BobSeaman

More than likely, your deck height is wrong in your Arrcab ArrestorCables.dat file.

There are several reasons why this may have happened, so fixing it may be tricky.

Your altimeter is a help, but you'll also need to find some variables in an aircraft.cfg file to get an accurate deck height on your carrier.

Basically, make sure you zero out your altimeter (B key) and place your plane on the deck. Read your altimeter setting. This is easier if your altimeter has a "hover spot" where a numeric altitude is displayed. Write this number down, you aren't finished yet.

Open the aircraft.cfg file for the plane you just used. You need two numbers, the vertical part of your EYEPOINT and the height of the nose gear in the [contact points] section. Add these two numbers together to get the true height of your altimeter.

Now, go back to the altitude you measured on the flight deck. That number minus your true altimeter height should be the deck height of your carrier.

Now, you'll need to open your ArrestorCables.dat file in Notepad. You should see text that looks like this:

[Zone02]

CarrierIdent=CVN-74 near San Diego

FrontRightCornerLat = 32.617205

FrontRightCornerLon = -117.170786

FrontLeftCornerLat = 32.616998

FrontLeftCornerLon = -117.170812

BackLeftCornerLat = 32.61692

BackLeftCornerLon = -117.170518

BackRightCornerLat = 32.617180

BackRightCornerLon = -117.170488

DeckAltInFeet = 72.00

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet = 2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag = 264

Make sure the deck height you calculated matches your carrier's data in that .dat file. Most aircraft carriers in FS should have a deck height between 68 to 75 feet.

You may also be having issues with Arrcab itself, or with your install of FSUIPC. Unfortunately, both of these programs are no longer supported for FS2002.

Good luck. :)

Robin, I think its safe to say that there are a LOT people between here and SOH who are pulling for you. :)

Get well soon and if you get a little bored, feel free to post some pics of the new project. :D

Bob

The other reason is that the original SDK tools for FS2002 and FS2004 did not include this capability without command line processing (a pain). It took our community to create the GUI utilities to make this convenient, and that took time

I was hoping you'd jump on this one. :D

I started out helping folks understand what was going on in the Apollo Aircraft Factory manual, which was translated from technical German to English. :rolleyes:

Eventually, I found FFDS and Paul wanted me to be the "jack of all trades" guy but I had the most fun brainstorming what was going on inside the .air file with Sam Chin.

"Glue? What the #### is glue??" :confused:

Well, as I recall, there were several reasons why VCs were a pain to include in any aircraft.

By the time FS98 and FS2K rolled out, you could find how to design one in the SDK. There were more limitations back then, you had to use very simple gauges and you didn't want to include too many unless you wanted to see your frame rate plummet. Most VCs at that time were more of a novelty, a kind of demonstration of what was possible. The coding was also VERY complicated, so only the true die-hard designers would try it -folks like Bill Lyons and Dennis Simanaitis would goof around with adding them but the VCs were, again, more of an oddity.

FS2002 and FS2004 were more suited to virtual cockpits, the default aircraft included VCs. That didn't make adding them to a freeware project any easier, though. A lot of this is due to how the sim displays .MDL files (convex and concave parts) and how you define which parts are visible. The programs the freeware designers used took some time to catch up, so a lot of this stuff came down to trial and error.

So, the short answer to the question is that they were complicated. Very, VERY complicated. :rolleyes:

https://www.pcaviator.com/store/home.php?cat=606

Just be aware, VRS no longer supports this version and its pretty pricey.

You will most likely have issues getting it installed and I don't think you'll be able to get it registered.

There are many issues in terms of support and running on a modern OS, even if you get all of that resolved- the VRS plane requires you to remap your flight controls. :eek:

There is no way I'm recommending that you buy it, I just understand having that un-scratchable itch. :pilot:

All you will be really doing is taking two 20 dollar bills and setting them on fire.

While the KBT (freeware) Superbug has MDL and texture issues, you can fly it. :cool:

There may be a fix on the VRS Superbug forums: http://forums.vrsimulations.com/forums/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1810

Just for laughs I tried loading the Bug again. Sometimes it pays to keep aircraft installed. :p

Its working now, after something like 8 months. :confused: I don't know if this was something that got fixed during a Win update or if VRS checked their old registrations?

I'm still not in a hurry to remap my stick and keyboard and the Bug is a bit of a procedural nightmare :eek: but I did manage to do some shots and traps off a carrier after I got the feel for the inputs.

