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Changes made to C172SP in XP11 to improve View, Flight dynamics, and Ground handling.


flytv1

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Changes made to C172SP G1000 in XP11 v. 11.11 to improve Cockpit / Forward View, Flight dynamics, Ground handling, and Scenery.

 

System tested on: 4.3GHz, 16GB RAM, Nvidia 1080GTX, running in 4K mode.

This tutorial is using the C172 G1000 as a model, but it will improve the scenery and terrain recognition for other aircraft.

Note: Save all the files you may be altering before you do any thing.

 

Cockpit view settings to view L/R wing tips and part of cowl necessary if you want to learn / teach VFR flying.

 

Start Plane Maker.exe found in your X-Plane11 folder. Select from top menu:

 

File>Open>Cessna_172SP_G1000.acf>Open Aircraft

Standard>Viewpoint>Long arm pilot's view point>002.60ft>Lat arm>-000.60ft>vert arm>001.47ft

Exit>Click on X upper right

 

To reduce the tire noise effect / squeal during Taxi and Xwind. Typical in acft 10deg with rudder pedals. Can be reduced further if needed.

Landing Gear>Gear Loc>n-w steering slow and fast>25.0 and 10.0...

 

Increase the friction to reduce the drift in Xwind and increase T.O. distance.

Landing Gear>Gear Data>Landing Gear friction coefficient>rolling co friction>0.200

Exit>Click on X upper right

 

To minimize the abrupt pitch up due to flaps being extended.

Control Geometry>Controls>flap extend and retract time>06.0 and 04.0

Exit>Click on X upper right

 

To reduce the time it takes for trim action on Pitch.

Control Geometry>Trim&Speed>Trim Deflections for aeroplanes>elevator trim full deflection time>12.0 sec.

 

Adjust for tendency to fly Right in straight and level flight. Tested in No wind, at 2710 RPM, 131.5kts, Standard day 1000ft. MSL, and better T.O. behavior.

Control Geometry>Trim&Speed> Trim Deflections for aeroplanes >aileron trim tab adjust 0.005 and >rudder trim tab adjust 0.000.

 

Nose wheel deflection time to minimize the tire noise effect / squeal during Taxi and Xwind.

Control Geometry>Trim&Speed>nosewheel steering full deflection time>1.2 sec.

Exit>Click on X upper right

 

File>Save

File>Quit

 

Calibrate the Joystick and rudder pedal with larger Null zone by moving the controls when asked to keep it centered. This takes some trial and errors to get it right and you will end up with a Large Null zone message that you can ignore.

 

 

Fixing the scratches and smudges on the windows / glass.

I used the DX1bmp Bitmap monitor program and left the Alpha channel alone, and PhotoShop as editor. For the .png files after you modify and send the norm.bmp back to Dx1bmp you should save it as .tga, and after that you can use the PhotoShop or other editors to convert it back to .png.

 

File Location: X: ....\X-Plane 11\Aircraft\Laminar Research\Cessna 172SP

Files involved: "Cessna_172SP_G1000_prop_disc_2.png", I used dark Gray color to fill in the White and Red outer circles to eliminate the nasty red circles from the prop. I left the Alpha untouched.

 

File Location: X: ....\X-Plane 11\Aircraft\Laminar Research\Cessna 172SP\objects\instruments\garmin1000

"G1000_screens.dds" I filled in with Black multiple time to get all the smudges off, and left Alpha alone.

 

File Location: X: ....\X-Plane 11\Aircraft\Laminar Research\Cessna 172SP\objects

"glass_inn.dds" and "glass_out.dds" were a mess and can take a while to fix, but it's worth fixing for better view of the scenery and for your own sanity. The scenery looked like you see it through a dirty glass. The tint and scratches make the scenery / forward view look worse and seeing the scratches is not anything like in the real acft, that you normally see. I just filled in the Alpha and the norm / background, with Black. It takes a while to remove that trash.

 

 

Scenery modifications to give you good day VFR reference view points / ground rferences, Photoscenery using Ortho4XP, and better terrain recognition of hills, valleys, mountains.... using HD mesh, available at many sites for download. You may also want MisterX_Library/ and

/OpenSceneryX

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks. What I really, really need however is a way to stop the c172 pulling so strongly to the left as you execute the take-off roll. It becomes almost uncontrollable. I know that the real a/c does show this to some extent, but left to its own devices, the XP11 c172 ends up going in tight circles. AFAIK though, this is not user fixable?

 

Thanks.

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Hi Martin and everyone.

It is a problem going back to the original XP, as far as I remember, 12-15 years ago, maybe more? and it got better / improved by the end of XP10.xx and started again in XP11.

For better help more info from you is needed since some of the behavior is controller, Settings dependent. Best way to control it is to have / get rudder pedals, but will not fix the inherent design problems, it looks like the person that wrote the code is / may be in charge and feels like it is fine the way it is. Also post in the XPlane. org forum, but it looks like there is no real help there.

Here are some things you can try:

1-In your XP Settings > set all sliders to the right, that would help with some over controlling, especially if you use the Twist as rudder control.

2-In Your Settings when you set Calibration and you are asked to keep controller centered, move it around just a small amount, small circle?, and ignore the Large Null zone message, it may take a few tries to get it where you want.

The more difficult adjustments, and more beneficial, can be achieved in Plane maker, very time consuming, but you can look at Tire friction, Control Geometry> Trim speed > Rudder trim adjust try around 0.005, and Take off trim / ratiothis affects your S&L that you can adjust by using >aileron trim tab adjust.

Many other adjustments are available and you can try them, just do one thing at the time, and in small increments. The problem you can look forward to, is that you may have to re do all these settings in the next ver. release since always seem to change it just enough to force new adjustments.

I am convinced that they do not consider the Light GA to be something they are taking seriously, looking more towards the game user group, proven by the mods to strange smudges, scratches, prop effects, bad ground handling, especially in Xwind... not realizing that most users, start out with the C172, and will be turned off as soon as they try to use it the first time. Special effects on go so far even for game users.

I can give help you more, with specifics, if you post more info about your set up and what you tried.

 

Thanks. What I really, really need however is a way to stop the c172 pulling so strongly to the left as you execute the take-off roll. It becomes almost uncontrollable. I know that the real a/c does show this to some extent, but left to its own devices, the XP11 c172 ends up going in tight circles. AFAIK though, this is not user fixable?

 

Thanks.

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