A handy guide to the cockpit, its controls

and how to fly your new Ford Tri-Motor!

GETTING TO KNOW
YOUR FORD TRI-MOTOR.
 DIMENSIONS

K N OW T H E TR I - M O T OR WingSpan...........................................74 feet
Length.................................................49 feet
The developers have made every ef- Height (at rest)...................11 feet 9 inches
fort to simulate the various systems and
flight procedures of the Ford Tri-Motor WEIGHT
with as much accuracy as possible. Starting
old, and in this case vintage radial engines
is a tricky business requiring discipline and Empty:............................................6,500 lbs
several hands. Gross........................................... 10,130 lbs
Remember, you will be flying a vin-
tage aeroplane built in 1927. The Ford was POWERPLANTS
built by a car manufacturer, so it is not un-
usual to find automotive technology and 3 X Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind 9-cylinder, air-
building technique built into the design. cooled radial piston engines developing
In fact, the control columns are topped by 300hp each.
standard Ford Model T steering wheels and
the braking system is just like a car’s. All the
PERFORMANCE
major systems like oil, fuel and mechanical
linkages are based on automotive practice.
Speeds are not exactly electrifying Maximum speed........................132 m.p.h.
but this aeroplane is still a handful unless Cruise speed.......................110-115 m.p.h.
you are careful - especially around stalling Stall speed.................................. 57 m.p.h.
speeds. Range.......................................... 560 miles
Powered by three radial engines with Service Ceiling............................16,000 ft.
inertial starters, there are clearly-defined
procedures which MUST be followed to start Rate of Climb......................920ft/per min.
and operate the motors correctly.
Other figures of interest:
You will also find the braking system
interesting, to say the least, requiring some
practice to master. Crew (inc. Steward.......................3
Passengers............................. up to 9
G E N E R AL LAYOUT A ND FEATURES OF THE TRI -MOTOR


T HE C O CKP I T THE STANDARD PANEL.

1. Altimeter
2.Airspeed Indicator
The Tri-Motor has a simple cockpit, be- 3.Tachometer
fitting of a vintage aeroplane. It does have one or 4.Fuel tanks contents
two advanced (for the day) features and several 5.Vertical Speed
quirky ones. 6.Turn and Bank Indicator
Let’s start with the panel(s). The default 7.Chronometer
or Standard panel is based on examples of 4AT- 8. Volts/Amps meter + 8a. Switch
Es with one or two additions to make life a lit- 9.VOR (Nav1) and ADF Indicators
tle easier for the crew. An RMI and VOR/ADF 10. R.M.I with Glideslope Indicator
gauges are added and operate in conjunction with 11. Center Engine Gauges
a basic radio set mounted on the right cockpit 12. Inertial Starter Solenoid Switches
wall. NOTE: with this old-school panel you will 13. Master Battery Switch
NOT find a baro-pressure scale and/or adjust- 14. Generator Switch
ment knob. 15. Lighting Switch Panel
There is a knob/button to the left 16. Lighting Rheostats
of the Chronometer (17) which you can use to 17. Toggle Switch for Alternate panel
switch out the Standard panel to an “Alternate”
or “ Modern” panel .

16. 16.
2.
1. 4. 5. 3.

17. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

8a. 12.
13. 14. 15.
The “Alternate” panel repositions With this combination, together with the mod-
instruments to allow for the inclusion of a ern “Cessna-style” instrumentation fitted to this
Sperry Gyro-Pilot. The Sperry will be covered lat- panel, you have everythig you need for today’s
er in this manual. The “Modern” Panel consists style of IFR navigation. There’s even a fully
of a GNS530, GNS430, KP140 Autopilot and a functional HSI.
Transponder.
THE ALTERNATE PANEL. “modTHE MODERN PANEL.
18.Sperry Gyro-Pilot 22.GNS 530
23.GNS 430
RADIOS (Old school) 24.Transponder
19.NAV 1 25. AP140
20.COMS 1
21.ADF

22. AP140

18.

19. 20.
RIGHT
WALL

21.

22.

