while in the actual free flight?

The aicarrier.cfg file is just a text file so you can edit it with Notepad and any other text editor.

From the first entry in the cfg file we provided:

Code: Select all

[formation.0]
title=CVN65 Enterprise 80s
unit.0=VEH_CVN65_Enterprise_80s,0,0
unit.1=VEH_SH-3H_Seaking_80s, -150, 0
unit.2=VEH_Robison,600, -400

In this example the "title" is anything you want it to say. This is what is displayed in the selection menu of AI Carriers.
In the next line "unit.0" is the Enterprise. The "VEH_CVN65_Enterprise_80s" is from the "title=" line in the ship's "sim.cfg" file. The "0,0" are the distances fore/aft and right/left from the center of the formation. This ship is at the center of the formation so it is "0,0".
"unit.1" is the plane guard chopper located 150 feet to the left (minus sign) of the formation center (no fore/aft value).
"unit.2" is the escort ship located 600 feet to the right (no minus sign) and 400 feet back (minus sign) from the formation center.

If you look at the other cfg files provided in the AI carrier package you can see how to add more as well as a few names of military ships included in FSX that can be included to increase the size of the formation.

Hope this helps.
Good luck and have fun.

[zepol4436]

Thanks Frank, I appreciate your response.

Let me study and compare this against the CVN-65 cfg file to see if I can figure out how the formation # is selected. Right now, I only see the CVN-65 carrier 80's version (loaded with planes). I somehow lost the guard helicopter and destroyer. So I think the formation # has somehow been changed to the carrier only formation. I am trying to get the guards back in the picture.

There is obviously some program file that looks at the cfg file and uses a default number for the single carrier only. I need to figure out where formation numbers gets selected. That is my dilemma.

Okay, back to trial and error for me...

Thanks again.

Bob