Straight and Level Sims
Filing Flight Plan
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2025
- Messages
- 1
- Display Name
- Captain Nick
Hey Everyone! I'm Captain Nick! I used to fly for real but, now I fly my couch! I have over 30 years of Sim and real-world aviation experience and I'm starting a new venture using MSFS along with YouTube and Twitch to make content about vintage aviation.
My first Episodes are going to feature one of my favorite aircraft of all time - the WACO Classic YMF-5. Yes, the currently-in-production Classic. I know that they are a bit different from their 1930's progenitors but they are amazing planes in their own right. Carenado makes a beautiful sim of the YMF and I have about 50 hours of sim flight time and literal HUNDREDs of hours worth of research into the ship. I'm well aware that Carenado's flight modeling is usually nothing to write home about even if their visual models are stunning. Based on my research, however, it seems that their MSFS rendering of the YMF is quite close to the real numbers.
I have cobbled together TONS of data and specifications despite the lack of any YMF manuals being readily available. I have read every Jacobs manual I can get my hands on from back to front several times. I must have poured over every article and PIREP on the YMF that exists on the internet at this point. I have run in-sim performance analyzers on the YMF sim and have been astounded at how closely the numbers in-sim match up with the data I find regarding the real deal - usually within 1-2%!
I would love to talk shop with some real YMF-5 Drivers and pick some brains about handling the YMF just to round out my knowledge and be thorough, to keep my new video project as accurate as possible - for a simulation, anyway. I have questions specifically about the A2 version of the Jake R-755. I find discrepancies between Jacobs manuals especially when it comes to cruising. The actual A2 and B2 manuals both state that 24" MP is max for climb and that 21.5" is max continuous for cruise unless you have enough altitude for 21.5" to pull 1900 RPM, THEN 22.5" up to a max of 2000 RPM. It is a bit confusing to me that the only Jacobs A2 and B2 manuals I can source (and I have found a couple of different editions that post identical charts) are for a constant speed prop. The Carenado sim is fixed-pitch as are the props of several YMF Classic pilots I watch on YouTube. Emma Crawford (the new host of Flying Doodles) is the only one who actually takes the time to talk about the power settings she uses and her numbers seem to be the closest to what I find in the Jake manuals. Down low she gets about 1700 RPM at 20" and get between 100-110 MPH. She says that's the Jake's happy place. I also watched her ferry a YMF-5 36 hours up to Canada and from glances at her panel, I could see that even at higher altitude, she's still using 20" - albeit the RPM is higher - 'cuz altitude. Her Jake is the 275hp B2. Those are nearly identical to the numbers I get in the Carenado YMF-5 with it's simulated A2. I cruise a couple MPH faster - that's it. Now, I have also watched Kermit Weeks ferry a YMF Classic and he is clearly cruising at 23." I assume his ship has either the A2 or B2 which have the exact same limitations in my Jacobs manuals. The only R-755 that I have found that has a 23" max cruise figure, is the OLD L-4 that makes 225hp at 2000 RPM. I also see a note in every Jake manual that I come across that the mixture lever should not be touched below 6,000 feet. I assume that was to keep brand new army pilots from frying their engines down low because they didn't have EGTs or enough experience to lean by feel yet.
YMF or other Jake drivers - how do you run your engines? Let's make this a long, fascinating discussion!
Clear Skies and Tailwinds, my friends!
My first Episodes are going to feature one of my favorite aircraft of all time - the WACO Classic YMF-5. Yes, the currently-in-production Classic. I know that they are a bit different from their 1930's progenitors but they are amazing planes in their own right. Carenado makes a beautiful sim of the YMF and I have about 50 hours of sim flight time and literal HUNDREDs of hours worth of research into the ship. I'm well aware that Carenado's flight modeling is usually nothing to write home about even if their visual models are stunning. Based on my research, however, it seems that their MSFS rendering of the YMF is quite close to the real numbers.
I have cobbled together TONS of data and specifications despite the lack of any YMF manuals being readily available. I have read every Jacobs manual I can get my hands on from back to front several times. I must have poured over every article and PIREP on the YMF that exists on the internet at this point. I have run in-sim performance analyzers on the YMF sim and have been astounded at how closely the numbers in-sim match up with the data I find regarding the real deal - usually within 1-2%!
I would love to talk shop with some real YMF-5 Drivers and pick some brains about handling the YMF just to round out my knowledge and be thorough, to keep my new video project as accurate as possible - for a simulation, anyway. I have questions specifically about the A2 version of the Jake R-755. I find discrepancies between Jacobs manuals especially when it comes to cruising. The actual A2 and B2 manuals both state that 24" MP is max for climb and that 21.5" is max continuous for cruise unless you have enough altitude for 21.5" to pull 1900 RPM, THEN 22.5" up to a max of 2000 RPM. It is a bit confusing to me that the only Jacobs A2 and B2 manuals I can source (and I have found a couple of different editions that post identical charts) are for a constant speed prop. The Carenado sim is fixed-pitch as are the props of several YMF Classic pilots I watch on YouTube. Emma Crawford (the new host of Flying Doodles) is the only one who actually takes the time to talk about the power settings she uses and her numbers seem to be the closest to what I find in the Jake manuals. Down low she gets about 1700 RPM at 20" and get between 100-110 MPH. She says that's the Jake's happy place. I also watched her ferry a YMF-5 36 hours up to Canada and from glances at her panel, I could see that even at higher altitude, she's still using 20" - albeit the RPM is higher - 'cuz altitude. Her Jake is the 275hp B2. Those are nearly identical to the numbers I get in the Carenado YMF-5 with it's simulated A2. I cruise a couple MPH faster - that's it. Now, I have also watched Kermit Weeks ferry a YMF Classic and he is clearly cruising at 23." I assume his ship has either the A2 or B2 which have the exact same limitations in my Jacobs manuals. The only R-755 that I have found that has a 23" max cruise figure, is the OLD L-4 that makes 225hp at 2000 RPM. I also see a note in every Jake manual that I come across that the mixture lever should not be touched below 6,000 feet. I assume that was to keep brand new army pilots from frying their engines down low because they didn't have EGTs or enough experience to lean by feel yet.
YMF or other Jake drivers - how do you run your engines? Let's make this a long, fascinating discussion!
Clear Skies and Tailwinds, my friends!