Thursday, January 15, 2009

T-45C Goshawk v1.15 released

T-45C version 1.15 released

A couple of days ago I saw an amazing video of people making formation flights and carrier qualifications in FSX with my Goshawk model. I was impressed but I noticed that the animation that makes the gear doors "relax" when the engine is off was not working properly in multiplayer.
I decided to make a small update to the Goshawk, which brings several minor improvements/fixes. File name is T45CFSXC.zip, and has been uploaded to both Avsim and Flightsim. Here is the list of changes from the previous release (as you can see these are only minor fixes):

Visual model:
- all textures have now .dds extension. Please note that they were already in dds format, only the file extension was incorrect. I kept the textures with no mipmaps (slower frame rate but better clarity)
- slight improvement of reflections
- fixed minor misplacement on right trail edge flap
- fixed minor geometry issue on right air intake
- restored keypad on instructor seat
- gear door opening when engine is off is now an optional feature: in the real Goshawk, as in many other planes, when you turn the engine off the gear doors open (as there is no power in the hydraulic system). I think it was nice to have this feature in the model and implemented that as a "special" animation. It now turns out that, in multiplayer, the gear doors of other T-45C you might be playing with will always appear open - even when the plane is flying. So, now the default model is without the additional gear door animation. An alternate model with the additional gear door animation is stored in the "model_with_gear_door_anim" folder, should you prefer to have the animation working, copy the t45c.mdl in that folder and paste it in your FSX/Simobjects/Airplanes/Boeing_T45C/model and overwrite the the existing one. A backup of the default model is stored in the "model_with_gear_door_anim" folder.

Interior model:
- added a NAV/OBS knob (which was missing) nearby the NAV control. I experienced some malfunctioning but I am not sure of what is not working...so it may not work correctly.Please take it as is for now.
- added scratchpad some more functionality. As this is dependendent on the Hornet avionics code, it may not work correctly. A/P master switch is the only thing that seems to work fine.

Flight model:
- Higher roll rate. This seems more accurate according to users' feedback

2D HUD:
- provided a 16:9 panel file for people who use the 2D HUD with a widescreen panel (like me);the folder panel16_9 contains the widescreen panel, just grab the panel.cfg in that folder and move it to your the panel folder in the Boeing_T45 airplane folder. Panel4_3 contains a backup of the 4:3 panel.

7 comments:

SpazSinbad said...

Dino, Firstly your Goshawk is very well done/modified for FSX with one exception. Otherwise your hard work on the FSX Goshawk is much appreciated. It would be easier to explain the issue with a diagram but briefly:
The AoA Indexer (Angle of Attack) has the correct colours in the sim but the indication is reversed! This makes flying USN aircraft (which use the same set of colours for the chevrons/doughnut quite difficult).
If this explanation helps: When slow in a REAL USN jet the green chevron is lit, indicating to the pilot 'put the nose down' to get back to the optimum angle of attack. In your Goshawk simulator this green chevron at the top indicates the opposite - that the aircraft is too fast (relative to the doughnut).
Otherwise the doughnut speed seems to be correct but NOT the chevrons. I'm hoping you are able to fix this issue please. Many thanks again for your work on the Goshawk for FSX.

SpazSinbad said...

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l261/SpazSinbad/GoshawkAoAindexerReversedFORUMed.gif

I hope the graphic shows enough detail. The Goshawk is stalled but shows the bottom red chevron. In real USN aircraft this red bottom chevron indicates the aircraft is fast. The nose must be brought UP indicated by the chevron direction UP. If the link to this graphic is allowed I will post a NATOPS graphic for a Skyhawk that shows the standard USN AoA indexer arrangement.

SpazSinbad said...

OK it seems the long URL disappears. Here is the TINY URL for the same graphic from FSX of the AoA indexer/HUD showing a stall with incorrect indication:
http://tiny.cc/JFOnh

SpazSinbad said...

TINY URL for top half of A4 Skyhawk NATOPS graphic for their AoA indexer (common scheme for all USN aircraft):
http://tiny.cc/md5Su

bottom half of graphic:
will have to be in next post (my browser locks up)

SpazSinbad said...

lower half of AoA Indexer graphic (TINY URL):
http://tiny.cc/cDsas

SpazSinbad said...

Here is the Super Hornet AoA indexer diagram (coloured by me) to show/compare with the same indexer in the FSX Accelerator Hornet display:
TINY URL: http://tiny.cc/I6zjc

ScimmiaSpaziale said...

SpazSinbad, thanks for your interest. I've replied to your email and fix it in the next release!