jtwhite

This brings back some memories .... I recently found in my closet a copy of the original "Tower" by BAO., dated 1995. Oh, those were the days. I'm sure a lot has changed, although in some respects this one looks a lot like it.

Oh, wow. You guys were so right about CYBD by Beti-X. I've really gotten into flying the Bell 407 by Dreamfoil and am always looking for some interesting areas. I stumbled on this conversation in connection with Quantum River and took the hint about CYBD. CYBD just has a quality about it ... perhaps it's the near photorealism of the scenery, particularly the houses below nestled in the trees, or the time of day, I don't know, but I could have just lazily flown up the valley all day. My hat is off to the Beti-X designers (and, no, I'm not related to any of them, LOL). Thanks for the effort. John, S. Indiana

Ihttps://drive.google.com/open?id=1i1yhE0T1XUow25PN6AmuEvFsh6GDhiKN I think I could drive nails with mine, yet it's really lightweight. The pics above show the basic construction. Notice how I drilled small holes on the end of each arm in order to separate the pins and make soldering them easier. You wouldnt really need to put electrical tape around it, just sand it down and paint it, or however you want to hide the wires.

Thanks for the responses... I wanted to keep the number of wires to a minimum, and I could have used a little less electrical tape. Now that I know how it all goes together, I think Ill make a more streamlined version taking into account all the things I realize I could have done differently. John

Under the heading of "If I'd known it was going to turn out so well, I'd done a better job." I built this three-point clip for use with trackir, or whatever headtracking software you use, and it was so easy and quick. The basic shape is made of a piece of black plastic coat hanger, heated with a candle just right till it would bend smoothly. I then drilled a couple of small holes into the end and out the side for the IR LEDs, which are so cheap online. I bent another small piece into an L shape, drilled into the end and through the LED holder to hold a tiny nail for stability and superglued it to the side. Hooked up all the wires, wrapped it in electrical tape, stacked three button batteries together with hot glue, attached whole thing to headphones and voila... works like a charm. All tolled, less than 10 bucks. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zUgdZbxQewk63KiBI5UoIpg89Qm37KEb/view?usp=sharing John

The only developer I've had contact with are the guys at FSWidgets ... and the same could be said for them. They were able (all the way from Australia, I might add) to interact with me and my tablet (which I thought kind of spooky, LOL) and to fix an issue I had with the program GMap. I think sometimes we are quick to think developers are just out to make a buck, but I like to believe most just want to create a great product for a hobby a lot of us take very seriously.

I tried TrackIR a couple of times in the past, yet never seemed able to get used to it. For some reason (probably because I just needed a new toy to play with), I decided to give it a try ... again ... and just take my time adapting, particularly because I have really gotten into flying DreamFoils Bell helicopter. Wow, I'll never go back. And then someone suggested adding X-Camera to the setup and wow (that's a double wow), what a great combination. Now let's see ... that's three product endorsements in the post (the fourth would be the implied rave for the X-Plane platform). I suppose I should include the disclaimer that I have no financial interest in any ot them. I post this simply because they really make flying fun. And so it goes. John in Indiana

I've used both World2XPlane and Ortho44XP to generate overlays, but I can't really tell which is best (I guess the best proof would be how well they follow the orthophotos.} I'd like to use the freeware package to make the roads transparent, but I first want to use the most accurate overlay. Any thoughts on the subject? John in Indiana.

The fun I'm having flyingthe Dreamfoil Bell 407 is just bubbling up, and so I thought I'd let it spill over here. I don't think I'll ever go back to flying fixed wings. And I think it's the beauty of XP scenery at low altitudes that makes it so cool. I've created the three bridges near my home airport, and with OrthoXP and perfectly placed buildings ,.. well, you know what I mean. I;ve mastered hovering pretty well, so much so that my mind (simple as it is) now seems to have been fooled into thinking I can actually feel the aircraft under me in a hover. Now, where did I put that building with the rooftop landing pad? Anyway, just sayin' JTW, Indiana

NEVER MIND...As usual, after mulling it over for a couple of days and 10 seconds after posting this, I had a big "DUH' moment and realized what the problem was. I had been messing around with dual monitors last week and somehow changed the default on the graphics screen from "scenery forward with 3D cockpit," or something like that, to "just scenery." Click ... fixed. John in Indiana

Im wondering if anyone else has this problem. It just developed the other day and involves all aircraft. Whenever X Plane starts, the forward 3D panel is not there. When I switch to the outside view, then back, it returns. Haven't really done anything to change it. Any ideas? John in Indiana

I've started flying the Dreamfoil Creations Bell 407 in XPlane 11, and I tell you, I don't think I'll go back to fixed wings. Anyway, I found this excellent tutorial online. Funny, but it's by the people at Terminal Reality's Fly!. It brought back memories. I got my first copy of the sim free at oskkosh as part of public release. Pretty cool then. I think it marked my first attempt at scenery design, and, if I'm not mistaken, there were tools to download road data for VFR flying. So, here's the tutorial. Hope you find it helpful. http://www.aviastar.org/theory/bell-407/index.html

It is amazing how much fun it is to fly xp11. And now that I've become fairly good at handling Dreamfoils Bell 407, it's going to be tough going back to fixed wing aircraft. Even at low-level flight, XP is really very immersive. You can't beat tooling around Catalina Island (with MisterX6's scemery) in a chopper. Just sayin'

Yes it is. I find it hard to go back to fixed wing. I really feel compelled to go through the whole routine of untying rotors before takeoff and retying them after Ianding. It's just that fun. I created a building with a helipad on the roof and placed it downtown from my home airport (KEVV). I've been practicing crashing into it LOL. Creating scenery for XP is soooo easy. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rXpCbTZS0l2dr7ERHArpy1KSLyA4quJZ/view?usp=sharing

Thanks for the heads-up and the link. Yes, they did have a fix, and all is well.