Goran_M

Just finished a crazy 2 days here. Have a happy Christmas, all. Remember, all diets are off! I should know. I ate enough in the last 2 days to feed a family of 4 for 3 days. Goran

When I was training for my GFPT, and learning procedures for descent, I was told it is very important to "cycle the engines" (push the throttles to full power for about 3 seconds then bringing them back to idle) every 1000 feet while descending to get rid of any ice that can form. It's actually more common than people think. Try it when descending in the Duchess in sim.

In future, could you please supply screenshots with your problems. It's hard to know what is going on when I don't have enough info. Now, to address the problems you are having. I have tried the idling on the ground for at least 5 minutes and the temp gauges did move very slightly, so there is engine heat modelling. They stayed within normal operating temperatures as per the flight manual. I also took it up to FL130 at approx 130kts and temps were also fine. See screenshots. Note the times in my system tray. On the ground... In the air... Fuel Gauges use default Fuel datarefs and they have been coded by the X Plane programmers to show current fuel levels regardless of power. To make them go to zero with the power off would require plug in work. The electrical modelling in x plane is more basic than any developer would like. This includes the way the loadmeter snaps in some cases. ADF has the same issue. These are X Plane issues and can only be changed with plug in work. I will stress, they display accurate readings. I'm not sure why the HSI Gyro is drifting for you. I modelled it to specifically not drift. I tested this also and had no problems with it. I'll have Theo look at the audio panel buttons as that was all his department. The Stormscope is not a weather radar. It will not show cloud the way a weather radar does. Set your weather to extremely heavy thunder, cloud, rain, etc and it will work. Post and Flood lights will be swapped in the next update. I tried a few braking scenarios and the brakes work fine. Are you using regular braking or maximum braking? I will also mention as a small footnote, please do not mess around with the flight model. The temperatures were doing some odd things when I was programming the gauges using x planes datarefs and flight model limits. I got them working accurately but trying to change any figures in the planemaker flight model temperatures will totally screw up the temp gauges in the actual sim. That's why I always tell people, DO NOT ALTER THE FLIGHT MODEL (ACF FILE) ON YOUR OWN IN ANY WAY UNLESS YOU ARE FOLLOWING SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS MADE BY ME. The smallest change you make could have an exponential effect on all other related systems and will make a huge impact in the sim.

I have made a set of instructions for anyone wanting to update the flight model of the Duchess themselves. Keep in mind, this is only a flight model update. All cosmetic updates and turn co ordinator update will be done in the next 2-3 weeks. Any questions, please let me know. To get the instructions, please click HERE

Could you confirm you had all levers on the throttle console fully forward when you recovered from the stall and that carb heat was ON. I just tried 3 power off stalls and could not replicate the problem. However, I did try it with carb heat off and had engine trouble. Turning the carb heat on recovered the engine to normal operating speed. I doubt it is a Duchess bug and I will explain why. When animating the gauges, Blender doesn't recognize the 180° angle. It only recognizes up to 179.999 and then it goes straight to -179.999 and back up to 0. That is Blenders circle and it is a pain to work with. Especially with circular gauges. The way I animated the Tach gauge was positioning both needles at 0 BEFORE adding an armature to it. The armature moves the needle through its animation and also has the dataref attached to it. So both needles were animated in the exact same way using the exact same values, EXCEPT for the part number of the dataref used. They both use the same dataref (same line of code written by the x plane programmer) but part numbers are given (where available) to distinguish between part number (engine number) 1 and part number 2. So eliminating everything and assuming you had all levers fully forward and carb heat on, I would say the problem lies elsewhere. Redline and Blueline indicators on the ASI will be added in the next update.

I'll be looking further into the turn co ordinator issue early next week. There will be a final update sometime in January.

Just looked through the documentation in the POH, my notes from my flying school days and wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_coordinator All co ordinated turns are to take 2 minutes. They are not supposed to be "rushed". It sucks that it's capped, but that's the way it was. I might actually check out if the "plane" stops moving past the 20° mark. If it does keep going (so as to accurately hold the aircraft at a non capped marker point) I'll fix it for the next update.

The hole is most likely a casualty of the last export I did for the cockpit object. Stray mesh. The same thing happened to the overhead lights. Also the "plane" on the HSI glass looks to have been unknowingly moved closer in when I swapped the stormscope and HSI around. There is an update in the works. Flight model has already been worked on. Only minor things need adjusting. I'll fix up these cosmetic issues after the Saab is done.

