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Post by jhefner on Jun 12, 2008 11:53:47 GMT -5
(All screenshots in FS8  )The T 28 was a fighter prototype produced around 1915 with the main purpose of obtaining more speed, apparently by means of reducing everything around the engine. Due to a series of considerations, and in spite of being successful in achieving its goal, it was never launched into production.  Of course, maybe the "face" in front was one of the considerations...  The poorer-than-usual visibility to the front, and a higher landing speed than normal were others:  I've decided to follow the lead of others, and revise both the FLOH and the Goupil-Duck panels to use the gauges from the Sopwith Camel. I will also provide a 2-D cockpit for the FLOH; based once again on the Camel. The exterior texturing is also tentative. It is a very "hot" plane to land, and requires a fairly long strip to take off as well. It is also a very snappy plane in the air. -James Hefner Hebrews 10:20a
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Post by Kofi on Jun 13, 2008 11:40:19 GMT -5
Cute
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Post by jhefner on Jun 16, 2008 12:11:05 GMT -5
We have a man of uncommon valor in our midst. Slide has bravely (foolishly?) agreed to test fly my FLOH; here is his flight test results from his flight at the Old Rhinebeck; which look great  : drahtundklebeband.de/fs/flohtest/flohtest.htmlI appreciate him taking the time to do so, and to put together this review, complete with screenshots. I knew the texturing needed some work; but I was afraid my efforts would not work at all in FS2004. I took the Sopwith Camel up for spin this weekend, then took a look under the hood at the aircraft.cfg and .air files. I used the knowledge I gained to refine my Curtiss Goupil-Duck; I will drag the FLOH back into the hanger, and do the same for it, now that I know it is not a hopeless cause.  One thing I am learning is that while Jerry Beckwith's spreadsheet help to get most of the .air file settings in the ballpark; they are not perfect, and some (like the radio and brake settings) may not be correct at all. Looking at the Camel's settings and others is helping me to refine them from this point. Regarding Slide's comments about the color and the wing-fuselage interface; based on what I have found online; I think they are correct:     And yes, the visibility IS bad. I had read that it was; and decided to try building it to see for myself. The actual test pilots and Slide deserve the Iron Cross just for test flying it.  Thanks again Slide, for your test flight and the constructive criticism; I hope you hands have stopped shaking; and you still have beer and cigarettes left to test fly the Curtiss Goupil-Duck. -James |
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Post by Slide on Jun 18, 2008 3:45:30 GMT -5
;D That was fun, James! Just received your updated version which is nice, as plane No 1. now is definitely smashed. Day 2. Bringing in the beer, a dozen of fresh, unscratched lower wings and some fuel.  Vladimir Zhyhulskiy made an update for his "Anna", by the time I am trying to fit together the better parts of both. Rolling out I realize three free floating lights around the plane. I quit this encounter by pressing "L".   Please notice there is a slight cover of dust and unsorted dirt from day 1. Gives some better contrast here and there, especially with that upper wing-thing. Today I reduce my weight to zero. (Cool, the women would love that!) That´ll help to bring it up.  No way, this one goes right into the wilderness - ouuh, nothing more than a jump over the fence again...  ...jumping out...  ...and off she goes!  Kaputt. Looking forward to the new one  |
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Post by jhefner on Jun 23, 2008 12:01:33 GMT -5
After Slide's test flights at Old Rhimebeck, the Floh's remains were hauled back to it's home base at Cleburne, Texas. Someone here in the area owns an ANT-2 (there is also one in my "virtual hanger"), but the Floh would not fit, so the local ANG agreed to use one of their C-130's to bring it home as a training exercise.  A pair of feet and a variety of noises come from the cockpit of the Floh, as I remove the brakes, radios, and free floating lights, and install a "nightlight" for Slide.  Next, it made a trip to the paint shop. Both Slide and FelixR convinced me that the kit whose images I used were not correct; and that the Floh was white. Since that color reminded me of the institutional green in the cafateria and bathrooms of my old school; I was all too happy to get rid of it.  As it was; the original paint was water based; there for the test flights only.  While Slide has been banging it up at Old Rhinebeck, I have been worked at home on it's flight dynamics. I accidently had the engine derated, and increased it from 100 HP to 180 HP. I increased the moments of inertia, and moved the center of gravity back a fraction of a foot. It now takes off well, but can be hard to taxi still and to land.  I then took it up in the evening for a test flight to Fort Worth, to see how the latest settings were working, and a test of Slide's night light. As I flew over Fort Worth's downtown area, I could hear over the noise of the engine the cry of the people below: "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a flying fat flea!!!"  As I turned it to bring it into the right position to take this shot, the plane broke into a rocking motion from side to side. It was like a Dutch Roll, but without the nose moving from side to side. I have never experienced this before in FS; perhaps because I have not taken it above 5,000 feet before. Neither the rudder nor ailerons would work; so this will take some test flying to figure it out. |
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Post by Slide on Jun 24, 2008 12:33:10 GMT -5
LOOL - good to see you working (those feet are looking great!) and it´s nice to have the Floh in white now.
