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P3D v4 AirWizEd

Draken

Draken

Messages
118
Hello,
willing to purchase AirWizEd, but unable to find where?
Already wrote to the author, no reply.
Any suggestion?

Sergio
 
Probably something F1 bundled to sweeten the pot. They're similar, but different and AWE is not unique enough to sell on it's own merits.
 
I have AirWizEd and used it extensively to confirm performance specifications in FSXA and P3D. You could set up a flight situation and get instant answers, much quicker than flight test and more accurate. It is/was the best program for that purpose. These days when I call it up it does not work because I do not have an activation key for my current PC. To get one I am supposed to contact AirWrench at mudpond.org. That site just has one page where you can download the original Flight Dynamics Workbook which AirWrench etc were based on. Without a key AirWizEd is useless.
AirWrench is different. It generates a set of coordinates depending on the type of aircraft you wish to emulate and its dimensions. In some ways it worked like MSFS does today.
Both programs were developed by Jerry Beckwith and I do not know if he is still with us.
Roy
 
Roy,
as usual you are a great support.
I wrote several times to Jerry, but I didn't get reply.
Maybe he is off for holidays.
I'll keep you informed.
Thanks!

Sergio
 
Ok! Here is a screenshot of both softwares side by side. To me, they look nearly identical. AirWrench has "Tuning" and "Air Foils" categories, that AWE lacks. This is the "lack of uniqueness," I'd been referring to. I don't see that AWE does anything, significant, beyond accessing a few more variables, that AirWrench cannot do. Not claiming to be the AIR file expert, but with both softwares open...

side by side.jpg


Here is a view of the "Engines" section. Again, nearly identical imo. It looks like AWE could be a previous build of AirWrench, because it lacks a Prop Reverse button, although it has adjustable values related to prop reversing. I would like to learn about how to "generate a set of coordinates depending on the type of aircraft you wish to emulate and its dimensions," if you could elaborate on that, it would be awesome.

engine section.jpg
 
I didn't think I'd needed to inform I'd done so! The only mention of AirWizEd, whatsoever and kind of coincidentally, is in regards to Appendix Updates and the prop reverser function:
Version 1.02
Program logic used to set the idle speed in the AIR file has been modified, new parameter added on piston tab
to fine tune idle speed.
The prop reverse check boxes piston and turboprop tabs replaced with a prop reverse user interface that
includes aircraft configuration file parameters required for prop reverse.
AirWizEd v002 updated concurrently to add aircraft configuration file parameters required to set up prop
reverse.
Click to expand...
As to "generated coordinates," I found nothing, sadly, there was no return for the term "coordinates" and the only thing I could find that seemed remotely similar, was this section that describes the functionality of a panel that is common to both softwares. Considering you'd had the experience of working with both, side by side, you obviously believed something was significant but as you suggest, MSFS tends to eclipse any significance.

balance.jpg
 
Interesting discussion, thanks.
I share the point about documentation.
Often a software can have awesome features that are very poorly explained.
It seems that something remains in the "pen" of the designer....
So much time spent in creating powerful tools that risks to be wasted because the end user even doesn't know about or misuse them.
I personally think it is really a pity!
 
The two programs are similar in construction, but can differ in intent and function.

"AirWrench is a user-friendly software tool for creating flight dynamics for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
AirWrench is not a traditional air file editor – it compiles a complete ‘air’ file, the binary file of aerodynamic
coefficients, used by the Microsoft Flight Simulator using the physical dimensions and performance
specifications of the real aircraft."

"AirWizEd is a flight dynamics development system for MSFS that allows developers to edit MSFS flight
dynamics files in detail, while simultaneously analyzing the flight dynamics in terms of real-world aircraft
performance. When requested, it can also compute the flight dynamics coefficients required to solve aircraft
performance problems including aircraft speed, climb rate, turn rate, and roll rate specifications."


AirWrench takes the dimensions etc of the airplane and constructs an air file and an aircraft.cfg file. If the user is unhappy about a particular coefficient value he can not easily change it using AirWrench. All its jet engine tables were inaccurate.

AirWiz will only assign values to coefficients if requested and usually it is the user who assigns values and constructs the tables etc.

Having said that, there were some changes in the airfile over time that neither program addressed very well so I used to make the final changes to coefficients manually and compile the air file using neither of them.

The main advantage of AirWiz was that you the user could make fine tuning alterations due to things like transonic Mach drag where you were able to bunch the Mach values together where you wanted a fine control over the rate of drag rise. Airwrench forced you into neat subsonic solutions and did not have a mechanism for constructing accurate jet engine tables. AirWiz was for developers who had complicated unconventional airplanes to model for the sim. For example, in FSXA and P3D you can only have one value for wing sweep. I developed the SimSkunkWorks Tornado which has 3 wing sweep angles which gave 3 quite different aerodynamic characteristics. I could never have done it with AirWrench but I did with AirWiz. The IndiaFoxTecho Typhoon presented difficulties in matching take-off run distances with approach speed values. This airplane has a very low wing with considerable ground effect lift, which shortened the take-off roll. There is an air file table for this which I modified to solve the problem. AirWrench would not have done that. It also does not generate FSXA air files without subsequent editing in a different program. AirWiz allowed manual editing to create FSXA files.
Incidentally, Jerry used "MSFS" throughout his work to describe the simulators from about FS9 onwards up to FSX. MSFS in those documents has no relationship with the current MSFS.

