Aero Commander AC50A(HC)

[Milton Shupe]

The FSX conversion has gone well on this unit and will spend today testing and tweaking as required.

Decided to keep the interior original more like the production unit and to remain compatible with all the original liveries that have been produced for this aircraft.

I should have it out by the weekend.

The AC560A(HC) was a nice upgrade from the AC520, more powerful, faster, geared prop, and high compression engine.
One of the liveries included is from Jim Metzer's aircraft who was on the development team as a resource. I have pictures of his aircraft, a shining example of a basic 560A.

I am gonna ask Bendyflyer to check this one over since he had time in the Aero Commander series in the RW.

[ryapad]

Hey Milton, this might be a dumb question, but what are the advantages of converting an FS9 model to FSX native? I always here about how some FSX aircraft are native, but I don't really know what that means.

Thanks:wavey:

[Milton Shupe]

Hey Milton, this might be a dumb question, but what are the advantages of converting an FS9 model to FSX native? I always here about how some FSX aircraft are native, but I don't really know what that means.

Thanks:wavey:

The biggest exterior visual advantage is the FSX material capabilities for rendering textures of any kind in almost countless different ways. Glass, paint, and prop mesh do not have the visual issues of course that an FS9 port over will experience. FSX materials have a multitude of capabilities even beyond bump and specular maps.

I have taken advantage of but a few as I am not involving painters in the transitioning but I am making bump and spec magic available for anyone to take advantage of in this series.

Of course there are other capabilities available that can be incorporated for high quality modeling, lighting effects, special flight modeling features, sound development, and effects.

So, these conversions only make the aircraft more compliant with FSX and P3D to eliminate rendering issues.

[ToniJH]

Thanks Milton, looking good :) I have spend my time with 520 few days now flying around the Florida.:applause:

[expat]

Milton, I have also been flying around your new 520. I found another native FSX version of your 520 (folder dated 2015) in my hangar (not sure did that conversion on that) but your latest and greatest is a jewel. Thanks so much. One small request for any further work: if you can, make the nav lights pin point small so you almost can't see them at all by day. This it what Hiroshi did with the POSKY/TDS Boeing models and they actually look realistic by day but especially by night, rather than the default "fireballs." Now, back to flying the best freeware hand flyer around . .

[Roger]

Excuse my FsX bias, Milton but these native models are great to see, coming from the master, original designer:applause:

[Milton Shupe]

Milton, I have also been flying around your new 520. I found another native FSX version of your 520 (folder dated 2015) in my hangar (not sure did that conversion on that) but your latest and greatest is a jewel. Thanks so much. One small request for any further work: if you can, make the nav lights pin point small so you almost can't see them at all by day. This it what Hiroshi did with the POSKY/TDS Boeing models and they actually look realistic by day but especially by night, rather than the default "fireballs." Now, back to flying the best freeware hand flyer around . .

Hi Expat, the other AC520 conversion was done by euroastar350. TheFS9 version had a separate VC model that was at least partially overlooked and left the VC with some visual issues. As far as I know, he never got around to correcting that as he has been so busy with his projects.

The FSX native models use the default nav light effects so I assume they copied and altered those effects to make them smaller, or simply scrapped the the modeled lights but not sure how that would be different as the model calls the same effects that the cfg effects use. Have not done any testing of the comparison to see if the modeled anomalies exist with FSX cfg effects.

[Milton Shupe]

Excuse my FsX bias, Milton but these native models are great to see, coming from the master, original designer:applause:

Thank you Roger. There is nothing wrong with an FSX, P3D, or FS9 bias; whatever works best for one's hardware and past investment I reckon. :-)

The conversions are definitely busy work of a different kind since everything exists. It's like heads-down data entry, ranks of tedium and yet overwhelming lists of things to change and check. They are good "filler" projects and I have many to do. :-)

[Milton Shupe]

Just a heads-up: I have completed the AC560A(HC) FSX Native conversion and it is now available for download.

Thanks to BendyFlyer for his testing and insight.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php/105526-Aero-Commander-560A(HC)-FSX-Native

[RobH]

Thank you Milton! Looking forward to taking her up!

