FlightGear Newsletter October 2017

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This newsletter is a draft.

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October 2017

Development news
MapStructure used by airports.xml
In the hangar

Scenery Corner
Community News

Contributing
Translators required
FlightGear logos
Screenshots
Screenshot of the Month

FSWeekend Preparations

1rightarrow.png See FSWeekend 2017 for the main article about this subject.

Development news

MapStructure used by airports.xml

Screenshot showing a the PUI based airports.xml dialog with an embedded Canvas widget feature a MapStructure based airport diagram developed by Stuart

Stuart committed some changes to update the Select Airport dialog to use Canvas MapStructure Layers to display airport information, rather than the now deprecated map layers. The change should be largely transparent to end users - the only significant change is that your can display navigation symbols. This is all part of a long-term effort to provide the building blocks for a Garmin G1000 - these layers could be used for the airport display on the MFD, and could easily be combined with the APS layer to show a moving aircraft.[1]

Tutorials & Documentation

Flying the Shuttle - Return To Launch Site RTLS

The Return to Launch Site (RTLS abort) procedure is designed for loss of an engine just after liftoff up to perhaps 3:30 into the flight. It aims to bring the Shuttle back to a landing at the launch site and for that reason is very different from the way the Shuttle normally operates. It also is the most difficult abort procedure, as there are several elements which are time-critical and can go wrong easily. The basic pattern is summarized in the following diagram:

Return to Launch Site


It is one of the most impressive aborts. To fly outbound leg at Mach 7 then invert the speed to come back at Mach 7 towards Florida. It gives vertigo considering how tight the margin is to meet all the guidance and navigation requirements to end up gliding back towards KSC.


The groundtrack of an RTLS abort is an elongated loop, heading out into the launch direction before returning almost the same path:

Shuttle RTLS abort05.jpg

Continue reading at Flying the Shuttle - Return To Launch Site RTLS

In the hangar

Erickson S-64 Aircrane's Utility Face Lift

An iconic sight is one of the Aircrane flying low and slow over a raging wildfire dropping its load of retardant. Or hovering high above a massive tower assembly placing the final piece to the vertical puzzle.

Dropping a water salvo over a wildfire

Fitted with a 2650 gallon water tank the Aircrane is capable of a computer controlled delivery of its payload. The engineer can choose from one of 8 presets coverage levels or deliver the entire payload in a 3 second salvo. The delivery rate is calculated and controlled by computer, taking airspeed into account for a more precise delivery. The ability to restrict the amount delivered from the tank to one of 4 preset volumes 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% is also available. Another feature of the tank is an inner holding tank giving the ability to mix a foam retardant into the water delivery system. Up to 300,000 gallons per hour of water, retardant or foam mixture can be delivered to the fire using this system.

Discharging the water cannon at a wildfire
Sea Snorkel Tank Fill

Another optional equipment package is the water cannon. It shoots a stream of water or foam mix in front of the aircraft at a rate of 300 gallons per minute. It has a small vertical pitch range of 15 degrees hydraulically controlled. The helicopter itself controls the horizontal yaw of the stream. This provides the ability to deliver fire suppression far above the reach of conventional hook and ladder equipment.

Using the sniffer to fill the water tank in the Aircrane

Filling of the tank is accomplished by one of two versatile methods. Either by using the hanging snorkel to suction water from any body of water, include a creek or slow flowing river, in as little as 45 seconds. 18 inches of water is all that is required for the snorkel to function. The Sea Snorkel is the other fill method. The hydraulic controlled boom is lowered as the Aircrane skims low over the water at around 35-45 kts. This method can fill the tank in as little as 40 seconds.

Aircrane water tank panel

You can find portions of this upgrade already available in FGADDON. The ongoing work of creating the controls are available in the development repository at https://github.com/wlbragg/AirCrane. You can follow work and discussion on the forum at https://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2970&sid=b2f771fc9cb20564c57f0ecd561546f2

Scenery corner

Community news

Contributing

Translators required

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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 October 2017 is Out on Patrol by StuartC

Out on Patrol

If you want to participate in the screenshot contest of *November*, 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 *November*.

  1. Stuart Buchanan  (Oct 13th, 2017).  [Flightgear-devel] Updated Select Airport dialog .