Author Topic: F/A-18 C/D aircraft mod and textures (FSX/P3D)  (Read 212493 times)

hd764jvgd843

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F/A-18 C/D aircraft mod and textures (FSX/P3D)
« on: September 17, 2014, 07:58:14 pm »
This is an aircraft mod and texture pack for FSX/P3D featuring different FA-18 C/D models and versions. The project started as a feature port of Jimi's 'New FSXBA Hornet' to the default FSX FA-18 and the CaptainSim Xload addon, thus effects, FCS, hud, gauges etc. are based on these modifications. Note: For best visual experience FSX or P3D (v1.4) recommended.

Texture packs are based on many repaints I have found over the years on the net and which I adjusted to suit my personal flavour and make them as realistic as I could to the best of my knowledge - some are fictional, but I found them too nice not to be included. So credits go to all the other modders/repainters out there, too. I have also created a bunch of additional textures completely new which you may discover. Maximum resolution of texture schemes is 1024x1024 px, which looks very good even on large HD monitors and in zoom mode. This is in order to facilitate as high as possible and smooth fps during maneuvers and at high speeds even on mid-range systems, so please do not expect some uber-realistic high resolution stuff down to every nut, bolt and screw.

Main emphasis of this mod has been and will be trying to mimic dynamic flight behaviour and the FCS of a legacy hornet as best as possible within the current limitations of the sim. Parameters in the '.air' and '.cfg' files are tweaked to the best of my limited knowledge, based on technical specifications, written experiences and with lots of feedback and help of people from this forum. I hope this mod will be fun to fly and you may enjoy it as much as I did putting it together. The project is pursued for recreational purposes, thus a varying amount of time and effort may go into it which will most likely result in a rather erratic sequence of changes/improvements.

All mods and variants FS(C), CS(D) and NH(C/D) have similar flight characteristics depending on loadout/configuration. Animations like flaps, etc. may differ due to limitations of underlying model files respectively control surfaces. Aircraft and texture mods are made available separately, in order to facilitate the adjustment of flight characteristics and improvement of textures. Uncompressed all four mods including textures will currently require in total about 5.1 GB of free drive space. Download sizes however will be considerably smaller due to high compression ratios, especially for the texture schemes. Denomination of the mod's airplane models/variants is unique, so you can easily keep them side by side with default FSX FA-18, CaptainSim Xload addon and/or Jimi's 'New FSXBA Hornet'. For installation instructions, please check the included readme files of each mod.


Download: Mod version 2.3 for Flight Simulator X (FS) Hornet and CaptainSim (CS) Xload addon.
Required: Flight Simulator X 'FA-18' from Acceleration Pack and/or CaptainSim Xload addon.

(FS) FA-18C airplane mod:
- airplane_v2.3.0_FA-18C_FS.7z: http://www18.zippyshare.com/v/Wh7CLCSO/file.html
Texture pack, for (FS) FA-18C airplane mod (extract textures into corresponding airplane folder):
- textures_v2.3.0_FA-18C_FS.7z: http://www7.zippyshare.com/v/AxQ7IUmp/file.html
Update for FA-18C_FS mod:
- update_v2.3.2_FA-18C_FS.zip: http://www65.zippyshare.com/v/FTFJuH2k/file.html
- update_v2.3.3_FA-18C_FS.7z: http://www39.zippyshare.com/v/5AWGmMlp/file.html (optional/alternative sound effects)

(CS) FA-18D airplane mod:
- airplane_v2.3.0_FA-18D_CS.7z: http://www58.zippyshare.com/v/v0lcKrVW/file.html
Texture pack, for (CS) FA-18D airplane mod (extract textures into corresponding airplane folder):
- textures_v2.3.0_FA-18D_CS.7z: http://www48.zippyshare.com/v/GcbKF91I/file.html
Update for FA-18D_CS mod:
- update_v2.3.2_FA-18D_CS.zip: http://www98.zippyshare.com/v/BRD3Bgx5/file.html
- update_v2.3.3_FA-18D_CS.7z: http://www104.zippyshare.com/v/bHze8E7A/file.html (optional/alternative sound effects)


