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FlightGear Newsletter January 2012: Difference between revisions
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FlightGear Newsletter January 2012 (view source)
Revision as of 06:00, 19 January 2012
, 19 January 2012Reverted edits by Nelatonin (talk) to last revision by Gijs
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=== 2.6.0 release preparations === | === 2.6.0 release preparations === | ||
On January | On January 17, the release branches were created from our [[Git]] repositories. From then on, no new features (and aircraft) shall be pushed. Only bug fixes are accepted. | ||
FlightGear 2.6.0 will be released on February 17! | FlightGear 2.6.0 will be released on February 17! | ||
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* '''What is your forum nickname?''' | * '''What is your forum nickname?''' | ||
Hehe, guess once. ☺ | |||
* '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?''' | * '''How long have you been involved in FlightGear?''' | ||
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* '''What projects are you working on right now?''' | * '''What projects are you working on right now?''' | ||
I am actually doing several different things for FlightGear. My main project is developing a fully integrated AI air traffic system that contains autonomous vehicles, an ATC system that interacts with both AI controlled aircraft and with the user controlled aircraft. In addition to that, I am one of the editors of the main website, editor of the FlightGear facebook page, involved in the release process, code committer, organizer of the annual FlightGear booth at FSWeekend in Lelystad (EHLE) | I am actually doing several different things for FlightGear. My main project is developing a fully integrated AI air traffic system that contains autonomous vehicles, an ATC system that interacts with both AI controlled aircraft and with the user controlled aircraft. In addition to that, I am one of the editors of the main website, editor of the FlightGear facebook page, involved in the release process, code committer, and organizer of the annual FlightGear booth at FSWeekend in Lelystad (EHLE). In addition, I have recently taken over the administrator role for taxidraw. | ||
* '''What do you plan on doing in the future?''' | * '''What do you plan on doing in the future?''' | ||
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Having topologically clean datasets is a very important step for at least two reasons: | Having topologically clean datasets is a very important step for at least two reasons: | ||
# TerraGear's overall stability is expected to | # TerraGear's overall stability is expected to increase with topologically clean vector data. | ||
# Merging custom land cover data (like John Holden's great work) into the "Custom Scenery" layer (at MapServer) had been failing in some cases due to topological inconsistencies. These failures are expected to disappear with topologically clean vector data. | # Merging custom land cover data (like John Holden's great work) into the "Custom Scenery" layer (at MapServer) had been failing in some cases due to topological inconsistencies. These failures are expected to disappear with topologically clean vector data. | ||
# As soon as the various tools are working in a predictable manner, the driving motivation behind all the effort can be revived, which is to build an infrastructure for re-compiling the respective terrain tiles on a regular, maybe daily schedule after the land cover has been updated in a certain region. | # As soon as the various tools are working in a predictable manner, the driving motivation behind all the effort can be revived, which is to build an infrastructure for re-compiling the respective terrain tiles on a regular, maybe daily schedule after the land cover has been updated in a certain region. | ||
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=== TerraGear GUI updates === | === TerraGear GUI updates === | ||
After a couple of months of little (to none) development, Gijs released a new Windows binary of the [[TerraGear GUI]]. Other OS are supported, but require it to be build from source | After a couple of months of little (to none) development, Gijs released a new Windows binary of the [[TerraGear GUI]]. Other OS are supported, but require it to be build from source. | ||
The GUI runs pretty | The GUI runs pretty stable now, provides helpfull error messages and can guide you through the entire process of scenery generation. Updates include: | ||
* OpenStreerMap added to the automatic download feature. Material suggestions are given as well. | * OpenStreerMap added to the automatic download feature. Material suggestions are given as well. | ||
* Bring up to date to today's TerraGear builds. | * Bring up to date to today's TerraGear builds. | ||
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=== Dutch windturbines === | === Dutch windturbines === | ||
[[File:Prinses_Amaliawindpark_overview.png|thumb|270px|Overviewing the 60 wind turbines of Prinsess Amaliawindpark, 20km west of the Netherlands.]] | [[File:Prinses_Amaliawindpark_overview.png|thumb|270px|Overviewing the 60 wind turbines of Prinsess Amaliawindpark, 20km west of the Netherlands.]] | ||
The Netherlands have slightly less than | The Netherlands have slightly less than 1900 windturbines at the moment. Since this month, 757 of them are in FlightGear! | ||
Adding them is relatively easy. Since we have a generic windturbine model available (<tt>Models/Power/windturbine.xml</tt>), it's just a matter of finding the GPS coordinates. Some of the larger windparks list locations on their websites. Other windturbines can be positioned based on the FlightGear scenery (with [[CORINE]] data, for more accuracy), or via satellite imagery. Some countries even have a site similar to [http://www.w-i-n-d.nl this website] from the Dutch government, that has a map that shows the locations of all windturbine(park)s. | Adding them is relatively easy. Since we have a generic windturbine model available (<tt>Models/Power/windturbine.xml</tt>), it's just a matter of finding the GPS coordinates. Some of the larger windparks list locations on their websites. Other windturbines can be positioned based on the FlightGear scenery (with [[CORINE]] data, for more accuracy), or via satellite imagery. Some countries even have a site similar to [http://www.w-i-n-d.nl this website] from the Dutch government, that has a map that shows the locations of all windturbine(park)s. | ||
