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FSX Vitus' Lockheed L10A Electra

Vitus

Resource contributor
Messages
1,480
Country
newzealand
Hello everybody,

I take the chance and present my project: Lockheeds model 10A "Electra".
800px-Earhart-electra_10.jpg

(wikipedia.org)

This aircraft was developed during the 1930ths and it was one of the first all-metal passenger aircraft and was able to transport up to ten passengers. Equipped with two Pratt & Whitney 985 Wasp Junior engines the aircraft gained remarkable cruising speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. The Electra (model 10E) was the aircraft of choice of Amelia Earhart for her attempt to fly around the world.

The exterior currently looks like this:
2009718233447218.jpg


But I will remodel most of it once again. I want to redo the front window section and the undercarriage within the next weeks.

During the last month I focused on the VC. The result so far:
raehiti03.jpg


My major problem is that I am not quite sure about the layout of the instrument panel. That's the reason why the panel still looks very unorganized. I will rearrange the gauges as soon as I have a better understanding.
It is very hard to get reliable information on that aircraft, especially photographs or drawings of the cockpit are very, very rare. Even in the three different operating handbooks I bought is nothing to find about the standard instrument layout. I hope to be able to have a look in the original aircraft displayed at the "Museum of Transportation and Technology" here in Auckland. But you need a lot of patience with these guys until you get an appointment ;).

Many of systems work quite well right now. The artificial horizon is quite cool:
artificialhorizon.jpg


It's gyros are vacuum-driven and you can select the left- or right engine vacuum pump as source. The AH gyros will drift over time, therefore you have to cage it from time to time during flight. It can also starts to tumble - and can even jam - when the aircraft is shaken by heavy turbulences.

All systems that are driven by air-sources (static port/pitot tube/venturi tube) can get clogged when flying in icing conditions resulting in false indications.

Also, all the surfaces can slowly get covered by ice. You can check this by looking outside - the ice will be visible! That results in a decreased performance and a increased stall speed (also simulated!).

I also included a payload editor:
2009720222437526.jpg


It finally works! Using the simconnect interface it is quite easy to manipulate the actual payload of the aircraft.

Another interesting toy is the electrical system. The Electra was equipped with a very small 12V battery and one (!) small 50A generator mounted on the left engine. As you can imagine that leads to some trouble. For instance you should not operate the flaps- and gear motor at the same time because it will result in a massive drain of the battery. Even the drain of the lights - especially the two landing lights - can get you in trouble. All that is simulated in my Electra - you need to have a look at the volt- and ampere meter all the time.

I am also working on a new radio navigation system:
radio01.jpg


I don't want to get into detail right now, but you will be able to choose different antennas and operating modes. Also you will have to determine the bearing to the radio stations by yourself - by turning the loop antenna and find the minimum.

The engine startup procedure is complex as well. Before cranking the engines, you have to prime them:
primern.jpg

But be careful! Your engines can get overprimed and therefore refuse to ignite. You can get rid of the fuel by opening the throttle, cutoff the mixture and crank the engine.
I also included the a freak method of priming the engines that is often use by pilots in the real world to start the engines. That is by opening the mixture and start to "pump" the throttles. That method now also works in FSX.

Ok, that's all for now. Looking forward to read your comments!

All the best!
Vitus
 
Messages
366
Country
us-maryland
AWESOME! The gauge details are stunning. I hope my gauges close to that...

Great interface for the load manager too!

And the various complexities you emulated... BRAVO! I love it when you actually have to go through proceedures instead of simplistic shortcuts.
 
Messages
1,518
Country
unitedstates
That work is just stunning! I admire modelers who tackle aircraft... that has to be so exacting as compared to scenery which can be more forgiving as you are dealing with nature.

Glad you took the time to give us a sneak peak. You should be very proud of your work. :)

Clutch
 
Messages
558
Country
newzealand
Nice work! :eek:

Ian Warren from the New Zealand Flightsim Forums (www.nzff.org) may be able to help with reference material....he is a veritable goldmine of information!

Perhaps while you are at MOTAT you can convince them to upgrade their flightsimulator....I think it is running FS2002? I always thought how cool it would be to load up some of the aircraft on display there and go for a blast in that sim
 

Vitus

Resource contributor
Messages
1,480
Country
newzealand
Hi guys,

thanks for your comments! I'm happy that you like it.

Ken: Until now I only use 3d gauges - so all the needles are 3d parts as well. The backgrounds of the gauges all have a size of about 300x300 pixels - therefore they come out very sharp and detailed. As texture sizes doesn't matter at all in FSX, there is no excuse for producing bluries any more! :p

Timmo: thanks for the tip, I will try to get in touch the next days. And the "simulator" in the MOTAT :rotfl: I had the same idea! I would go further and say it runs FS95. But it seems like most of its controls are damaged anyway. I will bring it up when I meet the guys ;)

Time to go to bed.
Vitus
 

n4gix

Resource contributor
Messages
11,674
Country
unitedstates
That is some truly outstanding modeling and texturing... :wizard:
 
Messages
470
Country
unitedstates
Very Nice... :D

Love the gauges !! I admire your work, I never tackled a/c... I fight too much with scenery as it is !!!! hahaha

Great work, thanks for the sneak peek.
 

Vitus

Resource contributor
Messages
1,480
Country
newzealand
Hi guys,

thanks for all your comments! Very motivating :D

Vitus
 

Vitus

Resource contributor
Messages
1,480
Country
newzealand
Hi there,

glad you like it. I'm making progress, but there is still a lot of stuff to be done - therefore I cannot really estimate a release date.

I updated the main panel graphics and added the first parts of the yokes.
20098920755604.jpg


I also added a "vibration code". Depending on the airplanes acceleration, engines RPM and -synchronicity the instrument needles are shaking due to the vibrations in the cockpit.
20098920641248.jpg


The two-speed propeller is working now. Instead of the constant speed prop, you can only choose between two different beta angles. Even worse: if the rpm is too low the governor will not be able to change to high pitch.
2009810193925792.jpg


These are just a few aspects of the new features implemented.

Regards
Vitus
 
Messages
1
Country
us-texas
Hey everyone!

Wanted to say, that I have joined in anticipation of the new VC cockpit for the L10A!

Looking at the photos, it looks to be coming together great! Any new enticing leads on a release date?
 

Vitus

Resource contributor
Messages
1,480
Country
newzealand
Hi there,

I am better of not talking about a imaginary release date. I already missed my deadline by 400% :D

But here comes another teaser!

Inspired by PMDG, I redesigned the load manager by implementing it into the VC. See the clipboard on the instrument panel?
clipboard1r.jpg


Let's have a closer look!
clipboard2b.jpg


All the functions of the original load manager are now available in the VC as well. However I had to redesign most of the gauge to make it work. Using large images (769x1024) the graphics are very detailed:
clipboard3.jpg


I also thought about extending this system to some other functionalities. Such as the maintenance module:
clipboard4.jpg


Using it, you can advice the mechanics to fix all the failures that occured due to mistreating of the aircraft.
clipboard5k.jpg


I am thinking about extending this clipboard module further by adding a rough checklist and performance tables. But that will depend on the impact on the frame rate.

Regards,
Vitus
 

Heretic

Resource contributor
Messages
6,830
Country
germany
:yikes:

*Faints*


By the way: How did you implement all the cool things like vibrating needles and stuff?
Were those features planned or were you simply like "Hey cool, this XML animation works indeed! Keeper!"
:D
 
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