FlightGear wiki - User contributions [en]

FlightGear Newsletter January 2015

2015-01-31T16:14:42Z

Art-ix:

{{Newsletter-header|January 2015}}
<div style="border-bottom:3px double #BBB;">
{| width="100%" |
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Development news}}<br/>
[[#Release preparations|Release preparations]] <br />
[[#New ATC client|New ATC client]] <br />
[[#Aircraft documentation|Aircraft documentation]]<br />
[[#Canvas Airbus Navigation Display and Live WXR|Canvas Airbus Navigation Display and Live WXR]]<br />
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|In the hangar}}<br/>
[[#Updated aircraft|Updated aircraft]]
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Scenery corner}}<br/>
[[#TNCM custom scenery - flood fixed|TNCM custom scenery - flood fixed]]<br/>
[[#Slovenia|Slovenia]]
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Events}}<br/>
|}
</div>

== Development news ==
=== Release preparations ===
Per our [[release plan]], the release branches have been created on January 17. From that day onwards, no new features have been pushed, meaning that we have a feature-complete version 3.4 available for testing. Those interested in giving it a try can grab a release candidate from [http://fgfs.goneabitbursar.com/releases/ this location] or build FlightGear from the release/3.4.0 branch. Bugs can be reported at [https://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/issues/entry our bug tracker].

FlightGear 3.4 will be released on February 17.

=== New ATC client ===
[[File:ATC-pie-logo.png|96x96px|left]] ''"Happy new year! I brought you a cake..."''

A '''new ATC client''' for the FlightGear network has been announced on [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=25153 the forum], called ''[[ATC-pie]]''. It is comparable to [[OpenRadar]], but essentially designed for realism. It has begun its beta-testing phase this month, and is expected to be called stable by February.

Several testers have put their hand up to try, some quite experienced ATCs, and their feedback was very much appreciated. Both major public live maps already show connected ''ATC-pie'' clients with the appropriate ATC icon, which makes this new little program feel fully welcome in the multi-player excitement.

''ATC-pie'' is programmed in Python3 for Qt5, so both must be installed, as well as the python3-qt5 bindings. That done, it is meant to work straight away, with no other resource to install or make/compile command to run. No need to install or update FlightGear, download scenery or fetch any external resource before it can run.

=== Aircraft documentation ===
A tool for generating documentation based on the aircraft available in FlightGear was announced on the [http://forum.flightgear.org/ucp.php?i=pm&mode=view&f=0&p=35049 forum]. It parses it's checklists and renders a nice .PDF. It's possible for the aircraft developers to add additional information to the .PDF. The [[Boeing 777]] series serves as an example. The documentation will be published on a central location, check out the new wiki page [[Documentation compiler]] for more information. More features for this generator are being suggested; any feedback is welcome!

=== Canvas Airbus Navigation Display and Live WXR ===
A generic [[Canvas|canvas]] Navigation Display for Airbus aircraft is being developed as discussed on the [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=24201 forum]. It features all different modes (ILS, VOR, MAP, ARC and PLAN), navaids, route and hold patterns, altitude and speed markers, chronometer and so on. It's currently available in a development branch of the [https://gitorious.org/fg/canvas-hackers-fgdata/source/f59c42134a5a77e343981dcff8278c3e2f094e87: canvas hackers repository] and it can be easily implemented on any Airbus aircraft with just a few lines of code (you can see a sample [http://pastebin.com/kjkEaRgP here]).
On the same repository you can also find an initial implementation of a live WXR layer for [[MapStructure]] (it can be used on both Boeing and Airbus ND as well as in the canvas map dialog). It fetches weather radar images from an online service ([http://www.wunderground.com/ Wunderground]) and it renders them on the map. An API Key is required in order to use the online service.
[[File:Canvas_Airbus_ND.jpg|350px|thumb|center|Airbus Canvas ND with Route and Hold pattern]]
[[File:Canvas_AirbusND_with_WXR.jpg|350px|thumb|center|Airbus Canvas ND with Live WXR layer]]

== In the hangar ==
=== Updated aircraft ===
[[File:Twin_Otter_Cockpit.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The new cockpit of the Twin Otter]]
''' De Haviland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter'''

Since approximately one year the [[Twin Otter]], originally created by Syd Adams is under development again.

One area, that recieved a major overhole is the visual appearance, mainly the interior: The textures of the interior have been updated and presently the cabin and the cockpit are photo-realistic textured, which let the cockpit look quite impressive. See the screenshot on the right.

Besides that there are now some more instruments implemented, like a DME or a Garmin G196, which make navigation much easier.

Another important improvement is that the new Twin Otter is now [[Rembrandt]] ready.

Also the electrical systems of the Twin Otter, which were modelled pretty simple before, have been updated primarily by lanbo64: In the new version you are able to follow standard procedures to fly the Twin Otter, which improves realism a lot.

The [[de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter|wiki page]] has been updated, too, now containing some more documentation, screenshots and videos of the Twin Otter.

On the [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21965 forum] the Twin Otter is still under active development, so you can download the latest version there. If you have any idea on how to make the Twin Otter yet better, please feel free to contribute!

== Scenery Corner ==
=== TNCM custom scenery - flood fixed ===
[[User:Legoboyvdlp]] has created a custom scenery that fixes the flood at TNCM. He requests that any of you that know of any other flooded airports please to notify him on his talkpage. [[User:Legoboyvdlp|Legoboyvdlp]] ([[User talk:Legoboyvdlp|talk]]) 18:04, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
This custom scenery is available at https://github.com/legoboyvdlp/LegoTNCMScenery.

=== Slovenia ===
[[File:Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport.jpg|thumb|270px|Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJLJ)]]
Slovenia is a small European country "on the sunny side of the Alps". [[User:Laserman]] added 3300 scenery objects, mostly power pylons but also 990 churches and 50 castles which look very nice on the hills and in the villages. Enable random buildings if your hardware can do it.

Suggested airports:
* LJCE
* LJLJ
* LJPZ

Suggested flights:
* takeoff from LJCE and explore the cities Krško, Brežice and Sevnica
* takeoff from LIPQ and follow the coast to LJPZ

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2015 01]]

File:Canvas AirbusND with WXR.jpg

2015-01-31T14:39:46Z

Art-ix: == Summary == {{File information |Description = Airbus Canvas ND with Live WXR Layer |Source = screenshot |Date = 2015-01-31 |Author = Art-ix }}

== Summary ==
== Summary ==
{{File information
|Description = Airbus Canvas ND with Live WXR Layer
|Source = screenshot
|Date = 2015-01-31
|Author = Art-ix
}}
== Licensing ==
{{self|GFDL|cc-by-sa-all|migration=redundant}}

FlightGear Newsletter January 2015

2015-01-31T13:16:55Z

Art-ix:

{{Newsletter-header|January 2015}}
<div style="border-bottom:3px double #BBB;">
{| width="100%" |
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Development news}}<br/>
[[#Release preparations|Release preparations]] <br />
[[#New ATC client|New ATC client]] <br />
[[#Aircraft documentation|Aircraft documentation]]<br />
[[#Canvas Airbus Navigation Display and Live WXR|Canvas Airbus Navigation Display and Live WXR]]<br />
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|In the hangar}}<br/>
[[#Updated aircraft|Updated aircraft]]
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Scenery corner}}<br/>
[[#TNCM custom scenery - flood fixed|TNCM custom scenery - flood fixed]]<br/>
[[#Slovenia|Slovenia]]
| valign="top" width="25%" |
{{Newsletter-cover-header|Events}}<br/>
|}
</div>

== Development news ==
=== Release preparations ===
Per our [[release plan]], the release branches have been created on January 17. From that day onwards, no new features have been pushed, meaning that we have a feature-complete version 3.4 available for testing. Those interested in giving it a try can grab a release candidate from [http://fgfs.goneabitbursar.com/releases/ this location] or build FlightGear from the release/3.4.0 branch. Bugs can be reported at [https://code.google.com/p/flightgear-bugs/issues/entry our bug tracker].

FlightGear 3.4 will be released on February 17.

=== New ATC client ===
[[File:ATC-pie-logo.png|96x96px|left]] ''"Happy new year! I brought you a cake..."''

A '''new ATC client''' for the FlightGear network has been announced on [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=25153 the forum], called ''[[ATC-pie]]''. It is comparable to [[OpenRadar]], but essentially designed for realism. It has begun its beta-testing phase this month, and is expected to be called stable by February.

Several testers have put their hand up to try, some quite experienced ATCs, and their feedback was very much appreciated. Both major public live maps already show connected ''ATC-pie'' clients with the appropriate ATC icon, which makes this new little program feel fully welcome in the multi-player excitement.

''ATC-pie'' is programmed in Python3 for Qt5, so both must be installed, as well as the python3-qt5 bindings. That done, it is meant to work straight away, with no other resource to install or make/compile command to run. No need to install or update FlightGear, download scenery or fetch any external resource before it can run.

