New Free Aircraft In the Works

[J_Will]

I'll try not to make this post too ponderously large, but I've got a few things to announce and I just figured I get it all done at once.

I have been working on some new aircraft for X-plane for a few months now ( I say a few, but it's probably been 6 or 7 months since I first got the creative bug to work on plane for Xplane) and I thought it was about time I introduced myself to the fantastic flight sim community here and let everyone see what I've been working on. I'd love to get some feedback as well as perhaps some answers to some questions that have been plaguing me while trying to get these aircraft finished and flying in the sim.

First and foremost is my RV-4, which is very near completion. However I've been confounded by the complexities of getting a fully 3D panel working and animated in X-plane. For me the easy part is the modeling. Once I started trying to make it all work in the sim, I began to have problems. I've been watching Dan Klues tutorial youtube channel incessantly, but it still doesn't quite make sense to me how the custom gauges and manipulators work. If any of you more left-brain inclined individuals would like to help me with this I would certainly appreciate it.

Next is a detailed rendition of the venerable 1913 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer. The model for this is nearly complete and I also put together a new ACF file in Planemaker for it, but again I have been frustrated by issues. For some odd reason when I test the ACF in X-plane, the second the plane is loaded up on the runway, it flips insanely end over end and crashes. I made sure that all wind or weather of any kind is turned off, but I still get this issue where it flips like a flap jack from just idling on the runway. The only thing I can see that is any different in Planemaker is that there is a Red Dot at the front of the aircraft which is representing the Weight and Balance reference point. Normally this is a black dot.

Lastly I've also been working on an awesome little aircraft known as the Bede-5. It's not a well known or particularly successful aircraft in terms of commercial sales, but it's such a unique little airplane and it has the distinction of being the smallest jet in the world. I'd like to make both an original propeller driven version, circa the 1970's, as well as a modernized jet powered version which I believe can still been seen on the airshow circuit even today.

These will all be offered for free at Xplane.org. I would eventually like to make some Payware aircraft, but only if I feel that I have created a complete package that brings something unique to the Xplane flight sim community.

Thanks for reading!

[Nicola_M]

Welcome. Ah, the Bede. Wasn't that the one in the opening bit of James Bond's Octopussy?

[Gjalp]

Hi J_Will, those are some impressive renders and a real credit to your modelling skills! I would pay for any one of these or all of them if that was the case, I love the Deperdussin, and the Bede 5J (or the prop version....), the J was used in a James Bond film that I saw many years ago.....had Roger Moore in it, quick wee thing. I believe as you say that the J is still doing circuits in the displays.

Anyway, really looking forward to seeing these in the sim and hope you sort out the issues with the Deperdussin flipping.

Slainte.

Andy

Edited August 31, 2011 by Gjalp

[Hampster]

Wow! Those are some really quality aircraft indeed. 'bout time we had a good Vans.

Anticipating to see what you will get up to with theese planes in the future.

hampster

[J_Will]

I actually forgot that it was indeed a BD-5j that Roger Moore (or rather a stunt man) flew through a barn in "Octopussy."It's definitely an interesting aircraft. I will probably do a couple of versions. I'd like to do an original version (warts and all) with an engine from that time period to see if I can capture the challenging and often dangerous low speed flight characteristics and two more modern versions, one with a jet engine and one with a Rotax 582 or something similar.

Thanks for the compliments Gjalp. It's always nice to get positive feedback for my many hours of work. I'm certainly hoping to at least have the RV-4 in the sim soon.

[J_Will]

Thanks very much Hampster.

[Simmo W]

They look nice! That BD5 was featured in one of my first favorite computer games, Microjet? Back in about 1986. For Amiga? That plane's been begging to be done!

Thanks

[Goran_M]

Hi J and welcome to the freeware world.

You might be hard pressed to find someone to spend time with you to help you with your animations. I mentioned in an earlier post somewhere that although Dan's tutorials are valuable, they are a very small stepping stone into the world of aircraft development. There is a LOT that has not been covered. This is by no means meant to discourage you from creating add ons, but it simply is not as easy as some people make it out to be (as has been portrayed in the videos).

