Airbus Surprise ?!.....

jcomm · April 26, 2017 at 9:29 PM

Well,

the "good" news that are circulating around, regarding a new approach to developers of Airbus models for the Game market of flight simulation, which is, after all, what we are in when playing AEFS2, XPlane, FSX, P3D...., are starting to circulate:

You can check it here...

Wonder if IPACS has been contacted ?

It could look like good news at first read, but for me it may also mean that small developers, even if offering great modelling, already, will have to give up if the royalties heart...

When they write this, I don't see the news as so good for some smaller simulation platforms :-/

HiFlyer · April 27, 2017 at 1:07 AM

So they want control, and money, but don't want to actually do any work. Sounds like a sweet deal for them.

I would like to see this post confirmed though, as I can't find the wording anyplace on the web except at Reddit.

jcomm · April 27, 2017 at 8:50 AM

The first link appears to be from Airbus site.

This is probably what has been happening with other aircraft and flight simulation platforms whenever something more detailed / good / worth trying to explore financially is born...

Remember the names of the aircraft fleet in Flight Unlimited ?

Recently DCS World dealed with the same kind of problems when they released the Huey, and I believe one of their 3pds is now dealing with more of the same regarding the Gazelle ( probably same source - Airbus Industries ? ).

I just hope this doesn't compromise the best Airbus feel I got so far from any simulation platform I have used - the Airbus in Aerofly FS 2 - and the announced upcoming updates for systems!

Jet-Pack (IPACS) · April 27, 2017 at 9:20 AM Official Post

"Best Airbus feel" can you describe that further? What exactly makes it better for you?
I've now implemented the fly by wire protections but they are not final yet. If you don't fight them too hard they actually work quite good now (you'll probably get to test them soon, I hope).
But I want to switch to a C-Star pitch controller. At the moment we just maintain pitch, which isn't correct. The real world A320 has a mix of acceleration and pitch rate which requires less input when changing the aircraft configuration or speed. You can put the aircraft on a 3deg glide, then slow down from 200kts to approach speed, extend flaps and lower the gear and you won't have to adjust your flight path angle at all or just very little. You'd stay on your 3deg profile all the way down. I want that.
Regards,
Jan

jcomm · April 27, 2017 at 11:02 AM

Quote from Jet-Pack

"Best Airbus feel" can you describe that further? What exactly makes it better for you?Jan

I'll try, the best I can...

Well, as a pilot IRL, I've "only" been flying gliders ( for more than 3 decades, almost 4... ). But civil aviation is my passion since I became aware I existed and I have long been hunting for the "perfect flight simulator" since I started using this addictive games around 1987.

Well, along my journey, and since most of my fellow glider pilots are airline pilots ( mostly bus drivers these days... ), I've had the chance to jumpseat on many occasions ( also due to my job... ), including full flights ( from takeoff to park at gate ), and also had the chance to fly the full flight simulators at TAP headquarters next to where I work here at LPPT.

What I mean is that, better than in any other flight simulator where airbuses have been represented, I get in AEFS2 a feel of inertia, heaviness, instead of sudden - Extra 300 like - response to stick inputs that I find in every other A320/21/19/30/40 representation for FSX / P3D / X-Plane / FG, ...

I didn't try Airlinetools A32x, but all of the other Airbus add-ons, for any simulation platform I could try, lack that feel I got from the Level-D sim sessions, or when I jumpseat in an Airbus. Yes they're FBW, but the reponse to control inputs, to turbulence and wind variation / shear, shows the weight of an airliner, and not the instant / brisk / irrealistic responses I get form every other simulated modern Airbus.

Aerofly FS 2 flight dynamics capture that "inertia" better than any other A320 simulation I have used as a simmer.

The upcoming updates can only make it even better!

Jet-Pack (IPACS) · April 27, 2017 at 3:52 PM Official Post

Hi José,
thanks for decribing that in more detail. But maybe the FSX platform in general doesn't allow a detailled rigidbody simulation, so inheritly the feel could be off. Have you also tried the Flight Sim Labs A320 by chance? I find that a very good representation of the Airbus, but I can't judge that entirely - I'm also "just" a glider pilot but have flown the A320 as a passenger countless times. And I have read a bunch of information about the aircraft.

