X-15 main landing gear, ( skids ), sink into runway sur...

[Guest aviation1972]

I'm running Windows XP Professional, and I'm using Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. As soon as I select Massimo Altieri's wonderful X-15 from my list of available aircraft, once it loads and becomes visible on my monitor, the rear landing gear, ( a pair of skids, actually ), immediately sinks into the surface of the runway, causing an immediate "flight sim crash", ( not the entire program, but only that specific flight ), and the flight has to re-set. The nose gear of the X-15 is a wheel, not a skid, and it behaves properly. I'm a novice at all this, but I'm guessing this is a "contact point" problem in the X-15's aircraft configuration file. Am I right? Each entry is segmented into 12 values, and I don't know how to play with them, or how to alter those values for the main landing gear, ( the left skid, and the right skid ). It appears to me, however, that it is the last two sets of values for each skid, ( in the contact points, within the aircraft configuration file for the X-15 ), that probably govern how those skids contact, or rest upon the runway's surface. I NEED AN EXPERT"S HELP. ........CAN ANYONE ASSIST ME PLEASE?????...........Thank You very much.

[Opa 6]

If the library was open I would have preferred to get the aircraft in question and see if I could duplicate your problem but since that is not possible right now perhaps this will help.I am not an expert on this but the following is what I have discovered to work on several other aircraft.Contact points 0,1, and 2 are the landing gear.The fourth parameter after the equals sign is the point where the landing gear touches the ground in reference to the CG of the aircraft.Make a backup of your aircraft,cfg file first before doing any experimenting with it.Hope this helps.

[Guest aviation1972]

Thank You David. I'm attempting to attach the X-15's aircraft configuration file to this e-mail. Don't know yet whether my effort to attach the aircraft config. file to this e-mail will be successful. The entire aircraft, however, should be easily accessible from any number of different flight sim web-sites, as a freeware download. I believe it's an FS2002 download. The author is Massimo Altieri. Thanks for all your help. I truly need it.

[Opa 6]

Not sure what to advise. I just downloaded and installed the aircraft and it works fine for me. (I did a manual install - unzipped to a temp folder and moved stuff manually where it should go)I started it at Edwards AFB in California as I knew that has a very long runway to work with. The plane sits properly, tookoff properly and landed properly.Have your tried yours at other airports to see if the problem you see is consistant elsewhere?BTW - There is a typo in the instructions - the effects should go in the Effects folder - not the Gauges folder.

[Guest aviation1972]

Thanks again David. I believe I have tried other airports, ( other than Edwards ), and I've experienced the same thing. I think I will do a new download of the file from a website, and then do a clean re-install of the aircraft into my Flight Simulator program "from scratch", and see what happens.

[Opa 6]

Worth a try !Here is a little tip you may want to use.Whenever I audition any new aircraft, rather than put any included gauges into the FS2004 Gauge folder, I put them into the Panel folder of that aircraft.FS2004 always looks there first for any gauges the panel requires and will use them. If they are not there, then it looks in the main gauge folder.Some older (and new) aircraft have gauges included which will not work in FS2004 and/or are older versions than what you already have. Keeping them in the panel folder makes it much easier to test the new aircraft - if there are problems with any of the supplied gauges you do not have to hunt them down.

[Guest aviation1972]

I really appreciate all your help. Thank You very much.

[Opa 6]

Gotta know ---- did you get it to work properly ??