Extra views

Views:

In the kneeboard portion of the sim (shift-F10) you can click KEYS and scroll or search box for VIEWS and all the available views will be listed. You can get the same information from the HELP and Learning Center.

F12, then the s key will cycle to the "tower" view which is not always IN or at the exact location of any visual tower object, but is a near ground view near the airport you are closest to. It centers on your aircraft.

Alternatively, you can use the Views Menu to Create a View, select an aircraft, and using the same keys, the tower view will follow that aircraft around. I prefer to use my aircraft's external view and zoom out and slew round looking at the various aircraft.

In the file library you can download various vehicles (which are essentially aircraft with not enough power or lift to fly) that you can "drive" (taxi) around on the ground.

-Pv-

Look in the library for, rosenbauer panther. Its a drivable fire truck.

The keyword drivable should find more. There are jeeps, cars etc.

Use 'advanced search' and tick the checkbox for 'complete aircraft with model, panel, sound.' that makes sure you find drivable vehicles and not just static scenery objects.

You could also put 'objects' in the box that says "don't show files containing keywords: - ". That will also exclude most static objects and help find only drivable ones.

Oh, and don't select 'fsx files only'. Many fs2004 vehicles work fine in fsx.

Drive safe..;)

For the best vehicle, that works in FS9 and FSX (with NO mods required) and which has the radios so you can tune in the tower, is 'bmw_760LI.zip', 1.252 kb, which has had over 9,000 downloads, and is by Hamaguchi ('Hama'). It was made for FS9 but works good in FSX. Throttle is F1 thru F4 keys. Steer with joy (twist=rudder). The sound is alias to the C-182 but delete the sound folder and copy the C-172 sound folder over to your BMW folder and you have better sound.

Crank up the AI to 100% and go to busy airport (KSEA, KSFO, etc) during early day/late evening and hear and watch the 'fireworks' (with engines shut off you can park on the grass between runways and not get 'noticed'). It gets interesting with 2 or 3 747's trying to land at the same time and same runway (ie: 'stacked' hehe).

Chuck B

Napamule

small correction to napamule, filename is: bmw760li.zip

(so without the underscore _ )

I'll give that one a try tomorrow. thanks.

Views:

-Pv-

You, sir, are a lifesaver. I have been struggling to make EZdok work with FSX:SE, without success so far. Then, out of a clear blue sky, here you have the audacity to post clear, concise instructions on handling/creating views within native FSX- stuff I didn't know even after 8 years (on & off) fiddling with FSX. Pasted to Notepad, printed, saved.

Thanks!

Doug

Actually, it may be: rosenbauer panter. (no h in panter). Can't remember and can't look it up now.

It's Rosenbauer Panther with an H, I just found 6 versions of it including one that says it's "for" FSX. Installing it tonight, and thanks for the tip.

Getting back to the tower view. I recalled that there was a post regarding viewing operations from the control tower but couldn't recall the details. I checked and found that I had copied the post and saved it. Here are some pictures from the LAX tower:

Hi,

I neglected to save any info about who posted this but I see "CYVR" and the name Bruce in what I copied. Thanks Bruce!

I tried this in both the disc and Steam versions and it works fine. Here's the info I saved:

I used this at CYVR but it will work anywhere.

1)From main screen of FSX choose Multiplayer

2) Tick the Local Network(lan) and then sign in button, no need for password.

3)Click host a session

4)Tick make this a private session then hit next

5)Select role, you want ATC and select your location, weather you want and time and season

6)Now you hit save flight

7)Name your saved flight (in my case CYVR)

8)Now go to free flight and load option and CYVR

This will put you in the tower with 360 degree view and radar screens etc.

Enjoy

Bruce

Jim F.

il_88pp,

You are correct: no '_' in zip name. Sorry about that.

Jim,

I came back in here to see if I anything new developed (I was at KSFO watching the traffic) and your info 'hit the spot'. Thanks.

But lets not forget that FSRecorder can make a 'tower view' for you and you can then customize it as to position at airport and view elevation (using 'Settings' for tower view). You slew to position, the choose create tower view at present position, then go tweak it in Settings.

Forget the fire truck, get the BMW and save a ton ($$$) on gas (hehe).

Chuck B

Napamule

Thanks hoggydog, for adding it's 'panther'.

Loving the bmw. Lots of torque and very stable. It doesn't spin out, but can still make very tight turns. A joy.

