barryward12345

At long last - and it was worth waiting for! The dynamic shine has transformed the exterior model of this a/c. I was always a little disappointed with it -- but now it is great . Other extras too like clickable window visors in the VC , etc -- but the shine is the best part.Barry

>freeware aircrafts with great virtual cockpits and which you>can otherwise recommend as well :).>>Preferrable GA planes for bush flying but any will do :)The Antonov An-14 is a really great STOL a/c for bush flying. And it ONLY has a VC - no 2d panel at all. You can really carry some load in this bird!It takes a little bit of learning to fly as the panel is all in Russian - but if I can figure it out , anyone can. Barry

I have managed to install an ADF into the 2d Panel(s) of the Maule - but have been unable to do so in the VC . I am aware of the difficulty of placing extra gauges into the VC of any a/c -- but just wondering if anybody else has managed to do it. Barry

I know that it is common concensus to uncheck the "Use MIPS" box when converting 32 bit textures to DXT3. However , I have noticed that some a/c textures seem to have been saved without this box being unchecked -- you can see a difference in file size between a DXT3 texture saved with and without the MIPS box being unchecked.Anyway, could somebody enlighten me what the difference is -- I do notice a difference in quality when the MIP box is unchecked.Thanks Barry

Do you have Danians website address please?Barry

>'scriptable' means that you can write code - or script - that>will directly control the behavior of objects or conditions in>the sim.>>I imagine some folks would write some pretty novel "scripts">(pardon the pun) if able to use multiple simultaneous scripts.> Eye candy airport movements would be a given for many>developers, but it will be interesting to see if scripts can>be written to control other factors in the sim. A few>examples off the top of my head:>>* Weather (including icing conditions)>* AI Traffic and ATC (movement, separation, emergencies, &>priority shuffling among others)>* Navaid outages>* Effects (volcanic ash clouds, wildfire smoke, runway>flooding, etc.)>>I think it's already possible to create aircraft failures, but>that's another interesting area for exploration.>>Imagine how many valuable and downright cool adventures could>be written with these and other factors at a developer's>command...YES-- this is exactly what I was thinking. I reckon that there is a clue regarding the next FS200X here .Barry

>I don't understand why they do that - it seems quite>immature. It's not like these two sites should be competing>for forum users or something...>>I do remember, back in the days of FS98 when I was young and>enthralled at a 28.8k modem, that 'flightsim.com' was the>address that I randomly typed in, all those years ago - I>found Avsim much later...Yes- me too!! Used to go there all the time , but I have simply found this site to be more to my taste. Barry

ABL scripts eventually may be associated with any object in Flight Simulator, ranging from player aircraft to bridges to baggage carts. For now, however, Flight Simulator will only run one instance of a script at any time.Any ideas abou this ?Barry

Hi JoeOne difficulty I see is that , when you fly a flight of say 400-600 miles, you have to Zoom out the map so much that there is no writing on the map to indicate exactly where you flew. An analysis of the picture itself - and taking into account the surrounding terrain does kind of show you where the flight went, but not real clearly.Try a 400 mile flight and you will see what I mean.Regards Barry

BEWARE!!! The Fifth Column are among us! Barry

Well,I hope I don't annoy too many model enthusiasts here -- but I have to say that I immediately convert any 32 bit textures into DXT3 textures for any a/c that I download (either freeware or payware). I do this because, for me, Simming is a combination of many things, There is no one particualar aspect that I prefer over any others. So, overall an aircraft has to have "balance" There is no point in having a beautiful exterior model if, when flying in the VC, and swapping to an external view, texture loading time is too long. Personally, I can't see any difference between 32 bit or DXT3 textures -- but maybe that is because I am too busy flying the a/c -- don't know.Barry

>because there was no market... It just didn't sell enough to>warrant the investment.Well that is maybe not strictly correct -- There IS a market for Military Sims, it was simply that CFS3 did not succeed within that market!Barry

Well, anyway, in relation to all these ideas -- who is the boss-man who decides and when will he decide. It really doesn't matter as long as we all know what is required and have a bit of time to plan. Planning is a big part of the fun!! :)Barry

>That could easily be worked into my idea of listing 10>specific airports/cities that aircraft must land (and handoff>the baton) at. 1 of those 10 forced cities could be La Paz,>Bolivia to force a high-altitude airport or something..... >Or, do that in addition to the 10 forced specific>airports/cities in order to let us choose whatever works best>for each team... Whatever our race organizer decides is>best... :(>The problem with giving a list of airports that "must" be visited is that there is a strong chance that all the teams will aim for the closest one first -- and after that, a kind of "follow the leader" develops. I do think that the requirement to vist a certain list of airports is very good -- but as a start to the race, perhaps thought could be given also to a small list of say 4 airports within say 300-600 miles of the starting point and require the first leg to be flown to any one of these. That way the entrants will likely pick different ones depending on the distance to them and the a/c being flown first.Barry

I have attempted to fly in formation with FS AI a/c - but using the same type of a/c. I have never been able to catch the AI. Using a faster a/c to intercept works, but then you can't fly in formation because of the slower speed of the AI. It was fun trying - but I couldn't get it to work.Barry

While we are all speculating about what the next FS200x will look like and incorporate, I'd like to introduce an outside chance into the race - probably a 100 to 1 shot really, but a couple of things point to it having some form. CFS3 was a loser and CFS4 was abandoned. However, there is obviously a market for Military Sims - as evidenced by the popularity of Lomac, IL2 , etc. But if I was MS, wanted to stay in both races - Civil and Military - and was planning a new FSim engine, then why would I want to have 2 teams building 2 different Sims. Flight mechanics are the same regardless of whether an a/c is a Civil or Military a/c so it could be conceivable that the 2 types could be combined.NOW THAT - FOR ME-- WOULD BE A KILLER NEW SIM!!!! :)Barry

Well. I think that this RTW race does introduce an element of competition - but it is more a matter of competition against yourself. For example, how many of us start a flight and don't finish it - for whatever reason. Or we crash on landing because we were too lazy (sometimes) to set up a proper approach. With this race, because the rest of the team is relying on each leg entrant to complete his/her leg regardless of weather conditions, etc, there really is a need to ensure that this is done. Barry

>>But Jeroen is right. Please do reconsider the aircraft.Just joking!! Just Joking!! :)Barry

I just love my Antonov 14. It's one of the few a/c that you fly only from the VC - why is that , you ask? Well, It doesn't have a a 2D cockpit. Trouble is that it probably isn't the ideal a/c for a race -- a bit slow really - maybe 120 knots if I push it. BUT - I can land it in about 100 metres. It's the king of STOL. Not one of those demo sports STOL thingos - this is a real a/c!I think that maybe this may be the secret this year that beats the Flightsim and the Sim-Outhouse mob - specialise on the Antonov 14. We could fly a route that concentrates on very short airstrips. That way we could fly a route that the others couldn't follow. The Sim-Outhouse mob will concentrate on their Military fighters - HA!! They will get lost in the wilds of Venezuala or Mongolia!! No Navaids in those places you see. They will have to fly VFR all the way. A lot of good a WW2 fighter will be at night in the AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK!! NO- the good old Antonov 14 with its ADF and also a primitive but functional ILS system will let us get across those vast other (non American) continents where the NDB is still the primary nav system. We will lead them a merry chase! It's all in the planning!! :)Barry

Hmm - after reading the postings in the Sim-Outhouse forums and the Flightsim.com forums regarding the upcoming RTW race, am I imagining it or do I notice a bit of a lack of interest in this race by Avsimmers in the Avsim forums?There seems to me to have been few postings in the relevant forum over the last few days -- it would be a shame if Avsim lost the "Trophy"Barry

Wel, of course, in real life long distance air races, teams only fly one aircraft for the whole distance. To use a different a/c for each leg is not very realistic-- but I guess it is fun.Barry

Hi StonecoldCould you check to see if you responded to the correct forum -- because I also have responded and I can't see a post from you. So maybe I have responded in the wrong place!!!! :(Barry

I am hoping to fly a leg of the race and think that I may fly it using the Bushnet (using Teamspeak) . The AVSIM Bushnet is a vastly under-used and easy-to-use resource. I know that a few people simply connect to the Bushnet whenever they fly because it is so easy -- but nevertheless, I have not found that to be a particularly satisfying experience as I usually fly alone and don't even get to have default AI traffic.But in the case of this race, I believe that it could be used - if the powers-to-be at AVSIM consider that the server could handle the load. Anyway, I would find this to be a far more pleasurable way to go than VATSIM.I guess if others wanted to fly with VATSIM, I could still fly my leg (if I manage to get one) on Bushnet anyway.What say you?Regards Barry

Can we please work on ZULU time? Personally, Eastern time means nothing to me unless we are referring to AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time).The Military around the world work on ZULU time -- it would be impossible to work to some local US time zone when flying in other time zones . All time zones have a relationship with ZULU time which all Fsimmers should/must? be aware of and able to use.Regards Barry

>Thanks for giving the heads up to folks, Joe. As is the>tradition, the race will begin at 12:00 Noon Eastern Time on>the Sunday following Valentine's Day. I'm finalizing the>particulars for this year's race and I'll be making an>official announcement within the next few weeks about the>race.Hi Matt Can we PLEASE use ZULU time for this race. I am afraid that EASTERN time means nothing to me - unless you are referring to AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) . C'mon , this is an international forum - IMO , ZULU is the only way to go.RegardsBarry