Still not recommended unless you run the correct home cockpit and big $$$ controllers (you'll want a DCS grade HOTAS and stick). There's too much finger dancing when you're in the pattern for my tastes. :p

Hands down, it would be the VRS Super Bug for FS9 (F/A-18E).

I finally found a web store where I could buy the software (which I'm not going to list, just check the title of this thread) and I knew it was going to be an uphill battle. :rolleyes:

The Super Bug is supposed to be a stand-alone aircraft in FS9 as it is (you're supposed to reconfigure your keyboard and joystick inputs from the start), the separate load and config program had Win 10 sending me "Gee Dave, I don't know about this?" messages and I finally just gave up.

The aircraft looks great. You can get through a limited start-up and the sounds are very convincing, you'll just never get the flight controls to do much of anything. :confused: You can take a similar aircraft up to altitude then switch over to the VRS Hornet and it will drop like a brick as the engines spool down. :p

Still, I was able to borrow the main sound folder for the KBT Super Hornet and while its limited, it works really well. :cool:

VRS also supplied a full set of voice pack callsigns you can add as needed.

Otherwise, stay away and fly the KBT version if you really need a Super Hornet. :pilot:

I just uploaded IRIS_FS9_F14AB_Glass_and_Slime.zip for the IRIS F-14A and B Tomcat for FS2004.

These are simple texture edits to add a darker green or blue tinted center windshield panel plus some "toned down" formation light panels with a little blue/teal color.

Read the README file for install directions, its pretty simple but check out the new textures on ONE aircraft, first.

Any questions or comments should be posted in this thread.

You've been warned..

:cool:

While the carrier scenery in Abby's Flight Deck 4 has its own catapult and arrestor gear built in, it only seems to be available if you use the included flights.

To do catapults and traps in all modes using Arrcab 2.6, add the following entries to your ArrestorCables.dat file:

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-76 Bengal AC20

FrontRightCornerLat=21.594807

FrontRightCornerLon=90.438139

FrontLeftCornerLat=21.594831

FrontLeftCornerLon=90.438315

BackLeftCornerLat=21.595158

BackLeftCornerLon=90.438262

BackRightCornerLat=21.595135

BackRightCornerLon=90.438086

DeckAltInFeet=70.9

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=172

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-76 SD AC21

FrontRightCornerLat=32.615470

FrontRightCornerLon=-117.341199

FrontLeftCornerLat=32.615496

FrontLeftCornerLon=-117.340989

BackLeftCornerLat=32.615824

BackLeftCornerLon=-117.341065

BackRightCornerLat=32.615799

BackRightCornerLon=-117.341258

DeckAltInFeet=70.9

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=158

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-76 SCS AC22

FrontRightCornerLat=20.253141

FrontRightCornerLon=114.114297

FrontLeftCornerLat=20.253165

FrontLeftCornerLon=114.1144471

BackLeftCornerLat=20.253493

BackLeftCornerLon=114.114424

BackRightCornerLat=20.253464

BackRightCornerLon=114.114250

DeckAltInFeet=70.9

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=173

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-76 Greece AC23

FrontRightCornerLat=38.297476

FrontRightCornerLon=25.257798

FrontLeftCornerLat=38.297501

FrontLeftCornerLon=25.258006

BackLeftCornerLat=38.297826

BackLeftCornerLon=25.257942

BackRightCornerLat=38.297806

BackRightCornerLon=25.257734

DeckAltInFeet=70.9

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=169

Highlight and Copy the four zones above, making sure to change the XX to the next sequence of numbers.

ex., [Zone35], [Zone36], [Zone37] and [Zone38].

To edit Arrcab's dat file, make sure you right-click the file and use the Open With Notepad option.

Trap zones are based on the tail hook of an F/A-18C touching the wires and the centers of the two wide white lines on the deck.

While the zones are fairly "tight", the width gives you a little wiggle room for cross wind landings. :pilot:

I just uploaded us_navy_f-18_pilots.zip for the good old Dean Reimer/Aerialfoundry F/A-18 C and D models.

These are various texture edits for the pilot and helmet.

Uniforms have the correct squadron patch for the stock aircraft plus many of the available texture downloads. Helmets are a mix of the stock "tactical gray" and fancy CAG/Cruise schemes.

Plus some other odds and ends to make your Hornet more of a joy.

Any questions, post them here. :)

No issues with Windows 11 at all, FS2004 & P3Dv4.5 working well.

Z; check your PMs. :)

Well, it should go without saying but before you clone your drive, make sure its working to your standards. There's no point to cloning software that keeps crashing. The point being, do your back-ups before you need it.

