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<h2 class="chapterHead"><span class="titlemark">Chapter 1</span><br><a
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href="getstart.html#QQ2-5-4" name="x5-40001">Want to have a free flight? Take <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>!</a></h2>
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<h3 class="sectionHead"><span class="titlemark">1.1</span> <a
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href="getstart.html#QQ2-5-5" name="x5-50001.1">Yet Another Flight Simulator?</a></h3>
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<!--l. 37--><p class="noindent">Did you ever want to fly a plane yourself, but lacked the money or ability to
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do so? Are you a real pilot looking to improve your skills without having to
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take off? Do you want to try some dangerous maneuvers without risking your
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life? Or do you just want to have fun with a more serious game without any
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violence? If any of these questions apply to you, PC flight simulators are just for
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you.
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<!--l. 43--><p class="indent"> You may already have some experience using Microsoft<a
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name="dx5-5001"></a>’s © Flight Simulator or any
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other of the commercially available PC flight simulators. As the price tag of those is
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usually within the $50 range, buying one of them should not be a serious problem given
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that running any serious PC flight simulator requires PC hardware within the $1500
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range, despite dropping prices.
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<!--l. 49--><p class="indent"> With so many commercially available flight simulators, why would we spend
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thousands of hours of programming and design work to build a free flight simulator?
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Well, there are many reasons, but here are the major ones:
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<ul class="itemize1">
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<li class="itemize">All of the commercial simulators have a serious drawback: they are made
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by a small group of developers defining their properties according to what
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is important to them and providing limited interfaces to end users. Anyone
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who has ever tried to contact a commercial developer would agree that
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getting your voice heard in that environment is a major challenge. In contrast,
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<span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>is designed by the people and for the people with everything out
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in the open.
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">Commercial simulators are usually a compromise of features and usability.
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Most commercial developers want to be able to serve a broad segment of
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the population, including serious pilots, beginners, and even casual gamers.
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In reality the result is always a compromise due to deadlines and funding.
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As <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>is free and open, there is no need for such a compromise.
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We have no publisher breathing down our necks, and we’re all volunteers
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that make our own deadlines. We are also at liberty to support markets that
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no commercial developer would consider viable, like the scientific research
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community.
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">Due to their closed-source nature, commercial simulators keep developers
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with excellent ideas and skills from contributing to the products. With
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<span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>, developers of all skill levels and ideas have the potential to make
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a huge impact on the project. Contributing to a project as large and complex
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as <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>is very rewarding and provides the developers with a great
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deal of pride in knowing that we are shaping the future of a great simulator.
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">Beyond everything else, it’s just plain fun! I suppose you could compare us
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to real pilots that build kit-planes or scratch-builts. Sure, we can go out a
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buy a pre-built aircraft, but there’s just something special about building one
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yourself.</li></ul>
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<!--l. 83--><p class="noindent">The points mentioned above form the basis of why we created <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>. With those
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motivations in mind, we have set out to create a high-quality flight simulator that aims to
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be a civilian,<a
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name="dx5-5002"></a> multi-platform,<a
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name="dx5-5003"></a> open,<a
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name="dx5-5004"></a> user-supported,<a
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name="dx5-5005"></a> and user-extensible<a
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name="dx5-5006"></a> platform. Let us
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take a closer look at each of these characteristics:
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<ul class="itemize1">
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<li class="itemize"><span
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class="ptmb7t---109">Civilian:</span><a
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name="dx5-5007"></a> The project is primarily aimed at civilian flight simulation. It
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should be appropriate for simulating general aviation as well as civilian
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aircraft. Our long-term goal is to have <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>FAA-approved as a flight
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training device. To the disappointment of some users, it is currently not
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a combat simulator; however, these features are not explicitly excluded.
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We just have not had a developer that was seriously interested in systems
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necessary for combat simulation.
