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Bellanca Super Viking
- Thread starter lionheart
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Many thanks for the kinds words.
On this plane, and a couple of planes before this one, I started cutting out panels and doors with edge space. They arent air tight, but have a gap. Same for ailerons and flaps. Everything is cut-out with an edge gap. Makes it more realistic. Same for the cowling lines. Also makes it easier to put panels into other texture sheets if you need to break up the polygon counts on materials.
On this plane, and a couple of planes before this one, I started cutting out panels and doors with edge space. They arent air tight, but have a gap. Same for ailerons and flaps. Everything is cut-out with an edge gap. Makes it more realistic. Same for the cowling lines. Also makes it easier to put panels into other texture sheets if you need to break up the polygon counts on materials.
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I launched my Baby several days ago. You can see screenshots of it here;
A lot of work... wheww....
Would be nice to figure out how to get her into X-Plane 11.
A lot of work... wheww....
Would be nice to figure out how to get her into X-Plane 11.
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Happy to help/point you in the right direction with that.
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Many thanks. I would be grateful for the help. I had started the XP11 SDK (learning it) months ago, stopped to finish the Viking. I am using the Diamond DA40. I have the aerodynamics model done for the Diamond. Now I am working on getting the model imported over to the XP. I am using Dino's PDF tutorial.
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Well Bill, I am seriously impressed with the looks of this gem, so I've decided to buy it! Now after seeing ALL your aircraft in the process of making this purchase, you have me hooked! I have yet to install this one, but if it handles as well as it looks, I will definitely be purchasing more of your aircraft. Next on my list is your Proton Stingrey. It looks crazy cool to fly!
Thanks for an amazing piece of art. I Will let you all know how she handles.
Update: Well after launching the aircraft at 1S0 (now KPLU). I spent an enormous amount of time looking over the 2 & 3D panels... Gorgeous!
I did however discover a couple issues.
First issue: Bendix/King com knob functions but animation doesn't work - not sure if this was suppose to be animated
Second issue: When fuel control dial is set to Both the simulator gives me a warning message about fuel level in selected tank is critically low, press control-x to refuel. Yet the fuel gauge appears to read Full for both tanks. If I switch it to Left, it stops with the warning message.
Third issue and IMO the most critical is the flight dynamics.. The plane never trims out correctly. I constantly have to hold back pressure on my Joystick (Logitech Extreme 3D Pro) to maintain some resemblance of straight and level flight. What I end up experiencing is similar to a small boat in rough stormy seas... Up, down, up, down.
The power the little plane has is quite impressive though. To me it feels 1/2 as more powerful than the Mooney Bravo. I do realize that this is a v1.0 release and I am hoping that as time allows and possible updates are released for it, that it will become a smooth, easy flying craft. I am still pleased with the purchase. The design aspect and looks alone are well worth it's price point, imo.
~WEB~
Thanks for an amazing piece of art. I Will let you all know how she handles.
Update: Well after launching the aircraft at 1S0 (now KPLU). I spent an enormous amount of time looking over the 2 & 3D panels... Gorgeous!
I did however discover a couple issues.
First issue: Bendix/King com knob functions but animation doesn't work - not sure if this was suppose to be animated
Second issue: When fuel control dial is set to Both the simulator gives me a warning message about fuel level in selected tank is critically low, press control-x to refuel. Yet the fuel gauge appears to read Full for both tanks. If I switch it to Left, it stops with the warning message.
Third issue and IMO the most critical is the flight dynamics.. The plane never trims out correctly. I constantly have to hold back pressure on my Joystick (Logitech Extreme 3D Pro) to maintain some resemblance of straight and level flight. What I end up experiencing is similar to a small boat in rough stormy seas... Up, down, up, down.
The power the little plane has is quite impressive though. To me it feels 1/2 as more powerful than the Mooney Bravo. I do realize that this is a v1.0 release and I am hoping that as time allows and possible updates are released for it, that it will become a smooth, easy flying craft. I am still pleased with the purchase. The design aspect and looks alone are well worth it's price point, imo.
~WEB~
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What version of Blender are you using? There's also a fantastic couple of YT series that takes you through the process but I'm not sure how much you know of the process. Dino's PDF is pretty awesome too.
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I am using 3ds Max to model and export from. I am presently using the StepToSky SDK system to export with.
Got my Diamond DA40 fuselage into XP11 last night. Found out my aerodynamics model is terribly out of scale. I dont know what I did wrong. I had a heck of a time with the background bitmaps. If only I could use a model to make the fuselage with. That would go faster I think then the goofy background photos. Getting them aligned and scaled correctly was like so difficult..
Got my Diamond DA40 fuselage into XP11 last night. Found out my aerodynamics model is terribly out of scale. I dont know what I did wrong. I had a heck of a time with the background bitmaps. If only I could use a model to make the fuselage with. That would go faster I think then the goofy background photos. Getting them aligned and scaled correctly was like so difficult..
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You certainly can use the 3D asset as a guide. It's what I've done with the aircraft I'm converting. Get the fuse, wings and landing gear exported and attached in Misc Objects. Then (unfortunately) its a case of going back and forth between the fuselage modeling and the preview. Thankfully when doing the wings you still see the attached 3D assets so it makes that a lot easier, it's just the main body editing that's a right pain.
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Hello Web,
I'll answer these in order;
* Bendix King knob rotates fine in the VC in FSX and in P3D V4. No issue found. The knob will not rotate in 2D mode.
* Fuel selector operated fine. No issue could be found in both FSX and P3D.
A suggestion. Some people have various flight addon softwares like co-pilot programs and things that 'manage' or 'flag' things in the cockpit. Perhaps you have something like this and its messing with your fuel? Perhaps you saved a odd 'cold and dark' flight with a particular plane which didnt have an AUX or Center Main tank and when you booted up in your sim, you selected and loaded the Viking and it didnt fuel the main tank or AUX tank so you had no fuel in there due to your saved file setting.
* Please do not compare handling of a Viking to a Mooney. The Viking is a lighter, faster plane with a non-metal airframe. So vastly differently.. You are comparing a Lamborghini to a Ferrari or Corvette to a Maserati. Each handle different. Some planes to not trim well, some do. Some fly much slower or sluggish due to weight. Some do not. The Viking will need moderate trim attention because of speed ranges. Faster, more lift. Its not a Cessna 172 with a speed range of 100 to 110 knots. We are talking speed ranges of 120 knots to 200 knots. There is a lot of trim needed in that amount of speed range. She also will be more subtle or sensitive to up/down or pitch movements because the tail isnt as long as some planes, so pitch will be 'more sensitive' then longer planes. If you check the aircrafts trim tab, its massive. 1/4 to 1/3rd the size of the left elevator. Massive... That tells you it needs lots of trim.
I wouldnt compare the Viking to another plane and say 'it should do this' or 'it should do that', unless you truly believe it should. Read up on it, find out what others say about it in the real world. And if you still think my work is off, then try making an airfile that you think would better represent this high performance beauty. You could backup the Vikings airfile set and copy in the Mooney airfile set, set it up as an adaptation, and take it out and fly it and see if you think its ok flying like a Mooney.
The dials all worked fine. Fuel selector worked fine. And I personally love how she flies. Yes, she is tempermental with trim. Constant attention to needing a tap or two on trim. But when you begin to nose up, your speed changes, and so lift changes. If you nose down a bit, speed increases, trim will need adjustment again. We are talking radically high speeds for a four seater plane.
Lastly... Why arent you using that amazing autopilot that Spokes coded! My goodness man, that thing is AWESOME!
I took video of the switches in both simulators and will post these as soon as possible to show you they are working fine.