=== Aircraft documentation ===
A tool for generating documentation based on the aircraft available in FlightGear was announced on the [http://forum.flightgear.org/ucp.php?i=pm&mode=view&f=0&p=35049 forum]. It parses it's checklists and renders a nice .PDF. It's possible for the aircraft developers to add additional information to the .PDF. The [[Boeing 777]] series serves as an example. The documentation will be published on a central location, check out the new wiki page [[Documentation compiler]] for more information. More features for this generator are being suggested; any feedback is welcome!

=== Canvas Airbus Navigation Display and Live WXR ===
A generic [[Canvas|canvas]] Navigation Display for Airbus aircraft is being developed as discussed on the [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=24201 forum]. It features all different modes (ILS, VOR, MAP, ARC and PLAN), navaids, route and hold patterns, altitude and speed markers, chronometer and so on. It's currently available in a development branch of the [https://gitorious.org/fg/canvas-hackers-fgdata/source/f59c42134a5a77e343981dcff8278c3e2f094e87: canvas hackers repository] and it can be easily implemented on any Airbus aircraft with just a few lines of code (you can see a sample [http://pastebin.com/kjkEaRgP here]).
On the same repository you can also find an initial implementation of a live WXR layer for [[MapStructure]] (it can be used on both Boeing and Airbus ND as well as in the canvas map dialog). It fetches weather radar images from an online service ([http://www.wunderground.com/ Wunderground]) and it renders them on the map. An API Key is required in order to use the online service.
[[File:Canvas_Airbus_ND.jpg|350px|thumb|center|Airbus Canvas ND with Route and Hold pattern]]
[[File:Schermata 2015-01-26 alle 19.34.02.jpg|350px|thumb|center|Airbus Canvas ND with Live WXR layer]]

== In the hangar ==
=== Updated aircraft ===
[[File:Twin_Otter_Cockpit.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The new cockpit of the Twin Otter]]
''' De Haviland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter'''

Since approximately one year the [[Twin Otter]], originally created by Syd Adams is under development again.

One area, that recieved a major overhole is the visual appearance, mainly the interior: The textures of the interior have been updated and presently the cabin and the cockpit are photo-realistic textured, which let the cockpit look quite impressive. See the screenshot on the right.

Besides that there are now some more instruments implemented, like a DME or a Garmin G196, which make navigation much easier.

Another important improvement is that the new Twin Otter is now [[Rembrandt]] ready.

Also the electrical systems of the Twin Otter, which were modelled pretty simple before, have been updated primarily by lanbo64: In the new version you are able to follow standard procedures to fly the Twin Otter, which improves realism a lot.

The [[de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter|wiki page]] has been updated, too, now containing some more documentation, screenshots and videos of the Twin Otter.

On the [http://forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21965 forum] the Twin Otter is still under active development, so you can download the latest version there. If you have any idea on how to make the Twin Otter yet better, please feel free to contribute!

== Scenery Corner ==
=== TNCM custom scenery - flood fixed ===
[[User:Legoboyvdlp]] has created a custom scenery that fixes the flood at TNCM. He requests that any of you that know of any other flooded airports please to notify him on his talkpage. [[User:Legoboyvdlp|Legoboyvdlp]] ([[User talk:Legoboyvdlp|talk]]) 18:04, 16 January 2015 (UTC)
This custom scenery is available at https://github.com/legoboyvdlp/LegoTNCMScenery.

=== Slovenia ===
[[File:Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport.jpg|thumb|270px|Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJLJ)]]
Slovenia is a small European country "on the sunny side of the Alps". [[User:Laserman]] added 3300 scenery objects, mostly power pylons but also 990 churches and 50 castles which look very nice on the hills and in the villages. Enable random buildings if your hardware can do it.

Suggested airports:
* LJCE
* LJLJ
* LJPZ

Suggested flights:
* takeoff from LJCE and explore the cities Krško, Brežice and Sevnica
* takeoff from LIPQ and follow the coast to LJPZ

[[Category:FlightGear Newsletter|2015 01]]

File:Canvas Airbus ND.jpg

2015-01-31T12:52:34Z

Art-ix: == Summary == {{File information |Description = Canvas Airbus ND showing Route and Hold pattern |Source = screenshot |Date = 2015-01-31 |Author = art-ix }}

== Summary ==
== Summary ==
{{File information
|Description = Canvas Airbus ND showing Route and Hold pattern
|Source = screenshot
|Date = 2015-01-31
|Author = art-ix
}}
== Licensing ==
{{self|GFDL|cc-by-sa-all|migration=redundant}}