T-38 and Sea Fury

I worked on some old models today. These are two of the older one's I have. The T-38 is very low-poly, and I wouldn't bother doing a conversion on it today, but it filled a niche when I first built it, and it looks good enough to keep around. Note: this is the only model in my hangar that uses the JSBSim capability to model a modulating afterburner. The first half of the throttle range maps "mil power" from idle to 100%, and the second half of the range maps the afterburning range. This might be the preferred method for you depending on your throttle hardware.

The Sea Fury is one of the first Alpha Simulations conversions I did. I put it aside a couple years ago, and it hasn't been kept up, until now. It's posted at the hangar as a project, and I'll be bringing it up to par with the other airplanes.

fgo, launcher app

I just downloaded Robert Leda's python-based launcher app called fgo. It's fun to play with, and looks more lightweight than fgrun. It can be found here. Note: you'll need the PIL (Python Image Library), as well as a fairly modern version of python.

New drag 'chute testing

User "someguy" discovered a bug in the new drag 'chute system, so I've put in a fix (I hope) to the F-4E model, which is now posted at the hangar as version 2.6. If all tests properly the new system will:

1) make chute animation visible over multiplayer
2) cause the 'chute to rip off if deployed above 200 kts.

A note on fuel tank priority

One limitation on the use of the "priority" tag for fuel tanks: The priority number can't be greater than the number of tanks. For example, the Thunderbirds F-4E model only had one fuel tank defined, and it had a priority of 2, which resulted in it not feeding. One solution is to change the priority to 1. A better solution is to add the external tank definitions, as in the other F-4's. It's not necessary that the tank definitions in the FDM match the tank models actually installed on the model, so if the airplane might carry a certain external tank, go ahead and add the definition for it.

I'll be adding tank definitions for the external tanks that N-SCOT made for the A-7E , even though they aren't installed on my current A-7E model.

New F-4E

The F-4E is now set up so that the drag 'chute should be visible over multiplayer. As soon as I get a chance to test this online with someone I'll add this to all the models with drag 'chutes.

I also switched the weapons release key from 'space' to 'e'. While testing this I saw that some of the bombs appeared to impact each other after being released. I'd rather not increase the bomb release interval in an attempt to fix this, so we may be stuck with this for a while.

I had previously used the 'e' key for 'eject' in the OV-10 model, so I'll now need to look for another 'eject' key. Maybe 'F1'?

New DavePack

User "jano" found a bug in DavePack, another leading slash bug, so I've fixed that. I also fixed the wingtip vortices so they stop emitting when the airplane is crashed. In this case "crashed" means the JSBSim system called crash-detect has detected a crash.

I've also tried to standardize the usage of generic multiplayer properties in my models. Here's what I have so far:

float[0] - rotating beacon 1
float[1] - rotating beacon 2
float[2] - nose (tail) wheel steering angle
float[6] - drag 'chute unfurl

int[0] - tail numbers
int[3] - gun smoke
int[4] - wingtip vortices
int[5] - contrails
int[6] - drag 'chute deploy
int[7] - smoke
int[10] - afterburner plume, engine[0]
int[11] - afterburner plume, engine[1]

Soon I hope to have all the models meet this standard.

Starting a turbine

I made a recent change to the turbine code that allows you to abort a start properly. With this change the default FlightGear key binding for the 's' key won't work for turbine engines. I'll be adding a new binding definition for the 's' key to all my turbine-powered models. The new binding is a simple toggle, which sets the starter valve to true (open) or false (closed).

The procedure for starting the turbines is: 1) make sure the cutoff property is true (it should be by default), 2) set the starter property to true, 3) when N2 reaches at least 15% place the cutoff property to false. The turbine will accelerate to idle and the starter will automatically set itself to false.

Piston airplane progress

Well, I'm learning how to make piston powered airplanes as I go along. The Skyraiders and the TigerCat are my experiments. The engines appear to do what they ought to now, and I've added instruments for rpm, manifold pressure and fuel flow, that I'll put in all the piston airplanes. Engine sounds are still a work in progress.

The propeller needs some higher pitch settings. A couple years ago I made an improved propeller builder for AeroMatic, but it's still under a pile of papers around here somewhere. It has the data to extend the propeller table to 55 degrees of pitch, which is what the warbirds need.

A new AD-4 is posted now, and F7F version 1.3 (I skipped 1.2) is posted. Let me know about bugs and any suggestions! BTW, both these airplanes now use the 'e' key to fire weapons.

F7F update

Right after I released version one of the F7F I found that it wouldn't climb above about 9200 feet. Ron Jensen recommended an auto-mixture controller, and this did the trick! Adding the auto-mixture system required changing the binding for the 'Shift-Q' key, which now shuts the engines down by turning the magnetos off/on.

Version 1.1 is posted now.

F7F release 1.0

Version 1.0 of the Tigercat is now posted at the hangar. This is a single seat, Marine Corps F7F-3 fighter-bomber. The nose guns have been removed, which I've read was a common field modification. There are 11 weapons stations, with number 6 being the centerline station. The 'e' key drops/fires weapons.

I'm still hoping to make the piston engine sounds better some day. This airplane has no unit markings because I haven't found ones I like that would be right for this airplane. I also need to make manifold pressure and rpm gauges.