Flight Dynamics, wind tunnel, etc...

[jeremiahhorner]

Here's one for the really experienced... The only thing I like more about X-Plane is the virtual wind-tunnel aspect.  So I'm wondering if there is a third-party program that will put my 3DMax (or whatever) models through a virtual wind tunnel and produce a .air file for it?

[Brett_Henderson]

I'm not familiar with the inner-workings of X-plane.. But I'm intimately familiar with MSFS.

There is absolutely no relationship between the model file, and the air/cfg files. The models are for looking at only. You could model two bricks tied to a beach ball, and animate any way you like..and make it fly like a jet fighter by air/cfg editing

[jeremiahhorner]

X-Plane uses a geometric flight model.  It breaks the actual 3D model into pieces and applies forces to them, building a virtual wind-tunnel.  So the model actually "flies" in X-Plane.  I agree that this isn't any better than FSX (and have read a lot to support this opinion) but what I'm wondering is if there is software that will analyze the model in the way that X-Plane does and then produce a .air file that represents the results.  So, even though FSX doesn't care about the model itself, the .air file would be based on a prier analysis of the model.  Make sense?

[Brett_Henderson]

[quote]X-Plane uses a geometric flight model.

[jeremiahhorner]

http://www.x-plane.com/about.html

I might not be understanding this quite correctly but there you go....

"because THAT kind of modeling would lure me away from MSFS completely. The very idea that my creation as modeled, could be put to the aerodynmic test, is just too appealing.."

Exactly!  :)

[ShaneG_old]

From what I read in that link, it sounds as though you have described it correctly. And PCPilot magazine just did a big article on this also.
Gotta wonder why people are so down of this one? :-?

[Brett_Henderson]

Yeah.. I read that link, and several others while digging around. And alas, it's as I expected.

Unless I'm really mis-understandig it all..You still have to enter geometry data... you cannot just make a 3D model and turn it loose. You could still make the beach ball model if you liked, but enter the geometry data for an airplane.. In that respect, it's not much different than MSFS

[jeremiahhorner]

That's too bad about X-Plane, although I have a few flight hours myself (nowhere near 2000  ;D ) and I 100% agree that FSX is a more complete package.  
I don't see, though, why this idea wouldn't be possible.  I've read in several places about Universities using "virtual windtunnels".  You define the characteristics of the object and then "blow on it" with 1s and 0s.  A 3D model essentially works by giving pixels XYZ cooridinates; which forms a geometric object so there's no reason that a program couldn't use this information to extrapolate the geometry of an aircraft instead of rendering it to a GPU.  Add to that other information about materials, mass, etc. and that program could than compute and output the required tables for a .air file.  Complected, somewhat convoluted and unnecessary? Maybe....but it would sure be entertaining!  Thanks so much for all of your thoughts....especially given your real-world background.

[Brett_Henderson]

I don't see, though, why this idea wouldn't be possible.  

It's very possible.. exactly along the lines you described...  The whole idea REALLY piques my interest.... I just don't see it happening on average, desktop computers and $50 software.  :-/