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RAZBAM proudly presents: The AV-8B Harrier II Plus for FSX

Sorry but FSX just does not do VTOL. I have bought every Harrier from pre fs9 to now and it still just feels cheap and gimmacy.
The transition betreen flight modes is about as abrupt as hitting a brick wall. When gradually feeding in some nozzle it was common for me to go from 130+mph to zero instantly. I then attempted a few stol approaches. Slowing the plane down and gradually feeding in some down nozzle for a low speed landing but over and over again that abrupt transition happens. There is no smooth handling and feeling of sure control. Just comical abrupt jumps betreen forward flight and whatever the other is supposed to be. Vtol? The engine sounds do not even match up with the throttle/power settings which further ruin the believability. Maybe I loaded the fuel wrong,40% across but with little or no documentation its guess work.

It sure is a great looking plane and one of if not the best vpit Raz has done. But imo the Harriers Vtol capabilties still have not been replicated in FSX. I understand from reading countless post the difficulties,limitations of FSX ect ect. But even with my great imagination and abilty to suspend reality, every Harrier I have bought dissapoints me.
Future patches,upgrades,nice repaints are all fine but getting the flight model right or at least beleivable should have been the first priority and if it cannot be done then I wish Harriers would not even be released.
Not angry or upset just let down that VTOl still cannot be done with any believabilty or level of control.
 
The brick wall thing is a leftover from the development time that somehow got included in the final version. It will get fixed.

As for the other, basically yes. You are right. Vectorial Thrust is not possible natively in FSX. What I and others have managed is to provide a measure of the way how vectorial thrust work. It is hard work trying to even get something to behave as if the thrust angle was changing. I believe that I have succeeded in providing that feel for whatever amounts of reality, I'm sorry if you don't feel that way.
 
Its a wonderful aircraft and a nice piece of work. They were fairly common in this area and I use to be shadowed by them when I flew down around KNBC Beaufort. Again the above is not meant to be a slam against the hard work,time and effort put into the addon but more of MY frustration. Almost the entire draw to the Harrier is its VTOL capabilites. Otherwise its just another a funny looking loud jet. Getting that vtol/stol within the confines of FSX is one of of the holy grails and I guess my expectations are unrealistic. Look forward to future updates.
BTW- What are the suggested fuel loads for each tanks in the FSX payload screen for a proper CG and within weight and blance for VTOL?
 
I understand your feelings. It took me three months of hard works and frustration to get at this solution. At first I though that although not easy, it would be possible to get true vectorial thrust. Unfortunately FSX lacks the means to provide me with the information that I need. The flight model engine cannot support vectorial thrust and that's that. I like Prepar3D in that regard, since it allows me to include my own FME and supersede the simulator's own.

As long as you keep the weight below 21,300 you can do vertical take-offs. I suggest going up with 20% wing tanks if you want to carry some ordnance. Use the loadout manager, it will advise you if the weight is too much for VTOL.
The brick wall will get fixed so you can do rolling jumps.
 
ZEUS67 said:
I understand your feelings. It took me three months of hard works and frustration to get at this solution. At first I though that although not easy, it would be possible to get true vectorial thrust. Unfortunately FSX lacks the means to provide me with the information that I need. The flight model engine cannot support vectorial thrust and that's that. I like Prepar3D in that regard, since it allows me to include my own FME and supersede the simulator's own.

As long as you keep the weight below 21,300 you can do vertical take-offs. I suggest going up with 20% wing tanks if you want to carry some ordnance. Use the loadout manager, it will advise you if the weight is too much for VTOL.
The brick wall will get fixed so you can do rolling jumps.
Click to expand...

Sorry Larry I'm gonna jump on this one

Max VTO weight= 20,755 lbs

minus

Empty weight= 13,968 lbs

equals

expendables weight= 6,787 lbs
(ie fuel/weapons/pilot)

av8bpc20033.jpg



The numbers given at the top are for a -408 engine that has roughly an extra 2000lbf

so depending which engine is fitted max VTo lbs for the -406 is roughly 19,500lbs and 5,532lbs of expendibles.


Bruce
 
ZEUS67 said:
I haven't seen a loadout manager issue in the Mk-1 bug report. It only works when the engine is off and the parking brakes are set. As for the ground map causing FPS issues, that only happens when you use both the map and the radar at the same time. I'm trying to look for a solution but so far I've been unsuccessful. My advice for the time being is don't run both options at the same time.
Click to expand...

I've been having problems with the loadout manager as well. I've already posted the bug to the forum. The post has been acknowledged by Zeus himself.