List of textures for (FS) and (CS) versions:
-texture.BRA-NA_N-1012
-texture.CHF-AF_J-5009
-texture.CHF-AF_J-5011
-texture.CHF-AF_J-5017
-texture.CHF-AF_J-5018
-texture.CHF-AF_J-5238
-texture.ESP-AF_C15-78
-texture.ESP-AF_CE15-7
-texture.FIN-AF_HN-465
-texture.Hornet_Prototype1
-texture.Hornet_Prototype2
-texture.Hornet_Test
-texture.KWT-AF_425
-texture.MYS-AF_M45-01
-texture.NASA_HARV_ANSER
-texture.NASA_HARV_SATFV
-texture.NASA_TestPlane_846
-texture.NASA_TestPlane_852
-texture.NASA_X53AAW
-texture.NASA_YF-17
-texture.RAAF_A21-08
-texture.RAAF_A21-103
-texture.RAAF_A21-105
-texture.RAAF_A21-117
-texture.RAAF_A21-26
-texture.RCAF_409-761
-texture.RCAF_409-765
-texture.RCAF_409-796
-texture.RCAF_410-719
-texture.RCAF_410-720
-texture.RCAF_410-906
-texture.RCAF_410-918
-texture.RCAF_416-789
-texture.RCAF_425-703
-texture.RCAF_425-711
-texture.RCAF_425-738
-texture.RCAF_425-745
-texture.RCAF_425-751
-texture.RCAF_431-009
-texture.RCAF_433-730
-texture.RCAF_440-747
-texture.RCAF_441-740
-texture.RCAF_AETE-907
-texture.USMC_VMFA-112_00
-texture.USMC_VMFA-112_10
-texture.USMC_VMFA-115_200
-texture.USMC_VMFA-115_201
-texture.USMC_VMFA-122_01
-texture.USMC_VMFA-122_02
-texture.USMC_VMFA-142_209
-texture.USMC_VMFA-212_01
-texture.USMC_VMFA-232_00
-texture.USMC_VMFA-232_01
-texture.USMC_VMFA-232_300
-texture.USMC_VMFA-251_200
-texture.USMC_VMFA-251_202
-texture.USMC_VMFA-312_200
-texture.USMC_VMFA-312_205
-texture.USMC_VMFA-314_00
-texture.USMC_VMFA-314_01
-texture.USMC_VMFA-314_10
-texture.USMC_VMFA-314_202
-texture.USMC_VMFA-323_200
-texture.USMC_VMFA-323_202
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-121_01
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-224_00
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-225_01
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-225_10
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-225_200
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-332_00
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-533_00
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-533_01
-texture.USMC_VMFA-AW-533_100
-texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_200
-texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_220
-texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_222
-texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_233
-texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_237
-texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_241
-texture.USN_BlueAngels_1
-texture.USN_BlueAngels_2
-texture.USN_BlueAngels_3
-texture.USN_BlueAngels_4
-texture.USN_BlueAngels_5
-texture.USN_BlueAngels_6
-texture.USN_BlueAngels_7
-texture.USN_NAWCTSD
-texture.USN_NSAWC_11
-texture.USN_NSAWC_35
-texture.USN_NSAWC_46
-texture.USN_NSAWC_N-1000
-texture.USN_TestPilotSchool
-texture.USN_VFA-102_200
-texture.USN_VFA-103_200
-texture.USN_VFA-103_201
-texture.USN_VFA-103_202
-texture.USN_VFA-105_400
-texture.USN_VFA-105_411
-texture.USN_VFA-106_300
-texture.USN_VFA-106_334
-texture.USN_VFA-106_335
-texture.USN_VFA-106_400
-texture.USN_VFA-106_405
-texture.USN_VFA-106_45
-texture.USN_VFA-115_200
-texture.USN_VFA-11_100
-texture.USN_VFA-122_25
-texture.USN_VFA-122_52
-texture.USN_VFA-125_400
-texture.USN_VFA-125_401
-texture.USN_VFA-131_400
-texture.USN_VFA-132_300
-texture.USN_VFA-137_400
-texture.USN_VFA-143_100
-texture.USN_VFA-143_101
-texture.USN_VFA-143_202
-texture.USN_VFA-146_300
-texture.USN_VFA-146_302
-texture.USN_VFA-14_200
-texture.USN_VFA-151_300
-texture.USN_VFA-15_301
-texture.USN_VFA-192_300
-texture.USN_VFA-195_400
-texture.USN_VFA-195_401
-texture.USN_VFA-204_01
-texture.USN_VFA-204_403
-texture.USN_VFA-25_400
-texture.USN_VFA-27_200
-texture.USN_VFA-34_204
-texture.USN_VFA-37_200
-texture.USN_VFA-37_300
-texture.USN_VFA-41_100
-texture.USN_VFA-82_300
-texture.USN_VFA-83_300
-texture.USN_VFA-83_301
-texture.USN_VFA-84_104
-texture.USN_VFA-94_400
-texture.USN_VFA-97_200
-texture.USN_VFC-12_10
-texture.USN_VFC-12_14
-texture.USN_VFC-12_23
-texture.USN_VFC-13_06
-texture.USN_VFC-13_12
-texture.USN_VX-30_200
-texture.USN_VX-31_5210
-texture.USN_VX-31_5212


