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A4K Skyhawk Development

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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby SplitDecision » Mon Oct 26, 2015 4:03 am

Search YouTube for "ac3d unwrapping", "ac3d texturing" or something close to that and you will find some tutorials.


You haven't read my other post which explained that I can't use AC3D because my trial has expired.
Developing the RNZAF A4K Skyhawk for FlightGear. Download: https://github.com/FGMEMBERS/A-4K
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby Johan G » Mon Oct 26, 2015 5:59 am

Then you have a good opportunity to explore Blender. :)

But don't start with the unwrapping tutorials, start with the very, very basic user interface tutorials. Blenders interface is a bit daunting the first hours, but after that... :D After the basic and unwrapping tutorials you could also have a look at the manual at blender.org/manual and the FlightGear wiki article Blender AC3D import and export (perm).
Low-level flying — It's all fun and games till someone looses an engine. (Paraphrased from a YouTube video)
Improving the Dassault Mirage F1 (Wiki, Forum, GitLab. Work in slow progress)
Some YouTube videos
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby SplitDecision » Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:42 am

Progress

Martien van der P. has UV mapped, animated, begun work on a livery, added the model which I made into FlightGear, and is continuing work on the A4K including animating the canopy. I am currently finishing the livery and beginning work on the cockpit interior. Work on the A4K has definitely progressed very well.

Below is a screenshot of the current progress in the development of this aircraft.

Image
Developing the RNZAF A4K Skyhawk for FlightGear. Download: https://github.com/FGMEMBERS/A-4K
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby bugman » Fri Nov 13, 2015 2:31 pm

It's looking good. The model is however not in FlightGear yet, or at least it is not in this location in the repository:


I'm also not sure if Martien has commit access to FGAddon aircraft repository. Are you planning on using the current YASim FDM, or updating it for the aircraft?

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Edward
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby Martien van der P. » Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:27 pm

@bugman No, I haven't commit acces to FGAddon aircraft repository yet. And about FDM, I want to change it slightly because the current a4 FDM has some issues. And the A-4K isn't included in the a4 it's a seperate aircraft now.

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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby bugman » Fri Nov 13, 2015 5:30 pm

Martien van der P. wrote in Fri Nov 13, 2015 4:27 pm:@bugman No, I haven't commit acces to FGAddon aircraft repository yet.


To look after a new aircraft, something might be able to be arranged (if you think the quality is, or will be reasonable).

And about FDM, I want to change it slightly because the current a4 FDM has some issues.


I guess you mean the YASim one, and not the original UIUC FDM, and the 'a4f' rather than 'a4'? The 'a4' one is very old! From the old gitorious repository:

Code: Select all
$ git log a4.xml
commit 1f71db17c734f6e1ba04e2f6527735d55a70ef97
Author: ehofman <ehofman>
Date:   Thu Feb 17 10:27:18 2005 +0000

    Mathias Frohlich: Add carrier capabilities.

commit 92fa7f2ac6ddfeb72317b7c68beb439f1938e800
Author: andy <andy>
Date:   Sat May 15 21:50:51 2004 +0000

    Really fun (and surprisingly easy) hack: a fuel and weight
    configuration dialog box which automagically adapts itself to
    aircraft configuration.  Only the A-4 and Cherokee are set up
    currently.

commit d46a179f00873da2f6fd9f4ef87a1e11aa4f6499
Author: curt <curt>
Date:   Mon Jan 12 17:49:33 2004 +0000

    Attempt #1 to sort out confusion between left / right / parking brake
    controls in the cockpit vs. which wheels they apply to.  FlightGear now
    sets /controls/gear/brake-left, /controls/gear/brake-right, and
    /controls/gear/brake-parking.  It should be up to the FDM to sort out
    which wheels under which circumstances are affected by these controls
    and ultimately what happens to the physical motion of the aircraft.

commit 9614b9e5af4e94ab78e29a2c330371895875ce8f
Author: curt <curt>
Date:   Sat Sep 20 03:57:12 2003 +0000

    Move *-set.xml and Aircraft-yasim/*.xml into their individual aircraft
    subdirectories in yet another step towards making aircraft more self
    contained rather than potentially spread out.


The 'a4f' YASim FDM is more recent, with Stuart making quite a few changes only 2 years ago:

Code: Select all
$ git log a4f.xml
commit 7251febde68dbcc174fc5d9f33e50731e562cbde
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Sun Jan 13 22:34:11 2013 +0000

    Yet more A-4F updates.
   