23.
24.
The Alternate Panel also includes another but-
ton/knob (20) which is used
to toggle between the Sperry Gyro-Pilot and a
25.
EL EC T R ICAL S YS T EM
selecting the Volts reading using the special toggle
switch. (8a)
You will find all the systems, including the The Battery is brought on line by using the
electrical circuit, are very simple and follow standard Master Battery Switch (13) and the Generator has its
automotive practice. Remember, Ford was used to own toggle switch (14).
manufacturing motor-cars so it was only natural that On the Lighting sub-panel (15) you will find
they would transfer that knowlege and method to an switches for the Navigation/Wing and Tail lights,
aeroplane. Landing Lights and Cabin lighting.
The Tri-Motor is fitted with a basic 12 volt, There are four button style panel lamps to
13 or 19-plate battery. This is kept charged when the illuminate the instruments and two cockpit torch-
aircraft is operating, by an engine-driven generator. style lights on the back bulkhead wall which provide
The generator output in Amps can be monitored by general cabin lighting.As the Tri-Motor carries its
using the joint Amps/Volts meter (8) on the panel. outboard engine gauges in the nacelle struts there are
The Battery condition is monitored by lights for these, turned on with the panel lights.

F UE L S YS TE M

Your Tri-Motor is equipped with three tanks.
Two are outboard of the cabin inside the wings. The
third is centered above the cabin roof inside the wing
cavity.
The system is designed so that any or all of
the tanks serve any of the three engines, in any com-
bination. The Center tank is called a RESERVE tank
and is designed under normal conditions to feed into
the other two tanks.
Fuel valves for each engine and the Reserve
Tank are mounted on the bulkhead wall behind the
pilots. Here on the left side is also mounted an Emer-
gency Fuel cutoff. (B)
The RESERVE (D) tank valve has a simple
ON/OFF position. The LEFT (A) and RIGHT (C)
tanks have four positions: OFF, ENGINE ON, EN-
GINE OFF and EQUALIZER (Cross-feed).
There is another EMERGENCY FUEL
CUTOFF (E) for the CENTER engine. This is
positioned to the left of the Pilot’s feet and is paint-
ed bright red. This will isolate the CENTER engine
ONLY.
C
B
D
A

