New FSXBA Hornet

[fullcoupe]

Hi Jimi,

Been flying this since a few versions back. This latest version definitely handles better in terms of low speed maneuvering and throttle response. Wheel braking is also greatly improved, no more drifting sideways down the runway...haha.  I've recently been practicing the NATOPS carrier pattern over and over, and noticed a few minor things:

1) AOA indexer flickers when on - not sure if this is by design or not

2) There doesn't seem to be much ground effect on a normal field landing. On-speed AOA, pretty consistent on power. It feels almost non-existent, which is odd for any aircraft I've flown in the FSX environment. Even if I add flare and a bit of power, or more headwind, the plane still seems magnetized to the ground. My realism settings (General realism etc) are all max - not sure if that plays into it.

3) A/B effect starts at around 80% upward, but then disappears at max throttle.

4) Range of motion on the stabilators while WoW - model-wise - seems off. No correlation to the actual flight performance, and I noticed it does change while airborne.
Reference this video:

, at around the 3 min mark, you can see the stabilator movement.

5) Formation lights do not dim at night. They are bright white when off, and flourescent when on.

Overall, this is amazing progress! I would love to help out and do a few textures when the paint kit is available!

[jimi08]

Fullcoupe,

Thanks for the input and good words.

1) AOA indexer flickers when on - not sure if this is by design or not

Yes, unfortunately this is FSX coding conflicting with my own coding.  Since this jet has a working Hook bypass switch, the indexer should still stay on when the switch is activated.  The switch by default only stays on (not flashing) with the hook down.  I'll do some digging and see what I can do to resolve.

2) There doesn't seem to be much ground effect on a normal field landing. On-speed AOA, pretty consistent on power. It feels almost non-existent, which is odd for any aircraft I've flown in the FSX environment. Even if I add flare and a bit of power, or more headwind, the plane still seems magnetized to the ground. My realism settings (General realism etc) are all max - not sure if that plays into it.

You are right.  I took most of the ground effect out a while back while I was testing other things.  Need to put it back in.  Does Anyone have any input on the way the Hornet really handles in ground effect?  Any feedback on this would be great.

3) A/B effect starts at around 80% upward, but then disappears at max throttle.

Interesting.  I'll look into that.

4) Range of motion on the stabilators while WoW - model-wise - seems off. No correlation to the actual flight performance, and I noticed it does change while airborne.
Reference this video:

, at around the 3 min mark, you can see the stabilator movement.

On the list of things to fix.

5) Formation lights do not dim at night. They are bright white when off, and flourescent when on.

Been having problems with this for a while now.  Might be a while before I get this one squared away.

Overall, this is amazing progress! I would love to help out and do a few textures when the paint kit is available!

Thanks!  Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Jimi

[fullcoupe]

Just a note on the afterburner effect, I was digging around in the main aircraft directory and came across the effects folder. Dumped all of that into the main FSX\Effects\ directory and all is well. Duh!

[pyroperson87]

Does Anyone have any input on the way the Hornet really handles in ground effect?  Any feedback on this would be great.

It is my understanding that because of it's small wing surface area it tends to not have too much ground effect at all. In the groove behind the boat is has a much more pronounced desire to sink than the Rhino. I'll look for source material.

[SpazSinbad]

Did not see any ground effect mentioned in these 6 pages (attached) from Hornet A/B/C/D NATOPS - interesting WARNING however:
http://info.publicintelligence.net/F18-ABCD-000.pdf (18Mb)

WARNING
Commanding full aft stick deflection with the ejection seat within 1.75 inches of the top limit can cause the lower ejection handle to snag on the air-to-air weapon select switch and result in inadvertent ejection. In particular, during stabilator braking after a full stop landing the control stick should be pulled back only the minimum required distance to command full stabilator authority. Inadvertent ejections have occurred after stabilator braking when the pilot has released full aft stick.

[Victory103]

For those of that fly both the legacy and Rhino, good read over on the VRS forums for posed questions for a RL Rhino pilot going through the FRS at VFA-106. I have not see a few of the legacy guys on the VRS forums in a year or so, but the above Naval Aviator has flown the "C" sim and might be able to answer some of the basic flight dynamic questions. At the very least I'm sure he has plenty of buds at Oceana flying Charlies. Many of these guys do not mess around with PC based flight sims, but "Navymid2011" does.

http://forums.vrsimulations.com/forums/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13439&start=0

[pyroperson87]

Yea Navymid is my go-to source for information usually. He's the one that told me that the Legacy settles a lot more in the groove than the Rhino.

[dreaminsight]

Jimi, the jet is absolutely wonderful. but I have still an issue: I was  repainting the -D version in the colors of the Swiss Air Force, and after the first test I got the internal part of the cockpit, (the seat and all the rest) in a horrible lighting Blue. Do you also have this problem?
Thanks for the jet!

[jimi08]

Thanks for the compliments.  As far as know, I think it has that issue with DX10.  Not really doing much on the D for now.  Concentrating on the Charlie.

[dreaminsight]

Ok. It's ok! I'll try to deactivate DX10 (11) and then i take a look.!
The Charlie and Delta are really awesome!

[dreaminsight]

Cheers

I did myself this Swiss texture, but there are some fixes i expect from my betatester, i'll release it soon.

[Archi]

Hi!

I had to change from FSX to P3D because my HDD died. My 1st addon to fresh P3D was FSXBA Hornet and I love it but all three MFD's are blank/empty. Is there anyone else who has encountered this problem? I have P3D 2.4. Do I need some files from FSX default hornet? Hope not cos I dont have FSX anymore 


Thanks in advance 

-Arto

[Orion]

You do need a file from FSX Acceleration, in particular the Hornet gauge.  The MFDs weren't reprogrammed and continue to use the FSX Acceleration Hornet avionics.

[Roller25]

As Orion mentioned you need a gauge file from FSX:Acceleration.

It's the "FA-18.dll" file from your X:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Gauges folder. Drop that file into your corresponding P3D folder and you're good to go.

[Archi]

Thank You! I got the file from Jimi via PM will try it after I get home.

-Arto


EDIT: In addition to adding the FA-18.dll-file I had to run the SimConnect.msi installer in "Prepar3D v2\redist\Interface\FSX-SP2-XPACK\retail\lib" and got MFD's working now (in case someone else is having the same issue).