FlightGear wiki - User contributions [en]

FlightGear Newsletter September 2012

2012-09-13T15:11:52Z

1w36:

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''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.''

== Development news ==
Note to all developers: Please also copy your newsletter additions to the changelog of the upcoming release: [[Changelog_3.0.0]].


=== Random Buildings ===
Shortly after the 2.8 release, a number of users reported severe memory growth issues related to a new feature: [[Random Buildings]].

Unfortunately, the buildings are generated when the tiles are loaded, and it is this that causes the memory occupancy problems rather than visibility itself (subject to big view ranges causing the loading of more tiles). Aggressively limiting the maximum available visibility range might help, if it's causing more tiles to be loaded, but it is very dependent on the amount of Urban and Town terrain.

For performance reasons, all the buildings within a tile are a single object currently. The memory capacity could be addressed by changing the implementation to something closer to the trees, where a (relatively) small number of buildings are instantiated at different locations. I don't know what this would do for performance though.

Stuart has now managed to get a prototype running using an instantiation of a shared geometry rather than a huge single object per tile.

So far the results are promising. Stuart's standard test is at KSFO with the c172p, waiting until the intial set of tiles is loaded with standard weather conditions (e.g. no excessive visibility). With random buildings switched off FG uses ~1GB memory. With v2.8.0
random buildings, it's 2GB. With instantiated buildings at present it is 1.5GB.
At KLAX, it's down even further, from 2.7GB to 1.6GB. So far, without any frame-rate impact.

This work is now checked into next/master. You'll need an updated simgear and data to see any effect.

Basically, the design has been altered to use a scheme very similar to that of the random trees, where there are a small number of buildings created, and then instantiated multiple times.

The technique relies on a vertex shader, as the final position and rotation of the building are passed in on the gl_Color vector. This in turn has meant that I've been forced to create new version of various vertex shaders. It might be possible to clean that up by having a new parameter to existing shaders indicating that position/rotation information is in gl_Color

There are three known regressions from the previous implementation:
* The reflection map appears to be broken, and is currently switched off. (this might be because the binormal or tangent are not being calculated correctly.)
* The buidings do not cast shadows in Rembrandt, though other objects _do_ cast shadows on the buildings. I don't know the reason for this.
* At high building densities and certain angles of view, one can see gaps in the building placement where the edges of the scenery triangles go. This is unfortunately inevitable, as we have less sizing information during placement.

You should now see significantly lower memory occupancy (500 - 2GB less depending on area and density) when running with random buildings enabled. This will obviously be available in the next FG release as well.

Feedback/comments appreciated as always.

=== Project Rembrandt ===
=== Canvas System ===


=== High Level Architecture ===
=== FlightGear On Android ===

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Usability Improvements ===

The built-in [[Nasal Console]] has been updated to also add native copy/paste support, a feature that got implemented as part of the ongoing [[Canvas]] effort (see [[Howto:Clipboard access using Nasal]] for details ). This feature makes it now possible to easily copy/paste snippets of code FlightGear, without having to use the "dump" feature.
[[File:Nasal-console-3.0.png|500px|The Nasal console in FG 3.0 with copy/paste buttons ]]

In addition, the "about" dialog has also been slightly updated so that it now shows a handful of OpenGL-related parameters, this info should make it easier for people to provide useful issue reports, especially related to their system's graphics support. For this very purpose, the dialog box has now also support for copying this info to the clipboard or simply take a screen shot that users can post on the forums.

[[File:About-dlg-3.0.png|350px|The about dialog in FG 3.0 with extended graphics information ]]

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

=== Getting involved as a programmer ===

Please see [[Howto:Start core development]]

== Release ChangeLog ==
This section lists changes committed this month that will be available in the next release, these will be copied to the release changelog shortly before a release (for each month), so that we hopefully get a comprehensive list of new features.

== Interview with a contributor (Thorsten Renk) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]! To keep this going and less awkward, we are currently trying to come up with the convention that former interviewees become next month's interviewers.''

* How long have you been involved in FlightGear?

Since late 2009.

* What are your major interests in FlightGear?

In the broadest sense, modelling of the environment. I've started out modelling clouds and weather, then as I discovered shaders I've also included dust, haze and light scattering effects, and of late I am into improved ways of texturing the terrain.

All these areas are related, so it's actually pretty powerful if the same person knows how to affect all of them - for instance, on a rainy day, we not only see an overcast cloud layer, but also the light beneath the clouds is dimmed, the sunrise has a different color hue, the ground is wet and hence darker than usual and there may be water on the ground. Being able to do all these things with the same environment model is pretty cool.

* What project are you working on right now?

Procedural texturing, i.e. computing the texture mix to be displayed on the terrain inside the shader code - this allows for effects which would be impossible to achieve with the standard way of assigning textures due to the huge memory footprint.

* What do you plan on doing in the future?