E
BRAKING SYSTEM
Just like a car, the Tri-Motor has a left rudder and pulls the big lever over to the
form of drum-brakes on the main wheels. left (pilot) side. This brakes the left wheel and
These are operated hydraulically, using a tall the aircraft will turn, pivoting on that wheel. An
lever in the center of the cockpit floor. all castoring tailwheel assists in getting the tail
THERE ARE NO TOE-BRAKES! round.
The brakes are used in conjunction with PARKING BRAKE is applied by click-
the throttles and rudder to provide differential ing the lever shaft. As said, the system takes a
brake-turning when taxying. The technique is a bit of getting used to but once learned, is sim-
bit awkward and takes some practice to get used ple enough to operate providing you have three
to. hands! Of course, standard keystroke/binding
When taxying, to turn left, one increases will also apply brakes as normal. It’s just that this
right throttle a little, applies a small amount of is far more fun!
SKI S A ND F L O AT S E X T END T H E OP T IONS!
Although this is the 1920s, the Tri-Mo- Tri-Motors were subsequently used on
tor’s designers already recognised the need for Arctic and Antarctic Expeditions and in remote,
an aeroplane to go where few others could. As mountainous regions.
a wheeled land-plane, the Tri-Motor already Fresh-water lake and seaborne operations
had an enviable reputaion for its ruggedness were made possible by equipping the Tri-Motor
and high load-carrying capacity. with floats. Both of these versions are included in
So to extend the versatility of the this simulation package and we recommend some
aeoplane, special ski-shod landing gear was challenging expeditions to test the limits of this
developed for operations in the snow and ice. dependable, rugged explorer!
 The actual engine start requires a number of
GET T I N G S TA RTE D steps. switch ON the MASTER IGNITION.
This switch will stay on for the entire flight.
As already noted, the Tri-Motor is fitted On the floor in front of the pedestal are three starter
with three Wright J6 type radial engines. These buttons. These resemble the old-style starters you’d
engines have inertial staters and require a specific find in a car. That’s because that is exactly what they
routine to start them. Of course, you can always are!
use Ctrl/E but where is the challenge in that? If Up on the left sub-panel you will find the
you follow the following procedure closely, you inertial Solenoid switches for each engine.
will quickly learn the correct starting procedure On the front of the pedestal you will have the
and it will become second nature. three magneto switches, one per engine. Their posi-
tions are LEFT,RIGHT,BOTH.
STARTING THE ENGINES Below these switches are three red levers.
Having turned on the Battery and selected These are the MIXTURE controls for each engine.
your fuel tanks you must now PRIME the engines. On the top of the pedestal are mounted the
This is very important, especially when starting three throttles with round black knobs.
from cold. To the left of the instrument panel is the Correct starting uses a combination of all of
PRIMER CONTROL. This consists of a lockable these items, as follows:
priming lever and a yellow ENGINE SELECTOR. 1) OPEN THROTTLE SLIGHTLY
To prime an engine first select it by turning 2) MOVE MIXTURE LEVER UP TO FULL RICH
the selector lever to point to the required engine. 3) PUSH STARTER DOWN
and WAIT 10 SECONDS
Usually you would be starting the left engine first, so
4) SWITCH ON LEFT SOLENOID
let’s do that now.
5) SWITCH MAGNETO TO BOTH.
With the left engine selected, click to the right Between steps 4 and 5, you should see the propel-
of the primer knob and it will rotate to UNLOCK. ler start to turn over, gathering speed. This is the
Now push in the primer 4 STROKES. Click again starter meshing with the propeller gear when the
on the left of the knob to lock it and return to the solenoid is activated. When the magneto switches
yellow selector to cover the knob. This prevents any are turned on to BOTH, the engine will fire and
further unintended priming. begin to run.

SOLENOIDS

MAGNETOS

MASTER
IGNITION

MIXTURES

STARTERS
TUNING THE RADIOS LIGHTING
The cockpit of the original Ford Tri-Mo- Your new Tri-Motor comes complete with
tor was delivered without radios. Airborne radio an array of cockpit lighting, Navigation Lights and
and radio navigation was in its infancy with few Landing Lamps. You can vary the lighting intensity
options to choose from. Most equipment was ex- in the cockpit using the rheostats (18) on the main
WW1 and not at all suitable for the long ranges panel. Landing Lamps are positioned in the leading
that the new ‘airlines” were going to need. edge of each wing. The switches for these are on the
We recognise that most simulator pilots are right sub-panel.
used to operating communications and navigation
radios as part of their simulation experience. So, we
have installed some “period”-looking equipment that
DOOR AND SERVICES
works as standard NAV1, COM1 and ADF receivers. There are two switch controls mounted on
For NAV and COM radios, you tune using the big the left side of the pedestal. The top one will open
crank handle for MhZ frequency and the smaller the passenger door on the right rear of the fuselage
knob in the centre of the crank for KhZ frequency and the lower on will open the luggage doors in the
changes. wings and place a smart freight truck with luggage.
There’s a toggle switch provided to swap frequencies
from Standby to Active and vice versa.
The ADF receiver has four large cranks to
tune the whole and decimal figures and achieve the
desired frequency.
Once tuned correctly, the VOR/ADF and
RMI gauges on the panel will indicate.
 The tail will lift very quickly (at around 25 -
F LYI N G TH E T R I - M O T OR 30 mph!) so get ready to catch it and keep her level
for a short time before lifting off at 65 -80 mph. A
OK, we have the engines running, we’ve gentle pull back on the control wheel will see her
tuned our radios and buttoned up the aircraft. airborne.
It’s time to go.
Checklists for each stage of a flight are vital
for safe, correct operation of any aeroplane and the
CLIMB AND CRUISE
Tri-Motor is no different. A full set of checklists is It is good practise to keep your aircraft in
provided at the end of this manual and, of course, as level flight and let the airspeed rise before you go into
a kneeboard document in the simulator. a climb. Your climb speed should be around 110 -115
We will, however, just run through the basics mph at which speed she’ll climb at a rate of 900 feet
now to get this iconic aeroplane up where it per minute. Always enter the climb at a higher speed
belongs-in the air. and let it fall back a little.

