FlightGear Newsletter December 2015

This newsletter is a draft. Please feel free to add content you think will be of interest to the FlightGear community. You can read the latest newsletter at FlightGear Newsletter November 2015.

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December 2015

Development news Update on HLA development Scenemodels and TerraSync host moved Animated jetways to be revamped In the hangar EchoAir Silence, Amphibian & Xray Declasse Voodoo DHC-6 Twin Otter improvments

Scenery Corner Project Venezuela update New Peruvian airports Festival of FlightGear Spring 2016 scenery development New regional textures Dubai custom scenery

Contributing Translators required FlightGear logos Screenshots Screenshot of the Month

Development news

Update on HLA development

Screenshot showing HLA prototype at LOWI

As of December 29th, Stuart has split out the AI Manager so that it is a separate federate. This enables AI scenarios to be run outside of FlightGear itself, but viewed within FlightGear. His next step will be to flesh out the data model to provide equivalent functionality to an external AI Manager running as a separate federate.

From Stuart Buchanan (Dec 29th, 2015). [Flightgear-devel] HLA Update.

Learn more at High-Level Architecture …

Scenemodels and TerraSync host moved

Recently, the scenery models (scenemodels) database and the TerraSync repository were moved to a new, temporary host. Some things may not work, or have issues, but work is underway to get it working properly. When a more permanent host is found, the scenemodels database and TerraSync repositories will probably be moved again.

From Torsten Dreyer (Dec 21st, 2015). Re: [Flightgear-devel] Scenemodels and TerraScenery maintenance and degraded service.

Animated jetways to be revamped

Ryan Young, the original developer of the Nasal implementation of FlightGear's animated jetways, is going to start revamping the system. The system is going to be turned into a C++ subsystem, and will be streamlined to remove clutter introduced by the current implementation. Another benefit will include better performance. You can find out more about his proposals here.

From Ryan A Young (Dec 29th, 2015). [Flightgear-devel] Animated jet bridges redux.

In the hangar

GTA V Declasse Voodoo

Twin Otter secured and being refueled at LXGB

EchoAir Silence, Amphibian & Xray

Three new fictional aircraft have been released by D-ECHO. The EchoAir Silence, EchoAir Amphibian, and the EchoAir Xray can be downloaded from their development repositories ([1], [2], and [3], respectively). You can find out more here.

Declasse Voodoo

Ausdkunst has released the fictional Grand Theft Auto V Declasse Voodoo for FlightGear. You can download it from its development repository. You can find out more at its forum topic.

DHC-6 Twin Otter improvments

The DHC-6 Twin Otter has received some updates during the past few months, which are now available in FGAddon. Just some of the improvements include:

• Components to secure the aircraft like wheel chocks, tie-downs, etc. have been added
• Some work on the cockpit, now including among others a radar altimeter, a turn coordinator and an ELT
• Added support for environmental sounds (thunder, rain)
• A custom 2D panel
• Walker support
• Fuel truck

Scenery corner

Project Venezuela update

Legoboyvdlp has been working with WorldEditor to create several new airports for Project Venezuela. Simón Bolívar International Airport (SVMI) now features animated jetways for most gates, and Charallave Airport (SVCS) now has shared models (which are also in TerraSync).

New Peruvian airports

Gochapita Airfield

Some new Peruvian airports have been added to FlightGear. Chagual Airport (SPGL), Gochapita Airfield (SPGC), and Pias Airport (SPIS) are all tricky airports to land at because of their altitude and mountainous locations. See Chagual Airport § Scenery for details on how to obtain the scenery.

Festival of FlightGear Spring 2016 scenery development

Several Japanese airports are being improved for the upcoming Festival of FlightGear:

• New Chitose Airport/Chitose Air Base (RJCC/RJCJ) (Download)
• Kansai International Airport (RJBB) (Download)
• Narita International Airport (RJAA) (work in progress)
• Fukuoka Airport (RJFF) (Download)
• Chūbu Centrair International Airport (RJGG) (Download)

New regional textures

More development has been made to the New Regional Textures project. The new additions include:

• New textures and material definitions for California
• New textures and material definitions for Mexico
• New material definitions for Central America
• New textures and material definitions for Southern Europe (Mediterranean region: Portugal, Spain, south of Italy, Greece, coast of Balkans)
• New global airport grass texture
• New airport grass texture for Latin America
• New global American town texture
• Small improvement to grass blade textures (to better fit the airport grass texture)

They can be downloaded from https://github.com/gilbertohasnofb/new-regional-textures. See also the forum thread.

• 

  California scenery

• 

  New airport grass

• 

  New American town texture

• 

  Sicily scenery

Dubai custom scenery

laserman has been working on the Dubai International Airport (OMDB) and scenery for the surrounding area. You can downloaded his work from https://github.com/mherweg/OMDB-fg-CustomScenery. Some pictures of the airport and surrounding scenery can be seen here.

Contributing

Translators required

	The FlightGear Wiki still needs help for translating it into various languages. If you are interested in making the FlightGear Wiki multilingual, start at Help:Translate.
	Le wiki de FlightGear a toujours besoin d'aide pour être traduit en différentes langues. Si vous êtes intéressé par le rendre multilingue, commencez par lire Help:Traduire.
	Das FlightGear Wiki benötigt immer noch Hilfe bei der Übersetzung in verschiedene Sprachen. Wenn Du Interesse daran hast, das FlightGear Wiki Mehrsprachig zu machen, dann fang doch mit Help:Übersetzen an.
	De FlightGear Wiki kan nog steed hulp gebruiken bij het vertalen van artikelen. Als je interesse hebt om de wiki meertalig te maken, raden we je aan om een kijkje te nemen bij Help:Vertalen.
	La wiki de FlightGear todavía necesita ayuda para traducirla a varios lenguajes. Si estás interesado en hacer la FlightGear wiki multilingüe, entonces comienza en Help:Traducir.
	La wiki de FlightGear encara necessita ajuda per traduir-la a diverses llengües. Si esteu interessat en fer la wiki de FlightGear multilingüe, llavors comenceu a Help:Traduir.
	A wiki de FlightGear ainda necessita de ajuda para traduzi-la em vários idiomas. Se estás interessado em tornar a wiki de FlightGear multi-lingual, por favor começa em Help: Traduzir.

FlightGear logos

If you want some graphic elements for your FlightGear-related site (such as a hangar or YouTube channel), please feel free to visit FlightGear logos for a repository of logos. And if you have some art skills, please don't hesitate to contribute with your own design creations.

Screenshots

The FlightGear project always needs screenshots, which show features that were added since the last release. These should be of good quality, especially in content and technical image properties. It is therefore recommended to use the best viable filter settings (anti-aliasing, texture sharpening, etc.). More info at Howto:Make nice screenshots.

Screenshot of the Month

FlightGear's Screenshot of the Month December 2015 is Showing the climbing abilities of the Twin Otter by Jonathan S. (DG-505)