Who knows? I have plenty of things I would like to do and in principle know how to do - the problem is just making them run fast enough. It's pretty amazing how fast a graphics card can crunch numbers, but there are limits eventually. And basically every day, looking out of the window and observing the richness in detail on a real sky, I see how inadequate even our most advanced shading models really are. It's amazing how nature solves all the rendering equations in real time.

* Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?

Mostly. I know many people think FlightGear should have a project structure which works more like a commercial project, i.e. with clearly defined project goals and well-defined tasks. Rather, it is a somewhat anarchic collection of different individual projects merged together, often with multiple ways to solve the same problem (we support as many as four different ways to generate clouds for instance) which makes it not always easy for new contributers in need of a feature. But, coming from a research environment, I actually feel quite at home with such a development model - science works the same way, and for instance, while having several independent ways of doing the same thing can be seen as a waste of resources, it can also be seen as a feature - we explore many different ways of doing things which helps us find the best solution.

What I don't like is that there is often a lot of friction - for instance 3-D modellers feel underappreciated since most of the project decisions are made by the coders, there's an ongoing controversy between scripting space (Nasal) and C++ coding, and there are contributors of world scenery vs. custom scenery creators. While some level of discussion seems useful to me, related discussions often reach a point which I find no longer productive.

* What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?

The same thing Tolkien enjoyed about writing 'The Lord of the Rings' - the possibility to do subcreation. The visible FlightGear scenery is a world to explore, and this world is directly and visibly influenced by code I write. I can place myself high up in the air, look down and wave my mouse - and a whole layer of clouds appears. I get to decide what color the sunrise has. That's pretty fascinating as far as that goes.

And actually, I've always enjoyed flying through clouds in flight simulators - in the early ones, they were just so bad, but now I can make them just the way I've always wanted them to be. Flying between two scattered cloud layers is still one of my favourite activities.

* Are there any "hidden features" you have worked on in FlightGear that new users may miss?

Plenty. Several I decided not to release since they are too tricky to control, so flags switch them off. For instance, there's a working model for wave lift in the Advanced Weather code, but there is no code to automatically place it (that's much more tricky to develop), so the wave needs to be placed by hand with a suitable line of Nasal. There are experimental cloud layer definitions which are just too expensive to render on a normal system. Many things I just try, and when I find no good way of implementing them, they stay in the code in a de-activated mode.

* What advice can you give to new developers who want to get started on their first aircraft/new feature/Nasal script?

Be patient. The world doesn't revolve around you, but good work is recognized eventually.

Many people seem to expect that the FlightGear development community is just waiting for their contribution and jump to fill every requirement. But every developer has his own agenda, and the way things actually work is by convincing people that spending their time to support another project is a good idea. For instance, demonstrating that a project is feasible is a good idea before expecting help.

I know it looks pretty unwelcoming if someone wants to contribute and needs to go a long way before getting help. On the other hand, I know the other perspective of investing a lot of work into someone's project, just to see the other person disappear and all that work being lost. So I understand much better that established developers want to see that someone is serious about what he proposes to do before they jump in.

More questions are being collected here: [[Interview questions]].

Stay tuned for next month's interview, featuring FlightGear contributor XXXXXXXX

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Translators required ==
{|
|[[File:en.gif]]
|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]].
|-
|[[File:de.gif]]
|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 [[:de:Help:Übersetzen|Help:Übersetzen]] an.
|-
|[[File: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 [[:nl:Help:Vertalen|Help:Vertalen]].
|}

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
=== OpenStreetMap license change completed ===
On September 12, [[OpenStreetMap]] (OSM) completed its long expected license change. From now on, OSM data is licensed under the [http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/ Open Database Licence].

* [[OpenStreetMap import]]
* [[OpenStreetMap buildings]]

=== Tools ===
It is now possible to update the geographical data of static models using our webtools, just like you are now used to to with the shared objects. You just have to select the object corresponding to the 3D model, and then click on "update".

=== Airports ===

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==

== Suggested flights ==
== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== 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 [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=15267#p149971 this short essay] written by Thorsten.

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[Flightgear On Android]] team is looking for testers
* The [[Target4Today]] team is looking for volunteers to help improving FlightGear's combat support
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter]]

FlightGear Newsletter September 2012

2012-09-13T15:11:21Z

1w36: /* FlightGear an Android */

{{newsletter}}
{{TOC_right|limit=2}}

''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.''

== Development news ==
Note to all developers: Please also copy your newsletter additions to the changelog of the upcoming release: [[Changelog_3.0.0]].


=== Random Buildings ===
Shortly after the 2.8 release, a number of users reported severe memory growth issues related to a new feature: [[Random Buildings]].

Unfortunately, the buildings are generated when the tiles are loaded, and it is this that causes the memory occupancy problems rather than visibility itself (subject to big view ranges causing the loading of more tiles). Aggressively limiting the maximum available visibility range might help, if it's causing more tiles to be loaded, but it is very dependent on the amount of Urban and Town terrain.

For performance reasons, all the buildings within a tile are a single object currently. The memory capacity could be addressed by changing the implementation to something closer to the trees, where a (relatively) small number of buildings are instantiated at different locations. I don't know what this would do for performance though.