Download: Mod version 2.3 based on Jimi's 'New FSXBA Hornet' (NH) version.
These mods combine different model files C/D and configurations (fleet & BA): AIM, BA, Clean, GBU, Mav, Train, Zuni.

(NH) FA-18C airplane mod:
(NH) FA-18D airplane mod:

Combined v2.3.3 download link for both C/D mods, thanks to 'Azframer':
http://www.mediafire.com/file/x54t7ml6k911m6b/FA-18_C_D.zip


List of textures for (NH) C/D versions:
-Texture.CHF-AF_J-5002
-Texture.ESP-AF_C15-95
-Texture.FIN-AF_HN-419
-Texture.Hornet_Prototype1
-Texture.Hornet_Prototype2
-Texture.Hornet_Test
-Texture.NASA_HARV_ANSER
-Texture.NASA_TestPlane_852
-Texture.NASA_X53_AAW
-Texture.RAAF_A21-23
-Texture.RCAF_409-747
-Texture.USMC_VMFA-225_01
-Texture.USMC_VMFA-251_200
-Texture.USMC_VMFA-251_411
-Texture.USMC_VMFA-333_07
-Texture.USMC_VMFA-333_12
-Texture.USMC_VMFA-333_15
-Texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_12
-Texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_200
-Texture.USMC_VMFAT-101_222
-Texture.USN_BlueAngels_1
-Texture.USN_BlueAngels_2
-Texture.USN_BlueAngels_3
-Texture.USN_BlueAngels_4
-Texture.USN_BlueAngels_5
-Texture.USN_BlueAngels_6
-Texture.USN_BlueAngels_7
-Texture.USN_VFA-27_200
-Texture.USN_VFA-27_202
-Texture.USN_VFA-27_203
-Texture.USN_VFA-27_220
-Texture.USN_VFA-136_300
-Texture.USN_VFA-136_302
-Texture.USN_VFA-192_300
-Texture.USN_VFA-192_305
-Texture.USN_VFA-195_400
-Texture.USN_VFA-204_01
-Texture.USN_VFC-12_06
-Texture.USN_VFC-12_10

Hanimichal was so kind to release a nice paint kit for the 'New FSXBA Hornet', which you can find here:
http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=5igml7o8t6atmkmepmte2oadm4&topic=6944.465


General changelog of things worth mentioning:

textures: corrected small details, e.g. (consistent throughout the texture package where appropriate)
- weapons and fuel contact points
- tank structures and color
- added lights where missing
- turbine intakes & exhausts
- corrected insignia placement
- slats and flaps color adjusted where needed
- corrected bump and specular maps
- corrected canopy colors where appropriate
- new tweaked hud glass, looks more realistic
- minor color adjustment to make contours visible
- corrected ladder and spill ducts textures

Flight behavior is tweaked and is an ongoing effort trying to mimic the FCS of the legacy hornet as best to my limited knowledge within the current boundaries of the sim. It is done in conjunction with Jimi's Pitch_Auto_Trim logic and Orion's Autoflaps.dll, including G-Limiters and additional AoA-Limiters enforcing a general flight envelope, preventing the airplane from spinning out of control during certain maneuvers.

aircraft.cfg - a lot of big and small changes, just to mention a few:
- aircraft moments of inertia adjusted
- empty weight CG position changed
- airplane balance adjusted, in conjunction with pitch auto trim
- wing_span: corrected for fsx definition of wing_span
- wing_twist  corrected
- wing_incidence  adjusted
- vtail_area corrected
- elevator_area corrected
- flaps position values corrected including span-outboard values (realistic visualization only with Jimi's 'New FSXBA Hornet' version, although flight dynamics are working correctly for old FSX/CS addon versions too, movements of flaps are not being visualized in all positions correctly)
- turbine engine data adjusted
- contact points modified
- station_load's: gun added and WSO for D version
- weight and balance values adjusted

.air file (compared to out of the box fsx version)
- rudder/aileron deflection function changed
- thrust vector function changed
- drag values adjusted
- various functions and values tweaked
- sideslip due to bank angle reduced

