A handy guide to the cockpit, its controls

and how to fly your new Ford Trimotor!

GETTING TO KNOW
YOUR FORD TRI-MOTOR.
 GEN ER A L LAY O UT A N D FEAT UR ES O F T H E T R I- M O T O R

DIMENSIONS
K N OW T H E TR I - M O T OR WingSpan...........................................74 feet
Length.................................................49 feet
The developers have made every effort Height (at rest)...................11 feet 9 inches
to simulate the various systems and flight pro-
cedures of the Ford TriMotor with as much WEIGHT
accuracy as possible. Starting old, and in this
case vintage radial engines is a tricky busi- Empty:............................................6,500 lbs
ness requiring discipline and 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 unusu-
al to find automotive technology and build- 3 X Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind 9-cylinder, air-
ing technique built into the design. In fact, cooled radial piston engines developing
the control columns are topped by standard 300hp each.
Ford Model T steering wheels and the brak-
ing system is just like a car’s. All the major PERFORMANCE
systems like oil, fuel and mechanical linkages
are based on automotive practice. Maximum speed........................132 m.p.h.
Speeds are not exactly electrifying but Cruise speed.......................110-115 m.p.h.
this aeroplane is still a handful unless you are Stall speed.................................. 57 m.p.h.
careful - especially around stalling speeds. Range.......................................... 560 miles
Powered by three radial engines with Service Ceiling............................16,000 ft.
inertial starters, there are clearly-defined pro- Rate of Climb......................920ft/per min.
cedures which MUST be followed to start and
Other figures of interest:
operate the motors correctly. You will also
find the braking system interesting, to say the
Crew (inc. Steward.......................3
least, requiring some practice to master.
Passengers............................. up to 9
 THE ALTERNATE PANEL. THE MODERN PANEL.
18.Sperry Gyro-Pilot 22.GNS 530
23.GNS 430
RADIOS (Old school) 24.Transponder
T HE C O CKP I T THE STANDARD PANEL.
1. Altimeter 19.NAV 1 25. AP140
2.Airspeed Indicator 20.COMS 1
The Tri-Motor has a simple cockpit, be- 3.Tachometer 21.ADF
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 22. AP140
Let’s start with the panel(s). 7.Chronometer
The default or Standard panel is based on
examples of 4AT-Es with one or two additions
8. Volts/Amps meter + 8a. Switch
9.VOR (Nav1) and ADF Indicators 18.
to make life a little easier for the crew. An RMI 10. R.M.I with Glideslope Indicator
and VOR/ADF gauges are added and operate in 11. Center Engine Gauges
conjunction with a basic radio set mounted on the 12. Inertial Starter Solenoid Switches
right cockpit wall. NOTE: with this old-school 13. Master Battery Switch
panel you will NOT find a baro-pressure scale 14. Generator Switch
and/or adjustment 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
19. 20.
switch out the Standard panel to an “Alternate”
or “ Modern” panel .
RIGHT
16. 16. WALL

2. 21.
1. 4. 5. 3.
22.
17. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
23.
8a. 24.
12. The Alternate Panel also includes another button/
knob (20) which is used
13. 14. 15. to toggle between the Sperry Gyro-Pilot and a “mod-
25.
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.
EL EC T R ICAL S YS T EM selecting the Volts reading using the special toggle
switch. (8a) BRAKING SYSTEM
You will find all the systems, including the The Battery is brought on line by using the Just like a car, the Tri-Motor has a form left rudder and pulls the big lever over to the
electrical circuit, are very simple and follow standard Master Battery Switch (13) and the Generator has its of drum-brakes on the main wheels. These are left (pilot) side. This brakes the left wheel and
automotive practice. Remember, Ford was used to own toggle switch (14). operated hydraulically, using a tall lever in the the aircraft will turn, pivoting on that wheel. An
manufacturing motor-cars so it was only natural that On the Lighting sub-panel (15) you will find center of the cockpit floor. all castoring tailwheel assists in getting the tail
they would transfer that knowlege and method to an switches for the Navigation/Wing and Tail lights, THERE ARE NO TOE-BRAKES! round.
aeroplane. Landing Lights and Cabin lighting. The brakes are used in conjunction with PARKING BRAKE is applied by click-
The Tri-Motor is fitted with a basic 12 volt, There are four button style panel lamps to the throttles and rudder to provide differential ing the lever shaft. As said, the system takes a
13 or 19-plate battery. This is kept charged when the illuminate the instruments and two cockpit torch- brake-turning when taxying. The technique is a bit of getting used to but once learned, is sim-
aircraft is operating, by an engine-driven generator. style lights on the back bulkhead wall which provide bit awkward and takes some practice to get used ple enough to operate providing you have three
The generator output in Amps can be monitored by general cabin lighting.As the Tri-Motor carries its to. hands! Of course, standard keystroke/binding
using the joint Amps/Volts meter (8) on the panel. outboard engine gauges in the nacelle struts there are When taxying, to turn left, one increases will also apply brakes as normal. It’s just that this
The Battery condition is monitored by lights for these, turned on with the panel lights. right throttle a little, applies a small amount of is far more fun!