Stuart has now managed to get a prototype running using an instantiation of a shared geometry rather than a huge single object per tile.

So far the results are promising. Stuart's standard test is at KSFO with the c172p, waiting until the intial set of tiles is loaded with standard weather conditions (e.g. no excessive visibility). With random buildings switched off FG uses ~1GB memory. With v2.8.0
random buildings, it's 2GB. With instantiated buildings at present it is 1.5GB.
At KLAX, it's down even further, from 2.7GB to 1.6GB. So far, without any frame-rate impact.

This work is now checked into next/master. You'll need an updated simgear and data to see any effect.

Basically, the design has been altered to use a scheme very similar to that of the random trees, where there are a small number of buildings created, and then instantiated multiple times.

The technique relies on a vertex shader, as the final position and rotation of the building are passed in on the gl_Color vector. This in turn has meant that I've been forced to create new version of various vertex shaders. It might be possible to clean that up by having a new parameter to existing shaders indicating that position/rotation information is in gl_Color

There are three known regressions from the previous implementation:
* The reflection map appears to be broken, and is currently switched off. (this might be because the binormal or tangent are not being calculated correctly.)
* The buidings do not cast shadows in Rembrandt, though other objects _do_ cast shadows on the buildings. I don't know the reason for this.
* At high building densities and certain angles of view, one can see gaps in the building placement where the edges of the scenery triangles go. This is unfortunately inevitable, as we have less sizing information during placement.

You should now see significantly lower memory occupancy (500 - 2GB less depending on area and density) when running with random buildings enabled. This will obviously be available in the next FG release as well.

Feedback/comments appreciated as always.

=== Project Rembrandt ===
=== Canvas System ===


=== High Level Architecture ===
=== FlightGear on Android ===

=== Mailing list digest ===

(by far the easiest option to populate the newsletter with contents is copying/pasting stuff from the forum and the mailing list or the git logs)

=== Usability Improvements ===

The built-in [[Nasal Console]] has been updated to also add native copy/paste support, a feature that got implemented as part of the ongoing [[Canvas]] effort (see [[Howto:Clipboard access using Nasal]] for details ). This feature makes it now possible to easily copy/paste snippets of code FlightGear, without having to use the "dump" feature.
[[File:Nasal-console-3.0.png|500px|The Nasal console in FG 3.0 with copy/paste buttons ]]

In addition, the "about" dialog has also been slightly updated so that it now shows a handful of OpenGL-related parameters, this info should make it easier for people to provide useful issue reports, especially related to their system's graphics support. For this very purpose, the dialog box has now also support for copying this info to the clipboard or simply take a screen shot that users can post on the forums.

[[File:About-dlg-3.0.png|350px|The about dialog in FG 3.0 with extended graphics information ]]

=== Forum digest ===

=== Git digest ===

=== Getting involved as a programmer ===

Please see [[Howto:Start core development]]

== Release ChangeLog ==
This section lists changes committed this month that will be available in the next release, these will be copied to the release changelog shortly before a release (for each month), so that we hopefully get a comprehensive list of new features.

== Interview with a contributor (Thorsten Renk) ==
''In each edition we have an interview with a contributor. Suggestions for possible questions are available on [[interview questions]], you are invited to come up with new questions and interview ideas obviously! Anyone is free to write an interview (with him-/herself or others) for next month's newsletter! If you'd like to help interview a contributor or get interviewed, please do consider adding yourself to the [[list of interview volunteers]]! To keep this going and less awkward, we are currently trying to come up with the convention that former interviewees become next month's interviewers.''

* How long have you been involved in FlightGear?

Since late 2009.

* What are your major interests in FlightGear?

In the broadest sense, modelling of the environment. I've started out modelling clouds and weather, then as I discovered shaders I've also included dust, haze and light scattering effects, and of late I am into improved ways of texturing the terrain.

All these areas are related, so it's actually pretty powerful if the same person knows how to affect all of them - for instance, on a rainy day, we not only see an overcast cloud layer, but also the light beneath the clouds is dimmed, the sunrise has a different color hue, the ground is wet and hence darker than usual and there may be water on the ground. Being able to do all these things with the same environment model is pretty cool.

* What project are you working on right now?

Procedural texturing, i.e. computing the texture mix to be displayed on the terrain inside the shader code - this allows for effects which would be impossible to achieve with the standard way of assigning textures due to the huge memory footprint.

* What do you plan on doing in the future?

Who knows? I have plenty of things I would like to do and in principle know how to do - the problem is just making them run fast enough. It's pretty amazing how fast a graphics card can crunch numbers, but there are limits eventually. And basically every day, looking out of the window and observing the richness in detail on a real sky, I see how inadequate even our most advanced shading models really are. It's amazing how nature solves all the rendering equations in real time.

* Are you happy with the way the FlightGear project is going?

