Secrets of Flight II in the Twilight Zone

May want to see all the pictures before proceeding.

So what's the secret?
It's a bug..
First, start out in one of the FBOs. Create a flight, start flying. Then, while flying, press the "m" key 3 times in a row very quickly. Normally "m" takes you to the map. Well, in this case, the map flashes up and then a second later, it dumps you into the logbook, or directly back to the FBO as though you had quit. (close the logbook if you make it there and you'll find yourself back in the FBO)
If it doesn't work the first time, try it several times, always starting from the normal flight screen. Sometimes the map will actually become visible, and then it'll drop out to the FBO a second later. Keep at it.
(My config: Patch 1.03.. P200MMX, SII S220, 640x480/800x600, sliders to the right)

Now that you're sitting in the FBO, select a different plane, and then click on the doorway. Instead of taking off again, you'll find yourself back in your current flight. Except that now it's with the new plane but there's something amiss. The new plane now has all the performance characteristics of the old one, and appears to have the prop configuration of the old one, and sometimes the gear is different too.

New info It looks like it can be done during a quick flight too. Instead of returning to the FBO after "mmm", it'll go back to the quick flight options screen. Can change the plane there. I had a problem here losing the engine sounds though. May be more reliable the other way.

For most of these pictures, I started with the P-51, then switched to the trainer, or piper, or arrow, or barron.. etc..
Any interaction with the barron is unstable, because of the prop configuration. And the trainer may run the prop into the ground with the Mustang's prop on the front.

The first picture is off the piper converted to a trainer with the the gear retracted. I can put the gear up or down at will and the configuration changes.

The second picture is off the trainer with the P-51's prop. The third is the same thing paused so you can see how big the prop is. The fourth is the same plane demonstrating the Mustang's performance characteristics. This speed would rip the wings off the normal trainer.

This one was a shock. This is the piper or the P-51 converted to a barron with the gear up. The sounds are all whacked too. It's in obvious distress. Imagine my surprise when I lowered the gear and the plane continued to fly in this new configuration. It was making all the right sounds to indicate that at least one of the engines was missing.

Ok, here's the Beaver with the Mustang's prop. Note that it is dragging in the water. I made my second big discovery here. The first time I tried to land the Beaver in the water, it came in at about 90-100 knots, just like the P-51. I set it down at probably 85-90 knots and it promptly crashed. I'm not sure if it thought it was landing with the P-51's gear in the water, or if the speed was too high, or if the prop in the water did it in.
But here's the trick. When I hit miracle up, the plane popped up into the air, and now it was back to flying like a Beaver. For all intents and purposes it was back to being a normal Beaver.. except for the prop which was still huge. The picture you see is actually after this transition, which is the only way I could land it.

Now things get a bit weird. I now switched it directly to the Piper and got the Mustang's prop which looks so huge on this plane, I just had to try to land it. Problem is, the gear didn't look like it was working. As you can see, only 2 of the wheels are down, but the cockpit indicated all green so I took it in.

And this is the result. I landed, coasted to a stop, cut the engine and snapped the picture just before the prop stopped spinning. Note that the plane is hovering a good 2 feet off the ground, and it's still missing the right wheel. I also discovered that it taxis like the P-51. That is to say poorly. It won't turn without differential braking, a lot of power and a lot of rudder. It's stable on takeoff though.

And this one really shows what's going on. This is the piper on water. It's perfectly happy here, as it began life as a Beaver.

I'm sure there's more weird stuff in here. You go find it. Have fun.


Back to FlightII oddities for more pictures related to this bug.

I can be reached at frechett@rmii.com
If you've got a new picture related to this bug, I've got room for a few more.. Please send as jpegs, or compressed tifs only. I don't want any 1 meg bitmaps. Crop them if you want.