NEW (Apparently) from Kazunori Ito

[falcon409]

Released this past week, I came across it on flightsim.com. I thought we had seen the last of his airplanes given his diminishing eyesight. I guess not. I like his airplanes, simple to paint, simple to fly and this one probably the best VC that I've seen from Ito San. Definitely a different type of airplane but that's what I've come to expect from him really.

Getting away from the design of the aircraft, the FDE is horrendous, lol, and it shows itself especially on approach and landing. As far as I could tell, while there is supposed to be a spoiler based on the cfg file, it made no difference in reduced speed when deployed. . .the flaps and landing gear were equally ineffective in reducing speed (I had to depend more on angle of attack than any of the conventional means). In addition, braking seemed to also have little if any effect on slowing the aircraft after touchdown. As for the sounds, they are aliased as expected to the 172 I believe, not the best I would think given the type of airplane this is supposed to represent. There doesn't seem to be much change in engine sounds and a slow throttle movement from full to idle produces no change in sounds when descending for landing. Even sitting idle the engine seems to be racing. Aside from that. . .it's a keeper, lol.

He has used mostly Combat Sim gauges which always seem to work well between sims (I'm flying it in P3D_V3.4) but there are 6 fuel and engine gauges that need to be swapped out with whatever you have if you plan to use the airplane beyond FS9. I will keep this one because it has a lot of potential, especially if I can figure out how to correct the various problems. I intend to do a complete retexture inside and out with high res textures and that'll keep me busy while I figure out the rest.

Nice to see Kazunori Ito still designing airplanes though!

[Shessi]

Well that's a nice surprise, as you say his eyesight and some other issues were responsible for his decline in ac manufacture, so, good to see. Thank you Ito-san.

And thanks for the HU.

Shessi

[falcon409]

A few WIP shots of my redo:

[zswobbie1]

I have always enjoyed Ito-san's aircraft, & probably have all of them. I really support the freeware developers that have given so much to make our hobby what it STILL is today.
I have a separate install of FS2004 that is in honour & rememberance of the late Garry Smith, & Ed Moore of course, that is dedicated to the Ford Tri-Motor Project, in which I have all of their installs, &, as the site is also a repository Of Milton's stuff, & Mike Stone's as well, I have most of their stuff. I also have added selected unique other stuff as well, obviously Ito-san, & others. I have kept the scenery soley Ford Project, as a tip of the hat to the aforementioned guys.

Falcon49, will you be releasing your mods?

[falcon409]

. . . . .Falcon409, will you be releasing your mods?

Yes I will. The current revisions are being done as 4096x4096 which works for both FSX and P3D. . .I will also scale them down to be workable with FS9.

[TARPSBird]

Nice to see Ito-san is still active. I miss the days when we could expect a new plane from him, Yashico, Akemi-san (RIP), or Paul "PutPut" Clawson (RIP) on the average of every other month or so. So much good stuff.

[napamule]

He is pulling our leg (again). His usual is to make it a turbo prop (type 5) engine. He made it a jet (type 1) engine this time. Ha ha. Good one Ito. So no wonder the C172 sound don't sound right. Dah! Use the Lear sound.

I flew it and the dyanamics are not good (to say the least). I had to go around as it would not slow for landing. Cut engine 1 mile out and cranked max up pitch trim to land at 130 kts. Too fast. No spoiler or flaps drag. Making it a turbo prop (I have files tweaked already) will cure the handling problems. He also indicates it has reverse thrust but we won't get any if it's a piston. Again, Ito joke? It's alright - I appreciate the guys moxy and talent (and humor). He has given us a ton of fantastic models and the joking around with FDEs is a little 'bitter pill' for them there big shots (ie: rivet counters that haze him) to swallow. That's the price he charges (hehe). It's nothing personal otherwise if you like his work so don't get upset. Just FIX IT (hehe).
Chuck B
Napamule

[falcon409]

He is pulling our leg (again). His usual is to make it a turbo prop (type 5) engine. He made it a jet (type 1) engine this time. Ha ha. Good one Ito. So no wonder the C172 sound don't sound right. Dah! Use the Lear sound.