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</li>
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<li class="itemize"><span
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class="ptmb7t---109">Multi-platform:</span><a
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name="dx5-5008"></a> The developers are attempting to keep the code as
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platform-independent as possible. This is based on their observation that people
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interested in flight simulations run quite a variety of computer hardware and
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operating systems. The present code supports the following Operating
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Systems<a
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name="dx5-5009"></a>:
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<ul class="itemize2">
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<li class="itemize">Linux<a
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name="dx5-5010"></a> (any distribution and platform),
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">Windows NT/2000/XP<a
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name="dx5-5011"></a> (Intel/AMD platform),
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">Windows 95/98/ME<a
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name="dx5-5012"></a>,
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">BSD UNIX<a
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name="dx5-5013"></a>,
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">SGI IRIX<a
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name="dx5-5014"></a>,
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">Sun-OS<a
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name="dx5-5015"></a>,
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</li>
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<li class="itemize">Macintosh.</li></ul>
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<!--l. 115--><p class="noindent">At present, there is no known flight simulator - commercial or free - supporting
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such a broad range of platforms.
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</li>
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<li class="itemize"><span
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class="ptmb7t---109">Open:</span><a
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name="dx5-5016"></a> The project is not restricted to a static or elite cadre of developers. Anyone
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who feels they are able to contribute is most welcome. The code (including
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documentation) is copyrighted under the terms of the GNU General Public License<a
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name="dx5-5017"></a>
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(GPL<a
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name="dx5-5018"></a>).
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<!--l. 123--><p class="noindent">The GPL<a
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name="dx5-5019"></a> is often misunderstood. In simple terms it states that you can copy and
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freely distribute the program(s) so licensed. You can modify them if you like and
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even charge as much money as want to for the distribution of the modified or
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original program. However, you must freely provide the entire source code to
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anyone who wants it, and it must retain the original copyrights. In short:
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<!--l. 131--><p class="noindent"><div align="center"
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class="centerline"> <span
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class="ptmri7t---109">”You can do anything with the software except make it non-free”</span>. </div>
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<!--l. 133--><p class="noindent">The full text of the GPL<a
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name="dx5-5020"></a> can be obtained from the <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>source code or from
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<!--l. 136--><p class="noindent"><a
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href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html" >http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html</a>.
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</li>
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<li class="itemize"><span
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class="ptmb7t---109">User-supported and user-extensible:</span><a
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name="dx5-5021"></a> <a
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name="dx5-5022"></a>Unlike most commercial simulators,
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<span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>”s scenery and aircraft formats, internal variables, APIs, and everything
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else are user accessible and documented from the beginning. Even without any
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explicit development documentation<a
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name="dx5-5023"></a> (which naturally has to be written at
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some point), one can always go to the source code<a
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name="dx5-5024"></a> to see how something
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works. It is the goal of the developers to build a basic engine to which
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scenery designers, panel engineers, maybe adventure or ATC routine
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writers, sound artists, and others can build upon. It is our hope that the
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project, including the developers and end users, will benefit from the
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creativity and ideas of the hundreds of talented ”simmers” around the
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world.</li></ul>
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<!--l. 152--><p class="noindent">Without doubt, the success of the Linux<a
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name="dx5-5025"></a> project, initiated by Linus Torvalds,<a
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name="dx5-5026"></a> inspired
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several of the developers. Not only has Linux<a
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name="dx5-5027"></a> shown that distributed development of
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highly sophisticated software projects over the Internet is possible, it has also proven that
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such an effort can surpass the level of quality of competing commercial products.
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<!--l. 162--><p class="indent"> <div align="center"
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class="centerline"><img
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src="getstart1x.gif" alt="" class="fbox" > </div>
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<!--l. 165--><p class="noindent">Fig. 1: <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span><span
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class="ptmri7t---109">under UNIX: Bad approach to San Francisco International - by one of</span>
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<span
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class="ptmri7t---109">the authors of this manual. . .</span>
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<h3 class="sectionHead"><span class="titlemark">1.2</span> <a
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href="getstart.html#QQ2-5-6" name="x5-60001.2">System Requirements</a></h3>
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<a
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name="dx5-6001"></a>
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<!--l. 171--><p class="noindent">In comparison to other recent flight simulators, the system requirements<a
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name="dx5-6002"></a> for <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>
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are not extravagant. A decent PIII/800, or something in that range, should be
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sufficient given you have a proper 3-D graphics card<a
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name="dx5-6003"></a>. Additionally, any modern
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UNIX<a
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name="dx5-6004"></a>-type workstation<a
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name="dx5-6005"></a> with a 3-D graphics card will handle <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>as
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well.
