US postal flight

[EHM-1864 Steve]

Hi
i am now at stage 3 flying, can i now fly the postal route , and can i do it off line ,

do i need to do it as pro pilot,
can i use flight logger or is it a different way to submit flights.

fairley new to this, so sry if stupid question, i am slowley finding me fet round the VA and all the topics ect
regards
steve

[EHM-0654 Murray]

Lots of questions there Steve in not a lot of space... Lets do them logically in order;

1. Officially speaking, you're *way* too late to join the US Airmail Pioneers event. We stopped accepting the first leg PIREPs on the 13th (almost a week ago...)

2. The US Airmail Pioneers event is a ProPilot event, meaning all legs must be flown using our (almost) unique ProPilot system. ProPilot, in and of itself, requires an active connection to the Internet while flying, but you do not need to be using any of the multiplayer flight simulation networks (IVAO, Vatsim, etc...)

3. As such, you have to use v3.0.6 of the EHM Flight Logger software to both record and submit the PIREP, and the PIREP itself needs to be accepted as a PP flight to qualify for the event award.

Sorry for the negativity right at the start, but better I get it out of the way. Having said all that, the US Airmail Pioneers event is proving to be a great introduction to ProPilot, as the DC-3 is a very forgiving bird. While you won't be able to qualify for the award, I would heartily recommend you fly the rest of this event to get used to the ProPilot system and what it expects of you as a pilot. You'll be able to ProPilot leg 3 onward (leg 3 PIREPs will be valid until 2006-04-22).

If you have any more questions, just ask. There's bound to be someone here that can answer.

[EHM-1199 Philip]

The dc3 is a very fogiving bird ... are you flying the same plane as me Murray? The DC3 is a nightmare to control on the ground requiring differential braking until you hit about 30-40kts then the brakes stop having effect as the rear wheel lifts off the deck and the rudder comes into its own. The tiniest puff of wind has it dancing all over the shop. That said, it is a great fun machine to fly but mine has not been fogiving ... more vindictive

[EHM-1671 Ben]

So true, Phil!! The DC-3, while possibly elegant and graceful in the air, it's clumsy and brutal to control on the ground. Differentials seem to have an 'extended' effect; let go of the brakes and it continues to turn! Oh well, I suppose that's the price you pay for flying such a beautiful piece of aviation history...

[EHM-1001 Robert]

Well, it is not so difficult I think...

I have a joystick with rotating yoke (twist function) that I can use for rudder function/steering. If I press brake button and rotate the yoke, it will operate the differential brakes, and the plane start turning. A little before finishing the turn, you need to brake again a little, and the plane will "return" to linear movement. If not, apply a little steering to the opposite direction.

Of course for these manouvers you need a little more power, because the plane will slow down a bit at each brakings.

Okay okay, it sounds too simple, but it really is not hard after some practice I have not tried, but I think if you lock the tailgear, the plane will turn only until the brakes applied...