Piper Arrow General Aviation Aircraft
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Thread: Piper Arrow General Aviation Aircraft

  1. #1

    Piper Arrow General Aviation Aircraft

    The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use. The PA-28 family of aircraft comprises all-metal, unpressurized, single-engined, piston-powered airplanes with low-mounted wings and tricycle landing gear. They have a single door on the right side, which is entered by stepping on the wing.
    The first PA-28 received its type certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration in 1960 and the series remains in production to this day. Current models are the Warrior, Arrow, and Archer TX and LX, and the Pilot 100 and i100. The Archer was discontinued in 2009, but with investment from new company ownership, the model was put back into production in 2010.
    The PA-28 series competes with the high-winged Cessna 172 and the similarly low-winged Grumman American AA-5 series and Beechcraft Musketeer designs. (From Wikipedia)

    I have a friend at church who owns a Piper P28-180 and I always share my flightsim with him. I wanted to find one like it or similar so I did a Google Search and came up with beside Justflight and A2A (I own A2A's FSX model) payware, a number of freeware ones really quite nice. The best is from Commercial Level Simulations which once upon a time WAS payware but now a few years old they are offering for free. Simshack offers it. BUT, a big but because I like simshack a lot personally having bought a number of things from them, as soon as you try and install your download it asks for a registration which is NOT provided in the download or online at their site. So...since they say for support go to CLS I went there to find that they also offer a download there for free WITH a registration right on their download page. I installed it and it's really nice with 7 repaints and 4 different panel backgrounds and beautiful instruments in the VC.

    There is also a free download from Flightsim.com https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/fslib...rchid=94594295 is a Piper Arrow III by Hauke Keitel of Germany who has made quite a number of German aircraft also available there. It is a "port-over" from FS2004 so it won't work in P3D, and the glass is not perfectly clear. George Tovato tried to do a "fix" by altering the Alpha layer of the bmp's but that did not really work. I tried to also with not much luck either. It's too bad because it has a really nice, clear VC as well and I was able to add the GNS530 and GNS430 into the VC with no problem at all like a real panel I saw online.

    I don't keep all the repaint variants of any aircraft I install but make a copy of the aircraft.cfg and then a trick I found out by accident put model = "X" as long as there IS no model X and they all disappear except the one I want in the airplane selection menu in the sim. Here are some screen shots:

    The first two are of the Hauke Keitel Piper you can see in the VC the foggy window glass. Also note where I added the two FS9 GNS 530 and 430





    The second two are of the CLS Piper Arrow






  2. #2

    Glass Fix

    I just got through playing around with trying to fix the "foggy" glass in the HK P28R-201. In "DXTBMP I opened up the 4 glas textures and opened them up in Photoshop. Laid a layer of pure white over the image and saved it. Then I created a pure black alpha channel which is transparent in FSX. Saved all this as all four glas textures. George Tovato said he was having reflections at dusk, dawn and night with the FS9 textures "after FSX SP2" was installed. I use Acceleration. Anyway, I reopened up the aircraft in FSX daytime but it did not make any difference, still foggy. Visible but foggy. Then to test what George said about the reflections at dusk etc. I changed the time and opened it up again and "magically" there are not only no reflections but the glass is perfectly clear. I am going to keep both Piper Arrows in my FSX hanger but will probably fly the CLS a lot more. Let me know any of your comments especially if someone knows how to clear up the foggy daytime glass.

  3. #3
    Richard, usually for me I just open the glass in DXTbmp and darken the alpha, the darker the alpha the clearer the glass.
    USAF Retired, 301st Fighter Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas
    My SOH Uploads: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...erid=83&sort=d

    Current System Specs:
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  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by falcon409 View Post
    Richard, usually for me I just open the glass in DXTbmp and darken the alpha, the darker the alpha the clearer the glass.
    However that appears to not be the case here (this is for the Hauke Keitel version). I've never had a problem clearing up a hazy glass before, but this is different. Correcting the alpha has no affect at all.
    USAF Retired, 301st Fighter Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas
    My SOH Uploads: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...erid=83&sort=d

    Current System Specs:
    FSX/Accel | Windows10 64bit
    Motherboard: MSI760GM-E51(MS-7596)
    CPU: 3.9GHz AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core | RAM: 16GB DDR3 1333
    GPU: NVidia GTX 970 (4GB GDDR5)

