Welcome to the FlightGear FAQ. Here you will find the answers to - some questions that are frequently asked on our mailing lists. If - you have a question that is not answered here, feel free to ask - us on our mailing lists. Enjoy
- -First contact the author. If you get no response, send your - comments to the FlightGear-Users mailing list.
-See the About This Document section at the end of the FAQ.
-Most FlightGear documentation is linked to from - http://flightgear.org/Docs/. - Definitely check out the FlightGear Installation and Getting - Started document available from the aforementioned location.
-Also see the FlightGear/docs-mini/ directory in the
- source distribution for various other helpful documents.
The official download page is - http://flightgear.org/Downloads/. - Source code is our primary form of distribution, but precompiled - binaries are available for Windows and SGI IRIX.
-Alternatively, FlightGear is packaged for Linux by SuSE, Debian - (sid), and Mandrake (Cooker) and can be directly installed through - those distributions.
-The FTP server uses standard anonymous login procedures. Login - with the username "anonymous" and use your email address as the - password. Most FTP clients and web browsers will do this - automatically for you.
-This generally means that the server is at it's capacity. You - should receive a message saying such, but your FTP client may be - hiding it from you. Your options are to keep trying until a slot - opens up or try connecting to one of our FTP mirrors listed at - http://flightgear.org/mirrors.html.
-The latest development code is available for everyone through our - CVS repository. See - http://flightgear.org/cvsResources/ for details. -
-Otherwise, you can get relatively up-to-date snapshots of the - development tree at - ftp://flightgear.sourceforge.net/pub/flightgear/Devel/Snapshots/. -
-SimGear is a library of supporting code. SimGear is only needed - if you plan on compiling FlightGear -- it is not needed to run - precompiled binaries. For more information see - http://www.simgear.org/.
-While the base package only comes with scenery for the San Francisco - Bay area, you can currently fly just about anywhere in the world. - See the "Additional Scenery" section of - http://flightgear.org/Downloads/ - for more information or go directly to our graphical downloader at - http://flightgear.org/Downloads/world-scenery.html. -
-Also visit our "Places to Fly" section of the website - (http://flightgear.org/Places/) - for some help navigating to some awesome locations.
-While we are working toward building our own 3D models, we have - been given permission by several people to convert their models (which - where originally intended for use with Microsoft Flight - Simulator) to use with FlightGear. See Wolfram's Hangar - (http://home.t-online.de/home/Wolfram.Kuss/) - for a list of what we currently have available as well as - information on how to convert models yourself.
-We use the same navaid and airport dataset that X-Plane uses. The
- current dataset can be found in the $FGROOT/Navaids/ and
- $FGROOT/Airports/ directories. If you have updates or
- corrections to the dataset, see
- http://flightgear.org/Docs/AirNav/AptNavFAQ.FlightGear.html
- for instructions on contacting the database maintainer.
A popular moving map display is avaliable under a separate - project called Atlas. See - http://atlas.sf.net/.
-We could do that, since the initial download is about 25 - megabytes. Especially for people who have to pay per-minute charges - for internet access, buying a CD is a convenient and possibly - cheaper option. Although we offer that service (see the website), we - encourage other groups to redistribute it for their users, especially - within an operating system distribution which makes installation even - faster and easier for new users.
-Well, that depends. First make sure you are using the appropriate - versions of FlightGear, SimGear, plib, zlib. If any of - the packages are out of sync with the others, compilation may fail.
-The FlightGear Downloads page - (http://flightgear.org/Downloads/) - should tell you what versions you need if you are trying to compile - the latest stable release. If you are using a development snapshot, - make sure all three packages are up-to-date.
-Also ensure that you have some implementation of OpenGL with glut - support with the appropriate header files. Linux users with nVidia - cards should make sure you have the latest drivers from nVidia. Other - Linux users make sure you have Mesa3D - (http://mesa3d.org/) - and your X server installed correctly. Windows users see - http://www.x-plane.com/SYSREQ/v5ibm.html, - and Mac users see - http://www.x-plane.com/SYSREQ/v5mac.html. -
-If your problems persist, subscribe to our FlightGear-Users mailing - list and let us know what problem you're having. See - http://flightgear.org/mail.html for help with this. -
-Update your gcc packages. See - http://redhat.com/errata/ - to fix it and - http://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/gcc-2.96.html - for an explanation why.
-The scenery archive files (ie. w100n30.tar.gz) should be untarred
- into the Scenery/Terrain directory in your
- $FG_ROOT.
FlightGear should come with a helpful program called `fgjs` - that can help configure your joystick. Run `fgjs` and then - copy the dot file it created into your home directory or add its - contents to your existing rc file.
-Also, see the README.Joystick file located in the
- FlightGear/docs-mini/ directory of the source
- distribution. This document is mirrored at
- http://rockfish.net/fg/README.Joystick.
-
Your .fgfsrc file should simply be a list of
- command-line options with one option per line. The file is not
- an XML file.
If you would rather use an XML configuration file, you can add
- something like the following in your .fgfsrc
-
- --config=/path/to/my/config.xml
-
Almost every option corresponds to a property, so you can choose - to use whichever method best suits your needs.
