Simviation Forum - How to make aircraft more buoyant...

Mar 4^th, 2011 at 7:48pm

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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Hi guys, do any of you know how to make an aircraft's wheels more buoyant - you know, when you need that extra ten feet of runway that are covered in water? Yeah, that's what I need to know... Cheesy

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Reply #1 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 4:09am

Hagar Offline
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You could always change the wheels to floats in the contact_points section of Aircraft.cfg. Wink

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Reply #2 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 8:36am

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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I'll try that. Thanks a lot!

*edit

How do you know which points are the wheels?

[contact_points]
point.0=1, -15.00, 0.0, -1.05, 1800, 0, 0.238, 60.0, 0.300, 2.5, 0.40, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.1=1, 1.24, -3.0, -5.25, 1600, 1, 0.728, 0.0, 0.540, 2.5, 0.65, 0.0, 0.0, 2.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.2=1, 1.24, 3.0, -5.25, 1600, 2, 0.728, 0.0, 0.540, 2.5, 0.65, 0.0, 0.0, 3.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.3=2, -1.00, -17.7, 1.80, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 5.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.4=2, -1.00, 17.7, 1.80, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 6.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.5=2, -14.40, 0.0, 4.50, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 9.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.6=2, 5.40, 0.0, -2.20, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 4.0, 0.0, 0.0

static_pitch = 15.2
static_cg_height = 4.3

Huh

I went outside once. The graphics weren't all that great.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

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Reply #3 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 9:30am

Hagar Offline
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The first 3 points are the wheels. Change the first value to 4 like this:

[contact_points]
point.0=4, -15.00, 0.0, -1.05, 1800, 0, 0.238, 60.0, 0.300, 2.5, 0.40, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.1=4, 1.24, -3.0, -5.25, 1600, 1, 0.728, 0.0, 0.540, 2.5, 0.65, 0.0, 0.0, 2.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.2=4, 1.24, 3.0, -5.25, 1600, 2, 0.728, 0.0, 0.540, 2.5, 0.65, 0.0, 0.0, 3.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.3=2, -1.00, -17.7, 1.80, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 5.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.4=2, -1.00, 17.7, 1.80, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 6.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.5=2, -14.40, 0.0, 4.50, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 9.0, 0.0, 0.0
point.6=2, 5.40, 0.0, -2.20, 800, 0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.000, 0.0, 0.0, 4.0, 0.0, 0.0

static_pitch = 15.2
static_cg_height = 4.3

This will make the aircraft float on water but I don't think it will operate from land.

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Reply #4 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 10:28am

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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What if I put "3" where the "4" is - would it be amphibious?

I went outside once. The graphics weren't all that great.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

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Reply #5 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 10:36am

Hagar Offline
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No. Class 3 = Skis/Skids.

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Reply #6 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 11:33am

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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Soooo.... Is it possible to make it "waterproof" just to keep the "splash" from coming up? I still want to be able to operate from land... And I don't want to turn off realism settings... Tongue

I went outside once. The graphics weren't all that great.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

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Reply #7 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 11:39am

Hagar Offline
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Not sure exactly what you want to do. I suppose you could add some extra float points to make it think it's an amphibian. Use the default Goose for reference. You would still get a splash when you touch down on water.

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Reply #8 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 11:45am

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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Well, what I wanted to do is make the tires a bit more buoyant so when I touch down in water, it doesn't trigger a "splash". I would still like to be able to move on land. Is this even possible?

Or even make the "floats" roll, like wheels?

I went outside once. The graphics weren't all that great.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

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Reply #9 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 11:55am

Hagar Offline
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My last suggestion might work. I haven't tried it. The floats will be virtual so won't affect the wheels. Not sure they would rotate when they touch water.

Which aircraft do you wish to modify?

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Reply #10 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 11:56am

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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KROC, 2011 ESL Airshow Site

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The FSX default Piper Cub.

The wheels don't need to turn on the water; just on land!

I went outside once. The graphics weren't all that great.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

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Reply #11 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 11:59am

dave3cu Offline
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I've got your drift...want to do Jim Tweato's short rwy/sand bar approach over/on water. I've been working on that also on the Aerosoft Beaver-Tundra.

Simply replacing wheels (1) with floats (4) won't do it as they will not work on land.

What I've done is add 2 more point as floats. I copied the main gear points and then pasted as new point. Example:

[contact_points]
point.0 = 1, 1.75, -5.80, -7.70, 1600, 1, 1.80, 0, 1.20, 1.0, 0.6, 0, 0, 2, 0, 200
point.1 = 1, 1.75, 5.80, -7.70, 1600, 2, 1.80, 0, 1.20, 1.0, 0.6, 0, 0, 2, 0, 200
point.2 = 1, -21.15, 0.00, -2.25, 1600, 0, 0.55, 45, 0.15, 2.5, 0.6, 0, 0, 3, 0, 200
point.3 = 2, -0.15, 26.85, 4.00, 2000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0
point.4 = 2, -0.15, -26.85, 4.00, 2000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0
point.5 = 2, 8.50, 0.00, -0.25, 1000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0
point.6 = 2, 4.15, 0.00, -3.00, 2000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0
point.7 = 2, -3.65, 0.00, -2.50, 2000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 4, 0, 0
point.8 = 2, -18.30, 0.00, -1.00, 2000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0
point.9 = 2, -22.55, 0.00, -0.40, 2000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0
point.10= 2, -24.95, 0.00, 0.65, 2000, 0, 0,    0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 9, 0, 0

//float point added for tire floatation
point.11 = 4, 1.75, -5.80, -6.30, 1600, 0, 0, 0, 1.20, 1.0, 0.6, 0, 0, 2, 0, 200
point.12 = 4, 1.75, 5.80, -6.30, 1600, 0, 0, 0, 1.20, 1.0, 0.6, 0, 0, 2, 0, 200
// end floats

Make sure you renumber the points. You'll also have to raise the floats so they do not contact ground. Takes some experimenting.

Still a work in progress.

Dave

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Reply #12 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 12:00pm

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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Posts: 376

Thanks so much, I'll report back on how it works! Smiley

I went outside once. The graphics weren't all that great.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

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Reply #13 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 12:16pm

Hagar Offline
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Dave is thinking along the same lines as me. I quickly tried it on the Piper Cub. It works fine but not on Full Realism.

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Reply #14 - Mar 5^th, 2011 at 12:24pm

Strawberry Yogurt Offline
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KROC, 2011 ESL Airshow Site

Posts: 376

Yeah, doesn't work on full realism. I'm beginning to think there's only one way to do it: but I can't seem to find the thread with it in it. There was a thread in one of the Screenshot Forums where someone said they "made the wheels more buoyant for landings like Jim Tweto's" or something along the lines of that. That poster might have the information we need.

I went outside once. The graphics weren't all that great.

Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me.

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