  5. #5

    I Found that out too

    Quote Originally Posted by falcon409 View Post
    However that appears to not be the case here (this is for the Hauke Keitel version). I've never had a problem clearing up a hazy glass before, but this is different. Correcting the alpha has no affect at all.
    I don't know why either. I tried deleting the textures all together but that just gave me a black glass because the model did not find the texture. The hazy glass in daytime is not that bad with an all white texture and pure black (0/0/0) RGB alpha channel the same textures for all the "glas 1,2,3 and 4". And at dusk, dawn and night it is perfectly clear which is actually when you need really good visibility to takeoff and land. CLS is still better because it is native FSX not a port-over and especially because now its FREE. Happy New Year.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by tgycgijoes View Post
    . . . . . CLS is still better because it is native FSX not a port-over and especially because now its FREE. Happy New Year.
    Not from what I can tell Richard. First there is no Internal mdl file in the model folder and when I open the single model file it indicates that it's not native FSX (MDL8MDLH). . .it should read (MDLXMDLH) for native FSX.
    USAF Retired, 301st Fighter Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas
    My SOH Uploads: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...erid=83&sort=d

    Current System Specs:
    FSX/Accel | Windows10 64bit
    Motherboard: MSI760GM-E51(MS-7596)
    CPU: 3.9GHz AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core | RAM: 16GB DDR3 1333
    GPU: NVidia GTX 970 (4GB GDDR5)

  7. #7

    My Mistake

    Quote Originally Posted by falcon409 View Post
    Not from what I can tell Richard. First there is no Internal mdl file in the model folder and when I open the single model file it indicates that it's not native FSX (MDL8MDLH). . .it should read (MDLXMDLH) for native FSX.
    You're right my mistake so it won't work in V5 or beyond of P3D then, oh well.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by tgycgijoes View Post
    You're right my mistake so it won't work in V5 or beyond of P3D then, oh well.
    Still a nice model though.
    USAF Retired, 301st Fighter Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas
    My SOH Uploads: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...erid=83&sort=d

    Current System Specs:
    FSX/Accel | Windows10 64bit
    Motherboard: MSI760GM-E51(MS-7596)
    CPU: 3.9GHz AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core | RAM: 16GB DDR3 1333
    GPU: NVidia GTX 970 (4GB GDDR5)

  9. #9

    I think so too

    Quote Originally Posted by falcon409 View Post
    Still a nice model though.
    I just finished programming the radio for the upcoming week so I am going to fly from my 60J to my KEYF, a nice 45 min flight in the Piper Arrow and maybe even fly to another NC airport before returning to 60J for a nice set of hops. I haven't flown in quite a while in NC for fun. Maybe there may even be someone else on VATSIM today though on a Friday holiday week it will be hit and miss probably. TTYL

    Richard

  10. #10
    SOH-CM-2024 MrZippy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by tgycgijoes View Post
    I don't know why either. I tried deleting the textures all together but that just gave me a black glass because the model did not find the texture. The hazy glass in daytime is not that bad with an all white texture and pure black (0/0/0) RGB alpha channel the same textures for all the "glas 1,2,3 and 4". And at dusk, dawn and night it is perfectly clear which is actually when you need really good visibility to takeoff and land. CLS is still better because it is native FSX not a port-over and especially because now its FREE. Happy New Year.
    Any chance of pulling glass textures from any other aircraft that work OK in the daylight?
    Charlie Awaiting the new Microsoft Flight Sim and will eventually buy a new computer. Running a Chromebook for now!

  11. #11

    A Good Thought

    Quote Originally Posted by MrZippy View Post
    Any chance of pulling glass textures from any other aircraft that work OK in the daylight?
    I looked at the textures in the CLS for a swap, personal use couldn't share without permission but I couldn't find them in MDCx for a match. I may go look online for a freeware Piper of someone elses now and see about a match. Can't hurt anything. I have a post at FSDevelopers for some "professional" help too.

  12. #12

    No Joy

    I just searched the net and found another freeware Piper Arrow 3 and downloaded it. I then checked on Model Converter X with the model uploaded what texture sheet had the cockpit glass. I found it; copied it and uploaded it for the four "glas_*T textures but it did not seem to make much difference to the foggy daytime VC glass from inside. Then I loaded my "pure black transparent" alpha channel instead of the gray alpha channel the new "reflection" texture had and copied that for the four glas textures. Same result as before except it is now beautifully transparent at dawn, night and dusk still IMO the most critical times to have perfectly clear glass. I am not going to bother with anymore "fixes" unless someone at FSDevelopers can fix it. It makes me wonder if its in the model like when you want to have a smooth fuselage for a commercial freighter and all the passenger version windows are part of the model. If that is the case no amount of changes are going to make a difference.

    thank you for taking the time to offer a suggestion.

  13. #13

    The New Panel

    If anyone would like the modified panel for the CLS Piper Arrow with the GNS-530 (it is FS9) PM me. I just got permission from Edmund at CLS to share it on here and I can pack it up with the GNS-530 on FSDS for you to download from a link. I flew it yesterday and it worked great.