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
 The actual engine start requires a number of
G ETTIN G S TARTED steps. switch ON the MASTER IGNITION.
This switch will stay on for the entire flight.
As already noted, the Tri-Motor is fitted with On the floor in front of the pedestal are three starter
three Wright J6 type radial engines. These engines buttons. These resemble the old-style starters you’d
have inertial staters and require a specific routine to find in a car. That’s because that is exactly what they
start them. Of course, you can always use Ctrl/E are!
but where is the challenge in that? If you follow the Up on the left sub-panel you will find the
following procedure closely, you will quickly learn the inertial Solenoid switches for each engine.
correct starting procedure and it will become second On the front of the pedestal you will have the
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
Usually you would be starting the left engine first, so and WAIT 10 SECONDS
4) SWITCH ON LEFT SOLENOID
let’s do that now.
SKI S A ND F L O AT S E X T END T H E OP T IONS!
5) SWITCH MAGNETO TO BOTH.
With the left engine selected, click to the right
Between steps 4 and 5, you should see the propeller
of the primer knob and it will rotate to UNLOCK. start to turn over, gathering speed. This is the starter
Now push in the primer 4 STROKES. Click again meshing with the propeller gear when the solenoid is
Although this is the 1920s, the Trimotor’s Trimotors were subsequently used on on the left of the knob to lock it and return to the activated. When the magneto switches are turned on
designers already recognised the need for an aero- Arctic and Antarctic Expeditions and in remote, yellow selector to cover the knob. This prevents any to BOTH, the engine will fire and begin to run.
plane to go where few others could. As a wheeled mountainous regions. further unintended priming.
land-plane, the Trimotor already had an enviable Fresh-water lake and seaborne operations
reputaion for its ruggedness and high load-carry- were made possible by equipping the Timotor
ing capacity. with floats. Both of these versions are included in
So to extend the versatility of the this simulation package and we recommend some SOLENOIDS
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!

MAGNETOS

MASTER
IGNITION

MIXTURES

STARTERS
 The tail will lift very quickly (at around 25 -
FLYIN G THE TRI- MO TO R 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. It’s airborne.
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.