TAXIING SPERRY GYRO-PILOT

It should be remembered that this unit
You don’t need three engines to taxi, but you is not designed as a navigation aid and was never meant
can use them if you wish. Usually one would just use to be one. When you are flying long distances you can
the center engine for maneuvering on the ground, keep your airplane in straight and level flight by means
using differential braking to turn. So as you move out of the Automatic Pilot. It detects flight deviations the
toward the runway, practice using the brake lever to instant they occur and corrects them immediately and
turn the aircraft. Once at the runway and straight- with precision. Use this pilot only in ordinary weather
ened up, apply the lever as a handbrake and idle your conditions and never in extremely turbulent air.
engine. NOTE: The servo controls (speed valves) are
INOP in this simulation.
FINAL CHECKS First time engaged-Configure the aircraft for
There are a couple of things you need to do a stabilized flight, correctly trimmed and wings leveled.
before commiting to a takeoff. The first is a mag- Select the appropriate prop RPMS. Ensure that there
check. This is where you check the magnetos for is enough vacuum pressure, and the Attitude gauge is
correct function advance the selected engine throttle free (uncaged). Select the heading bug position. If the
to give around 1500 rpm. Then, switch the magneto new heading is to the left of current, rotate rudder
for that engine from BOTH to LEFT. Watch the knob (2) counterclockwise until heading bug scale (1)
Tachometer and you should see a fall in RPM of value coincides with the center white mark. Rotate (2)
around 75 -100, no more. As soon as possible return clockwise if new heading is to the right
the Magneto to BOTH. Check the other engines in Select the desired bank (max 30 deg) by ro-
simialr fashion. tating the aileron knob (3) same direction to where
Now, check all radios, engine instruments, the rudder knob (2) was rotated – counterclockwise
lights and so on for correct function and call ground for left bank and clockwise for right bank. Check that
services for takeoff clearance. position of bank bug (5) coincides with desired bank
to reach.
TAKEOFF Turn gyropilot ON by pushing power button
(9). Check that green light is ON to confirm the unit
Move the throttles as one, smoothly for- is active.
ward and as you do release the brake lever. As the Aircraft will start turning towards the selected
aeroplane begins to move forward, ease the throttles heading due to the gyropilot inputs to rudder and aile-
to full power. The Tri-Motor is a big “tail-dragger” rons. Once reaching that heading, it will be maintained
meaning it has two main wheels and smaller tail by keeping the wings leveled.
wheel which castors freely left and right. This can If a climb or descent is desired, slowly rotate
make for tricky takeoffs, especially in cross-winds. So, the elevator knob (4) clockwise to pitch up (climb)
make sure you concentrate and use your rudder and and counterclockwise to pitch down (descend) until
throttles to keep her straight as she accelerates. the VS gauge shows the rate expected.
 11. 2. 3. 4.

8.
5.
1. 6. 7.

9. 10.

