Post by Ripcord on Oct 31, 2017 21:00:21 GMT
We provided 100 flights starting on deck at various locations around the globe, but for (hopefully) obvious reasons, we had to use default aircraft. Hopefully we'll be able to add more saved flights (or saved scenarios for the P3D users) featuring third party aircraft, both freeware and payware, and make those available. We'll certainly post those download links here when we do.
But in the meantime, why not just make your own?! It is possible to modify saved flights/scenarios to use the aircraft of your choice.
Since each FSX and P3D build is different, and not every user owns or wants to own the same aircraft, we needed to use the default aircraft as a starting point. The user can simply pause the flight, change aircraft as desired, adjust weather parameters as desired, and save it again as a new flight/scenario.
There will be some drawbacks to this method. You will find that when starting the new flight the user aircraft is already in motion, or out of position slightly in relation to the ship deck. Fortunately this can all be resolved easily, by making a few easy changes that can be made to the new saved .FLT file.
We will cover those steps now:
• Use Notepad or another text editor to open the FLT file that you just saved. Saved Flights in FSX will be found in the documents/Flights Simulator X Files folder. Saved Scenarios in P3D will be found in the Documents\Prepar3D v3 Files folder.
• Once the FLT file is open, scroll down and find the section called [DateTimeSeason]. This is the exact time when the flight/scenario starts. You need to reduce the value under Seconds by one second or several depending on the size of the ship. If you are starting onboard a smaller ship (not a carrier), remove just one second from the value. For an amphibious assault ship, you might need to remove 2 seconds. For a carrier, you should remove anywhere from 4 to 8 seconds depending on where you wish to be placed on deck. Some testing may be required here to get this right.
• Scroll down to a section called [Simvars.0]. We will need to make several changes in this section.
• Altitude=X. This may remain the same, but most likely you need to adjust it slightly depending aircraft type.
• Pitch=-1. You may not need to change this. Rotorcraft will have a setting of -1 or -2, somewhere in that range. You can use 0 or -1 for aircraft.
• Bank=0. Keep this value at 0.
• Heading=X. Edit as desired.
• All the following values should be set to zero: PVelBodyAxis, BVelBodyAxis, HVelBodyAxis, XVelBodyAxis, YVelBodyAxis.
• ZVelBodyAxis=X. For ships that are moving at 25 knots, I use a value between 15 and 20. For ships that are moving at 20 knots, I use a value between 10 and 15.
• SimOnGround=False. This is important, because it will normally be set to true when saving a new flight. Change this setting to False.
• OnPlatformHeight=X. This should be just a foot or two below your starting altitude, right at deck height.
• Now scroll down until you see a section, or several sections, called [Engine Parameters]. We will set the engines to off.
• Set 0 values to the first four parameters. These are ThrottleLeverPct, PropellerLeverPct, MixtureLeverPct and Pct Engine RPM. Set all to 0. If your aircraft has more than one engine, you will need to do this for all engines.
You may now fire up Flight Simulator X or Prepar3D and select your modified flight/scenario. The aircraft you selected should now appear on deck with engines off.
If you wish to create your own flight from scratch, then the process would be the same. It is simply a matter of landing the aircraft on deck first or otherwise placing the aircraft on deck in the desired position.