New FSXBA Hornet

[jimi08]

What a great jet! So well done.
Manual anywhere?
Thanks

Thanks Whiteside.  I'll pass on the good words to the others who have worked on the jet.  No, no manuals as of right now.  I am working on one though.  Should be out in the near future.

[whiteside]

Thanks Jimi, can you refer me to a site where I can fly tactically with some other purists?

BTW, do any of the weapons work on your new version of this Bug?

[jimi08]

Now that FSX-Steam is up and running, you can find some of us in the FSX Blue Angels server from time to time.  As far as the weapons go, I am still working on that.  It will probably be a while before I have most of the weapons integrated for TACPAC.  So far, I just have the cannon working.  So as for now, the weapons on the hardpoints are purely for aesthetics.

-Jimi

[Victory103]

@dreamsinsight:  On the VRS forums is a link to wiki page with instructions on the SDK to add TP into your own aircraft that you developed. Several guys had added basic guns to various A2A warbirds, but the original developer has to do the intergration.

Thread on the forums as well about the latest Steam release, TP will not work.

[dreaminsight]

Victory103: i already signalised it at Jimi! Thanks;)

[Corvette99]

Thanks Jimi, can you refer me to a site where I can fly tactically with some other purists?

BTW, do any of the weapons work on your new version of this Bug?

Give these guys a try Whiteside

http://fsx-miramar.webs.com/

[whiteside]

Thanks!

[RivasSim]

I don't know if anyone notice, or maybe I don't know how to operated.  However, on the default and version 14.15 when approaching to land on the default carrier, the ILS showed up automatically, allowing me to get into the correct glide slope and runway alignment, however in the version 14.18 the ILS did not showed up.  Is there anything that I need to press in order to the ILS to appear or do I need to return to the old panel?

[sonofabeech]

Hi RivaSim

call up the ILS Panel by pressing shift+2 you will find the Ils settings in the upper 3rd
of the panel make sure it is selected. Make sure you have also selected the TACAN button on the upfront control panel
in the virtual cockpit and changed the channel to the corresponding carrier you are landing on.
acceleration carrier is 47x
javiers carrier is 57x

[RivasSim]

Thanks for the info it did work 

[hd764jvgd843]

Hi everybody, I wish you all a happy new year!

The past days I have been experimenting with the flight dynamics again. I have read somewhere that the Hornet can pull up to an AoA of 40 degrees at slow speed until she becomes unstable but I cannot remember the source. Is this realistic or does she have an AoA limiter? Some comments would be appreciated.

I have created a version where you can pull such angles at slow speed with max dry thrust in tight turns, and she becomes unstable but you can recover. In case you like to give it a try I have included the aircraft.cfg and the .air files. What do you think of it? Some feedback would be nice!

Peter

(attachment below)

[hd764jvgd843]

I found in an 'FA-18A-D Hornet PCL (Pocket Check List) NATOPS' some AoA values.
link: http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach&attach=8190&topic=3093.0
The negative AoA seems to be limited to -6 degrees, the positive AoA limit depends on the loadout from unlimited to +20 degrees.

In the following example I have left the postive AoA unlimited, but the negative AoA is limited to -6 degrees.
Let me know what you think about it.

(attachment below)

[jimi08]

11.1.3 Auto Flap Configuration. The FCS control laws create slightly different handling qualities
than those of most aircraft. The most apparent characteristic is the excellent hands-off stability.
Damping about all axes is high. Static longitudinal stability is neutral since the FCS attempts to keep
the aircraft in 1 g, zero pitch rate flight. Longitudinal trim is used to bias (adjust) the reference load
factor or pitch rate as the pilot desires. Longitudinal trimming is not required as the aircraft accelerates
or decelerates through most of the flight envelope. Once an attitude is set, the aircraft tends to hold
that attitude without further stick inputs, even through the transonic speed regime. This characteristic
reduces stick forces with changing airspeed, lowering pilot workload for most tasks. However, some
flight tasks are made more difficult because the FCS attempts to maintain 1 g flight. For example,
during a dive or steep zoom climb, a small but constant forward stick force is required to maintain a
constant attitude. Airspeed changes cannot be sensed through changing stick forces and difficulty may
be encountered when trying to maintain a desired airspeed during high workload tasks such as
instrument penetration/approach. The FCS incorporates AOA feedback above 22° AOA. To increase
AOA above the feedback AOA of 22°, aft stick must be applied. The AOA for the highest lift available
(CLmax) is approximately 35° AOA. The maximum steady state AOA with full aft stick (35 pounds
stick force) is 50 to 55°. AOA control is good up through max AOA. If the aft stick is released, the FCS
commands nose down pitch until the AOA is reduced below the feedback AOA of 22°. At this time, the
AOA feedback is removed and the FCS again seeks to maintain 1 g flight.

[jimi08]

Thanks for the input.  Took at look at your aircraft and .air files.  I see you included the hi-alpha entries in the aircraft.cfg.  Did you change anything else in the aircraft config?  What about the .air file?  Thanks.

[hd764jvgd843]

Thanks for the hint from A1-F18AC-NFM-000. I had a quick search but didn't quite make it to section 11.1.3

When flying tight turns with full dry thrust, low altitude, the aircaft becomes unstable long before 50 deg. AoA, something around 38 to 40 deg. AOA and you go off, with a stall warning. I haven't found out where to modify in the .air file to broaden the flight envelope before stall warning occurs.

Concerning your questions:
- The aircraft.cfg is quite different from your latest version 14.18, e.g. I have modified cp's to work in conjunction with CS version. Still experimenting with the empty_weight_cg, because at -27.00 with full flaps during a landing approach the bird does not hold its AoA.
- In the .air file I have modified entry no. 404 being able to pull generally higher AoAs and no. 473 to limit the neg. AoA to around -6 degrees. I have also added at no. 401 a general drag curve for sub/supersonic speed. Most of the changes I have done are in the section from 400 - 473. The drag values in the primary aerodynamics section are the ones I use to clock the plane at 35,000 ft in under two minutes from 0.8 to 1.6 Mach. I have also experimented with the thrust vector vs mach AB function.
- I found the hi_alpha entries in the fsx airfile configuration and tried experimenting with them. They seem to have a slight influence on how the aircraft handles during tight turns at high AoAs at slow speed. You can see it quite good from a tower perspective coming out of a tight turn straight head on, with both hi_alpha entries set to zero, she will slide much more sideways and the general feel is much more 'artificial'. When both values set to 1.0 (default) the flight path seems to be more natural/cleaner, less gearing - in my opinion, but I am not sure which one is more realistic, or what the FCS would do in reality.

Currently I am experimenting with entry no. 404, but I am not satisfied with the max. AoA setting yet. I will try to set it so you can pull up to 50 to 55 degrees AoA.

Stall warning and instability is another issue. If you have an idea where to look, in order to broaden the flight envelope so the instability / stall warning kicks in not before 50 to 55 deg. AoA, please let me know.

Shaking effects:
As I am using A2A accu feel, I disabled the stall shaker function in their program, because the largest value you can set here is 25 deg. AoA, which is far too early to for an FA-18. Is there a way to implement a VC shake, like the one when pulling high g, that would shake the VC when you approach high AoAs e.g. 40, 50, or 55 deg. to show that you are actually approaching the stall / instability threshold?

I will post aircraft.cfg and .air files the next days or so when I have something new.

Feedback and suggestions are welcome!