    - AoA indexer now comes on as soon as the gear starts descending
    - Nasal APC replaced with PID
    - Nasal loops for alarms replaced with AP logic
    - Improved FDM - more reasonable AoA on approach

commit 11a0e15e9b4fb8bcfb61f2236004d8431c72cce7
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Sat Jan 5 21:21:36 2013 +0000

    Further updates to the A-4F.
   
    - Integrate stores with Fuel and Payload dialog.
    - Default to no stores (ensure acceptable carrier landing weight)
    - Updates to the LH console.
    - FDM updates.

commit 71f56399573ddc950984c2d34de0884b5445eeb6
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Mon Nov 19 22:28:48 2012 +0000

    Further FDM updates for the A-4F, thanks to i4dnf.

commit 0d5c50b85cafeb4e485e3e8be5c71c2ebf89ea16
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Thu Nov 15 14:04:42 2012 +0000

    Updated A-4F
   
    - Improved FDM using airfoil data
    - Adjusted AoA indexer
    - Slighlty raised seat by default
   
    ... all making just a bit easier to land on a carrier.

commit 9602f66722871acdba52de0bc09d845f73272dd5
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Sat Jan 7 23:10:01 2012 +0000

    Add Approach Power Compensator to a4f

commit fd9daee8abe4c8feeb64e95e4ef7d49a2600048f
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Fri Sep 24 14:40:54 2010 +0100

    Stores and instruments for the A4F

commit 5847e7ac26f68887412b1a4840cb76033dee8849
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Tue Aug 17 21:04:34 2010 +0100

    Further minor updates to A4-F:
    - Fixed HSI copied from A-6E
    - Improved cannon submodels, separated from a4f-blue
    - Two drop-tanks rather than 3.

commit 1cb0a1c514c12b8577ac4c441fc41217d6e8f2a5
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Sat Aug 14 00:40:33 2010 +0100

    Update droptank submodel - allow to be dropped. Also add submodels for cannon.

commit cfb78374683f9e02f4e47245551aae041a63dfbe
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Tue Aug 10 23:03:59 2010 +0100

    Various updates to A-4F
    - Improved cockpit
      - Warning lights for spoilers, gear, airbrakes
      - Re-modeled left console
    - Improved FDM
    - Auto-deploying spoilers (armed from left panel)

commit e64edd257103972ea7d69bd04ea9d0dc720fb6ac
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Mon Aug 2 19:10:57 2010 +0100

    Updates to A4-F
   
    - gunsight model
    - generally improved cockpit
    - Fixed FDM
    - Add droptanks

commit 0ab0ff24e006b21f23e0b99945bd96b65d3293f6
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Tue Jul 27 00:02:45 2010 +0100

    Various A4-F improvements.
   
    - Corrected normal map for tail
    - Improved texture mapping for wing
    - spin animation for wheels
    - improved gear placement

commit b42f598eb5b9f1b33827d24bc00dcccb02c4f3be
Author: Stuart Buchanan <stuart_d_buchanan att yahoo.co.uk>
Date:   Mon Jul 26 21:40:08 2010 +0100

    Update to a4f. Replace a4f with real a4f, moving old a4f to a4f-blue.

commit 0fb6c280758d336c230191b2e381e77dde7bff60
Author: vmmeazza <vmmeazza>
Date:   Sat May 13 09:13:33 2006 +0000

    Adjust CofG to try to get inporved elevator response

commit 693e6b88a661aec72b9c47b1235cc677adb38f29
Author: vmmeazza <vmmeazza>
Date:   Thu Mar 16 09:10:01 2006 +0000

    Amended gear configuration to try to elliminate drift while stationary. These numbers are an improvement, but do not fix the problem

commit aa95eaa77764fb5fec62021186c116583a571d8d
Author: vmmeazza <vmmeazza>
Date:   Mon Mar 13 11:31:44 2006 +0000

    Adjust YASim config, add functioning drag-chute, and general tidy up

commit 359b12cd10730f707f0d6ac9e1a8fbdc3197d4fb
Author: mfranz <mfranz>
Date:   Fri Mar 3 16:28:33 2006 +0000

    Vivian MEAZZA:
   
    "I started out by adjusting the catapult strop and holdback attachment
    points for the A4, and noticed that we had an A4E YASim config (more or
    less) with an A3F modified for the Blue Angels aerobatic team 3D model. So I
    tidied up the 3d model, constructed the correct YASim config, including
    airbrakes and spoilers, and added some eye candy: G-effects, gear steering
    and compression, catapult strop and holdback. I've left the A3E config
    alone, in case someone would like to provide a proper 3D model."


