CONTACT POINTS FOR SEAPLANES

[Bill Kestell]

I need to tweak some seaplanes (I DO NOT LIKE THE WAY THEY SIT IN THE WATER ... THEY'RE JUST WROOOOOONG!)

I have a choice of 8 different points and I don't want to waste time guessing or going through a process of elimination.

What I want to know is:

What the usual and accepted order of these points are? (In this case, Point.7 thru 14) I have NOT been able to find this out thusfar from Caleb Flerks or other web searches ... HELP, PLEASE!:pop4::isadizzy:

[dvslats]

Hey Bill, what is it that doesn't look right? Can you post a picture?
Moving or still? ....for the plane's look, just sitting in the water, these settings will alter the look.

static_pitch = -0.010
static_cg_height = 9.600
max_number_of_points = 18

Dave

[Bill Kestell]

Hey, DV ... various a/c are a problem.

Some (like the vn PBM) land and sit way too high out of the water to be correct. Others (like the Hu-16 FS9 Albatross) sit way too low ... dangerously so ... if you were to open the door, even in a calm lagoon ...you'ld soon qualify for your dolphins!!!!!

I think that the contact points for TAIL and BELLY would be the keys to having it sit lower or higher. I would expect that a/c are built to a standard ... with a certain order to these things ... I just need to know what they are.

[Milton Shupe]

Hey, DV ... various a/c are a problem.

Some (like the vn PBM) land and sit way too high out of the water to be correct. Others (like the Hu-16 FS9 Albatross) sit way too low ... dangerously so ... if you were to open the door, even in a calm lagoon ...you'ld soon qualify for your dolphins!!!!!

I think that the contact points for TAIL and BELLY would be the keys to having it sit lower or higher. I would expect that a/c are built to a standard ... with a certain order to these things ... I just need to know what they are.

Hi Bill,

I have the HU-16 for FS9; not sure if it what you have as a base but here is what I have.

The float contact points type 4 is what you must adjust. Static pitch and height is just for slewing or positioning prior to load or after the slew disengage. The type 4 contact points determine height in water and you can adjust pitch (how it sits in the water) by making the front and rear slight different in height.

You can see how mine sits statically, and how she looks at takeoff, here at 70kts.

Of course, the contact point coodinates depend on the reference points. Here are mine:

[WEIGHT_AND_BALANCE]
max_gross_weight=31365.0
empty_weight=22883.00000

reference_datum_position=0.000, 0.000, 0.000 // (feet) distance from FlightSim Reference position: (1/4 chord, centerline, waterline)
empty_weight_CG_position= 4.870, 0.000, -6.000

max_number_of_stations=11

CG_forward_limit=0.000
CG_aft_limit=1.000

[Bill Kestell]

Thanks. Milton ... that's what I was looking for ... I was close ... but this will get her right where she should be.

[TARPSBird]

Bill,
In FS9 I am still trying to figure out what magic combination of float (type 4) contact points will allow for the standard wake effect (fx_wake) to appear consistently on takeoffs and landings. :banghead: On some aircraft if you position the float points so the plane sits properly in the water you lose the wake effect. On others you can't get the wake to show at all, regardless of how you position the plane. Since you are using the panel gauges with the CFS2 planes I assume you're not having that problem, right?

[dvslats]

Sorry about that piece of misleading information Bill. This would explain why I was not getting the desired effect in my attempts.

Now where can I get me a warm piece of that humble pie...a la mode. :kilroy:
Dave

[Milton Shupe]

Well Dave, have a seat ... we all have plenty of that pie to go around. :)

Do you have this aircraft.cfg statement in those aircraft that you get no effects from? The name may be different in CFS2?

[EFFECTS]
wake=fx_wake

[dvslats]

Do you have this aircraft.cfg statement in those aircraft that you get no effects from? The name may be different in CFS2?
[EFFECTS]
wake=fx_wake
I should have worded that sentence better. Effect should be replaced with "look", as when the aircraft is sitting in the water. No engine start, no forward movement.

If I could pick your brain for a moment Milton, I'm thinking there has to be "an order of operation" as far as the Aicraft.cfg is concerned for proper appearance in the above mentioned look. This would be dealing only with the contact points.

An example of what I'm trying to say...

zero out all of the contact points. (especially if it is a land take off set-up)
1.) Adjust static compression
2.) Adjust Impact Damage Threshold
and so on.

Only an example.

I say this because in ACM one has the visual presentation, along with the numbers. I usually end up jumping all over the place inside this program with no real meaning. My results come out the same way...no real meaning. :icon_lol:

Hope this makes sense, I guess what the real question here is, do you follow a certain order.
Dave

[TARPSBird]

Do you have this aircraft.cfg statement in those aircraft that you get no effects from? The name may be different in CFS2?
[EFFECTS]
wake=fx_wake
Milton,
Unfortunately the [EFFECTS] section of the .cfg file is not used in CFS2, which is why Bill is using the panel gauges for the effects. Would have been a nice retro-fit feature for CFS2, if MS had seen fit to provide us with a few improvements at a later date. :frown: