Simviation Forums

Hello, I already have a post running although on a seperate problem (a slightly differebt x file question). I have decided to work on parts of the aircraft that are not problematic. I have made the keyframe animation for the spoilers but I am confused as how to name them. This is because there are 2 left and 2 right spoilers, the 2 left also act as the left aileron and the 2 right act as the right aileron. Can someone please tell me how to name thses? Thanks for any help.

This is a fairly simple process.  I felt kinda dumb when it was explained to me . . .

Name the spoilers as normal (this will cause them to operate with the spoiler key).  Now make a very simple object, perhaps a box.  Make it something like 1" square; really small.

Place it exactly at the pivot point for the outside right spoiler and name it r_aileron_outside (the important part being the r_aileron).  Rotate the pivot of this new box around until it matches that of the spoiler (you can do this by just copying the x,y,z info from the boxes at the bottom of the screen).

Select your spoiler again.  Click the link button and link it to the box (r_aileron_outside) you just created.  Now the spoiler will move when the aileron does.

Repeat all of that for the other three spoilers.

This will also work for any other combination of control surfaces.

Good Luck!

Hey Abyss,
Check this Thread. You can use it to visualize basically what Ender has explained to you.

FSEdge

Actually it is easier than that. There are some lines in the aircraft.cfg file:

[airplane_geometry]
...........
spoilerons_available=1                        // 0 for off and 1 for on
aileron_to_spoileron_gain=3.000        //adjust as needed
min_ailerons_for_spoilerons=10.000  //adjust as needed
min_flaps_for_spoilerons=0.000         //adjust as needed

Of course you do have to have the l_spoiler_xx and r_spoiler_xx parts them selves and their respective animations.

Lou

Ok thanks a lot. A simple proces yet but my brain doesn't seem to work that way, I would never have thought of it.

Ok I have done the "make a small box" thing, but it doesn't animate in fs. I have read something about this but I cannot remember where. Is it what I have named the spoilers (l_spoiler etc) or is it something to do with "tick 18". I am using keyframes. Sorry about this because it is a simple thing but I have forgoten where I saw the information I needed.

If you use tick18, the animation would run all the time.

If your spoilers are located on the top surface of the wing, they should be named l_spoiler_01, l_spoiler_02, r_spoiler_01, r_spoiler_02, depending on how many spoiler objects you have and their location, left side or right. The animation should be between key frames 0-100 and adjusted according to how fast they need to operate. In other words, if you want them to "pop" up the full rotation animation would be done say between key frames 0-25.  For a smooth and slow operation, use the full range of 0-100.

The problem with linking a top of wing spoiler/speed brake to a phantom aileron box so they work as spoilerons is that they would disappear into the top surface of the wing as the aileron for that respective side went to a negative position.  By using the modification in the aircraft.cfg file the spoilers only rotate upward as the aileron for that side of the aircraft rotates upward. You can see this in operation on the MS B777 as well as others.

Lou

Ok thanks, I had no idea what tick 18 was but I saw it somewhere. What do I call the spoilers if they are on the underside of the wing?

Okay, I would suggest what Firestriker recommended, as I didn't realize not everyone had spent as much time on the problem as I have.

Just FYI:

. . .they would disappear into the top surface of the wing as the aileron for that respective side went to a negative position. . .

is not necessarily true.

Yeah EB your right. Linking the spoilers to something that is key framed would eliminate the disappearing problem and also eliminate the need to modify the aircraft.cfg to get them to work. I was at first under the impression that the spoilers would be linked to the basic non key framed ailerons. Sorry for the missunderstanding.

Lou

Huh!  That wasn't a misunderstanding!  I didn't explain myself. :-/  And your solution is infinitely simpler!

I was at first under the impression that the spoilers would be linked to the basic non key framed ailerons. Sorry for the missunderstanding.

Lou

Actually, linking directly to the non-key framed aileron will produce extremely accurate and effective results case proven in the link I supplied above.

FSEdge