Dino Cattaneo's F-14D Tomcat Version 2.25

[orionll]

Tuesday, April 1, 2014


Grumman F-14D Tomcat Version 2.25 Release





All, given I will not have much time in the next few weeks, here is an update to the F-14D project. There are still many bugs and inaccuracies, but, well, in the end it is still better than the previous version IMHO. The file can be downloaded from the link on the side bar of this blog.
VERSION 2.25
March 30th, 2014


COMPATIBILITY NOTE:There are minor incompatibility issues in P3Dv2.1, unless the HOTFIX 1 patch IS applied. Please check Prepar3d website for download and installation of Hotfix 1.


- Added support from AIM-54 Phoenix on STA 1B and STA 8B (Token weight is 1024lbs)
- Fuel tanks are now removeable. Presence is controlled by the weight on Station_load.11 (for STA 2) and .12 (for STA 7). Token weight is 381 lbs.
- Fuel tanks can be jettisoned in Tacpack via the EMERGENCY Jettison button.
- Fuel tanks are functional, through the Doug Dawson's fuel dump gauge. Uninistalling/dropping the tanks will immediately eliminate the fuel in the "External Tank" slot. Upon reinstalling the tanks, they must be refilled manually.
- TACPACK Weapons configurator rewritten from scratch, new graphics and more configurations available
- Minor improvement in the rendering of afterburners
- Minor improvements to autopilot logic (it still has many problems unfortunately)
- Revised transonic drag and engine performance at high altitude/high Mach no. (transonic wave is still low, but overall engine performance should be closer to the real deal)
- Fixed aicraft description in manus
- Fixed cockpit lighting issues
- Fixed few bugs in the MFD keypress logic (still apparently FSX cannot detect some mouse areas, which seem to work in P3Dv2)
- Improved NACES textures
- Added digits to Airspeed indicator for both Indicated Air Speed an Mach No.
- Added digits to Altimeter for both Altitude reading and Barometric setting
- Added AUTO and MAN mode for Air to Ground Ordnance release
- Added support for Pre-Planned (PP) targets. Note that the next Navigation Waypoint is designated as PP target, but in many instances the NAV computer updates the WP too fast. The function can still be used to upload the next WP to the current target, by switching back to TOO mode.
- Added DUD cue for bombs release in TACPACK (flashing cross in CCIP mode - flashing DUD cue in other modes)
- Rewritten Tacpack code in order to get rid of weapon accuracy bug in the previous release. Note: bug was not clearly identified and may still be there, weapons accuracy has not been tested.
- Rewritten Tacpack Air Refuel code, now should support a realistic fuel transfer rate (UNTESTED FEATURE)
- Fixed bugs in AoA Indexer (not transitioning correctly between lights)
- Added IFF Mode 4 TACPACK "Friend" CUE to A/A (will flash "FRIEND" cue in the HUD only, in A/A mode, if L&S target is positively identified as FRIEND - UNTESTED FEATURE)
VERSION 2.20
- Fixed accuracy of several analog gauges







Posted by ScimmiaSpaziale at 3:30 AM

Download in the sidebar of Dino's blog:


http://indiafoxtecho.blogspot.com/20...5-release.html

(I realize there's a dedicated thread for updates, but Dino's releases seem to generate a lot of discussion, so I figured it would be appropriate to start a new thread.)

[YoYo]

As always, BIG THANK YOU Dino!!!!



btw. good to see Doug Dawson's fuel dump gauge - I hope it will be implemented to F-35 and the others : ))) .

[Naismith]

Fabulous model, thank you Dino

[Dino Cattaneo]

Thanks for the appreciation - I have spotted a couple of minor defects, so it is likely I will release a fix during the weekend.

[YoYo]

On my spec. Turn on lights in VC:



Turn Off (OK):



External is simply wow.

[Dino Cattaneo]

@Yoyo

Could not replicate your issue with the cockpit lighting. Works fine on my system. Seems an error in loading/processing/rendering the texture VC_military_dials_LM_T.dds.... make sure it is correctly installed. It may also happen because the video card has run out of memory...

[flewpastu]

Dino , I have noticed on the last 2 upgrades of your great tomcat that the wing vapor no longer shows . Has it been taken out or is it me ?

