Goran_M

Did you forget to power avionics? =D Things are not always what they seem.

Testing... Testing... And more testing... Modelling it is the easy part. Making it do what you want it to do is the hard part.

While Theo works on textures, I've been doing lots of animations and testing of control surfaces, especially the landing gear. Only the fuselage and tail are textured. I'll throw up some more screenshots in the coming days when I get some more textures from Theo. We're aware of a few "missed spots" so please don't point them out.

Rebuilt it? That's the 3rd one. Fixed the 3rd one until I was happy with it? Lost count. Doing a tube is simple. Making cockpit windows, the nose and especially the interior walls is NOT simple. There were times I would spend up to 6 or 7 hours working on something only to end up deleting it. Easier to re do than fix.

Texturing will be finished in about 2 weeks. CTOT and Autocoarsen (auto feathering on engine failure during takeoff) are coded. A few more things to program then I'll finish up all other animations, including manipulators. As always, feedback welcome.

Already taken care of. I made a toilet. ;D

Bunch of whimps. Who drinks coffee?! I eat coffee beans when I want to stay awake.

Another one. All the necessary modeling is done. Just adding all the little details now. Texturing will take about 2 weeks at most as most of the aircraft is textured. Animations will take about another 2 weeks. Christmas? Very likely.

You'll see more of Gizmo in the Saab. We programmed the CTOT and Autocoarsen with it. Both have been tested and both work nicely. We'll be coding a few more things with it as well.

A bit of the cabin area minus the seats. Slow going lately as most of the work involves Theo doing the plug in work while I finish off modeling the smaller details around the aircraft.

http://www.navigraph.com/www/default.asp

While Theo has been busy coding and making the displays, I've been remodeling quite a bit of the exterior. Engines have been remodeled from scratch, fuselage has been improved and a new wingbox has been modeled, cabin interior has been remodeled and air stairs have been added with an opening door. In case you noticed the missing landing gear, they are in another file.

Very special thanks to T. Kyler for sending me this! A definite must watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meR-dQVrCCo

There are a few different ways to get the correct CG figures. I use a somewhat unorthodox method (using the Duchess original CG figures from the AOM) but it is proven to work and allows me to make adjustments quite easily using a certain calculation method. There is also another reason why I use an unconventional method but that's my little secret. I'll check this. Adjusted. The response time the aircraft has to the controls is actually accurate. But the control deflection time and phase out have been adjusted. Yes, the Duchess is quite a powerful little aircraft. I have a few hours in one and it handles quite well in the climb. I remember doing power-on stalls in the Duchess, and as I pulled back, I would regularly hit a high VS until the stall point. Always remember, small movements and corrections. (I'm quoting my flight instructor. He constantly said that)

Overhead Panel Looking more likely that we'll have it ready for a Pre Christmas release.

Try a reinstall of the aircraft. I tested the lighting and it works fine. I'm a little confused by CG figures being coarse. What problems are you having with the CG? All lettering in the cockpit has been textured on a 2048 x 2048 UV map. It is impossible to get it any clearer from a developers end. Try to increase your Anti Aliasing/Anisotropic filtering in your X Plane settings and see how that goes. Hope this helps. G

If any of you who have bought the Duchess come across anything else that might need fixing after the V1.1 update, please list them here. A couple of things have been fixed already. Engine now goes to full 2700 RPM on the ground with full throttle and brakes applied (as is with all constant speed props) (Thanks to "lis" for the following 2 fixes listed below.) Control Surface deflection adjusted. Added phase-out figures to eliminate "porposing" effect when Autopilot is on and aircraft is at low speeds. The "cobwebs" running between the 2 overhead spotlights will be looked into and fixed. It looks like a corrupted mesh export that was overlooked.

A couple of work in progress display screen captures. The displays you see here are not mapped to the screens yet. That comes later. These displays are made from scratch using the Saab AOM for reference. They have been tested and are working very nicely. Theo will hopefully have them finished in the next few days.

Almost certain it's to do with your installation. Nothing was done to the mesh. All fixes were either flight model or gauge programming. Try a reinstall. EDIT: Just had a look. Very strange. I looked at the raw 3D mesh in Blender and it's fine. In Sim, it's not fine. Never had that happen before. I'll look into it over the next few days.

Maybe we should have a "modeling screenshots" thread in the 3D forums.

Thanks. We've been going hard on the Saab lately. The remodeling of the Sundowner is done. All that is left is the Panel regions and manipulators. However, Theo has been busy texturing a lot of the Saab lately as well as doing the artwork for the display screens. As soon as those are done, he'll start on the Sundowner Panel regions while I continue with gauges, systems and the manual for the Saab. We understand that people are waiting on the Sundowner update, but we want to make sure we cover everything as we don't plan on making anymore patches for the Sundowner unless its needed for V10 compatibility. On top of that, we are pushing hard to get the Saab out pre christmas for V10 and V9.

Love it, Simon! Would have liked to see some daytime flying, though. But you're right, the night lighting is kinda sexy.

When I started flying, I was looking at the instruments more to keep flying straight and level. Using rudder and yoke excessively. The flight instructor told me, "Forget about the instruments when you're flying VFR. Find a point on the horizon and use that as your reference point." If the engine torque is pushing the plane over, use the horizon. If the horizon is tilting, use gentle opposite pressure on the yoke. It can be a pain sometimes, but for aircraft without autopilot, you have to work harder. I know while I was learning the Sundowner, I was resting my hand on the side of the yoke just enough to counteract the torque. This is why it's best to use a yoke for x plane rather than a joystick.

I did a nice flight a few weeks ago. It wasn't big but it was interesting. St Maarten to Saba in the Duchess. FYI, Saba has the shortest runway in the world. Anywhere in the West Indies/Bahamas looks nice. Just my 2c worth.

Its a cold day. The seatbelts are frozen. It's an easy fix. 10 second adjustment. I'll fix it later. Gauge programming and making switches and knobs move is number 1 on my list atm. Still needs to be textured.