Mostly. I know many people think FlightGear should have a project structure which works more like a commercial project, i.e. with clearly defined project goals and well-defined tasks. Rather, it is a somewhat anarchic collection of different individual projects merged together, often with multiple ways to solve the same problem (we support as many as four different ways to generate clouds for instance) which makes it not always easy for new contributers in need of a feature. But, coming from a research environment, I actually feel quite at home with such a development model - science works the same way, and for instance, while having several independent ways of doing the same thing can be seen as a waste of resources, it can also be seen as a feature - we explore many different ways of doing things which helps us find the best solution.

What I don't like is that there is often a lot of friction - for instance 3-D modellers feel underappreciated since most of the project decisions are made by the coders, there's an ongoing controversy between scripting space (Nasal) and C++ coding, and there are contributors of world scenery vs. custom scenery creators. While some level of discussion seems useful to me, related discussions often reach a point which I find no longer productive.

* What do you enjoy most about developing for FlightGear?

The same thing Tolkien enjoyed about writing 'The Lord of the Rings' - the possibility to do subcreation. The visible FlightGear scenery is a world to explore, and this world is directly and visibly influenced by code I write. I can place myself high up in the air, look down and wave my mouse - and a whole layer of clouds appears. I get to decide what color the sunrise has. That's pretty fascinating as far as that goes.

And actually, I've always enjoyed flying through clouds in flight simulators - in the early ones, they were just so bad, but now I can make them just the way I've always wanted them to be. Flying between two scattered cloud layers is still one of my favourite activities.

* Are there any "hidden features" you have worked on in FlightGear that new users may miss?

Plenty. Several I decided not to release since they are too tricky to control, so flags switch them off. For instance, there's a working model for wave lift in the Advanced Weather code, but there is no code to automatically place it (that's much more tricky to develop), so the wave needs to be placed by hand with a suitable line of Nasal. There are experimental cloud layer definitions which are just too expensive to render on a normal system. Many things I just try, and when I find no good way of implementing them, they stay in the code in a de-activated mode.

* What advice can you give to new developers who want to get started on their first aircraft/new feature/Nasal script?

Be patient. The world doesn't revolve around you, but good work is recognized eventually.

Many people seem to expect that the FlightGear development community is just waiting for their contribution and jump to fill every requirement. But every developer has his own agenda, and the way things actually work is by convincing people that spending their time to support another project is a good idea. For instance, demonstrating that a project is feasible is a good idea before expecting help.

I know it looks pretty unwelcoming if someone wants to contribute and needs to go a long way before getting help. On the other hand, I know the other perspective of investing a lot of work into someone's project, just to see the other person disappear and all that work being lost. So I understand much better that established developers want to see that someone is serious about what he proposes to do before they jump in.

More questions are being collected here: [[Interview questions]].

Stay tuned for next month's interview, featuring FlightGear contributor XXXXXXXX

== Snapshot releases ==
Every now and then, easy-to-install development snapshots are created (usually, twice montlhy). These snapshos depict a recent state of the development version of FlightGear. By using them users can test out features that will be included in the upcoming release. Testers are encouraged to file bugs at [http://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/ the issue tracker].

The snapshot can be download via the links at the bottom of this page: http://www.flightgear.org/download/. Updates and feedback can be found [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=10488&p=144233&hilit=snapshot#p144233 at the forum].

== Translators required ==
{|
|[[File:en.gif]]
|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]].
|-
|[[File:de.gif]]
|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 [[:de:Help:Übersetzen|Help:Übersetzen]] an.
|-
|[[File: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 [[:nl:Help:Vertalen|Help:Vertalen]].
|}

== Nasal for newbies ==

== New software tools and projects ==

== FlightGear addons and mods ==

== In the hangar ==

All the way back in May 2011, we addopted a new status-rating system for aircraft. So far, only a few have actually been rated, as can be seen in the list 'hockenberry' set up at [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApzphjA4w05ndF94Y2F0bzJTbHQ5QTJXZXJRcUVRbWc&hl=en_US Google Docs]. If you're an aircraft developer and your aircraft is/are not on the list, please consider rating their status. All you'll need to know/do is described at [[Formalizing Aircraft Status]]. If you'd just like to get started contributing to FlightGear, this would also seem like an excellent way to get started.

=== New aircraft ===

=== Updated aircraft ===

=== Liveries ===

== Scenery corner ==
=== OpenStreetMap license change completed ===
On September 12, [[OpenStreetMap]] (OSM) completed its long expected license change. From now on, OSM data is licensed under the [http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/ Open Database Licence].

* [[OpenStreetMap import]]
* [[OpenStreetMap buildings]]

=== Tools ===
It is now possible to update the geographical data of static models using our webtools, just like you are now used to to with the shared objects. You just have to select the object corresponding to the 3D model, and then click on "update".

