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FlightGear Newsletter December 2013: Difference between revisions

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FlightGear Newsletter December 2013 (view source)

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== Development news ==
== Development news ==
Note to all contributors: Please also copy your newsletter additions to the changelog for the upcoming release: [[Next Changelog]].
=== osgEarth integration ===
{{#ev:youtube|oe0kHoEtvYA|400}}


== Wizard-based Aircraft Creation ==
This video shows  a short flight from Raron (LSTA) to Sion (LSGS) Switzerland in a [[Robin DR400]] running in FlightGear.  Terrain scene is generated from [http://osgearth.org/ osgEarth] whole earth real-time terrain streaming C++ library. The osgEarth terrain scene can be switched on/off at runtime.
[[File:Aircraft-template-wizard-intro.png|thumb]]


One of the areas that people find frustrating is that features used by aircraft developers will be documented in the Wiki but the examples are so minimal that it can be difficult or nearly impossible to get something working because the published examples are lacking in detail or don't show important variations of how to code the feature.
In this example, the imagery is streamed from ArcGis WMS (web mapping service). osgEarth supports a wide variety of streaming sources.
 
osgEarth is currently integrated into a development branch for FlightGear version 2.99. The integration changes are currently submitted for approval for the next major release of FlightGear.
 
=== NavDisplay Improvements ===
Gijs has started extending the [[NavDisplay]] framework to support additional display modes typically found on modern Boeing aircraft:
<gallery mode=packed widths=230px heights=230px>
Navigation display MAP mode.png|MAP mode
Navigation display centered MAP mode.png|Centered MAP mode
Navigation display PLAN mode.png|PLAN mode
</gallery>
 
=== Wizard-based Aircraft Creation ===
[[File:Aircraft-template-wizard-intro.png|thumb|270px]]
 
When it comes to aircraft development, one of the areas that people find frustrating is that features used by aircraft developers will be documented in the Wiki but the examples are so minimal that it can be difficult or nearly impossible to get something working because the published examples are lacking in detail or don't show important variations of how to code the feature.


We've come to the conclusion, the best step towards fixing these issues is to have a set of templates for common aircraft configurations (single engine prop, multi-engine prop, single engine jet, multi-engine jet with co-pilot etc). These templates would have all of the minimal components to compose a "production" aircraft (according to the rating guide).
We've come to the conclusion, the best step towards fixing these issues is to have a set of templates for common aircraft configurations (single engine prop, multi-engine prop, single engine jet, multi-engine jet with co-pilot etc). These templates would have all of the minimal components to compose a "production" aircraft (according to the rating guide).
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A first, very basic, prototype of this is now available, and waiting to be adopted by fellow contributors to help grow this "wizard", i.e. by adding features to it, but also by adding new templates to it, for different aircraft features, such as [[Aircraft Checklists]], [[Tutorials]], [[Walk View]] etc.
A first, very basic, prototype of this is now available, and waiting to be adopted by fellow contributors to help grow this "wizard", i.e. by adding features to it, but also by adding new templates to it, for different aircraft features, such as [[Aircraft Checklists]], [[Tutorials]], [[Walk View]] etc.
Given that most of us are already juggling too many projects, we're also looking for people who would possibly like to get involved in this in some way.
Coding-wise, this is currently just about 150 lines of very simple [[Nasal]] code, copied together from various other dialogs and wiki tutorials. So knowing Nasal would be a plus, but if you have any other scripting/programming experience, that will do too. So if you are interested in FlightGear scripting and simplifying aircraft deveopment for newcomers, please get in touch via the forum or the wiki.


Continue reading at [[Aircraft Generation Wizard]]...
Continue reading at [[Aircraft Generation Wizard]]...


=== Implementing VNAV -a Brainstorming ===
[[File:Route-managed-with-fgscript-support.png|thumb|270px|route manager dialog with added support for exporting to JSBSim/FGScript XML files]]
We've recently had another discussion on the forums about implementing VNAV in FlightGear. In comparison with other flight simulators, FlightGear has been lacking support for simulating VNAV features found on many modern aircraft since day one.
So far, the general consensus has been that it simply isn't yet possible in FlightGear to properly implement VNAV because VNAV depends on having access to an aircraft-specific performance database to provide the proper pitch/thrust changes to make certain VNAV altitude/speed/time constraints,  which boils down to a lack of support by the FDMs (JSBsim/YaSim) actually.


=== Random Buildings ===
As an open source project, we do not have access to the corresponding  flight data or such a performance database, and even if we did, we probably couldn't easily use said data due to its proprietary nature.


