Scaled Composites Pond Racer

[Joe P]

At Avsim!

http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?DLID=142987

[NWarty]

Thanks Joe! ;)
A little background on the FS9 Pond Racer:

She was built while I was stationed at Q-West, Iraq. Upon returning home this past August, I lost EVERYTHING on my laptop two months ago while upgrading to Vista SP2. The .mdl's simply went POOF! A member of my beta team luckily kept the first beta model and sent it to me. I decided to go ahead and release her, warts and all as my life has become pretty hectic (getting back to 13B basics).

I hope you enjoy her. She ain't pretty, she don't fly well, sounds like a buzzsaw, but I love her. Thanks for looking and for everyone's help over at freeflightdesign. She's up at Avsim and Flightsim.

If anyone of y'all wanna take a stab at the .air file, you more than welcome! ;)

Blake

[Flyboy208]

Cool find Joe! Mike :applause:

[TomSteber]

Downloading as I type. Can't wait to try it out.
Thank you!

[Tom Clayton]

I'm sure there's enough guru's here that we can come up with some respectable flight dynamics!

[NWarty]

Tom,
My biggest issue with her is that I/we couldn't get her to fly right. She either sat on her gear great and flew like carp, or she flew like batstank and sat horribly on her gear. Unfortunately without the .mdl, I can no longer calculate 0,0,0. Some serious voodoo is needed. :(

[PeteHam]

Thanks for releasing this little hotrod:applause::applause:

I've always hoped someone would do this racer for 2004. :jump:

I love it and I'm sure with the combined talent here at SOH there will be a suitable tweaked flight profile.

:ernae:

Pete.

[Matt Wynn]

i'll have a Talk to Pam Brooker, the FDE Engineer at IRIS, she likes quirky aircraft, and loves a challenge!

thanks for the release, starting her up as i type...

[Blackbird686]

Landings are a real thrill in this little plane :isadizzy:, gotta keep the power on after you drop the gear.

Change the "differential_braking_scale" in the brakes section to 1.000 from 0.000 and she'll turn smartly on the ramp with a little power.

Really requires a steady hand on the stick in flight. Unlike anything I have flown in FS. Very nice for a first time FS model.:medals:
Thanks for the heads up!

BB686:USA-flag:

[Tom Clayton]

Tom,
My biggest issue with her is that I/we couldn't get her to fly right. She either sat on her gear great and flew like carp, or she flew like batstank and sat horribly on her gear. Unfortunately without the .mdl, I can no longer calculate 0,0,0. Some serious voodoo is needed. :(
There's a few members here that still have working copies of ACM. There's been several "collaborative" efforts here in the past that good results!:applause:

[OBIO]

I took the Pond Racer into ACM to take a look at how it is set up...and only parts of the plane show up. From the cockpit back, nothing shows up. The wings are no shows. The right prop is a no show.

OBIO

[NWarty]

Hey guys,
I made the worst mistake a designer could when I built her in FSDS 3.0. :banghead:

0,0,0 is NOT the CG. The CG right now is at the instrument panel, when it should be at the 25% WRC. This was fixed in the second beta when I selected all the parts and pushed the Pond forwards within the program and re-did the animations. Some of the other fixes in beta 2 were the flaps, wheel hubs in the VC, rudder. Obviously with the second beta lost, I had to work with what I did.

The engines are both supercharged and produce approximately 1000hp each. She'll push upwards of 500mph. I put her in airwrench and played around with the parameters, but did nothing detailed.

I don't know squat about flight dynamics and would absolutely be tickled if y'all tweaked her. Thanks for downloading fellas.

Blake

[falcon409]

I took the Pond Racer into ACM to take a look at how it is set up...and only parts of the plane show up. From the cockpit back, nothing shows up. The wings are no shows. The right prop is a no show.

OBIO
Obio, I noticed that while trying to port it over to FSX. I fixed all that by removing the solid black alphas. FSDS and high alpha channels don't mix well. Anyway, once I fixed the alpha everything reappeared.

[falcon409]

Blake,
Just a couple of questions about your Pond Racer. I noticed that the graphic on the tail doesn't mirror itself right to left. I couldn't really find any images that showed both sides so can you tell me if that is, in fact, how they did the graphic?

Also, on the side where the Rescue arrow is placed, there are two lines of text that I can't read. The first line appears to have the word "Project" in it, but the remainder is too fuzzy to see.