1. Index & Gyro cards 2. Heading Adjust 3. Bank Adjust 4. Pitch Adjust
5. Bank indicator 6. Pitch Reference (bug) 7.Pitch indicator 8. Suction Gauge
9. ON/OFF 10. Cage Knob 11. Illumination
The pitch bug (6) will move up/down ac- command an immediate wing leveled position, ig-
cordingly. Once close to reach the reference alti- noring the heading and bank bugs (that are not
tude, start repositioning the pitch bug up/down auto reset). Uncaging the Attitude will make the
so to maintain zero VS at that level (bear in mind gyropilot continue with the turn as it was com-
the gyropilot will not capture the selected alti- manded before.
tude).
Gyropilot Performance
With gyropilot engaged Within turns, use bank bug with caution.
To start a new turn, just rotate the rudder Best results are obtained with bank angles be-
knob (2) as needed to reposition the heading bug tween 10-15 degrees. When using max or close
scale (1). The gyropilot will command the rudder (20-30 deg), they should be manually reduced as
for a shallow turn (coordination ball uncentered). current heading approximates to bug position, to
If the new heading is close to the current, rud- avoid overshooting the target (there might be os-
der input should be enough. For large heading cillations during the capture process).
changes, it will be necessary to add a bit of bank When using rudder input only, the gyro-
to speed up the turn (centered ball), then rotate pilot will command a turn towards the smallest
the aileron knob (3) to position bank bug (5) as trackangle. However, when using the bank bug,
explained in previous paragraph. When the new direction of turn will depend on side of bank
heading is reached bank bug will auto reset to 0. selected (left/right). An opposite bank bug will
For climbs or descents use the same command an extended, uncoordinated turn, that
procedures described above. might be useful in certain circumstances (for ex-
Caging the Attitude gauge with the atti- ample, making a 360 degrees change).
tude caging knob (10) makes the gyropilot
Checklists NOTE: These checklists are for simulation purposes
ONLY. In no way are they intended for real-world
aviation use.
Master Ignition................ON
WEIGHT AND BALANCE
Starter...........................DOWN

It is important to make sure that the WAIT 10 SECONDS

configuration of the airplane selected, match-
es the fuel/payload data listed in the simulator Solenoid Switch.................ON
drop-down menu. The simulation will react to
any changes in the data that you make or en- Magnetos..........................BOTH
ter.
Once you have established your intended REPEAT PROCEDURE FOR OTHER
flight and have fuel and payload data available, ENGINES
enter these values in the boxes provided. Adjust
the payload fore and aft to achieve a good CoG Generators.............ON
balance as indicated in the FUEL drop-down of ENGINE RUN-UP
the sim. Doing this will decrease the amount of
time required to trim the aircraft for level and
balanced flight. Parking Brake.........ON
BEFORE STARTING ENGINES
Mixtures............FULL RICH

Oil Pressures..........CHECK GAUGES

Controls...................FREE
Oil Temperatures....CHECK GAUGES
Doors.............CLOSED AND LOCKED
Engine(s).................1,500 RPM
Park-brake..........ON
Magnetos........Check(100RPM drop)
Fuel........................CHECK GAUGES
Engine(s).................IDLE RPM
Mixtures.................FULL RICH
BEFORE TAXIING
Fuel Tanks..............SET

Master Battery Switch.............ON Radios............. ON and tuned

Generators.............OFF Altimeters...............Set
STARTING ENGINES
Clock......................Set

Per engine Gyros....................Set and un-caged

Primer....................SELECT ENGINE Flight Controls........Free

Primer....................UNLOCK Parking Brake .......OFF

Primer....................4 PUMPS

Primer....................LOCKED
TAKEOFF AFTER LANDING

Park-brake..........ON
Brakes....................RELEASED
Mixture................CUT
Throttles.............Advance Gradually
Fuel selctors.........OFF
Horizontal........... TRIMMED
Magnetos.............OFF
Engines.................MAX RPM
Master Ignition................OFF
Climb Speed..........70 - 80 MPH
Radios............. OFF
Mixtures........lean above 5,000 ft.
Master Battery Switch.............OFF
Power reductions.....as advised
Passenger Door Switch.........OPEN

CRUISE Luggage Doors Switch..........OPEN

Before closing your flight, ensure that

Engines.............CRUISE POWER the aeroplane is set up the way you want it,
next time you fly and then save your flight.
Gyro-pilot................AS REQUIRED This way when you next load your aircraft it
will be in the state you left it.
AutoPilot (GNS Suite) AS REQUIRED

Power adjustments.....as advised

LANDING

Automatic Pilot........OFF

Altimeters...............Set

Approach Speed..........68-75 MPH

Mixtures............FULL RICH

Instruments........CHECKED

Radios .....APPROACH FREQUENCIES

Landing Speed..........55 - 65 mph

Touchdown Speed........45 MPH