TUNING THE RADIOS LIGHTING

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
The cockpit of the original Ford Tri-Motor Your new Tri-Motor comes complete with correct function advance the selected engine throttle free (uncaged). Select the heading bug position. If the
was delivered without radios. Airborne radio and an array of cockpit lighting, Navigation Lights and to give around 1500 rpm. Then, switch the magneto new heading is to the left of current, rotate rudder
radio navigation was in its infancy with few options Landing Lamps. You can vary the lighting intensity for that engine from BOTH to LEFT. Watch the knob (2) counterclockwise until heading bug scale (1)
to choose from. Most equipment was ex-WW1 and in the cockpit using the rheostats (18) on the main Tachometer and you should see a fall in RPM of value coincides with the center white mark. Rotate (2)
not at all suitable for the long ranges that the new panel. Landing Lamps are positioned in the leading around 75 -100, no more. As soon as possible return clockwise if new heading is to the right
‘airlines” were going to need. edge of each wing. The switches for these are on the the Magneto to BOTH. Check the other engines in Select the desired bank (max 30 deg) by ro-
We recognise that most simulator pilots are right sub-panel. simialr fashion. tating the aileron knob (3) same direction to where
used to operating communications and navigation 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
radios as part of their simulation experience. So, we
have installed some “period”-looking equipment that DOOR AND SERVICES services for takeoff clearance. position of bank bug (5) coincides with desired bank
works as standard NAV1, COM1 and ADF receivers. There are two switch controls mounted on to reach.
For NAV and COM radios, you tune using the big the left side of the pedestal. The top one will open TAKEOFF Turn gyropilot ON by pushing power button
(9). Check that green light is ON to confirm the unit
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 Move the throttles as one, smoothly for- is active.
changes. wings and place a smart freight truck with luggage. ward and as you do release the brake lever. As the Aircraft will start turning towards the selected
There’s a toggle switch provided to swap frequencies aeroplane begins to move forward, ease the throttles heading due to the gyropilot inputs to rudder and aile-
from Standby to Active and vice versa. to full power. The Tri-Motor is a big “tail-dragger” rons. Once reaching that heading, it will be maintained
The ADF receiver has four large cranks to meaning it has two main wheels and smaller tail by keeping the wings leveled.
tune the whole and decimal figures and achieve the wheel which castors freely left and right. This can If a climb or descent is desired, slowly rotate
desired frequency. make for tricky takeoffs, especially in cross-winds. So, the elevator knob (4) clockwise to pitch up (climb)
Once tuned correctly, the VOR/ADF and make sure you concentrate and use your rudder and and counterclockwise to pitch down (descend) until
RMI gauges on the panel will indicate. throttles to keep her straight as she accelerates. the VS gauge shows the rate expected.
 11. 2. 3. 4. Checklists NOTE: These checklists are for simulation purposes
ONLY. In no way are they intended for real-world
aviation use.

8. Starter...........................DOWN
5. WEIGHT AND BALANCE
WAIT 10 SECONDS
1. 6. 7. It is important to make sure that the con-
figuration of the airplane selected, matches the Solenoid Switch.................ON
fuel/payload data listed in the simulator drop-
9. 10. down menu. The simulation will react to any Magnetos..........................BOTH
changes in the data that you make or enter.
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
1. Index & Gyro cards 2. Heading Adjust 3. Bank Adjust 4. Pitch Adjust balance as indicated in the FUEL drop-down of
5. Bank indicator 6. Pitch Reference (bug) 7.Pitch indicator 8. Suction Gauge the sim. Doing this will decrease the amount of ENGINE RUN-UP
9. ON/OFF 10. Cage Knob 11. Illumination time required to trim the aircraft for level and
balanced flight. Parking Brake.........ON
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
BEFORE STARTING ENGINES Mixtures............FULL RICH
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-
Oil Pressures..........CHECK GAUGES
the gyropilot will not capture the selected alti- manded before. Controls...................FREE
tude). Oil Temperatures....CHECK GAUGES
Gyropilot Performance Doors.............CLOSED AND LOCKED
With gyropilot engaged Within turns, use bank bug with caution.
Engine(s).................1,500 RPM
To start a new turn, just rotate the rudder Best results are obtained with bank angles be- Park-brake..........ON
knob (2) as needed to reposition the heading bug tween 10-15 degrees. When using max or close
Magnetos........Check(100RPM drop)
scale (1). The gyropilot will command the rudder (20-30 deg), they should be manually reduced as Fuel........................CHECK GAUGES
for a shallow turn (coordination ball uncentered). current heading approximates to bug position, to
Engine(s).................IDLE RPM
If the new heading is close to the current, rud- avoid overshooting the target (there might be os- Mixtures.................FULL RICH
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- BEFORE TAXIING
Fuel Tanks..............SET
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, Master Battery Switch.............ON Radios............. ON and tuned
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 Generators.............OFF Altimeters...............Set
For climbs or descents use the same command an extended, uncoordinated turn, that
procedures described above. might be useful in certain circumstances (for ex- STARTING ENGINES Clock......................Set
Caging the Attitude gauge with the atti- ample, making a 360 degrees change).
tude caging knob (10) makes the gyropilot Per engine Gyros....................Set and un-caged

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

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

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

Primer....................LOCKED

Master Ignition................ON
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 the

Engines.............CRUISE POWER aeroplane is set up the way you want it, next time
you fly and then save your flight. This way when
Gyro-pilot................AS REQUIRED 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