Brett_Henderson wrote on Jun 29^th, 2008 at 9:25am:



I am a bit ahead of you on the original owner contact part

He said we can do any upgrade we like however the original MDL file can not be included with the release.

He is in Fukuoka, Japan and I pointed him to this thread. I do not know if he read it or not.

So the deal is.. what ever is made must be made as a overwrite of his downloadable package so we must keep this in mind. The only stipulation he placed on this was that the model file itself could not be used in a package but a upgrade that overwrites everything else, is fine.

You may be able to talk with him being a model maker yourself Brett. I dont know that model builders 'lingo' and I dont speak his language.


I have come up with water droplets and sprinkles for the bow and spray.. and I have come up with prop wash and blowing mist for the engines and props with automatic control based on throttle and RADALT so water takeoffs and landings are going to be pretty special. Of course those FX come with a cost as any FX do but I will try to work them so they produce the least hit with the most visual impact as I go

Now if I can just figure out why I cant start or run these engines when the aircraft touches the water here I will be in business to finish those FX and trim them in for the final release.

Nick.. PM me an email, and I'll attach my cfg/air files...   That will take care of your engine-on-the-water problems... and let you give me some feedback on flight dynamics and camera definitions..


Edit..  I'm sending them to you now, Jim..

All I'm doing is playing with DC-3 gauges...  the panel, as Jim has worked it, is intact..

This would be a good time for us all to get on the same page...  my reference point is probably offest from yours.. so the lights will have to be adjusted..

Edit:  Moving the logitudinal numbers back by 3, does the trick..

Quote:


Just subract 3 from all the longitudinal (first) number in the light coordinates. You could change the reference point back to 0,0,0  but that would throw my CG and control surface geometry off by 3 feet. In an aircraft this large, that's minimal, but it does make a small difference.. especially in flap pitch.

Jim Hodkinson wrote on Jun 29^th, 2008 at 4:02pm:



Sorry I did not get back here earlier... Family day and all

Jim, I was going to ask if something like that was possible and if it would fit into the VC or not. If it will work and add user mouse control to the throttle, flaps, mixture, etc.. and look good in the VC, sure, why not!

Brett, I have not flown her yet but the files you sent did fix the water/engine on issue. I did taxi and wind her out in the water... what a job sir!! She handled like Bob's description. I cant wait to try her in the air.

I will fix my numbers so your geometry remains in order.. I should not have jumped the gun on that. She sits a bit higher in the water than the original too... I did not check the vintage images to see if the wing floats are equal in the water or if they sit a bit out of it. Probably depends on her load and weight.

Brett, perhaps you and Jim should discuss what ever you feel is either missing or not quite working from the panel and the preferences you may like to see. In the mean time I will get a flight out of her tonight and before I have to go back to GEX tomorrow, rework the lights and FX geometry to match the new design.

I did get to see the prop wash in action... LOL  what a ride!

I will post back after I get the FX and everything else in order and have gotten a few flights in her.

At one point and when we get close on everything we should ship Bob70 a test package and see what he says too. If anyone will know her 'feel' he will but dang it Brett... from what I have see so far you darn well nailed it

Jim the panel and sounds are just outstanding thus far!

I may be rusty with my physics but

oswald_efficiency_factor= 0.65

yep!  Thats what I thought

and you are NOT KIDDING... push the yoke forward and she starts up on trim with the bow, ... or rock her a bit.. but you must get her up on trim

DANG BRETT what a JOB



She is sitting a bit high in the water than she should though... just checked that.. no biggie, let me get that one because I have to fine tune the FX for spray/wake at the same time.. and optimize that so it does not kill a system  LOL


With the panel and sound Jim has provided thus far and getting better by the day this is going to be ONE SWEET aircraft

If you guys can coordinate on the panel now that would be super.

Gebus! too bad we cant have access to the model to really do the VC right so a clean set of higher res VC graphics could be produced.

Jim I dont have any overhead here so something is amiss.. I am wondering if I have the right panel file going at this point. I added the section you sent but do not have any overhead. Please excuse my ignorance in that stuff because I am not a panel man and can miss things easy in those areas so its probably something simple I just dont see.


EDIT: I see now.. I dont have file_1024=Overhead.bmp here. I wonder if I have an old panel than is not what you see on your end.

Can you make a complete package and email it to me, just to be sure i am in sync with you... perhaps shoot the same to Brett so he has everything you see too.

I am going to focus on getting the lights, water position and FX using Bretts current air and A/C config. I will transfer the description and other needed items and get that started. Once I have a completed file we can coordinate again and you guys can tweak it further if need be for anything I may have missed.


Jim, Brett.. super work!  


Bob70 is going to love this and I think Phil will be very pleased too. Hes been looking for this plane for a long time and I love the boats myself.

Eventually and when I really get time I may even make a "island hopper" version which looks like an old navy surplus purchase that was repainted ... oil leaks, smoky exhaust.. the works

I simply can not thank you guys enough for all the help with this..

After this is finished, I feel I owe you both a drink of your favorite poison and a big favor!





Speaking of exhaust...   Did she smoke? or was she pretty clean on the exhaust?