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<!--l. 177--><p class="indent"> One important prerequisite for running <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>is a graphics card whose driver
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supports OpenGL<a
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name="dx5-6006"></a>. If you don’t know what OpenGL<a
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name="dx5-6007"></a> is, the overview given at the
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OpenGL website
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<!--l. 181--><p class="indent"> <a
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href="http://www.opengl.org" >http://www.opengl.org</a>
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<!--l. 184--><p class="noindent">says it best: “Since its introduction in 1992, OpenGL has become the industry’s most
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widely used and supported 2-D and 3-D graphics application programming interface
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(API)...”.
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<!--l. 189--><p class="indent"> <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>does not run (and will never run) on a graphics board which only
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supports Direct3D<a
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name="dx5-6008"></a>. Contrary to OpenGL, Direct3D is a proprietary interface, being
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restricted to the Windows operating system.
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<!--l. 193--><p class="indent"> You may be able to run <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>on a computer that features a 3-D video card
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not supporting hardware accelerated OpenGL<a
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name="dx5-6009"></a> - and even on systems without
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3-D graphics hardware at all. However, the absence of hardware accelerated
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OpenGL support can bring even the fastest machine to its knees. The typical
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signal for missing hardware acceleration are frame rate<a
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name="dx5-6010"></a>s below 1 frame per
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second.
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<!--l. 198--><p class="indent"> Any modern 3-D graphics featuring OpenGL<a
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name="dx5-6011"></a> support will do. For Windows<a
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name="dx5-6012"></a> video
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card drivers that support OpenGL, visit the home page of your video card manufacturer.
|
|
|
|
|
You should note that sometimes OpenGL drivers<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6013"></a> are provided by the manufacturers of
|
|
|
|
|
the graphics chip instead of by the makers of the board. If you are going to buy a
|
|
|
|
|
graphics card for running <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>, one based on a NVIDIA chip (TNT X/Geforce X)
|
|
|
|
|
might be a good choice.
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 205--><p class="indent"> To install the executable and basic scenery, you will need around 50 MB of free disk
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
space<a
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-6014"></a>. In case you want/have to to compile the program yourself you will need about an
|
|
|
|
|
additional 500 MB for the source code and for temporary files created during
|
|
|
|
|
compilation. This does not include the development environment, which will vary in size
|
|
|
|
|
depending on the operating system and environment being used. Windows users can
|
|
|
|
|
expect to need approximately 300 MB of additional disk space for the development
|
|
|
|
|
environment. Linux and other UNIX machines should have most of the development
|
|
|
|
|
tools already installed, so there is likely to be little additional space needed on those
|
|
|
|
|
platforms.
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 214--><p class="indent"> For the sound effects<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6015"></a>, any capable sound card<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6016"></a> should suffice. Due to its flexible
|
|
|
|
|
design, <span
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>supports a wide range of joysticks<a
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-6017"></a> and yokes<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6018"></a> as well as rudder pedals<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6019"></a>
|
|
|
|
|
under Linux<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6020"></a> and Windows<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6021"></a>. <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>can also provide interfaces to full-motion flight
|
|
|
|
|
chairs.
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 219--><p class="indent"> <span
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>is being developed primarily under Linux<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6022"></a>, a free UNIX clone (together
|
|
|
|
|
with lots of GNU utilities) developed cooperatively over the Internet in much the same
|
|
|
|
|
spirit as <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>itself. <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>also runs and is partly developed under several
|
|
|
|
|
flavors of Windows<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6023"></a>. Building <span
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>is also possible on a Macintosh OSX and
|
|
|
|
|
several different UNIX/X11 workstations. Given you have a proper compiler<a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-6024"></a> installed,
|
|
|
|
|
<span
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>can be built under all of these platforms. The primary compiler for all
|
|
|
|
|
platforms is the free GNU C++<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6025"></a> compiler (the Cygnus<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6026"></a> Cygwin<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-6027"></a> compiler under
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
Win32).