I can quickly tell you the problem you are having with the aircraft flipping on the runway. Your CoG is severely off. You need to adjust it in the weight and balance tab.

Hopefully, another developer who has some time can help you with your animations. If I have some time, I wouldn't mind either. At the moment, there is simply too much going on with most, if not all the developers here.

Best of Luck!

[J_Will]

Thanks for the reply Goran. I definitely realize that developing a quality aircraft for Xplane is by no means an easy task. The Saab that I believe you're working on is really turning out fantastic from what I've seen so far. I'm sure that it's been a long road to get to where you are now with the project. I'm probably going to end up getting that one right when it comes out. It's going to be sold at X-aviation is it not? I've purchased almost all of the aircraft available from them so far.

For me the real issue is not having any experience or for that matter, real understanding of programming. I'm actually a professional Motion Graphics Designer, so the artwork isn't a problem. I believe that I have been able to develop a good understanding of much of the technical aspects of X-plane aircraft however. I don't think I would need someone to do a lot of the work for me to finish these aircraft, just some advice and answers to help get over the hump I've been stuck at for a while.

As to the fantastic flipping Deperdussin, the first thing that I looked at was the Weight and Balance tab. Even though I haven't figured out the problem yet, I'm sure that that is where it will be. I moved the C of G back and forth and played with the settings for the range to no avail.

If you do end up with some extra time, I'd certainly appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks!

[Goran_M]

I'll try to find some time to go to the chat section in the forums and I might be able to help out a LITTLE bit with the animations. No promises though. I'm in the middle of a development maze right now but I'll PM you with a time and date if it's at all possible for me to do so.

With regards to the CoG, in Planemaker, press the SPACEBAR to go into wireframe view and look for a very dark dot (there will be a few) but the CoG dot is usually (depending on how you made the flight model) in the center of the aircraft or at the tip of the nose. That's your aircraft center and the middle figure in the CoG section of the weight and balance represents that dot. The other figures will move the aircraft either back and forth or up and down. There are no dots to represent those figures. I honestly cannot think of anything else that will be causing the aircraft to flip like that.

Yes, the Saab will be sold at XA...VERY soon.

[J_Will]

It would be greatly appreciated, but no need to take away from your work. I'm sure when your this close to a major release the hours fly by and you feel like you're computer chair is permanently attached to you after a while. I know what it's like from experience in my own work.

I've attached a couple of screen grabs to show my current Planemaker file for the Deperdussin. All the dots make perfect sense except for that nasty looking red one. I was thinking that it could be the general reference point for the rest to move in relation to, but I have never seen that red dot in any other ACF file that I've looked at.

[Goran_M]

It would be greatly appreciated, but no need to take away from your work. I'm sure when your this close to a major release the hours fly by and you feel like you're computer chair is permanently attached to you after a while. I know what it's like from experience in my own work.

I've attached a couple of screen grabs to show my current Planemaker file for the Deperdussin. All the dots make perfect sense except for that nasty looking red one. I was thinking that it could be the general reference point for the rest to move in relation to, but I have never seen that red dot in any other ACF file that I've looked at.

Just as I thought. Your CG is off. Your default (center) figure should be less than your forward figure and greater than your aft figure. Set your center figure (6.000) to zero and the aft figure to -5.000. Leave the forward figure at 5.000. Then adjust as necessary but don't adjust the default figure (the one you changed to zero).

This is just to start you off and stop the aircraft flipping. You can fine tune later.

[Gjalp]

Hey Simmo W.....the game you are refering to was Acrojet and featured the Bede 5J. It was for the Commodore 64. The reason I know this is that it was my first flight sim I ever bought for my C64, I might even still have it somewhere!!!!

Ah, those were the days, you just done get quality tape loaders anymore

Slainte.

