An Interview With Johan Dees

Conducted By Adam Nardone

Johan Dees is a very well recognised flight dynamics engineer for Phoenix Simulation Software. I was fortunate enough to get talking with Johan one evening and he offered himself for an interview with FlightSim.Com. I saw this as great opportunity to look at the flight simulator world from the perspective of just one person who makes it so special. Johan Dees is probably most famous for his rendition of "the queen of the skies", the Boeing 747. I wanted to find out more about this extraordinary man.

Adam: Johan, you are very well know in the flight simulator world for your excellent flight dynamics, but what got you first interested in flight simulator?

Johan: I started my little adventure with FS5, but was not impressed with the graphics, and let it for what it was, until I saw the world of FS98, and then I was hooked. The big iron jets shined like a star, and in my fantasy I was in the cockpit. The steep learning curve begun with my hunger for information I stumbled on Vectors Q&A, on one of the big flightsim web sites, and learned to know Captain Tarmack. He was an retired 747 captain, and the FDE nightmares begun.

Adam: Before joining Phoenix Simulation Software, what other adventures had you had within the flight simulator world?

Johan: Well, I did do the 747-400 first, and in those days Meljet came up. He asked me if he may use the .air file, which he could, and we teamed up for a while. Then during that time, Hiroshi Igami was making an 747 also, what was considered one of the best rendition of the queen of the skies in those days. I agreed to let him use the .air file, and POSKY was born. In those days I actually found time to fly the FDE's I made, to do serious trips for hours and hours. Now virtually impossible. I miss the my early days of simming.

Adam: Having personal experience of both the Project Open Sky 747 and the 747 from Phoenix Simulation Software, I have flown many hours and constantly marvel at the complexity of them, especially that of the PSS version. How difficult was it to design these dynamics and how long does each project take?

Johan: The dynamics design for the 747 took more than a year. Captain Tarmack, also known as Mel Ott, helped a lot with testing a zillion versions of it. With his patience, and information the base was made. It was very nice to do, and I want to take the opportunity to thank Mel again here. When I was asked to join PSS, the already nice .air file needed some changes to work flawless with the panel, as far flight simulator would let me. So, to answer your question; the 747 was for PSS already made. The second question; on how long each project takes, is of course depending on the project. You can quickly take 6 months for something substantial.

Adam: Johan, what advice would you give to flight simulation enthusiasts that might want to get involved in flight dynamics design?/p>

Johan: For those who want to learn about FDE I can tell you that it helps that you make your favorite airplane first. Find a real world pilot who wants to test now and then your .air file. It doesn't give you all the info, but it helps to get the general feel into the .air file. Also, get your hands on every piece of information possible, and forget all other planes. Never download one until you are satisifed with your own product.

The internet holds almost all information you need, and study the online books of aerodynamica, and ask people who know, like Ron Freimuth. He taught me a lot on the .air files, and I still ask his help now and then on technical issues. The most important thing you need is patience and commitment. Doing 50 ILS approaches in a row isn't amusing any more after the 10th time. Hahaha.

Adam: Commitment, patience and determination are required to design flight dynamics, but what other processes are involved before, during and after the set of flight dynamics have been made?

Johan: During the development you need a good hand picked selection of testers, who are willing to fly the plane only, and not let them be distracted to other planes. They need to fly it as it's their real life job. In this way you get good feedback. They will notice everything then. Those men are hard to find by the way.

My projects actually never end. After you think no more tweaking is needed or can be done, something comes up, like a new FS version which messes it all up. One needs to convert the file to the same standards. So it's an ongoing business!

Adam: In what way was the design of the 747 flight dynamics different or similar to the design of the Airbus collection?

Johan: There isn't much difference, since the laws of aerodynamica are the same. Although with the 747 I needed to make it feel heavier and a little bit more slugish than it is, because one wants to feel this better than flying an Airbus.

The Airbus however, has a much different autoflight system so it's harder to tell who is wrong when a problem arises, the dynamics or the panel. For those who will soon have both packages, they will notice differences, even more because the Airbus is designed for FS2002, which has its own design drawbacks.

Adam: Finally Johan, what plans do you have for the future, do you intend to design more dynamics and if so, what would you like to conquer next?

Johan: My plans for the future are roughly said; an island an island of my own, with a butler, my own floatplane, lots of cash in the bank and a dozen nice tanned women around.

My plans for the future are undetermined. I go with the flow. For PSS, I will continue making dynamics, there will be nice new planes comming up after the Airbus, so I will stay around if you dont mind. However, sometimes it worries me if we can continue the way we did in the past. Flight Simulator gets less open per version, and piracy is everywhere. There might come a day that the effort to make some of the best planes around outweighs the profits, and that will be a sad day if you get my drift.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Johan for his time and effort answering my questions.

Adam Nardone
adam@flightsim.com
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