FlightGear Newsletter May 2016

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May 2016

Development news FlightGear v2016.2 released Revamping TerraSync New Sound expressions In the hangar c172p ICARO Laminar 13 MRX Powered Paraglider

Scenery Corner Community News

Contributing Translators required FlightGear logos Screenshots Screenshot of the Month

Development news

FlightGear v2016.2 released

The FlightGear development team is delighted to announce the v2016.2 "Barcelona" release of FlightGear, the free, open-source flight simulator. This new version contains many exciting new features, enhancements and bugfixes. Highlights in this release include the Space Shuttle, ALS filters, a new HTTP TerraSync system, and improvements to our automatic ATIS.

A list of major changes can be found at Changelog 2016.2. FlightGear v2016.2 is available for a variety of operating systems from http://www.flightgear.org/download/.

Revamping TerraSync

Thanks to work by Torsten Dreyer, TerraSync now uses HTTP to fetch scenery. Some advantages to this method are is simpler code, requiring less space, and making it much easier to set up a TerraSync server.

Sound expressions

New support for expressions was added in the volume and pitch sections of audio configuration files.

It works as follows:

1. If an expression is found in <pitch/> or <volume/> it gets processed and the rest is ignored.
2. If an expression was defined in a volume or pitch definition of a sound-section then all other volume or pitch sections containing a property are ignored.
3. Sections with <internal/> are always processed so timed sounds are still available.

This way you can add volume and/or pitch sections with an expression before all other sections and keep backward and forward compatibility. But you could, for example, make the expression section more complex for newer versions of FlightGear.

An example would be:

XML code: Expressions in a sound configuration file

<engine>
    <name>engine</name>
    <mode>looped</mode>
    <path>Aircraft/paraglider/Sounds/wasp.wav</path>
    <property>engines/engine/running</property>
    <volume version="2.0">
     <expression>
      <product>
       <min>
        <max>
         <product>
          <property>engines/engine/mp-osi</property>
          <value>0.23</value>
         </product>
         <value>1.0</value>
        </max>
         <value>0.3</value>
       </min>
       <min>
        <max>
         <log> <property>orientation/alpha-deg</property> </log>
         <value>1.2</value>
        </max>
        <value>1.0</value>
       </min>
      </product>
     </expression>
    </volume>
    <pitch version="2.0">
     <expression>
      <min>
       <max>
        <sum>
         <value>0.4</value>
         <product>
          <property>engines/engine/rpm</property>
          <value>0.0001</value>
         </product>
        </sum>
        <value>1.2</value>
       </max>
       <value>0.4</value>
     </min>
     </expression>
    </pitch>
    <volume>
     <property>engines/engine/mp-osi</property>
     <factor>0.23</factor>
     <min>0.3</min>
     <max>1.0</max>
    </volume>
    <volume>
     <property>orientation/alpha-deg</property>
     <type>log</type>
     <min>1.0</min>
     <max>1.2</max>
    </volume>
    <pitch>
     <property>engines/engine/rpm</property>
     <factor>0.0001</factor>
     <min>0.4</min>
     <max>1.2</max>
     <offset>0.4</offset>
    </pitch>
   </engine>

In the hangar

Cessna 172P

The Cessna 172P team has just created a new branch called "release/2016.2" with the latest developments from the last few months: https://github.com/Juanvvc/c172p-detailed/tree/release/2016.2 These include:

• Decreased rudder authority
• Added propwash effect for 180 HP version
• Improvements to the irradiance effect
• Better oil dialog
• Flap lever is now dragable and scrollable
• Added normal map to wheels and other objects
• Improvements to the heading indicator
• Correct rudder pedal animation
• Updated tutorial to Barcelona
• Changed "Autostart" menu item to actually start the engine as well
• Split instrument light knob into a knob that two knobs: one that controls the instruments, and one that controls the radio's

ICARO Laminar 13 MRX

There is a new aircraft model in FGAddon: The Icaro Laminar 13 MRX. It is an advanced weight-shift controlled hanglider build by ICARO in the early 2000s.

The aim of this project is to provide a very realistic hang glider which shows all the specific properties of a real hang glider. In particular the unique flight dynamic behavior (compared to common aircraft) is focused on.

Powered Paraglider

David's paraglider model has had a major FDM and 3d update. The FDM is of true ram-air type, a small engine has been added and the parachute itself is now animated. Warining: a bug prevents the Paraglider from loading properly at the current default airport Barcelona. Any other airport does not seem to cause a problem.

• 

  Paragliding in the mountains

• 

  Soaring with the Laminar 13 MRX

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, you can start by looking 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 braucht noch Hilfe für sie in verschiedene Sprachen zu übersetzen. Wenn Sie bei der Herstellung der FlightGear Wiki mehrsprachiger interessiert sind, können Sie, indem Sie auf Help:Übersetzen beginnen.
	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 May 2016 is Landing in Frankfurt's 25L by Ambro

If you want to participate in the screenshot contest of June 2016, you can submit your candidate to this forum topic. Be sure to see the first post for participation rules. For purposes of convenience and organization, after all the entries have been submitted, a new forum topic will be started containing all shots in an easy-to-view layout. The voting will then take place there. Once the voting has finished, the best screenshot will be presented in the Newsletter edition of June 2016.