Simviation Forums

I have noticed that all the Mustangs in FSX don't sit right. They all have their nose way to high up so it is impossible to see where you are taxying. I know that with many tail draggers are somewhat difficult to taxi for this reason but I also know for a fact that the Mustang isn't near as bad as the ones in FSX. It's nose doesn't sit near that high and the visibilty when taxying isn't that bad. One of our customers just got a Mustang and I have had the opportunity to sit in it on the ramp and it doesn't sit anywhere near as nose high as the planes in the sim do. This of course leads me to the question....can anything be done about this? How can the nose be lowered so it sits more like the real plane? (The Mustangs in CFS2 are more correct).

I'm no Mustang authority.. but could it be that these are racing Mustangs ? They have shorter wings and only a left-side fuel tank. Are the fuselages shorter too ? That would account for this problem.

my own picture


you tell me. does it sit too high? maybe but not by much

I've flown it a few times, but never remembered having a hard time taxiing with poor visibility, so I loaded it up, and took a screenshot.

Maybe it's just me, but this doesn't seem too bad.... :-?

Press Shift + Enter a few times and your seat will be pumped up.  As said, it is the racing version so the bodywork and the engine are totally different to the original.  Same with the flying characteristics.

Reider

[quote]Press Shift + Enter a few times and your seat will be pumped up.

Doesn`t matter what you use as long as it works.....

Reider

I've flown it a few times, but never remembered having a hard time taxiing with poor visibility, so I loaded it up, and took a screenshot.

Maybe it's just me, but this doesn't seem too bad.... :-?

Hmmmmm...I wonder how come mine doesn't look like that. Is this the 3D panel? Anyway, I was mostly talking about the non racing Mustangs. There is a panel available for them that I use on all Mustangs that I believe came from CFS2. Only in CSF2 it's different in that, well, it has better visibility. If you look at the Mustangs from the side in CFS2 and then in FSX, you see a significant difference. Maybe the racing Mustangs are better...I haven't really compared them. If I could figure out how to attatch a pic to this post, I would put one up of an FSX screenshot and one of a Mustang sitting on our ramp. Maybe it's just me but I see a huge difference in the way the airplane sits.

[quote]Press Shift + Enter a few times and your seat will be pumped up.

my own picture


you tell me. does it sit too high? maybe but not by much

Now compare this to a side view of a stock Mustang from FSX.

[quote][quote]Press Shift + Enter a few times and your seat will be pumped up.

Here is a Mustang sitting on our ramp.



Here is a screenshot from my system.



As you can see there is a bit of difference in the angle of the fuselage. It may not look like much but it makes a difference. Anyway, I did manage to adjust seat height and viewing angle in the 3D cockpit and get a better view. But I was hoping to be able to do that in the 2D mode where I can see the entire panel.

Here is the 2D cockpit I am using. This cocpit looks great in CFS2. Because the nose of the airplane is a little lower like the real plane, I have decent visibilty on take off.



Here is the 3D cockpit. I have moved the seat and viewpoint around like you guys said and it's alot more usable but I would like to be able to see the entire panel.

Where did you get that Mustang?

Thanks  ;)

Looks like the one from Warwick Carter, available right here, in the vintage section.

Bret, your screenshots are just prefect, they show the problem: look at the wheels, it seems that the real-life ones are more compressed, since we can hardly see the axis of the wheel. In the sim, we can almost see the full wheel. That explains why the nose in the sim is too high.

And for the 2D panel, I have only two remarks:
- you may be using a different zoom in the 2D panel than in the 3D one, check that first.
- using the 2D panel on a plane that has such a great VC....

A couple of points here. First of all most taildraggers should not be taxied in a straight line. They are weaved from side to side in order to see where you're going. Long-nosed fighters like the P-51 & Spitfire are notorious in this respect, hence the number of taxiing accidents.

Here is a Mustang sitting on our ramp.

That shot doesn't look quite level to me which exaggerates the difference between the one in FSX. I tried this model in FS9 for which it was originally intended & it sits differently.


However, it should be possible to change the angle that the FS model sits on the ground by tweaking the static compression of the gear legs in the contact_points section in Aircraft.cfg. You could also raise the pilot's viewpoint. This affects the VC & side/rear views only. It would not affect the 2D panel.

Here is the 2D cockpit I am using. This cocpit looks great in CFS2. Because the nose of the airplane is a little lower like the real plane, I have decent visibilty on take off.

The 2D panel bears no relationship to the aircraft visual model. It's also possible a CFS2 panel displays differently in FSX. Most FS panels are unrealistic. You wouldn't be looking at the panel during take-off & would need to glance down to see it. If you look at the pilot's eye view when the aircraft is level the panel would not be visible. Here's one of my photos to demonstrate.


I'm sure I've seen at least one Mustang where the seat can be raised with the canopy open for improved view on the ground.