Troubleshooting

  1. I can't get the speedbrake to work!
     
  2. I can't start the engines.
     
  3. I can't get the aircraft to spin well, and when I do, it's too easy to recover.
     
  4. I'm trying to re-install the software and the Flight 1 installer tells me that I've reached my access limit.
     
  5. The engine sounds are horrible!
     
  6. I can't find the T-37 Tweet under the aircraft selections.
     
  7. I can't hear the flaps, landing gear, or landing lights.
     
  8. What keys control the landing lights, taxi lights, rotating beacons, etc...
     
  9. I installed the T-37 using an Administrator account and now other users can't use the T-37.

 

1.  I can't get the speedbrake to work!
  1. Read the First Time Use section under Joystick Configuration.

    instructions.jpg (38218 bytes)

  2. Under Controls --> Assignments,



    you will find that the speedbrake is tied to the "Backup electric vacuum pump on/off" event in Flight Simulator. 

    speedbrake.jpg (132505 bytes)

    Hit Change Assignment and a window will come up allowing you to press the button on the joystick you want to assign to the speedbrake.  Also you can see that the keyboard command / also controls the speedbrake.

     
2.  I can't start the engines.
Engine starting isn't as simple as most Flight Simulator aircraft.  Like the real aircraft, you are required to do certain things at certain times.  For ease of training, a voice prompt system has been implemented to "walk you through it".  Also, since the keyboard is no substitute for the switches used in the real aircraft, most of the button pressing has been automated by the simulator software itself.  Without considering the checklist procedures, you can simply start the engines by clicking on GND and then pushing the joystick throttle from the lowest range to the highest range (this simulates pulling the throttle from CUTOFF to IDLE).  Some joysticks physically have a CUTOFF feature like the real aircraft, and you will need to configure the joystick according to the manual's procedure (the microSimulator has no way of knowing if your joystick has this feature).
3.  I can't get the aircraft to spin well, and when I do, it's too easy to recover.
Unfortunately spins aren't something we can model properly in Flight Simulator.  Spins are difficult to model and usually not even properly reproduced in more expensive level-D full motion simulators.  Additionally, there are far too many variables that we cannot reproduce in a simulator to justify spin modelling.

The T-37 does not have benign spin characteristics like small Cessnas.  On a Cessna 182, you can recover from a spin simply by releasing the controls.  This is not so in the Tweet.  There is a complex 6 step procedure which has prevention and recovery phases.  The pilot solely determines which techniques to use and when.  If you improperly execute the prevent/recovery procedures, you can end up in an inverted spin, or worse, never recovering from the spin.  We choose not to officially guarantee that our spin modelling is accurate since it relies on the Flight Simulator flight dynamics engine.   This microSimulator should not be used to demonstrate proper prevention and recovery techniques because it does so improperly, and will lend itself to negative transfer of knowledge. 

 

4.  I'm trying to re-install the software and the Flight 1 installer tells me that I've reached my access limit.


To resolve this issue, please visit the Flight 1 website here.  You will be asked for the following information to re-activate your key.

  • original e-mail address used during the purchase of the T-37
  • order number  (you received this on your purchase receipt - can be located in your e-mail receipt)
  • password or last 4 digits of the credit card you used during the purchase

Upon entering the proper verification credentials, you will receive an e-mail with a link to re-active your key.  Key re-activation is available 24 hours a day and is an automated process.
5.  The engine sounds are horrible!
Several factors can be attributed to horrible engine sounds...
  1. The real thing sounds that bad and annoying.  Use the Configuration Manager to choose either Real Life sounds or Digitally Synthesized simulator sounds.
  2. Clicking can occur with low end or software driven sound cards.  This is because either the drivers are unable to properly mix the sounds, your CPU is too slow, or the sound card drivers have software errors.  Testing was accomplished on a Sound Blaster Live, and any such derivative cards should be able to reproduce the high quality sounds properly.
6.  I can't find the T-37 Tweet under the aircraft selections
Cessna Aircraft Company made the aircraft, so look under Cessna in the aircraft menu.  Then choose T-37. 
7.  I can't hear the flaps, landing gear, or landing lights.
You can't hear these in real life either, so don't expect the mechanical sounds you're accustomed to hearing in other FS aircraft.  Most other aircraft exaggerate sounds to give you a feeling of being there, but this is unrealistic.  The only indication you will get (in terms of sound) that the gear or flaps are extended is the wind rush sound.  Currently the landing lights make a sound but that's only because we haven't found a way to suppress that sound.
8.  What keys control the landing lights, taxi lights, rotating beacons, etc...
You cannot control the lights using keyboard commands.  Please use the panel switches as done in real life.  We had to circumvent a great deal of Flight Simulator's internal routines to make the lights work realistically.
 
9.  I installed the T-37 using an Administrator account and now other users can't use the T-37.
This problem may arise for a select few users who may use computers which have multiple accounts for different users.  This configuration is often found in a corporate environment where the computer's operating system files are protected from users, and where one user's file(s) are protected from all other users.  Only the Administrator has full control of the computer.  Often to install new software, the Administrator must login and install the software for all users.  Different parts of the file system are protected by permissions to specific files and folders.

To overcome the multi-user problem, perform the following steps...

  1. Have the Administrator of the computer create a T37sim account as a standard user (it may be necessary to place that user in the Administrator group to install the software, then demote that user to the Users group to maintain security thereafter).  It's not important that the user name the user account t37sim, but keeping some kind of meaningful username always helps.
     
  2.   From now on, have all users log onto this account to run the T-37.

Notes:

  • this method may have some additional benefits.  Namely, you can strip the Startup group of superfluous programs which slow down Microsoft Flight Simulator.
  • You can restrict users to only being able to load the T-37 in Microsoft Flight Simulator by changing the file system permissions to disallow access to other aircraft in the FS9\aircraft directory.
  • You can restrict users to only be able to launch MS Flight Sim, and not any other program.