Released!! F9F Cougar by Rob Richardson

[henrystreet]

Here's a link to the F9F-8 Flight Manual.

http://aviationarchives.blogspot.com/search?q=cougar

Great resource! Thanks.

[johndetrick]

Got a few in mind. Gathering data now. As good as this, wish we had a two seater. The USMC used a few in combat during Vietnam as Fast FACs.

[Mike71]

Note the manual is 1955, and some procedures do not account for later mods to the Cougar, especially the Martin Baker 100 knot auto separation seat and the angle of attack system. However, the systems description and overall content is very valuable.

Not all Cougars were equipped the same way. Some were specialized as F9F-8Bs which could carry a "special weapon" as they are euphemistically referred to. These "Bakers" had the LABS (Loft Angle Bombing System) which included various switches and controls along with an indicator that looks a lot like an ILS indicator, but actually was programmed so if the pilot followed the needles he would follow a prescribed pullup and heading profile, the bomb would auto-release at the right point, and the pilot would be headed back away from the detonation at high speed and low altitude. Good luck - these were always referred to as "idiot loops". Later, the A-4, A-6 and A-7 would carry on the tradition, but with much better equipment.

[menef]

[QUOTE=robcarrich;1124680]

Thank you Mister Rob for this gift!!! Very well done! The only question mark I have is about the VOR/ILS indicator (top right hand of the cockpit) : the adjusting knob should move the compass card in order to
set any radial/QDM/QDR but the compass card actually is a gyrodirectional indicating the aircraft heading so it is very hard to understand its indications. I haven't figured out how it works, for sureit's not a
conventional VOR indicator. QUOTE]

The gauge is an old Microsoft ILS (FS9 I think), works OK for me, its the only cab gauge in the cockpit so you could put whatever you like in.
If you need help doing that just let me know.

RobR

OK thank you

[falcon409]

Does anyone else have an autopilot that is unable to hold altitude? I am flying in P3D_V4.1 and I suspect that this could be V4 related, however I thought I would check. Once I have a set altitude and turn on the "Alt" switch to hold, it starts a porpoise varying from 2000fpm climb to a 2000fpm descent and continues that radical swing up and down until I release the hold switch. It tracks GPS very well as well as set heading, but altitude hold is a no joy! Right now I simply trim to straight and level and it does very well with that.

[spokes2112]

Hi Ed,

I found at low altitudes and at high (top) speeds it does the phugoid dance. At higher altitudes - smooth as silk. Tested at 5K, 25k & 35k feet.
Some other things I have found that need confirming -
The airspeed indicator, in certain speed ranges, can be off as much as 30 knots.
The Mach indicator seems way off.
Just calibration issues I suspect.


She's a beauty! Watch out you young men - she's a Cougar!

[Dimus]

Doesn't the Midway carriers come with instructions for adjusting hook hinge point and length to address the visible contact of the cable to hook? Check the pdf docs. I think it's in there.

What Duckie says is correct. Don't mess with the hook attributes in the aircraft.cfg. The animation is adjusted for new airplanes using the SWS tool. You need to read the instructions.

[falcon409]

Hi Ed,

I found at low altitudes and at high (top) speeds it does the phugoid dance. At higher altitudes - smooth as silk. Tested at 5K, 25k & 35k feet.
Some other things I have found that need confirming -
The airspeed indicator, in certain speed ranges, can be off as much as 30 knots.
The Mach indicator seems way off.
Just calibration issues I suspect.


She's a beauty! Watch out you young men - she's a Cougar!

Thanks Roman. . .I was in the low altitude area. Other things related to flying this in P3D_V4.1, the radios aren't compatible and I haven't found any "suitable subs" as yet (for the VC). Also, aside from the airspeed and altitude, is that all that I should see in the HUD?

[Stickshaker]

Downloading now! Thank you for this beautiful gift, Rob!

[mal998]

Great job Rob. Thanks and happy B-Day.

[Flyboy208]

Thank you very much Rob ! Really enjoying this classic US Navy jet ! Mike

[spokes2112]

Thanks Roman. . .I was in the low altitude area. Other things related to flying this in P3D_V4.1, the radios aren't compatible and I haven't found any "suitable subs" as yet (for the VC). Also, aside from the airspeed and altitude, is that all that I should see in the HUD?

Ed, in the low alt regim she is a delight to hand fly. The hud I have the same, although the speed seems to be TRUE, thru internal air computers I assume.
The radios - yes... In FSX I threw in my racing pop up for testing. The radios as setup in the aircraft.cfg are for a non-standby type.

