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MSFS20 Open Source Cessna 170B Bush Plane - Released as freeware

S

sal1800

Messages
94
Jan 1, 2021 Update: This aircraft is now released as freeware at Flightsim.to: https://flightsim.to/file/25579/cessna-170b-backcountry
Thank you to all of the forum members here who have downloaded the early versions. Since the last version I posted, there are numerous small changes and an additional polished aluminum livery. I'll post the latest source within a day or two just in case public feedback causes me to make more changes.

With the release of Carenado's C-170B, there's not much point for me to continue to polish the details on my project, so I think it's time to release it to the wild.

I have been working on this from the ground up since January. Low and slow bush flying has been my favorite part of MSFS 2020 and at the time, I wanted to see the 170B in the sim so I started to build it. This has been a fun project to work on even if it meant learning a lot of new skills. With all the details needed to create a sim plane, I have a great respect for all developers who have released product for this sim.

The quality of my work is certainly not all that spectacular and far from the quality of Carenado's offering. But it's fun to fly and with the source files, anyone should be able to modify and tweak it to their liking. While there are errors and some unfinished details, I modeled most of the systems and included the extras that a lot of simmers like to see. This is available completely free and the Blender files and included textures are under the open source BSD license so you can reuse any or all of it in your own projects, including payware projects.

At the very least, maybe other developers can use this to learn how to implement features into their own projects. I make use of a lot of model behavior code to drive all the animations and events.

Download via Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tuYqc_gKw8KIfPPwINTQGZf3HulQAYk6?usp=sharing
There are two zip files, one containing the source Blender file and a project directory and the other is the compiled package folder to place in Community if you just want to fly it.

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Hello,

By curiosity, I downloaded your 2 archives and I just made a small flight over Kidwel (Cal-Nev-Ari) with your C170B.

I am the developer who took the sources of the C150 of Fravin and Franckart (C150 for FS2004) and that he ported it under FSX and Prepar3D. I spent more than one year there and thus I begin to know well these bush planes.

First, I would like to congratulate you for your work which is very clean and well advanced. It's a pity to stop like that in the middle of the river. Even if Carenado offers a very clean addon in terms of texture and finish, there is a way to continue your project to make something very valuable and that will interest many people.

I think there are some small things missing but it shouldn't be difficult to make it a character addon, which is missing from Carenado's too smooth, too beautiful.
Adding an engine under the hood, allowing to remove these hoods, being able to check the amount of oil, starting the engine by hand via the propeller, adding a tablet to manage the conditions of use without forgetting the necessary to refuel.

I have a lot of various parts in my "3D hangar" to be able to realize this stuff (GMax user since 2008), if you want I will try to improve your version to try to approach a C170B that I know a little, that of Bush-Air


PS: Since one month, my C150K TiBush is being transformed to be modifiable under Blender and to be able to finish it for MSFS
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Thank you for the kind words, Lagaffe. I visited your site and you work is quite exceptional! The 150K would be an amazing to see in MSFS.

My 170B has been functionally complete for quite some time but I found myself down an endless road of improving details. I feel like I reached a milestone and can stop for a moment and decide to work on other aircraft or continue to add features to this one.

Perhaps a float version would be desirable and this would be a unique feature.
 
Hi Sal, I downloaded your plane and I will try it. I also made a request to friends of the association I belong to (over 200 members), someone will probably try it ... then I'll tell you.
regards
 
I tried it, my compliments to you....flied very well, stable, it is delicious to fly with it.
 

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Hi @sal1800 ,

First thing: A big thank to you to these file as they will help us a lot !

Second thing, as @Lagaffe said: "It's a pity to stop like that in the middle of the river" I can't be more agree with this
Having competitors can be very usefull on the market and can help a lot to improve the quality of the payware one.

What about we help you like a Fly By Wire addon but for bush plane if you want / need ? I'm pretty sure a lot of people could and would love to work on a community project like that (myself included).

