Flight Timer observations and C172 setup

[paulv]

Hi all

I have been using the suggested flight timer with great success, and thought I would share two observations:
1) As the timer works from exceeding 30 knots to reducing below 30 knots, it has happened twice now that on roll-out, a wind gust increased my KIAS to above 30 kts, resetting the timer. THe first time I was not prepared, and had to fly the whole leg again.

My solution is two-fold: Note the take-off time from the FSX clock, and secondly, when landing, keep counting the timer readout as you brake, in case it resets itself.

This saved me the second time.

2) For those of you flying the C172, here is a nice position for the timer, below the six-pack:
gauge55=Digital!FTime, 185, 334

Regards




Paul

Attachments:

[Jean]

Jan 20, 2010 21:34:21 GMT -5 paulv said:

Hi all

My solution is two-fold: Note the take-off time from the FSX clock, and secondly, when landing, keep counting the timer readout as you brake, in case it resets itself.
Regards
Paul

Hi all too !

there is another solution. (two in fact) :

During the checklist, left click on the clock-button marked "select" : the clock is now a timer...
At one minute (exactly when the FltTime toggles from 0.99 to 1.00,
you're suppose to be climbing straight from the runway... Left click the clock-now-timer-button marked "Ctrl" and that timer begins, with one minute of radial-or-other-piston lag.

What is the second another solution ?
Well, in my frenchie FS9.1, the timer in the 2D panel is independent from the one of the 3D panel, so you can count for example a one minute turn on the 3D panel without disabling the rescue timer on the 2D panel

regards

Jean

[Tom Goodrick]

You are right that precautions must be taken in gusty winds when the time is as important as it is in this GAAR. I always hit PAUSE when the aircraft has slowed below 30 knots (or is close to 30 KIAS) and write down the FTimer value. Then you can complete the rollout or just go to the next flight situation because the timed portion of your flight is over.

[donh]

Here's one usable Panel.cfg entry to place timer centered just above the 6pack guage stack in the FS9 alphasm Caribou 2d panel:

gauge29=Digital!FTime, 887, 445, 112, 70

[Tom Goodrick]

After losing my time for a second time during the landing, I have come up with a backup plan that should work. After you finish your takeoff and are climbing out steadily, pause the flight so you can jot down simultaneous times from the panel clock and from the FltTime gauge. This gives you the offset from clock time so that if you lose the time from the FltTime gauge, you can reconstruct the flight time using the panel clock and the offset.

Example: you see 1.24 on the FltTime gauge and 9:43:28 on the clock. Later you land and see 0.00 on the FltTime clock when you pause to jot down your flight time for the race. The clock says 10:36:41. The clock difference is 53:13 or 53.22 min. Add the offset of 1.24 that you read after takeoff and you get the correct flight time: 54.46 min.

At the moment that's the best I can do to solve the problem. I will work hard, after finishing the GAAR, to fix the FTime gauge so it does not lose the time. In the last instance I came in hot and crabbing a bit in a strong crosswind at YCRG and skipped a bit. The timer was designed to work if you bounce a landing but evidently it depends on what changes the airspeed indicator sees.

Hope this deficiency does not cause you much trouble.