help in making a model flyable off carrier

[Cowboy1968]

Ok here we go...I am trying to make the Alphasim flyable off carriers using the program i have for simulating cat shots and traps....

I use the Abacus ArrestorCables v2.53

The airplane reads as a taildragger in the software. I have used AirEd to tell the .air file that it is not a taildrager...but no good...still reads as taildragger.

Has anyone converted the files for this? Can some one help me....?

[Desert Rat]

It's probably because the tail bumper retracts and is set up as a retracting gear? Tail wheel so to speak. You could change it's contact point from a retracting gear to a fixed scrape point?

[aeromed202]

My air file shows taildragger as false. It took some tinkering when I first tried AirEd to hit enter after changing an entry to make it save the change. In this case, the enter key toggles back and forth so save when it reads false. You probably did that but I'm just ruling out simple reasons first.

[Mick]

It's probably because the tail bumper retracts and is set up as a retracting gear? Tail wheel so to speak. You could change it's contact point from a retracting gear to a fixed scrape point?

If you make the tail bumper a scrape point, that should make FS detect a crash whenever the bumper touches the deck or the runway. To paraphrase the Geico commercials, if you're a scrape point, it's what you do.

I just checked the AIR file of my Whale and it said "taildragger=no.' I don't remember ever changing it to that, though that would have been years ago and my memory isn't what it used to be. I definitely recall flying the Whale from a carrier using the ArrCab catapult feature, so the air file might be the key.

There were versions 1 and 2 of the Alpha Skywhale. Maybe mine is v2 and had a no taildragger AIR file straight from the box, and perhaps v1 had a taildragger AIR file??? Maybe that was one of the changes from v1 to v2?????

[Tom Clayton]

Instead of a scrape point, you could also use a skid point (type 3), or even a small diameter wheel.

[Mick]

Instead of a scrape point, you could also use a skid point (type 3), or even a small diameter wheel.

It's already a small diameter wheel. That's part of the problem. The idea is to get FS to stop seeing it as the tail wheel of a taildragger landing gear.

[Desert Rat]

Just as a test what happens if you comment out the 'tailwheel' with the old \\?

[Cowboy1968]

I have tried all suggestions, still no go....even thought the .air shows it is not tail dragger, FS9, still says it is....

so i guess it isn't meant for this whale to fly off a carrier...AlphaSim team let me down on this one....lol

[Cowboy1968]

I am not sure which point we are trying to change....i guess

[p3aewguy]

Guys,

I think your problem is with Abacus ArrestorCables v2.53. I use Rob Barendregt's RCBCO-20 Carrier Operation Package v2.0 and routinely fly the Whale on and off carriers without any issues. I use this on all my carrier aircraft. It's available at Flightsim dot com.


Dave
P3aewguy

[Motormouse]

I am not sure which point we are trying to change....i guess

In the aircraft.cfg file, under 'contact points'
Uncle Milton is the guru, but like Dave I use Rob's gauge set, installed in a minipanel view.

Ttfn

Pete

[expat]

I use Rob Barendregt's RCBCO-20 Carrier Operation Package v2.0 and routinely fly the Whale on and off carriers without any issues. I use this on all my carrier aircraft. It's available at Flightsim dot com.

Before jumping to FSX - and onto and off moving carriers - that was the best cat/trap setup I found to use. Highly recommended.

[expat]

I use Rob Barendregt's RCBCO-20 Carrier Operation Package v2.0 and routinely fly the Whale on and off carriers without any issues. I use this on all my carrier aircraft. It's available at Flightsim dot com.

Before jumping to FSX - and onto and off moving carriers - that was the best cat/trap setup I found to use. Highly recommended.

[Mick]

I am not sure which point we are trying to change....i guess

Well, here's something curious. I just checked my aircraft.cfg file to copy the tail wheel point to answer your question, and it only has three gear contact points, obviously the nose wheel and the two main gear wheels. I don't recall deleting one, so I guess it came out of the box this way. (I have version two of the Whale.)

Anyhow, the one to delete or comment out is the one that doesn't look like any of these:

point.0 = 1.000, 25.350, 0.000, -8.650, 1574.803, 0.000, 1.250, 45.0, 0.248, 2.500, 0.782, 6.000, 6.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.1 = 1.000, -2.150, -5.400, -6.600, 1875.173, 1.000, 1.700, 0.000, 0.213, 2.500, 0.789, 5.000, 5.000, 2.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.2 = 1.000, -2.150, 5.400, -6.600, 1875.173, 2.000, 0.793, 0.000, 0.213, 2.500, 0.789, 5.000, 5.000, 3.000, 0.000, 0.000
That's it for gear points; after that are just scrape points. Leave those alone.

I have no trouble with the Whale and ArrCab's catapult feature, and never did. AS far as I camn recall, my contact points always looked like what I listed above

I have nothing against the Carrier Gauge package except for convenience. To use it for your primary carrier program you have to modify every plane to add the gauges, where with ArrCab you make a trap section for each ship. I think most of us have a lot more carrier planes than carriers. But in your case, all you have to do is put the catapult gauge in just this one plane, and continue to use ArrCab for landings. That way you just have to make that one little change to one plane, and have nothing to do about any ships.

I use the Carrier Ops catapult gauge in my catapult float planes to shoot them from the Virtual Navy's cruisers and Paul Clawson's battlewagons. And for launching hang gliders from cliffs.

[Tom Clayton]

Here's something I find interesting... Digging into the air file to see which record contains the taildragger Boolean, I discovered that none of the box-stock vintage draggers even have that line in the air file. The Extra is the only one that has it. The rest of the tricycle planes have the line, but of course they're set to false. Kinda makes you wonder what it actually does...

[PhantomTweak]

[QUOTE]Digging into the air file to see which record contains the taildragger Boolean, I discovered that none of the box-stock vintage draggers even have that line in the air file. The Extra is the only one that has it. The rest of the tricycle planes have the line, but of course they're set to false. Kinda makes you wonder what it actually does...[QUOTE]
The aircraft.cfg file takes precedence over the .air file. So, whatever the .air file says, really, the [Contact_points] determines whether it's a tail dragger or not by the placement of the gear entries (usually, but not invariably, the first 3 entries).

And on a purely personal note, I got to where RCBCO-2 was the only carrier gauges I would use for FS9.
Having said that, I got into FSX for 2 real reasons. 1) It was on sale (and I am a cheap SOB ), or at least SE was the day it came out, and for the price, I wanted to see what the hoopla was 2) There is a really wonderful plane I enjoy fly, on and off carriers, but it's only for FSX. Once I got SE, I then learned about the moving carriers and such, and I just went crazy. Now, flying the FSDT FSX Blue Angels F/A-18C v16.1, and doing FCLPs and CQ's with it is my life. Along with a lot of ACM, of course
Much as I hate to say it, while I still have FS9 loaded on my computer, I very seldom fly it any more. But if you want to fly carriers in FS9, I strongly agree with using RCBCO-2 for it.
But that's, of course, a purely personal opinion, and we all know what those are worth
Pat☺