Here's a 'beta' version of a YF23. The model is virtually finished - I think
I just need to split the wheel well and cockpit linings to clear up the
smoothing artifacts, and add a couple of other little details.
The texturing is rudimentary, all I've done is to map simple colour blocks to
everything. There's a definite problem with the rear cockpit canopy
transparency - anything viewed through it, except for the pilot stuff and the
rear canopy surround is invisible. The weird thing is that everything is ok
if you angle the view to look through the front canopy - this is easier to do
with the rear canopy open (parking brake). The front and rear canopy
glasses, and hud glass are the only transparent objects, and they're all at
the bottom of the hierarchy.
I'd found that if I placed objects below any transparent objects in the
hierarchy, they'd become invisible when viewed through the transparent object
- any objects above the transparent objects would be visible. This seems to
have worked for the front canopy and hud (the pilot and seat is visible from
the front view through both the front canopy and the hud glass) but not the
rear canopy.
Time for a bit more experimentation, methinks. That, or find TFM to R:)
I've finally got the u/c door/gear timing working, and I'm also pleased with
the suspension animation. I couldn't resist linking the pilot's head to the
rudder - it's not as though it does anything, except on the ground (where it
also operates the nose wheel steering.
It all still needs some tuning and finishing - I've modelled the front wing
flaps/slats/what-ever-they-ares and I've put some slats in the fdm, but I
haven't 'used' them yet. The suspension is still too spongey and it heels
over quite badly on take-off in cross-winds (shows off the independent main
suspension nicely though), and more work on the fdm is needed too.
support under /radios/.
The display now goes dark when the switch is turned off.
The switch position is now handled entirely within the XML -- the C++
code is generic, so that other DME receiver types can also be
modelled.
Here're some updates for some of the instruments, the TSR2 and the B52.
The instruments are just parameterised/non-specific versions of the engine
and fuel gauges. The old gauges will still be used by the a10s and the sea
hawks until I get them done.
There're a couple of tweaks to the tsr2 yasim config and amendments to the
model file to change the angle at which the airbrakes operate, correct the
direction that the nose gear retracts/extends and to rotate the main-gear
carts during retraction/extention. There're also new panels, using the new
instruments.
The b52 yasim config has some big changes due to finding some more info i.e.
wing incidence of 6 degrees, fuel capacities and aileron changes (removed
from G & H versions!). It's now based on an 'F' model and I've put some
comments in the yasim config about it. The b52-readme.txt includes a
suggested method on getting airborne;). I've included an amended model -
B52-F.3ds, which is the default in the new model file, and a couple of panels.
I'm quite pleased with the b52 - the take-offs resemble the photographs I've
seen and I think I've got reasonable values where I've had to guess at stuff,
but the results from the yasim solver look as through the model is
approaching the limits of acceptability for yasim. By this I mean that the
model is probably a bit dodgy, not that the yasim solver is limited.
