Introduction

This manual illustrate how to fly Shinden in the world of FlightGear. As I'm not a real pilot or a developer of Shinden, I don't know it is true. The explanation here is based on the experiments and my research on this aircraft. I hope this document helps you fly this cute canard airplane.

Flight Characteristics

Canard Configuration and Pusher Propeller

Shinden is an aircraft that has a canard configuration with a pusher propeller. This two main characteristics make its flight very different from other airplanes with regular configuration. FIt is relatively easy to stall so you might sometimes crash this aircraft. Thus, careful and gentle control, especiall for elevators, is a "must" in flying Shinden. When you feel a sign of stall in rolling, yawing, and pitching, push the stick back a bit to recover. The use of autopilot is not recommended since some of its functions (Such as vertical speed) may rapidly control elevators.

Flap-driven Elevator-Trim Controller

Applying flaps pushes up the tail of Shinden, whereas doing so with regular configuration pushes up the nose. This push-up produces the nose-down moment. To avoid diving from the nose too fast, Shinden has a flap-driven elevator-trim controller. When you apply flaps, it adjust the elevator trim to prevent the nose from going down to some extent. However, the nose still goes down a little bit so you need to either adjsut the elevator trim or put the elevator down.

Six-blade Propeller

Shinden has a six-blade propeller that flies it at 405kt. This makes it rolls into clockwise direction especially when you fly near the ground. Be prepared to adjust this roll. You may use e/Shift-e to trim the aileron for this purpose. This moment of the propeller depends on altitude, propeller speed, and propeller-pitch. If you trim the aileron right after take-off, you also need to adjust it depending the situation.

Four Flaps

Shinden has total of four flaps, two at the canard wing and another two at the main wing. This produces more drag compared to other airplanes with two flaps. When you apply full-flaps in final approach, Shinden probably reduces speed more than you expect. In this case, put the flaps one level up to keep the speed. If you fly a little bit too fast before landing, then you can apply full-flaps to slow down quickly. In this case, you should apply flaps no faster than 250kts.

Equipments for the Power Unit

Hydraulic Torque Converter (HTC)

The hydraulic torque converter (HTC) equipped in Shinden is used to control the boost pressure (manifold pressure). Unlike the conventional airplanes at the time of WWII, which use gears to manipulate supercharger or turbine, HTC propagate the torque to the turbine using disks soaked in the liquid. This is like a clutch in automatic transmissions of cars. The more pressure you give to HTC, the faster turbine spines. As a result, the engine gets more power.

Water-Methanol Injection (WMI or WM50)

The water-methanol injection (WMI) sprays the 50-50 mixture of water and methanol to the turbine for increasing the boost pressure. This equipment is intended to compliment the power since less high-octane gasoline was available at the time of WWII. WMI was used at take-off and dog-fight. The side effect of the use of WMI is cooling of the engine.

Though the effective altitude range is limited in the real aircraft, it is not simulated at the time of writing this. WMI increases the boost pressure when it is grater than +0mmHg (1 bar). Shinden has about 12 us-galons (guesstimate amount) of water-methanol, which allows you to apply full-power injection for about 20 minutes. When no water-methanol is available, the right needle of WMI gauge falls down to 0.

Instructions

Take-off

Start taxing with no flaps (remember that flaps push up the tail, not the nose). Actuate HTC and WMI so the boost pressure reaches +300mmHg. Keep Shinden on the center line using rudder. Pull up the yoke at about 100kts, and you will take off at 105kts. Don't forget to retract the gears.

Climbing

Maintain the pitch no grater than 15 degree and keep the speed no slower than 120kts. The target climb speed is about 750 meters per minute (2480 feet per minute). You can check the climb speed using VSI (Vertical speed indicater). Good starting point is that wait until the speed reaches 200 knots and then start climbing. You can climb at 500 - 750m/min at 200 - 250 knots.

Besides monitoring the pitch and air speed, you need to monitor the exhaust gas temperature (EGT) gauge and the boost gauge. EGT tells you the richness of the fuel mixture. The richer the mixture becomes, the lower temperature it shows. Keeping EGT between 700 to 750 degree Celcius pulls the best performance of the engine. Leaner mixture (higher EGT) increases the cylinder temperature and richer mixture cools enigne. However, too rich mixture can burn the engine (This is not simulated yet though). When the boost gauge shows less than +0mmHg, then you should apply more HCT pressure and/or WMI pressure to get more power for keeping the climb rate.

Cruise

The cruise configuration of Shinden is 215knots (may be at about 4500m). From my experience, gauges should show the numbers like listed below:

• WMI : off (you could turn this on but it only lasts for 20 mins)
• Boost : -400mmHg
• Tach : 1500 rpm
• EGT : 750 degree Celcius

The easiest steps to keep the cruise speed is:

1. Climb up to 5000m.
2. Apply 'Heading control' with Wings level.
3. Keep the pitch at 0 degree (+- 3 degree)
4. Apply 'Pitch hold' from the Autopilot Settings, designating between -0.5 to -2.0 to keep the altitude
5. Apply 'Vertical speed = 0' from the autopilot settings.
6. Set velocity control (with throttle) to 215.
7. Adjust HTC (boost), EGT (fuel mixture) for getting effective fuel flow.

The steps above also illustrate how to use autopilot safely. The key for the safe use of autopilot is to bring the pitch (or climb rate) as close as the desired value manually and turn on the autopilot.

Approach

At about 7 miles from a runway, make a big turn to reduce the speed to 250 kts, heading toward the runway at about 750m high (These numbers may not accurate but not that bad I guess.) Decrease the HTC and WMI all the way down, reducing the power (20% throttle). Apply flap one level down at this moment. Don't forget to adjust the elevator trim to keep the nose position since the flaps make Shinden nose-down. Begin descent, slowing down aiming 100kts at the time of touch-down. Extend the landing gears at about 150kts.

To know if you are at the right position, use VASI (Visual Approach Slope Indicator). The VASI at a side of a runway tells you if you're at the right altitude. When you see two red lghts and two white lights (with 4-lights VASI), you're at the right altitude. If you see more whites than reds, you're too high. more reds also shows you're too low.

Since the elevators are a bit sensitive, adjusting the altitude by throttle control is highly recommended. Pulling the yoke back to gain some altitude in approaching is not a good idea. Though it give you a bit altitude, it produces much more drag. The nose will go down a bit too quick when you slow down a bit too much. In this case, put more power and pull the yoke to keep the appropriate altitude. When the nose is stable enough, go back to the normal approaching procedure.

Landing

Move the throttle to its idle position when you're at about 10 m from the ground. Try touching-down onto the runway at 100kts with a little nose-up. Apping full-flaps in landing makes it a bit hard to make a little nose-up. In this case, put the flaps one level up in advance and bring the nose up. It is not that hard to make "aerodynamic landing," landing from the main gear with the nose gear lifted from the ground a bit. When the nose gear touches on the ground, actuate rudder to keep Shinden on the center line. Slowly apply the brakes and make it stop (or taxi to a terminal or a hanger). Note that you should not cut the power when you're flying at the stalling speed (85 knots).

Gauges

Key Bindings

d/D

increase/decrease hydraulic torque converter pressure (htc; boost controller)

e/E

trim aileron left/right (let me know if there are more suitable keys for these)

f/F

increase/decrease water-methanol injection (wmi; more boost when boost > +0mmHg)

m/M

increase/decrease mixture

n/N

coarse/fine propeller pitch

For other key bindings, see FlightGear Short Reference