[ToniJH]

Thank you very much Milton :)

[BendyFlyer]

A very nice release and pretty well the genuine article. Well done Milton.

A small request if any one is up for it is to paint the 560 in the US Air Force Colours as per President Eisehowers personal transport (Air Force One). I know it was later changed for the 680 model but the initial Aero Commander used was the 560.

Heres a good picture:


http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=49578&stc=1

[PeteHam]

Thank you Milton, and others who have helped. :applause:

These Aero Commanders have always been favorites and must haves. :jump:

Pete.

[Milton Shupe]

I have just uploaded a minor correction to the package and noted it in the description.

If you have already downloaded it, you can simply install the attached model folder.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

The fix was for one prop blade animation that did not feather on the port engine.

See attached for the fix. Unzip and copy the new model folder to your ac560fsx folder replacing the existing.

The original archive was updated just prior to this post time.

[delta_lima]

Looks great Milton - can't wait to download when I'm back at home.

In all of these Commanders, is the NASA 801 70s era painted 500 model available? I really liked it FS9, and hope to enjoy it in FSX.

Either way, huge thanks!

DL

[Milton Shupe]

Looks great Milton - can't wait to download when I'm back at home.

In all of these Commanders, is the NASA 801 70s era painted 500 model available? I really liked it FS9, and hope to enjoy it in FSX.

Either way, huge thanks!

DL

DL, thank you, actually, I am working on that very aircraft for FSX native.

[delta_lima]

Great - thanks!

DL

[Chuck68]

Milton,
Thank you very much for all you have done for the hobby. I have been flying your commanders ever since you released the first one. At the age of 73, I still remember reading the adds for the commanders back in the mid 50's. Although I have been lucky to have friends with small airplanes, I never got to ride in a commander. You have brought them to life for me.

I have one question about the AC560A you just posted. When looking to the rear from the front seats the headliner seems to be hanging down as if it has come loose from the ceiling.
Is this just my copy, or something that needs to be looked at?
Thanks again,
Chuck68

[BendyFlyer]

Milton - thanks a lot for this version of the Aero Commander.

I was curious I am sure at some point I saw a screenshot of an FSX installation which showed a variety of your AeroCommanders in the select aircraft list and I may be wrong but I thought one was in US Air Force colours ala Air Force One as used by Eisenhower. Any ideas who might have done one? I have not found one on the www there are some others that may port across once I adjust the 2004 textures to work in FSX. Otherwise I guess I will have to have a go at repainting this myself, bugger, my one least favourite sim activity.

[expat]

Really enjoying this new model. Darkened the glass a bit. Thanks so much!

https://s17.postimg.org/qapg94j9r/ac560.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/ysywdgpsb/)image free hosting (https://postimage.io/)certificity.com (https://certificity.com)

[ToniJH]

If you want to make door sounds work in both Aero Commanders, go and open Aero sound folder sound.cfg and find these door text lines, remove all other text from door sound lines, and leave these lines into door sound lines:

[EXIT_OPEN]
filename=door_small_open

[EXIT_CLOSE]
filename=door_small_close

And i found issue, the luggage door not work, only i can hear the opening and closing sounds.

[Milton Shupe]

Milton,
Thank you very much for all you have done for the hobby. I have been flying your commanders ever since you released the first one. At the age of 73, I still remember reading the adds for the commanders back in the mid 50's. Although I have been lucky to have friends with small airplanes, I never got to ride in a commander. You have brought them to life for me.

I have one question about the AC560A you just posted. When looking to the rear from the front seats the headliner seems to be hanging down as if it has come loose from the ceiling.
Is this just my copy, or something that needs to be looked at?
Thanks again,
Chuck68

Chuck, that drop covers the wing spars. :-)

[Milton Shupe]

Milton - thanks a lot for this version of the Aero Commander.

I was curious I am sure at some point I saw a screenshot of an FSX installation which showed a variety of your AeroCommanders in the select aircraft list and I may be wrong but I thought one was in US Air Force colours ala Air Force One as used by Eisenhower. Any ideas who might have done one? I have not found one on the www there are some others that may port across once I adjust the 2004 textures to work in FSX. Otherwise I guess I will have to have a go at repainting this myself, bugger, my one least favourite sim activity.