=== Project Rembrandt ===
In addition, a real performance database would probably not serve us too well, because our FDM configurations are custom, too - i.e. the performance database would need to  match the performance of the simulated aircraft.
A number of Mac users have been reporting issues related to running [[Project Rembrandt]] (deferred rendering/shadows) on Mac OSX with ATI/AMD GPUS, we are now looking for Mac users to provide feedback on running Rembrandt on Mac OSX, required information includes errors and warnings shown during startup/runtime, but also screen shots showing any issues. Please see: [[Project Rembrandt#Mac Issues]].


=== Canvas System ===
Thus, a performance DB would ideally be provided by the FDM itself. Either in a pre-created fashion, i.e. compiled during an offline "test flight", or preferably at runtime by running a simulation of the FDM inside the actual FDM.


=== High Level Architecture ===
We've now started gathering all information from past VNAV discussions to come up with a brainstorming and determine how to implement the building blocks required for supporting VNAV (vertical navigation) in FlightGear (YaSim/JSBSim). Any feedback is greatly appreciated.


=== Usability Improvements ===
Continue reading at [[Implementing VNAV support in FlightGear]]...
 
===Alternative camera control ===
{{#ev:youtube|JfHf1OG7-TQ|400}}
 
Fellow FlightGear user Marius_A has created a virtual camera for FligthGear that's written in [[Nasal]], it adds features similar to Ezdok Camera Addon for FSX.
 
Continue reading {{forum link|t=21685|text=the forum}}...


=== Getting involved as a programmer ===
=== Getting involved as a programmer ===
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=== Building from Source ===
=== Building from Source ===
Thanks to work done by '''Seatbutler''', the [[Howto:Build FlightGear with NetBeans using CMake]] article has recently been updated and verified to still work.
Thanks to work done by '''Seatbutler''', the [[Howto:Build FlightGear with NetBeans using CMake]] article has recently been updated and verified to still work.
== Release ChangeLog ==
This section lists changes committed this month that will be available in the next release, these will be copied to the release changelog shortly before a release (for each month), so that we hopefully get a comprehensive list of new features.
== Interview with a contributor (NAME) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]! To keep this going and less awkward, we are currently trying to come up with the convention that former interviewees become next month's interviewers.''
* How long have you been involved in FlightGear?
* What are your major interests in FlightGear?
* What project are you working on right now?
* What do you plan on doing in the future?
* Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?
* What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?
* Are there any "hidden features" you have worked on in FlightGear that new users may miss?
* What advice can you give to new developers who want to get started on their first aircraft/new feature/Nasal script?
More questions are being collected here: [[Interview questions]].
Stay tuned for next month's interview, featuring FlightGear contributor XXXXXXXX
== Nasal for newbies ==
== New software tools and projects ==


== Hardware development==
== Hardware development==
=== Project computer2cockpit ===
=== Project computer2cockpit ===
Following design changes suggested by FG users to flight yoke design were entered
Following design changes suggested by FlightGear users, the [[computer2cockpit]]'s flight yoke design has been extended with:
* Map holder
* Map holder
* Additional rocker switch and push button switches on right side of the yoke
* Additional rocker switch and push button switches on right side of the yoke
* Additional push to talk switch
* Additional push to talk switch
Curent activity
Curent activities:
* Prototype manufacturing preparation - setting up the CNC router
* Prototype manufacturing preparation - setting up the CNC router
* Talking with suppliers to lower the initial costs and production price
* Talking with suppliers to lower the initial costs and production price


== FlightGear addons and mods ==
=== DIY hardware panel for FlightGear ===
At least five projects exist where FlightGear users build their own hardware panels with real switches and knobs to interface with the FlightGear software to improve the flying experience. Follow the build progress of ludomotico's and pommesschranke's panels on {{forum link|t=11159|text=this forum thread}}.


== In the hangar ==
== In the hangar ==


=== New Aircraft; Junkers JU-288, and Caudron Type 'C' biplane, from Lester Boffo ===
=== New Aircraft ===
==== Junkers JU-288, and Caudron Type 'C' biplane, from Lester Boffo ====
Two new aircraft from  my 'Hangar', such as it is.  The first one is a Junkers JU-288 Bomber-Interceptor/Bomber presented to the Luftwaffe in 1942 as a hedge against the expected US Bombing campaign and the new Boeing B29.  Being as it is with all things bomber-ish in the WWII German air war, the politics of who's company got the funding, and go ahead with production, also doomed this aircraft to only a few prototypes and variants.  That it relied upon the then promising Jumo 222 water-cooled inline/radial, only hastened it's demise, as the Jumo's development was rushed, and then the Jumo engine factory was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1944.  Finding literature covering this aircraft was a bit hard to find, but with some help from FMG, I was able to source some drawings and spec's.  I'm not sure when this plane will be finished, but the basic 3D is done and a rudimentary cockpit is in place.


