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Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Upkeep » Wed Nov 03, 2010 6:04 pm

Bear Buck:

Very pleased it was not just me! Thanks for confirming this. I shall now start working on a Qantas livery..... Thanks again. Regards. Upkeep.
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby durk » Thu Nov 04, 2010 9:22 am

Buckaroo wrote:I hope this is in time for testing before FS Weekend. 'd hoped to finish earlier, but I've been doing over-time hours at work the last two weeks and got swamped. Yakko has been extremely helpful in testing this release, and deserves kudos.



Just a quick heads-up: I managed to upgrade my entire FlightGear setup just in time before FSWeekend, and got the new Connie working in good order. Right now, here are just a few quick observations:

1). In order to keep my git repository clean, I installed the Constellation files into a separate directory and used the new --fg-aircraft option to point to this folder. This all worked well, except for the fact that I had to change my nasal IORules file, in order to allow flightgear to read nasal files that are outside of the base folder. This is not a Constellations problem, but probably just a little glitch in flightgear's latest data folder infrastructure.

2) I managed to throw together a quick and dirty KLM livery. Although quite a bit of texture mapping has been changed since the previous version, I did manage to salvage the fuselage texture that gooneybird made for last year's FSWeekend. Although the texture mapping of the tail is quite different, I did manage to make something that was reasonable by taking the TWA version and painting the bottom red bar blue. I hope that gooneybird will one day be able to redo those properly, but for FSWeekend, I think it's reasonable enough to pass.

3) I don't know the real constellation obviously, but my impression is that the current engine performance is a lot more convincing than that of the previous version, which I thougtht was quite a bit overpowered. I haven't really had much time to practice, and noticed that the change in engine power got me quite a few times (approaching way too low, and too slow). Anyways, I hope to be able to get some hands on experience on the fly. :-)

4) There seem to be a few mismatches between the "Current aircraft keys" help file, and the actual key combinations for switching connie specific views. I'm writing this off the top of my head, so unfortunately, I can't be more specific right now. Will do that later.

5) Overall: Great work! Thanks.

Cheers,
Durk
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Yakko » Thu Nov 04, 2010 4:30 pm

Durk - I'm glad to see you say that the engine performance is convincing. A lot of research (and a pretty good dose of trial and error experimentation) went into that with the goal of hittting the same numbers that are present in real aircraft data.

I was kind of worried that, since you're using a prerelease build of FG, it may not work exactly right on your version - it was tested and tuned for version 2.0.0 and I know the prerelease interim builds change almost daily. So I am relieved that you are getting proper performance.
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Buckaroo » Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:14 pm

Sorry about the livery situation, Durk. I was concerned about that when you earlier mentioned a KLM livery. The changes were necessary, and will give superior ability to create complete liveries. A contributor has already created a nice new Lufthansa livery to add to the others, and I'd love to add the KLM livery if/when you care to release it.

-Buck
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Blender3D » Fri Nov 05, 2010 8:30 am

Buckaroo wrote:Blender3D,

Is it possible you are referring to the 1049G that is in the Flightgear repository and download page, rather than the 1049H found on my site (shown in my sig line below)? My instruments are not at all flat (unless someone took a hammer to them), and most engineering instruments and controls are in place. A few gauges are not present-- the prop sync instrument, oil quantities and a small number of other things that have no system modeling yet, and a few elements lack functionality, such as aux fuel pump switches and prop syncing controls. The only major panel that is not represented at all is the sta 260 panel on the aft cockpit bulkhead which is mostly fire and climate controls.

-Buck


Ups... You're right. I thought of another plane. My bad! Anyway I think for example the cowl flaps switches would be nice to have actually working. And even if the systems aren't yet modeled (like oil quantities) it would still be nice to have those instruments. You could set them to a default value when they have power, so it looks like they work.
Have a nice day...

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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby durk » Fri Nov 05, 2010 9:50 am

Yakko wrote: I was kind of worried that, since you're using a prerelease build of FG, it may not work exactly right on your version - it was tested and tuned for version 2.0.0 and I know the prerelease interim builds change almost daily. So I am relieved that you are getting proper performance.


If i recall correctly, right around the time of the initial release of the Connie, there was a major overhaul in JSBSim's engine modeling; in particular the turbo charged piston stuff. This invalidated many aircraft models. A change that big fortunately doesn't happen every day. I did about one additional hour of practice yesterday, and managed to get a fairly reasonable guess at proper power settings. I did a nearly perfect approach to EHLE yesterday, when I realized that I had selected the "Stormy monday" wheather scenario, and was essentially blown off the runway...