The Air Force One (Eisenhower's aircraft) we did was the AC680S. It is next in line for conversion.

All the original paint schemes (for the original FS2002/2004 releases) will work on these conversions. There are over 100 of them on various sites. Com-Central has a large collection on their site but Simviation, Flightsim, and Avsim have many.

[Milton Shupe]

If you want to make door sounds work in both Aero Commanders, go and open Aero sound folder sound.cfg and find these door text lines, remove all other text from door sound lines, and leave these lines into door sound lines:

[EXIT_OPEN]
filename=door_small_open

[EXIT_CLOSE]
filename=door_small_close

And i found issue, the luggage door not work, only i can hear the opening and closing sounds.

I removed the animation and deleted the luggage compartment from the 520 and 560. Something about the luggage area was causing gmax to crash and I could not find the source of the issue. However, in the current AC500 version, the luggage door and compartment is back working fine.

[Milton Shupe]

Really enjoying this new model. Darkened the glass a bit. Thanks so much!

https://s17.postimg.org/qapg94j9r/ac560.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/ysywdgpsb/)image free hosting (https://postimage.io/)certificity.com (https://certificity.com)

That looks great expat; maybe others would enjoy your change should you wish to share it. :-)

[ToniJH]

I removed the animation and deleted the luggage compartment from the 520 and 560. Something about the luggage area was causing gmax to crash and I could not find the source of the issue. However, in the current AC500 version, the luggage door and compartment is back working fine.Oh, ok. No problem, i can still enjoy these planes fully :) Probably there is a conflict with polygons and that's why it crashes gmax, is there check errors etc system in Gmax?

[expat]

That looks great expat; maybe others would enjoy your change should you wish to share it. :-)

Delighted to be able to share something for a change, LOL !

Still not sure if it is that much darker . . These are files I made for your last portover upgrade of the AC's a year ago or so and just playing around with the shade of color in the main texture and alpha. They definitely made that model's glass darker, but with the FSX native model and glossy reflection on the glass it's sometimes harder to tell depending on the angle the sun is reflecting etc.

Open your favorite paint folder, back up your existing files and drop these in (or in the aliased common "texture" folder if you want to change all paints). Also, these are not DDS files (they are bmp's), so if you have both in the same folder together, one (bmp?) may take precedence over the other, i.e., they won't overwrite each other).

This screenie is the FS9 portover model with darker windows (much less reflective vs native FSX model):

[falcon409]

A WIP based on an earlier post. No bumps, no spec. Try as I may I cannot get my head around the process.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g84/ejwells409/Air%20Force%20One-2017-apr-28-001.jpg

[jmbiii]

.............Try as I may I cannot get my head around the process.

Ed, do not feel like the Lone Ranger. :biggrin-new:

[BendyFlyer]

A WIP based on an earlier post. No bumps, no spec. Try as I may I cannot get my head around the process.

Looking good there falcon but I am afraid I agree your not alone there, it is the one area of flight sim that I really struggle with and have mental block about (Gauges, FDE's, Air Files, Configs, coding, etc no issues) but my head hurts when I try to come to grips with textures, alphas, bump maps and speculars not to mention texture mapping of models. I am not sure why this appears to become so complicated. I have tried using 3 different paint programs to see if it was the tools but they all do the same things so it must be me. Sometimes you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

[mikew]

Milton,

Thanks so much for the converted Aero Commanders, loving them all over again! Are paint kits still around anywhere?

Thanks,

Mike

[Milton Shupe]

A WIP based on an earlier post. No bumps, no spec. Try as I may I cannot get my head around the process.




Ed, do not feel like the Lone Ranger. :biggrin-new:


Looking good there falcon but I am afraid I agree your not alone there, it is the one area of flight sim that I really struggle with and have mental block about (Gauges, FDE's, Air Files, Configs, coding, etc no issues) but my head hurts when I try to come to grips with textures, alphas, bump maps and speculars not to mention texture mapping of models. I am not sure why this appears to become so complicated. I have tried using 3 different paint programs to see if it was the tools but they all do the same things so it must be me. Sometimes you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

Not a painter, but this is what the SDK says about it.