I am currently in the process of create an aircraft almost like this - (will be payware but little price) so tell me if you are interested to work with me since I try to find someone motivate to work with us (we are currently 3 and making scenery for msfs2020 but it will be our first airplane)
:)
 
When I started this project, there wasn't a similar airplane available like this so I was motivated to build it just for myself. At some point, I began to think that others would like it as well, so I tried to increase the quality since the 2020 standard seems to be much higher than we had with other sim development.

But now that the sim has been out for some time, we are getting so many quality payware addons that medium quality freeware releases may not get so much attention. I would certainly consider being involved in a community project, just not as an organizer or primary driver.

And while I enjoy 3D modeling, there are so many other talented artists with much greater skill in these areas. I realized that I could possibly contribute more with animation and systems configuration if I could work along with artists. So to that, yes, I would be interested in collaborating with anyone working on a project who needs help in these areas.
 
I have a small update for SU5 compatibility. I was using the Asobo model behavior templates for the transponder and navcom radios. Both these had some changes that needed to the xml and node IDs. I guess this is the risk to using these templates. I also tried to improve the lighting but it's still not 100% correct.

I have a work in progress float model that I will continue to work on. But also I started a new project which I plan to post information about in this forum soon.

You can download the updated package and source files from the same location as above: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tuYqc_gKw8KIfPPwINTQGZf3HulQAYk6
 
sal1800 said:
I have a small update for SU5 compatibility. I was using the Asobo model behavior templates for the transponder and navcom radios. Both these had some changes that needed to the xml and node IDs. I guess this is the risk to using these templates. I also tried to improve the lighting but it's still not 100% correct.

I have a work in progress float model that I will continue to work on. But also I started a new project which I plan to post information about in this forum soon.

You can download the updated package and source files from the same location as above: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tuYqc_gKw8KIfPPwINTQGZf3HulQAYk6
Click to expand...
That's super cool to let us download this fix for the su5.
I'm pretty sure that there is a ton of people downloading the project but not even say a thank you so I would like to thank you in the name of all :)


This project will help me a lot to develop my first aircraft so again, thank you for be such an philanthropist :)
 
@Luicid Thanks for the kind words. If even one developer gets some value from this project, I am completely satisfied.

My next project will also be completely free and open source. I am adding more helpful comments in the XML code to help others build their models with the correct node names and animation names to match the model behavior templates. This is one thing that has been difficult to understand using the Asobo templates. You need to really understand their code to know how to set up your model.

With my new model, I can append objects from the other project and after moving them into position, they work without any extra work. That has been a huge time saver.
 
I finally went from being a lurker to creating an account here just to say THANK YOU for this wonderful aircraft! It's been fun to fly and brings back lots of memories with my dad taking me flying many years ago. Keep up the great work!
 
Thank you for the 170 and update! It's one of my favs in my hanger, and I'm very excited to hear you're working on a float model! I think its awesome you decided to make it open source too! Maybe I'll get brave and take advantage of that. lol Thanks again!
 
Hi LewTron. I should update this thread. I modeled some floats (straight floats) and did a lot of experimentation with the contact points to get it to float right. I'll say that this was not very easy. I couldn't find much information and many configurations would either not float or would cause a physics bug that would propel the plane up.

When I copied the default X-cub contact points, it gave a workable starting point. I have it floating ok, but the take off and landings just don't feel satisfactory. Maybe the next sim update will improve seaplane physics.

Here's a zip of the package at the best I could get so far. You can try it and see what you think. There may not be a thumbnail for the float version. And the modeling of the floats is very basic.

These screenshots are up in Wisilla Alaska which I highly recommend if you like seaplane flying. There are many lakes with seaplane bases. You can look up ICAO PAWS to get in the area.

sal1800-cessna-170b-bush_Package_Beta_v0.3.zip

drive.google.com drive.google.com

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That is awesome! I do most of my flying on floats, so this is very welcome to my hanger. Only did a short flight, but was very happy with it! I also hope float physics gets updated soon, they do leave a lot to be desired. Im optimistic it will happen sooner or later though, I mean they added more float planes, as well as a wake effect. Seems promising to me. Thanks for sharing your work of the 170, I know I'm gonna have a blast with it! 👌
 
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