Editing Aircraft appearance

[rob22]

Does anybody know of any software where i can change the appearnace of an aircraft (preferable free). What i would like to do is change the T tail on a D0328 JET into a split tail.
Cheers,
Rob.

[drobson]

There are a couple of programs available, one being GMAX and the other FSDS2. However, unless you have the source code from the designer of the aircraft, neither program would do you any good. The shape of the aircraft is built into it when it's designed and the original files would be needed in order to change anything.

Darrell

[rob22]

Thanks for your reply,
That sounds very time consuming i might give that a miss. Would anyone know of an aircraft that is a
1.High wing
2.Two jet engines under the wings
3.Split tail

????
Cheers,
Rob

[moth01]

You wouldn't believe the hours to make a plane from scratch. If you are good, you'd be able to make anything you want. Learning would be difficult, but start simple. Nothing is easy until you Learn.
Do a google.com search for a real world plane like that, then come to the files here and se if someone has modeled it.
Offhand I don't know of any. Why the need for a split tail?
Good luck!
Gary

[rob22]

Hi Gary,
Im a part of a group who have completed a conceptual design of an aircraft as a part of my degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Our aircraft has been designed with a split tail our resoning for this is because a split tail will need less structural reinforcement than a t tail thereby saving weight. We didnt go for a convential because you need to position it either a good bit forward of the vertical stabilizer or a good bit back to avoid the rudder been ineffective during a stall. Also there is a cargo door at the back of our plane. The rest of our plane turned out like a DO328JET.

What i wanted to do is to get a model of a DO328JET and modify it so it looks like our aircraft id then alter the flight dynamics to match the ones we calculated. Id test the aircraft in flight sim and compare the results to the values we obtained theoretically. Its a shame i wont have time to be able to modify the aircrafts tail because that would look brill in our report. Its due up next Friday the 17th of Dec. Thanks for the advise anyway,
Cheers,
Rob.

[moth01]

Hi Rob, Sorry I couldn't help more. If you have designed a plane maybe it was with some kind of CAD program? GMAX is sort of like that.
But to take an existing model may not be possible. Sometimes the source code for a plane may not be available or the original author might not want it altered.
Your idea seems good though for the reasons given. When you gave the type of plane you were looking for the D0 328 came to mind except for the tail.
There is some adjustment of the model as far as 'flight tuning' and the relative drag and lift of the tail and wings, so possibly they could be adjusted to match your specs, without the visual of the tail on the screen. I am no expert on flight tuning and perhaps there would not be enough time to finish before your project is due.
Then even if you modified those parameters (like tail area etc.) they may not reflect the interaction between each other. I think that your project is even more advanced i regards to actual real world performance.
Well sorry my friend, hoipe the project gets you a good review/grading on your group's report.
I wish you luck in the aeronautical field you are persuing, and hope the best for you and your group.
Take care and have a great Holiday Season!
Gary "Rabbitt".