Bill

[YoYo]

@Yoyo

Could not replicate your issue with the cockpit lighting. Works fine on my system. Seems an error in loading/processing/rendering the texture VC_military_dials_LM_T.dds.... make sure it is correctly installed. It may also happen because the video card has run out of memory...

Yes its ok now. I saw this only the first time, now is ok with lights of VC.

Is there any radar for A to A targets?

[Dino Cattaneo]

Ok, then.

As for the radar, the F-14D is fully functional in the Tacpack environment.
You need to go back to the RIO station to power it on. It is also totally possible to conduct a BVR interception from the backseat.
There are other controls which are only in the backseat:
- RWR power (need to be turned on)
- ECM systems (again need to power it on)
- Laser illumination (although LGBs are still missing due to and unidentified bug)...

BR

Dino

[alain0568]

Hello Dino,

I have a problem with this new version of the F-14!
I can not catapult the plane on an carrier, putting gas in the launch bar does not fit on the hoof, contrary to the previous version of the plane!
Is there a soluce, since there are no coordinates of the launch bar in airfraft.cfg file?
Thank you in advance.
cordially

alain.
-

[Dino Cattaneo]

Alain,

I am not sure I understand what your problem is... there are no changes whatsoever in the launch bar dynamics, and should work fine with any Acceleration-based carrier...

Could you please explain in more detail?

Thanks

Dino

[alain0568]

Hello Dino,

Me too, I'm not sure I explain the problem clearly!
I use the Google translator!!
In fact, when I try to catapult the aircraft on the aircraft carrier, have fallen near the launch bar, I put the gas, and that loose, the aircraft advance does not fit on the hoof!
Something that does not happen with the old version!
I hope to have been more clear!
Thank you for your attention!


Alain

-

[alain0568]

Dino,

an image to show the moment it loose!




-After further testing, I have seen that if the boat is not moving, it works correctly!
But if the boat moves forward, pushing the throttles, it loose!
Well, I know now that I must stopped the boat! )))


Alain

-

[Dino Cattaneo]

Ok, I believe I understand what your issue is:
detachment of the launch bar one engaged, just before launch.
I will try to replicate that, thanks for the information.

[YoYo]

Hi. Checked Today on Nimitz. Carrier was in motion, didnt notice any problems with catapult.

[orionll]

While unlikely the case for Alain, I've noticed instantaneous changes in velocity (of the carrier) will cause the same behavior (i.e. catapult becoming disarmed after connecting).

[HansRoaming]

Thank you very much as always Dino.

[Dino Cattaneo]

Yesterday I did some tests... and I was unable to replicate the issue with the launch bar.

Regards

Dino

[alain0568]

Hello Dino,


-Thank you for your efforts!
Too bad, I'm going to do with it.
cordially


Alain

-

[Daube]

The instability of the launch bar on the carriers is directly linked to the performance of your computer. It's a little bit the same problem than the aircraft jumping on the ground.
This happens more frequently to people that set the FPS limit to "unlimited".
When the carrier moves, the aircraft movement is not always synchronized with the ship, and it can also jump a bit. Because of this, the catapult attachment gets suddenly deactivated.

[alain0568]

Hello Daube,

-Thanks for the explanation!
However, my fps is limited to 24!
And most importantly, it does not produced with the old version, which I have kept!
Thank you and good day to all !

Alain


-

[alain0568]

Hello everyone,

Daube put me on the track, and changing the "damping ratio" of 0.500 to 0.600, catapulting to work properly on several attempts!
Thank you to all!


Alain

-

[Merlin216]

Dino,

I've flown your F-14s for the last 8 or 9 years and it was one of the first aircraft I downloaded after I got FS9. I had the pleasure of flying your latest one with two friends tonight and had an absolute blast. Just wanted to say thank you for all of the years of fun and entertainment.

Here are some of the pictures.
http://imgur.com/a/CmaSU

[YoYo]

Dino,

I've flown your F-14s for the last 8 or 9 years and it was one of the first aircraft I downloaded after I got FS9. I had the pleasure of flying your latest one with two friends tonight and had an absolute blast. Just wanted to say thank you for all of the years of fun and entertainment.

Here are some of the pictures.
http://imgur.com/a/CmaSU

Try it with TacPack.

[Daube]

Wow ! That last shot is fantastic !