Constellation Pro: two questions

Hi!
Finally I put my hands on this beauty, which I was anxiously waiting.
I have had some trouble with autopilot, even if i'm used to this kind of instruments, such as DC3 Sperry and others.
How do I understand if the pitch is caged or not? A tooltip on the gauge would be nice.
Another question regarding radios. How can I precisely set the ADF? Again, a tooltip on the gauge showing the correct frequency could be nice.
Thx in advance for any answer, and a special thank to JustFlight for this new Masterpiece.

Ciao!
Rosario Manzo, IT

Hi, from what I understand a "caged guage" is locked mechanically, by a sliding swithch alongside, so that it can't rotate in any axis. Used to prevent "gimbal lock" in circumstances of unusual attitude or when parked. Usually a small "flag" will show in the guage denoting "caged".

I still don't get the difference between caged & uncaged, and how will this effect flight, or autopilot.

As this appears to be the only topic that's getting  any responses. (Where are the developers?) Do any of you guys notice any of the anomalies that I have mentioned in my other Topic here. http://forum.justflight.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=9618

David Broadhurst wrote: I am more bothered about lack of good graphic for the nav radios because I cannot read them so setting them to fly beacon to beacon, as it were, and how it used to be done before GPS systems is not possible, I don't think.

Right.
In our historical flights there is often a "blank" space between two radios. If the radio to reach is a NDB, you need to tune it properly in order to correct the route as soon as you hear the morse code.
If I'm not sure of the tuning, the task is really hard to accomplish.
I say again, a tooltip on the adf radio gauge showing the frequency set should be easy to add (and a tooltip showing caged/uncaged on the pitch button also).

doc289456 wrote: I agree that the graphic is unreadable but I do get a tool tip when I hover with the mouse and this is displaying the frequecies thus making it easy to tune. I am using the shift 2 popup radio panel. I also get a mouse over tooltip that indicates whether the gyro is caged or uncaged. Both in the Autopilot popup and in the VC. (Hover over the button in the bottom right corner of the autopilot popup)

I'm away from home now, will check it ASAP. Thanks anyway for the hint.

David, I havn't got my Constellation yet, am awaiting a CD version.

Hi David
I have consistently been able to climb up to FL23 or over, but I usually find that FL20 is the best for me. Not sure why you couldn't. Atmospheric conditions maybe???
I can usually cruise at around FL20 (depending on my load) at 2300rpm and 31 Manifold pressure. I will do around 230knots (ground speed). The airspeed gauge in cockpit reads a bit less than 200mph.

I have noticed though that if you have more than around 10% of pitch (with the autopilot) that the plane will get to a point where it will not go any faster or climb any higher. (maybe this was your problem). I then have to reduce pitch to allow the AC to speed up and then it will continue to climb.
At around FL20 I have only 1-2% of pitch. This is unladen. If I am fully loaded with fuel & cargo (for my Air Hauler Flights) I need more pitch, can not get as high or as fast.

Hopefully some of this may help you. Sounds like an interesting flight though, I will have to give it a go sometime.

David Broadhurst wrote: 11,600 ft was the highest I managed to achieve at 110 knots with all levers against the stops.

David, you should lean the mixture while climbing. Anc the levers should never be against the stops.

Did you check your realism settings in FSX as Herky mentioned?

doc289456 wrote: Did you check your realism settings in FSX as Herky mentioned?

Yes, I have "show tooltips" activated. I can see the altimeter tooltip, but no way to see the ADF one, nor the caged autopilot one.