I'm doing a high res version of that livery for FSX and I just wanted to verify those two before I continue. Thanks.:salute:

[NWarty]

Falcon,
The tail graphic is indeed like that because of the pinstriping, red on top, blue on the bottom, so the number colors are reversed on either side.

The text next to the rescue should read:

TO BLOW CANOPY
PULL LANYARD (9')

Can't wait to see her in FSX. I can't run (fly) FSX on this computer, only testing to see if something works.

Take care,
Blake

[falcon409]

Falcon,
The tail graphic is indeed like that because of the pinstriping, red on top, blue on the bottom, so the number colors are reversed on either side.
The text next to the rescue should read:

TO BLOW CANOPY
PULL LANYARD (9')

Can't wait to see her in FSX. I can't run (fly) FSX on this computer, only testing to see if something works.
Take care,
Blake
Thanks Blake, when I finish the redo, I'll post some in-sim shots in here!:salute:

[NWarty]

Your quite welcome sir!

The texture sheets are pretty rough and I didn't have the right tools to really do the job correctly. Believe it or not, most of the texturing was done with MSPaint, Paint.NET and GIMP. Luckily I saved most of my Pond Racer links on my home computer also.

[falcon409]

Your quite welcome sir!
The texture sheets are pretty rough and I didn't have the right tools to really do the job correctly. Believe it or not, most of the texturing was done with MSPaint, Paint.NET and GIMP. Luckily I saved most of my Pond Racer links on my home computer also.
I'm using Paint Shop Pro 8 and basically redoing the art on a twice sized texture of 2048x2048. Shouldn't take too long to do. Very cool airplane by the way. Sad that the pilot was killed and also too bad that the airplane was never developed any further.

[Flyboy208]

Awesome work Blake! Mike :ernae:

[falcon409]

Blake,
Here are some shots of the revised textures in place. These are 2048x2048 which FSX accepts (makes it nice for maintaining details). Of course they can be reduced back to 1024x1024 for FS9 and I think most of the detail will stay nice and sharp. I also saved them as 32bit for clarity.

For the guys that are working the FDE, I'm not sure if you've noticed this or not in FS9 but for my part, even after engine shutdown, it still sounds like the props are windmilling, even though they are stopped and all switches off. I pulled the mixture back for shutoff, so the engines shouldn't be getting any fuel. I couldn't find anything else in the cockpit that would be on and make the engines think they were still turning.

[falcon409]

Just thought of something Blake, while I was looking over the screens. Do you have any idea what names are actually on the main gear doors? I assume they are the pilots and crew, but I couldn't find any references to them.

[Flyboy208]

Blake,
Here are some shots of the revised textures in place. These are 2048x2048 which FSX accepts (makes it nice for maintaining details). Of course they can be reduced back to 1024x1024 for FS9 and I think most of the detail will stay nice and sharp. I also saved them as 32bit for clarity.

For the guys that are working the FDE, I'm not sure if you've noticed this or not in FS9 but for my part, even after engine shutdown, it still sounds like the props are windmilling, even though they are stopped and all switches off. I pulled the mixture back for shutoff, so the engines shouldn't be getting any fuel. I couldn't find anything else in the cockpit that would be on and make the engines think they were still turning.

Falcon, outstanding work! Mike :applause:

[falcon409]

Thanks Mike. I'm going to do a bit of work on the flight suit and helmet as well. I wanted to get all the external stuff first though. Still a few things. . .the N-Numbers in a few other places and the word "Rescue" inside the arrow.

[Flyboy208]

I found that Banana Bob's prop for Lionheart's Epic LT (FS9) works perfectly.

Get it at http://forum.siminsider.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=302

You just have to re-name it to prop_pond_racer_new and overwrite the original in the aircraft texture folder. Very happy with the results.

Mike :wiggle:

[falcon409]

Whoa, that does look good. . .thanks for the HU.:salute:

[NWarty]

Ed,
I know that the names are part of the crew, but man, I can't/couldn't find a single good quality photo to work from.

You and Mike's screenshots are awesome. It shows just how bad my computer really is :icon_lol:

Blake

[falcon409]

Ed,
I know that the names are part of the crew, but man, I can't/couldn't find a single good quality photo to work from. Blake
Yea, same here Blake. Not a problem, I'll make something up, lol.