I think i'll add a compass soon. I just got very disoriented cruising through a forest:), hah!!

I've turned a small strip in woodland into a small personal field with a path to a small house on the beach a while ago. Very nice cruising around there in the beamer. Thanks much. Chuck, Go raibh mile maith agat!:cool:

Nothing beats driving a BMW (in my book). I have cfg and air to 'let' it go 120 kts if you are interested (but you should be able to change it yourself). Boosted the brakes, gave it differential braking, added spoiler (for 'hard' braking) and reduced the weight (gross and fuel load (changed from 'left main' to 'Center1' and made it 40 Gals). Hint: don't cut the throttle during a sharp turn as you loose rudder 'effectiveness' and thus will inhibit the handling. Keep some power and use (boosted) braking.

And when I drive I press the '[' (left bracket) key, right click on window and choose 'Top Down' view. Zoom in. reduce size (drag sides) and now you can 'see' ahead about 400 yards, trees or no trees, and comes in handy to 'spot' sharp curves in the road. Click on main window to change 'focus'. Happy trips.

Chuck B

Napamule

Hi chuck,

I always read your posts about air-ed / air-wreench with interest and admiration. I think I even downloaded one of these programs a while ago, but I'm not 100% sure, it could have been something else. It wasn't from this site.

But I removed it again, my AV or antispyware reported "document contains macro's" (which could be innocent, but I didn't want to take the risk.). (again, could have been a different program too.)

Also, your explanations, although tantilising, seemed like it was pretty complex. "change parameter 1530" sounds like there are thousands of items to look at and know about.

But I just had a look at it again. I got air-ed from this site, and opend the bmw air-file. turns out there aren't all that many parameters. param 1530 (1533) is actually just the 70th one and that's pretty much it.

EDIT: oops, I just noticed some sections expand further... ah well, it still looks pretty intuitive. And I found the help files.

No idea what I would want to change yet, but glad I had a look at air-ed.

I'll start re-reading some of your older posts through different eyes. I expect FSDeveloper would be a place to look for info too.

I shouldn't really start new projects now, Half of my EHD is taken up by a hfs+ partition at the moment, storing someone elses data. Because of that my backup routine is slightly hampered, and I should take things slow.

But I'll definitely have a good look.

I've often tried changing flight dynamics by editing the aircraft.cfg file, but it never really leads to anything good. If I make them fly faster they can't slow down to land, and don't stop taxiing at idle. Increasing lift makes the plane fly like a leaf with huge up and down movements. it becomes hard to trim. The more I 'force' things, the worse it gets.

I usually give up after a while, and go back to a older version of the .cfg file. I guess I just never had the patience to do a detailed analysis and do a complete refit.

Same in this case I'm afraid. I don't really need it to drive much faster. But I'll sure have a go at it. Seems like a good exercise that will become more and more usefull.

I'll just duplicate te bmw (different title=) and start hacking away at it now and again, learning as I go.

I've seen you mention a contact points indication program once, and some other usefull tools. I promise to do some reading before I start hacking away.

If I run into trouble I'll be sure to start a thread.

Oh, and thanks for the offer of the 'FDE'(?), I will keep it in mind, but to make sure I really have a go at this, I won't take you up on the offer just yet.

Jammerjonn, Sorry for hijacking your thread a bit. Back over to you. :)

il88pp.

sorry, one more,

because...

done and done! :) (### is your suggestions).

###Boosted the brakes,

--32767 --> 16767 section 1101

###gave it differential braking,

--> aircraft.cfg -->differential_braking_scale = 1.0

###added spoiler (for 'hard' braking) and

-->airfile

327-Bool spoiler avail = 1 (was 0)

spoiler cycle time: 1,0 (seconds) (was 0)

drag coeficient spoiler *2048 = 10000 (was 0)

pitch moment spoilers= 0,100000 (was 0)

--> aircraft.cfg

spoiler_limit = 60.0 //Degrees 737

spoiler_extension_time = 2.0 //Seconds 737

//spoiler_limit=0.0 //Degrees

### reduced the weight

### (gross

[WEIGHT_AND_BALANCE]

max_gross_weight=3500 //4110 //4550 // (pounds)

empty_weight=1200 //1650

###and fuel load (changed from 'left main' to 'Center1' and made it 40 Gals).

-->changed to 'Center1' and made it 60 Gals

title=BMW 760-fast

I'll work at it a bit more, increase braking further, and maybe increase the speed, because that's unchanged so far.