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Locations for windturbines and other shared objects can be easily submitted via [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/submission/shared/ the new submission form], that we mentioned in last month's newsletter. | Locations for windturbines and other shared objects can be easily submitted via [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/submission/shared/ the new submission form], that we mentioned in last month's newsletter. | ||
For the | For the offshore Prinses Amaliawindpark, a custom windturbine model has been made. Resembling the Vestas V80-2.0 MW edition. [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/modeledit.php?id=2418 The model] can be easily re-used on other offshore windparks, via the method described above. | ||
=== Airports === | === Airports === | ||
==== Congonhas - Brazil ==== | ==== Congonhas - Brazil ==== | ||
[[File:Grupofgbrsmall.png|right]] | [[File:Grupofgbrsmall.png|right]] | ||
The Airport of Congonhas is currently being | The Airport of Congonhas is currently being modeled, completely from scratch, by the [http://www.grupofgbr.com.br Grupo FG BR]. Download our logo and link us, please. | ||
{{#ev:youtube|tUQCMTmQ-5Y}} | {{#ev:youtube|tUQCMTmQ-5Y}} | ||
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Surrounded by spectacular mountains and nestled in the end of a valley, Khorog Airfield (UT1C) makes an interesting place to land. It can only be approached by flying down the curved valley that snakes in from the North. Flying from here to OPCH (Chitral, Pakistan) at around 500ft AGL all the way is a wonderful way to explore the Hindu Kush mountains. | Surrounded by spectacular mountains and nestled in the end of a valley, Khorog Airfield (UT1C) makes an interesting place to land. It can only be approached by flying down the curved valley that snakes in from the North. Flying from here to OPCH (Chitral, Pakistan) at around 500ft AGL all the way is a wonderful way to explore the Hindu Kush mountains. | ||
If you bring a | If you bring a piston engined aircraft, be prepared to adjust the mixture as you climb - at the highest point in the flight, you will be at around 22000ft. Also, don't forget to carry plenty of fuel - there are very few airfields in the Hindu Kush that exist in FlightGear. This is a scenery bug that will hopefully be fixed in the future. | ||
More amazing places to visit can be found at [[Suggested Flights]]. | More amazing places to visit can be found at [[Suggested Flights]]. | ||
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===New articles=== | ===New articles=== | ||
<DynamicArticleList> | <DynamicArticleList> | ||
type= | type=new | ||
count=10 | count=10 | ||
</DynamicArticleList> | </DynamicArticleList> | ||
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== Community news == | == Community news == | ||
=== FlightGear on youtube === | === FlightGear on youtube === | ||
12 Days of Flight Tips - by [http://www.youtube.com/user/osjcag oscar] | |||
{| class="vatop" valign="top" | {| class="vatop" valign="top" | ||
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! align="left" | | ! align="left" | | ||
|valign="top"| | |valign="top"| | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbB5Sn_ag-A Day 1 - FG 2.4 Map] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLB7jui1U5c Day 2 - Useful Keys] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLB7jui1U5c Day 2 - Useful Keys] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1aNBV7JBIs Day 3 - Animated Jetways] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1aNBV7JBIs Day 3 - Animated Jetways] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1c8nuY62U Day 4 - Approach & Landing tips!] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1c8nuY62U Day 4 - Approach & Landing tips!] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeFpvAR6sqg Day 5 - Wiki & Newsletter] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HjkFHatYMI Day 6 - Rendering Options] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HjkFHatYMI Day 6 - Rendering Options] | ||
|valign="top"| | |valign="top"| | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LcZ93Q33D4 Day 7 - Cockpit Instruments] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LcZ93Q33D4 Day 7 - Cockpit Instruments] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rITkJyTb5-Q Day 8 - Brake After Landing] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLCXwuWvDGQ Day 9 - Virtual Airlines] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLCXwuWvDGQ Day 9 - Virtual Airlines] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdVCVH0XMXM Day 10 - Manual Flight Tips] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeDMwBMg6Gs Day 11 - Multiplayer ATC] | ||
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FSdbw_c9qA Day 12 - Crosswind Landing Tips] | *[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FSdbw_c9qA Day 12 - Crosswind Landing Tips] | ||
|}(Or watch all the episodes in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbB5Sn_ag-A&list=PL569D227E5E767F3D a playlist]) | |}(Or watch all the episodes in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbB5Sn_ag-A&list=PL569D227E5E767F3D a playlist]) | ||
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== And finally ... == | == And finally ... == | ||
=== Contributing === | === Contributing === | ||
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. | One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something. | ||
For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]]. | For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: [[Volunteer]]. | ||