deHavilland Dash 7

[nigel richards]

Might head from Darwin down the West coast just for the fun of it.

Looking for some OZx strips to test the short field capabilities.

Good idea - you might try putting her down on a dirt track I recall at Red Bluff, kalbarri...catch yourself a couple of nice sized Jewfish or Kingfish (while refuelling) as a teatime treat for all this intense test flying. :salute:

Good thinking, Nigel - wouldn't do to turn up at the FBO smelling of beer ! :icon_twi:

ATB
MikeW

Too right, Mike.

Thorough testing can be very demanding - not for the faint-hearted.

I'll bet these blokes have worked up a good thirst, doing all this, - reckon they've earned their barrel of Emu when the day's done!

 

[Blackbird686]

After completing that course; "Go West, young man!"
After all that gruelling heat, I'll have a couple of ice-cold 'Swans' waiting for you at Jandakot.

Jandakot...? I've been to that airstrip a few times, (in the sim, of course)... A nice short runway for one to test their landing skills in the Dash 7 on. :isadizzy:


BB686:USA-flag:

 

[Milton Shupe]

Thanks to All the Beta Testers

Thanks for all your time invested to discover the issues and anomalies. I hope to get all the things corrected tomorrow that I can.

If that goes well, maybe we can get the Dash 7 released this weekend.

I really appreciate your sincere efforts to improve the final product.

 

[Sunny9850]

If you do need any assistance with the panel graphics / switch labels etc or anything of that nature let me know.
I think I am finally done with the install in Oakland and heading back to Ontario,CA tomorrow....and Friday is booked in as a day off.

Cheers
Stefan

 

[Milton Shupe]

If you do need any assistance with the panel graphics / switch labels etc or anything of that nature let me know.
I think I am finally done with the install in Oakland and heading back to Ontario,CA tomorrow....and Friday is booked in as a day off.

Cheers
Stefan

Thank you Stefan

Tonight I have about 25% of teh issues resolved , then got sidetracked to improve the cockpit night lighting.

This is the first cut to get things crisp. I may need to darken it for realism, however many times folks do not want to go too dark as they usually fly in the virtual night time during the day in a brightly lit room. And that tends to make the panel hard to read.

 

[Sascha66]

Thank you Stefan

Tonight I have about 25% of teh issues resolved , then got sidetracked to improve the cockpit night lighting.

This is the first cut to get things crisp. I may need to darken it for realism, however many times folks do not want to go too dark as they usually fly in the virtual night time during the day in a brightly lit room. And that tends to make the panel hard to read.

That looks splendid!

 

[Sunny9850]

Looks great....

Cheers
Stefan

 

[Milton Shupe]

Uploading Dash 7 Release Candidates

The de Havilland Dash 7 goes Gold. Two packages, FSX Port-over and FS9 Native, containing 3 models, 7 liveries, 4 FM's by 2 authors (FSX and FS9), and custom panels, gauges, and sounds.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the beta testing efforts. Twenty-one issues or suggestions were identified most of which were addressed.

In addition I added VC Rain, correctly implemented condition levers, improved lighting and vc gauge backlighting, yoke textures, floor textures in the cockpit rear area, etc.

There were a few items I did not address due to impact on mapping and textures, or no real effect on performance or operations, or not possible. For example, I could not slow the spoiler rate of extension because the spoilers are alse used as spoilerons. I did not do separate loadouts for the passenger, combi, or empty bay area models. I did not fix the OMI test switch to light the lights.

The FSX package is separate and not useable in FS9. It has 2048 DXT5 primary textures and the panel.cfg is different regarding gauges not compatible there. The FM's were built and tested for FSX.

There is a follow-on bonus package coming with a full cargo unit and the Canadian Ice Recon models. This will likely be released in January. There will also be an additional 5 liveries or so.

The paint kit is not yet available and I do not have a time frame for that yet. Likely in January.

Thanks to Mike Kelly who really pushed this project to a higher level; thanks to Bernt Stolle and Tom Falley for giving us flight models from guys who actually flew the Dash 7's; thanks to Nigel Richards who developed some really great sounds for the Dash 7 from actual Dash 7 recordings, and to Scott Thomas who over time, developed the panels and gauges.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Just some shots of the upcoming Canadian Ice Recon test flying from Goose Bay to Ricolet. We should be able to get this out in December 2013.

 

[Sascha66]

Just some shots of the upcoming Canadian Ice Recon test flying from Goose Bay to Ricolet. We should be able to get this out in December 2013.

Very interesting aircraft!

 

[Gerdoner]

.... We should be able to get this out in December 2013.