=== Airports ===

== Aircraft of the month ==
== Airport of the month ==
== Screenshot of the month ==

== Suggested flights ==
== Aircraft reviews ==

== Wiki updates ==
===New articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
</DynamicArticleList>
===New aircraft articles===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=new
count=10
categoryRoot=Aircraft
</DynamicArticleList>
===Most popular newsletters===
<DynamicArticleList>
type=hot
count=5
categoryRoot=FlightGear Newsletter
</DynamicArticleList>

== Community news ==
=== FlightGear on YouTube ===

=== New tutorials and screencasts ===
=== Forum news ===
=== Multiplayer ===
=== Virtual airlines ===
=== FlightGear events ===

== Useful links ==
== 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 [http://flightgear.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=15267#p149971 this short essay] written by Thorsten.

=== Call for volunteers ===
* The [[Flightgear On Android]] team is looking for testers
* The [[Target4Today]] team is looking for volunteers to help improving FlightGear's combat support
* The [[OpenRadar]] project is looking for a new maintainer.
* The [[FGFSPM]] (FlightGear Package Manager) is looking for a new maintainer.

=== Did you know ===

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter]]

Pilatus PC-7

2012-09-13T03:28:36Z

1w36:

{{infobox Aircraft
|image = Pilatus_PC-7.jpg
|name = Pilatus PC-7
|type = Civilian aircraft
|fdm =
|status = beta
|authors = David Culp, Erik Hofman (based on Capt. Slug 3D model)
}}
The '''Pilatus PC-7''' is a low-wing tandem-seat training aircraft, manufactured by [[Pilatus Aircraft]] of Switzerland.

===Compatibility===
* Flight Gear 1.9.1.: Loads and runs
* Flight Gear 2.0: Not Tested
* Flight Gear 2.4: Loads and runs
* Flight Gear 2.6: Not Tested

== Development Status/Issues/Todo ==
'''Outside:'''
* no pilot in cockpit visible
* aircraft has no shadow
* no aircraft light available
* Instrument Panels Visible from Aircraft Outside
* Improper Sounding (SIM's edition only; otherwise, no sound at all)
* Propeller still "on and moving" when powered off

'''3D Cockpit:'''
* no textures used
* Improper Instruments

'''General:'''
* engines can't be turned off
* engine sound does not change when accelerating. This is common for turboprop engine though.
* no hud available

{{Pilatus}}

[[Category:Low wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Military trainer aircraft]]
[[Category:Propeller aircraft]]
[[Category:Single-engine aircraft]]

File:F-14.jpg

2011-12-29T17:48:43Z

1w36: uploaded a new version of "File:F-14.jpg": Reverted to version as of 17:47, 29 December 2011

File:F-14.jpg

2011-12-29T17:48:27Z

1w36: uploaded a new version of "File:F-14.jpg": fgfg

File:F-14.jpg

2011-12-29T17:47:55Z

1w36: uploaded a new version of "File:F-14.jpg"

File:C-5B.jpg

2011-12-29T17:19:17Z

1w36:

User talk:1w36

2011-11-13T18:10:46Z

1w36: 1w36

If anybody has problem with me just let me know

User talk:Gijs

2011-11-13T18:09:12Z

1w36: /* 06/2010: Your Git related edits/deletions */

= /index.php spam problem =
Can you please delete the "/index.php" once more? The problem is tyhat, this spam can still be reached over the editing history, e.g. http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=/index.php&diff___=___33469&oldid=prev (please remove all underscores).
--[[User:Quix0r|Admin of mpserver08]] 01:02, 20 August 2011 (EDT)
: Right, I didn't think of that. Fixed now. Thanks for notifying me!
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 05:59, 20 August 2011 (EDT)

= 04/2011: Reality/Fiction sorting task =

Dear Gijs, let my try to show You why I had moved "Vostok-1" article up in 04/2011 newsletter. My logic is pretty clear. Hope You will see it.

I am sure what reality is more important than fiction. And I am sure what more important going first, at least in news. That's it because of respect to reader time. Reader may read more important and then close page.

I am pretty sure what really flying implementation of really flying spacecraft opens new horizons for FlightGear right now, instead of fictional craft implementation what can not go anywhere at all yet.

By the way, to go somewhere new in reality You need only to make thing what goes. To go somewhere in simulation You need to make place where to go, too. For sure right now Dr. Who in FlightGear can not move in time and space as he did in fiction, because that places not implemented in FlightGear yet. And to make that places is more complex task than to implement other planets where spacecraft can go. So planets will be implemented first. So for now spacecraft is more important.

But I feel what moving some other man article down is an insult to him, even if You are right and there is more important things than what he did wrote or what he did wrote about. So I had put "Vostok-1" "aircraft" up instead of moving "Dr. Who TARDIS" "aircraft" down.

I see no reason in some conflict until understanding other man view on subject. So please let me know why You did put fiction above reality and why You are doing that still.

If You are agree with me then please put "TARDIS" below "Vostok" in "Aircraft", better "Spacecraft" section, because space craft it's bit more than air craft.

I do not want and can not insult others. You, I suppose, see no problem doing that. So it's Your task, not mine.

