Persistent Gear Up Failures Getting Worse Requesting Feedback
Yesterday I had yet another gear up inop on takeoff. This morning I decided to spend some time just doing pattern work without going through all pre flight checklists, just to get off the ground to see if the gear lever would rise. I then either landed or did a touch and go.
I made seven flights after rebooting my system each time and creating fresh flights rather than load a pre existing flight.
Three of seven flights the gear handle would not retract.
Two flights worked, next flight failure, Two flights worked, next failure again. Last flight failure back to back. Complete reboots. Latest Navigraph data 1812. Cold and Dark has been edited as stated in previous posts and yes, the pins are in the basket. I check each and every flight, first thing.
I know it's not going to break anyone up emotionally for me to say I can't fly like this. I know I'm new to the AC, but I have many DOZENS of hours into learning to fly it properly, just like everyone else. I have had to reinstall the AC several times, most likely my own self made troubles, but that is all part of learning.
I am learning to fly online, Vatsim. Fortunately I have only had one instance where I had the failure under live ATC.
I know and understand this appears to be a mystery to Majestic. I have followed the posts here, and it appears that the instances are on the increase.
Would it be possible to get some feedback from Majestic as to the involvement by them for determining a resolution here or are we just at a "that's the way it is for now"?
I'm just trying to figure out if it's time to move on or not. I do enjoy learning this AC, but as you can well imagine, it's unpredictability is becoming a serious issue.
Any updates or feedback would be most welcomed.
Thank you.
Comments
Yes, I've had this issue only once so far and have been rather active in tracking it down, providing Majestic with all the information I could gather. So far I did about 5 flights in the Q400 since this gear bug happened and haven't had any issue - except a bug of a joystick button being assigned wrongly, despite it being correct in the .ini file. I do agree that if this happens it is a pretty big deal braker, as it's neither the gear pins nor any failure per se, but a simple, stupid bug. You can always resolve this by saving the flight and just re-loading it, without closing the sim. Then you can just put the gear back up again normally. Since the Dash runs most the systems and the flight dynamics externally it must be something with that code that causes it. What I am now doing is saving every flight before takeoff, so in case this bug happens again I can see if the loaded save file isolates it. What I found so far is that the gear pins are not the cause of this, since the gear lever simply freezes up and doesnt move by clicking or pressing G.
Once I find something new, I'll report either here or in my thread from earlier.
Hi,
As I never did get these failures, one question: Are you using the maintenance system and which WearOffFactor do you have set in your INI file? I don't use this feature and I didn't see these failures. Maybe another possibility to check.
Rgds
Reinhard
Not the cause since people with the PILOT version are getting this bug as well.
I run the Pilot edition and have not seen this so far. I know how maddening these things can be. One thing I do before each flight is load the default Cessna 172 before loading the Q400. I also fly the Beechcraft B200 from Flight One and they include what they call FSX startup for complex aircraft which is a flight which is to be loaded before loading the B200. They recommend doing something like this for any complex aircraft.
I don't know if this would help you but it might be worth a try if you haven't done it already. Hope you get this sorted out as the Q400 is a great plane when it is running right.
Thank you one and all for the input. I'm going to spend some serious time this coming week repeating just taking off without preflight checklists and a flightplan. Just get it her set up to fly. I tried three flights this morning from a cold and dark cockpit rather than saved flights. All three had no issues. I'm going to continue the series of cold and dark setups and see if I can get fly a lengthy series of cold and dark setups without running into the failure.
I might be on to something here. We shall see. Logging each step, trying different start up setups and trying saved flights and new build flights. I'll post back toward the end of the week with the results.
If anyone else comes across the failure, PLEASE let us know as much detail as you can about how you set up the flight etc. I would not be adverse to flying from cold and dark new setups if I had a reasonable faith I was going to get the gear raised until this issue can be isolated and hopefully resolved.
Cheers,
I've had this bug (the one time it occured on my end) happen to me when loading the BOARDING state, which is my default. I did two 2h+ legs yesterday with no issues whatsoever. But sure, should I encouner it again I will give all the input I can to track it down.
