FlightGear Newsletter September 2018

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September 2018

We would like to emphasize that the monthly newsletter can not live without the contributions of FlightGear users and developers. Everyone with a wiki account (free to register) is welcome to contribute to the newsletter. If you know about any FlightGear related news or projects such as for example updated scenery or aircraft, please do feel invited to add such news to the newsletter.

Development news

Parking Positions command line string

In 2018.3, —parking-id is now an alias for —parkpos. This means that either of them may be used to specify a parking position, fixing a bug introduced a few years ago.

JSBSIM update

The JSBSIM team synced their latest work to FlightGear: changes include:

  • Fixed the Calibrated Air Speed (CAS) computations for supersonic velocities
  • Fixed the Nlf (Normal load factor) sign
  • Nlf can now be specified as an initial condition via the property ic/targetNlf
  • Added blocking sockets to the input features
  • Added a property to piston engines to get the AFR (Air to Fuel Ratio)
  • Added conversion from m/s to ft/s
  • Restored the initial conditions for engines running (-1 means all engines)

In the hangar

Updated aircraft

Extra 500

Version 5.1.0 was released on the 7th of September: changes include:

  • Possibility to hide all human models
  • several fixes to canvas dialogs
  • Init menu

This version was made for FlightGear 2018.3+, and may not work correctly on earlier FlightGear versions.

Viggen

The Viggen in FGAddon is now at version 4.311. Major changes in this version include:

  • refined autopilot by it0uchpods
  • it is now possible to map input control devices directly to display cursors
  • Damage code, radar, and weapon updates
  • addition of a state system compatible with auto state in 2018.2

F-14 / F-15

Richard's F-14 and F-15 received an update on FGADDON:

The F-15 version 1.8 was released:

Flight model:

  • mass properties: fixed station positions, added pylon mass
  • use correct axes system (body)
  • use correct mass for Stores
  • more drag from stores.

Armaments / weapons:

  • Air to ground mode (MK-84)
  • fixed payload dialogs (standard, model specific) to work when both open

3D:

  • Added conformal fuel tanks; based on livery for appropriate squadrons (Alaska, IAF)

Performance optimisations:

  • single model for interior (merged, with single texture atlas)
  • Nasal runs at fixed 30hz, canvas displays optimisations

Autopilot improvements (help from Josh):

  • complete rework of AFCS modes
  • will alpha limit to reasonable values on alt-hold
  • variable limits and rates based on airspeed
  • use of airspeed instead of mach
  • reworked autothrottle
  • route manager next waypoint following improved (no longer has a roll spasm just before reaching waypoint)

The F-15's bugfixes since the release include:

  • Props.UpdateManager used to update the display;
  • use Emesary Exec loop
  • Update text at slowest rate
  • Targets update every 4th frame

The F-14 version 1.8 is also now available:

Flight Model

  • Improved low speed handling.
  • Flaps tuned base on OpenVSP data
  • spoiler aero added for yaw, adjusted effectivity at higher alpha based on pilot reports and OpenVSP analysis
  • APC now holds alpha rather than airspeed.
  • Wingsweep (oversweep) now modelled correctly (JSBSim system rather than Nasal)
  • alpha indicated has been aligned based on the touchdown geometry of the hook; optimised for 15degrees indicated.
  • new reposition for case 1 inbound
  • use of execrate on auxiliary systems to reduce CPU load (a very tiny bit)

Cockpit / 3d model changes.

  • General tidy up of all of the 3d models that make up the cockpit.
  • adjusted to use generally material 15 (AC3d)
  • Texture fixes
  • remove (some 2sided shapes)
  • Move all of the external stores into a single 3d model, with a single texture atlas.
  • Add animated AOA indexer to nose gear
  • Front HSD no longer becomes obscured when moved (due to z-buffering issues)
  • reworked all screens to have more consistent colours and CRT fitting into available space.

General

  • Added cold and dark.
  • Carrier (with Battle Group) included in Replay
  • Air to air refuelling tanker included in Replay
  • Improved carrier init; better with 2018.3, but should work with Trumann

Fixes to the f-14 since version 1.8 include:

  • restructure Nasal loops to use Emesary rtExec; reduce frequency of Nasal execution
  • change settimer loops to be maketimer() loops
  • fix gear always down on reposition
  • change adverse.nas into JSBSim system
  • fix spoilers still working for roll control when using manual sweep
  • fix manual sweep and CADC sweep

As always these changes are available from FGADDON or directly in the launcher.

Liveries

New Lufthansa Livery for the 747-8i

Lars0817 made a nice new livery for the 747-8i with Lufthansa's new blue livery. It is now available on FGADDON or directly through the launcher.

747-8i at Amsterdam


AI

Contributions this month include:

  • Ellinair livery added
  • Malaysia Cargo / Turkish Cargo corrected
  • Cargolux liveries / traffic added


The AI team makes FlightGear more realistic, colorful and lively every month. You can support the important development of Interactive Traffic and contribute at the FlightGear AI forums.

Scenery corner

Jan Mayen

Jan Mayen with the Beerenberg volcano in the foreground

The Arctic island of Jan Mayen, north east of Iceland, received a makeover with corrected elevation data and coastlines, and is now available via TerraSync. The volcano, Beerenberg (2277m) is also now one of the volcanoes simulated in FlightGear, making for an impressive sight as the snow covered peak belches out smoke and ash. The island's airstrip, Jan Mayensfield (ENJA), has a 1600m dirt runway, perfectly suited for the DHC-6 or c172p's skis!

Note: Torsten Dreyer posted on the mailing list: I am currently trying to get the latest terrasync data upstream to our master copy at http://flightgear.sourceforge.net/scenery/ which for whatever reason is painfully slow. The rsync is now running for more than 36hours and still processing data. Because of this, there might occour some inconsistencies and sha1 mismatches in the Terrain folders for the Oahu and Jan Mayen area. Some of the folders of recently modified /Objects may also trigger errors. Once the rsync has completed, those errors should go away.

Sweden OSM2CITY

Gamlastan

Custom scenery is now available for Sweden, covering Stockholm (coordinates W=17.00, S=59.00, E=19.20, N=60.00 (Uppsala, Stockholm, Nynäshamn)). The custom scenery is available through github at https://github.com/saul-rodriguez/SWEDEN . Use a git client or directly the "download" button on the web interface.



Community news

FlightGear on Facebook

Since early December 2010, FlightGear has an official Facebook page. If you have a Facebook account please feel free to join the page.

FlightGear on Google+

Since November 2011 there is a FlightGear page on Google+. If you haven't done so already, please add us to your circle and stay up to date on the latest FlightGear news, cool screenshots and release info.

FlightGear on Instagram

In January 2018 the @flightgear_sim Instagram account was brought back to life. If you've got nice screenshots to be featured, feel free to contact the maintainer.

FlightGear on FlightSim.com

Flightgear has also a sub-forum on flightsim.com - just like the commercial flightsims. It is an opportunity to showcase what FG can do, get people curious and answer any questions they may have with regard to the software or the project.

Multiplayer events

Contributing

Translators needed

En.gif 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.
Fr.gif 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.
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Nl.gif 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.
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Pt.gif 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.
Zh.gif FlightGear 百科仍然需要志愿者将其翻译为各种语言。如果你有兴趣让FlightGear百科支持更多语言, 你可以查看 Help:Translate.

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

If you want to participate in the screenshot contest , 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.

Thanks for reading FlightGear Newsletter September 2018!

References