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 227--><p class="indent"> If you want to run <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>under Mac OSX we suggest a Power PC G3 300 MHz
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
or better. As a graphics card we would suggest an ATI Rage 128 based card as a
|
|
|
|
|
minimum. Joysticks are supported under Mac OS 9.x only; there is no joystick support
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
under Max OSX at this time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
<h3 class="sectionHead"><span class="titlemark">1.3</span> <a
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
href="getstart.html#QQ2-5-7" name="x5-70001.3">Choosing A Version</a></h3>
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-7001"></a>
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 236--><p class="noindent">Concerning the <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>source code there exist two branches, a stable branch and a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
developmental branch.<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-7002"></a><a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-7003"></a> Even version numbers like 0.6, 0.8, and (someday hopefully) 1.0
|
|
|
|
|
refer to stable releases, while odd numbers like 0.7, 0.9, and so on refer to developmental
|
|
|
|
|
releases. The policy is to only do bug fixes in the even versions, while new features are
|
|
|
|
|
generally added to odd-numbered versions which, after all things have stabilized, will
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
become the next stable release with a version number calculated by adding
|
|
|
|
|
0.1.
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 244--><p class="indent"> To add to the confusion, there usually are several versions of the ”unstable” branch.
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
First, there is a ”latest official release” which the pre-compiled binaries are based on. It is
|
|
|
|
|
available from
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 249--><p class="indent"> <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="ftp://ftp.flightgear.org/pub/fgfs/Source/FlightGear-X.Y.Z.tar.gz" >ftp://ftp.flightgear.org/pub/fgfs/Source/FlightGear-X.Y.Z.tar.gz</a>
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 252--><p class="indent"> For developers there exist CVS snapshots<a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-7004"></a><a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-7005"></a> of the source code, available from
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 256--><p class="indent"> <a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
href="ftp://www.flightgear.org/pub/flightgear/Devel/Snapshots/" >ftp://www.flightgear.org/pub/flightgear/Devel/Snapshots/</a>.
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 259--><p class="noindent">While theses are quite recent, they may still be sometimes a few days back behind
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
development. Thus, if you really want to get the very latest and greatest (and, at
|
|
|
|
|
times, buggiest) code, you can use a tool called anonymous cvs<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-7006"></a><a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-7007"></a> available from
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 266--><p class="indent"> <a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
href="http://www.cvshome.org/" >http://www.cvshome.org/</a>
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 269--><p class="noindent">to get the recent code. A detailed description of how to set this up for <span
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>can be
|
|
|
|
|
found at
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 274--><p class="indent"> <a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
href="http://www.flightgear.org/cvsResources/" >http://www.flightgear.org/cvsResources/</a>.
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 277--><p class="noindent">Unfortunately, the system implemented above does not really work as it should. As a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
matter of fact, the stable version is usually so much outdated, that it does not at all reflect
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
the state of development <span
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>has reached. Given that the recent developmental
|
|
|
|
|
versions on the other hands may contain bugs (. . . undocumented features), we
|
|
|
|
|
recommend using the ”latest official (unstable) release” for the average user. This is the
|
|
|
|
|
latest version named at
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 284--><p class="indent"> <a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
href="http://www.flightgear.org/News/" >http://www.flightgear.org/News/</a>;
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 287--><p class="noindent">usually this is also the version which the binary distributions<a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-7008"></a> available at
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 292--><p class="indent"> <a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
href="http://www.flightgear.org/Downloads/" >http://www.flightgear.org/Downloads/</a>
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 295--><p class="noindent">are based on. If not otherwise stated, all procedures in this “Installation and Getting
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
Started” will be based on these packages.
|
|
|
|
|
<h3 class="sectionHead"><span class="titlemark">1.4</span> <a
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
href="getstart.html#QQ2-5-8" name="x5-80001.4">Flight Dynamics Models</a></h3>
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8001"></a>
|
|
|
|
|
<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8002"></a>
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 302--><p class="noindent">Historically, <span
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>has been based on a flight model it inherited (together with the
|
|
|
|
|
Navion airplane) from LaRCsim. As this had several limitations (most important,
|
|
|
|
|
many characteristics were hard wired in contrast to using configuration files),
|
|
|
|
|
there were several attempts to develop or include alternative flight models<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8003"></a>. As a
|
|
|
|
|
result, <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>supports several different flight models, to be chosen from at
|
|
|
|
|
runtime.