Looking forward very much to the next flights.
I am in a rush these days (real life), so I´ll contact you a.s.a.p. about the Duck....
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Post by jhefner on Jun 17, 2011 12:24:48 GMT -5
Folks; I decided not to release my little Flea when Randy (baronvonblutwurst) released his fine payware one. It is a very nice model at an affordable price, and I did not want to detract from his sales. So, I pushed the Floh into the back of the hanger and forgot about it. Then came the lose of the hard drives of both computers at home within weeks of each other, and the replacement of my machine at work that had all of my modeling tools on it. Since then, I have managed to restore or rebuild everything I had; except the Floh. I am using CFS2 in addition to FS8/FS9; and it was pointed out that the Floh will probably be perfect for those engaging in WWI combat in the simulator. So, I reached out to Slide.... ...and he came through!  The files he sent me look complete; thank you very much Slide for being the keeper of the Floh through my computer woes. I have already passed the files on to someone who offered to make the changes so it will work in CFS2. Thanks once again to the fine folks here at the Old Hanger for helping me out in my time of need. -James |
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Post by hurricane91 on Jun 17, 2011 21:16:23 GMT -5
;D That was fun, James! ...jumping out... LOL. Well, the chickens are flying. Fun indeed! Great stuff Slide. James aircraft are certainly interesting, and great fun! Thanks for that series, priceless. I gotta tell you, you guys made my day. |
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Post by jhefner on Jun 20, 2011 19:13:11 GMT -5
LOL. Well, the chickens are flying. Fun indeed! Great stuff Slide. James aircraft are certainly interesting, and great fun! Thanks for that series, priceless. I gotta tell you, you guys made my day. Thanks. Bill Lyons, Mike Stone, and so many other freeware and payware authors have done such a good job of covering the Flight Simulator scene that I found myself wandering off on backroads thinking "I wonder...", and trying out various things to see if they work, or various planes to see what it would have been like to sit in the cockpit of them (such as the Early Steam series here.) If others enjoy the fruits of my work -- that is even better. Thanks to Slide, the Floh is back home, with the Early Fairchild Series in the background. Bookman here on TOH gave me the idea to build those, my most serious efforts to date; and still a lot of fun to fly around and just enjoy the scenery.  Off we go, enjoying a face only a mother could love on a lovely day. Slide not only returned my Flea to me; he returned it with a nicely weathered finish; it looks much better than the original starched white finish it flew to his hanger with. Thank you very much, Slide!  Time to land. Ugh; I forgot how hard it is to land the Floh; one of the main reasons it wasn't built. I had to resort to spot plane view and gradually stalling it down on the ground; otherwise I would roll onto my nose and cartwheel away.  A wave of the wand, a conversion with MDLC of the model file, and a changeout of the sound files, and the Floh makes the jump to CFS2:  She handles and flies the same in CFS2 as in FS2002 and FS2004; a nice surprise. I added the damage and weapons files from this Newport 24, and we are ready for combat, most likely being shot at than doing the shooting. But the Floh makes for a nimble and fast enemy, and it was I that got shot down that day, and not the Floh.  But you know what is the best feature of flying the Floh in CFS2? Rather than risk rolling yourself into a ball of fabric and wood, you can just bale out! Of course, you have to explain to your commanding officer why you bailed out of a perfectly good airplane....  Slide, the CFS2 gang over at the Sim Outhouse says "thanks for giving us fleas." ;D They are talking of painting it the lozenge, Red Baron Red, and other schemes; if they do, I will pass the new textures on to you as my thanks. -James |
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Post by Slide on Jun 21, 2011 13:22:26 GMT -5
You´re welcome Hurricane! I had already forgotten the old post. Hi James, glad it´s all there and you and the guys over at the outhouse have fun with it. I´d love to have the new textures, it´s definitely time to dust off the little thing. Many thanks James, for the plane and for being so kind!
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Post by jhefner on Jul 18, 2011 11:39:25 GMT -5
Well, the Floh has flown on to it's new home in CFS2 this past weekend; and Slide has his new textures as our thanks for saving the Floh for us. I took it for a spin in FSX. The gauges from the FS2002 Sopwith Camel don't work, so it has a blank panel; but it otherwise flew just fine, and fit in with the photo scenery. I understand why some folks have trouble going back to FS9 once you get a taste of FSx; especially when I was flying over Joe Pool lake and saw hawks or eagles riding the thermals underneath me.  It certainly lives up to Microsoft's slogan "As real as it gets;" at least until Flight comes out. Compare and contrast with the FS2002 screens at the beginning, and the FS9 screenshots in the middle.  -James |
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Post by Bookman on Jul 27, 2011 17:55:46 GMT -5
Can someone tell where this video was filmed?
I'd like to check it!
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Post by Slide on Jul 28, 2011 2:18:35 GMT -5
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)
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As it was; the original paint was water based; there for the test flights only. 
The files he sent me look complete; thank you very much Slide for being the keeper of the Floh through my computer woes. I have already passed the files on to someone who offered to make the changes so it will work in CFS2.