[NWarty]

You could always put the names of Sim-outhouse junkies and folks working on her :D

[norab]

I know that the names are part of the crew The plane was commissioned and flown by Bob Pond. A friend of his, Rick Brickert was flying it at the time of the fatal crash. HTH

[falcon409]

The plane was commissioned and flown by Bob Pond. A friend of his, Rick Brickert was flying it at the time of the fatal crash. HTH
The info I found named only Dick Rutan, Mike Melville and Steve Hinton as the pilots who flew her during the test phases, although I can't imagine that Bob Pond didn't fly it at some point. Also, as you mentioned, Rick Brickert was the Race Pilot, both in 91' when it clocked a speed of 400mph in the Silver Class and then in 93' when he was killed making a crash landing.

[falcon409]

Bob's prop animation is perfect for the Pond Racer and it cures the cloud problem inherent with portovers for FSX. I'm slowly working my way through all the textures now that the externals are complete. Slow going, but I'll get the ones that just need a bit of tweaking to take out some of the rough lines.

[NWarty]

Google "Rutan's Watergate"

Absolutely fascinating read over at the air racing forum (18 pages worth) from the members of the Pond Racer ground crew regarding the Pond's flights, engines, cooling problems, and the crash that killed Brickert.

I can't post the link because of the 20-post rule.

Also, keep in mind that the Pond Racer was ever-changing in appearance. The rear fins were cut down, intakes enlarged, markings modified, etc. Evident in many photos over the course of its life.

[NWarty]

Ed,
Now if I can only figure out why the gauge reflections work on your system and not mine :isadizzy: This one had me stumped for two weeks straight and I finally gave up. Apparently it did work! :jump:

[falcon409]

Ed, Now if I can only figure out why the gauge reflections work on your system and not mine. This one had me stumped for two weeks straight and I finally gave up. Apparently it did work!
The only thing I did with that texture was to lighten the Alpha Channel to about 40%. I think when I first loaded the airplane (and the alpha was solid black) most of the gauges didn't even show on the left side. . .after changing the alpha, the gauges returned and the reflections looked fine.

[NWarty]

Ed,
This may help with the names on the gear door

[falcon409]

Ed,
This may help with the names on the gear door
Oh Yea, that'll work. . .thanks!:salute:

[NWarty]

There's a new repaint of her in Flightsim.com's screenshot forum. She looks sweet with flames :)

I'd absolutely love to see her in a video, with FSX/multiplayer at Reno, Stead with Mustangs and the other racers. That would be the icing on the cake with her.

[Hurricane91]

Hello Blake, that's a hell of an nice airplane. I really enjoy flying it. You did an oustanding job putting it together. Many thanks.

Thanks also for your service.

[TomSteber]

Man, trying to fly this is kind of like trying to run around holding an oar by it's handle and having the oar extending straight out from you.
Looking forward to someone coming up with an update for it. It's like the CG is WAAAAYYYYY to far aft.
I remember seeing video of the real one flying at Reno and thinking it was one of the coolest looking planes in modern times.
Really do think this model looks great though. Could turn into a classic with the right flight model and better sounds.

[UKVoodoo]

I'd absolutely love to see her in a video, with FSX/multiplayer at Reno, Stead with Mustangs and the other racers. That would be the icing on the cake with her.

Maybe not FSX n Multiplayer but ill attempt fs9 with fsrecorder when I get a few hours free :kilroy:

[falcon409]

Working on a new paint. . ."Lil' Devil":
Update: Another look
Update: Almost complete

[Blackbird686]

OOOhhh....Looking good Falcon

BB686:USA-flag:

[falcon409]

Takin a rest, lol. Been at this since about 8:30 this morning, lol. Trying to align some of the graphics is getting to me, so I'm gonna be a couch potato for a while and then take another stab at it later!:salute:

[NWarty]

Some good news.

As I was digging through my Vista laptop last night, I found a folder named windows.old. This was after I had to reformat the entire laptop and apparently I didn't do it correctly. Long story short, my Abacus FSDS 3.0 folder is intact in its entirety. Everything is there, from all 60 builds of the Pond Racer and its VC, to a half built Piper Warrior, my old OV-10D Bronco, and all the texture files for each aircraft.

What this means is that I can finally upgrade to FSDS 3.5 and start transferring the Pond to get her into FSX correctly, i.e. fix the CoG, larger texture sheets, correct the .air file and .cfg. It may take some time as I don't have the off-duty time like I did in Iraq to work swiftly. Hell, I'd be willing to even loan her out (.fsc) if y'all want to tinker.

So, just a small update. Take care fellas

- Blake