C-47 from Manfred Jahn and team

[HoggyDog]

was just wondering if anyone would like to make a pack with the download able skins in a Mega Pack for the airplane? i would Volunteer to put it togeather and Make sure all the textures have the credits of who painted them attached so people could download one File with the repaints in them No editing needed just drop and drag ready to fly

I'm not sure what you meant by "How is the VC for the DC3 going, looking forward to flying with it" because this aircraft is definitely not a DC-3- it's two variants of a C-47a. Assuming, however, that your post is not in the wrong thread and your reference to "DC3" was just a generalization, I would volunteer to help with your proposed repaint packaging project by assuring that the various aircraft.cfg [fltsim.xx] entries for each skin are accurate, correct and appropriate to the particular paint. It's time for some aircraft.cfg reform!

Common errors and omissions that I see in almost EVERY aircraft.cfg snippet packaged with repaints:

• Confusion between title= and description=; title should be brief and hierarchical, i.e. start with actual aircraft type as opposed to the FS model name, then 1 or 2-word variation- just enough to differentiate between this variation/paint/livery and all others, but no more than that. For this airplane, a good title entry would be "C-47 Skytrain USAF 51-31908" or "C-47 Skytrain Ethiopian Air Lines" but not "Manfred Jahn C-47R V2 Ethiopian Air Lines ET-ATT circa 1958" etc. The description is where every detail of the airplane or FS package and/or repaint can be elaborated if desired, but not the title. Also, for airliners, the registration/tail number are not generally used except to populate the panel placard- so the title for an airliner should not be encumbered with the tail number. "C-47 Ethiopian Air Lines" is plenty- no need for "C-47 Ethiopian Air Lines ET-ATT" unless you have more than one EAL paint. On the other hand, there may be several USAF variants of this airplane, so title needs to be more than just "C-47 USAF."
• Incorrect atc_type= entries; this is generally the aircraft manufacturer. For this airplane, it is "Douglas." ATC will not speak this for airliners or air force- only for civilians with no entry in atc_airline=.
• Incorrect atc_model= entries; this is the specific aircraft model that the ATC system recognizes for this type of aircraft and is what ATC will call you as traffic to others. Should be "DC3" for this airplane, not "C-47" because ATC calls both DC-3s and C-47s the same thing when called as traffic: "DC-3."
• Misplaced atc_model= and atc_type= entries; this info is common to all variants and should be in [General] instead of duplicated in each and every repaint entry's [fltsim.xx] section
• Incorrect atc_id= entries. this should be the tail number or registration of the airplane, not a tactical call sign or flight number. Again, this is not used for airliners or military, only civilians with no entry in atc_airline=.
• Confusion between atc_type= and ui_type=; atc_type= is generally the manufacturer ("Douglas") but ui_type is the aircraft type category in the Select Aircraft dialog- this airplane would be "C-47" or "C-47 Skytrain". Admittedly, Microsoft used confusing terminology here, so it's very easy to lose your way between atc_type and ui_type.
• Omitted or incorrect atc_airline=; this is your airline or military branch call sign, not necessarily their name. For example, for British Airways paints, atc_airline= should say "Speed Bird," not "BAW" or "British Airways" and if you want your USAF airplane correctly called by ATC you must set atc_airline=AIR FORCE.
• Omitted or incorrect atc_flight_number=. For any airplane with a non-blank atc_airline= entry, this should be set to the airliner's flight number OR the military tail number or a portion of it. ATC will then refer to your airplane as "[atc_airline] [atc_flight_number]" using whatever values are in those two variables, provided of course that the atc_airline entry matches an entry in airlines.cfg and there is a matching voice file.
• Omitted or incorrect atc_parking_types=; for airliners it should be "GATE" or "GATE, RAMP"; for civilian cargo variants it should be "RAMP, CARGO" and for military cargo variants it should be "MIL_CARGO, CARGO, RAMP". The only acceptable values are RAMP, CARGO, GATE, DOCK, MIL_CARGO, MIL_COMBAT. All others are ignored.
• Missing or incorrect atc_parking_code= entries. This is used by ground control at major airports to send airliners to that airline's gates. When used, it must be set to the airline's ICAO code. Example for British Airways: atc_parking_code=BAW.
• Incorrect ui_manufacturer=; for this airplane it is "Douglas," not "Microsoft" or "Manfred Jahn"
• Incorrect ui_type=; for this airplane it is "C-47" or "C-47 Skytrain," not "DC-3" or "C-47R V2" or "Dakota."
• Incorrect ui_createdby=; another aircraft selection filter ("Publisher") describing who made the model for FS. For this airplane it should be "Manfred Jahn," not the name of the repainter.
• Incorrect ui_typerole=; these entries are used to filter the aircraft selection screen and must be broad and consistent. Valid for this airplane might be "Twin Engine Prop" or "Commercial Airliner" or "Military Cargo" etc. The more different ui_typerole= entries you create, the more confusing/redundant sub-categories you will get for Aircraft Selection.