Roy
 
See, this is the kind of information, if not recorded here, could be lost forever.
 
=rk= said:
I didn't think I'd needed to inform I'd done so! The only mention of AirWizEd, whatsoever and kind of coincidentally, is in regards to Appendix Updates and the prop reverser function:

As to "generated coordinates," I found nothing, sadly, there was no return for the term "coordinates" and the only thing I could find that seemed remotely similar, was this section that describes the functionality of a panel that is common to both softwares. Considering you'd had the experience of working with both, side by side, you obviously believed something was significant but as you suggest, MSFS tends to eclipse any significance.

View attachment 83545
Click to expand...

Roy Holmes said:
The two programs are similar in construction, but can differ in intent and function.

"AirWrench is a user-friendly software tool for creating flight dynamics for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
AirWrench is not a traditional air file editor – it compiles a complete ‘air’ file, the binary file of aerodynamic
coefficients, used by the Microsoft Flight Simulator using the physical dimensions and performance
specifications of the real aircraft."

"AirWizEd is a flight dynamics development system for MSFS that allows developers to edit MSFS flight
dynamics files in detail, while simultaneously analyzing the flight dynamics in terms of real-world aircraft
performance. When requested, it can also compute the flight dynamics coefficients required to solve aircraft
performance problems including aircraft speed, climb rate, turn rate, and roll rate specifications."


AirWrench takes the dimensions etc of the airplane and constructs an air file and an aircraft.cfg file. If the user is unhappy about a particular coefficient value he can not easily change it using AirWrench. All its jet engine tables were inaccurate.

AirWiz will only assign values to coefficients if requested and usually it is the user who assigns values and constructs the tables etc.

Having said that, there were some changes in the airfile over time that neither program addressed very well so I used to make the final changes to coefficients manually and compile the air file using neither of them.

The main advantage of AirWiz was that you the user could make fine tuning alterations due to things like transonic Mach drag where you were able to bunch the Mach values together where you wanted a fine control over the rate of drag rise. Airwrench forced you into neat subsonic solutions and did not have a mechanism for constructing accurate jet engine tables. AirWiz was for developers who had complicated unconventional airplanes to model for the sim. For example, in FSXA and P3D you can only have one value for wing sweep. I developed the SimSkunkWorks Tornado which has 3 wing sweep angles which gave 3 quite different aerodynamic characteristics. I could never have done it with AirWrench but I did with AirWiz. The IndiaFoxTecho Typhoon presented difficulties in matching take-off run distances with approach speed values. This airplane has a very low wing with considerable ground effect lift, which shortened the take-off roll. There is an air file table for this which I modified to solve the problem. AirWrench would not have done that. It also does not generate FSXA air files without subsequent editing in a different program. AirWiz allowed manual editing to create FSXA files.
Incidentally, Jerry used "MSFS" throughout his work to describe the simulators from about FS9 onwards up to FSX. MSFS in those documents has no relationship with the current MSFS.

Roy
Click to expand...
Roy,
now I have a better understanding of the differences between the two softwares.
They are "complementary".

1) what di you mean with FSXA?
2) to use them for P3D, there is something to setup in both the SW?
3) can they both (or one of the two) simulate speed vs altitude performance of the aircraft?

Thanks!

Sergio
 
FSXA was the last version of the series produced by MS. It had several changes which made it much better for jet fighter modeling. In particular it allowed Mach drag to be specified in terms of variably spaced Mach intervals which coped with he sharp gradients around Mach 1.0. I'm pretty sure that AirWrench does not have that though I know that AirWiz has the ability to select acceleration (FSXA)
You can probably open a P3D air file and .cfg file in them since they are the same as FSX ones, but I do not have a working copy to check that.
What you do for speed/alt is to set up a spreadsheet for that and run the software, entering the values you want and reading and recording the outputs. You can do the equivalent of an hour's test flight in five minutes and it is exact. It is important to also do a test flight just to confirm the results.
Roy
 
Roy Holmes said:
What you do for speed/alt is to set up a spreadsheet for that and run the software, entering the values you want and reading and recording the outputs. You can do the equivalent of an hour's test flight in five minutes and it is exact. It is important to also do a test flight just to confirm the results.
Click to expand...
So, in my understanding (since I haven't the SW yet to test by myself), with AirWizEd I can set somewhere the flight conditions in terms of throttle and altitude and read the matching speed?
Is it correct?

Sergio
 
Hello All,
I'm looking for a copy of AirWizEd but unfortunately it seems no more available.
Can you help me?
Thanks.
 
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