Milviz DHC-2 Beaver Update

[Rogen 1,092]

Hi Folks,

Should anyone be interested I have created an update package for the Milviz DHC-2 Beaver freebee.

After reviewing the Beaver as installed by the Milviz DHC-2 Beaver freebee I found it to be incomplete, buggy and lacking in consistency for both files and configuration.

Given I like the plane and that Milviz are no longer supporting it, I've build an update archive to incorporate the RXP GTN series of GPS, resolve bugs, update the flight model and bring consistency to the files and configurations.

The spolier below contains a list of the changes.

PM me if you're interested.

Cheers

Spoiler

PREAMBLE:
===============================================================================
Description: MilViz DHC2 Beaver update package.
Contact:     PM @Rogen on https://www.avsim.com
Dated:       15/12/2023

UPDATE FULL NAME:
===============================================================================
MilViz_DHC-2_Consistency_and_Flight_Model_Update.zip

Contains the following folders.

MilViz_DHC2_Community_Update_v1.0\
    Effects
    SimObjects
    Sound

NOTE:
---------------------------------
The package folders themselves contain just the updated items only.
The contents of "MilViz_DHC2_Community_Update_v1.0" are intended to be copied to the main P3D root folder to update an already installed instance of the MilViz DHC-2 Beaver.

 

VERSIONING:
===============================================================================
Version = 1.0
This is the first initial release of the MilViz_DHC-2_Consistency_and_Flight_Model_Update.

ARCHIVE SIZE:
===============================================================================
The package is approx. 1.06 GB zipped and 2.32 GB unzipped.

RELEASE NOTES:
===============================================================================
Narrative:
---------------------------------
While assisting a fellow enthusiast with MilViz Beaver problems, I noted many file and configuration inconsistencies with the MilViz DHC-2 Beaver aircraft.
Which in turn lead to a troubleshooting review of the MilViz forums, where an updated Beaver flight model (from MilViz staff) was found pinned.

Given MilViz/Blackbird's statement of no official support will be provisioned, the following was performed in the spirit of community developed support.
    Incorporate the updated MilViz flight model.
    Update the Garmin GTN panel.cfgs to use the RXP GTN series.
    Resolve as many bugs as achievable.
    Bring file and configuration consistency to the Beaver.

And it's certainly been a challenge, given the base install includes 10 aircraft folders with up to 4 models per aircraft and where the structure of the DHC-2 Beaver's operational files have definitely contributed to an inconsistent state.
In a nutshell the suspicion being the originally produced Beaver was likely passed through a series of developers (for updates?) where skills were limited and next to no supervision or QA was performed.
Disappointingly the MilViz forum shows reported issues tended to be ignored, unfortunately not uncommon where a development team has moved onto other projects.

Post updates I feel the overall result is a fun to fly aircraft with minimal issues.
The updating also appears to have resolved issues with the MVAMS management console failing to update all the DHC-2 Beaver aircraft.
Hopefully those who choose to download and install the package to the MilViz DHC-2 Beaver will also experience similar.

Disclaimer:
---------------------------------
This package assumes a person has knowledge of Prepar3D, Windows File and Folder structuring and knows how to delete and copy files and folders.

I've tested the processes described and all has been fine on my own P3D install.
Meaning as long as the instructions are followed a user should also have no issue.
NOTE: Am happy to help via the AVSIM forums should assistance be needed.

Package Definition:
---------------------------------
"MilViz_DHC-2_Consistency_and_Flight_Model_Update.zip".
This zip archive will resolve bugs, as well as bring consistency and flight model updates to the MilViz DHC-2 Beaver.

NOTE: The "MilViz_DHC-2_Consistency_and_Flight_Model_Update" package contains just the differences required to resolve bugs, introduce file and configuration consistency, as well as utilise the new flight model.
      It is not a full operational package and will require an installation of the actual Milviz DHC-2 Beaver freebee.

P3D Version:
---------------------------------
The package has been created based on P3D v4.5 and so should be fine on v4.5+ at least to the level of the final MilViz DHC-2 release package named "MilViz DHC-2 Beaver 210720.exe".

Prerequisites and Installation:
---------------------------------
The package installation requires the following.

1), Installation of the MilViz (Blackbird) freebee DHC-2 Beaver package titled "MilViz DHC-2 Beaver 210720.exe".
    DO NOT INSTALL the MilViz DHC-2 Beaver Expansion Pack as it is not required at all and will otherwise introduce undesired problems.
2), A degree of cleanup (deletion) of various files installed by the "MilViz DHC-2 Beaver 210720.exe" package (See the Cleanup section).
3), The copying of the "MilViz_DHC2_Community_Update_v1.0" folders & content into the main P3D root folder, where these files will both add to and overwrite those already installed by the original MilViz package.

e.g. copy the "Effects", "Sound" and "SimObjects" folders into the root of the P3D installation folder, noting there will be prompts to overwrite some of the existing DHC-2 Beaver files.

MilViz (Blackbird) Freebees link:
---------------------------------
Download from...
https://blackbirdsims.com/flight/freebies.php
Select the "DHC-2 Beaver" to download the "MV_DHC-2_Beaver_210720.zip" which contains the installer named "MilViz DHC-2 Beaver 210720.exe"

CLEANUP
---------------------------------
A selection of files will need to be deleted post the initial install of the "MilViz DHC-2 Beaver 210720.exe".
NOTE: 10 DHC-2 Beaver Milviz aircraft folders would have been created by the "MilViz DHC-2 Beaver 210720.exe" installer, 2 of which are incomplete and will contain just a NightLighting folder.

Refer to the sections titled "CLEANUP FILES TO BE REMOVED PRIOR:" within the "FULL FOLDER and FILE UPDATE LISTING:" section.
Follow each list of folders/files for cleanup, noting there is a section for each of the 10 Beaver aircraft.

Once cleanup has been completed the original install will be ready for the updated folders to be copied into the P3D root folder.

WORK PERFORMED:
===============================================================================
Manuals:
=======================================
Added the following enhanced and OCR'd (optical character recognition) manuals and supplement notices.
    DHC-2-Beaver-Pilot's Flight Manual 1956-03-31 inc updates to 1962.pdf
    DHC-2-Beaver-Pilot's Flight Manual Supplement #2 Engines 1978-02-22.pdf
    DHC-2-Beaver-Pilot's Flight Manual Supplement #3 Stall Warning 2014-04-07.pdf

Deskew, despeckle and OCR has been performed to to enhance the scans and enable full text searching of terms within the manuals.

Model Folders:
=======================================
Each Aircraft type has 2 x model folders - model and model.1
    model   contains the passenger type.
    model.1 contains the cargo type.
    An exception is the cropduster type where model.1 is an alias to model.

All aircraft models contained from 2 to 8 xml syntax errors of the type below which were resolved.

---------------------------------
Error: Empty parentheses or closing parenthese missing: "(A:AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH,bool)! or"
---------------------------------
The syntax errors were corrected via a hex editor at the byte level to include the missing space e.g. "(A:AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH,bool) ! or".

Another model issue was identified where the Cropduster models were found to not support the STOL extended wing.
    The Cropduster type did include extended wing textures, as well the thumbnail.jpg showing the extended wing, however there was no extended STOL wing defined within the Cropduster models.
    Both the Cropduster models within MV_DHC-2_Beaver_210720.zip and MV_DHC-2_Beaver_Expansion_Pack_170829.zip were reviewed and neither were found to support STOL wing texture usage.
    As such the Cropduster textures were cleaned up to remove unused extended STOL wing texture components.
    Given the Cropduster thumbnail.jpg shows a STOL wing and the STOL wing textures were included, the assumption is the STOL model was lost due to versioning discrepancies at MilViz.
    It is possible an earlier release of the MilViz DHC-2 Beaver does contain the correct STOL wing model for the Cropduster, and should anyone be able to further advise please let me know.

Panels:
=======================================
The panels have been updated as per below.

NOTE: I excluded the Mindstar, Mindstar_WX and rxp530_430 and rxp530_430_WX panels from these updates as I do not have these GPS units to test with.

1), Panel folders hold modified panel.cfg to include the use of the RXP Garmin GTNs where appropriate (instead of the F1 GPS units).
2), Panel.cfg cleanups for consistency of data and usage.
3), panel.cfgs have been updated for consistent use of number keys in calling popup gauges.
    e.g. no matter the type of aircraft or panel the following keys will function accordingly.
    5 - Auto Pilot (always enabled)
    4 - GTN Unit 2 (if enabled)
    3 - GTN Unit 1 (or default GPS gauge/assembly if enabled)
    2 - Weather Radar (if enabled)

Default panel config is to use panel.mv530_430 with no weather radar, I chose this due to the WX radar causing CTD on P3D v5.3+ (LM introduced radar changes including bugs never resolved).
Use MVAMS to change the GPS and WX combos as desired.

Gauges:
=======================================
DHC-2 Beaver Milviz\panel\C310_XMLGauges

1), Added missing KAP140_PT.bmp
2), Resolved xml issues within MV_KAP140_PopupDisplay.xml

DHC-2 Beaver Milviz\panel\DH2
1), Resolved minor issue within DHC2_SysEvents.xml
2), Resolved syntax and incorrect variable naming issues within passenger.xml

DHC-2 Beaver Milviz\panel\Milviz_GPS
1), Added missing GNS530_OFF.bmp (using bmp located in the C310_XMLGauges folder).
2), Added missing GNS430_OFF.bmp (using bmp located in the C310_XMLGauges folder).

The gauges also generate a quantity of the type of errors below.
    Error: Boolean does not evaluate to TRUE or FALSE
    Error: Invalid script (command not found - perhaps a space is missing or there's an extra space?): ")" in: )
These errors have been left as is, as my xml gauge editing skills are not far enough advanced to tackle such questionable errors.

Flight Models:
=======================================
aircraft.cfg and associated .air files have been updated to use the latest flight model from the archived MilViz DHC-2 Beaver forum.
https://milviz.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=10697

Specifically the tail now lifts as takeoff speed increases and takeoff performance is much improved.

The actual aircraft.cfg files have been manually reviewed, compared, cleaned up and updated for consistency with the following changes.
1), Either STOL or non-STOL characteristics - being aircraft type dependant.
2), Additional customised effects.
3), Customisations for contact points to match effects and type of aircraft better, e.g. the Amphibian has 4 x rearward wheels where each wheel is now matched to an individual effect.
4), Landing light changes for improved lighting and positioning within the extended wing STOL types.

Additionally a consistent set of liveries have been updated across all the various aircraft types where many were inconsistently defined (see Textures).
Aircraft type naming was adjusted to allow the use of sort by name or type within the P3D aircraft selection dialog.

NOTE: The naming changes may result in failure to load the aircraft within a previously saved scenario, in which case P3D will load a visualisation aircraft (typically the default scenario's aircraft).
      Once the affected scenario has loaded, re-select the desired DHC-2 aircraft type and resave the scenario to retain the updated aircraft.

Sound:
=======================================
Overall aircraft "sound" is provisioned via 2 folders
    sound   is the 3 bladed propeller sound sets.
    sound.1 is the 2 bladed propeller sound sets.

Various aircraft types contained their own sound files and configs however upon review they were all using the same sound set as per the type of propeller, however the sound.cfg files were inconsistently configured.

The following changes were made to sounds.
1), Use of alias for referencing the main "DHC-2 Beaver Milviz" sound and sound.1 folders for consistent sound configuration across the various aircraft types.
2), Addition of the following 3 sound files (were originally missing or located in alternate folders).
    dhc2_GroundrollSnow.wav
    dhc2_HydroplaneSplash.wav
    dhc2_StallWarning.wav
3), Implemented an audible Stall warning in keeping with with manufacturer's supplement #3 Stall Warning dated 2014-04-07.
4), Corrected issues within the sound.cfg files covering ground roll binary types, their sounds and inconsistent auto-pilot disconnect warning sound.

Textures: (Liveries)
=======================================
Texture folders were inconsistent in livery and textures contained within, these were updated to suit the livery and aircraft type.

A proportion of the aircraft types did not contain both of the below liveries, this was corrected and the aircraft.cfgs were updated accordingly.
    texture.N1117F
    texture.N297B

The general design order of the various aircraft types is to reference the aircraft type's local texture.livery folder, then the local texture folder, then fall back to the main "DHC-2 Beaver Milviz" texture folder.
Unfortunately the "texture.livery" and "texture" folders were a miss-matched series of mixed textures where clearly there were version management issues in play.

The following was performed.
1), The "texture.livery" and "texture" folders were all reviewed and brought into a consistent state for the various types of aircraft.
2), The texture.cfg files were updated to reflect local fallback pathing prior to falling back to the main "\DHC-2 Beaver Milviz\texture\" folder.

Of the installed aircraft types, 2 did not include any aircraft files at all apart from a "Nightlighting" folder.
Affected aircraft folders.
    DHC-2 Beaver Milviz STOL
    DHC-2 Beaver Milviz Straight Floats STOL

These 2 x folders were populated using a combination of files from the files withing MV_DHC-2_Beaver_Expansion_Pack_170829.zip and their non-STOL equivalents where appropriate.

Effects:
=======================================
The default effects were updated with a series of customised effects.
Each aircraft.cfg was subsequently updated to include the above effects.

Lighting:
=======================================
Landing lights were updated to include the P3D default "fx_f-16_landing".
Landing light positioning was adjusted to suit either STOL or standard wings.

 

MVAMS:
=======================================
At the initial install of the "MV_DHC-2_Beaver_210720.exe", I found MVAMS operation was inconsistent and failing to update all of the Beaver aircraft.

Refer to the post link below.
https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/638074-how-to-make-mvams-usable-in-p3dv53/

After the updates performed as part of this "MilViz_DHC-2_Consistency_and_Flight_Model_Update" I found MVAMS was then updating the Beaver aircraft consistently.
I suspect the issue related to missing Beaver aircraft.cfg files resulting in MVAMS inconsistent behaviour.

NOTE: MVAMS tested version was 0.9.9.0

===============================================================================

 

 

And a few pics to round it all out.

 

And some of the GPS combos.

Cheers

[newtie 533]

PM sent.

[CO2Neutral 278]

Nice screenshots!  One of my many favorites!

 

[jcorstjens 63]

Certainly interested in trying your update. The Beaver breathes life, cool plane!

[Luis Hernandez 570]

Wow, Rogen, what a job you did there! Thanks a lot!

Certainly I'm also interested. You've got a PM.

[Hamilton_ 45]

Nice work! 

You´ve got a PM.

[xxd09 68]

Very interested 

xxd09

 

[ggerolamo 108]

Wow, thank you very much for your efforts 🙂

Pm follows 😉

 

regards

ggerolamo

 

 

[xxd09 68]

5 hours ago, xxd09 said:

Very interested -can you send me the package?

xxd09

 

 

[btacon 1,808]

QUESTION:  Has Milviz released the code to allow such changes and the construction of an install package?  Asking for a friend.

-B

[vvince 6]

Thanks for the work!

I am definitely interested, PM sent.

[Wobbie 938]

Thanks so much!

[Rogen 1,092]

Hi Folks,

Everyone should now be catered for, let me know if you asked but I've missed you.

And also let me know if you've found any issues that need a tweek.

Also don't forget the cleanup of the originally installed files as the first step!

Cheers

[Rogen 1,092]

On 12/17/2023 at 12:26 AM, btacon said:

QUESTION:  Has Milviz released the code to allow such changes and the construction of an install package?  Asking for a friend.

-B

Hi @btacon

The flight model is available from their forum, the rest is a re-org with a few bug fixes of the original install to achieve a consistant state, there is no actual installer for the update.

It's basically adding liveries, adding and repairing gauges and resolving file references.

The actual installer is the freebee from Milviz themselves which will need to be installed followed by a manual cleanup of the files it installs.

I suggest having a read of the spoiler in the intial post.

Cheers

[btacon 1,808]

All well and good and on the up and up as they say. My question was purely from curiosity, not judgement. Now my curiosity has been quenched and thank you very much.

-B