What I noticed in all FSX aircraft for example is a weird side slip motion in high pitch and high bank attitudes. The turns tend to be uncoordinated, the velocity vector points towards the inner wing whilst the nose is pointing out of the corner. Slip indicators show 0 but it obviously is not correct. X-Plane and Aerofly are a whole lot better in that regard. X-Plane and Aerofly also preserve the momentum of the aircraft a lot better during stalls. In FSX you can completely stall an aircraft and fall like a rock but in real life and as simulated by X-Plane and Aerofly you still have residual lift and quite a bit of drag at high angles of attack making it impossible to accelerate downwards that much. You will fall "through" but with a quite a bit of resistance, which is totally missing in FSX, at least for the great majoriy of aircraft (all default and almost all add-ons).

Now back to the topic: The inertia "feeling" that you describe for the Airbus A320 might not be 100% realistic as well (inertia yes but not handling like the real thing maybe). I think the real A320 does a pretty good job in hiding the actual limitations of the airframe, it uses its available control surfaces to get the aircraft to do what the pilot wants and doesn't want. E.g. I can imagine that the real A320 is damped better and has a lot more compensations agains any aerodynamic "cross-axis" effects such as adverse yaw... We will also aim to improve those characterisics, so the A320 might feel a little less "massive" in the future. We will still have the correct physics behind all that so you'll the the control surfaces counter acting the unwanted effects for example.

Regards,
Jan

jcomm · April 27, 2017 at 4:32 PM

Quote from Jet-Pack

Hi José,
thanks for decribing that in more detail. But maybe the FSX platform in general doesn't allow a detailled rigidbody simulation, so inheritly the feel could be off. Have you also tried the Flight Sim Labs A320 by chance? I find that a very good representation of the Airbus, but I can't judge that entirely - I'm also "just" a glider pilot but have flown the A320 as a passenger countless times. And I have read a bunch of information about the aircraft.

Yep, the FSLabs A320 was my last investment a couple of months ago, first for FSX, then for P3D.

Nice as a systems simulation, even if far from complete / perfect... Flight dynamics wise, I prefer by far even your unfinished A320 in AEFS2

The inertia is there in the real thing too. Most of the guys I've flown with switch off A/T A/P at FAF, and fly the approach manually. It's pretty much evident the way the aircraft reacts to power adjustments feels a lot more plausible in your model, even if far from complete, than in anything I have ever tried for FSX / P3D and even X-plane.

Overloaded · April 27, 2017 at 5:18 PM

Is a normally flown Airbus not just a computer game simulation anyway? Who cares what such a dead experience actually feels like? The South Atlantic tragedy shows the result of completely removing the true flying experience and pilot involvement. I always feel unease on an Airbus.

P.S. My first hands on flying was in a two seat glider in the mid 1970s. It was an angular craft called a Ka -7/9 or something similar. I could never find its real name online and did not do much gliding. A Cessna 150 trial lesson at a small airshow gave me the bug.

jcomm · April 27, 2017 at 5:28 PM

Quote from Overloaded

Is a normally flown Airbus not just a computer game simulation anyway? Who cares what such a dead experience actually feels like? The South Atlantic tragedy shows the result of completely removing the true flying experience and pilot involvement. I always feel unease on an Airbus.

I have to disagree Overloaded... It's a great aircraft, IMHO.

Having flown the Full flightsyms ( Thales and CAE ) I do believe that it feels just like an ordinary aircraft designed to make pilot's life even easier than it already is on modern airliners.

Almdudler · May 3, 2017 at 12:27 AM

somebody working on the A380 if i may ask?

FlagPilot · May 3, 2017 at 6:53 AM

I sure hope they are working on an A380!

Jet-Pack (IPACS) · May 3, 2017 at 9:45 AM Official Post

We are working on it, yes. Well in the mobile versions you already have the A380, so you've all seen it already or at least screenshots on our facebook page. No big surprise here or rather: old news...

Airbus Surprise ?!.....

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