Looking very nice ED, but not sure about the rivets, as nice as they look. I'll find an post a couple of pics of the one in the museum which is a 680 but the 560 may have been a little different.

[Milton Shupe]

Milton,

Thanks so much for the converted Aero Commanders, loving them all over again! Are paint kits still around anywhere?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike, I'll have to look around. I have some of them, some may be here or at Flightsim. Let me get back to you with a list of links.

EDIT: Mike, I have scoured all my archives and cannot find a single paint kit for the Aero Commander series. I know that Flightsim must have them as so many repaints have been done.

[falcon409]

Some changes to the livery based on some excellent photos from Milton. Work continues though.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g84/ejwells409/Air%20Force%20One-2017-apr-29-001.jpg

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g84/ejwells409/Air%20Force%20One-2017-apr-29-002.jpg

[sidler]

Awesome job Falcon!! Is this one for me?:adoration:


Dick

[Milton Shupe]

Thanks to WND who sent these paint kits to me, I have uploaded a package to the library for the Aero Commanders.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php/105547-Aero-Commander-Paint-Kits

[Milton Shupe]

A WIP based on an earlier post. No bumps, no spec. Try as I may I cannot get my head around the process.




Bjoern I think posted the following at FSDeveloper several years ago:


In case someone asks, here's the bump map creation procedure in a jiffy:

1. Create a grayscale version of your main texture, emphasize parts (dark = e.g. panel lines/light = e.g. non-flush rivets) depending on desired "standoutability" in the sim.
2. Unify all layers.
3. Run bump map creation plugin with default settings (unless you want to have something very specific).
4. Save/export the resulting file in .psd format.
5. Run the .psd through Imagetool in command line mode (ideally via a batch file)
Syntax: imagetool -batch -nogui -nomip -dxt5 -RedInAlpha -dds -nodither *_B.psd
Note: Only works if your bump map filename ends in "_B", otherwise specify the filename.
6. Wait.
7. Done. Easy, huh?

[mikew]

Thanks to all for digging up the paint kits. Such great models!

Mike

[falcon409]

Complete as far as I can take it. I'm considering a custom Hangar for those who have the ability to place scenery objects. . .something that would look "Presidential", lol

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g84/ejwells409/Air%20Force%20One-2017-apr-29-008.jpg

OOOPS. . .noticed I had forgotten to open the vents in the engine cowl behind the spinner. . .done now for sure!

[falcon409]

Maybe something like this. . .

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g84/ejwells409/Air%20Force%20One-2017-apr-29-012.jpg

[wellis]

Complete as far as I can take it. I'm considering a custom Hangar for those who have the ability to place scenery objects. . .something that would look "Presidential", lol



OOOPS. . .noticed I had forgotten to open the vents in the engine cowl behind the spinner. . .done now for sure!



Splendid! Looking forward to it (and the hanger would be great as well):encouragement:

[BendyFlyer]

Excellent work there Falcon. Look forward to this release a great compliment to Milton's great aeroplane (which was in itself a great aeroplane). Now to have a look see if the farm/ranch that Ike lived on still is around with an airstrip. I can see I am going to be spending a lot of time in this bird. I used to fly them in the RW and they were the real deal as far as being a pilots aeroplane. Good performance, beautiful handling, good systems, great cockpit and just plain fun. Still the aeroplane I enjoyed flying the most, the rest seemed agricultural by comparison (especially the Dash 8).

[BendyFlyer]

Falcon, this is completely off topic but it seems Eisenhower used the Gettysburg Airport W05 about 5 kms to the North of the farm. Guess you will have to put the Presidential Hangar there. The airport is in FSX under Gettysburg Travel Centre W05. Nice and short, lots of trees but a new Hangar would not go amiss there. The AC560 goes in and out there with no problems (look out for the trees.).

AC560 at Gettysburg this morning with a short of the area on climb out as well.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=49638&stc=1http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=49639&stc=1

[falcon409]

Thanks for that suggestion BF. This may end up being more than just another livery as I'm looking at redoing Gettysburg now and I've had an offer from another member to knock out the bumps and specs for me, which will complete the livery to most everyone's satisfaction. Work continues!