Andy

[Simmo W]

Ah yes, thanks Andy! I played it do death, but avoided those horrible tape drives. I used a floppy drive, but that still took awhile to load.

[Airbus]

J_Will

That red dot may be aircraft panel lighting?

[J_Will]

Goran

Still no luck with solving the issue with the Deperdussin I'm afraid. I tried doing what you had instructed with the C of G, but to no avail. I'm tired of dealing with it for now, so I'm just going to shelve it for a while and work on other things. I remember I did a rough version of a Zenith STOL a while back and it had this very same issue as well. I fixed it somehow, but for the life of me I can't remember what I did.

I'm going to put all of my efforts towards the RV-4 for now. Also, Goran if you ever feel like you need some extra artistic hands to help with your projects, don't hesitate to ask. I'm a professional freelance motion artist. I've been working freelance for nearly 3 years since graduating with a BA in Applied Science for Motion Graphic Arts. I primarily work in Cinema 4D for modeling and animation work, but I've figured out that exporting as an Alias Wavefront object to Blender works quite well. Perhaps if I helped save you some time on your work, we could chat about my RV-4 animations? Just a thought, hope things are going well and we get to see the Saab very soon. I also can't wait for the DC-3 to come out. I realize it's a long way off, but it's exciting to finally see a detailed simulation of the venerable DC-3 finally come to X-Plane.

Airbus

I don't think that it has anything to do with Panel lighting, but I honestly don't know for sure. I still have much to learn about PlaneMaker.

[AADX]

the red dot is, "3d cockpit lighting"

planemaker, viewpoint, int lights.

you have a lamp entered there.

[J_Will]

Ah, yes that was it. I don't have the red dot any more. Thanks!

Still the question of why it flips though. I wonder why it is that when I put the C of G at zero it ends up at the tip of the aircraft. When I opened up another ACF in Planemaker the C of G ends up somewhere near the middle when all of the number fields are zero'd out. I don't know, it's such a pain in the ass. I feel like I'm bursting with ideas that people would love to see in X-Plane, but I'll never get there because I can't seem to slog through figuring out all these technical problems.

[Kieran]

Posting your aircraft here could help, just the .acf and the airfoils if you are using custom ones.

[Pete_SMS]

J, where is you aircraft reference point located? Engine and prop location?

Keep asking and posting. I am pretty sure your technical problems can be solved quickly.

Edited September 4, 2011 by Pete

[J_Will]

Well I've attached the ACF for my deperdussin. Hopefully someone can figure it out, because I sure haven't been able to. Thanks very much for all the help so far everyone.

Deperdussin Monocoque.acf.zip

[Gjalp]

I had a plane do the multi flip thing once......the developer asked me what my number of aircraft setting was, I said 1. He said change it to something higher......from what I remember that worked for me but not sure if it was associated to the aircraft or just me. Sounds weird I know.

Anyone else tried this and it worked?

Slainte,

Andy

NZCH

[Kieran]

I just tried it. I found that the cg was at the front of the aircraft. So set that to something like 5.5 to start with. Also for the rear skid you need to set that in the landing gear window, using the gear type 'skid' I believe that only landing gear normally collide properly with the ground.

Cheers

Kieran

[J_Will]

A quick update on the aircraft I have been working on. They're still on the make, I've just been stymied by the processes of getting the gauges and animations to work in the sim. For me the 3-D art is relatively easy. But I've been having problems figuring out the back end program aspects of building a custom aircraft with a quality 3-D cockpit. How do you get the PNG's set-up properly to drive the gauges? How do you link up the throttle, prop RPM, and ect... animations? I know it has to do with datarefs, but it still doesn't quite click with my right brained mind.

All it would take is knowing how to make one custom gauge, and I'm sure I could figure out to do the others. Same goes for the animations. If anyone would like to take a little time to help me via email or chat, it would be very much appreciated. I've gone through Dan Klues tutorials on Youtube more than a few times, but there's information that's either missing or a few in between steps that are needed for me to finish the aircraft.

If anyone could help it would be much appreciated. Thanks!