Dassault Mirage F1 development
Some details on the Dassault Mirage F1 development development currently underway.
The Avail field in the status tables below indicates whether a feature is available in the development repository, either in the develop branch, the master branch or both. Partial indicates that an item is available with only partial functionality and N/A that it is available, but entirely non-functional.
Main development goals
- Modularity to make it possible to make all variants with as little additional work needed as possible
- Adopt most of Helijah's category structure
- Clever use of inclusions and animations related to the cockpit to
- Have fewer range animations (hopefully only a handful for the entire cockpit, instead of one for each instrument)
- Make it possible to place instruments and panels only using an x and y position for each instrument or panel
- Multiplayer livery system
- Etc.
FDM
With 1000 liter fuel on board the FDM more or less allow approach and landing airspeeds by the F1ZC flight manual (60° break at 350 kt, downwind all but airbrake out decelerating from ~215 kt to 160 kt, final turn at 150 kt, touch down at 135 kt) (from in-sim flight tests it seems that below about 200 kt you can add about 1 kt per 100 liter fuel above 1000 liter).
External aircraft models
| Model | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| External model | ? | Alexis | Renderings can be found in this topic on the French forum |
| Alternative external model | ? | Flying Toaster | Renderings can be found in this topic on the forum |
Misc external models
Various things commonly seen around the aircraft while on the ground.
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel tube wheel chocks | No | 
|
Johan G | I have not found any solid data like manufacturer, 3-views or dimensions yet, only reference images |
| Cockpit ladder | No | |||
| 2MB International MB20 tow tractor | No | 
|
Johan G | |
| Guinault Multi purpose GPU* | No | *Ground power unit | ||
| Wheeled fire extinguisher | No | Have yet to figure out make and model | ||
| Drain tank/vagon | No | Often seen under the engine of parked aircraft |
Instruments etc
| This section is incomplete. Please help improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
| Note Instruments may not be connected to properties yet |
Misc instruments
In essence those above the glare shield.
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cockpit clock, Dodane Type 11 | Yes | 
|
Johan G | Needs glass shader and some wear on the texture. |
| Cockpit clock, Breguet Type 11 | No |
|
Johan G | |
| Cockpit clock, Dodane Type 211 | No |  Pending
|
Johan G | Used by Moroccan air force |
| Standby compass, Vion Type 143 | No | 
|
Johan G | Used mostly in older aircraft |
| Standby compass, Satori T15 | No | Pending
|
Johan G | Have not found any 3-views and very few reference images. |
| Incidence indicator | No | 
|
Johan G | |
| Accelerometer | Partial | 
|
Johan G | Min and max needle properties not used as of now. Needs tuning. |
Main instrument panel
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RWR indicator, compact, square | No | |||
| RWR indicator, compact, angled | No | |||
| Flare and chaff control panel | No | There are at least two variants. | ||
| Autopilot control panel | Partial |
|
Johan G | Needs fine tuning |
| Master failure warning light | Yes |
|
Johan G | Needs fine tuning |
| Configuration indicator | Yes |
|
Johan G | Needs fine tuning |
| Combat flap light | No | Pending
|
Johan G | |
| Airbrake light | Yes |
|
Johan G | |
| Nose wheel steering sensitivity light | No | Pending
|
Johan G | |
| RWR indicator, less compact | No | |||
| Shock cone position indicator | N/A | Currently an extra Mach meter | ||
| Airspeed indicator | Yes | Need to be lit by UV lights and red floodlights | ||
| Enginge and afterburner fire light | No | Pending
|
Johan G | |
| Engine rpm indicator | No | Currently an altimeter(!) Need to be lit by UV lights and red floodlights | ||
| Afterburner indicator lights | No | Pending
|
Johan G | |
| Jet pipe temperature indicator | Yes | Need to be lit by UV lights and red floodlights | ||
| Slaved altimeter | No | |||
| Standby altimeter | Partial | Currently located where the engine rpm instrument should be(!) | ||
| ADI | Yes | Should be replaced. There are at least two variants | ||
| Dual fuel gauge | No |
|
Johan G | |
| Fuel transfer indicator | No |
|
Johan G | |
| Fuel remaining indicator | Yes |
|
Johan G | Needs fine tuning |
| F1CR fuel panel | No | Pending
|
Johan G | |
| Navigation indicator | No | There are at least two variants | ||
| Radar | No | There are at least two variants | ||
| Multi-function display | No | Probably various variants | ||
| Vertical speed indicator | N/A | Currently broken | ||
| Standby horizon | Partial | Lacks caging, and possibility to adjust the aircraft |
Left aux panel
Right aux panel
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Failure warning panel | No | 
|
Johan G |
Center console
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trim indicator | Partial |
|
Johan G | Range could be scaled better. Is tricky to read. |
Left aux console
Left console
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UHF/VHF Radio | No | "Green" radio | ||
| VHF Radio | No | "Red" radio | ||
| Audio control panel | N/A | Pending
|
Johan G | There is currently a dead model there |
Right console
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxygen regulator | No | |||
| Lighting control panel (F1CZ) | Partial | 
|
Johan G | Needs tuning |
Systems
Summary
This relates to the systems only, not their users (for example if instruments respond to the cockpit lighting properties).