I flew it and the dyanamics are not good (to say the least). I had to go around as it would not slow for landing. Cut engine 1 mile out and cranked max up pitch trim to land at 130 kts. Too fast. No spoiler or flaps drag. Making it a turbo prop (I have files tweaked already) will cure the handling problems. He also indicates it has reverse thrust but we won't get any if it's a piston. Again, Ito joke? It's alright - I appreciate the guys moxy and talent (and humor). He has given us a ton of fantastic models and the joking around with FDEs is a little 'bitter pill' for them there big shots (ie: rivet counters that haze him) to swallow. That's the price he charges (hehe). It's nothing personal otherwise if you like his work so don't get upset. Just FIX IT (hehe).
Chuck B
Napamule

His readme, while it changes slightly for each aircraft, basically remains the same:
Repaints can only be uploaded by themselves, never with his original MDL
Don't use DXT format textures (use a format that everyone can change)
Don't convert for use in CFS
Don't change the original panel background

In deference to this master craftsman, his readme's are behind the times unfortunately in that DXT format is commonplace now and anyone who would be interested in doing liveries for his aircraft would certainly have access to DXTbmp to make any necessary conversions. As for the request to not tamper with the panel background, not certain if that relates to only the 2D panel or the VC or both. I eliminate 2D panels as I never use them anymore and in this model I am completely retexturing the VC so if anyone has a problem with that or feels I am overstepping Ito Sans requests I will change my intention to release my updates to the public.

Ok, on to your suggestion Chuck;
I also mention, as you apparently are aware, that the FDE is terrible and many, many years ago Ito admitted to me that he has little experience with doing FDE's and simply selects one that is close, makes a few changes and packages it with the aircraft. He doesn't do this as a joke to catch people off-guard, he just isn't proficient in building FDE's specific to each aircraft, rather his expertise is in the modeling arena. It has always been that when Ito's models were released that some good soul in the forums here would take the FDE under their wings and tweak it to fit the appropriate aircraft and as such his creations have gained new life here in the Sim-outhouse.

I am also no FDE guru, but in going through the config file I did see that several sections of a normal cfg file were left out and so I found a model of similar size, speed and engine type (his readme calls for a Mitsubishi HA-4 Air Cooled "Star Type", Double row, 18Cyl, 2100HP engine) and added the missing numbers. The only area I have yet to correct is braking. Even with a normal brake section included I am unable to effect a decent amount of braking after touchdown. Other than that I have found a better soundfile, but the suggestion of a Lear jet has to be a joke on your part. . .lol, good one.

[falcon409]

I am doing more harm than good with the cfg file, lol. I know nothing beyond cutting pasting various sections from similar types and that isn't working at all as I now have an airplane that does 160kts with the brakes applied on the ground, lol. Aside from that, after looking for the engine type in the readme I found that it's the same (or at least a relative of) engine used on the Mitsubishi MU-2. I have the Flysimware version, so maybe I can look into that as a possible option to tweak some information.

[falcon409]

Well, my lack of knowledge with FDE's is showing itself, lol. . . .I'll leave that to someone with knowledge of that sort and I'll stick to textures.

[Navtech]

For editing the "Air file" (FDE) this can be great help !

File Description:
AirEd(itor) has become one of the most versatile .air-file editors for MSFS 2000 up to 2004/FS9. For FS9 in particular the treatment of section [1101] has become pivotal for tuning the aerodynamics of FS9 aircraft. Yet, for many users the expert jargon remains obscure. Yahia now provides more information on [1101], making tuning easier to understand! References to the CFG file are made as well. Just right-click on an item in [1101] to see new amendments, test values and hints. Some divert from earlier insights or explain where things can go wrong. Also about taxiing are some new hints. AirEd now becomes an easy to understand "Must Have" for everybody interested in tuning FS9 aircraft.