: Hi,
: I did not put the TARDIS article there, and actually didn't notice it was there. It should've gone in the "Aircraft" section, as it is being developed as if it was some sort of "aircraft". I've moved it to the right spot now. See, this is an example of the moving/editing that continues throughout the month, that I talked about yesterday. ;) Those empty sections will be removed before the "publication", images will be ordered etc.
: Oh, and I agree with you that your Vostok is much more of an achievement than the TARDIS! And I'm sure readers will quickly notice that, by quickly scanning the screenshots. I for one would defenitely get attracted to read your text after seeing the images!
: PS: Please sign messages on wiki-talk pages with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>, so we now who said what.
: Cheers,
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 08:04, 20 April 2011 (EDT)

::Okeedokee. I agree with rules if it's logical and really common and nonexclusive.
::[[User:Vitos|Vitos]] 16:07, 20 April 2011 (EDT)

= 06/2010: Your Git related edits/deletions =
Hi, why exactly was the paragraph about Tortoise Git removed from the article, without adding it back to the Windows specific article ([http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=FlightGear_and_Git&diff=21852&oldid=21848])?
Also please note that the windows article that you linked to, is not any longer just about accessing the Git repositories, but specifically about using these together with pre-compiled binaries in order to obtain an updated version of FlightGear: http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/FlightGear_Git_on_Windows
Even though this page was initially meant to become the equivalent of http://flightgear.org/cvs.html?
So the scope of these pages seems either currently somewhat ill-defined or some users are making simply pretty unfortunate edits?
--[[User:MILSTD|MILSTD]] 17:22, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
: Hi,
: you are free to add TortoiseGit to the Git on Windows page (somewhere in the "You can use any Git software, however we advise to use msysGit" sentence maybe). I received multiple complains about that software, stating that it did not work well, but if you have positive experiences with it then it would be nice to add.
: The article does indeed only cover how to obtain up-to-date fgdata and binaries; for compiling FlightGear we have [[Building Flightgear - Windows]], which needs an update for Git though. A reference to that article (once updated) should be placed on the Git on Windows article.
: The wiki page is still very young, so there are lots of things that could be improved/added. You and others are free to do so.
: Cheers, [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 18:58, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
=11/2011: You Removed my pic
I was not uploading anything I uploaded a real Pic of the plane then I hear this not an upload site

= Your recent Edits =
Hi,
I noticed that you undid my edit to the helicopter page. Perhaps you should look at this page: [[Special:DoubleRedirects]]
I was trying to correct the DoubleRedirct #4. I assumed this would do it but I was apparently wrong. Perhaps you could take a look at it.
Thanks for your help

[[User:Stepfaw|Stepfaw]] 19:30, 30 September 2009 (UTC)
:Hi Stepfaw,
:I fixed the double redirect for you. Take a look at the Recent changes to see what I did. I really appreciate the fact that you try to keep the double redirects to a minimum. Well done!
:Regards,
:[[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 19:36, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

----
Hi
Thank you for formatting my new article on the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. This was my first article and I was having a hard time formating it to look like the others.

Stepfaw

: Hi Stepfaw,
: Thanks a lot for creating the article ;) By creating articles and looking at other articles you'll soon learn how to create even better articles!
: Cheers, [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 04:15, 19 August 2009 (EDT)
: PS, please sign your messages on talk pages with four tildes (~).

----

Hi!

We've talked about this before, however I would like to ask you now ''clearly'' to '''please''' stop removing boilerplate contents from wiki pages only because they may not yet be sufficiently populated in your opinion (or anyone else's for that matter)!

You are free to remove whatever references to such pages you may consider unnecessary or annoying at this time and add classifying markup, however removing initial contents (structural boilerplate or not) from such pages or possibly removing even complete pages (regardless of whether they contain contents or not) is definitively wrong and could indeed be considered discouraging and hardly constructive.

Please don't get me wrong, as I've said before: your recent wiki contributions are extremely appreciated, however whoever started a page should clearly be considered the "owner" or at least "maintainer" of the page initially, this applies certainly as long as a page must be considered "work in progress".

There is hardly any point in trying to instruct people how to make their contributions as long as they remain self-contained and do not necessarily affect other people. Unreferenced FlightGear-related pages would certainly satisfy these criteria.

Thank you

----
Hi,

I don't know why you're so upset. Since the last time we talked to each other I've removed nothing. I just add some of the pages you (and others) created to the [[:Category:Afd|Article Considered for Deletion category]]. I completely understand your feelings when i've did something that you don't agree with, but please take a closer look before you start telling me what I'm doing wrong. I know I removed some of your category's, but I've removed no pages since the last conversation between us.

The webmaster is the only one who's able to remove pages. Users could only remove content, but that could be reset by any user (including you). With the new category (and corresponding template) we could now consider articles for deletion. The webmaster could remove them if it's not needed or if there's something else wrong. If you're not agree with the (upcoming) deletion of an article in this category you could talk about it at it's talk page. The article may be removed from the category ('''but only by the webmaster!''') when someone has edit it, expand it or make it better etc.