| Model | Avail | Progress | Developer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cockpit lighting | Partial |
|
Johan G | |
| External lighting | No | |||
| Air-to-air refueling | Partial |
|
Johan G | |
| Flaps and slats | No | Enrogue | ||
| Auto slats and combat flaps | No |
|
Johan G | Need pitot-static and rudimentary ADC |
| Pitot-static system | Partial |
|
Johan G | |
| Failure warning system | Partial |
|
Johan G | Only warnings, not failures |
| Autopilot | No | |||
| Fuel system | Partial | Enrogue |
Lighting
Cockpit lighting
Properties for the lighting are located in the /controls/lighting/ and /controls/switches/ subtrees and are persistent between FlightGear sessions.
The properties are based on cockpit lighting of the South African F1CZ. Judging from other lighting control panels it seems that there is little difference between variants, even though size, arrangement and location of the lighting control panel varies.
Currently (Feb 2015) not all of the instruments uses these properties. Some of the older ones use instrument-norm instead.
| Property | Used for |
|---|---|
consoles-external-norm
|
Red floodlights lighting the consoles, aux consoles and aux instrument panels |
consoles-internal-norm
|
Internal lighting of panels and instruments on the consoles |
dimmer-norm
|
When night-lighting=true it should control lighting of failure warning panel, indicator lights and various panels
|
map-norm
|
Overhead white map light |
misc-norm
|
Lighting for the cockpit clock, standby compass, incidence indicator and, when mounted above the glare shield, the accelerometer |
misc-lighting
|
Switch that turns off all but the incidence indicator tape |
night-lighting
|
Day/night switch |
panel-external-norm
|
Red floodlights lighting main instrument panel |
panel-internal-norm
|
Internal lighting of panels and instruments on the consoles |
panel-uv-norm
|
UV floodlights lighting main instrument panel |
misc-norm and map-norm will be controlled by knobs under a box behind the cockpit clock. The rest of them are controlled through a lighting panel on the right console.
In addition some of the instruments have their own individual lighting, in particular the incidence indicator (though partial) and the autopilot control panel.
Currently (Feb 2015) the lighting is not connected to an electrical system.
External lighting
Currently (Feb 2015) inexistent.
Air-to-air refueling
The aircraft have an probe for air-to-air refueling (AAR) and can be refueled by any compatible tanker.
The contact distance within the fuel will be offloaded is per default 25 meters (slightly less than 100 ft). This can be changed in the AI tanker menu.
Temporary status lights
None of tanker aircraft currently (Feb 2015) have any signal lights showing the status of the refueling. As a temporary measure two status lights have been added to the right frame of the HUD, an upper amber one and a lower green one. They function as below:
| Amber | Green | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| - | - | Refueling system serviceable |
| - | - | Contact |
| - | - | Tanks full or system not serviceable |
The system is serviceable per default and the amber light is lit. If that is annoying, the system can be disabled by opening up the property browser and setting /systems/refuel/serviceable to false.
