Some comments and ideas

[zkalos]

Hi Devs !
Some comments, questions or wishes for the future of this project.
Why can't I check the oil level when the engine's starboard-side cover is removed and I  click on the oil-cap ? Nothing happen then.
The sound of wheel-rolling (crackling, bouncing effect) is very disturbingly loud to me, and this effect is such as the wheels are rolling on stones even if they were rolling on grass or asphalt. It's like on the original plane ? It would be better to have a quieter, more neutral effect, I think.
It would be nice to see some smoke or flame from the exhaust if possible, if we have already a nice effect like oil is dripping from the engine.
And it would be a good option in terms of volume and sound effects if I can choose to fly with or without wearing a helmet, as is the case with all A2A aircrafts. It would improve a lot in life fidelity. And lastly it would be good some rain effect on the windshield, because I didn't see it.
Maybe I want a little too much ?
Despite all this, Thank You for this great simulation ! I think there are very few bugs in the first release compared to other developers.

[Uncle Jack Simulations]

Hey there zkalos!

Yes, you should be able to remove the oil cap with the right cowling removed, so rest assured i will look into this phenomenom closely.

The sounds of the aircraft's wheels rolling through paved or unpaved surfaces do change a little bit, and since the floor panel is close to the ground, rocks and shock absorption from the tailwheel do make quite some noise! In fact, if you taxi with the flight stick pulled towards you, you'll even be able to hear the constant contact sound that the tailwheel mechanism makes when being forcefully dragged across the ground.

About smoke and flames: I implemented a custom smoke system on startup, actually! When you start the engine, the amount of smoke the engine will produce is directly linked to the residual oil that makes it through to the cylinders. This depends on wether or not the engine is warm, and how long it has passed since the last flight. After startup, it's no common for the engine to smoke, or release flames. There are videos showing some flames coming out of the exhaust, but i investigated and found out they were using experimental fuel on the Ranger. The original type of fuel that is recommended by the manufacturer does not produce such effect (which i wish it did, because i wanted an excuse to model this, too!).

I totally agree there could be an option for wearing a helmet or not, which would muffle the sounds. This will probably be implemented in the near future!

The same goes for rain effects, both visual and auditory. I decided to not use Librain effects since they are too heavy on performance, so i'm currently developing my own technique for this.

 

Thank you for your kind words and suggestions! I hope this answer was able to give you some comfort.

Respectfully,

Dan.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Uncle Jack Simulations

[Uncle Jack Simulations]

Update: I have just now fixed the issue with the oil cap not being interactable while the cowling is removed. Should ship along the next update!

 

Again, thanks for your report!

Dan.

Edited October 5, 2020 by Uncle Jack Simulations

[zkalos]

Thank You very much for Your answers ! But please at least mute a little bit this rolling sounds if possible, if the other users agree with this naturally. I think in this open cabin plane we can't hear so loud the sound of the wheels, especially in paved or grass surface because of the noisy engine and the strong prop-wind noise. Please correct me if it's not true, because I have never flown an open plane in real life. May be a built-in new volume option ?  I don't know how difficult this development would be ? Or Your new helmet sound option will solve it. 

Kálmán

[zkalos]

I checked the default X-plane  sound options , but it's not change this specific volumes as I found. 

[Cameron]

3 hours ago, zkalos said:

Please correct me if it's not true, because I have never flown an open plane in real life.

You can definitely hear these kinds of sounds in real life!

[speed legend]

Perhaps an option for Wheel covers.

Edited October 12, 2020 by speed legend

[Fizzelle]

For my tuppen'orth. I love those loud sounds!

[mgchrist5]

I just bought the PT-19 last week.  Fantastic plane!  It's not normally the type of machine that I gravitate towards, but it appeared so well crafted that I couldn't resist.  I'll echo some of the suggestions here, as well as perhaps the option for a small avionics/GPS stack.  I appreciate the simplicity of the original panel, but occasionally it's also nice to simulate modern-day ops as well.  Either way, keep up the great work!  Looking forward to whatever you create next....