Hi guys.  I just purchased the new Learjet 35a for MSFS 2020.  I am a retired corporate/charter Chief Pilot with more than 11,000 hours in Lear Jets (24, 31, 35, 55) in which more than 8,000 hours over 26 years in the Lear 35a since 1977 with VLF navigation and as recent as 2018 with King and Garmin panel mount GPS systems.  I have flown Lears almost half of my 23,600+ flight hours including 14,000+ in corporate jets (Lear, Gulfstrem 3 and 4, Falcon 50).  I am thrilled to again get my hands on my old friend, a steam gauge Lear 35.

I only have a few hours in the new Lear 35 sim for MSFS 2020 and am impressed and pleased.  It look great and feels right at home with the panel mount Garmin.

I know the product is new and many updates are in work.   I haven't found too much to nick pick about yet but I do want to comment on a few things that need to be worked that I've noticed so far.  Mostly the fuel and fuel transfer system has caught my attention.  The fuel panel light sequencings look correct but the resultant pressure don't.

The fuselage fuel tank transfer/fill speed is way too slow.  In reality the fuel transfer for the 200 gallon/1,340 pound fuselage tank is about 47 pounds per minute (2,820 pounds/hour) and will transfer completely in about 30 minutes.  So far it seems that the simulator only transfers and fills at about 8 pounds per minute or 71.6 gallons per hour.  Right now it would take about 2 hours and 45 minutes to transfer and/or fill the fuselage tank.  IRL, if a crew was asleep at the switch (pun intended) and forgot to bring fuselage fuel forward until alerted by Warning Lights to impending flame-out due to empty wing fuel, the transfer system is fast enough to keep fuel to the engine even at low altitude/high power. Not so at the current transfer rate in the simulator.  So the low transfer rate is a safety.  Trust me, forgetting to bring fuselage fuel forward is a thing.

As far as fuselage fill with the current sim config, so much for a quick turn at a fuel stop.  Kinda like stopping every couple hundred miles in your new EV and having lunch while waiting to recharge your batteries.  In regards to refilling an empty fuselage tank you would have time to go see a movie waiting to refill.  🙂   You could drive a car over 200 miles in that time.

Another thing that I noticed in the sim is that: In the real Lear 35, turning off a jet pump and standby fuel pump with the engines running should cause a Red Fuel Pressure Warning light and possible engine flame out if above lower flight levels (depending on O.A.T.) due to the inability to suction fuel feed engines at higher altitudes. 

In the new sim version shutting off a jet pump and standby pump does Not cause fuel pressure lights.  I haven't yet tried to shut off a jet pump and standby pump at higher flight levels to see if I get a flame-out as expected.  I also have not yet tried to pump fuel left and/or right using cross-feed and differential pressure using one standby pump on with cross-feed open.     

Is there a config file value somewhere that can be edited to speed up the transfer/fill rate?

I agree with several commenters that the autopilot speed hold and vertical speed hold IRL were sloppy and not comfortable for the folks on board but they seem to work pretty well in this sim version.  That is a good thing because I can't figure out how to key bind or H.O.T.A.S. bind the barrel switch on the control wheel so have to keep the yoke in view to be able to control autopilot pitch using the mouse which is a PITA and in the Lear 35 with its OEM seats your 'A' is prolly already sore.  (Lear 55 seat MOD is really worth it.) 

I would like to have the ability bind keys and/or H.O.T.A.S. for the pitch (and roll) barrel switch and binds for the Steer Lock switch.  I would also like advise on how to set-up binds to be able to reverse both engines.  I don't know how to use mouse clicks to reverse both engines during a busy landing roll.  The spoiler axis H.O.T.A.S. bind do work.

Thanks guys for doing the Lear 35 and doing it well.  I have been retired for almost six years but still fly almost every day with my sim set up a home.  I have missed the Lear 35 and steam gauges  I never did like the Gulfstream 4 glass cockpit as well as I liked the Gulfstream 3 with round analog flight instruments surrounding glass MFDs.

This bird brings back more memories than any other MSFS (or XPlane 11/12) available.  When they get the new upcoming CH-47 Chinook done sometime early this year I will be a happy camper re-united with my first love, the Chinook, and my long time companion the Lear 35.

I'll be flying the Lear sim a lot in the near future and commenting more soon.

Marvin 'HeadwindH' Hesket,  Wichita, Kansas

 

 

>I have missed the Lear 35 and steam gauges  I never did like the Gulfstream 4 glass cockpit as well as I liked the Gulfstream 3 with round analog flight instruments surrounding glass MFDs.

(Sorry, a little off topic but..)

The GIV and GV Honeywell displays are nice but I agree with your comment on the GIII. My personal favorite is GIII VSCF but with Sperry EFIS.

Having said that, the flightdecks in the G400/G500/G600/G700/G800 are pretty sweet!

Okay...back on topic with the wonderful Lear 35...

4 hours ago, HeadwindH said:

The fuselage fuel tank transfer/fill speed is way too slow. 

This has been fixed. There are three current Lear pilots on the Flysimware beta team providing inputs to FSW so with a little time this Early Release version of the Lear will get updated.

Suggest you join the Flysimware Discord site where there is a lot of Lear discussion and activity. 

https://discord.gg/EgwS4tFhEA

Al

Edited December 28, 20232 yr by ark