The turn indicator, from what I remember in the POH, only shows a turn indication and that turn indication only goes up to 20°. The instrument only tells you that you are in a turn. For the angle of turn or any details of the turn, the artificial horizon should be used. I will check into it, though.

Can you provide a screenshot of what exactly you are referring to? http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=359.msg14321#msg14321

Theo and I discussed the progress of the Saab last night. Unfortunately, the Saab will not be ready before Christmas. We want to make sure it is functioning correctly with all problems (that we can find) gone. There are still a few texture issues Theo has to fix (very minor) and manipulators have to be tested. Also, the flight model is proving a little stubborn with fuel flow and reverse thrust. I have stayed up until 530am the last 2 nights trying to sort it out. Reverse thrust is still acting up and fuel flow is WAY too high at max power (but normal at idle). In saying all this, we will almost definitely have it done by the end of the first week of the new year. Theo is slightly more optimistic and is saying end of next week. We're (Theo, Ben, Cameron and myself) very happy with how it looks and how it's functioning. Just these last few little niggles and it's finished. Goran

I'll try to answer both your last posts as best I can. You will be hard pressed to find someone to look for hi res images of the cockpit. Your best bet would be to obtain an FCOM or operations manual which would have the panel in there. Unfortunately, these manuals cost money. If you cannot afford the manuals, just google the hell out of it and see what you can come up with. Just to give you an idea, I spent $180 on a bunch of 747-200 panel diagrams and I also bought 3 Boeing manuals at a cost of between $30 and $160 each. The order in which you model is entirely up to you. I can tell you the wings are not as easy as most people think. You need a cut away of the airfoil shape to model against and then you need to cut it up for the spoilers and flaps. Keep going on easier objects. Also, you have a LOT of sharp edges on your objects. I'm not sure if that's the look you're after but it will look better if it had rounded edges.

Excellent. Glad you got it suited to your liking. Enjoy. Goran

Theo, who is doing the panel regions for the Sundowner, is flat out finishing the panel regions of the saab at the moment. Once the Saab is finished, the Sundowner update will be done in about 2-3 weeks after the Saab. We appreciate the patience.

Once you're in "panning" view in x plane, press Q or E. That stops the panning and locks your view to where you last were. Then it is much easier to click what you need to click. To resume panning, press CTRL O again and you can move freely around the cockpit. Goran

I certainly hope so. We'll see what happens.

Looks beautiful! I think there's a few typos on the texture though; the panel between the throttles and the inertial navigation unit say "Climb/Decend", which should be 'descend', and there's a reference to 'alerion' trim on the trim panel at the rear of the pedestal. Yep I know it's WIP... I knew there was a reason I didn't post them a few months ago. But yes, as you say, it's still very early WIP.

CTRL-O to enter VC mode Move the mouse around to look around the cockpit Q or E to stop mouse panning. Q or E again to manually pan left or right respectively PGE UP to move forward PGE DN to move back + or - to zoom in or out left arrow to move left right arrow to move right up arrow to move up down arrow to move down It gets easy once you get the hang of it. CTRL O to get back to 2D mode or simply press W to snap back.

Great to see you're enjoying it. Feel free to leave a review on the X-Aviation web site. ;D If you like the Delco Carousel INS, you're going to love my other project that we're going to continue after the Saab is finished. http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=426.msg14248#msg14248

Found a couple of texture screenshots from Blender that Theo sent me. These were done a few months ago, just not posted.

Thanks. Appreciate the comments. Yes, it will have windows modelled and textured with a transparent texture. It won't be just the VC with the windows either. There will be windows all up and down the sides of the fuselage. We always do the glass last.

The original message I posted here has been deleted. I have sent Dan an email asking him to change his post to not suggest I compensated for the animations in the HSI. The HSI I modelled and animated took about a week (minus the texturing) to make. That includes fixing the 4° misalignment.

Just for you, Steve...

Thanks for your comments re the Duchess. Unfortunately, there is no way to remove the Garmin without the source file for the 3D mesh. I personally don't think the blue is that pronounced. We made it so it was as least distracting as possible.

Nearly there. Manipulators are getting done. We have 10 liveries all up. I'll post those in the next day or two.