Buckaroo wrote:Sorry about the livery situation, Durk. I was concerned about that when you earlier mentioned a KLM livery. The changes were necessary, and will give superior ability to create complete liveries. A contributor has already created a nice new Lufthansa livery to add to the others, and I'd love to add the KLM livery if/when you care to release it.


No worries. It was a nice challenge to get it working. Essentially, the KLM livery isn't mine, but gooneybird's, so I'll ask hime whether he likes to improve and contribute it.

Cheers,
Durk
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Yakko » Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:12 pm

[quote]
Blender3D wrote:

Ups... You're right. I thought of another plane. My bad! Anyway I think for example the cowl flaps switches would be nice to have actually working. And even if the systems aren't yet modeled (like oil quantities) it would still be nice to have those instruments. You could set them to a default value when they have power, so it looks like they work.
[/quote]

If you update to the newest (11/02/2010) version of the model, you will see that not only do the switches function, but the engine temps are in fact effected by the position of the cowl flaps.

There are some instruments modelled and just showing static values at the moment. It took us a while to even find out WHAT some of the instruments were and what they looked like (including a photo field trip to visit one of the last remaining aircraft in the USA). In time it should fill out...
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Buckaroo » Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:33 pm

Also a heads-up: The version for FG 1.9 has /not/ been updated, as it notes on my download page. This version is for 2.0 only, and was mainly intended for Durk and the FS Weekend folks. When I get a chance, I'll update the FG 1.9 version.

-Buck
Callsign: Buckaro(o)
Author: Lockheed 1049H Constellation, Grumman Goose, MD-81, Edgley Optica, Velocity XL RG, YASim Guide
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Quadunit404 » Sun Nov 07, 2010 5:22 am

I've noticed this rocks to the side a whole lot less than the previous version. Which is good, because now I don't feel like I'm flying a toy Connie :lol:
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby durk » Sun Nov 07, 2010 8:15 pm

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to drop a quick note here to say that many, many people at FSWeekend were absolutely stunned by the Connie's artwork. In particular because we ran FlightGear in anaglyphic 3D mode most of the time. The 3D model of the cockpit really comes to life when viewed that way. The aircraft really held up well in terms of performance, despite the fact that I was still suffering a bit from tranfer from the older version. I think that I've been running the Connie for about 70% of the time without a single glitch.

cheers,
Durk
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Yakko » Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:27 pm

OK - and for those of us at home without a consultant on standby....

"We ran FlightGear in anaglyphic 3D mode" - what exactly IS an anaglyphic 3D mode and how does one get to it. I havn't even HEARD this term yet, but it certainly sounds like something I'd like to know more about!!! Discussion continues in viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9997

It doesn't surprise me that Buck's work held up well under ANY scrutiny - he does good stuff!
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby jentron » Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:18 pm

Buckaroo,

I'm playing around with making the fuzzy dice respond to aircraft accelerations instead of gravity. That means they swing back when the takeoff roll begins, and they stay centered during a properly coordinated turn. They also swing forward during braking. You can see the diffs or download a patch.

Thanks,
Ron
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Buckaroo » Wed Nov 10, 2010 7:29 pm

Great stuff Ron! This is the sort of thing I really love about Flightgear. :)

-Buck
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Sealbhach » Fri Dec 02, 2011 10:06 am

Hi, I wonder if anyone is keeping this plane updated?

I've been flying it in 2.4 and it's OK but I think the FDM needs updating because it rocks from side to side too much, makes it difficult to do a landing.

.
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Re: Lockheed 1049H Constellation (Beta Release)

Postby Buckaroo » Fri Dec 02, 2011 11:30 am

I'm the maintainer and project originator. The 1049H hasn't been updated in a year or so and I'm not terribly familiar with it under 2.4 (or even 2.0 for that matter-- it was developed under FG 1.0). It does tend to wallow a bit at low speeds and takes a practiced touch. It's JSBsim flight model is mostly the same as the 1049 FG project and is said to be at least in part based on real data, though I have questions about its moments and yaw responses. I've been tempted to try a YASim variation for comparison (and because I'm much more familiar with YASim) but I'm too busy with other projects. Perhaps Yakko will comment, as he's by far the most experienced flying the 1049H. He can land the beast on a dime, it's amazing to watch.

-Buck
Callsign: Buckaro(o)
Author: Lockheed 1049H Constellation, Grumman Goose, MD-81, Edgley Optica, Velocity XL RG, YASim Guide
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