Specific to this airplane, there are 2 models included- C47_1 and C47_2. The _1 model is the military variant and has the H-antennas mounted on the sides of the cockpit. The_2 model differs in that it doesn't have those antennas. Generally speaking, no civilian variant would still have the WWII-era military H-antennas; therefore, for military C-47s, model=C47_1 and for civilian C-47s (or C-47s doing a mediocre job of masquerading as American Airlines DC-3s**) model=C47_2.

I love this airplane, and I've been flying nothing else since I got it. The quality is equal to, and better than many, payware aircraft. It is a dream to fly, and with it's slow engine start and shutdown, Shockwave Lights, Tufun's amazing TW Radial sound package and exhaust flames effect it's "as real as it gets."
**I wonder if Manfred would consider making an actual DC-3 model with no astrodome and a single "airstair" passenger door for us diehard vintage airliner weenies...

Please let me know if I can help you with your paints-packaging project. I can't paint but I'm a fair hand with aircraft.cfg.

Best Regards
Doug

 

[ark1320]

I can't paint but I'm a fair hand with aircraft.cfg.
Best Regards
Doug

Doug,
Thanks -- that is great info whether one is a "painter" or not.
I do have what might be an aircraft.cfg question. If I do want to change the registration # on a panel placard, where do I make that entry, and is it typically in a different location for different classes of a/c (airliners, GA, etc)?
Thx,
Al

Edit: Partially answered my own question -- a reg# change made in the ATC window under the Aircraft Select/Details tab works, at least for the default C172 and King Air 350. It doesn't work for the Flight1 King Air B200 however, so maybe some payware a/c are different in this regard. Maybe the panel placard is not changeable.

 

[HoggyDog]

Doug,
Thanks -- that is great info whether one is a "painter" or not.
I do have what might be an aircraft.cfg question. If I do want to change the registration # on a panel placard, where do I make that entry, and is it typically in a different location for different classes of a/c (airliners, GA, etc)?
Thx,
Al

Edit: Partially answered my own question -- a reg# change made in the ATC window under the Aircraft Select/Details tab works, at least for the default C172 and King Air 350. It doesn't work for the Flight1 King Air B200 however, so maybe some payware a/c are different in this regard. Maybe the panel placard is not changeable.

OK. Trying to answer in the order you asked:

1. Firstly, whether or not you even CAN change a panel placard depends on whether or not whoever coded the panel made provision for that by placing it as a gauge in panel.cfg. Also, changing the registration number does NOT change the exterior depiction of that number on the side or tail of the aircraft if the designer's chosen number was hard-burned into the exterior texture. The only way to find out what CAN be done is to try it, as I will describe below. If it doesn't work, well, no harm, no foul. Trying it won't break anything.

2. Secondly, the registration number for many aircraft can be changed directly on the Aircraft Selection > Details window, without any need to edit aircraft.cfg. So always try there first.

3. To change the aircraft registration and have it appear wherever it can appear for that particular aircraft model - panel, exterior, both or neither - just edit aircraft.cfg, find the [fltsim.xx] section for the particular livery you want to change and change or add atc_id=N123PU (assuming that the new registration number is N123PU). Save the file and that's it. Now select that aircraft and see where, if at all, the number actually changed.