Thanks
[[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 06:03, 9 March 2008 (EDT)

=Citing Wikipedia?=

Hi Giijs,

I saw you used a paragraph from the PBY Catalina Wikipedia entry on the Catalina page here. Normally one should provide the source when quoting like that (I doubt Wikipedia would complain, though). It is better to rewrite the information in your own words. IMHO I also don't find the information about the US military use of the PBY that relevant on our page since the PBY in FlightGear is unarmed, civilian and French.

Cheers,
[[User:AndersG|AndersG]] 10:21, 16 September 2008 (EDT)
: I agree Anders. I will stop copying the information. I thought it would be nice to have some info about the real plane to, but we should write our own as you said. Sorry. [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 10:59, 16 September 2008 (EDT)

=Contacting you via the forum PM function=
Hey Gijs,

I sent you a PM three days ago about the ground signs. Did you receive it? I just sent another one to test how I can contact you directly. I'm asking because I contacted you via the PM function about one or two months ago and never got an answer either.

Cheers, David [[User:D-79|D-79]] 07:48, 22 August 2009 (EDT)

: Well, I did receive your last PM, but the earlier ones I've never seen. Maybey I should clean up my inbox more often? :)
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 06:20, 23 August 2009 (EDT)

You did receive my last PM, as far as I can see. It's the one with the subject "Test PM" and you answered it.

David [[User:D-79|D-79]] 13:26, 23 August 2009 (EDT)

= problem dowloading livreries =
hi Gijs,
i try download the set of livreries for 737 on your website, but the link is broken there.
please make sure the link work.

: Hi!
: The link is indeed broken, but the package has been moved to a new location: http://liveries.flightgear.org/download/Boeing/737-300.zip Please download it from there and let me know if you manage to set it up.
: Btw, please sign your talk messages at the wiki with four tildes (~).
: Cheers, [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 15:07, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

:: ok thank for the new link and sorry for sign --[[User:Lolalilo|Lolalilo]] 18:02, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

== User creation log. ==

Hi Gijs,

I think the wiki is the target of a - quite - massive user creation process via robots:

If you look at the following log : http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php?title=Special%3ALog&type=newusers&user=&page=&year=&month=-1 you will see that a lot of new users never post and have quite the same way of name creation, eg:

* Bucknermcui
* Tristonsheltony
* Marenawilkinso ‎
* Juniorcfarmerl ‎
* Gavynaburnettw ‎
* Morganqmcgowans ‎
* Blancherhermani

I don't have the IP who has been creating this, but for the same day I would probably say it is the same. Maybe it would be usefull to add a Captcha plugin to avoid this kind of creation even if, for the moment, their goal is quite obscure ?

Cheers,
Oliver
: Hi Oliver,
: thanks for the report. I've send an email to Simon (the wiki admin) to install some anti-spam addons ;)
: Cheers,
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 16:40, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
:: Concerning user creation spam, the solution is over here : http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Spam#Captcha !
:: Maybe you would also have to delete the users with no articles written to have things clear.
:: See u in the air, Olivier 14:08, 23 January 2010 (UTC)
::: After a different addon was intalled I never checked if it included the Captcha (which it didn't) :p
::: It does now. And given the fact that we only had one new user (compared to 18 at the same time yesterday) I'd say it works. The wiki admin might delete those accounts as well. Thanks for the help Oliver!
::: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 05:28, 26 January 2011 (EST)
::: PS: Please sign your talk-page messages with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>.

=Wiki issues=
Hi Gijs, happy 2011! I wanted to stop by to point out some issues I noticed on the wiki.
#As pointed out by Oliver, there is a problem with large numbers of unused (spam?) accounts being created.
#There is a problem with many image thumbnails producing a gray screen and the error "Error creating thumbnail: convert: unrecognized option `-set'."
#I want to recommend against the practice of using category pages as articles, such as [:Category:Airbus]. Among other reasons, people can become frustrated when they cannot edit the list.
#<s>The community portal link is broken. It goes to "wiki.flightgear.org:Community portal", but the real page has a capitalized "p", ":Community_'''P'''ortal". </s>
#I am impressed by [[Gallery/2.0.0]]. Perhaps a variation of this can be used for a picture of the day? Since it spreads across languages, maybe just today's date in numbers with an automated screenshot selection.
#Speaking of screenshots, there is a deficit of current screenshots of FG 2.0 (such as of the new clouds/dynamic water). Maybe we could have some sort of a "wiki screenshot upload drive", to boost the amount content available for articles and main page pictures.