<gallery mode=packed widths=270px heights=270px>
Junkers Ju-288A.jpg|Junkers Ju-288A in development in MetasequoiaLE
Junkers Ju-288.jpg|Another angle of the in-development Junkers Ju-288A
</gallery>


Two new aircraft from  my 'Hangar', such as it is. The first one is a Junkers JU-288 Bomber-Interceptor/Bomber presented to the Luftwaffe in 1942 as a hedge against the expected US Bombing campaign and the new Boeing B29.  Being as it is with all things bomber-ish in the WWII German air war, the politics of who's company got the funding, and go ahead with production, also doomed this aircraft to only a few prototypes and variants.  That it relied upon the then promising Jumo 222 water-cooled inline/radial, only hastened it's demise, as the Jumo's development was rushed, and then the engine factory was destroyed by Allied bombing.  Finding literature covering this aircraft was a bit hard to find, but with some help from FMG, I was able to source some drawings and spec's.  I'm not sure when this plane will be finished, but the basic 3D is done and a rudimentary cockpit is in place. Some images from my image host
Secondly is a small, pre WWI early aircraft from Rene Caudron and sibling, his Type 'C' biplane.   The first of his 'Public Domain' designs that he released to the early aviation community.  This aircraft was to go on to more development as the G series of trainers and observation/bombers during WWI.  This particular aircraft was also known as the '10 meter Caudron', it was interesting to note that it employed along with it's wing warping roll control, an enhanced roll control from the divided stab/elevator, which could be flexed with up and down, twisting deflections in addition to it's normal pitch control.  It was praised for it's high rate of climb, lightness, and manoeuvrability, on a modest 45 h.p. Anzani 6 cylinder radial. The aircraft is releasable and is under a GPL license.  Images of these two aircraft.


Secondly is a small, pre WWI early aircraft from Rene Caudron and sibling,  his Type 'C' biplane.   The first of his 'Public Domain' designs that he released to the early aviation community.  This aircraft was to go on to more development as the G series of trainers and observation/bombers during WWI.  This particular aircraft was also known as the '10 meter Caudron', it was interesting to note that it employed along with it's wing warping roll control, an enhanced roll control from the divided stab/elevator, which could be flexed with up and down, twisting deflections in addition to it's normal pitch control.  It was praised for it's high rate of climb, lightness, and maneuverability, on a modest 45 h.p. Anzani 6 cylinder radial. The aircraft is releasable and is under a GPL license.  Images of this aircraft 
<gallery mode=packed widths=270px heights=270px>
File:Caudron Type "C".JPG|Caudron Type "C" flying over Paris in a morning late fall fog.
File:Caudron Type C.JPG|Caudron Type "C" on the slopes of a Rhone Alp's meadow.
</gallery>


<gallery>
=== Updated aircraft ===
[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f179/sherlew/ju288-2.jpg[/IMG]
==== North American P-51D Mustang ====
[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f179/sherlew/ju288-1.jpg[/IMG]
The JSBSim [[P-51D]] is undergoing some significant improvements.  The most interesting of these is the fully functional K-14A lead computing gun sight. The screen shot below shows the gun sight in action with the aircraft rolled over and pulling about 5G.  You can see that there are two reticles.  The small cross in the upper center of the reflector glass is the center cross of the fixed reticle and it's sight line corresponds with where the guns would shoot in straight and level flight (IE. slightly below the bore line of the guns). The fixed reticle has been masked so that only the center cross is visible. The reticle consisting of a center dot and six surrounding diamonds is the reticle that is controlled by the gyroscope which is what gives this sight it's lead computing functionality. In the screen shot on the left, the gyro reticle is displaced a significant distance from the fixed reticle and this distance is known as the deflection. Note also that the tracers from the guns are converging near the center of the gyro reticle giving an indication of how effective the new gun sight is when doing deflection shots.
[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f179/sherlew/fgfs-screen-037.jpg[/IMG]
 
[IMG]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f179/sherlew/fgfs-screen-031-2.jpg[/IMG]
The screen shot on the right is of a ground attack mission using HVAR rockets.  In this case the gyro reticle is turned off and the fixed reticle is unmasked. You can see the center cross along with the 70 mil outer circle and the so called rocket ladder in the lower center of the outer circle. This attack missed the target high and to the right mostly because I was distracted by taking the screen shot.  But you can see that the flight path traced out by the rockets smoke is right where they should have been relative to the rocket ladder.
 