Filename:	aired152_update806.zip
License:	Freeware
Added:	6th August 2006, 16:49:18
Downloads:	23599
Author:	William M. Roth, Ronald Freimuth, Yahia al Wajid
Size:	570kb

https://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=89432

This also a tutorial for use "Aired" by Chicilo

https://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=72966

[napamule]

Hold the phone...I got the FDEs for the Akida. Sorry I am late. Had to sleep, eat, etc (hehe). I uploaded to MediaFire. Here is the link: https://www.mediafire.com/?4yjwvlalkbg2zwv . Zip is 12 kb (cfg and air file only). Did not make a readme. I did keep it as he had it (type 1, jet) and therefore 'ok' to use Lear sound (haha) but it's not his cfg or air file 'modified'. It's a completely new cfg and air file from a PC-7 FDEs I made in 2007. It's overpowered. Will fix it later if you need it to slow down. I had to rush and post to at least sport around with the Akida TODAY. Enjoy. Oh, click on GREEN 'download'. Done.

PS: Falcon409: For powerful brakes it (braking_strength) should be '-32768' in air (1101) section. Then in cfg make braking strength=2.000 and differential braking=1.000. Done.
Chuck B
Napamule
Edit: Oh, it works good in FS2004 and FSX Accel AS IS. No changes needed unless you want to remove the 'Category=Airplane' line and the Views sections. Like I said, it's HOT (so DO use Spoiler on approach and when over the fence) but can fix it later. Or not.

[falcon409]

Chuck, thanks much. Just happy to have it flyable. great job!

[napamule]

I did it for you. And Ito. His models are not payware or going to be so I don't mind working on freeware. I can tame it down for you if you want. But it's more fun to fly it fast. Even aerobatics (and has smoke) so put it thru it's paces. It can take it (hehe). The only thing is that to slow it need the spoiler that's all. Enjoy. CYA.
Chuck
Edit: I just realized I misspelled the name. It's AKITA not AKIDA. Sorry.

[falcon409]

Just flew it briefly awhile ago and gotta say, while it is "fast", I don't mind that at all. The great thing is it responds to all inputs as far as control surfaces and the expected drag caused by those surfaces. Not sure if you know the answer to this, but why is it that the throttle positions and the associated sounds don't match? Full throttle is fine and there is a decrease in the engine sound as the throttle is reduced, but then there is a point where that sound ceases to drop any more so that on the ground with brakes on it still sounds like the engine is at about 60% to 70%. Is that related to the sounds themselves or something in the mdl file that controls that?

[napamule]

Well I tried several other sounds and it's the same. So it must be the model. I tried the King Air, FS9 Lear, C-130, C-138, T-33, F-104, OV-10, the C-172 and even the Trike sounds. The RPM still is high and loud. Must be because the engine type is 'jet'. Will change to turbo prop and see if that makes any difference. I'll be baaaack.
Chuck

[zswobbie1]

Hi Chuck, Mediafire says there is a problem with the download.
Is it just me?

[napamule]

Falcon409,
I got it as turbo prop and the high rpm / loudness is fixed. Same handling. Creeps so use parking brake. Use spoiler on approach, remove until over the number and before flare. Lands at 78 kts. Top speed only 360 kts. I have to run chores but will be back in 3 hrs to post link to new FDEs. I have to 'clean up' the cfg and air, fix light positions, etc. Only tried it in FS9 so want to try in FSX. CUL8R.

