I have a foot in both camps, 'abandonware' maybe no, but as reasoned, it's not extreme or for gain what we are suggesting, and would still be fully credited to Gary.
Having said that, should SOH be seen to directly contravene the authors express wishes...??? Or are we being too precious and correct about this?
Personally, I think if ACM can be used to alter the ref point, is minor, ripping and re-hashing the model may be over-stepping this.
Shessi
p.s Just seen Milton's post. I can't run ACM, so can't try it, but can ACM change the ref point and update the mdl, not the .cfg or airfile?
Hey all
The reason this AC will not float is the landing gear. The model must have been made with the gear down. Tom Sanford (Tango_Romeo) explained it to me a few years back. IF the AC is modeled with gear up then it can rest in water. If its modeled gear down it will sink.
So as an AI plane it will always sink. As a player AC, if you put the gear up you will float. Are you able to follow me?
Now if the contact points are set right it should float. I've made wheeled aircraft float without too much trouble. Just have to follow the above rule. Some times you have to make the points wider or longer. You may also have to move up the scrape points. Set CoG to water line. ACM works very well for this. As it gives you the ability to see the model and the contact points.
See if any of that helps. It works for CFS2 and FS2002. So FS2004 should be the same.
Please let me know if it works.
Till Later,
John
"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose."-Tom Krause
My works Here: http://www.thefreeflightsite.com/JFortin.htm
Here is a sample of what I did for CFS2. I took the Sopwith Pup and made it so I could launch from the catapult of a battleship. Well the only way they could recover them before Aircraft carriers was for them to ditch. They had Flotation bags so they could recover them. Well this is my setup for it.
[contact_points]
static_pitch = 16.500
static_cg_height = 4.900
max_number_of_points = 13
point.0 = 1.000, -14.740, 0.000, -1.000, 1800.000, 0.000, 0.200, 100.000, 0.100, 2.500, 1.000, 2.000, 2.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.1 = 1.000, 0.200, 2.270, -5.150, 1800.000, 2.000, 1.050, 0.000, 0.100, 2.500, 0.800, 2.000, 2.000, 3.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.2 = 1.000, 0.200, -2.270, -5.150, 1800.000, 1.000, 1.050, 0.000, 0.100, 2.500, 0.800, 2.000, 2.000, 2.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.3 = 2.000, -0.950, -8.580, -3.300, 1500.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 5.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.4 = 2.000, -0.950, 8.580, -3.300, 1500.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 6.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.5 = 2.000, -14.000, 0.000, -0.700, 1500.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 9.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.6 = 2.000, 2.800, 0.000, -3.000, 1500.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 4.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.7 = 4.000, 4.200, 2.270, -4.500, 1800.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.250, 2.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000, 3.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.8 = 4.000, 4.200, -2.270, -4.500, 1800.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.250, 2.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000, 2.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.9 = 4.000, -8.200, 2.270, -2.300, 1800.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.250, 2.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000, 3.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.10 = 4.000, -8.200, -2.270, -2.300, 1800.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.250, 2.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000, 2.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.11 = 4.000, -12.000, 0.000, -1.200, 1800.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.250, 2.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.12 = 4.000, -15.000, 0.000, -0.300, 1800.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.250, 2.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000
I had to give it retractable landing gear. Otherwise, as I stated earlier, it would sink.
"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose."-Tom Krause
My works Here: http://www.thefreeflightsite.com/JFortin.htm
Here is a question. If you takeoff from land and land on the water, does it float?
I have it in fs2002 but have not tried it yet. After looking at it in ACM, everything looks in order.
I wonder if you removed the gear contact points and left the floats if it would remain floating. If not then then that would confirm what Tango was telling me. Which means the model needs to be remade with the gear in the up postion. Now this would cause the reverse issue when trying to start on land.
Something to try... If you have a water way set as an airstrip you could try this. While loading the flight put the gear up. When the flight is loaded you should be floating.
Its all I can think of right now. I think I have a copy of my notes for amphibs and float planes. I'll look for them.
"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose."-Tom Krause
My works Here: http://www.thefreeflightsite.com/JFortin.htm
Remember that water is completely different in FS2002 and FS9. The Mallard definitely floats in FS2002, but "floating" isn't at all the same thing in the two sims. Milton explained why the Mallard won't float in FS9 (see his post above) and it has nothing to do with the landing gear or with the contact points.
Sorry, I was hoping it worked more like CFS2.
How does water work in FS2004? Is it like CFS2. CFS2 seems different to even FS2002. Just wondering.
Shessi or Milton,
Can this be SCASM edited? Or would it ruin everything.
In the mean time I've imported the model to Gmax. I wish MCX would keep the animations when it exports to a 3ds model. Animations are one part that I'm still not able to do very well.
"Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose."-Tom Krause
My works Here: http://www.thefreeflightsite.com/JFortin.htm
Proof of concept (and my original reasoning in the above post for why this will not float) regarding water in FS9.
I imported the model to gmax, changed the FS Reference up to the waterline so water would not touch it when floating.
I exported to FS9, adjusted the contact points to the new FS reference point, and she floats beautifully.
So, now we know and have proof of the issue. :-)
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