Suggestions and feedback are always welcome.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2017, 12:20:00 pm by hd764jvgd843 »

hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack
« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2014, 11:29:35 am »
Just some more screenshots...
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 02:28:44 pm by hd764jvgd843 »

Victory103

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2014, 08:23:49 am »
Thanks for putting these all together in one place. Which mods are you using for the CS Delta? Outside of testing Jimi's version of the C, I tend to fly the CS model as well since I can config tank/weps. I did attempt to alias Jimi's new pit into the CS Delta, with limited success.
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hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2014, 12:45:07 pm »
Which mods are you using for the CS Delta?

I do not know what exactly you are referring to - the visual models or textures? Please clarify.

I like to fly all three customizations for different reasons:
- fsx fa-18 for the clear/test plane configuration
- CS for the ability to add different loadouts, especially with two or three tanks
- Jimi's / Jamal's New Hornet model for the correct flaps animations.

You can now move the fsx VC to the New Hornet, and vice versa. I copied all necessary files into the general texture folder. Some inconsistencies concerning inadvertently triggered effects by VC/model files, I have been able to finally work around.

This has been bugging me for a long time, for I prefer the fsx VC over the New Hornet one because the glass hud texture looks more like the real thing...
compare a real FA-18 HUD picture: http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/dc/de/b8/z12115676X.jpg
...to the screenshot below.

Peter
« Last Edit: December 16, 2014, 12:04:43 am by hd764jvgd843 »

Jax

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2014, 11:59:21 pm »
Question? Looking for the RCAF 409 Sq. Line, are they included? or Can it be made?
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hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2014, 11:21:19 am »
Here you go! - I will include it in the next major update pack v1.2 around Christmas.

texture.RCAF_Nighthawk for FSX and CS versions. As I have not yet familiarized myself with the New Hornet paintkit, I won't be able to do any skins for this version in the near future.

Peter

Jax

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack
« Reply #6 on: December 03, 2014, 02:47:06 pm »
Peter, you are the man!!

Thanks....
vRCAF
No.416/433 TFS

hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2015, 02:26:59 pm »
As usual, here is the latest update (version 1.3.3):

Changelog:
- Incorporated latest New Hornet changes for CS and FSX versions. Thanks, again to ORION for his great work on AutoFlaps logic and putting it all into a nice dll!
- Reworked several textures in order to correct small issues, like the Aces on the fins of VFA-41 are showing correct now.
- Added a new texture for VMFA-225 black scheme
- Removed all ladder textures for C/D versions from under the right side of LERX. CS and FSX model files still show some outline, that cannot be removed - at least the textures are correct now.

Victory103

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2015, 03:27:56 pm »
Great job on the CS model, downloading now.

Just checking a typo in the read me:

- fx_AfterBurnerFire1.fx       (AB flickering, FSX version affected)
- fx_AfterBurnerFire2.fx      (AB flickering, FSX version affected)
- fx_AfterBurnerFire2.fx      (AB flickering, FSX version affected)<----this should be the fx_AfterBurnerFire3.fx?
« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 04:25:49 pm by Victory103 »
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Paddles

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2015, 07:50:43 pm »
BZ, hd764jvgd843! Those are really nice repaints
- Removed all ladder textures for C/D versions from under the right side of LERX. CS and FSX model files still show some outline, that cannot be removed - at least the textures are correct now.
Looks like you have to work with the bump textures?..

And, for goodness sake, please remove those starboard LEX spill ducts (please see the attached pictures)  ;)

« Last Edit: January 13, 2015, 07:52:38 pm by Paddles »
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hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2015, 10:45:28 pm »
Victory103: Yes, it is supposed to be 'fx_AfterBurnerFire3.fx'. Thanks for pointing that one out, it will be corrected in the next release.