Likewise, when you clone your drive can depend on several things. For instance, you like your current install of FS but its getting cramped (I'm pretty sure most of us have long-term installs that resemble virtual junk yards full of old planes, gauges, scenery, and AI) so you're thinking of starting over with a clean install. Now would be a good time to clone the entire drive. :pilot: You already know it all works, you're just getting tired of how you set it up.

Down the road, you may want some of those old files or you'll forget how something (mostly scenery) was set up or else there will be a download you just can't find anymore. With a cloned drive of old stuff, that's no longer an issue. :cool:

On the other hand, you could clone your drive, delete FS and then re-install on the new drive. While you're at it, you could also dump most of the stuff in your downloads folder so it doesn't take 10 minutes to find a file you just downloaded. :rolleyes: Trust me, we've all been there. :cool:

Your CPU really doesn't care if its talking to the old drive or the new clone, so take advantage of that.

Knowing M$ back in 2003, yeah. They are probably write protected. ;)

Try looking for FS9 on Amazon and EBay, I got my disks a couple of years ago and they even came in the metal box set. :cool:

Another option is to clone your entire drive onto a new HD or SSD and just use it as bulk storage or swap the drive out in case the Zombies attack the old one. I've had no problems swapping drives and its a pretty cheap form of back-up.

In the end, you have to ask yourself if saving 5 bucks is worth $200 of your time and effort. ;)

I downloaded a repaint of Prototype #3, which also happened to work with the -B model as well.

 

I wish IRIS had included a Model with two tanks, an AIM-9 and an ACMI pod for NFWS use!

 

Alan :pilot:

I wish they had included some additional models for F-14B. :D

If you're talking about an NSAWC F-14 flying out of NAS Fallon, remember that the F-14 already had some long legs without the tanks and they would have to drop them (somewhere over central Nevada), anyway, before calling "Fight's On". ;)

Same deal for Topgun out of NAS Mirarmar and the Adversary squadrons out of Oceana, Texas, and Key West. If you already have the home-field advantage, you may as well keep the plane as slick as possible.

Which sounds confusing when you consider that the whole point of adversary/dis-similar combat tactics is to teach the folks on the Blue team how to win the fight. :confused: Just recall, those folks had a cool job but a tight budget. ;)

Awesome fix, Bob! ;)

Do I post any other kind? :cool:

This aircraft has a slew of great re-paints available for FS9 and FSX. Some of the later repaints feature fancy helmets and uni patches for the pilots.bmp file (Tomcat flight crews, it seems, were exempted from wearing the "tactical gray" helmets and visor shields). Just be careful with the FSX repaints in FS9. Check before you download, if the zip file contains DDS textures you really can't use them. Some of the early FSX repaints will contain BMP files however, FS will crash when you try to load the plane. To fix this, you'll need to load the textures in Martin Wright's DXT2BMP program and convert the DXT5 textures to DXT3 format.

To check out the repaints available for this plane, search here, Avsim, and SOH using "tomcat IRIS" or "f-14 IRIS", do NOT limit yourself to FS9 only- keep the "sim" part of the search empty and see what shows up. :pilot:

I found a whole squadron's worth of repaints for VF-154 (the Black Knights) and combined the helmets from that download with the "rising sun" visor shield from a VF-111 download to produce a cool custom helmet for my aircrew. :cool: I remember VF-154 from when I was homeported in Japan and they were based at Atsugi and the USS Kitty Hawk.

This wasn't that hard. While it can be tough to edit re-painted DXT textures without having them "blow up", I used another program called FS Repaint (from Abacus but also still available from the program's author) to cut and paste the helmet visor from the VF-111 texture to the VF-154 texture and it worked great.

The other day I was goofing around with the (freeware) IRIS F-14A* and I finally noticed something.

The AOA indexer (the carrot meatball carrot indicator) didn't work in the 2D or virtual cockpit view. :confused:

I was planning to make some panel mods anyway for a dedicated TARPS Pod panel, so I jump into the panel folder and check out the panel.cfg.

What I see is this:

[Window00]

file=vfr_window.bmp

file_1024=vfr_window.bmp

size_mm=1024

window_size_ratio=1.000

position=7

visible=1

ident=0

window_size= 1.000, 1.000

window_pos= 0.000, 0.000

gauge00=F-14_Tomcat!HUD Night, 401,244,219,219

//gauge01=F-14_Tomcat!AOA, 298,438,17,43

gauge02=F-14_Tomcat!Nav1, 736,696,52,10

OK, so I found the indexer but its turned off using the "//" trick.

