FlightGear Newsletter September 2013
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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) can edit the newsletter and every contribution is welcome. So 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. Core developers are encouraged to add news about their latest work to the newsletter's development section and the changelog of the upcoming release. At the end of each month, it's generally a good idea to get in touch with other contributors to ask them to add news about their contributions to the newsletter.
Development news
New release 2.12
The FlightGear development team is happy to announce the v2.12 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 improved usability, continued development of the Canvas rendering toolkit, and improved scenery rendering.
Founded in 1997, FlightGear is developed by a worldwide group of volunteers, brought together by a shared ambition to create the most realistic flight simulator possible that is free to use, modify and distribute. FlightGear is used all over the world by desktop flight simulator enthusiasts, for research in universities and for interactive exhibits in museums.
FlightGear features more than 400 aircraft, a worldwide scenery database, a multi-player environment, detailed sky modelling, a flexible and open aircraft modelling system, varied networking options, multiple display support, a powerful scripting language and an open architecture. Best of all, being open-source, the simulator is owned by the community and everyone is encouraged to contribute.
A list of major changes in several languages can be found at: English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, Polski
Download FlightGear v2.12 for free at: FlightGear.org
FlightGear – Fly Free!
TerraSync: A call for help
SimGear 2.11+ now has experimental support for a libsvn replacement, people building from source are encouraged to help with testing and debugging this new feature:
- Rebuild simgear with -DSG_SVN_CLIENT=1 (followed by a normal FlightGear build of course)
- Move/erase your TerraSync directory
- Simply run FGFS as normal, as if you were starting on a new machine/account with no previous use of TerraSync.
The new code is not 100% trouble free (in particular there is still the occasional time when it gets stuck not doing any more downloads until FlightGear is restarted), but developer James really does not want to move forward with the code until there is a bit more assurance it is not going to make everyone's setup crash 80% of the time, which is what some people have reported.
Note this applies even if you 'don't use' terrasync since the SVN sync engine is going to be used for other pieces of data as soon as it's stable. James will be adding a new preference to globally control whether FG works in online/offline mode, of course.
Getting involved as a programmer
Unfortunately, most of the active FG developers are currently very overstretched in terms of the areas that they have ownership of, which is affecting how much can actually be done. Fundamentally we need more core devs.
If you are interested in contributing as a core developer, please see Howto:Start core development.
In the hangar
New aircraft
Boeing 707-420/430
The Lake of Constance Hangar has released a new variant of the Boeing 707. The 707-420 is identical to the −320 except for the inclusion of Rolls-Royce Conway 508 turbofan engines.
This FlightGear model includes versions dating from 1959 to the late 1970s. Feel the difference between the older Rolls-Royce Conway 508 turbofans engines and the later JT4 engines simply by changing liveries.
As always, the community is welcome to contribute to development - visit the project's Gitorious page for details.
Community news
FSweekend 2013
Next month, in the weekend of 2 and 3 November 2013, a team of FlightGear developers will present FlightGear to the public at the world's largest flightsimulator event. The so called FSweekend is held yearly in the Aviodrome aviation museum at Lelystad Airport (EHLE), the Netherlands. The team would love to welcome you in Lelystad!
More info can be found at FSweekend 2013
International FlightGear websites
Enjoy the awesome international FlightGear community and experiment the dream to fly with the best Free Flight Simulation Software ever built. With more than 15 years of experience FlightGear has a wide user community, from professionals to normal users from all around the world. For sure you'll find good friends in this amazing virtual community.
Please visit FlightGear websites in other languages:
Translators required
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The FlightGear Wiki still needs help for translating it into various languages. If you are interested in making the FlightGear Wiki multi-language then start at Help:Translate. |
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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. |
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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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La FlightGear wiki todavía necesita ayuda para traducirla a varios lenguajes. Si estás interesado en hacer la FlightGear wiki multilingüe, entonces comienza en Help:Traducir. |
And finally ...
Contributing
One of the regular thoughts expressed on the FlightGear forums is "I'd like to contribute but I don't know how to program, and I don't have the time". Unfortunately, there is a common mis-conception that contributing requires programming and lots of free time. In fact, there are a huge range of ways to contribute to the project without needing to write code or spending days working on something.
For ideas on starting to contribute to FlightGear, you may want to check out: Volunteer.
To learn more about how the project works, please see this short essay written by Thorsten, for a more detailed article see How the FlightGear project works.
Call for volunteers
- The Target4Today team is looking for volunteers to help improving FlightGear's combat support