Some questions for you. If you don't mind.
1. Have you have added the electric_always_available=1 to you aircraft.cfg?
2. If you haven't added that line, are you having trouble with loss of avionics power?
3. If you haven't added that line AND you aren't having that problem, could you please guide us through what you do from a Cold-n-Dark cockpit to the knob/button settings for maintaining power?

Markoz,

I have not added anything to the .cfg file and as long as I keep the engines running I have no problem with loss of power.

Let's see if I can remember all the steps to get the old bird fired up from the cold....

1. Cockpit safety check. Hyd pump switches off, gear, gear doors and flaps handles agree - you don't want anything moving until clear.
2. Battery ON - check voltage
3. Fire test APU then start up APU.
    Check volts and freqs of APU and close AGR to connect to aircraft busses. Essential power to APU
    Note: I do not find a master avionics switch on the pilots overhead??? I wonder how the radios are turned on???
4. On F/E panel make sure all bleed valves are open - packs off - to get engine start air. Manifold pressure around 40 psi.
    If you're not starting engines at this time, turn on packs for air temp control in plane.
5. When clear by ground - HYD B pumps on. Make sure brakes are parked or chocked.
6. Load fuel to desired level.
7. Turn off packs to start engines.
8. As each engine is started, F/E checks engine gen volts and freq [ 115 volts & 400 cycles ]
    Select Essential Power to engine one and close MGR to change over power from APU. Do same with each engine.
9. After engine start, turn on A/C packs.

That should get you started...

The more I play with the CS-727 the more fun I have! It's pretty good indeed.
If you could have seen the multi-million dollar simulator we had in the 60's you would laugh.
Now, today, the simulators we train in are super, but back then the CS-727 would have been heaven.
I wish I would have kept my old 727 books.

Lou

The MGR ( Main Generator Relay ) is located on the F/E panel.

The AGR (Aux Generator Relay) is located on the APU panel.

There is also an Essential Power Selector switch, which powers critical instruments and has multiple ways to get its power.

On the F/E panel each engine driven generator is driven by a CSD (Constant Speed Drive) which allows the generator to spin at 6,600 rpm regardless of engine RPM.

So, looking at each generator on the F/E panel from bottom up, you have the CSD knob to adjust the generator cycles to 400, then you have the GFR (Generator Field Relay) which turns the generator on and off by taking the PMG (Permanent Magnetic Field) voltage and feeding this into a transformer to build up the voltage to 115 volts A.C. With the GFR open you would get just the voltage of the magnet spinning which gives maybe 15 or so volts. But, by feeding this small voltage into a transformer the voltage is increased to the 115 volts.

Next in the stack, you have the MGR (Main Generator Relay) which connects the generator to its respective load bus. Each generator can power its respective load bus. However, one generator can power the whole aircraft through the next relay called the BTR (Bus Tie Relay).

With just one generator powering the plane via the BTR there is no magic, you are just plugging in more load buses to the single generator.
When you tie two or three generators together they must be in sync. Thus the BTR's become a Sync Bus with many possible faults associated with putting multiple electrical sources together.

That's the down and dirty of the 727 A.C. system.

D.C. is made from the A.C. using TR's (Transformer Rectifiers) which take the 115 volt 400 cycle A.C. and turns it into 28 volt D.C. The D.C. is used to run relays to control bigger load A.C. motors and various small load items such as lights, instruments and radios.

Does this help, or is it too much data?

Lou

See if this helps....

I know you'll have questions about: KVAR, Sync Lights, Residual Voltage.

Ask and I'll try to explain.

Lou

Well, I will probably never get into it this deep. I am, at least up until now, a *Control E* guy. I am not really interested in systems much more detailed than the default ones. I may at some point attempt the cold/dark start, but that's iffy. I'm 72 and don't want to freeze to death at the gate in a cold/dark computer cockpit!

I am satisfied that the auto pilot on the CS 727 works pretty much as it should and I can figure out how to use it, but now my questions are:

1.) Can you use the FSX Flight planner and import the flight plan into the CS 727 and will the CS AP follow the plan? I have never used just the NAV radios or DME or ADF to navigate. I either fly GPS direct using the AP, or just let ATC guide me IFR.

2.) Do you/can you use the FSX fuel and load planner? I saw the CS load planner, but didn't notice a fuel planner.

3. For someone fairly competent with the FSX default systems how difficult is it to learn the CS 727? What's the learning curve here?

The manual shows you every switch, knob and gauge (overwhelming for someone with no formal training) and has all the check lists, but doesn't tell you anything about how to fly the airplane. Nor do I see any Tutorials mentioned anywhere. The CS website/manuals tell you what all the features are, but nothing about how it interfaces with FSX.

I bought the PMDG737NG for FS9 and after 2 days of trying to figure it out using their tutorial & manual (which I thought was lacking probably because of language differences) I gave up. I don't want that to happen again.

Bruce

Hi Bruce.

1.) Can you use the FSX Flight planner and import the flight plan into the CS 727 and will the CS AP follow the plan? I have never used just the NAV radios or DME or ADF to navigate. I either fly GPS direct using the AP, or just let ATC guide me IFR.
Yes you can. I do it all the time. I usually select a High Altitude airways plan. Note. You will probably need to add a NAV/GPS switch to the Autopilot, or at least create a keyboard shortcut for it. I use SHIFT + N.

2.) Do you/can you use the FSX fuel and load planner? I saw the CS load planner, but didn't notice a fuel planner.
I use it. For short flights, I have the same quantity in all three tanks. There is no CS fuel planner foor the 727.

3. For someone fairly competent with the FSX default systems how difficult is it to learn the CS 727? What's the learning curve here?
That's a hard one for me to answer because I started using flight simulator back in 1983. BUT. Up until the middle of last year, I was a GA Flight Sim pilot only. Now I love these airliners.

You can come in here to ask for help and advice. Most of us will try to help you to achieve whatever it is that you are trying to do.

I hope this helps.

Mark

Hi,

Sorry to butt in on this conversation, but I was reading what you were saying about navigation and would like to ask a couple of questions.  You say nav was done VOR-VOR - do you mean like if you select VOR to VOR in the FSX Flight Planner?  If so, this is where I'm a little confused, because I always thought airways were followed by airliners, but if you select to navigate by airways, the waypoints aren't always VOR's, so this is quite difficult.  As I like to fly FSX as realistically as possible, how can I navigate by airways (as you did in the real world I guess) using the radio nav equipment, and how do I plan these flights?

Thanks,
Tom

Wow thanks very much for your answer Lou!  Very helpful, much appreciated.

I find these sorts of flights very difficult to plan in Flight Simulator, because the FSX flight planner doesn't tell you which airways follow which VOR radials and likewise for the intersections. Also, certainly in European airspace (where most of my sim flying is done), airways don't seem to always correspond to VOR radials - unless I just can't find them because of the way the flight planner is set out!

Do you have any advice for planning these routes for FSX - as it isn't clear which VORs and which radials the airways and intersections correspond with?!

Many thanks,
Tom

Tom,

I have never used the FSX planner so I'm of no help there, however you can go online and download both low and high charts from various places including the FAA. There is a small fee, but you will only have to pay once since you won't have to keep them current. Maybe you can find a pilot that lives in your area and ask to obtain the charts he discards each month when he does his revisions.

What is really fun in the newer planes like the 767/757/747-400 you can fully program the FMC computer. Wait until you see how complex that item is. The book I had in the real plane was huge.

The journey of a 1,000 miles starts with the first step...    Start waking!

Lou