Finally, thanks for all your contributions to flightgear and the wiki. Wish you the best in your pursuits. [[User:Fg|Fg]] 15:41, 17 January 2011 (EST)
:Thanks for fixing the community portal! [[User:Fg|Fg]] 15:20, 18 January 2011 (EST)

:: I didn't have the time to write you back yet, so here we go :)
::# We (wiki admin and I) are aware of it. However, I am not the wiki admin (just a moderator), so I cannot install extra levels of security...
::#The same problem comes in here. I prepared a fix, but the admin has to fix it (and apparently he hasn't been online for a while...).
::# I myself do like the "category articles", as they provide an automated list of pages in that category. Manufacturers do not require lengthy articles at our wiki; that's something that should be kept at Wikipedia IMO.
::# That was an easy fix.
::# We had POTD in the past, but it turned out that it isn't that easy to have a unique (and nice) picture each single day. That's why we moved to POTW.
::#I like this idea; we can easily create a topic at the forum to ask people for their support. However, the thumbnail issue should get fixed first!
:: Thanks for your feedback! Cheers, [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 15:28, 18 January 2011 (EST)
::: Roger that, thanks for looking into these issues. [[User:Fg|Fg]] 15:50, 18 January 2011 (EST)

== How do I add a video? ==

Hey Gijs,

I have made a video on how to use the Animated Jetway System, is it possible to add this video onto the FlightGear Wiki Animated Jetways Page?

If so, please tell me how I can do it?

Thanks,
Vin
: Hi Vin,
:# Upload the video to YouTube.
:# Either place the link to the YouTube video in the article, or embed the video via the YouTube tag:
:<code><nowiki>{{#ev:youtube|i2BSUOMyiIg}}
</nowiki></code> where the code should come from your video's YouTube link (the code comes after ?v= in the video url).
: Oh, and please sign your messages to Wiki talk pages with four tildes (~).
:[[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 17:06, 26 March 2011 (EDT)

== What do you mean sign the messages. ==

What do you mean by;

Oh, and please sign your messages to Wiki talk pages with four tildes (~).

???

Oh and I put the videos up on this page;

http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/Howto:_Animated_jetways

Regards,
Vin
: By typing <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> after your replies, we'll see your name, and the date/time at which you posted it. Like this:
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 05:16, 27 March 2011 (EDT)

==Thanks Gijs==
Thanks for doing battle with spammers. [[User:Fg|Fg]] 16:37, 16 April 2011 (EDT)
==Newsletter August 2011==
Hi Gijs. I have scribbled some words on the Wiki updates in the August newsletter. I am unsure how to link, is the newsletter also being distributed by e-mail meaning links should be external? I'd like someone to proofread the two wiki articles I/we made (lear and console) before the newsletter goes locked hence my wording in the newsletter. Pls moderate and if you have time.... proofread perhaps. Thanks!

[[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 07:45, 31 August 2011 (EDT)

: Hi!
: Wiki links should always be handled as "internal". The newsletter is only published at the wiki (though being linked to at various places), so that should be no problem. I'll have a look at your articles and see if there's anything to do for me :)
: Thanks for your contributions!
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 07:49, 31 August 2011 (EDT)

Great! Thanks for the modifications. I have been looking at the cockpit, descriptions and links with other relevant pages. I conclude that the PFD from the citation should be merged (moved over) with the more general PFD. I'll work on that. Cheers!

[[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 15:05, 31 August 2011 (EDT)
==Wiki wishlist==
I was so sure I have seen the wiki wishlist but I can not find it back. Can you pls point me towards it? I'm working on one of the items on that list.

[[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 11:05, 14 September 2011 (EDT)
: You mean [[Special:WantedPages|this one]]? See [[Special:SpecialPages]] for more of such pages.
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 12:53, 14 September 2011 (EDT)

Nope. But you helped me on my way! I's this page: [[Article requests]].
*[[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 13:15, 14 September 2011 (EDT)
==Radio==
done [[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 19:12, 21 September 2011 (EDT)

== Altitude ==

Done [[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 04:26, 8 October 2011 (EDT)

== pls rename/move ==

Tried and tried again, best way to learn is by making mistakes. But since I can't delete articles I now need somebody with some more powers. Pls rename "Template:Nl/Did you know" to "Template:Did you know/nl" (and delete the obsolete redirects) and check if it works on [[Nl/Hoofdpagina]].
*[[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 17:26, 19 October 2011 (EDT)
: There's a nicer solution: put all translations in the same template and let the wiki dynamically select one. Please check it out [[Template:Did you know]] (English, but if you click edit you'll see how it works). We also use this method on the [[Template:News]].
: I'll be in Lelystad throughout the whole weekend... ;)
: [[User:Gijs|Gijs]] 17:55, 19 October 2011 (EDT)
Oh. That looks great! I did a copy/paste of "Template:Nl/Did you know" to my sandbox, you can delete that template. After translating I will transfer it towards the Mixed language version of "Did you know". Can not make promises about Lelystad but I'm trying to come :)
*[[User:PH-JBO|PH-JBO]] 06:50, 20 October 2011 (EDT)

== Sumting to read :) ==

http://www.telegraaf.nl/reiskrant/eropuit/10803778/__Piloot_voor_een_dag__.html?sn=reiskrant

FlightGear Newsletter November 2011

2011-11-12T15:39:00Z

1w36: /* Aircraft of the month */

FlightGear Newsletter November 2011

2011-11-12T15:38:16Z

1w36: /* Suggested flights */