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Post by VSL-Admin on Mar 20, 2016 13:50:54 GMT
VSKYLABS Powered Hang Glider project (Payware)
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Post by therobot on Dec 7, 2016 15:51:12 GMT
Cool!
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Post by btv128 on Dec 7, 2016 21:43:02 GMT
New update looks really good. I'd given up on xplane and gone back to FSX but this is much more like it. 2 things though.
1. Can you add a compass? I believe a ultralight must legally have a compass, certainly where I fly. 2. The engine seems to idle very high, is that correct?
Both of the observations above are for the S1.
Thanks
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Post by VSL-Admin on Dec 8, 2016 23:55:53 GMT
Hi btv128! Thanks - If you set your "head" up a bit (in 3d cockpit view mode), you will notice a GPS device, which shows speeds and heading, among other features. Click on it and you will have a fully functional GPS. A compass gauge is something that I thought of...in the previous versions it was shown on a smartphone screen but I decided to remove it. Maybe I will upgrade the cockpit panel in the future, to host a compass, or...I'll fix a stand-alone magnetic compass. As for now, the GPS is the main instrument for orientation.
- Idle is slightly high, indeed, especially during flight (like gliding on idle setting), but not practically affecting the flight model. The next update for this package will take place during the next half of December, and this is one of the items to address.
Thanks again!
JetManHuss.
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Post by btv128 on Dec 9, 2016 12:57:48 GMT
Thanks. I did notice the GPS, but would prefer a compass if possible? Mainly due to not flying with GPS in real life, and also due to it being 'out of view' without messing about with the view.
Happy to lose the fuel gauge or other such instrument? Maybe you can add another switch to toggle instruments between fuel and compass. Or is swapping the fuel guage for a compass easy to do myself in the config files (I added a VSI instrument in FSX by doing this)
Thanks
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Post by btv128 on Dec 9, 2016 13:06:26 GMT
Sorry, one last thing. I see you can use the mouse to fly, but you need to point and click on the button on the console first. Is it possible to do this using a shortcut key or mouse button instead?
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Post by VSL-Admin on Dec 9, 2016 17:50:22 GMT
Hi btv128! No need to say sorry, this is exactly why I've created this forum Ok... After doing some thinking, I agree about the need for a conventional compass in the trikes (S-1's, S-3). In the next update, a conventional compass will be added to the cockpit gauges. Regarding the Fly-by-Mouse feature...it is still under evaluation. I will wait for a while for this feature to get more mature before starting to make changes to the basic configuration. But I have noted your comments for future evaluation. Thanks! JetManHuss.
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Post by btv128 on Dec 9, 2016 20:46:33 GMT
Great, thanks for that. Let me try and explain my thinking re the fly by mouse. This is based mainly on the trike in FSX combined with my limited real-world trike flying, so bear with me a little.
A weightshift trike is inherently stable. You can let go of the bar and it will effectively just carry on. If you lower power the nose drops, increase power it rises etc. So you dont need to hold the bar in a particular place. To climb you'd increase power, push the bar, then relax (or even let go) of the bar and it will continue to rise.
In FSX with a joystick or a mouse, to climb you have to push the joystick or roll the mouse to move the bar, but you cannot then let go of the joystick/bar at that point. You need to hold the stick forwards otherwise you are effectively pulling the bar back when you center the koystick. Same with the mouse, you push the mouse forwards, then it stays there. Even when you bring it back to the center, you are forcing the bar back, not just 'letting go' and allowing it to find its balance.
I dont know how well this would work but it would be nice to have the mouse not controlling the bar, and having it move freely. Then press a key and move the mouse to push/pull the bar, before releasing the key and allowing the bar to just find its equilibrium.
I think this might give a more realistic flying model, but depends a lot on how the physics is modelled in xplane. Hopefully this makes some sense to you, I probably haven't explained it very well.
In fairness it is a LOT better even with the joystick than FSX. I find that model will not 'glide' it needs to be constantly controlled.
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Post by VSL-Admin on Dec 10, 2016 14:41:08 GMT
Hi btv128,
To add some details to your description, I would say that a free-wing aircraft will get to a new equilibrium, every time you'll change its flying speed (into a constant new values), up to a certain point in which its design limitation will cause the wing to stall, or the entire aircraft to lose stability (changes in the center of pressure) etc...this is a complex feature for any flight dynamics model to feature.
Well, X-Plane's flight model doesn't feature a "free wing" configuration (in which the wing is "free", and streamlined with the wind flow). X-Plane's flight model does features a tilt-wing configuration (in which the VSKYLABS hang gliders use as part of their internal flight model design). In fact, it is a mix for tilt wing and weight shifting. Wing tilting is the ability to change the wing's attitude (roll, pitch axis).
