Pre-purchase research (all input welcome)

[Matt Schmalz]

I'm considering the A320 (looks amazing!) for P3D; I currently have most PMDG and A2A aircraft. Before I commit though, I'm trying to learn more about the features. Can anyone provide input on the following?

1. I've read that oil consumption is modeled, with mixed statements about the value being retained on shutdown as part of the panel state. With this in mind, how in-depth are the service/maintenance aspects? I can't seem to find copies of the manuals online, or much discussion on maintenance/service related failures in general.
2. Are, let's call them "abuse related failures" modeled? Examples would be hot brakes, Engine failure due to hot start or overstress etc. I don't know much about the A320... so if failures of this nature are mitigated by the aircraft that would be interesting to know as well.
3. Are random failures modeled? If so, are they equally random or are MTBF values considered?
4. Are same advanced ice-related features from the A319 also modeled in the A320?
   1. Follow-up to that, are ice-related engine FOD failures modeled? 

I know... yes I agree I should be focused on flying and not breaking it! But... I worked in Aircraft mainteance for several years and this is all part of the experience for me . Thanks in advance for the input - any additional comments on your experience with the A320 is also welcome!!

 

All the best,

Matt

[Sabine Meier]

Point 4 yes all features that are were on the a319 release were later added to the a320. And the same will be for new features on the a321 those will also come to a320/319. And yes ice does affect your flightmodel.

Random failures are modeled however you need to manually add them to the flight. Random means random so you might have a failure after take off or no failure at all for example.

Hot brakes are present and you will need to use the brake fan plus sufficient coing time.

[Pedro_Carvalho]

Hello.

The product you envision is more polished than what's available now.

1) Oil quantity is carried from the previous simulator shutdown. As is fuel. The service/maintenance aspects are not very deep. Oil gets consumed and you must select an option to fill the reservoir once the level gets low. You'll have 17 qts again. As far as I know failure to maintain the aircraft will not result in failures being generated. This does not work like A2A where you need to take care of the maintenance aspects or you'll end up dealing with the consequences.

2) Abuse does not trigger anything. Hot brakes get sticky while hot, but return to normal.

3) Random failures are not modelled as you wish they'd been. For every flight you'll need to tell the aircraft to fail. The more random you can get from it is a probability that in the next 8 hours a random failure (from a list of failures implemented) will be triggered. No MTBF, no service related failures. There is a list of failures and the user has to make one happen via a menu. I've suggested multiple times that the user should at least have the possibility to set and forget a low percentage for any failure to happen anytime (like 0,1%) and be really surprised when it happened, but as I've understood the team is prioritizing other aspects first.

4) Yes, A319 and A320 are equally modelled. No FOD failures are generated as far as I've read or encountered (like forgetting to switch on eng anti-ice).

Overall you'll have a deep system simulation that has a initial failure engine implemented. You can choose a failure from a 30ish failure list (and the aircraft's systems will behave properly according to what has failed) but it has to be triggered by your will. No service related and no true randomness.

Let's hope Santa can bring something on this chapter!

[Matt Schmalz]

Thanks @Pedro_Carvalho for the thorough input! If the failure engine receives attention this will be an easy purchase for me considering the system depth is there now. I haven't seen a roadmap posted (could have overlooked it), hopefully this will be in scope for an upcoming patch.