IE -


[Radios]
// Radio Type = availiable, standby frequency, has glide slope
Audio.1 = 1
Com.1 = 1, 0
Com.2 = 1, 0
Nav.1 = 1, 0, 1
Nav.2 = 1, 0,
Adf.1 = 1
Transponder.1 = 1
Marker.1 = 1

But calling a stock (FSX) -

[Vcockpit02]
file=Panel6
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=512,512
visible=1
ident=
pixel_size=512,512
texture=$pan2




gauge00=KingAir_Radio!Com1, 10, 10, 240, 150
gauge01=KingAir_Radio!Nav1, 260, 10, 240, 150
gauge02=KingAir_Radio!Com2, 10, 180, 240, 150
gauge03=KingAir_Radio!Nav2, 260, 180, 240, 150
gauge04=KingAir_Radio!Xpndr, 10, 340, 240, 150
gauge05=KingAir_Radio!Adf, 260, 340, 240, 150

Which has standbys. On your own try, you could .. As long as radios are the "stock?" (is it in P3D?)


[Radios]
// Radio Type = availiable, standby frequency, has glide slope
Audio.1 = 1
Com.1 = 1,1
Com.2 = 1, 1
Nav.1 = 1, 1, 1
Nav.2 = 1, 1, 0
Adf.1 = 1
Transponder.1 = 1
Marker.1 = 1

If that doesn't work, make sure the gauge (from stock B350) is in the global gauges directory, if not, find it and copy it over the Cougar's panel folder.
That just may do it for you.

Roman

[falcon409]

Ed, in the low alt regim she is a delight to hand fly. The hud I have the same, although the speed seems to be TRUE, thru internal air computers I assume.
The radios - yes... In FSX I threw in my racing pop up for testing. The radios as setup in the aircraft.cfg are for a non-standby type.
Roman

Roman, I'm using the Cougar in P3D_V4.1. . . ."dll" and "gau" gauges aren't compatible. That's why I said I hadn't yet found a suitable sub for that array of radios. I can find Com/Nav combo's or single com1 or Nav1 radios but I don't believe there's another group of radios exactly like the King Air set that are either contained in a "cab" file or true 64bit dll's.

As you know there are innumerable freeware airplanes that use that same suite of avionics. . .yet if you want to fly the airplane in P3D_V4.1 you end up with a blank spot where the radios go, cause there's nothing exactly like it for V4.

[spokes2112]

Ed,

Yes understood.
I'm in FSX but understand the P3D..
You have a stock Beech tree fiddy correct? If, and only if, the 350's gauges are global, meaning they are in the p3d/gauges folder, if they are not... Then a slight hiccup.
If not - go find them, copy those over to the Cougar's panel folder.

The gauge calling syntax is exact from FSX to P3D for the Beech tree fiddies radios. Use the P3D provided units.

[Steven190]

Rob
I have a quick question on the paint kit, what do you save the .dds as? DXT1 or DXT5 ?

I saved it as DXT1 and the wing and fuselage are smaller than the stock .dds'

Thanks

[falcon409]

Ed,

Yes understood.
I'm in FSX but understand the P3D..
You have a stock Beech tree fiddy correct? If, and only if, the 350's gauges are global, meaning they are in the p3d/gauges folder, if they are not... Then a slight hiccup.
If not - go find them, copy those over to the Cougar's panel folder.

The gauge calling syntax is exact from FSX to P3D for the Beech tree fiddies radios. Use the P3D provided units.

Ok, I found some gauges that, with some adjusting in Panel Studio, work fine (also, I have no idea what a "fiddy" is and the only 350 gauges I have are dll's which won't work). Back to the Autopilot. . . .I am on a long flight from Key West NAS to Roosevelt Roads, altitude (more or less) is 10,000. Airspeed, adjusted from 300kias to 500kias, the autopilot will not hold a steady altitude on it's own. Initially all looks well, but within 2 or 3 minutes it begins a slow but ever increasing porpoise action that eventually get's so violent that I have to disengage the "Alt" hold switch and take over manually. I have not tested at higher altitudes, but given the fact that at 5000' and 10,000' it exhibits the same lack of control, I doubt an increase in altitude would make any difference.

[Brian_Gladden]

Look in the cfg file for the autopilot section. make sure the default vertical speed in the autopilot isn't too big. knocking it down to 200 ft a min sometimes helps the ups and downs. also check for a line in the Pitot Static section. should look something like this:

[pitot_static]
vertical_speed_time_constant = 1 //Increasing this value will cause a more instantaneous reaction in the VSI


I just looked at the Cougar's pitot section :

[pitot_static]
vertical_speed_time_constant = 0.3 //Increasing this value will cause a more instantaneous reaction in the VSI

Try increasing to 1 and work from there. Yes it the low number under 1 makes the VSI slower to react like a real static VSI but at the cost of weird autopilot behavior.

