Practice tools

[Keith Black]

Wow Jeff, thanks for the ideas on how to how use G2 for pattern.

I'd be interested in getting a copy of your airport file.

At one point I started to build an airport that had lines (poles or whatever
objects were available) suspended in mid-air at different critical points
(end of box, center, 45 degree angles, perfect circles, etc.) to help me
visualize the field and to help me visualize correct geometry.  However it
wasn't all that easy to edit the airport and I didn't have the time to spend
on it so I abandoned the idea. It may be worth trying again sometime.

If your interested I have a couple of different airplane files that fly
pretty close to a real pattern plane, however they do require add-ons.

Let me know if you'd like to do some file swapping. I really haven't used G2
much at all over the last year or so, it would be great to pool together
tools and files from members of this list to make it more useful for anyone
interested.

Personally G2 has been helpful for 1) memorizing the patterns, 2) getting
the fingering down for slow and point rolls, and 3) learning inverted
rudder. Outside of that it's not been too helpful because you can't
visualize where the plane is due to frame of reference (maybe your ideas
will help) and because the planes don't behave exactly like the real plane
I'm flying. Therefore, even though I can practice stick direction for rolls,
etc. I can't train on amount and timing of the stick movements.

Keith

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff H. Snider" <jeff at snider.com>
To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 8:47 PM
Subject: Re: Practice tools


> John Pavlick writes:
> > Anthony,
> >  I haven't had much luck with any of the sims (although I haven't tried
the
> > Ikarus 3D sim), mostly because it's hard to duplicate pattern flying.
What I
> > mean is, the view ports don't really provide any good reference points
for
> > lines, etc. [...]
>
>
> I know it's really hard to use any of the RC flight simulators to
> practice pattern flying.  I have spent a great deal of time working
> out what I think is a pretty good way to do just that using RealFlight
> G2, with none of the add-ons.
>
> Everything you're about to read here, and all the associated files
> and some photos, you can find at:
>
>  http://snider.com/jeff/RealFlight/
>
> I created a field that is as simple as possible, just flat land, a
> backdrop for sky, an asphalt runway, and some markers in the sky
> showing where the box is.  That was the hard part: I used the red
> and white limbo streamers to draw the sides of the box, the center,
> the top, and a floor.  This is the key improvement over using one
> of the supplied flying fields.  It lets you know where you are in
> the box at all times.  You can download the field from that link
> above, and put it in your RealFlight Airports directory.  (In "My
> Computer", Local Disk C: or D: \ "Program Files" \ RealFlight \
> Airports.  How you installed RealFlight may vary.  If you're running
> RealFlight when you do this, you need to quit and restart to be
> able to load the new field.)
>
> Keeping the field simple helps keep the frame rate high, which for
> me is a key element in feeling like I'm controlling a real plane
> and not just playing a lame computer game.  Also running the simulator
> full-screen, not in a window, really helps (the tab key changes
> back and forth between the two modes).
>
> I added a few other features to the field which I don't use very much:
> a backstop at 175m, and some markers for various maneuvers.  Turn them
> off (or on) with Alt, P for airport, V for item visibility.  The key
> ones are Runway and Box.  Everything else is optional or just plain
> distracting.
>
> I always fly with the main view in "look at ground" mode, and with
> a second view window open in "binocular view".
>
> To do the first, hit Alt, then V for view, then G for "look at
> ground".  This gives you a constant frame of reference for where
> your plane is relative to the runway.  This is another big key to
> flying pattern in a simulator.  It can make the plane impossibly
> small in the main view, which is why I also use the binocular view.
>
> For the binocular view, hit Alt, then V for view, then A for "create
> new view".  When that window appears, click the little red ball in
> the upper left corner to go to its options.  Click the tab "Viewport"
> and select "Binocular View", and click OK to finish.  I keep this
> window in the upper left of the main view, and the default size is
> pretty good.  After it's set up, if you click on the main view the
> green border of the binocular view window will go away leaving just a
> constant-size plane in that corner.
>
> The next step is setting up the Advanced Navguides window to show
> you important information that you can't otherwise get through a
> computer screen.  The one most essential datum is the plane's
> distance from the desired flightline.  In my "Pattern Land" field,
> the pilot is at X,Y coords 0,0, looking in the direction of positive
> X.  I set all my measurements to Metric so I can use meters: Alt
> then O for options, then M for miscellaneous, and select Metric.
> This makes everything in RealFlight turn metric, which can be
> irritating at times.  If you want to use feet instead just multiply
> meters by 3.28 to get feet.
>
> Bring up the Advanced Navguides window by hitting 0 (zero).  Then
> click on the little red ball in its upper left corner.  This takes
> you to a list of things you may want to have the window show.  You
> can select what you like, like altitude, airspeed, stick position,
> wind speed, and a lot of other things.  The one I think is most
> important is "Aircraft: X position of Aircraft".  Scroll down and
> select that one so it is highlighted and a check is in the box.  At
> the bottom of the window you see Color, Font Size, and two check
> boxes.  I make the font size 24.  Bigger is better here for ease
> of visibility.  Make the Color red by clicking the color box (starts
> out white) and clicking the reddest red you can find (upper left).
> Select "Change color when value is between" and put in 125 and 175
> (if you've not set RealFlight to be metric, multiply that by 3.28
> to get feet).  Finally, make the color box to the right of that
> white (it starts out yellow).
>
> What this does is shows your aircraft's distance from the geometrical
> plane the pilot is standing in, parallel to the flightline.  When
> the distance is within 25m of 150m, the font is white.  When you
> get too far out or too far in, it turns red, letting you know you're
> not where you ought to be.
>
> Other things I think are good to put in the Advanced Navguides are:
> plane heading; the direction the pilot is looking (turns yellow
> when the plane is outside the box, 30-150 degrees); and plane
> altitude (turns yellow when the plane is below 45m or above 300m).
> I also put in fuel remaining, distance to airplane, wind information,
> and frames per second of the view (turns red below 30fps).  The
> last one is good to reference so you can tune your graphics level
> up and down to get near 60fps.  Alt, O for options, G for graphics
> options.  Those of you with fast computers can turn everything up
> to the max.  Slower computers require compromises.  My $800 laptop
> can run this field with all the graphics options at the max at near
> 60fps except when the plane is very large in the view.  (Some people
> will tell you anything over 24fps is unnecessary.  I like to err
> on the generous side since I can.)
>
> I created a 2m version of the UltraSport and put a modified engine
> in it that runs more or less like the 140DZ.  Install it by saving
> the .pln file from that link at the top to your RealFlight \ Planes
> directory.  This plane flies somewhat like how my Focus flies, close
> enough to practice the basics.  But don't imagine practicing this
> way will get you "tuned in" to your plane the way actually burning
> fuel does.  It's like flying a friend's plane with his transmitter
> and no mixes.  You could use your own transmitter and the RealFlight
> cable, so you'd get all the features, switches, and stick feel of
> your favorite transmitter, but I don't do that right now.  You could
> even take the logical step of putting your monitor up high and
> standing in front of it with your neckstrap when you practice, just
> like you'd do at the field.  If you're recreating the flying
> experience, why sacrifice that simple detail?
>
> I hope this makes sense to those of you who want to try it out.
> I'm happy to answer questions and modify the way I'm practicing based
> on your good feedback.
>
>  - Jeff Snider
>  - jeff at snider.com
>  - Northern VA, NSRCA D2
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