Now, both the wing-tilting and the weight-shifting mechanism works in a direct connection with the controls (joystick), meaning that if the controls are in neutral position (centered), the wing tilt/weight shifting will also get back to the neutral position (centered).
This is how the flight model works and by that, eliminating the possibility of a true "free wing" configuration, which means that the wing will tilt itself to a new position based on the airflow.
BUT, in the last update of the trikes (6th December 2016), the S-1's / S-3 are featuring an "auto-trim pitch loads" mechanism, coupled with a fine tuned artificial stability settings, which allows the wing to trim itself to a new flying condition, and by that reduces the pilot workload that you were talking about. It is not a perfect solution for a free-wing, and every time there is a change in the flying speed (or attitude, by holding the stick in a certain pitch position), it takes a while for the "new" pitch loads to get trimmed. Overall effect is that it is reducing the "pressure" on the control bar.
The science behind a controlled but free-wing and weight shifting mechanics and aerodynamics is fascinating, and the VSKYLABS hang-glider project will keep looking for ways to make it more realistically. This project is currently the "flag-ship" project of mine, and it will keep to evolve (visualization, systems, flight model tuning etc...).
Your suggestion of making the wing a "free wing, unless touched by the pilot", is a very accurate "diagnosis" for the hang-glider flight model's limitations in X-Plane/FSX (in FSX the problem is worse, because of its flight model's architecture...but this is for another discussion....).
Thanks for your feedback and keep it coming. There are several ways to overcome it (in the current X-Plane's limitations), and this issue is certainly in my mind.
JetManHuss.
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Post by btv128 on Dec 13, 2016 20:38:34 GMT
Thanks for the explaination.
Especially: "BUT, in the last update of the trikes (6th December 2016), the S-1's / S-3 are featuring an "auto-trim pitch loads" mechanism, coupled with a fine tuned artificial stability settings, which allows the wing to trim itself to a new flying condition, and by that reduces the pilot workload that you were talking about. It is not a perfect solution for a free-wing, and every time there is a change in the flying speed (or attitude, by holding the stick in a certain pitch position), it takes a while for the "new" pitch loads to get trimmed. Overall effect is that it is reducing the "pressure" on the control bar. "
I think you hit the nail on the head. Having played with this a little more now, I nowunderstand this is what makes your trike so realistic. I think all the stuff I'm looking for above is already addressed by this, and what I'm actually doing/requesting above is going looking for what I need on the FSX trike, when you've already gotten around that issue on yours. I'll leave you to develop it further, but on reflection it is a better model than I realised with the assists on.
Thanks P.S. Sorry to be a pain, but I also wondered do you have any quicker models in the pipeline, modelled on such as the P & M GTR, Quik, GT450 etc. Mainly just because thats the sort of aircraft I'm learning on and yours seems a bit slower on approach.
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Post by VSL-Admin on Dec 14, 2016 17:41:34 GMT
Hi btv128, Sorry for the delayed response. A lot is going on at VSKYLABS these days... Thank you for your feedback! Regarding the specific models that you asked for: my roadmap of trikes development is including the development of real-life, familiar trikes. Exact models had yet to be chosen. I will post updates in this matter when time is right, probably in couple of months. I'm taking your suggestions into my consideration JetManHuss.
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Post by VSL-Admin on Dec 18, 2016 17:05:12 GMT
New update looks really good. I'd given up on xplane and gone back to FSX but this is much more like it. 2 things though. 1. Can you add a compass? I believe a ultralight must legally have a compass, certainly where I fly. 2. The engine seems to idle very high, is that correct? Both of the observations above are for the S1. Thanks Hi btv128, A major update release was just sent to all buyers. Including in this update is a conventional compass. For more information regarding this latest update ( 18th December 2016), please visit: www.vskylabs.com/2016/01/vskylabs-powered-hang-glider-project.htmlCheers JetManHuss.
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Post by btv128 on Dec 20, 2016 20:28:30 GMT
Got it. Nice one. Many thanks for the compass. Makes things much easier for me.
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Post by VSL-Admin on Dec 21, 2016 10:36:46 GMT
Got it. Nice one. Many thanks for the compass. Makes things much easier for me. Thanks
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Post by btv128 on Jan 16, 2017 18:17:13 GMT
I've noticed a small issue with this. I think its probably an x-plane issue but wondered if anything could be done to the model to compensate. I have the twist action on the joystick set to nosewheel tiller. So on takeoff I can keep the S1 in a straight line. This works great on tarmac surfaces, but on grass it just skids uncontrollably, like it is on ice.
Is there a setting somewhere in xplane or within the model for 'grippyness' that would give it the same grip as it has on tarmac, which feels pretty natural and accurate to me.
One last thing, if I start a flight and leave it on the runway, with the controls centered, after about 30s sometimes the nose just rises into the air without moving the trike. Not a huge issue as I can just restart the flight but does seem a little strange.
Thanks
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