-With the default installation, libopenal.so.0 is installed into
- /usr/local/lib. You need to ensure that that path is
- listed in /etc/ld.so.conf, then run `ldconfig`as
- root.
In short, your GL libraries are broken. So far only Red Hat 7.x - users have experienced this (see - http://www.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=18867). - The only solutions are possibly complicated ones: you can either - change distributions (most of us prefer Debian) or upgrade/downgrade - your Mesa libs.
-- - Why do some other GL applications work though? - Well, - Steve Baker (Mr. PLIB) has explained this on the plib-users list - (http://www.geocrawler.com/lists/3/SourceForge/1867/0/6470648/). -
-The problem is almost certainly that your base package is out of - sync with FlightGear. Many configurable parts of FlightGear are - defined in XML files contained in the base package.
-FlightGear (as of June 2001) uses the Portable Libraries (PLIB) - for playing audio. The audio queue implementation of PLIB is far from - optimal (in fact it's just wrong). This seems to work on other - platforms quite well, but Irix expects things to be programmed - properly.
-There has been discussion about using OpenAL
- (http://www.openal.org/)
- for the next release of both PLIB and FlightGear. Tests show that
- the OpenAL audio implementation does the job right, meaning that
- these audio problems should be gone by then. In the mean time it is
- best to disable audio on Irix completely (by adding --disable-sound
- either on the command line or to your $HOME/.fgfsrc
- file).
FlightGear supports hardware acceleration, but it seems not to be - activated. Make sure you have OpenGL libraries installed and - configured properly and make sure you have the latest drivers for your - video card.
-- Linux users: If you are an nVidia user, follow their - directions on getting your card working. For most other users, make - sure Mesa is installed property and ensure that you have the - appropriate kernel device drivers for your card. Most people (and - distributions) use modules for their video card device drivers; run - `lsmod` as root to see what modules are loaded. You should also - make sure that you are loading the appropriate modules in your - XF86Config and that your video device section is correct. Now try - running an OpenGL application (other than FlightGear) to see how it - performs. You can try the gears demo from Mesa or something - like Quake3.
-First of all, one of the most common mistakes on SGI hardware is to - forget to specify --fog-fastest. On most SGI machines the EXP2 shading - model isn't hardware supported resulting in frame rates below 1 frame - per second (fps).
-FlightGear makes extensive use of the OpenGL z-buffer feature,which - on most older SGI hardware is only supported in software. This means - that the CPU has to do all the z-buffer calculations in addition to the - other tasks FlightGear involves (flight dynamics, scenery tracking, - pushing commands into the graphics queue, etc). The following features - are software rendered on low-end SGI machines (like Indy and - Indigo):
-This means that running FlightGear with the following options may not - even get the desired result:
-
- ./runfgfs --fog-disable --shading-flat --disable-skyblend \
-
- --disable-textures --disable-clouds --disable-sound \
-
- --disable-panel --enable-hud --disable-anti-alias-hud
-
I could even imagine that adding --enable-wireframe doesn't work on - these machines (I would be happy to be proven wrong though).
-On a machine like O2 the following options give an acceptable - result:
-./runfgfs --fog-fastest --disable-sound
- Since I don't have access to other SGI hardware I can't tell which - options would be appropriate for your situation.
-There are two ways. One way is to hide the panel without the HUD - showing. To hide the panel, use Shift+P; To make the HUD - disappear, use H. The second way is to use the alternative - HUD by Shift+I (Use I to switch back).
-In his infinite wisdom the FlightGear Grand Master decided that - planes were to valuable to allow them to be destroyed by novice pilots - who seemed to crash a lot. The fact that nobody has bothered to model - crashes may have something to do with it too. :-)
-The result of this as you have noticed is that with a little - practice an ingenuity you can trim the ship to fly inverted along the - ground.
-The quick answer is to hit Ctrl+U (with the default key bindings) - to warp the plane up 1000ft.
-For the stubborn people out there: The trick to learn is to roll - back to normal (non inverted) do this by nursing the elevator to get - to about 500 feet or so and use the ailerons to snap roll 180*. - This is all good avionics except for the plane not destroying - itself. Remember the controls work in reverse when you are inverted - and keep that airspeed up!!!
-This is probably caused by a line-ending problem in the timezone - files. Win32 users can resolve the problem by downloading a DOS to - UNIX conversion utility available at - http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~eazdluf/d2u.zip. - Run as `d2u *.tab` from within the timezone directory to fix - your timezone files.
-Mostly C++ with some supporting C code that's primary contained - within SimGear.
-To define an aircraft for FlightGear's primary FDM (JSBSIM), - see http://jsbsim.sf.net/.
-If you want a simpler FDM to work with, try your hand at YASim,
- an alternative FDM. For an guide on creating a YASim aircraft,
- look in the FlightGear base package for
- Aircraft-yasim/README.yasim.
You can import the 3D model and textures, but the flight dynamics - (the .AIR file) must be completely redone for FlightGear. See - http://home.t-online.de/home/Wolfram.Kuss/ - for help importing .MDL files and textures.