@Radial9,
This situation is something that we will be diving deeper into once the TRAINING Edition is closer to completion. There are a handful of users (including yourself) who are experiencing this and we have not been able to replicate on our testbeds. This is a concern and we do want to get to the bottom of the possible issue(s) that may be causing this. We appreciate the reports/feedback
I personally have experienced this once, but have been unable to replicate no matter what I try to do. @bravomike has also experienced some irregularities and he too is on the bandwagon to help in resolving the issue. We sincerely appreciate any input that is offered regarding this situation.
The only things that I can suggest (some of which were already mentioned):
Do not load the Q400 if you have a complex aircraft loaded previously (i.e. PMDG, FSLabs, QW, Maddog, etc.). Always attempt to load one of the default aircraft that come with P3D such as the F22, A36, Baron, etc. Normally, my SIM is loaded with the default F22, then I select the Q400 prior to launching into the chosen airport, or sometimes wait until the aircraft is loaded at the airport and then select the Q400.
If you are loading a saved scenario with the Q400 load it twice, as there sometimes seems to be an issue where all of the parameters for that scenario do not load correctly (one of the downsides of having the external FDE).
If the gear issue arises again, pause the SIM, save the scenario, and reload the scenario. (Thanks to Bravomike for the insight on this one).
Thank you most kindly for the update. I did manage to try about ten takeoffs this week under various conditions. It occurred to me that this issue started up very shortly after I bought and loaded GSX. I set up flights and took off using GSX for push back and then not using it. I thought I was on to something, then I had the gear retract using GSX push back and so ended that theory.
Of note, I have never had the failure when I choose to NOT use GSX and push back using the FMX menu option. Not sure if that helps, but will continue to write down results and also follow your recommendations and BravoMike's reload solution.
I will continue to utilize the FMC menu for push back rather than GSX until I end up with a gear retraction failure and thus end that theory too.... or not.
Much appreciated!
Nah, the one time I had that bug was when not using GSX pushback (taxi out stand). Doubt that should be a thing.
Hi All, still getting this. wondering if it has a relationship with steering engage/disengage? I engage steering for taxi the disengage for takeoff roll. is this the error?
Niall kavanagh
It shouldn't be. Steering also should remain on for the takeoff and flight until shutdown. This is most certainly not the cause. What AIRAC are you on btw?
Disengaging the nose wheel steering switch prior to takeoff roll is not necessary as the nose wheel steering system becomes disabled when the airspeed exceeds 40 knots during the takeoff roll. Now, we could have a look to see if there is a correlation which causes inaccuracies with the gear operation if disengaging the nose wheel steering prior to takeoff, but I doubt it.
Cheers
I have flown a flight from 1 to 1.5 hours each morning for the past 20 days or so since posting last. I have made a new flight each time rather than using a saved flight. No issues at all with failure of gear to retract. Hope this helps.
And... I must say I am TRULY enjoying learning this aircraft. I have SO much to learn but it is just a BLAST to learn and fly. THANK YOU for such a great piece of software!
Oh yeah.... while I'm here... I have lost the DME readout with blue ILS needles on approach. I get the ident and freq, I lock on LOC and GS, just no DME readout. What am I doing wrong?
Cheers,
Bob
@Radial9 Some ILS approaches dont have a DME. Also,make sure to select VOR1 & 2 on the EFIS control panel.
Other than that I have made several flights in the Q400 in the last couple weeks and had 0 issues, which makes me suspect a previous AIRAC to be the cause since everyone was getting that bug at the same time it seems.
Hi BravoMike,
1 am currently running AIRAC 1811
Niall
I'd be very surprised if AIRAC database version had any effect on landing gear operation
ckyliu - Proud supporter of http://www.ViaIntercity.com, 950+ flights for J41 & Q400 and 200+ for A320
@magill install the latest and see how it goes. @ckyliu I havent found any other explnation. It's simply that everyone started to get them at about the same time and I have hundreds of hours in the Q400 by now and never had that bug intil the first time it happened some months ago.
HELLO CAPTAIN
- Landing gear will not go up if you don't remove the tape from the wheels before closing the door. So, before starting turbines and before closing the doors, go to FMC/services and remove the tapes from the wheels. When the tapes are stored, a bag appears on the floor behind the first officer's bench. Sometimes, with a click on this location, the process is carried out.
The discussion piece is more about the issue and possible causes of the issue since it is not easy to replicate and or trouble shoot.
It's not this sir. See Kroswynd's various posts about a hard to track down bug.