But a first time succes. :) (Had to google a bit for air-ed but was easy to find advice).

Braking definitly feels improved.

pics:

So far so good, thanks much. That was easyer then I had thought.

il88pp

The BMW has a radio (2d popup panel) built in.

In mine I also installed a Compass, and I'm about to install a GPS. (I keep getting lost in the Woods, lol:) )

I got the compass from here:

http://simviation.com/1/browse-FS+Gauges-106-6

I used the most basic version, without installing the updates for it.

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Magnetic Compass gauge with selectable DIGITAL display

Magnetic Compass gauge with selectable DIGITAL display

Zip file preview

0.17Mb (951 downloads)

A Magnetic Compass gauge with selectable DIGITAL display. When you click on the aircraft outline on the compass, it will change to a Digital display of the heading. Instructions are included for installing this gauge as a replacement for the default Compass in FS2004 or as an additional pop-up window on panels which do not presently have a magnetic compass. Please unzip to a temporary folder and follow the illustrated instructions which are provided in .Doc and .Pdf formats. Tested in FS2004 only. Gauge programming by Jim Robinson - packaged by David "Opa" Marshall for your flying enjoyment.

Posted Dec 5, 2010 10:30 by David "Opa" Marshall

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Says FS2004 but is working fine in FSX Acceleration

For the GPS I will just use the default one that is already in fsx acceleration.

The BMW has only 3 gauges installed already, (of which one doesn't work, I think that's a FS2002 gauge perhaps. Those don't work in FSX.)

So it's easy to add more.

You, sir, are a lifesaver. I have been struggling to make EZdok work with FSX:SE, without success so far. Then, out of a clear blue sky, here you have the audacity to post clear, concise instructions on handling/creating views within native FSX- stuff I didn't know even after 8 years (on & off) fiddling with FSX. Pasted to Notepad, printed, saved.

 

Thanks!

Doug

I did that? I had no idea...

-Pv-

"###Boosted the brakes,

--32767 --> 16767 section 1101"

Negative values provide increasing strength to nosewheel and positive increasing strength to rear/main wheels. Zero is balance between the two.

You should be able to stop it cold quickly with values near zero. If not, then the vehicle is over-powered.

For instance, my 160,000 pound SR-71 can be stopped with a value of 7000.

You probably caused more braking problems by reducing the weight which reduces the tire friction.

Hint:

Set the aired value so the thing stops instantly and can hold still when applying power using the PARKING BRAKE.

Next, set the toe brake strength so you get smooth braking power at idle:

[brakes]

toe_brakes_scale=1.0 // highest

One of the problems with trying to simulate the propulsion of vehicles, is there are no direct drive power models in FS. Everything is air driven. This causes problems with slow acceleration and deceleration we do not expect in a car, thus the tendency to over-power it to get the fast acceleration. This over-power also means there is too much idle power.

-Pv-

WOW there's a lot in there!

Raises questions too though. Take your time answering, I have done some more editing since that post, and I'm pretty happy with the way it drives now.

"###Boosted the brakes,

--32767 --> 16767 section 1101"

 

Negative values provide increasing strength to nosewheel and positive increasing strength to rear/main wheels. Zero is balance between the two.

That's very usefull. A question though. I read on many sites: "The value looks to be positive (32767) but is actually Negative! Yo do not see the - sign displayed.

They said: To increase braking, increase the value to a less negative number (16767).

Your explanation makes a lot of sense. But I wonder, what do you mean by negative and positive. Is the Original number I saw (32767) negative according to your explanation. (So 32767 is more strength on the front wheels??)

You should be able to stop it cold quickly with values near zero. If not, then the vehicle is over-powered. For instance, my 160,000 pound SR-71 can be stopped with a value of 7000.

I did did set the value a bit nearer to zero later on, but not by too much. 7000. But I'll make a 3dt version one day and tune it a bit more.

You probably caused more braking problems by reducing the weight which reduces the tire friction.

Yeah. I reduced the weight even more later, but that was a bad idea, the thing started to spin out horribly in the turns, acellerated way to fast, and wouldn't stop. Undid that quickly.

A slightly reduced does seem to help climb the hills.

Hint:

Set the aired value so the thing stops instantly and can hold still when applying power using the PARKING BRAKE.

Next, set the toe brake strength so you get smooth braking power at idle:

[brakes]

toe_brakes_scale=1.0 // highest

I'm assuming you mean use the parking brake parameter to increase brake strength (by much) ?

