X-Plane - Austin Meyer (Laminar Research)
Austin's presentation could have been titled "stretching the envelope." Though Austin's X-Plane is well known as "the thinking man's flight simulator," Austin played a far wider role in this conference with three—well, what can I say? inspired, intense, and highly animated presentations—which you can fully appreciate only if you've seen Austin in action <g>. He demonstrated many of X-Plane's v. 5 novel features, including speech synthesis, full topographic terrain scenery and dynamic weather—with dazzling examples and 'super human' flights of some of the world's (er, our Solar system's) most exotic aircraft. That in itself made believers of the most jaded flight simulation enthusiast. But there's much more: X-Planes unique interactive design capabilities—exactly modeling real-world physics—were on display with F-4 carrier take offs and landings, the Osprey VTOL (in-flight rotor rotation is very interesting), the moving variable-geometry wing B-1B, an F-22 Raptor, and his perfectly landing the Space Shuttle at a simulated Andrews AFB.
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But what stole the show was his prediction of things to come in his design and demonstration of NASA's "Mars Orbiting Laser Altimeter" vehicle; and as though that wasn't enough, he's captured Mars' environment and physics in X-Plane to depict aircraft capable of flying there. He designed two versions of air vehicles capable of flight operations on Mars—a JATO-assisted high bypass turbojet that appears to be "all engine" surrounding a crew module, and a pure rocket (though limited range) version. Better manage that fuel carefully, though, because there's only one "Ops Base" in this futuristic scenario. Oh, by the way, inertia is so high in Mars' depleted atmosphere that the only way to stop the plane's landing roll—no matter how long the runway—is with an arresting hook!
These demonstrations illustrate the power of X-Plane's "blade element analysis" approach to flight dynamics and his "Plane Maker Utility"—he designed a number of aircraft (some quite amusing) during one of his presentations, literally "on the fly." A notable feature of his approach to simulation is that all computations are made for each increment of a flight's progress, as compared with conventional PC simulators that determine end-state flight parameters from pre-calculated values. And despite this he achieves remarkably smooth displays with very good frame rates.
The default X-Plane package may seem pretty austere, but with included aircraft such as Sergio Santagada's A-320 in British Aircraft livery you'll have planes and panels that rival many in other flight simulation packages. Another thing I especially like is X-Plane's realistic night lighting, especially the varying light patterns seen in the cities and in strings along the coastlines.
You can visit the Laminar Research website here.
FLY! and the FLY SDK - Richard Harvey (Terminal Reality)
Richard's theme is that Fly! has "no restrictions" for 3rd party developers—its architecture is based on object-oriented technology, making it easy to insert new and/or changed objects, functions and messages anywhere in the system. He points out that "there's no restriction on the number of objects and their interaction with one-another." For example, aircraft subsystems modeled in a panel can be dependent on other subsystems in that aircraft; gauge logic can readily be accessed by 3rd party add-ons, such as an FMC. Further, data files all are in easily-readable text format, thereby facilitating additions to them. To make the point, Richard noted that modifications have been made in:
- Terrain & sky
- Aircraft (including systems)
- Models (buildings, etc.)
- Panels,
- Nav data, etc.
Examples Richard cited include Todd Klaus and How In the World?'s TerraScene, and Marc Stoering and Juergen Kloos' Rhein-Ruhr scenery. The options are seemingly endless—taxiways, coastlines, sound effects and such can all be customized.
Richard states that the Fly! SDK should be available in the next two months, saying "This will open up internals of Fly! to hook into separate software. Using the SDK developers can access and update flight plans, control weather effects, and so forth. The SDK is based on the 'C' language, though Fly!'s internals are written in C++. He promises there will be nearly 300 Application Program Interface (API) functions documented in this SDK, supporting the Mac as well as PCs. These APIs can be used to query nearly anything within the Fly! simulator, including messaging by any input device. Richard says that liberal sample code will be included—and the SDK is free.
GoFlight - Doyle Nickless
Doyle described his hardware GF-45 Avionics Simulation Unit; e-mail him at GoFlight, Inc. for further information.
FSClouds technology - Tom Main (Flight One Software)
As Tom pointed out, FS 2000—as good as it is at depicting weather compared to its predecessors—is marred by too defined images, pixilated clouds up close, and their notorious impact on frame rates. The newly-released FSClouds 2000 is designed to correct these deficiencies. And as he demonstrated, well it does! Now there's transparency looking at underlying ground scenery through cloud cover. The clouds are softer, with beautiful sunrise/sunset effects, even fog. And the optional contrails are amazing. He demonstrated fluid motion throughout, with frame rate increases of 10%-15%. Tom noted that these improvements wouldn't be possible were it not for FS 2000's underlying architecture. As FSClouds temporarily replaces the default clouds, it works with other add-ons such as Real Weather and FS Meteo. You can capture situations you've set up and send them along to others to enjoy.
Microsoft - Bruce Williams
Bruce observed that not only is the FS add-on market is expanding, but "that there's new interest and respect from the aviation community" (see the U.S. Navy item on PC-based training below as an example). He remarked that "Flight Simulation is an important, long-term business for Microsoft… Their teams are growing; all are real world pilots as well as being expert in simulation." Bruce went on to say that "We're working hard to release more information-sooner than we've been able to in the past." Expect to see new Terrain, Scenery and Panel SDKs soon, perhaps in the next three weeks." His advice? "Check the Microsoft FS 2000 website frequently." Heads Up! Microsoft's SDK III for panels was released as I write this!
The other big news from Microsoft is the "Mission Builder" slated for Combat Flight Simulator 2. This is a graphical mission editor providing 'drag and drop' placement of objects, assigning parameters, and has user definable front lines and customizable briefings. "Areas" can be defined such that an aircraft entering them can trigger user-definable events, such as being joined by a wingman. Applications of these technologies in future versions of Flight Simulator, such as their potential for generating adventures, are intriguing to envision.
AETI's ProFlight 2000 - Tom Main (Flight One), Robert MacKay (MicroWINGS)
Tom and Robert teamed to introduce ProFlight 2000's many features (it's currently in Beta test). The big news is that they're recording pilot, tower and center voices in 26 languages, each appropriate to the region in which you're flying—and more will be available by Internet download (an attendee urged them to also include a few female voices!). Further, the chatter you'll hear is appropriate to the terminal area in which you're currently flying.
There's a new, cleaner user interface, and a weather screen that interfaces with Real Weather or Flight One's Flight Director. There's an aircraft spec page covering 200 planes. The flight planner now includes both low- and high-altitude routes, as well as SIDs and STARs—so you can avoid obstacles while flying departures and arrivals. The generated flight plans can be copied to FS 2000's 'kneeboard'. As icing on the cake, ProFlight 2000 supports Mindmaker's Game Commander keyboard to voice converter (see item below). Fans of ProFlight 98 will be pleased to learn that approach vectoring is improved. The new FMC can be used with FS 2000's default aircraft (and instructions will be provided to add this FMC to 3rd party panels). And in this age of diminishing hard copy manuals, a complete Help Wizard is included.
Web Technologies for FS Sites/Developers - Robert MacKay
Robert's introduced facilities to the MicroWINGS web site that he's making available to others, including:
- News feed system-scrolling news, with either horizontal or vertical alignment
- Web enabled cell phone
- File system-Form based library data entry
- Link management with counter built in-feeds back to user so you can validate entry and classifications assigned, then complete the update
- Forum (message board)-topic manager; can be configured to send message to posting individual whenever someone responds
- Chat system-can include user registration
- Survey system
- Bug tracking system (this was first used in developing FSClouds 2000)
These facilities can be used without need for HTM coding.
"Ultimate Graphics" demonstration; Sleep Deprivation and Flying! - Jim Maas
Cornel University's Jim Maas needs no introduction to MicroWINGS conference regulars; Jim initiated the original "Computer Pilots Association of America" conference there in the summer of 1991 after posting the suggestion on CompuServe's Flight Simulation forum. Some 45 responded, and as they say, the rest is history. Jim is obviously proud of his two sons, and treated us to son Danny's achievements in computer graphics special effects. Jim treated us to a video of the landmark tower at UC California's Berkley campus. This was no ordinary computer-generated video, as you might well imagine—it was made in a unique process consisting of 16 photos melded into continuously moving, photo realistic views, which is seamless from any angle, as with a holographic image. Now imagine what that will mean for simulated cockpit views!
Another highlight of Jim's presentation was his ongoing work in sleep deprivation; he's regarded internationally as the "sleep evangelist." He showed us of photos of, among other scary things, chiefs of state (yes, including Ronald Reagan) all nodding off from jet lag during an international meeting to deal with Cold War nuclear risks. And he recounted incidents where the entire flight deck crew nodded off in the cabin after flying multiple end-to-end flight segments. Something to think about! By the way, be sure to catch his documentary Tuesday morning, May 30 on NBC's "Today Show."
Homebuilt Motion Platforms - William MacDonald (SimCraft)
As we all know, motion is the missing factor in PC based home cockpit simulators. MacDonald described how you can do this economically using simple pneumatic actuators and controls built from PVC pipe and other common hardware. He offers plans, instructions and parts kits; it's called the SimCraft Motion Platform. Interested individuals can visit his website here.
Real Cockpit Parts - Tom Bennington
This was kind of an "off the wall" presentation about salvage 727 cockpit parts available for sale—the question is how people might use the rest of the plane. Tom says "it makes a great private residence (that's why you can't have the cockpit itself—that stays with the plane)." Apparently there aren't any takers so far.
Jeppesen Update - Mark McCabe
Sorry, I don't have much to report here—I must have had a "senior moment" in my note taking.
Cessna Panels - Louis Betti (DreamFleet)
Judging by the results, Louis Betti and his partner Chris Arrington truly strive for perfection. He shared luscious images of their current and in-work photo realistic Cessna panels, and a B-737 panel they hope to release this Autumn. An avid photographer, Lou took a Cessna's seats out to get the right vantage point to photograph its interior from every angle. We saw the results of his artistic ability and craftsmanship in the screenshots of his currently available Cessna 182S and the follow-up 182RG—the gear handle even casts a shadow!
See what Lou, Chris and the team (including the well-respected sound engineer Mike Hambly) are up to at the DreamFleet 2000 web site.
LAGO Technology and FSAssist - Mathijs Kok
Mathijs treated us to a glimpse of their soon-to-be released FSAssist. If this product can deliver on its objective—improving frame rates in FS 2000—it'll be on everyone's shopping list! The general idea according to Mathijs is that FSAssist sets up profiles for the different situations encountered in a flight. It detects current conditions and attempts to keep frame rates above a main level by modifying FS set up parameters accordingly.
There's other goodies promised, notably an included push-back gauge, and a feature that activates your mouse's center wheel. Let's see - "push for MIKE?" Well, actually its purpose is to set the external view magnification factor and also change radio frequencies "in a quick way and without the need of the keyboard." Neat feature! Oh, by the way, there's also "MDTraffic," a sort of mini-FSTraffic with up to five enroute aircraft to share your skies as you cruise.
Head over to LAGO's FSAssist web site to see what their "FPS Enhancer module" does and a list of the other features planned. Also of interest is "OnAir" at Air Soft for virtual airlines management; it's sort of a 'multiple virtual airline competition' sim that evaluates airline economics à la Sim City.
Mathijs made a couple of comments in response to questions I found interesting. "MadDog 2000 will be coming," and "the Japanese market is huge." Hmm.
FS 2000 Air Racing - Robert MacKay
As you may know, Flight Data.com and FSPRA sponsor popular simulated air races. What you may not know is that MicroWINGS is providing them with software to set up the race course (adventures) and monitor compliance with competition rules. It's pretty clever stuff, as it tracks the competitor's every move—and compares that with what sometimes are "giant fish" claims!
Who Wants to be a [Millionaire] Pilot? - Hosted by Alfred Poor
In this light hearted version of the famous TV show, we saw Tom Main and others go through the indignity of demonstrating their knowledge of arcane facts about charts and navigation. Clue: if you are old enough to remember that '.-' is morse code for 'a' and its opposite means "n" you would know how radio navigation was done "pre war" (World War II, that is). The "show" was a great way to end Saturday's events!
Fly-off Competition - Hosted by Marty Arant (AETI)
This was a truly fun event for the entire audience (though I'm not so sure it was for the six contestants!). Their task was to fly a B-747 (using Ralph Tofflemire's FS2000 panel AETI is about to release) on the approach to San Diego International's infamous Runway 27. Now this may not sound especially challenging until you realize that this is a localizer approach (there's no glide slope because of the steeply-descending terrain, with a parking garage just ahead of the runway), the runway threshold is displaced by 2000 ft., and of course weather was a factor. VASI lighting rules! As Marty noted, "More than one airline pilot has missed this approach, even in good weather!"
We all enjoyed watching their every move on the projection screen—especially the judges, Precision Flight Control's Mike Altman, Desktop Wings' Alfred Poor, and, um, me. Each pilot did so well that it was a tough call; the first place honors went to Arthur Gerlach of the Netherlands, and second place to Terry Weightman of Kitimat, BC, Canada.
U.S. Navy and PC Flight Simulation - Richard Derry
Introduced by training director George Alexander, the Navy's Richard Derry told the story of their Corpus Christi pilot training center's experience with PC simulation, which "is shaping Naval aviation for the future." It all started with a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Herb Lacy, who was concerned that he wouldn't learn instrument procedures quickly enough to qualify—so he ran the exercises first with MS Flight Simulator on his desk top computer. Not only did he succeed, he graduated at the top of his class! His instructor was said not to believe that he'd never piloted a plane, even urging him to log his presumed flight hours before going on for further training!
Derry set up a trial evaluation at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station—and the results were conclusive: those who augmented their ground school and flight training with the PC simulator not only did better on average, but far fewer washed out than the control group who followed the conventional training program. Furthermore, these students are "getting it right" on their first flight, as compared with up to four "remediation" flights for those not augmenting their training with PC simulation. And the real payoff is that fewer student pilots fail the program—$200,000 to $300,000 is lost when a pilot washes out. Says Derry, "If we save even one, that pays the program's operational costs—and we expect to save some 20 pilots annually."
The center currently has ten work stations, eight for the Beech T-34 and two for a variant of Beech's King Air, the T-44/TC twin. Each station is equipped with a joy stick, pedals and throttle. They've created a special panel and scenery, and included scenarios duplicating the training exercises. A 'shell' has been devised to introduce each set of instrument procedures, together with videos illustrating them. The on-screen instructions scroll as the pilot 'flies' the exercise; that's text now, but they're adding voice. While FS98 is used now, Derry says they expect to adopt FS2000 going forward.
Usage is voluntary, and some 60% of all students now use the PC work stations in their training. Usually there is a flight instructor available on line to answer questions and offer guidance, and simulation results data collection is automated.
This program is being extended to Pensacola NAS (for training in the other crew positions) and to Jacksonville NAS for P3 Orion training—and an evaluation of an F/A-18 version that includes carrier operations is planned this July. Further, both the U.S. Air Force (T-37) and the U.S Army (helicopters) are evaluating PC simulators for use in their own pilot training programs. Be sure to read more in Doug Horton's "Flight Simulator 98 Joins the Navy!" to be published in the June/July issue of Flight Simulation World.
Game Commander Demonstration - Peter Ridge (Mindmaker)
Peter demonstrated Game Commander in a Flight Unlimited III setting; the product will work with ProFlight 2000 as described above and of course with any other keyboard-based sim environment. A provided utility translates key depressions to their equivalent spoken commands. Training is remarkably easy, requiring only one 'take' unless the individual has a highly accented voice, which usually requires just three repetitions. We were amazed to watch the "pilot" take a plane through a series of ATC commands from flight clearance each step of the way through takeoff, merely by saying "Ground," "Request taxi instructions," "Tower," "Raise landing gear" and so forth. He was on his way while we otherwise would still be thinking, "let's see, what was the key combination for that?" Read on and try the trial demonstration at Game Commander.
Flight Simulation in Latin America - Eduardo Pacheco (FlyMex)
CEO and founder Eduardo Pacheco is a man justifiably proud of his company's products and role in Mexico's aviation industry. With his narrated video presentation he described much of his company's role in general aviation and air transport flight training, segueing to their amazing country-wide Mexico Gold PRO scenery series. Of course we toured the scenery's detailed Mexico City International Airport—it even features airport perimeter fences that make you feel that you're behind a typical airport fence—as we taxied for takeoff in an Aeromexico B-727, the most popular air transport in that country, and visited or overflew many of Mexico's interesting airports. My favorite is Cancun! He also showed us interesting historical architecture modeled in Mexico Gold, such as the famous 'Columna de la Independencia'. You can see these screen shots by visiting the web site.
Conference Wrap-up - Alfred Poor
In what has how become a tradition (see our previous 1998 MicroWINGS Conference report), Al concluded the conference with remarks about what we'd just experienced, and offered projections for the feature. In Alfred's words, "Perhaps the next frontier is sound." Natural voice is increasingly possible, allowing unlimited phraseology as compared to canned wav files. And voice recognition technology is revolutionizing user interaction with simulators.
