FlightGear Newsletter August 2010: Difference between revisions

== FlightGear events ==

== Development news ==

== 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.  

* writing articles for the [[Next newsletter|next issue of this newletter]]

* sending corrections/updates to the FlightGear Manual

* helping new users on the forums/IRC

* writing a wiki page

* organising fly-ins

One of the easiest ways to help is to improve the scenery in your local area by placing buildings/structures using the UFO and submitting them to the [http://scenemodels.flightgear.org/contribute.php FlightGear Scenery Object Database]. It's easy, and best of all requires little time to have a real impact. Instructions on how to do this can be found in the wiki, [[Placing 3D Objects with the UFO]].  

 

== Reminder: Google's Summer of Code 2011 ==

 

We would like to remind all readers that the FlightGear project is planning to participate in [[GSoC]] 2011.  

However, doing that really requires a fair amount of work, planning and organizing. This is not something that can be done by a single person.

It really needs a coordinated team effort, or otherwise FlightGear won't be able to apply/participate at all.

 

So all users are invited to help us progress further with our preparations for GSoC 2011.  

 

* browse the forums or mailing list archives and look for viable candidate projects

* help finalize the application template that we are preparing

* summarize all related discussions, and document them here in the wiki

 

If you have any questions or other feedback, please use the forum to [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=38 get in touch].

 

Several aircraft that have been around in FG for many years got updates this month - the North American P-51D Mustang, the Douglas A-4F Skyhawk, and the Fokker 100. There are a huge number of aircraft in the FG hangar (over 300), and while new aircraft are always welcome, there are many existing aircraft that would benefit from some spit-and-polish. Creating a completely new aircraft to a high standard represents a monumental amount of work. Those wanting to contribute, but without the time available to create a truly world-class aircraft from scratch might want to consider improving a favourite aircraft from the hangar instead. The effects are more immediate, and you can improve it one piece at a time.

Hal V. Engel has made some massive improvements to the P51-D. Using NACA (the pre-cursor to NASA) published data, he's produced a very impressive JSBSim FDM. He's also made a number of improvements to the 3D cockpit and the engine systems. Those who enjoy their WWII warbirds will be very interested indeed. Your correspondent has still to manage a take-off from the runway without at least one bounce, but can report that the landing characteristics, while not benign, are at least manageable. This is an aircraft that will really repay some effort on the part of the pilot to get to know, and almost certainly represents the most accurate warbird FDM we have available.

 

 

Another aircraft that has been updated recently is the Fokker 100. It now has a 3D cockpit and a rudimentary equipment failure control system, as well as a much-improved FDM and Autopilot. At the moment, the Equipment Failure System can only cause engine fires and flap failure. Several new liveries have been made as well. Authors who contributed to this latest phase in development include (in no particular order) Erik Hofman, Thomas Ito-Haigh, Gary Neely, and Skyop.

=== Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (KLAS) ===

 

[[File:KLAS.jpg|thumb|right|350px|A Southwest Airlines [[Boeing 737-300]] parked at Concourse B; Concourse C is visible in the background.]]

 

[[User:Skyop|Skyop]] has modeled Concourse A, Concourse B, Concourse C, and the Charter International Terminal at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (KLAS).  Unfortunately, the new Concourse D could not be modeled as there was no [[GNU General Public License|GPL]]-compatible satellite imagery available.  You can obtain the new terminals via [[TerraSync]].

 

An exciting new feature comes to FlightGear with the completion of [[User:Skyop|Skyop's]] [[Howto: Animated jetways|animated jetway system]]. The first airport to implement it is none other than KLAS; however, due to a bug in [[FlightGear 2.0.0]], a recent [[FlightGear and Git|GIT]] copy of FlightGear and [[Howto: Animated jetways#Usage|a slight fix]] is required to see the jetways.

 

Unfortunately, there are still a few unresolved issues with the jetways- the biggest being that they currently cannot operate independently.

 

* Despite the bad graphics (clouds and smoke), this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t90qRgczJ-o Red Bull Air Race video] shows once again what an enormous range of different things one can do in FlightGear.

=== Multiplayer ===

== Update on FlightProSim ==

== Useful links ==

== And finally ... ==

=== Did you know ===