dhc 2 Beaver runway castering

[dilbert]

I recently loaded and tried to fly the DHC-2.

Unfortunately the add-on version still suffers from uncontrollable castering at the end of the runway, a problem which has been around quite some time.

At present the plane is pretty unflyable.

Suggest the problem be addressed, with the temporary fix of locking the tailwheel in default: In the DHC 2W file beneath <channel name="Tail wheel">, under <switch name="fcs/tail_wheel_lock">,
and on line 566, change <default value="0"/> to <default value="1"/>.

This solves the problem during takeoff and landing. Taxiway steering is facilitated by use of toe brakes, where needed, in addition to rudder.

Would greatly appreciate it if this could be brought to the attention of the maintainer, if Syd Adams is unavailable.

Thanks and kind regards.

[legoboyvdlp]

Looks to me like its already default to 1: https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fg ... /dhc2W.xml ?

[dilbert]

It is fixed in http://mirrors.ibiblio.org/flightgear/f ... aft-trunk/

But it is not fixed in the mirror currently used by FG addon for 2020.3.9, which seems to be a common problem these days.

To be sure, I just uninstalled and reinstalled the Beaver from the FlightGear add-on hangar; It still castors, and the file still shows "0" for the default. It would appear that in the Windows version of 2020.3.9 it is not uploading from the link you suggested, or from the trunk. Perhaps from a legacy mirror?

For my personal use I generally upload from the trunk; but that's not much help to a new member, wanting to try the plane.

[wkitty42]

IIUC aircraft-trunk is for use with next whereas there are specific hangers for release versions... for example, 2020 releases should use aircraft-2020 as the hanger... the problem, such as it is, is that aircraft-2020 should contain the version of the craft released for use with FG 2020 while aircraft-trunk is updated with development... at the time that the next branch has a release candidate cut out, the craft would also be copied to aircraft-2020... i think i got that right... it has been a while...

[dilbert]

Org.flightgear.fgaddon.stable_2020 is my current directory, and that in which the dhc-2 has not been updated.

Apparently, it was not updated to agree with 1: https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fg ... /dhc2W.xml ?.

Thanks for the clarification and kind regards.

[dilbert]

I note in Source Forge the following entry on 7/26/21 for the DHC-2: "Merge trunk to release/2020.3".

Thereafter, thinking the addon hanger should have been updated, I uninstalled and reinstalled the DHC-2.

Nevertheless, the version uploaded from the addon hangar to my Org.flightgear.fgaddon.stable_2020 directory still was defaulted to "0" for the tailwheel lock; and the plane still castered, as before.

Last fall I worked with a developer in an effort to revise certain autopilots, and was frequently frustrated by upgrades never making it to the addon hangar, even though they were present in the trunk ;
and even though the developer thought an update to the addon hangar had been successfully accomplished.

If the trunk has been merged to release/2020.3; why then, when I uninstall and reinstall the plane from the addon hanger does it not then reflect it

Will someone with WIN10 and 2020.3.9 please upload the DHC-2, and see if it still casters?

Seems like something's just not working in the addon updating process, as it should.

Lord help the newbies.

[legoboyvdlp]

You are mistaken; it wasn't the dhc2 that was updated; it was the A320.

https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fg ... craft/dhc2

It is up to the individual aircraft author whether they update the release branch or not. Perhaps the newer version uses features which are not backwards compatible, in which case the 2020.3 branch will not be updated.


In any case, https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fg ... W.xml#l566 it is already default to 1 in the release branch ....

are you sure that you _engaged_ the tail wheel lock? There might be an aircraft key or something ... it is controlled by the property /controls/gear/tailwheel-lock

Whenever the next version of flightgear is released new branches will be cut.

[dilbert]

You are mistaken; it wasn't the dhc2 that was updated; it was the A320.

https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fg ... craft/dhc2

It is up to the individual aircraft author whether they update the release branch or not. Perhaps the newer version uses features which are not backwards compatible, in which case the 2020.3 branch will not be updated.


In any case, https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fg ... W.xml#l566 it is already default to 1 in the release branch ....

are you sure that you _engaged_ the tail wheel lock? There might be an aircraft key or something ... it is controlled by the property /controls/gear/tailwheel-lock

Whenever the next version of flightgear is released new branches will be cut.

Confused by this: "In any case, https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fg ... W.xml#l566 it is already default to 1 in the release branch ...".

The default in dhcw-2.xml still comes up "0"; and the tailwheel is still initially unlocked.

My recollection is that I had tried engaging the tailwheel lock several times, without success; but it memory isn't always reliable.

Nevertheless, "l" does lock the tailwheel now, making the "0" default value immaterial.

Thanks for your kind consideration and help.