A2A Cub - advice please

[Portia911]

Ok, so I have recently got the highly regarded A2A Cub (+ accusim) and want to use it in Air Hauler to start-up a new company (ok stop all that laughing!). Given this Cub has its own load-manager which obliges you to 'load' a passenger (Heidi) if you want to haul anything more than a case of beer, has anyone found a good work-around that 'removes' (or at least hides) Heidi from this equation?

What I'd like is to be able to pilot from the front seat - having made (virtual) adjustments like removing the rear seat and installing a frame or container in the rear that could be loaded up with sufficient freight to offset the pilot being up front. This seems like a reasonable real-world approach, but how can it be done using this particular aircraft?

Can I simply delete the Heidi texture file(s) so she doesn't appear - or would this crash the sim? Or could I relocate the point of view so I'm getting a front-seat perspective and just not see Heidi (except she'd still be there in external views).

Anyway, you get the idea - hope someone has been there and can offer a solution. Thanks :salute:

[griphos]

You should be able to use something like EZDOK if you have it (and just trial and error viewpoint adjustment if you don't) to move your eyepoint to the front cockpit. In normal flying, you shouldn't "see" Heidi then, but if you have Track IR and look around, you might spot parts of her (and if you look straight down....oh, never mind....). Probably not the ideal solution. Can't help with the idea about removing the texture. I suppose it wouldn't bugger things up to try it, though, as long as you back them up.

[Portia911]

You should be able to use something like EZDOK if you have it (and just trial and error viewpoint adjustment if you don't) to move your eyepoint to the front cockpit. In normal flying, you shouldn't "see" Heidi then, but if you have Track IR and look around, you might spot parts of her (and if you look straight down....oh, never mind....). Probably not the ideal solution. Can't help with the idea about removing the texture. I suppose it wouldn't bugger things up to try it, though, as long as you back them up.

Ahem yes, well virtual voyeur opportunities aside, I hope there's a better solution than 'sitting on' Heidi. Someone over at the AH forum seemed to have found a way, but that's a fairly quiet forum these days and I haven't had a reply to my PM. :-(

[Firekitten]

Ctrl shift backspace return commands to move the eyepoint works fine... yeah Heidi is still there is select her as visible... remember she's a checkbox in the first place...


Heck I usually fly front seat AS Heidi because she's one of the few female figures in a cockpit that doesn't look like a blow up doll... yeah you see bits of the body if you look to the extremes, but its not a problem really.

[robert41]

Not sure if this is possible to move the pilot weight to the front with out problems.
I looked at the cfg and it says pilot weight at 170 and passenger weight at 0.
But adding Heidi does add weight to the front.
Could try moving the pilot's weight to the passenger section (front) and adding cargo weight to the pilot section (rear).

[Portia911]

Thanks for the suggestions. I understand the problem is the extent to which Heidi is hard-wired into the load manager for this model. So yes you can switch her on or off, but as soon as you want to carry more than 40 lb of 'cargo' (which is the whole idea in AirHauler) you get Heidi whether you want her or not!

I'm reluctant to start playing with weight positions etc in the cfg as that goes to the whole balance/fdx that you are paying to have 'right' in a model like this.

i tried simply removing the Heidi textures, but that gave me a totally black Heidi instead! I also moved the viewpoint forward - and this may be the only solution - but as predicted, it does look a bit weird if you happen to look lower on the panel and see Heidi's legs and feet. And your illusion of now piloting from the front seat is destroyed if you view from any external position.

Hope someone who has this Cub has found a better way to remove Heidi.

[imn2sims]

Have you tried asking this over at A2A Piper Cub support? http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=62&sid=53318b8483a777f180e93dc17ee2e30a I see a post on this way back in October but don't know if that was from you.

Steve

[Portia911]

Have you tried asking this over at A2A Piper Cub support? http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=62&sid=53318b8483a777f180e93dc17ee2e30a I see a post on this way back in October but don't know if that was from you. Steve

No that wasn't me, I've only been an A2A customer for a couple of weeks. I had a bit of a look there, but kind of thought my question might not be well received on that forum (given A2A no doubt went to a lot of trouble to put Heidi in!). Just floating it here because this is my helpful forum 'home' and I know a lot of folks here have the A2A Cub. But thanks, it is a sensible suggestion! :salute:

[griphos]

The A2A forum is a great place and certainly would be fully receptive to your question. They are some of the best and most supportive of the addon developers out there. You should ask them. They'll probably be able to fix you up.

[Firekitten]

Hangon, isn't heidi simply a checkbox in the load manager? click her an she disappears?

[Blade124]

Or could I relocate the point of view so I'm getting a front-seat perspective and just not see Heidi (except she'd still be there in external views).

This may sound like your best bet. You can load Heidi and select SILENT. We carefully positioned her so you can fly from the front seat (if you keep hitting the A key, you will cycle through available internal views). The front seat view, however, is fixed so you may want to just move your eyepoint there.

Having both you and Heidi, you can properly balance how you load the plane, forward and aft which is critical with the J3.

Scott.

[griphos]

Hangon, isn't heidi simply a checkbox in the load manager? click her an she disappears?

No, she reappears as soon as you load any payload weight in, I believe, according to what the OP says above.

[Portia911]

Thanks everyone, I think I'm getting somewhere having re-read the A2A forum post imn2sims referenced. I added another fuel tank with the same weight (max) and placement as Heidi. When I imported this version into AirHauler it recognised the bigger fuel capacity but only saw a relatively small cargo capacity. So I was able to fly a short 'job' carting some 80 lb, piloting from the front (viewpoint), and no Heidi. :jump:

So now I need to test whether I can 'trick' AirHauler into letting me carry a bigger cargo load, offsetting weight against a relatively light fuel load. It appears I still have the option of adding a 300 lb Heidi if I really want to max my MTOW, but of course that would mean Heidi was my passenger. I don't mind flying this way for a bit of variety, I just don't want to be obliged to take Heidi on every 'job' when I'm trying to make a buck hauling! :cowboy:

[Portia911]

Let me close by saying that this seems to be working well. Noting Scott's point on load balance, I repositioned the 'luggage' load station to where Heidi would be (helps when I'm not carrying much fuel), and moved the viewpoint back - so I'll fly from (and appear in) the rear seat, and imagine my removed seat and cargo rack is where the front seat would normally be.

Now I've grabbed a JanKees NZ skin and opened a base at Te Anau, Southland, New Zealand. Looks like I'll be able to haul loads of some 250-280 lbs without Heidi; and closer to 400lb if I get her to 'help' me. Either way, this looks like being a lot of fun - so thanks to all who offered advice. :salute:

82611

[griphos]

Nice pic! The Cub is lovely to fly, isn't she?! Still just about my favorite FSX addon.