[falcon409]

Look in the cfg file for the autopilot section. make sure the default vertical speed in the autopilot isn't too big. knocking it down to 200 ft a min sometimes helps the ups and downs. also check for a line in the Pitot Static section. should look something like this:

[pitot_static]
vertical_speed_time_constant = 1 //Increasing this value will cause a more instantaneous reaction in the VSI


I just looked at the Cougar's pitot section :

[pitot_static]
vertical_speed_time_constant = 0.3 //Increasing this value will cause a more instantaneous reaction in the VSI

Try increasing to 1 and work from there. Yes it the low number under 1 makes the VSI slower to react like a real static VSI but at the cost of weird autopilot behavior.

Thanks Brian. I'll give that a try. I'm down at Guantanamo Bay right now to refuel and head to the Chow Hall. I'll pick up the remainder of the flight to Roosevelt Roads after lunch.

[spokes2112]

Hi Ed,

I have not tested at higher altitudes, but given the fact that at 5000' and 10,000' it exhibits the same lack of control, I doubt an increase in altitude would make any difference.

The air is thinner as you go up, hence less elevator (flying surface) reactive force.

Sorry about the Polish. Was in a Pollak mode last night. Beechcraft King Air B350 is a "bee tree fiddy" LOL!
Anyway, Lockheed Martin provided you with a King Air 350, correct?

That B350 has been around from the MS flight sim series from FS2002 up thru FSX.
That same B350 provided by LM is the same one, except... They re-complied the original FSX\Gauges\KingAir_radio.dll from 32 bit to 64 bit.
The question is..... Where did they put that file?
If it is in the P3D\gauges folder it "should've" worked for you straight out of the box.
I suspect that LM has put the .dll in the Beech_King_Air_350\panel folder. If that is the case the Cougar will never "find" it. (The Cougar uses the same gauge calling syntax)
If so, copy that .dll from the Beech_King_Air_350\panel over to Grumman F9F-8 Cougar\panel and you "should" be good to go. (No FS panel studio needed)

Brian - good call on the VS speed constant!

[semo]

Ed,

I have both bendix_king_radio and bendix_radio dll"s in my P3D 4.1 gauges file. They both appear in RR's Cougar. Their entry dates are the day I upgraded to 4.1, did you upgrade that section? Maybe they weren't in the original release.

Steve M.

[robcarrich]

Rob
I have a quick question on the paint kit, what do you save the .dds as? DXT1 or DXT5 ?

I saved it as DXT1 and the wing and fuselage are smaller than the stock .dds'

Thanks

Hello Steven,
The main textures are 4096x4096 and can be saved as DXT5 or 888
You can reduce the size but at a cost to sharpness.

RobR

[falcon409]

Look in the cfg file for the autopilot section. make sure the default vertical speed in the autopilot isn't too big. knocking it down to 200 ft a min sometimes helps the ups and downs. also check for a line in the Pitot Static section. should look something like this:

[pitot_static]
vertical_speed_time_constant = 1 //Increasing this value will cause a more instantaneous reaction in the VSI


I just looked at the Cougar's pitot section :

[pitot_static]
vertical_speed_time_constant = 0.3 //Increasing this value will cause a more instantaneous reaction in the VSI

Try increasing to 1 and work from there. Yes it the low number under 1 makes the VSI slower to react like a real static VSI but at the cost of weird autopilot behavior.

That fixed it Brian. Rock steady now!

[gastonj]

Hello,
Good gift, thank's! But, i have some trouble with the AOA (Angle of attack), i think it is too hight for low speed (200 - 250 knots) , am i wrong ?
JMC

[Mike71]

Hi Ed,


The air is thinner as you go up, hence less elevator (flying surface) reactive force.

KIAS is KIAS at any altitude - aero force (dynamic pressure) is the same; however as airplanes approach transonic region, some pitch reaction starts to vary gradually with increasing IMN because the aerodynamic center starts to move aft and the difference between the aero center to the center of gravity gradually increases - that changes the pitch stability. That's why a powerful flying tail came into being for high speed flight.

[Steven190]

Hello Steven,
The main textures are 4096x4096 and can be saved as DXT5 or 888
You can reduce the size but at a cost to sharpness.

RobR

Thanks for the reply, I love your plane. I just noticed that my dds' were 21xxx where yours are 65xxx. They work in game so was curious as to why the difference.

That was just one issue I have. I have a computer that I do skinning on along with other things just for my own , it is a older computer with Windows 7 pro. My problem is with this computer and FSX I have invisible planes in it, can not see the skins.
I have to put the skins in my game computer to see them. The older computer has a lower end graphics card, which maybe some of my problem. I noticed that most of the third party plane are invisible.