Wear rates

A wear rate selector on the maintenance window of the EFB aircraft page allows you to select the rate at which wear will occur to all the aircraft components

  • Disabled – ‘Wear & Tear’ option is disabled via the checkbox 
  • Realistic – Wear occurs at the normal rate
  • Slow – Wear occurs at 0.5x the normal rate
  • Fast – Wear occurs at 4x the normal rate


The chosen wear rate will take effect immediately.

Note: the realistic wear rate will result in components such as the brakes, oil and spark plugs requiring maintenance after approximate 50 hours under normal conditions, however the wear rate strikes a balance between total realism and providing wear within a reasonable timescale given the fewer hours that are likely to be flown in a desktop simulator environment.


Wear states

The condition of all the aircraft components (the ‘wear state’) is persistent between flights. The wear state is automatically restored at the start of each flight and automatically saved at the end of each flight. 

If the aircraft is loaded with the wear and tear option disabled (‘Wear & Tear’ checkbox on the EFB aircraft page) or if the option is disabled during a flight then all the aircraft components will be restored to a 100%, fully operative condition. 

If the flight is ended with the option disabled then the wear state will not be saved, to avoid overwriting any previously accumulated wear. 

If the ‘Wear & Tear’ option is enabled at any stage of flight, the saved wear state will be instantly restored, something to be careful of if enabling the option during a flight!

The wear state is saved to a file called ‘WearStates.ini’, which can be found here:

MSFS Store - C:\Users\**USERNAME**\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\packages\justflight-aircraft-pa38\work\Wear\

Steam - C:\Users\**USERNAME**\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\ justflight-aircraft-pa38\work\Wear\

 

Wear conditions

Wear is applied to components at different rates based on numerous factors and the stage of flight. 


Touchdown

Apart from high speed impacts (i.e. crashes), the most significant wear will occur at touchdown. The following factors are recorded for each touchdown:

  • Ground surface (e.g. concrete, grass) and condition (e.g. dry, snow)
  • Vertical speed
  • Pitch and bank attitude
  • G-force
  • Indicated and ground speed
  • Which, and how many, wheels touched down
  • Wind conditions
  • Aircraft weight

 

The wear to the tyres and gear struts upon touchdown will be affected by all of the above, and the tyres will also be affected by the application of brakes and tyre pressures. 

If the touchdown is too hard then it’s possible to brake the struts, destroy the tyres and cause a prop strike.


On the ground

The wear to the tyres and gear struts whilst taxing or taking off is affected by the same factors as during touchdown. The tyres are also affected by whether the tyres are skidding or nose wheel is scrubbing. 

The pitot head, stall warner, propeller, ailerons, flaps, elevator and rudder can all sustain damage if operating from loose surfaces such as gravel at high speeds, as well as if they impact the ground (e.g. a wing clipping a building or tree, a tail or prop strike).

Accumulation of water in the fuel will occur at a very slow rate under any conditions on the ground but will occur more quickly if the fuel tank quantities are low and/or there is precipitation. 

 

In the air

The ailerons, flaps, elevator and rudder can sustain damage in the air if the relevant limiting speeds (VNE and VFE) are exceeded. The likelihood of damage also depends on how large the control inputs being made are when exceeding those speeds.

 

All stages of flight

Tyre pressure will reduce over time at a consistent rate, but that rate increases if the tyre condition is poor. In extreme cases where the tyre is significantly damaged, it can quickly go flat.

The condition of the engine oil will reduce over time at a consistent rate but is affected by whether the engine is running and at what RPM.

The condition of the spark plugs will reduce over time at a consistent rate but are also affected by whether they are fouled. 

The SL30 (COM 1/NAV 1), SL40 (COM 2), GTX 328 (transponder) and KR85 (ADF) can develop faults if they are left switched on during engine start or shutdown. 

Finally, the brakes will wear over time based on the factors listed above for touchdown, and will also wear more quickly in hotter conditions and/or with heavy braking.

 

Failures

It is possible to enable/disable the failures resulting from the condition of aircraft components independently of the option to enable/disable wear, using the ‘Failures’ checkbox on the EFB aircraft page. Failures that might occur if this option is enabled, based on the condition of the associated component(s) are:

  • Failure of the ASI, VSI and altimeter if the pitot is inoperative or the pitot cover is fitted.
  • Failure of the brakes if the brake condition is poor.
  • Failure of the engine if the oil quantity is low or condition is poor.
  • Ailerons, elevator, rudder and flaps not responding to inputs if the associated control surface is inoperative.
  • Failure of the SL30 COM1/NAV 1, SL40 COM 2, GTX 328 transponder and KR85 ADF if they are inoperative.
  • Fouling of the spark plugs if their condition is poor.
  • Vapour lock, preventing engine start. This can occur for up to approximately thirty minutes after the engine has been shut down. After shut down, fuel vapour can remain within the fuel lines as the result of high temperatures. This vapour disrupts the operation of the fuel system and creates an incompatible mix of air and fuel, so you might need a few attempts at starting the engine before ignition occurs.