AIR TO AIR REFUEL PROBLEM

[EnricoC]

Hello everybody
For some time now, I have had the problem you are reading about.
I am in flight (with an aircraft enabled to refuel in flight) and I request a tanker through the menu in charge.
I'm talking about in-flight refueling with AI tanker aircraft.
Once requested, it appears on the map.
I read his name, his speed and his altitude.
If I pay attention though, I notice that he is a fixed point on the map.
He doesn't move.
If I try to intercept it, it does not appear to me ........ its looks like a ghost plane visible only on the map but still stopped.
This happens to me with the latest three versions of FGFS.
I currently use FG 2019.1.2 on WIN 10.

thanks if you will help me.
Ciao.

[wkitty42]

i'm on linux using the latest beta code in the repository... i've never done any of these refueling scenarios so i just tried one... i used the UFO and selected the KC-135 tanker... i was able to find it and catch up with it... when i got within the default range, my FG told me i was "engaged"... when i backed off a little, i was "disengaged"... the tanker was flying at 250kts and all seemed fine...

can you provide a screenshot of your tanker settings dialog when you try, please?

IIRC, mine defaulted to 250kts and 78meters contact range... i only selected the KC-135 and no other...

[eatdirt]

Hi there,
I have also played with AI refuelling for the first time, I can confirm the engaged / disengaged within a X meters like radius set from the tanker.

But then, I wanted to make the stuff more realistic, and set 1m for the distance. Then it does not work anymore. It looks like the distance is not computed between the drogue and the probe!? Did my best there and nothing was coming in





Any idea? Is there a way to make that like the real stuff, they attach themselves?

Thanks,
cheers.

[Thorsten]

Is there a way to make that like the real stuff, they attach themselves?

There's always a way...

Having said that - what do you know about the physics of ropes - how they actually hang in an airstream, how they bend under load? It's a doable problem, but not for the faint of math, you're talking simulating an array of coupled differential equations under external forces.

You can look into the Alouette-III rope code to get some pointers.

[eatdirt]

Thanks, I remember your rope, was quite impressive.

I guess for the re-fuelling, fixing the distance to probe/drogue would already allows for quite some fun. And making just a 3D spring around what we have now as an equilibrium position for the pipe could be already nice. I guess I should first try to get some insight into the coding, my Nasal is just vanishing, as well as my knowledge of how FG is actually working... :-/

[RobAndrew]

I to, am currently trying to develop an A330 MRTT AI Tanker. I will state that I took the hoses from the Non AI KC137 as they look quite nice. Would be cool to see them moving around when engaged certainly

[Algernon]

I discovered this thread as I am having the same issue - when I request an AI tanker, the AI node is created and the "Valid" property is "true" but its position is stationary and there is no tanker model. It worked fine for me in the 2018 versions, but now experiencing this problem following updating to 2019.1.1.

[Necolatis]

I discovered this thread as I am having the same issue - when I request an AI tanker, the AI node is created and the "Valid" property is "true" but its position is stationary and there is no tanker model. It worked fine for me in the 2018 versions, but now experiencing this problem following updating to 2019.1.1.

The solution until 2020.1 or whatever next version will be is to make sure the receiver aircraft in its <refuel> section has the offsets of the receptor defined.
See the wiki for details: http://wiki.flightgear.org/Howto:Implem ... capability

I think Richard fixed it on next FG version, but until then, those properties are not optional.

[Algernon]

OK, thanks, I will give that a shot...