The other stuff isn't really an update but something I did for a bit of a
laugh. The idea ocurred to me after animating the folding wings on the
seahawk and seeing that the aileron and flap axis still worked...
Here're a couple of updates. Well, one's an update - the tsr2 and this now
has reasonable wing and hstab values. The roll rate was very high and I
figured that as it was going to be a hack anyway, due to the all moving
tailplanes, I just made them very ineffective and linked them top the
tailplanes in the model file. I think I may have over factored them a bit
too much but it's interesting watch them in chase view. If the autopilot
roll-out-deg is dropped to about two it'll start oscillating, and from behind
it looks like it's paddling:)
you simply click with the left mouse button to advance to 'both';
after that, if you click again, the start engages until you let go of
the mouse button, at which point the knob snaps back to 'both'.
Here's a B52-H that I've done and it can be distributed under the same
conditions etc. as fgfs. It seems to fly ok but I'm sure it could do with a
bit of adjustment - perhaps Andy R. will have a look and give it a few tweaks.
It wouldn't need too much work to convert it to an -A model (different
engines, taller fin etc.) and then it could be teamed up with the X15 :)
I still can't get textures on the models but it occurred to me that if
someone could apply blank texture maps to the models I could then fill in the
blanks, as it were.
I also noticed that there don't appear to be models included for the F-104,
F-15 & F-16 and I think I could probably do some and animate them for fgfs if
they'd be useful.
Re the A10 - Andy said he'd had a look at it and made a few changes to fix a
few things that I'd done incorrectly and asked if I wanted to keep tinkering
with it or should he roll his changes into the fgfs cvs? I said to him that
I'd be happy to go with his changes as they'll be more realistic/accurate than
the stuff I've done.
I've certainly no problem with anyone doing anything with any of the stuff
I've done, so long as it's an improvement :)
I've taken the liberty of attaching a .tar.gz file containing a .3ds model of
a BAC-TSR2, a yasim config file based on the correct figures (where I could
find them) and the -set.xml and model.xml files to fly it.
I'm primarily a 3d'er and originally did the TSR2 for a picture I'm working
on but when I got fgfs running (Debian Linux) I couldn't resist loading it in
and trying to get it to fly. The model was created in Realsoft3D and
exported as .3ds.
I've been able to tag the various sub-objects, to animate them but the export
process appears to 'flatten' any object hierarchy I set up and I'm guessing
this is necessary for sequential animations - I couldn't set up the correct
sequential rotations to properly bring the main u/c in. Also, in real life,
there are several other u/c doors that should open and close in sequence to
get the gear in and apparently the sequence was quite complex.
On the ground though, it is as shown (so I didn't need to model the extra
doors for my picture anyway;)
It could do with some airbrakes too, both for the model and for the fdm. As
with the extra u/c doors, I didn't need them for the picture and they haven't
been modelled.
As well as not being able to preserve object hierarchies when I export from
Realsoft3D's native object format to .3ds, I'm not able to preserve textures
or colour-mapping either, so the aircraft appears all white.
Hopefully, someone might like to add the extra doors and airbrakes, which
shouldn't be too difficult, and put some texturing on it - mostly white
anyway, for the prototypes, or a contemporary RAF scheme if someone wants to
pretend that it entered service.
The yasim fdm model, as said, cannot be regarded as accurate. However, while
it is based on the specs for the real aircraft, where I could find them, the
measurments are probably only accurate to about 1 metre. That's assuming I
was measuring the right things in the first place;) Other bits that I wasn't
sure about i.e. flaps, ailerons etc. have been hacked out of the a4 or the
747.
It could do with some 'refinment' by people who know what they're doing, but
it seems to fly about right, or rather, as I'd imagine:) (me want a
forward-looking ski-toe terrain avoidance radar:)
Anyway, I'm happy for the whole lot to be released under the same licence and
conditions as the rest of the fgfs stuff, either as a part of fgfs or by
anyone else who will also follow those same licence and condition terms.
I've also got a reasonable yasim b52 flying but no moveable bits on the model
yet, a vulcan with a similar simple 3d model using a grossly hacked c310
jbsim fdm (right numbers where I could find them but powered by a couple of
XLRs) and a Saunders-Roe SR45 Princess flying boat model and yasim fdm (can't
get it into the air with propellors but substituting equivilent jets (2.5x
factor) got it flying. I've started on a EE/BAC Lighting FMk6 model but I'll
probably be doing a Fairchild A-10 and an Antonov An-225 first.
I figure this is the best way I can contribute to the fgfs project, and l'd
like to be able to offer something.
Make the plane much sloppier at high alpha and/or with the flaps
extended. In slow flight, there's much more lateral instability now,
and adverse yaw is more obvious at the start of a turn using only
ailerons.
activated with the mouse, but they do respond to the following
properties:
/controls/lights/taxi
/controls/lights/landing
/controls/pitot-heat
/controls/lights/navigation
/controls/lights/beacon
/controls/lights/strobes
- yokes
- carb heat
- throttle
- mixture
- flap switch
- trim wheel
Moved the pilot seat back slightly.
Use LOD more aggressively, so that all the interior detail is skipped
when the viewer is distant.
the root PropertyNode element. For example,
--aircraft=c172
is now an alias for
--aircraft=c172r
which is an alias for
--aircraft=c172r-jsbsim
All JSBSim *-set.xml files have been renamed to include 'jsbsim'
explicitly in their names; the ones without 'jsbsim' are now aliases
to the default, whatever that may be.
Here are some new, simpler aircraft identifiers:
--aircraft=cub
--aircraft=747
--aircraft=sopwithCamel
--aircraft=c310-3d
and so on.
This system allows users to create new *-set.xml files by overriding
parts of existing ones rather than by cut-and-paste.
- makes instrument knobs turn at a realistic rate
- removes redundant <min> and <max> specifications*
- corrects the indentation to reflect nesting depth
- corrects some descriptive names
* E.g. if the gyro compass heading is 365, there's no point clamping the
value to 360 before drawing it. Just using the given value is more
likely to be right - or, if it's wrong, at least we won't hide the bug.
button) modes. Due to a typo in altimeter.xml, one direction of
adjustment with the left mouse button was giving fast changes.
Simple patch attached.
- Julian
implement them for the C172P 3D model. Look near the top of
preferences.xml for an example. The recognized properties are as
follow, with vanilla defaults in parentheses:
/sim/view/config/default-field-of-view-deg (30)
/sim/view/config/default-pitch-deg (0)
/sim/view/config/front-direction-deg (0)
/sim/view/config/front-left-direction-deg (45)
/sim/view/config/left-direction-deg (90)
/sim/view/config/back-left-direction-deg (135)
/sim/view/config/back-direction-deg (180)
/sim/view/config/back-right-direction-deg (225)
/sim/view/config/right-direction-deg (270)
/sim/view/config/front-right-direction-deg (315)
These are particularly useful for the view from inside a 3D aircraft
model.
twice the design size (character height) of the old one.
Advantages:
- displays . and : correctly with less space around, and digits
with more space around (using Andy's improvements to plib)
- small text becomes much more legible (-> clock, AP-altitude)
- the font contains pretty much every character that can be
displayed on a seven segment display, so it might be more
useful for future instruments.
the electrical system added so the night lighting works (hey
I do most of my flying at night).
I also added archive flags to some properties as per
c172-set.xml.
Reshaped interior to match photos, with covered luggage bin behind
second seat.
Added more triangles to the panel to round it out.
Moved viewpoint to match up better with seats.