  14. #14

    Flew back

    I also flew back yesterday in the Keitel Piper and it flew beautifully as well. Just a nice 35 minute flight from KEYF back to 60J. Just in time for dinner. No problems with it at all in FSX.

  15. #15
    Has anyone tried to convert this to native FSX or P3Dv4 with MCX? If not I might give it a try so it will also work in P3D.
    Striker, listen, and you listen close: flying a plane is no different than riding a bicycle, just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.

  16. #16

    Not To My Knowledge

    Quote Originally Posted by expat View Post
    Has anyone tried to convert this to native FSX or P3Dv4 with MCX? If not I might give it a try so it will also work in P3D.
    No one has as far as I know. I am sure that it would be welcome. Go to the Commercial Level Simulations Website and ask his permission to convert it so that you can share it with the other sims. He was nice enough to let me share the revised panel so perhaps he will let you do the conversions since it is now freeware.

  17. #17

    Looking For A Few Textures

    Yesterday while looking for other repaints for the Hauke Keitel Piper Arrow I discovered a better fix for the "foggy" window at Flyaway Simulation. https://flyawaysimulation.com/downlo...r-piper-arrow/ You can compare this screenshot with my one above and I think it is a lot better and will use these "glas*" file replacements. I am also creating a repaint of the actual real life Piper Arrow my friend in Church owns and is stored up in West Virginia. I wanted to do that airport. It is a farm with a grass strip. It is private and not FAA registered being private so it is not on Skyvector or Google Earth so I am going to use the lat/long and create it from scratch and add to FSX with its OWN fictitious designation that is not used for any other airport like I did for the long since gone WWII fields that I have created. Here is the shot out the front of the cockpit at 60J with the beacon in the background:


  18. #18

    A real BUST

    I spent the afternoon creating the grass strip on the farm in Rio West Virginia including changing the airport with the WV10 ICAO designation which is closed and no longer there and just moved it over a little to the new lat/long according to the farm in Google Earth. Then I created a photoreal background for it in SBX that came out really nice. All that work for nothing. I even tried everything in ADEx with exclusions because the stupid FSX team puts the scenery in the middle of a poorly done dense forest of autogen that is not there in real life and will NOT be excluded. So, no airport is the bottom line. I had this fiasco when I did a little airport in upper Alaska that FSX puts in the middle of the Bay instead of where it SHOULD be. Sometimes FSX is really poor when it comes to their default scenery.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by tgycgijoes View Post
    . . . . . All that work for nothing. I even tried everything in ADEx with exclusions because the stupid FSX team puts the scenery in the middle of a poorly done dense forest of autogen that is not there in real life and will NOT be excluded. So, no airport is the bottom line. . . .
    Could you introduce a different landclass in the area to eliminate the forest (using SBX)?
    USAF Retired, 301st Fighter Wing, Carswell AFB, Texas
    My SOH Uploads: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...erid=83&sort=d

    Current System Specs:
    FSX/Accel | Windows10 64bit
    Motherboard: MSI760GM-E51(MS-7596)
    CPU: 3.9GHz AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core | RAM: 16GB DDR3 1333
    GPU: NVidia GTX 970 (4GB GDDR5)

  20. #20

    Don't Knoe

    Quote Originally Posted by falcon409 View Post
    Could you introduce a different landclass in the area to eliminate the forest (using SBX)?
    I don't know how to do that. I never have done anything with SBx but photoreal backgrounds which you taught me how to do. Besides I don't even know how to spell. LOL!!!!

    I just found a new landclass texture for the whole state of West Virginia for free download and am going to try that first. Then I'll get back to you for help with SBuilderX Landclass if it doesn't do the trick. I am hoping it is more up to date than FSX which is probably FS9 lnadclass or maybe even FS2002

  21. #21

    Created It Again

    I had in disgust deleted all the WV10 airport. FSX still says it is there even if it isn't when I tried to redo it in ADEx so I created it totally from scratch where it belongs lat/long and activated the FSX West Virginia landclass and here is the beautiful result. I thought that it was not being properly placed but when I take a satellite view in FSX, this is in winter or hard winter in West Virginia in the mountains so I am going to have to do seasonal textures for it. Like this photo:




  22. #22

    Chalk This One Up To Experience

    I checked out the other seasons in FSX for this area. ACES did not remotely model this area like it really should be for 100's of miles compared to the real satellite photo on Google Earth so I am going to not bother with this, 500 miles of dense evergreen forests that don't exist. I don't believe that the inhabitants cleared that much land! There is no way that I am going to try and change it in SBuilder X for that much area and just figure its one of those FSX unreal areas as there are lots of others you time to time come across even default airports not remotely resembling the real airport or where it's location is. Moving on to flying for a while and perhaps another that strikes my fancy in the future.

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