F-35 - Suggestions for further updates?

**Dino Cattaneo** · November 13th, 2012, 23:57

Attachment 75541

As you may be aware of, I have withdrawn the F-35 from sales at SimMarket. It will be re-released as freeware soon. I'll take the chance of the freeware release to make a further (minor) update...

Specifically, at the moment I have:
- Changed the .air file to reflect the latest public reports and statements from the test team. It appears that the F-35 is not capable of proper supercruising: it requires the A/B to get through the sound barrier, but then can maintain M1.2 for a relevant distance without the use of A/B. Transonic performance will also be better.
- Solved the autothrottle bug...of course it was a trivial mistake in the aircraft.cfg.
- Removed the MFD and "wide" views of the cockpit - which were just an annoyance for most users.

Should you have any suggestion for improvement, please let me know - a comment on this post or on my blog (here is the relevant thread: http://indiafoxtecho.blogspot.co.uk/...tions-for.html ) will do.

I will not have much time, so do not expect any major change... but I'll see what I can do to improve the package.

**Mach3DS** · November 14th, 2012, 04:47

Dino, you are an artist. Thank you for your generosity!

***stovall*** · November 14th, 2012, 07:44

Dino, I also thank you for your generosity. Your dedication to our hobby is exemplary. Anything with your name on it goes into my hanger whether freeware or payware. Looking forward to the F-35 upgrade and especially to the F-14 Tomcat. The USS Enterprise awaits your creation. Thanks again.

**Warrant** · November 14th, 2012, 08:48

Hi Dino,

First of all i must congratulate you with this excellent release.

A few suggestions;

Selectable variable payload (with loading table in pop-up screen), so one can use a weapons addon in combination with the feature (e.g. a missile launch can be visualized with the inflight deletion of a missile from it's hardpoint/pylon).

A visor up/down feature would be great.

More different payloads/weapons and weapon versions.

A pilot out when engine is cold (with ladder) would be great as well, but in that case the aircraft should be steady and still on the ground. A Pilot standing aside of the aircraft when aircraft is shut down and cold as an "option selectable" would be great as well (like seen with the Vertigo Studio's Panther)

That's it for now.

The above things are suggestions, the plane is already a piece of art!

Best regards, Warrant

**Odie** · November 14th, 2012, 09:26

Dino, thank you so much! Appreciate your and your team's hard work on this and the upcoming Tomcat release.

***Sundog*** · November 14th, 2012, 15:27

More updates? You really are a glutton for punishment and I thank you for it.

Yeah, I read that new info about it being able to supercruise at M=1.2 for approximately 150 miles. They also noted that it's capable of going faster than Mach 1.6, but since that's all that is required that's all it will be tested to; I'm guessing they will artificially (speed/thrust limiter) keep it from exceeding that speed in regular service. Just saying, and it's great to hear you're making updates.

**Brian_Gladden** · November 14th, 2012, 16:23

Looking forward to the freeware release (my payware budget is nill right now) I may try a VT Air guard paint for it since the 158th TFW is slated to get the 35

**Mach3DS** · November 14th, 2012, 18:51

Originally Posted by Sundog

More updates? You really are a glutton for punishment and I thank you for it.

Yeah, I read that new info about it being able to supercruise at M=1.2 for approximately 150 miles. They also noted that it's capable of going faster than Mach 1.6, but since that's all that is required that's all it will be tested to; I'm guessing they will artificially (speed/thrust limiter) keep it from exceeding that speed in regular service. Just saying, and it's great to hear you're making updates.

Really? That's it? Hardly seems like "supercruise" does it. At 1.2 Mach that'd be something like 11.5 mins total flying time over 150nm. (About 13 nm/ min). Seems like it should be able to cruise a little further? Must be something lost in translations somewhere.

***Sundog*** · November 14th, 2012, 21:01

Originally Posted by 000rick000

Really? That's it? Hardly seems like "supercruise" does it. At 1.2 Mach that'd be something like 11.5 mins total flying time over 150nm. (About 13 nm/ min). Seems like it should be able to cruise a little further? Must be something lost in translations somewhere.

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/Mag...12fighter.aspx

Nothing lost in translation. He called it a "Dash" capability, not anything sustained.

**Mach3DS** · November 15th, 2012, 04:45

That makes more sense. I was just astonished that it would only last for 150 mie....but it is what it is I guess! Thanks for the link good article!

**Dino Cattaneo** · November 15th, 2012, 23:22

Ok, yesterday I have:

- Tweaked the flight dynamics on all models, so that the A/B is required to break the sound barrier but then supersonic flight can be maintaned for a (little) while without A/B. Supersonic and transonic performance is generally slight better.

- Tweaked A/B dynamics on -B model, so that produces less thrust than the other versions

- Solved bug that prevented pilot animations on -B model

Now, I believe the flight model is better - although I am not yet happy on two things: ceiling is still lower than a real deal guesstimate and acceleration is overrated IMHO.
Better than the previous vesions, still not perfect... anyway I think it is OK.

**Stickshaker** · November 16th, 2012, 01:20

Hello Dino,<o

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Fantastic that you want to make a great plane even better!<o

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As far as I remember from flying the cockpit demonstrator is that hardly any trimming was required, at leased when not taking off and landing. If you are in level flight and you accelerate, you will hold your altitude (and your angle of attack will decrease). That is not so in your plane. I don’t know whether it is achievable in FSX….<o

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Another desirable thing that may well not be achievable is a Helmet Mounted Display that moves with your head (but still is collimated of course). An extra complication is of course that some symbology should move with the helmet (like altitude and speed data) while others should remain fixed in space (the Flight Path marker). But it would be great to have this!<o

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But even if nothing is improved, I still like your plane very much.<o

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**Dino Cattaneo** · November 16th, 2012, 01:34

@Stickshaker

Well, "no-trim" can be achieved in FSX - but requires a lot of tweaking to the .air model (or even better, rely on external code for the flight module).

As for the HMD, I believe that "true" HMD rendition is almost impossible in FSX (or very difficult...I've seen people do things in FSX which I previously considered impossible...)....
For the moment we'll probably have to live with the current implementation - that is the optional superimposed 2D "panel" which follows the viewpoint (but disappears if you switch views... not sure if it possible to do much more than this...

**Naruto-kun** · November 16th, 2012, 01:50

It is possible but since Simconnect doesnt have anything for it it relies heavily on searching the memory....which is pretty difficult.

**Dino Cattaneo** · November 16th, 2012, 02:10

Well... in any case do not expect an overhaul of the project!

If there is any feature that can be added easily, or any quick fix, I'll implement them for sure...but I will not have the time to add or change much.

Then, the main focus is still the new Tomcat...

**Stickshaker** · November 16th, 2012, 03:20

Sounds very sensible, Dino, thanks. Looking forward to your Tomcat!

**fxsttcb** · November 16th, 2012, 06:12

Originally Posted by Dino Cattaneo

For the moment we'll probably have to live with the current implementation - that is the optional superimposed 2D "panel" which follows the viewpoint (but disappears if you switch views... not sure if it possible to do much more than this...

Hi Dino, Thanks for your fine efforts to enhance our simming experience. 'tis Greatly Appreciated. :salute:
Dunno if you are aware of this. If you want a popup 2D window to be persistant, through view changes, add this to the panel.cfg [WindowXX] description: Type=SPECIAL. That will keep that window open until you decide to close it...Don

**Lionheart** · November 16th, 2012, 09:23

Dino,

I would like to very humbly request a version of the F35B with no rudders to simulate a version 8 to 10 years from now, if that would be possible to do.

Bill

***Sundog*** · November 16th, 2012, 14:56

Originally Posted by Lionheart

Dino,

I would like to very humbly request a version of the F35B with no rudders to simulate a version 8 to 10 years from now, if that would be possible to do.

Bill

I'm guessing you mean sans the entire vertical tail (Vertical stabilizers and rudders), not just the rudders, like in this Boeing design.

**whitney17** · November 17th, 2012, 12:57

Hi Dino,

I don't understand what you mean when you say you "removed the MFD and the "wide" views from the cockpit" and that they were some kind of annoyance. Per the manual the entire instrument panel (PCD) is the MFD. How can you remove it? What "wide" views are you talking about? What was the annoyance?

My suggestion to improve an already excellent job, would be to please colorize the Terrain Map.

Thanks,

**Dino Cattaneo** · November 18th, 2012, 06:28

@Lionheart

Well, I tend to dislike "what if" models... aside, I do not believe that the F-35 is going to change that much over his operational service. It is an airframe built with a lot of potential to grow in the electronics department, but I do not foresee any major change in the airframe itself.
But it may be true that the future is "tail-less" (and possibly unmanned)... I do not know if the F-35 will be "the last manned (western) fighter", but my gut feeling is that designs like the Northop Grumman X-47 Pegasus could well be the future of military aviation...

@whitney17

I mean I had removed the "views"...if you cycle the views in the cockpit, in the current release, it was Virtual cockpit / close-up MFD only / Virtual cockpit forced to Wide / and then HMD only. I have removed the second and third view, as afaik nobody was using them.
So, no change in the cockpit layout nor in the functionality - just removed the two views from the view cycle...

As for the colored map, I'll think about it... I still prefer the B/W version, to be honest...

**FSX68** · November 18th, 2012, 06:33

I noticed that it has an external vapor effect from the canopy aft. Looks like the "breaking the sound barrier" effect, but I am on half throttle or landing and that effect is still there.

**Dino Cattaneo** · November 18th, 2012, 07:17

@richoday

That is a condensation effect I added to replicate what I saw on pictures of the real F-35 and happens at high AoA.
I believe it is legitimate, but can easily be removed (together with the high-G vapour effects) by removing the relevant .fx files, if you want to...

**FSX68** · November 18th, 2012, 08:37

Originally Posted by Dino Cattaneo

@richoday

That is a condensation effect I added to replicate what I saw on pictures of the real F-35 and happens at high AoA.
I believe it is legitimate, but can easily be removed (together with the high-G vapour effects) by removing the relevant .fx files, if you want to...

Dino,

IMHO, I think is be better if you could remove those effects that cause this^. Otherwise brilliantly put together. Thanks.

:salute:

**Dave Torkington** · November 18th, 2012, 09:00

Dino,

This is a 'big ask' so please allow for my ignorance regarding the kind of work involved!

In multiplayer, it would be excellent to see the exhaust nozzle / intake doors animations of the other folks aircraft in a Peer to Peer session. I guess this would mean controlling the animations with flaps rather than tailhook / Rob's gauge systems.

Is this possible?

Regards, Dave.