Best news all week. Loaded up Air Hauler for the first time in ages and got sucked in right away again Was wondering what my next plane could be and remembered the countless hours I spent flying the Dash 7 all those years ago. Went online to see that you released a new version a year ago... and I'm loving it again. Then I found out that there was no paintkit available yet (and no cargo version) so when I saw your messages that they would come with the Ice Recon version I literally checked these forums every 6 hours to see if there are some news... and now this... again, I am super happy.
Since I'm more of a lurker around here I just want to finish with a big thank you to Milton and his team. I don't think you can estimate how many hours of entertainment you made possible with all those fantastic freeware aircrafts... again, thank you so much

 

[Milton Shupe]

Thank you Gerdoner for the kind words. No paint kit released that I can find but I may be wrong; might have released it and forgot.

We do have two more models coming and they will likely be released separately as they are so different.

Just wrapping up final modeling touches on the Canadian Ice Recon model adding an observer in the cupola and a radar tracking station and technician in the back.

In testing these things I realized that we were using a misnamed texture for sunglasses. I am attaching a properly named texture for all FS9 and FSX variants. In FSX the texture goes in the shared folder; in FS9, it goes in each livery's folder.

Just unzip and copy paste the sunglass_black_t.bmp to the proper folders.

 

[Tom Clayton]

Whose faces are those in the flight deck? That copilot has a pretty cheesy grin!

 

[Milton Shupe]

Whose faces are those in the flight deck? That copilot has a pretty cheesy grin!

LOL He has his finger on the observer's Eject button just waiting for an appropriate moment.

I have asked Mike to wipe that cheesy grin off his face; thank you very much. ;-)

 

[Gerdoner]

Thank you Gerdoner for the kind words. No paint kit released that I can find but I may be wrong; might have released it and forgot.

Well, you mentioned a few months ago that it wasn't released yet so I figured it's not yet available

The paint kit will be released along with several new models...

 

[Milton Shupe]

Well, you mentioned a few months ago that it wasn't released yet so I figured it's not yet available

Just re-reading some of my many emails from Mike Kelley who is doing all of the Dash 7 textures. He has prepared a paint kit for FSX use for the current Dash 7 FSX Native conversion being done by Brandon and George. That PK just got completed 3 weeks ago.

So, I am getting clarification for FS9 use and will get back to you with that for the paint kit.

 

[Gerdoner]

Just re-reading some of my many emails from Mike Kelley who is doing all of the Dash 7 textures. He has prepared a paint kit for FSX use for the current Dash 7 FSX Native conversion being done by Brandon and George. That PK just go completed 3 weeks ago.

So, I am getting clarification for FS9 use and will get back to you with that for the paint kit.

This keeps getting better and better . Just to clarify, the freighter version won't be in the next release, right?
Reading through all your posts and looking at the previous releases got me a bit confused... is the Combi model the freighter version or will there be a dedicated "freighter only" model? Guess I need more coffee XD

 

[Milton Shupe]

This keeps getting better and better . Just to clarify, the freighter version won't be in the next release, right?
Reading through all your posts and looking at the previous releases got me a bit confused... is the Combi model the freighter version or will there be a dedicated "freighter only" model? Guess I need more coffee XD

We are preparing the CIR right now.

The Freighter will follow separately, will be a separate cargo-only model, not a combi. Well, not quite true as most are combi's today. I left 8 or 10 seats in the back for tired pilots and cargo handlers.

Here's peek at what the infrastructure looks like, temporary textures.

 

[Milton Shupe]

Just put finishing touches on the CIR model as Mike works to wrap up textures Monday. Maybe we will have her out next weekend of all goes well.

Just added ladder to the Cupola and Mike will be adding textures to the technician's station just behind this.

EDIT: Mike had a serious talk with the co-pilot and decided someone more serious about our Dash 7's needs to be in the 2nd chair. "Smiley" is now at the ticket counter.

 

[ViperPilot2]

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone had given thought of creating a Repaint in the livery of Rocky Mountain Airways, who happened to be the first customer of the Dash 7? They flew to many destinations in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, including the Avon STOLPort, located just outside of Vail, CO.

A Dash 7 in RMA livery:



An interesting tidbit about the Avon STOLPort, from the Abandoned and Little Known Airfields website:

"... According to former Rocky Mountain Airways pilot Lou Popolizio, the 11/2/79 Avon MLS Rwy 28 Approach plate indicated Avon Airport was located at an 7,538' elevation... The MLS approach had a Decision Height of 8,644' MSL. The distance from the final approach fix (SCALI intersection) to the end of the Runway 28 was 8.7 NM & the glideslope intercept began at 15,000' MSL. You had to descend 7,468' in 8.7 NM which is an 8 degree glideslope. This descent amounted to an altitude loss of 858' / NM. We typically had an approach speed of 77 KIAS which is approximately 90 KTAS.We typically saw 1,000-1,400 FPM descents on the glideslope.”

The Dash 7 is a fabulous model, and definitely a keeper! Hats off once again to Milton and the Team!

Alan