Then reduce the toe_brakes_scale ?

Is there a seperate parking brake parameter in airED? I couldn't find one.

(toe_brakes_scale was originally set to 1.0 already.)

(I read somewhere to increase braking by setting section 1101- Braking Strength to near zero, then reducing toe_brakes_scale toe brake scale to tune. Is that wht you meant?)

One of the problems with trying to simulate the propulsion of vehicles, is there are no direct drive power models in FS. Everything is air driven. This causes problems with slow acceleration and deceleration we do not expect in a car, thus the tendency to over-power it to get the fast acceleration. This over-power also means there is too much idle power.

 

-Pv-

Yes, it's still an airplane, just looks different, and has no lift area defined:). In this one it does feel like you're driving though. Well made addon.

After what I did to it it now flies up hills, and does 180Mph. Not very realistic anymore.

I have upped the power by increasing thrust_scalar to 1.4 and power scalar to 1.2. Overdid it a bit.

i'm also doing some ADE/EVP things at the moment. But this one is definetly a keeper, so at some point I'll definetly continue working on it.

Thanks pv,

il88pp

Don't worry about my previous questions, I gotr a very drivable car by trial and error. I can't really explain what I did, it's been a while since I did that. But it works for what I want.

-----------------------------------------

I had a new idea, making it flyable.

As you know, the airfile of the BMW is called c172.air. That got me intrigued. I also desired the car could fly at times. 1+1=2

First I replaced the airfile with the one from the real default cessna:

I renamed the BMW's "cessna172.air" to "cessna172.air.orig.bak". to knock it out, but leave me the option of restoreing later. Then I opened the c172 folder, of the real cessna, and copied that "cessna172.air" to the BMW folder.

Then I added the correct aircraft geometry to the BMW:

I opened the BMW's aircraft.cfg and found the aircraft geometry section. I knoced out the complete section by changing

[Aircraft Geometry]

to

//[Aircraft Geometry]

Then I copied the complete [Aircraft geometry] section from the default cessna, and pasted it into the aircraft.cfg file of the BMW. I placed it above the original //[Aircraft Geometry] section.

the result... a flying car.

No altimiter, so you need to keep your wits about you, but a lot of fun.:)

il88pp.

images:

I saved this post below by somebody a while back (sorry can't remember his name), haven't tried it myself yet but am tossing it into this thread for good measure-

MORE ON FSX TOWER

http://cbfsim.co.uk/cbfs_bb/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=17499

Instead of Tower View, you should make use of the new functionality: CameraView, with this you can insert as many views as you want, where ever you want. For example at the end of each runway etc.

No need for a lot of wanna-bee towers, just create a CameraView and name it to your linkings. Voila there you go.

It's all in the SDK.

Quote: 'Negative values provide increasing strength to nosewheel and positive increasing strength to rear/main wheels. Zero is balance between the two.'

Sorry. The NOSE wheel doesn't have any 'braking' (only steering), so how is this even possiible ('balance between the two')? Who told you that? (ie: does not 'compute').

The max positive value is '32767' and the max negative value is '32768'. But the 'toe brake scalar' determines how much of that you 'apply' (ie: 1.000 is 100% and 0.500 is 50%). And the reason to use less than 1.000 would be due to how the MODEL brakes were set when it was created.

With vehicles you need strong braking, but 'braking' (toe brake scalar) alone won't overcome the engine power (static thrust) so you need use the spoiler as a 'tool' to 'slow' you down (ie: emulate braking) to for sharp turns AT HIGH SPEED (100 kts). Otherwise you go straight (due to engine power). The cnt pts steer ratio is rendered mute in high speed turns. So the spoiler DRAG should be high (8000 or more extreme (ie: -1)). AND the spoiler LIFT should be '0' or even '-1.000' (depending on 'a+b+c'...).

So essentially you boost the power, increase the brakiing (agmented with spoiler) and 'muscle' it around curves. I only have 10 years working on vehicle FDEs. Give me another 10 years so I can figure out how to put everything back to 'normal' so we can drive 65 mph and enjoy the trip. (Just kidding-I LIVE FOR SPEED!!!!).

Chuck B

Napamule

EDIT: Sorry jammerjann for highjacking your thread. Views? At high speed (150 kts) they are just a fuzzy blur, so no need for any 'views'? (hehe). Back to you.