AAR Issues
As of Feb 2015 the develop branch have a fuel system that can be refueled in flight when the tanks have been emptied. This was previously not possible without first opening the Fuel and Payload dialog and adding a little fuel in each tank.
Pitot-static system
A nearly complete pitot-static system have been added Feb 2015. It consists of:
- Two pitot tubes:
- T1
/systems/pitot[0]– Left side of forward fuselage on the real aircraft - T2
/systems/pitot[1]– Right side of forward fuselage on the real aircraft
- T1
- Four static ports:
- S1
/systems/static[0]– Left side of nose probe on the real aircraft - S2
/systems/static[1]– Right side of nose probe on the real aircraft - S3
/systems/static[2]– Left side of forward fuselage on the real aircraft - S4
/systems/static[3]– Right side of forward fuselage on the real aircraft
- S1
At some point T1, S1 and S2 will be heated by DC power and T2 by AC power. S3 and S4 will remain unheated.
A few instruments are connected to those pitot tubes and static ports. Instead of having several instruments declared using the same ports some instruments and/or devices will share instruments.
Instruments connected to T1 and/or S1 are:
/instrumentation/airspeed-indicator[0]- Mach/airspeed indicator
- Airspeed switches for the flap and slat safety system, yet to be implemented
- Airspeed aneroid switch for the 2nd slat limit
- Airspeed aneroid switch for the 2nd flap limit
- Mach number switch
/instrumentation/altimeter[0]- Standby altimeter, yet to be implemented
Instruments connected to T2 and/or S2 are:
/instrumentation/airspeed-indicator[1]- The HUD, for now
- Airspeed and Mach for the air data computer (ADC), yet to be implemented
- Airspeed aneroid switch for the 1st flap limit
/instrumentation/altimeter[1]- The HUD, for now
- Altitude for the air data computer (ADC), yet to be implemented
- Altitude for the autopilot
Instrument connected to T2 and S3 is:
/instrumentation/airspeed-indicator[2]- Dash-pot airspeed, yet to be implemented. Part of the yet to be implemented FCS (non-digital).
Instruments connected to S3:
/instrumentation/altimeter[3]- Cabin regulator, yet to be implemented
- Vertical speed indicator
Flaps and slats system
The Mirage F1 is equipped with hinged and slotted slats on the leading edges and slotted flaps on the trailing edges. Currently (Feb 2015) there is no automation. The slats are driven by /controls/flight/slats in three steps (in, half, full) and the flaps are driven by /controls/flight/flaps in three steps (in, half, full). The slats also are not animated.
Regular slats and flaps
At some point the slats and flaps will be linked together, so that the slats will be fully extended if the flaps are extended in either half or fully.
Auto slats and combat flaps
At some point safety systems and automation will be added to automatically extend the slats halfway at high incidences and within the airspeed envelope.
In addition there will at some point also be safety systems to extend combat flaps.
The only difference between combat flaps and normal half flaps (and full slats) is the addition of systems that will extend and retract them within a safe envelope. The combat flap control (located on the throttle) will arm the combat flaps, which will extend when airspeed have dropped within the safe envelope. Similarly they will automatically be retracted when getting outside the safe airspeed envelope.
The safety systems are driven by airspeed switches on aneroids connected to the pitot-static systems and by airspeed limit signals from the air data computer.
Failure warning system
Only warnings, not failures.
The master failure warning light (otherwise called the master caution light) and properties to control it are available. They properties resides in the /instrumentation/master-failure-warning subtree.
The warning horn and properties to control it are available. They properties resides in the /instrumentation/warning horn subtree. In addition there is a warning horn switch property /controls/switches/master-warning-horn. It has four sounds:
- Oxygen regulator
- Master failure warning
- Limits
- Incidence limit
The above are mainly instruments. Currently (Feb 2015) a failure warning panel is in the works as well as a system with signals that would trip the warning horn and master failure warning light and signals that would reset the two latter.
In addition there should be signals that would trip the envelop limit light and undercarriage light, etc.
Autopilot
While there is an autopilot control panel it is currently (Feb 2015) not connected.
Developing a custom autopilot matching the original in controls and functionality would be lovely.
Related content
Wiki articles
Forum topics
- Modified Mirage F1 (WIP) Development forum topic