4. If you find that your new registration number DOES, in fact, appear on the exterior, you can set the color of it by entering atc_id_color= in RGB hexadecimal format where the first two characters are the level of red from 00 to ff, the second pair the level of green, the third pair the level of blue and the fourth pair isn't used. A hex value of 00 = 0, and a hex value of ff = 255. For example, for black letters you would add atc_id_color=0x00000000, which is the same RGB as 0,0,0. For red letters add atc_id_color=0xff000000, which is 255,0,0. For green letters, add atc_id_color=0x00ff0000, the same as 0,255,0 and for blue letters add atc_id_color=0x0000ff00, the same as 0,0,255. You can mix colors too: for purple letters add atc_id_color=0x6600cc00 (102,0,204) which gives a strong vibrant purple, or atc_id_color=0xcc00cc00 (204,0,204) which gives a pinkish purple, etc. You can use an online RGB Color Codes Chart to choose your color, then use a decimal to hex converter to convert your RGB format (255,255,255) color to hexadecimal.

5. Your last question is unclear- are you asking if the panel placard is in a different place for different classes of aircraft, or if the atc_id setting is in a different place? The answer to the placard being in different places is yes, of course, it's wherever the panel designer placed it, and it varies not only by aircraft class but from airplane to airplane, and from panel to panel even within the same aircraft. The answer to the setting being in different places is no. All aircraft have the same setting mechanisms- either the Aircraft Selection > Details window or by editing aircraft.cfg, or it's not changeable because it is hard-burned into the exterior textures.

NOTE: I have seen some authors show editable=1 or editable=0 in the [General] section of aircraft.cfg, in an effort to force the Registration-change window in the Aircraft Selection > Details panel to become active. However, according to Microsoft's "Aircraft Configuration Files" article, that is an unused (invalid) property, which, if true, means that it will have no effect on anything even if it is present.

I hope I have answered your questions. If you are truly interested in aircraft.cfg, bookmark the article I linked above and go play around with it! As long as you back up your original, I don't think you can permanently break anything by hacking aircraft.cfg.

Cheers-
Doug

 

[Alan_A]

@Cirrus N210MS - for questions about the vintage VC project, the best place to post is in the long "Attention All DC-3 Fans" thread, since that's the one Jan monitors. It's currently lurking on page 3. I'd link to it but my iPad doesn't want to cooperate.

IIRC, Jan hinted that there'll be a new installer when the VVC version comes out. I'd do, it'd be nice to have a way to port paints over to it, so your mega-pack is a nice idea. It'll have to be really mega, though, given how many great paints are out there. Even so, I'd look forward to it. Hope it comes together.

 

[Alan_A]

I'm not sure what you meant by "How is the VC for the DC3 going, looking forward to flying with it" because this aircraft is definitely not a DC-3- it's two variants of a C-47a. Assuming, however, that your post is not in the wrong thread and your reference to "DC3" was just a generalization...

Jan Visser, who's currently devoting massive amounts of time and energy to creating a "vintage VC" for the aircraft, titled his announcement thread "Attention all DC-3 fans." So he's the guy you'd have to correct.

Good luck with that.

 

[HoggyDog]

Jan Visser, who's currently devoting massive amounts of time and energy to creating a "vintage VC" for the aircraft, titled his announcement thread "Attention all DC-3 fans." So he's the guy you'd have to correct.

Good luck with that.

LOL! I'll pass, thanks for suggesting it though!

 

[ark1320]

5. Your last question is unclear- are you asking if the panel placard is in a different place for different classes of aircraft, or if the atc_id setting is in a different place?

I hope I have answered your questions.

Cheers-
Doug

Regarding point 5: I was asking if the atc_id setting might be in different places.
And yes, you have certainly answered my questions -- much appreciated, thanks!
Al

 

[gray eagle]

LOL! I'll pass, thanks for suggesting it though!

A little more to add to the DC3 VS c47.

http://www.pacificaviationmuseum.org/pearl-harbor-blog/douglas-c-47dc-3-cheeky-charlie-7


This is a good read about the evolution of the Douglas DC3/C47 and yes the C 53.