-Damien
 
bruce448 said:
Sorry Larry I'm gonna jump on this one

Max VTO weight= 20,755 lbs

minus

Empty weight= 13,968 lbs

equals

expendables weight= 6,787 lbs
(ie fuel/weapons/pilot)

av8bpc20033.jpg



The numbers given at the top are for a -408 engine that has roughly an extra 2000lbf

so depending which engine is fitted max VTo lbs for the -406 is roughly 19,500lbs and 5,532lbs of expendibles.


Bruce
Click to expand...

I don't have that manual. I have the A1-AV8BB-NFM-000, that one is the A1-AV8BB-NFM-400. So, you got me there. LOL. I can't find in my notes where I got that figure. Don't worry it will be corrected for the Mk-2.
 
Adding A2A's Shockwave lights?

I know she has only been out for a few days, but i was wondering if anybody as added a2a's shockwave lights yet?

Mike
 
Hi..

this is a very nice model. The Artwork is particularly outstanding. Managed to do a bit of VTOL and STOL flying once I figured out that some of the stations had fuel that I hadnt realised... flies like a brick when she's heavy.

Have a few problems with some of the effects. If I understand the manual the A-A missiles should launch when the Seat Belt Alerts functions is set to Joystick button 01 and you press it... not happening. Also the Gun does not fire when you press numeric key 1 (assume thats what you mean by #1). Am I understanding correctly how theses effects operate? If so they are not working for me. Its not a big thing... blowing stuff up is not what FSX is about for me but I do enjoy the pyro technics and its a convenient way of loosing weight for landing so if you can help me fix this great. I think its installed ok because the module is registered in the DLL.xml and the adding of stores results in them appearing visually and the weights are updated?

KR Matt
 
MDIvey said:
Hi..

this is a very nice model. The Artwork is particularly outstanding. Managed to do a bit of VTOL and STOL flying once I figured out that some of the stations had fuel that I hadnt realised... flies like a brick when she's heavy.

Have a few problems with some of the effects. If I understand the manual the A-A missiles should launch when the Seat Belt Alerts functions is set to Joystick button 01 and you press it... not happening. Also the Gun does not fire when you press numeric key 1 (assume thats what you mean by #1). Am I understanding correctly how theses effects operate? If so they are not working for me. Its not a big thing... blowing stuff up is not what FSX is about for me but I do enjoy the pyro technics and its a convenient way of loosing weight for landing so if you can help me fix this great. I think its installed ok because the module is registered in the DLL.xml and the adding of stores results in them appearing visually and the weights are updated?

KR Matt
Click to expand...

Hi,

The Joystick button #1 must be set to the Seat Belt Alert event. The gun fires whenever you press the #1 button in the joystick. But for any of those to work, you must first select the appropriate weapon. All AA weapons are selected by HOTAS, that is by keyboard. Check the manual, for a list of the relevant events/defaul keyboard assignations.

For the Gun you must click "J"
For AIM-9Ls on boresight mode, it is "K"
For AIM-9Ls on radar sight mode, it is "O"
For AIM-120As it is "Ctrl+U"

When you select any AA weapons, the entire system is placed in AA mode, including the radar. Also in AA mode, the weapons are hot all the time.

I'll make a few HOW-TOs and put them in the forum during the day.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm sure that there was a good technical reason for it but I wish you had not used button 1 as on my Joystick its the trigger and is very convenient for braking:icon_lol: I may have to re-think my Joystick layout as braking using the keyboard "." is difficult while trying to stear at the same time.

KR Matt
 
Yes - i always use trigger for brakes.

I cant take FSX seriously for weapons. I shoot at stuff in other sims
 
MDIvey said:
Thanks for the info. I'm sure that there was a good technical reason for it but I wish you had not used button 1 as on my Joystick its the trigger and is very convenient for braking:icon_lol: I may have to re-think my Joystick layout as braking using the keyboard "." is difficult while trying to stear at the same time.

KR Matt
Click to expand...

You don't need the Button 1 for releasing bombs/firing rockets and/or missiles. Those are controled by the seat belt light event. Only the GAU-12 "reads" directly if the button was pressed no matter what event has been configured to it. Hence the GAU-12 can only be fired by a joystick. You can use another keyboard/joystick button for the seat belts lights and leave the button #1 for the brakes, only keep in mind that if you have selected the cannon it will fire every time you press it. Even if you are actually applying brakes. So be careful and make sure that the cannon is not selected while on the ground.
 
Barnes said:
Yes - i always use trigger for brakes.

I cant take FSX seriously for weapons. I shoot at stuff in other sims
Click to expand...

I understand, and that's why we don't make guided weapons. But this is a military aircraft and I don't like to take-off with all that ordnance and then land with the same ordnance on the wings. So you can release the ordnance, shoot at whatever you want to and return to base with an empty and lighter aircraft.
 
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