T-38 Dash froze after going over the top in a loop

[Wizkid2552]

After going over the top, I noticed all needles were frozen for airspeed and AOA stayed in white arc with green circle and never changed for the rest of the flight even if I tried to stall it. Flaps and landing gear worked, and the sounds worked, but the green landing gear lights did not come on, and the lever did not move. All I did was a standard loop entry at almost 500 and eased it up and over on full power, then cut power on way down to be able to complete loop. Landed ok at Logan although it was hairy without the AOA or at least knowing my airspeed. If it wasn't for VR I never could have landed with no gauges in that handful of a plane. Looks wonderful at night, great job with airport lighting, and love that T38--almost bought it for FSX/P3D and happy I waited for FlyInside! This is my last test tonight, sorry for 3 bug reports in a row but hope they are simple stuff, and can't wait to see how nice this sim will be.

[MalcolmFI]

Thanks for the report - we've seen this issue pop up from time to time in a few planes, where all the gauges just freeze while in the air and the cockpit becomes mostly nonresponsive. Still haven't nailed it down, but we're looking into it.

Regards,
Malcolm

[mobiusfix]

I did a few tests, and the bug is repeatable. The instrument panel freezes as soon as you reach 90 degrees of incline or decline. Maybe that's where the attitude indicator graphic "ends" and the sim doesn't know what to load next?

[admin]

Thanks, that's a really helpful reproduction! Impressive looping the T38-A btw, it's a pig

[Wizkid2552]

There's a retired Lt. Col. James Albright who wrote a series of books about flying and his career in the Air Force, and his first book is called "Basic Flight" and he has a whole chapter on his time in the T-38. He details how training is done in the Air Force in this jet, and describes some of the pitfalls when you make mistakes. The reason it makes such a good trainer is that it is a pig, you have to watch your AOA like a hawk because of the high wing loading, you have to manage momentum and plan turns without making abrupt stick movement that could stall you. The model you guys have here seems right on the money, and yeah, to do a loop you need to have lots of airspeed before entry, and be very easy on the controls to not stall bringing it up, and also when you try to bring it out of the loop without planting yourself in the dirt. But if you learn on the T-38, the more powerful, more forgiving jet fighters seem simple in comparison (I would guess).

[admin]

Thank you, ordered it Sounds like a great read.

[mobiusfix]

Wizkid: I'm glad it's not just me. Every time I land (or attempt to land) the T-38, it's a constant adjustment of power and TINY adjustments with the stick to keep it on track. A few knots below optimum and I'm virtually at a stall even without pulling up on the stick. A few knots over and the AOA indexer glares its down arrow at me. I'm used to loosey-goosey sim flight where I can just flop a GA aircraft down on a runway without a crash detection, but this jet trainer has me actually thinking ahead about my approaches.

[Wizkid2552]

Mobiusfix, you are right, it is a delicate airplane to land, and to fly for that matter. I read the aforementioned book about a year ago and have been drooling for a chance to practice the theory I gleaned from it. I can actually hear the author's voice saying "go around burners!" when I get too slow in the approach, and his other one was how to simply guide the nose around the pattern turn without backpressure at 45 degree bank. There are precise numbers for speed and descent rate, and of course AOA. If you notice in the AOA dial there is a sweet spot in white, and that is where you want to try to keep it, and once you pull in half flaps and drop the gear, it needs a healthy boost in throttle even in descent to keep from getting "behind the power curve." If you like this jet as much as I do, I highly recommend that book, and even the subsequent 3 books he has out because they are pure gold and I find myself re-reading them every few weeks sometimes.

[Wizkid2552]

Thank you, ordered it Sounds like a great read.

You're welcome, glad to share this great find, especially with you guys who can use it building this awesome sim! Great work guys.

[Tony]

Glad it's not me lol through alpha testing I always moaned at Dan saying the 38 is a pig, nice to hear it's a pig in the real world