-If you wish to import a model made with gmax, you will need to - convert it to .MDL format using Microsoft's MakeMDL SDK which - is available at - http://zone.msn.com/flightsim/FS02DevDeskSDK08.asp. -
-See the README.xmlpanel file located in the
- FlightGear/docs-mini/ directory of the source
- distribution. This document is mirrored at
- http://rockfish.net/fg/README.xmlpanel.
-
First, ensure that you have v0.7.7 or later, the scenery files - where you plan to place the object, the actual model, and the - longitude and latitude where you plan to place the object.
-Now get the altitude for your point. If you don't want to - calculate this yourself, start FlightGear at your location and take - note of the altitude. Here's an example command:
-
- fgfs --lat=45.50 --lon=-75.73 2>&1 | tee fgfs.log
-
The altitude is probably in feet, so divide the starting altitude - by 3.28.
-Search the output log file for the first occurrence of the string - "Loading tile" and take note of the filename. In the above example, - the output line looks like:
-
- Loading tile /usr/local/Scenery/w080n40/w076n45/1712601
-
Copy a 3D model in a format that Plib understands to the same - directory as the tile file. Edit the text file in that directory - consisting of the tile name with the extension ".stg". The file will - already exist if there is an airport on the tile; otherwise, you can - create it from scratch. In our example, the filename is:
-
- /usr/local/Scenery/w080n40/w076n45/1712601.stg
-
At the end of the file, add a new entry for your object, - consisting of the word "OBJECT_STATIC" followed by the model name, - the longitude in degrees, the latitude in degrees, the altitude in - meters, and the heading in degrees. In our example the line looks - like:
-
- OBJECT_STATIC Towerax.ac -75.73 45.40 60 0
-
Save the changes to the .stg file, restart FlightGear, and - enjoy.
-NOTE: The above information was taken from the following mailing - list post: - http://www.geocrawler.com/archives/3/11854/2001/6/0/5991409/. - See that page if this one doesn't make sense.
-An alternative approach using PPE is described at - http://mail.flightgear.org/pipermail/flightgear-devel/2001-December/002239.html - by Norman Vine.
-Contributing to the 2D panel doesn't require any coding at all, - just a minimal knowledge of XML syntax (i.e. five minutes' worth) - and good skills with drawing and/or paint programs. Every instrument - on the current panel, with the partial exception of the magnetic - compass, is defined entirely in XML with no custom C++ code. If - you want to get started, take a look at John Check's excellent intro - (http://rockfish.net/fg/README.xmlpanel). -
-Likewise, if you want to create a 3D cockpit for FlightGear, or to - create buildings, external aircraft models, etc., your help is - *desperately* needed. The only rule is to go easy on the triangles - -- a model with 50,000 triangles probably won't be usable in - FlightGear, and one with 5,000 triangles, only marginally. If you - can design a nice 3D cockpit interior for a Cessna 172 (for example) - in a 3D design program such as ac3D or ppe, we have coders who will - be happy to add the support code in the C++.
-If, on the other hand, you really want to get your hands dirty - with C++ coding, you'll have to buy a good OpenGL book eventually. - However, FlightGear uses a high-level library, plib, that hides most - of the details of OpenGL. To get started with 3D C++ coding, you - can take a look at the plib documentation and learn only as much - OpenGL as you need, when you need it.
-You can add your airport to the
- $FGROOT/Airports/default.apt.gz file, but to get the
- airport to show up visually, you will have to rebuild the scenery
- around the airport. The format of the default.apt file is
- documented at
- http://flightgear.org/Docs/AirNav/AptNavFAQ.FlightGear.html.
Yes, though it can be a difficult task. FlightGear's scenery - generation is handled by a sister project, TerraGear. For more - details, see - http://wiki.flightgear.org/TerraGear.
-- http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/ - is a very good site for learning techniques for navigation. Also see - http://www.monmouth.com/~jsd/how/. -
-There is a bit of info on aileron vs. rudder here: - http://www.monmouth.com/~jsd/how/. -
-We have an initial stab at this that is incomplete and only seems - to work under Linux. We'd love to find someone to pick up the - slack here and develop this further. Specifically, plib now has - some low level networking support for mult-player games. It would - also be nice to develop support for the DIS protocol.
-No, not at this time. Most of our developers are primarily - interested and focused on civilian aviation. We aren't explicitly - excluding these features -- we just haven't had anyone who seriously - wanted to develop these areas.
-This error cropped up after the release of v0.7.6. To fix the
- problem, add "#include <stdlib.h>" to the top of viewer.cxx.
- - This document generated from XML using - Sablotron. - -
- - - diff --git a/Docs/Nasal-doc.pdf b/Docs/Nasal-doc.pdf deleted file mode 100644 index c37eef834..000000000 Binary files a/Docs/Nasal-doc.pdf and /dev/null differ diff --git a/Docs/README.checklists b/Docs/README.checklists index 362781a2a..f576e4666 100644 --- a/Docs/README.checklists +++ b/Docs/README.checklists @@ -52,3 +52,6 @@ group. For example