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 308--><p class="indent"> The most important one is the JSB flight model developed by Jon Berndt. Actually,
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
the JSB flight model is part of a stand-alone project called <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">JSBSim</span>, having its home at
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 312--><p class="indent"> <a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
href="http://jsbsim.sourceforge.net/" >http://jsbsim.sourceforge.net/</a>.
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 315--><p class="noindent">Concerning airplanes, the JSB flight model at present provides support for a Cessna 172<a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-8004"></a>,
|
|
|
|
|
a Cessna 182<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8005"></a>, a Cessna 310<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8006"></a>, and for an experimental plane called X15<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8007"></a>. Jon and his group
|
|
|
|
|
are gearing towards a very accurate flight model, and the JSB model has become
|
|
|
|
|
<span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>’s default flight model.
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 321--><p class="indent"> As an interesting alternative, Christian Mayer developed a flight model of a hot air
|
|
|
|
|
balloon. Moreover, Curt Olson integrated a special ”UFO” slew mode, which helps you
|
|
|
|
|
to quickly fly from point A to point B.
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 325--><p class="indent"> Recently, Andrew Ross contributed another flight model called <span
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">YASim</span><a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8008"></a> for <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmri7t---109">Yet</span>
|
|
|
|
|
<span
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
class="ptmri7t---109">Another Simulator</span>. At present, it sports another Cessna 172<a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-8009"></a>, a Turbo 310<a
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
name="dx5-8010"></a>, a fairly good
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
DC-3<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8011"></a> model, along with a Boeing 747<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8012"></a>, Harrier<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8013"></a>, and A4<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8014"></a>. <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">YASim </span>takes a fundamentally
|
|
|
|
|
different approach since it’s based on geometry information rather than aerodynamic
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
coefficients. Where <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">JSBSim </span>will be exact for every situation that is known and flight
|
|
|
|
|
tested, but may have odd and/or unrealistic behavior outside normal flight, <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">YASim </span>will be
|
|
|
|
|
sensible and consistent in almost every flight situation, but is likely to differ in
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
performance numbers.
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 331--><p class="indent"> As a further alternative, there is the UIUC flight model<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8015"></a>, developed by a team at the
|
|
|
|
|
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This work was initially geared toward
|
|
|
|
|
modeling aircraft in icing conditions<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8016"></a> together with a smart icing system to better enable
|
|
|
|
|
pilots to fly safely in an icing encounter. While this research continues, the
|
|
|
|
|
project has expanded to include modeling ”nonlinear” aerodynamics, which
|
|
|
|
|
result in more realism in extreme attitudes, such as stall and high angle of attack
|
|
|
|
|
flight. Two good examples that illustrate this capability are the Airwave Xtreme
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
150<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8017"></a> hang glider<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8018"></a> and the 1903 Wright Flyer<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8019"></a>. For the hang glider, throttle can
|
|
|
|
|
be use to fly to gliding altitude or Ctrl-U can be used to jump up in 1000-ft
|
|
|
|
|
increments. Try your hand at the unstable Wright Flyer and don’t stall the canard!
|
|
|
|
|
Considerable up elevator trim will be required for level flight. In general, the
|
|
|
|
|
aerodynamics are probably very close to the original Wright Flyer as they are
|
|
|
|
|
partly based on experimental data taken on a replica tested recently at the NASA
|
|
|
|
|
Ames Research Center. Also included are two more models, a Beech 99<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8020"></a> and
|
|
|
|
|
Marchetti S-211<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8021"></a> jet trainer, which are older generation UIUC/FGFS models
|
|
|
|
|
and based on simpler ”linear” aerodynamics. More details of the UIUC flight
|
|
|
|
|
model and a list of aircraft soon to be upgraded can be found on their website at
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 351--><p class="indent"> <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://amber.aae.uiuc.edu/~m-selig/apasim.html" >http://amber.aae.uiuc.edu/<img
|
|
|
|
|
src="getstart2x.gif" alt="~" class="tilde" > m-selig/apasim.html</a>
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 354--><p class="noindent">Note that the 3D models of the UIUC airplanes<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8022"></a> can be downloaded from a site
|
|
|
|
|
maintained by Wolfram Kuss
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 358--><p class="indent"> <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://home.t-online.de/home/Wolfram.Kuss/" >http://home.t-online.de/home/Wolfram.Kuss/</a>
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 361--><p class="indent"> It is even possible to drive FlightGear’s scene display using an external FDM<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-8023"></a> running
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
on a different computer - although this might not be a setup recommended to people just
|
|
|
|
|
getting in touch with <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>.
