Hello All,
Back in January 2003, I released the original version of this project.
It was done by request but by the time I had completed it, the requestor apparently had lost interest and I don't believe I ever heard from them again. It was not a particularly long running project (probably about a month or so) because back then, my standards and general knowledge were much lower than today.
The control panel was a direct alias to the stock FW 190A and the flight model was simply a heavily modified FW 190A.
The engine was a pretty similar model so the instruments fit pretty well, and the flight model was modified by very simple methods.
Engine Power was adjusted by changing the maximum manifold pressure (EeeK!)
Weight, Fuel, Cockpit Location, Aerodynamic Drag, and of course Engine Location were the only great changes.
The one thing that really bothered me at the time was that the Landing Gear Animation did not work.
Aircraft Animator sequences worked within the utility but not in the simulator.
******* Fast Forward to Today *******
A year or so ago, I decided to revisit this project because it occurred to me that although the visual model, by appearance, had generated correctly from AF99, it exceeded several AF99 resource recommendations.
I figured that if I could get the animation to work, I would re-release the project.
After a few days of adjustments and some minor parts tweaks, I found that the animation was working.
I figured I would also add in some of the features that I tend to use today such as an internal canopy frame.
THAT one feature made the project much more complex because to look right, it also needed to have a different display sequence from the internal view.
It then occurred to me that the textures could be improved a bit.
The original was a single colour but the real aircraft had a splinter camouflage and radio call letters, so both were added.
A couple months ago, I figured that since I now had a virtual cockpit, the unusual framing pattern that was already built could also serve as the basis for a more realistic panel.
A modified screenshot of the virtual cockpit now serves as the basis for the main control panel.
The panel and some smaller auxiliary panels still need to be completed.
The general handling seemed to be pretty good with the exception that the roll rate was better than many fighters.
This was probably a legacy from its origins as a FW 190A.
The roll rate was easy to tone down.
At this point it seemed to be almost done..... (Famous last words!)
In doing some quick handling tests, I finally noticed on the panel that the Manifold Pressure was much too high:
It was reading around 1.80 ATA while the real engine was limited to 1.35 ATA even at WEP.
In checking things out further, I found that other than general handling, almost everything else needed to be modified.
So now, after a few weeks of AIR file tuning with a misbehaving development machine, only a few flight performance tests remain to be completed.
The control panel is next but will need a bit more experimentation and knowledge to do properly.....
The original expectation was for a very simple model update but has expanded considerably.
This seems to be pretty common with my projects.
- Ivan.
Back in January 2003, I released the original version of this project.
It was done by request but by the time I had completed it, the requestor apparently had lost interest and I don't believe I ever heard from them again. It was not a particularly long running project (probably about a month or so) because back then, my standards and general knowledge were much lower than today.
The control panel was a direct alias to the stock FW 190A and the flight model was simply a heavily modified FW 190A.
The engine was a pretty similar model so the instruments fit pretty well, and the flight model was modified by very simple methods.
Engine Power was adjusted by changing the maximum manifold pressure (EeeK!)
Weight, Fuel, Cockpit Location, Aerodynamic Drag, and of course Engine Location were the only great changes.
The one thing that really bothered me at the time was that the Landing Gear Animation did not work.
Aircraft Animator sequences worked within the utility but not in the simulator.
******* Fast Forward to Today *******
A year or so ago, I decided to revisit this project because it occurred to me that although the visual model, by appearance, had generated correctly from AF99, it exceeded several AF99 resource recommendations.
I figured that if I could get the animation to work, I would re-release the project.
After a few days of adjustments and some minor parts tweaks, I found that the animation was working.
I figured I would also add in some of the features that I tend to use today such as an internal canopy frame.
THAT one feature made the project much more complex because to look right, it also needed to have a different display sequence from the internal view.
It then occurred to me that the textures could be improved a bit.
The original was a single colour but the real aircraft had a splinter camouflage and radio call letters, so both were added.
A couple months ago, I figured that since I now had a virtual cockpit, the unusual framing pattern that was already built could also serve as the basis for a more realistic panel.
A modified screenshot of the virtual cockpit now serves as the basis for the main control panel.
The panel and some smaller auxiliary panels still need to be completed.
The general handling seemed to be pretty good with the exception that the roll rate was better than many fighters.
This was probably a legacy from its origins as a FW 190A.
The roll rate was easy to tone down.
At this point it seemed to be almost done..... (Famous last words!)
In doing some quick handling tests, I finally noticed on the panel that the Manifold Pressure was much too high:
It was reading around 1.80 ATA while the real engine was limited to 1.35 ATA even at WEP.
In checking things out further, I found that other than general handling, almost everything else needed to be modified.
So now, after a few weeks of AIR file tuning with a misbehaving development machine, only a few flight performance tests remain to be completed.
The control panel is next but will need a bit more experimentation and knowledge to do properly.....
The original expectation was for a very simple model update but has expanded considerably.
This seems to be pretty common with my projects.
- Ivan.