If you find some fixes for the a4f FDM while working on the a4k, it would be great to get these upstream into FGAddon. Oh, does the a4k really need to be in a separate aircraft directory, or would this be better to be like the CRJ700-family aircraft?

Regards,
Edward
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby Martien van der P. » Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:34 pm

Yes, I mean the a4f FDM. When I've parked the a4f with parking brakes on it's drifting away. And I don't know for sure yet or it's handy to have the A-4K in the older a4-family.
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby bugman » Fri Nov 13, 2015 6:40 pm

It could help with all the other A4 models. They don't seem to be too different from each other, and it is quite a large family! It might help for adding the other models in the future, if all is kept together. There will very likely be a lot of shared elements. Maybe Stuart who was the last to work on this aircraft might know what would be best.

Regards,
Edward
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby SplitDecision » Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:06 pm

Yes, sorry for the confusion when I said it's in FlightGear but you seem to understand now that I meant only in our copys of FG and its not yet available to anyone else.
Developing the RNZAF A4K Skyhawk for FlightGear. Download: https://github.com/FGMEMBERS/A-4K
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby stuart » Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:45 pm

Hiya,

My personal preference would be to add this to the existing a4 aircraft grouping in the FGAddon repository.

Any changes you make to the FDM are going to be equally applicable to the A4-F: They are basically the same airframe except for the mods to the tail and the removal of the "hump", and I doubt our FDMs are accurate enough to model the difference.

BTW - if you're looking for an interesting challenge, it should be possible using Erik's new Aeromatic to generate a default JSBSim FDM and then merge in the changes from the UIUC FDM that already exists. Given the quality of Dave Culp's JSBSim FDMs, I'd be hopeful that the results would be better than YASim.

Let me know if you need any help.

Skyhawks Forever!

-Stuart
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby SplitDecision » Mon Dec 28, 2015 1:00 am

Progress Report

Image

I have completed the RNZAF livery and have added some minor details to the model. Martien has animated the canopy and is currently working on the rivets/panel line layer for the paint kit. I am currently adding the finishing touches to the pilot model and will require some additional help with the cockpit interior (as mentioned below).

Help Required

We are currently in need of some extra developers to help create the cockpit interior. Our intention is to create the RNZAF Kahu cockpit (image below) which was the most advanced cockpit and had the avionics capability of that of an F16.

Image

If anyone is interested please PM me...
Developing the RNZAF A4K Skyhawk for FlightGear. Download: https://github.com/FGMEMBERS/A-4K
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby SplitDecision » Sun Jun 12, 2016 8:45 am

Its been a while since the last update. Martien has since created a cockpit interior and I have created textures, MFD's, and the HUD. In addition to adding my work to the interior, Martien has been working on the weapons and payload and adding the various armaments the A4K is capable of carrying including the AGM-65 maverick.

Image
Here's what the cockpit interior currently looks like.

Image
Textures created and added

Image
Exterior view including the canopy animation.

Image
I had ago at some aerial refueling from a US Navy A4F.

HUD Maker's Wanted
We still need help to create the custom HUD for the Skyhawk, its fairly simple. PM me for details.

Hopefully we will have a first release to the FGMEMBERS repo within the next couple of months.
Developing the RNZAF A4K Skyhawk for FlightGear. Download: https://github.com/FGMEMBERS/A-4K
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby wkitty42 » Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:54 pm

SplitDecision wrote in Sun Jun 12, 2016 8:45 am:Hopefully we will have a first release to the FGMEMBERS repo within the next couple of months.

stuart wrote in Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:45 pm:My personal preference would be to add this to the existing a4 aircraft grouping in the FGAddon repository.
"You get more air close to the ground," said Angalo. "I read that in a book. You get lots of air low down, and not much when you go up."
"Why not?" said Gurder.
"Dunno. It's frightened of heights, I guess."
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby Bomber » Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:04 pm

What's your point.... we've read it.

If you want to start another Fgmembers vs Flightgear argument kitty then have the backbone to do it with your own comments and opinions.

It could be that this work is being done on a licence that's unsuitable for fgaddon....

Stuart can wish for all he likes, just like me with the Irish twin sisters but it ain't gonna happen.
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Re: Need help to develop an A4K Skyhawk

Postby wkitty42 » Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:23 pm

Bomber wrote in Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:04 pm:What's your point.... we've read it.

i wasn't talking to you ;)
"You get more air close to the ground," said Angalo. "I read that in a book. You get lots of air low down, and not much when you go up."
"Why not?" said Gurder.
"Dunno. It's frightened of heights, I guess."
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