|
|
|
|
|
<h3 class="sectionHead"><span class="titlemark">1.5</span> <a
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
href="getstart.html#QQ2-5-9" name="x5-90001.5">About This Guide</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 371--><p class="noindent">There is little, if any, material in this Guide that is presented here exclusively. You could
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
even say with Montaigne that we ”merely gathered here a big bunch of other men’s
|
|
|
|
|
flowers, having furnished nothing of my own but the strip to hold them together”. Most
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
(but fortunately not all) of the information herein can also be obtained from the
|
|
|
|
|
<span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>web site<a
|
|
|
|
|
name="dx5-9001"></a> located at
|
|
|
|
|
<!--l. 378--><p class="indent"> <a
|
2002-02-16 19:58:34 +00:00
|
|
|
href="http://www.flightgear.org/" >http://www.flightgear.org/</a>
|
2002-09-08 03:51:05 +00:00
|
|
|
<!--l. 381--><p class="indent"> Please, keep in mind that there are several mirrors of the <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>web sites, all
|
|
|
|
|
of which are linked to from the <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>homepage listed above. You may
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prefer to download <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>from a mirror closer to you than from the main
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site.
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<!--l. 386--><p class="indent"> This <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span><span
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class="ptmri7t---109">Installation and Getting Started </span>manual is intended to be a first step
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towards a complete <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>documentation<a
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name="dx5-9002"></a>. The target audience is the end-user who
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is not interested in the internal workings of OpenGL<a
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name="dx5-9003"></a> or in building his or her own
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scenery. It is our hope, that someday there will be an accompanying <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>
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<span
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class="ptmri7t---109">Programmer’s Guide</span><a
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name="dx5-9004"></a> (which could be based on some of the documentation found at
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<!--l. 395--><p class="indent"> <a
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href="http://www.flightgear.org/Docs" >http://www.flightgear.org/Docs</a>;
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<!--l. 398--><p class="noindent">a <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span><span
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class="ptmri7t---109">Scenery Design Guide</span>,<a
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name="dx5-9005"></a> describing the Scenery tools now packaged as
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<span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">TerraGear</span>; and a <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span><span
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class="ptmri7t---109">Flight School</span><a
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name="dx5-9006"></a> package.
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<!--l. 404--><p class="indent"> As a supplement, we recommend reading the <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear </span>FAQ to be found
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at
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<!--l. 406--><p class="indent"> <a
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href="http://www.flightgear.org/Docs/FlightGear-FAQ.html" >http://www.flightgear.org/Docs/FlightGear-FAQ.html</a>
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<!--l. 408--><p class="indent"> which has a lot of supplementary information that may not be included in this
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manual.
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<!--l. 414--><p class="indent"> <span
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class="ptmb7t---109">We kindly ask you to help us refine this document by submitting corrections,</span>
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<span
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class="ptmb7t---109">improvements, and suggestions. All users is invited to contribute descriptions of</span>
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<span
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class="ptmb7t---109">alternative setups (graphics cards, operating systems etc.). We will be more than</span>
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<span
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class="ptmb7t---109">happy to include those into future versions of this </span><span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">Installation and Getting Started </span><span
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class="ptmb7t---109">(of</span>
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<span
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class="ptmb7t---109">course not without giving credit to the authors).</span>
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<!--l. 416--><p class="indent"> While we intend to continuously update this document, we may not be able to
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produce a new version for every single release of <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>. To do so would require
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more manpower that we have now, so please feel free to jump in and help out. We
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hope to produce documentation that measures up to the quality of <span
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class="ptmbi7t---109">FlightGear</span>
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itself.
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<div class="crosslinks"><p class="noindent">[<a
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href="getstartch2.html" >next</a>] [<a
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href="getstartpa1.html" >prev</a>] [<a
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href="getstartpa1.html#tailgetstartpa1.html" >prev-tail</a>] [<a
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href="getstartch1.html" >front</a>] [<a
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href="getstartpa1.html#getstartch1.html" >up</a>] </p></div><a
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name="tailgetstartch1.html"></a>
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</body></html>
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