Board index FlightGear Development Aircraft

Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Questions and discussion about creating aircraft. Flight dynamics, 3d models, cockpits, systems, animation, textures.

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby bell_pilot » Fri Feb 26, 2021 12:06 am

I wasted my 15 mins while reading your "ego wars"
Ridicilous...
I thought FG is a community driven open source flight simulation. I was wrong.
No offence but FG seems to be driven by three cartels.
Real Helicopter Pilot 1500+ hours
AB206,UH-1H,AH-1W
MSc Aerospace Engineering
bell_pilot
 
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 12:08 am
OS: Windows10,Ubuntu20

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby helijah » Fri Feb 26, 2021 12:19 am

bell_pilot wrote in Fri Feb 26, 2021 12:06 am:I wasted my 15 mins while reading your "ego wars"
Ridicilous...
I thought FG is a community driven open source flight simulation. I was wrong.
No offence but FG seems to be driven by three cartels.



Houlà !! Lol

We must not confuse everything. here it is above all a discussion on AirCrane, beautifully improved by wlbragg. The FlightGear project is in no way questioned here :) And fortunately.

Regards Emmanuel
Some planes (and other) for FlightGear
http://helijah.free.fr
and
http://embaranger.free.fr
User avatar
helijah
 
Posts: 1336
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:35 pm
Location: Chartres (France)
Callsign: helijah
IRC name: helijah
Version: GIT
OS: GNU/Linux

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Thu Aug 12, 2021 4:55 pm

Really good article on the history of Erickson, complete with pictures.
https://www.flyingmag.com/aircraft/helicopters/erickson-air-crane/

I found it looking for documentation on the water dropping system. I have a hard time filling the tank with either the snorkel or the ram jet. The situational awareness is less than stellar in a sim so flying 30 seconds at 20 feet off the water is about as dangerous as it gets. Especially considering your taking on 2500- gallons of water in that 30 seconds. Even the snorkel fill is challenging, though not as much.
Then when you actually get the 2500- gallons on board the helicopter flies like a brick just waiting for a place to drop.
Both fill methods are not so difficult from the exterior view, but unrealistic. I think I need to add a view looking out the bubble windows and down towards the gear to gauge distance from the water surface.

What I was looking for is if there is any indicator of when the snorkel or the ramjet touches the water other than visual or the tank digital readout counting the gallons on board? I don't think there is, I never saw one in the POH, but I don't know for sure.

Absolutely love this aircraft.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Thu Aug 12, 2021 10:58 pm

A little fire suppression mission.

Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Thu Sep 23, 2021 8:32 pm

I'm not sure how or why the Garmin GPS was disabled in the GitHub dev repository. I checked the svn (fgaddon) repository version and it is still active on that version but it is not is a very convenient place to be able to use it effectively.
So I made a location change, again in the GitHub dev repository. It is located closer to eye level for both the left or right pilot.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby Gijs » Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:43 am

Hi all,

I've moved some posts to the following two dedicated topics:
I might do some further cleaning in this topic as there seem to be several discussions taking place at once.

Regards,

Gijs (moderator)
Airports: EHAM, EHLE, KSFO
Aircraft: 747-400
User avatar
Gijs
Moderator
 
Posts: 9544
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:55 pm
Location: Delft, the Netherlands
Callsign: PH-GYS
Version: Git
OS: Windows 10

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Sat Nov 05, 2022 9:32 pm

The AirCrane gets wipers.



Also, the Emergency Cargo Release has been installed and activated.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Wed Nov 09, 2022 7:42 am

I added a bunch of effects that were missing under multiplayer to the Git repository version of the AirCrane.

Including...
All exterior lighting
Extended cab option
Duel wheel option
Cable guard option
Firetank
Hose and Ramjet animation
Fire cannon animation
Windshield wiper animation
Winch cover
Step cover

Still TODO...
Cable and rope animation
Attached cargo animation
Smoother tail and main rotor animations
Particle effects
Gear rotation
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby helijah » Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:03 pm

Hi there,

Just for information, Wayne's wonderful work is now on FGAddon Trunk :)

Regards Emmanuel
Some planes (and other) for FlightGear
http://helijah.free.fr
and
http://embaranger.free.fr
User avatar
helijah
 
Posts: 1336
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:35 pm
Location: Chartres (France)
Callsign: helijah
IRC name: helijah
Version: GIT
OS: GNU/Linux

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Wed Nov 09, 2022 10:39 pm

Thank you Emmanuel for getting this new work into FGAddon.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Wed Apr 26, 2023 2:45 am

I made a small update to the AirCrane Git Repository.