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Hey Bill,
I am not familiar with any Bellanca aircrafts. Until your aircraft, I didn't even know they existed. So I apologize if I offended you, when I compared the power of it to the Mooney. As for the fuel selector knob, I am aware that it animates, my issue was with the message about critically low fuel when it was set it to Both, but fine when it's set to the left tank. I will look into some of the add-on aircraft I have installed to see if one of them could have altered a file that would have an affect on the Viking. Since I do not use any add-ons that manage anything. I have only add-on scenery, such as airports or afcad / mesh updates, and several freeware aircraft. I do not have any saved flights at this time, and my default is the out-of-box default of Friday Harbor. As for the nose up and down issue when using throttle, it may just be my inexperience with the Viking and how it responds with acceleration (throttle) and Trim. I just assumed it would respond similarly to other prop planes. Consider this a valuable lesson for me to remember when I'm trying out unfamiliar planes. I will double-check the animation of the com knob and make certain I was in VC when testing it. I might have been in the 2D cockpit at the time. And never in my OP did I say your plane should "do this or do that" I only stated how impressed I was with it's power, and I was having an issue with the pitch sensitivity. I might just need a lot more time in it to get a true understanding of how the aircraft should be handled, and not how I "think" or expect it to handle, based on my experience with the other prop planes I fly regularly, Such as the Mooney, Cessna 172, and Piper arrows and cubs.
As for Spokes AP, I need to read up on it. It does not look like any AP I'm familiar with in the aircraft I fly in FSX. They are pretty much all like what's in the Cessna. After getting frustrated with the pitch issue, I felt there was no sense in me testing any further.
I appreciate you getting back to me on the experience I had with your aircraft. But as for my past eagerness to be willing to make further purchases of your work, based on my experience with how you come off to a "customer" who pays out their hard earn money to buy what they initially, and still do believe it to be a work of art in appearance, and possibly functionality after I'm more experienced with it. Whom was only looking to praise your work, and voice their technical issues with the product you are commercially selling.
Anyways, thanks again for responding... Have yourself a nice day Bill.
~WEB~
I am not familiar with any Bellanca aircrafts. Until your aircraft, I didn't even know they existed. So I apologize if I offended you, when I compared the power of it to the Mooney. As for the fuel selector knob, I am aware that it animates, my issue was with the message about critically low fuel when it was set it to Both, but fine when it's set to the left tank. I will look into some of the add-on aircraft I have installed to see if one of them could have altered a file that would have an affect on the Viking. Since I do not use any add-ons that manage anything. I have only add-on scenery, such as airports or afcad / mesh updates, and several freeware aircraft. I do not have any saved flights at this time, and my default is the out-of-box default of Friday Harbor. As for the nose up and down issue when using throttle, it may just be my inexperience with the Viking and how it responds with acceleration (throttle) and Trim. I just assumed it would respond similarly to other prop planes. Consider this a valuable lesson for me to remember when I'm trying out unfamiliar planes. I will double-check the animation of the com knob and make certain I was in VC when testing it. I might have been in the 2D cockpit at the time. And never in my OP did I say your plane should "do this or do that" I only stated how impressed I was with it's power, and I was having an issue with the pitch sensitivity. I might just need a lot more time in it to get a true understanding of how the aircraft should be handled, and not how I "think" or expect it to handle, based on my experience with the other prop planes I fly regularly, Such as the Mooney, Cessna 172, and Piper arrows and cubs.
As for Spokes AP, I need to read up on it. It does not look like any AP I'm familiar with in the aircraft I fly in FSX. They are pretty much all like what's in the Cessna. After getting frustrated with the pitch issue, I felt there was no sense in me testing any further.
I appreciate you getting back to me on the experience I had with your aircraft. But as for my past eagerness to be willing to make further purchases of your work, based on my experience with how you come off to a "customer" who pays out their hard earn money to buy what they initially, and still do believe it to be a work of art in appearance, and possibly functionality after I'm more experienced with it. Whom was only looking to praise your work, and voice their technical issues with the product you are commercially selling.
Anyways, thanks again for responding... Have yourself a nice day Bill.
~WEB~