I remove the "//" and check out the plane in FS. Its the older (FS) style indexer that shows vert speed but not necessarily AOA, but its close enough. :pilot:

I go back to the .cfg file and check to see if they did the same thing for the virtual cockpit, this can get tricky due to how virtual cockpits get made. No luck, it was never included for the virtual cockpit. Adding the indexer at this point can get tricky. Unless you know the folks who put the cockpit together in the first place, you almost have to play Detective and figure out what they were trying to do. :confused:

But, you have to start somewhere so I look at the .cfg file and notice that the virtual cockpit is actually kinda simple in its layout. The virtual cockpit is mostly composed of gauges on one BMP with separate windows for the CRTs. Next, I load the BMP files in the panel folder into my graphics program to check them out. Sure enough, its tough to make out but I see the outlines of the indexer in the main BMP for the virtual cockpit. :cool: I note the X and Y co-ords plus the width and height and add a new line to the panel.cfg then fire up FS to see how "off" I was.

I love it when I hit something on the first try. :cool:

To add the indexer to the virtual cockpit, add the following line to your panel.cfg:

In [Vcockpit01] at the bottom add

gauge55=F-14_Tomcat!IRIS Clock US, 846,445,65,65

gauge56=F-14_Tomcat!IRIS Elevator Trim US, 404,728,81,81

gauge57=F-14_Tomcat!CRS Knob, 535,372,24,24

gauge58=F-14_Tomcat!HDG Knob, 455,371,24,24

gauge59=F-14_Tomcat!AOA, 32,718,22,47

and you're done. :cool:

I don't know why IRIS missed adding the indexer, this was a "legacy" download when they shifted to FSX and DCS. :confused:

I've been flying the plane for several hours and can't find any issues or gauge "ghosting". It just works.

*- The freeware IRIS F-14 for FS9 installer is still available from sites like Sim Out House.

No, everything else is fine. I used the non-traditional install location of C:/FS9 but things start normally and its only those carriers that cause the odd shut-down issue.

If you need any wire locations for Arrcab or the other trapping software/gauges just post and I'll see it. :cool:

One carrier I almost forgot about with an odd issue you might want to experience, find the USS Kitty Hawk for FS2000 by the CORAL team. It installed with some minor deck crew hassles and it is much older software but at least it installs. I figured out the cable zone and the deck height and was happily snagging wires south of Tokyo but then the wires stopped working. :confused:

Turned out that I had updated the weather and the wind direction changed. :eek: The carrier and its escorts always face into the wind but the deck goodies and the ILS don't. :D

Hans; Thanks for taking a look at it. :pilot:

I'm closing in on 50 "trap" zones for Arrcab (carriers plus the NOLF zones near Norfolk and one at NAS Fallon) and I think I'm getting close to some upper limits. ;)

I'm on the fence at the moment if I'll add the two zones for NAS LeMoore. :confused:

I have the MAIW LeMoore package installed and its tempting to add them but I always thought of LeMoore more as a strike training base vs a place to work on carrier quals.

With the Italian Carriers, if it becomes a problem I can always leave the scenery installed but de-activate it in my scenery.cfg file. :cool:

What happens is if FS uses the Italian carriers, when I shut it down the sim will restart. When I shut it down again its fine and stays shut down. Again, not a super big deal if the scenery loads in FS.

Meanwhile, I was able to snag a copy of Abby's Flight Deck 5 on EBay :cool:. It isn't ground breaking by FSX or even FS9 standards, but hey, any carrier is a good carrier. :pilot:

If you have FD5 sitting in a closet somewhere, I plotted and tested the cable locations for Arrcab2.6 (any version of Arrcab, really) and verified that everything works.

Just highlite, copy, and add the following to your Arrcab Arrestor Cables.dat file:

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-78 in the Indian Ocean

FrontRightCornerLat=17.349709

FrontRightCornerLon=86.642003

FrontLeftCornerLat=17.349548

FrontLeftCornerLon=86.641747

BackLeftCornerLat=17.349333

BackLeftCornerLon=86.641789

BackRightCornerLat=17.349342

BackRightCornerLon=86.642036

DeckAltInFeet=67.0

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=350

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-78 in the English Channel

FrontRightCornerLat=51.073859

FrontRightCornerLon=1.492305

FrontLeftCornerLat=51.073854

FrontLeftCornerLon=1.491916

BackLeftCornerLat=51.073496

BackLeftCornerLon=1.491968

BackRightCornerLat=51.073570

BackRightCornerLon=1.492347

DeckAltInFeet=67.0

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=350

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-78 off San Diego

FrontRightCornerLat=32.609242

FrontRightCornerLon=-117.685582

FrontLeftCornerLat=32.609183

FrontLeftCornerLon=-117.685848

BackLeftCornerLat=32.608865

BackLeftCornerLon=-117.685803

BackRightCornerLat=32.608895

BackRightCornerLon=-117.685482

DeckAltInFeet=67.0

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=350

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-78 in the Persian Gulf

FrontRightCornerLat=29.849160

FrontRightCornerLon=48.736147

FrontLeftCornerLat=29.849128

FrontLeftCornerLon=48.735887

BackLeftCornerLat=29.848817

BackLeftCornerLon=48.735947

BackRightCornerLat=29.848863

BackRightCornerLon=48.736249

DeckAltInFeet=67.0

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=350

[ZoneXX]

CarrierIdent=CVN-73 off Pearl Harbor

FrontRightCornerLat=21.166279

FrontRightCornerLon=-157.958717

FrontLeftCornerLat=21.166137

FrontLeftCornerLon=-157.958968

BackLeftCornerLat=21.165949

BackLeftCornerLon=-157.958956

BackRightCornerLat=21.165980

BackRightCornerLon=-157.958734

DeckAltInFeet=67.0

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.4

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=350

Same numbering convention as before, change XX to the next number in your .dat file and only use Notepad to edit the .dat. Wire locations were verified using Nav.exe and were based on slewing a helo around the deck and setting the main rotor directly above the deck pulleys.

Now, go catch a 3 wire. :D

Well, that turned out to be an easy fix. :cool:

I downloaded and ran DXTFixerX v2.3 and the wind.bmp texture was the culprit. :D

UPDATE:

Or, maybe not. :rolleyes:

I just tried some shots and traps and the restart-after-shutdown problem is back. To be fair, I have a LOT of scenery loaded so I'll just keep playing around with it and see if anything turns up. :pilot:

Oh, almost forgot:

I'm using Arrcab2.6 for my cables. If you are using the Italian Carriers and Arrcab combo in FS2004, here are the entries you'll need to add to your Arrestor Cables.dat file-

[Zone38]

CarrierIdent=CVN68 in Naples Gulf

FrontRightCornerLat=40.752033

FrontRightCornerLon=14.122124

FrontLeftCornerLat=40.752035

FrontLeftCornerLon=14.121804

BackLeftCornerLat=40.751656

BackLeftCornerLon=14.121792

BackRightCornerLat=40.751653

BackRightCornerLon=14.122119

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=360

DeckAltInFeet=92

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.8

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=360

[Zone39]

CarrierIdent=CVN68 - Cagliari

FrontRightCornerLat=38.553413

FrontRightCornerLon=8.940600

FrontLeftCornerLat=38.553307

FrontLeftCornerLon=8.940877

BackLeftCornerLat=38.552921

BackLeftCornerLon=8.940636

BackRightCornerLat=38.553028

BackRightCornerLon=8.940358

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=206

DeckAltInFeet=92

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.8

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=92

[Zone40]

CarrierIdent=CVN68 - Adriatic Sea

FrontRightCornerLat=41.991694

FrontRightCornerLon=17.515992

FrontLeftCornerLat=41.991484

FrontLeftCornerLon=17.516099

BackLeftCornerLat=41.991518

BackLeftCornerLon=17.516537

BackRightCornerLat=41.991727

BackRightCornerLon=17.516500

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=262

DeckAltInFeet=92

CableCatchZoneHeightInFeet=2.8

RunwayHeadingInDegreesMag=263

I've kept the Zone## s intact for trouble shooting. If you want to add them to your Arrcab dat file, MAKE SURE you open the file with Notepad and change the Zone ## sequence as needed.

I've installed the three carriers around southern Italy from ico_v1.zip by Enzo Calcagni and noticed the FS2004 restart-after-shutdown problem. I also installed the fix files found in icopat10.zip and removed the ai flatten files (another download)for ai traffic and FS will still restart if it loads the scenery files. :confused:

I'm running Win10, 64 bit, but this shouldn't matter. Anyone else remember having this problem? :confused: It isn't a deal-breaker on keeping this scenery installed, but I'd like to fix the issue. Maybe its a texture issue?

Check for the obvious stuff as well, do you have FSUIPC installed? :confused: Do you have the right libraries set up?

Once I got Object Placer working under Win10, its still really picky when it comes to generating a new BGL, so stick with it.

You mean something like this?:

https://www.avsimrus.com/f/fs2004-aircrafts-40/il-38-32346.html

:cool: