Glider Preview

[Guest jonpoint]

Hi to all FU3 fans!Here's a preview of the Blanik L-13 I've been working on. These are only outside views, some preliminary inside views have already been posted. The inside views bogged me down for a while but, with no small assistance from the Kingpin of the gliding industry himself (Glidernut), I have enough suitable material to finish it now :-) I know that there are no markings (apart from the red nose), but the guys did such a good job of taping the fabric and polishing the alloy, they wouldn't let me near her. I'll wait until they're gone :-lolThis project has taken me a while to get going because I had to work out a suitable launch method - it's an 'unpowered' glider! I have settled on a 'winch launch' method which works well from the runway or a suitable glider location. You just cannot taxi unpowered gliders around airports! The method works OK and you can tune the rope length in 3 increments. It's useful for short, hillside launches right through to valley-floor strips. There's also a release handle on the panel if it's all too much ;) Lewis Valley in the afternoon, scooting across the hillside. I think the pilot's hiding ;)http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/28632.jpgPassing below, over a ridge. I love how close to objects you can 'safely' fly in an unpowered glider. With the L-13, you can hold her at ~40kts (almost stall) and creep around hillsides and mountaintops, looking for a bit of lift. Unlike an ultralight, as long as you have a bit of altitude you can also stop and even back-up, should things get a bit tight! You can also launch backwards...http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/28634.jpgBelow again, in the shadows. Now, where's that durn pilot? Oh well, at least you can see the panels!http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/28636.jpgNear Sequim, showing flaps and spoilers. Note the 'Fowlers' are on BOTH sides of the wings - another first for FU3 (not that you can see it here...) ;) http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/28637.jpgSequim again. I took off from GC5 but got too far away from the hills and ran out of lift. Now, where's a suitable paddock?http://forums.avsim.com/user_files/28638.jpgThe beta should be out in a couple of weeks. With a pilot (or two...).:-waveRegards,Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest qvdg]

Excellent and very smooth lines too :-) . As always I can't wait for another of your quality products. Speaking of pilots I will be needing one sometime (in the next decade)for the DH82. Is the guy who flies Geebee certified for a DH82 ? Cheers, QvdG

[Guest glidernut]

Thats briliant Jon,It looks eevan beter than I thort it would.Youv got the see throuw canapy just right, and theres mor deatale in there than I thort there would be.Im looking forwerd to its relees.Iv been thinking of nuthing els for munths.Iill send you an e-male.glidernut.:-wave

[Guest Robs]

JonWooooooooooooooowDO NOT SEND ME THIS! I'll never get filton done!!!! I lurve gliding!!I got the other textures on the Dash last night....ResViewer was playing up...I reinstalled it and it worked (I ran thru your checklist and eliminated that)I must say the Dash 8 is super....fast and manoeuverable...I can buzz the tower real close now....coffee everywhere...But the glider looks super! I'll finish my curent project first.On the taxiing....the ideal would be to have a guy on the wing and a guy on the tail pushing and limit the taxi to walking pace? Possible? Worth the effort? How about a tow truck? Maybe faster taxi-ing? (to 10 knots).....Even a jeep launch if you go faster. I am not sure if you can link objects to planes in FU3 in this way....but something that might add even more creme to the creme de la creme. I am sure you'd work something out if it's possible!!!Rob

[Hans_Petter 1]

We're running out of adjectives to describe this one Jon :-)As launching goes, another approach might be a tow plane but that's probably a lot harder to implement. I'll just pretend I have a tow plane while I "miracle" the aircraft up to 3,000 ft. I never use the "miracle" up or down but in this case it will make sense.Hans Petter

[Guest R_Driscoll]

Jon, that looks absolutely incredible! I can't believe how good that thing looks. I could spend a week or two in that one no trouble, possibly coupled with glidernut/schiedeck's package so that I can stay up without relaunching - the first shot there just took my breath away.But I suppose with an add-on of this quality, you will be wanting your $US35 payware price too? I just wanted to check that the panel is up to the same standard: have you implemented: - coffee holding ring - CD player - donut tray - book holder - torch for reading map when lost at night - sponge for cleaning up coffee after loop - sick bag for cleaning up donut after loopIf I have missed mentioning any essential navigation equipment here, include it anyway.RobD.

[Guest jonpoint]

Dear All,Yes, you can page-up if you wish but remember to pull the release handle straight away. Starting off at 3kft is fine when you don't have a cable attached...The flight model starts with you on the ground (duh). Instead of just hitting page-up, hit (and ya gotta do this FAST) page-up/page-down/b in rapid sucession. Ignoring the momentary view of the strip from 1000ft, this does a number of things:* It connects you to a winch.* It lifts your wings level and stops them from scraping.* It propels you along the ground really fast! * Rotate at 50kts, pull in the wheel(!) and hold at ~70-80kts by holding the nose up. * A few seconds later (and about 2500ft higher), you will feel the plane go 'limp' and the IAS dropping fast.* 'Pull' the cable release (for safety) and re-trim for gliding.* You can also pull the release handle at any time which can be useful if you somehow get off-line during takeoff rollout.Voila! One winch launch :-jumpy The ASW28 will get the same treatment.The drawbacks of this method are:1. You cannot taxi (ever got in a glider at a club and driven to the end of the strip?) so you must either fly from 'glider strips' or use 'Quick Flight' and start from the runway.2. Subsequent use of page-up will always re-connect you with the winch - even at 10kft! Always pull the release handle straight away in this case. Towing without climbing can rip your wings off! This is because I had to use the 'cruise' settings in the flight model to setup the takeoff parameters ;)3. Logbook entries are wiped when page-up/down is used.As to using a towplane, I tried that (using landing gear settings, with release) but it was unwieldy. You still cannot taxi (because your 'nosewheel' is 150ft away) and, when you release the rope, the towplane barely turned out of sight before disappearing altogether. By far the worst part was, landing with the gear up (i.e. no towplane) made the logbook register a crash for every landing :-grr Also, add the fact that I had to trim ~400 polygons off the 3D model to allow for the low-res Pawnee towplane :-(Hence the winch method :-waveJon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************