<gallery mode=packed widths=270px heights=270px>
gunsight1.png|Screen shot of the K-14A in action showing the gyroscopic reticle rolled over pulling G. Note how the tracers are converging near the center of the gyro reticle. In addition, the fixed reticle is masked and only the center cross is visible. The fixed reticle center cross is the bore sight line.
rocketladder.png|Screen of a rocket attack on a fishing boat. The reticle being used is the fixed reticle with the 70 mil circle and the rocket ladder unmasked.
</gallery>
The following screen shot on the left is a ground view of the aircraft with the new drop tanks, bomb racks and propeller.  In addition you can see the back of the gun sight in the cockpit.  The pink area on the back of the gun sight is the silica gel pack that keeps the internals of the gun sight dry.
 
<gallery mode=packed widths=270px heights=270px>
tanks&prop.png|Screen shot showing new droop tanks, bomb racks, propeller and part of the K-14A gun sight.
Rockets.png|The new HVAR rockets and the new rocket mounts.
</gallery>
</gallery>


=== Updated aircraft ===
The bomb ranks and rocket wing mounts were modeled using the factory blue prints and are accurate to within perhaps 0.1mm.  The propeller and drop tanks were modeled based on published measurements and have similar levels of accuracy.  The gun sight 3D models are based on drawings and dimensions from the USAAF K-14A maintenance manual.


=== Liveries ===
There are other improvements to the FDM and other areas that have been pushed to fgdata.  To try out the new features you will need the Aircraft/p51d and Aircraft/Instruments-3d/computing-gun-sights directories.  I tested these updates with FG 2.12.1 but it should be OK with any version from 2.4 on.


== Scenery corner ==
fgdata also has the new check list functionality that was setup by Stuart Buchanan.  I made some additions to the check lists to reflect changes in the FDM that affected the start up procedure.  From that experience I know that Stuart spent a significant amount of time getting this in place.  Thank you Stuart.
=== Airports ===


== Aircraft of the month ==
The plan going forward is to continue to improve the external 3D model based on the factory blue prints.  So over the next few months you can expect to see things get even better.
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==


== Suggested flights ==
Please feel free to give this a try and provide constructive feedback on the FlightGear forum.
== Aircraft reviews ==


== Wiki updates ==
== Wiki updates ==
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During November and December many of the help pages have been moved around and extended, and a few new help pages have been created, [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Help:Tables&oldid=64764 Help:Tables] and [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Help:Glossary&oldid=65365 Help:Glossary].
During November and December many of the help pages have been moved around and extended, and a few new help pages have been created, [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Help:Tables&oldid=64764 Help:Tables] and [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Help:Glossary&oldid=65365 Help:Glossary].


These changes were made to improve the help mostly for entirely new users, but will probably also be helpful some of the regular editors as well.  The rewritten pages now also have links to more advanced help primarily at the [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki Wiki], the wiki of the developers of the the wiki software used by the FlightGear Wiki.
These changes were made to improve the help mostly for entirely new users, but will probably also be helpful some of the regular editors as well.  The rewritten pages now also have links to more advanced help primarily at the {{mediawiki|MediaWiki|MediaWiki Wiki}}, the wiki of the developers of the the wiki software used by the FlightGear Wiki.


In summary, the following changes have been made:
In summary, the following changes have been made:
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== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===
=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===
== Useful links ==
== And finally ... ==
== And finally ... ==
=== Contributing ===
=== Contributing ===
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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]].


To learn more about how the project works, please see [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=15267#p149971 this short essay] written by Thorsten, for a more detailed article see [[How the FlightGear project works]].
To learn more about how the project works, please see {{forum link|p=149971|text=this short essay}} written by Thorsten, for a more detailed article see [[How the FlightGear project works]].


=== YASim looking for a new maintainer ===
=== YASim looking for a new maintainer ===
{{cquote|There are some pending merge requests to add some Yasim features, but we have an issue that since none of the current C++ developers own, or are experts in Yasim, we're reluctant to be the person who merges such changes, and potentially introduces subtle regressions.
{{cquote|There are some pending merge requests to add some Yasim features, but we have an issue that since none of the current C++ developers own, or are experts in Yasim, we're reluctant to be the person who merges such changes, and potentially introduces subtle regressions.


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<references/>
<references/>


=== Call for volunteers ===
[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2013 12]]
* The [[Target4Today]] team is looking for volunteers to help improving FlightGear's combat support
 
=== Did you know ===
 
[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter]]
<!-- this needs to be changed after each release, so that newsletters show up in the proper category -->
 
[[Category:Changes after 2.12]]
[[Category:Changes after 2.12]]
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