Paddles: Thanks for the feedback and the pics. To my shame I must admit that I have never consciously noticed that the spill ducts are on the port side only, although it is quite obvious, like the mistake with the ladder, over which I just stumbled upon by accident. But "when you (me) are in the woods you (I) sometimes do not see the trees".
The remaining 'ladder outlines' under the starboard LEX, do not come from the bump maps, but the specular maps as I just found out. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, because I somehow assumed that these outlines came from the model files, which was obviously wrong. I will have these glitches fixed in the next release, soon.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2015, 01:18:19 am by hd764jvgd843 »

hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2015, 12:48:57 am »
Update version 1.4

Changelog:
- changed the mod's folder names and structure, to be more compliant with existing FSX, CS and NH installations
- ladder outlines under starboard LEX removed from specular map for all versions
- starboard spill ducts removed for all FSX and CS version textures
- port side spill ducts added for all NH version textures
- some minor color ajustments I noticed on some textures

« Last Edit: January 15, 2015, 01:04:46 am by hd764jvgd843 »

Victory103

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #12 on: January 17, 2015, 09:56:27 pm »
Running your updates on the CS Delta. Just happened to fire up a payware FSX mission for the CS Delta for an initial test, which included ops around the boat and formation. Contacts points reminiscent of early stock FSX-A Bug with the amount of roll on the mains. Trapped and the CS almost flipped over on the roll out.

Noticed the yaw input working pretty hard, +/- 4* inputs as I believe it is correcting for an out of trim condition based on FSX winds, this was magnified on the mission AI CS Delta above 350kts. Pitch trim worked well, allowing one to keep the VV centered in both cruise and pattern flight phases with little input from me, adding to more carefree handling in the pitch axis. Seems over-powered, but doubt the CS Delta had the pylon and tank drag factored in from the beginning.

A/P would not hold BALT turning HDG turns. Not sure if this is an older bug, but landing light remained on until all lights were cycled off, regardless of LL switch position.
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hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2015, 12:35:57 pm »
Victory103, thanks for your feedback!

There are a lot of big and small things I am not fully satisfied with:

- Since the last .air changes and my attempts to adjust loadout contact points I have noticed too that the yaw and roll input is somewhat off, as you have. One problem is that CS gauges seem to have hardcoded long./lat. values for center and external tanks and weapons loadout, that change the airplane's center of gravity quite a lot in comparison to Jimi's default setup. To fix these issues I have some workarounds in my mind, but did not have the time to implement and test them yet: a) removing CS loadout menu, and adjusting loadouts directly within aircraft.cfg with 'neutral' cp values for additional fuel and weapons ('quick and dirty') b) trying to compensate through .air file changes ('long and complex').

- Drag, parasitic and induced: NATOPS compliant values currently do not match with the hardcoded scalars CS uses for different loadouts (CS Loadout parasite drag scalars:  A-A: 1.22,  A-G: 1.30,  Clean/BA: 1.00,  Train: 1.06,  Max:1.34). My intention is to create a single version for all FSX, CS and NH versions that should be as close as possible to NATOPS.

- Gear contact points: When the airplane is standing on the ground the gear settings seem too high, it should be more compressed. But changing the respective values also limits the compression ratio, so carrier landings will result in much harder 'hits' resulting in crashes, not to mention the graphical animation how the gear extends when you lift off the ground or roll through bumps in the grass.

- Tailhook and launch bar contact points: Currently I have placed these cps where they would be located geometrically correct in the real world. As I noticed later, it made catching the cables much more challenging, compared to what it was before, and may result in some flip overs.

- Trying to narrow an issue down with the landing lights, I forgot to remove the comments for the "gauge42=FX!Lights," in the panel.cfg before the release. This should fix the noticed issue with the landing light. As you may noticed, too, I have disabled Afterburner, Wingflex and Shockcone effects by default for reasons of performance optimization.

« Last Edit: January 18, 2015, 12:56:57 pm by hd764jvgd843 »

hd764jvgd843

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Re: FA-18 C/D texture pack and aircraft mod (FSX, CS and NH)
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2015, 02:38:17 pm »
Here are some up-front screenshots of the new VX-31 'Dust Devils' no. 5210 'China Lake' texture for FSX and CS versions I just finished, and that will be included in the next v1.4.1 update. I wanted to do this textures for a long time, but somehow never got round to it. A new US Navy Centennial of Naval Aviation VFA-122 'Flying Eagles' no. 25 texture for FSX and CS versions will be included too.

Some more changes for the upcoming v1.4.1 release will be:
- Folder structure has been changed once more and hopefully finally, so no more annoying file copying of model files and gauges will be necessary - assuming corresponding FSX- and/or CS- 'FA-18' installations being present in the airplanes folder.
- texture.USN_VX-31_5210 'Dust Devils' China Lake
- texture.USN_VFA-122_25 'Flying Eagles' Centennial of Naval Aviation
- ... will be trying to address some of the issues in the above mentioned post, most likely pitch/roll behaviour in conjunction with cp and balance...

Peter
« Last Edit: January 18, 2015, 09:52:18 pm by hd764jvgd843 »