Zwobbie,
I tried the link and it works for me so not sure what problem you might be having. Cookies? Firewall? Browser? Sorry can't help. But if need be I will upload. But it would have to be late tonight. Real Life stuff can't wait sometimes. Actually it's small zip file and I can attach to any email. That would work too. PM me your email. Use format: 'my name' at 'abc' dot 'com', not actual, so the scammers don't pick it up.
Chuck B
Napamule

[napamule]

Falcon409,
Here is the turbo prop FDE. It WAS the air file that made the difference of sound. Ha. Not the model? Live and learn. This one is quiet compared. It is also suped up so use parking brake, and spoiler all the way to flare. Did not have to use any pitch trim myself on landing approach. But it will land better if you do use +2.0 or so. If you use reverse thrust come out of with press of F3 key (several times) instead of F1 (cut). The spool down is slow and it will lurch with F1 use. Taxi is better with a little reverse thrust. At 18 kts it is hard to turn (too much power). So reverse will help slow for taxi turns. Did not get higher speed I wanted (YET!!) so it's a 'normal' ac. But it will do rolls, upside down fly, loops, etc. And it has floats to not crash if you run over a puddle (hehe). Not really checked for water landings but it might be ok. I go eat lunch now (it's 4:15 pm - ha). Feedback please. We can tweak it more no problem. Link: https://www.mediafire.com/?e4954il719j3gln .
Chuck B
Napamule

[mikezola]

Howdy, Folks- I managed to convert the FDE to piston engines... as far as I can tell, this aircraft shares its engine with the A7M2 Reppu, so I found a 1% airfile for one and copied the engine data. For the prop, I copied data from a 1% J7W1 Shinden airfile. Add a decent twin radial soundset, and presto! No issues with throttle/sound, etc. Then I tweaked the COG and the ground contact points a little, and she now has halfway decent manners on the ground.
Now to go after the aerodynamics..... sheesh....
But I do agree with napamule... I don't mind wrenching on Ito-San's work at all... If Ito-San keeps turning these out, I'll make 'em fly like they look...

Saludos- Mike Z.

[napamule]

Hello,
The right float (point.5) has a '-' (minus sign) missing on Lon value. It should be like this: 'point.5=4,-12.000,' (NOT 'point.5=4, 12.000,'). OK?OK!
Chuck B
Napamule

[falcon409]

Hello,
The right float (point.5) has a '-' (minus sign) missing on Lon value. It should be like this: 'point.5=4,-12.000,' (NOT 'point.5=4, 12.000,'). OK?OK!
Chuck B
Napamule

Thanks Chuck. I flew a longer flight last evening (Eglin AFB to Homestead AFB) and the flight was uneventful. On final I only had to use the spoiler once to bring the airspeed down on decent, as it got to approx 150kts I brought in the spoiler, drop the flaps to the first position and lowered the landing gears. From there to touchdown was great but then I see what you mean about using the spoilers again for braking as the brakes don't seem to have much effect at speeds higher than 60kts to 70kts. Also after taxiing off the runway, when I stopped and didn't use the parking brakes the aircraft would have reached take off speed again, so it won't sit and idle without the Parking Brakes set.

[Navtech]

Check also Nav lights position

[falcon409]

As far as the livery goes, it's complete. I've also completely retextured the VC to include the pilot texture. The current texture size of the various textures varies because I enlarged every texture 400%, so some are smaller (based on their original size) but the exterior textures are 4096x4096 and so I did a test reduction to 1024x1024 and surprisingly, it doesn't look as bad as I thought it might. I am used to having the bigger textures and so anything lower than that and it looks bad to me, lol. Anyway, I'll reduce the textures to the size necessary for FS9 and make a package with those files. If anyone else is interested and has the expertise to work with a layered paint kit, I'll make that available as well in a separate download. I use Paint Shop Pro and the kit is in that format, but I can also save them as Photoshop (PSD) files also. Let me know what you think.

[falcon409]

Check also Nav lights position

Yep, just finished re-positioning those. I removed the "strobe" because it didn't show and to me it isn't a big deal to have it anyway. . .there are already enough lights. I added a landing light, but I also removed that because the mdl doesn't have a setting for it to illuminate the ground so it's useless. There is light in the cockpit, but I'm not sure where that is coming from since there is no entry for a VC light. . .again, not a big deal to me as I rarely do any night flying.