A couple corrections, missing tail rotor hub effect, the altimeter was running backwards.

Activated the GSDI, to go along with that I added the BAR altitude hold to the AFCS controls. Between the two it give the pilot better control when positioning cargo during construction and ground placement maneuvers.

I don't know if there was a Collective to Yaw Coupling in the AFCS in the helicopter-fcs.nas file. So I added one to the AirCrane local files. It is a real life feature of the AirCrane.It counters the yaw effect when adding collective or power. I plan to add other AFCS and autopilot features eventually that are needed for cargo hauling.

The generators powered by the main rotor now only work after a minimum rotor RPM based on 15% power to either engine.

Starting work on the fuel system.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Sat Apr 29, 2023 5:38 pm

Another minor update and correction.

Activated the AstroTech Chronometer and corrected the dome light switch, it was reversed and the animation range was too broad.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby helijah » Sat Apr 29, 2023 7:24 pm

I take good note of it :) I will see that
Some planes (and other) for FlightGear
http://helijah.free.fr
and
http://embaranger.free.fr
User avatar
helijah
 
Posts: 1336
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:35 pm
Location: Chartres (France)
Callsign: helijah
IRC name: helijah
Version: GIT
OS: GNU/Linux

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Sat Apr 29, 2023 9:16 pm

Thanks helijah, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I really want to continue creating a robust turbine and fuel system now that we have the panel instruments and switches to support them. It's just a matter of finding uninterrupted time to concentrate on it. I think I have plenty of documentation to do them justice.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

Re: Erickson S-64 Aircrane anyone?

Postby wlbragg » Mon May 01, 2023 7:34 pm

First steps to a fuel system have been added. I'm kind of winging this as the FDM for a twin turbine system is limited and I am having to cheat a little. Functionally it should do the job, but it could be much more elegant if I wanted to spend a lot of time on it.

Questions I would have before I would even attempt it.
Is YASim capable of a twin turbine helicopter. I did some digging and if I remember correctly it is the rotorgear that simulates the turbine, so to speak.
The AirCrane currently has only one which I doubled the power of one turbine to reach the expected power output. But then in the coding I have to break that back out into two turbines everywhere to mimic two turbines, that is the ineloquent part. That inadvertently creates many unorthodox properties to control VS standard properties you get straight from the FDM.
To do this justice I should create another rotorgear, but they would need to be tied together to the one rotor. I don't even know that this is possible. I thought I saw somewhere a helo using two rotogear but even the twin rotor Chinook is only using one rotorgear. So I don't know if it is feasible or if there is any documentation to help figure it out.
The other option is JSBSim but that would take even more time for me as I am not an FDM engineer. I have a test AirCrane I was trying to convert using the Alouette JSBSim FDM. But It was proving to be a huge task. I may still go back to that after I get a few more working systems in the YASim version.

Going down the current road appealed to me as it is within my wheelhouse, time frame and capabilities.

Working
Draw down from two main tanks feeding each turbine (four bladders)
Fuel shutoff at throttle quadrant
Low temp indication

TODO
Possibly a more robust fuel consumption calculation, currently it is fairly crude.
Crossover Feed
Aux feed
Tank Gauge Test
Hi Pressure fill system
Animate fuel flow gauges
Animate fuel pressure gauges
Everything else about the fuels system in the POH that I am forgetting about. There is a substantial amount of details to the fuel system in an aircrane.
Testing to verify consumption numbers, weight distribution and all implemented sub systems.
Kansas and Ohio/Midwest scenery development.
KEQA, 3AU, KRCP Airport Layout
Intel i7/GeForce RTX 2070/Max-Q
User avatar
wlbragg
 
Posts: 7574
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:31 am
Location: Kansas (Tornado Alley), USA
Callsign: WC2020
Version: next
OS: Win10/Linux/RTX 2070

PreviousNext

Return to Aircraft

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests