Author Topic: New FSXBA Hornet  (Read 1148850 times)

jimi08

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #300 on: February 17, 2014, 08:39:25 am »
Quote
just a quick observation... on the VFA-136 bird.. the pilots head sticks out the side of his helmet ( at least on my computer).. having never flown the real thing I cannot comment on the flight behavior..
Always looking forward to your improvements!!
Thanks again for putting your time into the legacy hornet..

LOL Yeah, I noticed that too.  Must have came up when we were fixing the tailhook.  I'll work on getting that fixed.  Thanks for the compliments.

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1

jimi08

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #301 on: February 17, 2014, 03:57:55 pm »
OK, FINALLY got a chance to check out the packet situation with the jet.  As mentioned earlier, the packet count was through the roof!

The average packet count for the jet was about 816 per 30 seconds, or about 27 packets a second!  As a frame of reference, the Acceleration Hornet usually puts out about 120 packets every 30 seconds, or about 4 packets a second.

So I did some investigating.  With the jet just sitting on the runway, engines running, I disabled all of the effects.  The packet count went from 816 down to 149!  After going through each effect one by one, it turns out the Smoke and Heat Shimmer Gauges are the culprits.  The Smoke gauge causes a 532 packet increase, while the Heat Shimmer is responsible for a 135 packet increase (per 30 seconds).  All together this creates a 667 packet increase.  Add it to the average 149, you get....wait for it....816! 

So out of the 20 effects gauges that the jet has, the smoke and heat shimmer gauges are causing all of the trouble.  I will work of them this week to see if I can fix.

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1

Essex

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #302 on: February 17, 2014, 10:53:56 pm »
The pilots face should be easy to fix, a bit weird though.
I'll work on it.

strikeeagle345

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #303 on: February 19, 2014, 03:57:53 am »
I have notice that the Afterburner Effects rotate and move in the exhaust nozzles while turning/ rolling in any external view. I can post a video if you need to see it.

pyroperson87

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #304 on: February 19, 2014, 03:19:55 pm »
Jimi here is all the feedback I have for you right now.  I can give you more detailed info on Skype tonight if you want.

- The instrument panel light knob behaves almost identical to the lights test switch and turns on most of the lights in the cockpit as well as the red flood.

- The FIRE TEST A/B switch no longer has any audio.

- There is still the spike at about 71% throttle position, but it is much improved.

-Overall thrust curve felt improved, maybe even a bit UNDERpowered now, but that's just my gut feeling not anything I've researched in NATOPS yet.  Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the thrust and acceleration as it stands now.  It was really easy to get underpowered behind the boat, which according Wingnut is accurate to the real Legacy.

- Nose drops low properly with AOB.  I directly compared the rates with the Superbug.  At 90 degrees AOB the FSXBA velocity vector dropped at about 3 degrees per second, with the rate increasing once the VV was below the horizon.  The Superbug VV falling through seemed a bit more dynamic, but it was nearly identical in FEEL.

- Turn rates are hugely improved, particularly in UA.  In PA they are also vastly improved, however with AOB less than 10 or 15 degrees (didn't actually look to see what the exact AOB was) the turn rate hits a sort of plateau and causes some difficulty rolling into the groove behind the boat.  It's hard to explain, so I can probably try to screen share tonight and show you, although I think the screen share frame rate will be too laggy to really see what I'm talking about.  We can give it a try and if it doesn't work I can whip up a quick video of the issue.

- Does the jet enter PA based off flap switch position or gear handle position?  Or both?  In the 2014.4 the jet remained in UA with gear down and flaps up.  I'll have a read through the NATOPS and see how that logic is implemented in the real jet.

I think that's it for now.  This new version is really fantastic and a HUGE improvement.  Can't wait to see what 2014.5 brings.
Pops

jimi08

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #305 on: February 19, 2014, 04:08:53 pm »

Quote
-Overall thrust curve felt improved, maybe even a bit UNDERpowered now, but that's just my gut feeling not anything I've researched in NATOPS yet.  Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the thrust and acceleration as it stands now.  It was really easy to get underpowered behind the boat, which according Wingnut is accurate to the real Legacy.
I'm trusting the numbers on this one.  I adjusted the burners to put out about 16K lbs of thrust and about 11K in MIL.  The weight values are correct, and the drag values were based on the Ave Joe's numbers of how fast the jet should fly and accelerate based on his flight conditions.  Flap drag was adjusted based on the required N2 RPM required for On-Speed Approaches.  Only thing left is induced drag.  Still trying to mach that one based on Cornering Speeds and the input about the 360 to 280 in about 90 degrees during the Break.  Thrust curves at altitude (36K) and above Mach 1.0 are still being worked on.

Quote
-There is still the spike at about 71% throttle position, but it is much improved.
Still looking for thrust data of the F404s at idle.  Once I get that, I can readjust.

Quote
- Does the jet enter PA based off flap switch position or gear handle position?  Or both?  In the 2014.4 the jet remained in UA with gear down and flaps up.  I'll have a read through the NATOPS and see how that logic is implemented in the real jet.
If I remember correctly, the jet enters PA mode based off of flap position, and deactivating automatically above 240 KIAS or something like that.  Unfortunately my coding experience doesn't allow me to create the coding needed to nest the different flap modes underneath three primary switch positions.  The way it is coded now, I am using 9 different flaps positions.  One for UP, one, for HALF, one for FULL, and six other positions for maneuvering flaps.  Because I don't quite know how to separate the FLAP movement from the FLAP HANDLE movement, the maneuvering flaps will always relocate the flap handle to a non-desirable position (i.e. a non auto-flap position) once the are enabled, thus deactivating themselves after a short period of time.  So for now, I am using the landing gear status as the primary variable in which to activate or deactivate auto flaps.  I am working with Essex as of now, to see if we can make a few LVARs for the flaps switch to fix this in the future.  We'll see.

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1

jimi08

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #306 on: February 20, 2014, 03:01:19 pm »
Everyone,

This is an update of what I have SO FAR for 20 Feb 2014.  I will have to head out of town for the weekend so I am releasing what I have now.

Things to fixed from FSXBA2014.3 to FSXBA2014.4 model:
-Wing visible in multiplayer, in A-A mode only
-Takeoff Trim (hopefully, haven't had a chance to fully test)
-Thrust/Drag curves near Mach
-High Packet Count in Multiplayer (I have disabled smoke and heat shimmer for now until I can fix these two gauges)
-Re-added the Aerial Refueling and Carrier Trap gauges
-Disabled the Over G warning

Known Flaws:
-Afterburner at high altitude.
-Autorudder at Powered Approach mode.  Can be a little jerky upon roll reversals.
-Pilot's head showing up through helmet
-Various Audio warning malfunctions

Thanks again and looking forward to your feedback!

Link: http://fsxblueangels.com/Downloads/FA-18C_FSXBA2014.5.zip (Updated 20 Feb 2014)

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1

ExNusquam

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #307 on: February 20, 2014, 06:03:52 pm »
Some feedback:
-At least in the 25-26k range, the jet can break mach 1 without burner. The existing performance envelopes from the NATOPS show that a DI 14.0 bird should come in at just under mach 1. I assume that for our purposes, the FM is supposed to be a clean bird (DI 6.0), so it should only barely be able to eek out mach 1 in level flight or in a shallow dive, not exceed it. It's not over by much, but it's an important performance benchmark.

-Trim resets with even slight elevator stick movement. This means that in certain conditions, making minor changes in pitch or altitude can be a hassle. A slight nudge of the stick generates the pitch rate for a minor change in altitude, however the trim is then reset to 0.0, leading to a very slight pushover. The trim then kicks back in, usually stabilizing the aircraft at 1 G in a gentle dive. I feel like the best option here is to have the trim not reset when the stick is moved. This would mean that for the starting condition, centered stick would be 1 G flight, and any displacement from center would result in a Nz different from 1.0. If my interpretation of the NATOPs is accurate, this should be the case as long as AoA is below 22°.

Woogey

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #308 on: February 21, 2014, 12:22:12 pm »
Would it be possible to stuff Dino's newly developed MFD's into the dash of this bird?  They should be the same units in real life, I would think?  -Woog

jimi08

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #309 on: February 21, 2014, 01:36:47 pm »
Already talking with Dino.

Joe, don't have the time right now but I will provide a lengthy  explanation in a little while.

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1

zsoltquack

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #310 on: February 21, 2014, 03:33:19 pm »
The pilots how to remove it?

jimi08

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #311 on: February 22, 2014, 03:04:43 am »
Just curious here, why is there such a desire to get rid of the pilot?

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1

zsoltquack

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #312 on: February 22, 2014, 06:35:38 am »
Just curious here, why is there such a desire to get rid of the pilot?

Because the are displayed,chocks, blankets, RBF tapes, and look strange that the pilot did not

 ???

zsoltquack

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #313 on: February 22, 2014, 06:36:13 am »

jimi08

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Re: New FSXBA Hornet
« Reply #314 on: February 23, 2014, 12:38:55 am »
Ok. We'll see what we can do.

Justin "Jimi" Hendrix
FSX Blue Angels
FSXBA F/A-18C Hornet Latest Download Link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,6944.msg117011.html#msg1