deHavilland DH89 Rapide

[Hagar]

It's on SimV now. http://www.simviation.com/fs2002vintage18.htm
I'm downloading it to check it out.

aa.. there is one problem though that bewilders me.
the prop discs make some things transparent... my guess is that its some stupid ms problem like the 4-doors-on-a-chopper is.

still.. like i say if enough people like it then i'll do the full monty on it.

Well done Dan. This is just what I've been waiting for so go right ahead & fix it up. There's plenty more vintage nuts like me around.
I don't know Gmax too well. In FSDS2 the display bug with transparent parts like prop disks can be fixed by changing the display order. The disks need to be at the bottom of the list. The quick & dirty way of doing this is to cut & paste the parts.

sure thang.. if i knew how.
i was planning on sticking it in cfs3 too y'know.

how do you go from gcraps-to-cfs2?

You need to export via MiddleMan. http://thegreatptmd.tripod.com/ The part names & keyframe animation should be the same.

[Fozzer]

I was surprised at just how "slow" it was.
Althought the airfile quotes the cruise speed as being "120", I find that anything over 90 knots results in severe case of the "shakes".... ...!
Fantastic model tho', well done...!
(Do we need any more "instruments" on the panel, starter, throttle, mixture, prop control, etc..etc...?...)

Cheers all... ...!
Paul.
(England).

[Guruswarmyoz]

From being up close & personal with a DH89 a couple of times the fin is only a steel tube frame with fabric coversing & has little to no aerofoil shape (i.e. it is really just a "slab" for want of a better frase). Gee i think my spellings a bit off (long day @ work).

Apart from that this is really a fantastic model all round. Congrats Dan for finally doing a long overdue "classic".
From some of the reading material on the DH89 that i have, the Stalling characteristics were not all that "kind" on the real thing too.

[d0mokun]

due to fs2002 i cant model it with slow speeds + even slower stalling speeds. just like with ultralights etc.

however.. the reason it shakes is because of the elevator sq ft area.
I guess its like a car. A ford escort might have 210mph on the dash.. but there a slim chance you'd ever hit it

And panel- has about  that amount of gauges. Just not those exact ones thats all. it is basic.. simple.. perfect.

[Blade]

A Ford Escort, at 210 MPH, are you kidding me Dan  :o

[ATI_7500]

i think he wanted to say: "210 KPH"

[d0mokun]

no no.. its my sarcastic brit humour  ::)

[Rifleman]

I understood it  8)......with my "dry Brit humor"  :-/....been told it enough about that !  :'(

[BFMF]

Awsome Aircraft!

[Guruswarmyoz]

[quote]due to fs2002 i cant model it with slow speeds + even slower stalling speeds. just like with ultralights etc.

however.. the reason it shakes is because of the elevator sq ft area.
I guess its like a car. A ford escort might have 210mph on the dash.. but there a slim chance you'd ever hit it

And panel- has about

[d0mokun]

how on earth do you use those things?  ???

[Guruswarmyoz]

Its fairly easy Dan, but its like learning how to use GMAX --> i.e. takes a bit of practice.
The spreadsheets enable you to enter performance data and aircraft parameters/dimensions that will be generated into an airfile & aircraft.cfg file. Some guess work will need to be done on some things like Roll rates (which can be hard to find -- but a typical light aircraft and airliner will have a max roll rate in the region of 40 degrees/sec) and aerofoil sections.

What you need to get the most out of the 1% spreadsheets (apart from having MS Excell) is to have comprehensive performance figures of the aircraft -  ranging from weights, max speeds, service ceiling rate of climb etc.
Other things that are needed are the Wing root & tip chords (these can be measured using the ruler function in FSDS or if its there in GMAX).
The spreadsheets will handle loadouts, contact point (i.e. it also generates the aircraft.cfg file) etc in relation to the models point of origin --> this bit can become complex in the fact that if the model's point of origin in GMAX or FSDS is not set to where the CofG is. The point of origin is where the axis co-ordinates are at: 0,0,0. This point usually conforms to 25% of the main wings chord (50% of wing chord for Swept wing aircraft).

I have found that some (in particular GMAX models) have the Axis zero points at very wierd locations --> this can lead to "problematic" handling in FS, such as wheels sinking upon rotation, barrel like rolling. The point of origin being in a location other than the "expected" CofG is in the FS2002 preview window. All this is reasonably easy to fix via moving the centre of gravity in the weight and balance section of the aircraft.cfg - what this does is to effectively move the zero point that FS uses.
When i get some time (one has to finish V6 of me PC9 as shown in the left of here) i can do you an example spreadsheet of the Rapide & send it over to you.