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Between getting the Saab finished, making some Rolls Royce engines and trying to deal with a ridiculous case of hayfever, I finally got my hands on some nice photos of a DC-3. This weekend, I try to get access to it at the airport. Theo called me a name again and Cameron thinks I've gone completely nuts. Definitely looking at a Pre-Christmas finish.

And here is a release I'm personnaly looking forward to :-) (ok, I MIGHT be partial) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3OiVqVWYgg

Ask the ebay seller. they are the only one that can specify what they are selling, exactly. personally, I would recommend against buying software on ebay. just too much potential for scams. buy x-plane from x-plane.com or x-plane.org. at http://www.x-plane.com/pg_store.html ; it's only $29 I suspect you have the demo already, but in case ; http://www.x-plane.com/pg_downloads.html

36 hours of nearly constant work has produced this. I went for a slightly worn look, not too scratched but distinctively worn. As always, comments are always welcome!

We always welcome comments on what we make. Regardless if they are negative, positive or constructive criticisms. The photo I based the floats from is: It was the best one I could find that was as side on as possible. I did have 2 diagrams of the aircraft with the floats but for the life of me, can't find them on my computer. The diagrams were NOT identical to the photo. Diagrams rarely are...so I just did the best I could with what I found and combined both the diagrams and photos into the final model. I found a few photos with the DC-3 on floats and each one looked slightly different. Was it the angle? Possibly. I learned a long time ago, when modelling landing gear, model them fully extended or fully compressed. Easier to animate that way. I choose fully extended so I can add more detail and also because it's easier for Theo to bake and texture the entire gear assembly. As you can see in the photo I worked from, the entire aircraft looks almost perfectly level. This is the one I wanted to work from because when I model in 3D, I need to have everything aligned on each Global axis. The Global axis is simply the main X, Y and Z axis in whatever 3D app we use. Once the model is complete and textured, THEN I can tilt it to it's correct position and export it and let x plane do the rest. If I worked from a lot more photos, it would be impossible to model everything accurately because there are many factors that affect the appearance of the aircraft on the floats. Metal fatigue, company adjustments, customization, weight. Who knows what else. With the photos you provided, the aircraft looks as if it is under load. Because of this, the main wheels take most of the weight and the aircraft leans back slightly because there is not as much weight on the front wheels. If you look at the photo I provided, you can see a very slight tilt towards the back of the fuselage, but the floats still tend upwards towards the rear and if you look at the overall shape of the float, there is a very slight dip in the center. Compare the photo above to the Blender screenshots I just took and notice that same slight dip (minus the main wheels...I'll be having words with Theo as to where they are because these are UV mapped versions). If I had the main wheels in Blender while in the side view, you would be able to see they are at a higher level than the front wheels, therefore, the aircraft, while on the ground, would tilt towards the rear and with the correct animation, the load would lean the entire aircraft further back. I will scrutinize the front wheels a bit more and double check the size. Changing the thickness is very easy and in all honesty, if I didn't pick it up, Theo or Cameron would have. (Cameron is ruthless when it comes to final quality and he checks EVERYTHING.) Like I said, I really don't mind the picking of details, but I am almost 100% certain what you are pointing out would have been picked up somewhere down the production line.

XPUIPC is a plugin designed to emulate the FSUIPC interface. http://www.tosi-online.de/XPUIPC.html I name this as a best of the best because of the number of applications it opens up including, but in no way limited to: FlightSim Commander - Excellent flight planning and moving map tool (note you'll need MSFS to grab an airport database from) http://www.fscommander.com/ Project Magenta (Home cockpit building) http://www.projectmagenta.com/ Blackbox Flight Logger FLight logger and Google Earth mapper http://www.utr-online.com/blackbox FSXpand External Instruments http://cockpitsolutions.com/ Virtual Airline Flight Loggers (Including my main VA - Euroharmony)