Compared to DC-3s and C-53s, C-47s had strengthened floors for carrying cargo and stronger landing gears. However, their most visible feature was their double-wide doors designed to facilitate cargo loading and unloading. It was even possible to push a ramp up to the door and drive a jeep inside. - See more at: http://www.pacificaviationmuseum.or...-47dc-3-cheeky-charlie-7#sthash.8aN81tsL.dpuf
Mentioned on this link:
Compared to DC-3s and C-53s, C-47s had strengthened floors for carrying cargo and stronger landing gears. However, their most visible feature was their double-wide doors designed to facilitate cargo loading and unloading. It was even possible to push a ramp up to the door and drive a jeep inside. -

After the War

After the war, the armed forces dumped most of their C-47s and other military versions of the DC-3 on the civilian market. Airlines quickly converted this flood of aircraft into civilian cargo and passenger airplanes. Although DC-3s lacked the range of the new four-engine civilian aircraft that were becoming popular for longer flights, their extremely low cost, high reliability, and ability to land everywhere made them a natural for almost everything else. DC-3s dominated the civilian aircraft market for many years, and the aircraft’s lifespan was lengthened by such extensions as turbofan engines. Quite a few DC-3s are still in use.


Compared to DC-3s and C-53s, C-47s had strengthened floors for carrying cargo and stronger landing gears. However, their most visible feature was their double-wide doors designed to facilitate cargo loading and unloading. It was even possible to push a ramp up to the door and drive a jeep inside. - See more at: http://www.pacificaviationmuseum.or...-47dc-3-cheeky-charlie-7#sthash.8aN81tsL.dpuf

 

[ark1320]

4. If you find that your new registration number DOES, in fact, appear on the exterior, you can set the color of it by entering atc_id_color= in RGB hexadecimal format where the first two characters are the level of red from 00 to ff, the second pair the level of green, the third pair the level of blue and the fourth pair isn't used. A hex value of 00 = 0, and a hex value of ff = 255. For example, for black letters you would add atc_id_color=0x00000000, which is the same RGB as 0,0,0. For red letters add atc_id_color=0xff000000, which is 255,0,0. For green letters, add atc_id_color=0x00ff0000, the same as 0,255,0 and for blue letters add atc_id_color=0x0000ff00, the same as 0,0,255. You can mix colors too: for purple letters add atc_id_color=0x6600cc00 (102,0,204) which gives a strong vibrant purple, or atc_id_color=0xcc00cc00 (204,0,204) which gives a pinkish purple, etc. You can use an online RGB Color Codes Chart to choose your color, then use a decimal to hex converter to convert your RGB format (255,255,255) color to hexadecimal.
Doug

Just FYI, the atc_id_color= command apparently does not work in FSX. While I was able to change the registration # on the exterior of the default C172, I could not change the color. Same situation for the Beech Baron 58. A Google search returned a number of posts all saying about the same thing -- can change the exterior number but not the color. The conclusion expressed was this feature is broken in FSX.
Al

 

[manfredc3]

HoggyDog,

That repaint is indeed a beauty.

Compliments to the painter.

 

[HoggyDog]

HoggyDog,

That repaint is indeed a beauty.

Compliments to the painter.

I'm sure Gary Harper appreciates the comment, especially coming from you!

I can't begin to express how awesome this C-47 V2 of yours is. I've flown the default FSX DC-3s and the MAAM-Sim DC-3/C-47/R4Ds, and yours is by far my favorite- the flight characteristics are "spot-on" and the more modern Basler panel makes it much more easily flyable in a modern IFR environment.

So thank you again for my favorite airplane to fly in FSX.

 

[manfredc3]

HoggyDog,

I am not the designer of the C-47, that is Manfred Jahn (mjahn)

I just happen to share the same name and passion for vintage props, lol.

 

[HoggyDog]

I should've paid closer attention to your username. Sorry.

 

[miloguy]

Hi guys, I love this plane

and have used the paint kit for my own livery thanks for this !

I am trying to figure out how to turn off the wheel chocks when you
put the landing gear down just before landing. Normally I reset the sim and it
disappears but I don't want to do that every time .. is there a certain way?
or maybe a way to delete them from the planes file or some thing??

any way love the plane

milo

 

[HoggyDog]

I am trying to figure out how to turn off the wheel chocks when you put the landing gear down just before landing. Normally I reset the sim and it disappears but I don't want to do that every time .. is there a certain way? Or maybe a way to delete them from the planes file or some thing??

This is by far my favorite airplane, and I, too, have struggled with the chocks. I have had two problems with the chocks and also with the ladder:

1. The chocks do not appear as they are supposed to after the engines are shut down, both ignition switches are turned all the way off, battery turned off and pilot's window opened.
2. The chocks do not DISappear after the above situation is reversed, i.e. window closed, all switches on, both engines started and running.
3. The ladder does not appear when both doors are opened.

Like you, I have found that resetting the sim works, but having to do that pretty much kills the immersion created by the stunning chocks and ladder in the first place. I wonder if MJ would consider telling us how to create separate toggles for the chocks and ladder since the events that are supposed to toggle them don't work?

 

[HoggyDog]

Does anyone know if C-47 sounds like this are available?

Please note the sounds between 2:15 and 2:48 in this C-47 takeoff paying particular attention to the "WOWWwwwwwwOWwwwwwwOWwwwww" howling sound caused by the props being ever so slightly out of sync:

As is the case with most of the old radial-engine planes, the prop sounds on takeoff are louder than the engine sounds, and at cruise they are at least AS loud as the engine sounds. Since the C-47/DC-3 did not have prop synchronizers, this sound was not only common, I think it was ubiquitous- I have never experienced a Dakota takeoff that did NOT feature this glorious sound. In my personal experience, this hypnotic "wowwowwowwowwowwowwowwoww" drone continues throughout every flight unless the pilots take particular pains to precisely sync up the props, which is not only very fiddly to do, but requires "retouching" every few minutes... and that's usually more trouble than it's worth. As a passenger in many DC-3s, I have never experienced a more sleep-inducing sound than this soothing wowowowow drone.

I have Tufun's magnificent sound package, but wish it simulated this typical out-of-sync wowow sound. Does anyone know if there is a sound package as good as Tufun's but with the added feature of the out-of-sync wowing? It wouldn't have to try to follow the actual prop RPMs, especially since I think most of us fly with throttle and prop controls set to combine all engines/props into the single control.

 

[mjahn]

This is by far my favorite airplane, and I, too, have struggled with the chocks. I have had two problems with the chocks and also with the ladder:

1. The chocks do not appear as they are supposed to after the engines are shut down, both ignition switches are turned all the way off, battery turned off and pilot's window opened.
2. The chocks do not DISappear after the above situation is reversed, i.e. window closed, all switches on, both engines started and running.
3. The ladder does not appear when both doors are opened.

Like you, I have found that resetting the sim works, but having to do that pretty much kills the immersion created by the stunning chocks and ladder in the first place. I wonder if MJ would consider telling us how to create separate toggles for the chocks and ladder since the events that are supposed to toggle them don't work?

Hi. I've looked at it briefly in sim The status window (Shift-3) exit options do seem to be out of whack. That said, if I follow my own readme notes I seem to be okay. That is, I put the parking brakes ON, I use Shift-E to toggle door #1, Shift-E-2 for door #2, Shift-E-3 for the steps, and if I then open the Shift-3 Control window and turn Battery ON/OFF, I toggle the chocks. Confirm?

(Pilot's window doesn't enter into it as far as I can see.)

Edit. If for some reason you see chocks when there shouldn't be any (perhaps when using a saved flight?), try turning the battery off/on briefly. Also perhaps briefly open panel windows Shift-1 and Shift-5. Can't guarantee this to work, but it's worth a try.

Cheers, Manfred

 

[miloguy]

can we delete the wheel chocks permanently ?

also I never Cary passengers , I mostly do cargo flights
and would like to know if you can change it so that there are
never any passenger weigts etc

also any way of adding extra fuel for longer distances ?

 

[mjahn]

My question ("Confirm?") first please.

 

[oleg_tr]

Hi. I've looked at it briefly in sim The status window (Shift-3) exit options do seem to be out of whack. That said, if I follow my own readme notes I seem to be okay. That is, I put the parking brakes ON, I use Shift-E to toggle door #1, Shift-E-2 for door #2, Shift-E-3 for the steps, and if I then open the Shift-3 Control window and turn Battery ON/OFF, I toggle the chocks. Confirm?

Yes, I could confirm it.

Edit. If for some reason you see chocks when there shouldn't be any (perhaps when using a saved flight?), try turning the battery off/on briefly. Also perhaps briefly open panel windows Shift-1 and Shift-5. Can't guarantee this to work, but it's worth a try.

Cheers, Manfred

Yes, it allright. When I turn off the battery, I could see choks. Shift2-4 works, Shift+5 don't works and Shift+6-7 works too.