Simulators for Mac

[u31218908]

IS there any RC simulators for Mac?

[James Frolik]

Sorry, as for now I am not aware of any R/C flight simulators for Apple computers.

But I raised that question about a year ago, but not in The E Zone; I contacted a few flight simulator producers directly. I was told the market for Macs isn't big enough to invest the time writing new (or translating the existing) programming language for Macs.

One simulator maker actually wrote me that the Mac graphic capability is far inferior to that of Windows PCs — a point I highly contest. From my experience, I'd consider them very equal. But the computer market consists of approximately 80% Windows PCs, so that's where the money is. And when a manufacturer is looking to make money, I can't argue that they'd make a killing profit designing simulators for Apples.

Regardless, I will never own a Windows PC again, although I'm forced to use them occasionally. In my early computer days they gave me nothing but headaches. And the problems encountered with Macs — and I admit, there are some — far underweigh the hemorrhaging I went through with DOS and Windows for nearly 10 years.

I'm happy with my Graphite iMac and I'll live without being able to keep my flying proficiency up to par using a computer simulator.

[This message has been edited by James Frolik (edited 06-16-2001).]

[procrastination inc]

Get the a convebtional flight sim for the Mac. Use "tower view" to simulate R/C flight.

Simulators only give you half the story. I'n my opinion, they are harder to fly than the real thing. Although rebuilds ARE a lot quicker http://www.ezonemag.com/disc/biggrin.gif

[jmelzer]

Yes there are no R/C flight sims for the Mac. :-(
I have also found no love using Virtual PC to run FMS.
It just won't work.
I do find Virtual PC handy to run Ecalc. It will also let you run Motocalc and other less demanding Windoze programs. A boatload of memory (RAM) is helpful.
remember: your mileage may vary.

[Sabrejock]

U: if you're intelligent enough to buy a Mac, you don't need the simulator! http://www.ezonemag.com/disc/wink.gif Tex.

[Red Baron 47]

procrastination inc. said:
Get the a convebtional flight sim for the Mac. Use "tower view" to simulate R/C flight.
==========

That's what I've been doing. I use "tower view" in x-Plane:
http://www.x-plane.com/

The last time I flew RC was 15 years ago. I used the flight sim for practice before flying a Bleriot III a couple of weeks ago. Due to the slow speed of the plane and the sim, I've been doing pretty well. No real damage so far.

The sim helped me with the backward coordination required for flying toward me. Also gives practice in getting re-oriented when plane specks out in the distance. I doubt that I would have flown as well without it. I used a Cesna 172. That seemed to have approximately the speed I wanted.


RB

[procrastination inc]

Now now! I have one of each and yes, the mac is friendlier, prettier and generally more refined. BUT, the PCs at work have a real hard time understanding the Mac, not so the other way round. It's like the old VHS/Beta video debate. Beta WAS better, but VHS won by lowest common denominator.

Joe average just won't pay for quality. Very sad world.

[James Frolik]

This is my third post here, and I have deleted my second post that was just before procrastination inc's post on 06-18-2001. In retrospect my first (and longer) post says enough.

[This message has been edited by James Frolik (edited 06-18-2001).]

[Tim O]

Originally posted by James Frolik:
One simulator maker actually wrote me that the Mac graphic capability is far inferior to that of Windows PCs — a point I highly contest. From my experience, I'd consider them very equal. But the computer market consists of approximately 80% Windows PCs, so that's where the money is. And when a manufacturer is looking to make money, I can't argue that they'd make a killing profit designing simulators for Apples.

I don't know a whole lot about Mac's, but I thought the iMac shipped with ATI Rage graphics built into them. The ATI Rage was never really considered that great when it was current for the PC, and that was 3 years ago. With the GeForce 3 available for the PC, the Rage is now about 4 generations behind the state of the art.

Since anyone designing for the higher end Macs has to make sure it'll run on the most common iMac, it has to be detrimental to someone who wants to port software over from the PC that needs powerful 3D hardware (like Realflight G2).



[This message has been edited by Tim O (edited 06-18-2001).]

[gpeden]

Fortunately I married a PC fanatic, and I didn't gloat too much about how my Mac stuff just worked without all that trauma. My RealFlight is on her computer http://www.ezonemag.com/disc/biggrin.gif

Glen

[blswinney7]

It is amazing how many people are willing to spread half truths and down right misinformation.

The most advanced simulator on the market is X-Plane. It was originally written for the design and flight simulation of full scale airplanes. It is so realistic that the FAA has approved it for pilot flight training. And it was designed on a MAC COMPUTER AND RUNS ON A MAC COMPUTER. You can run X-Plane using any USB joy stick or your keyboard. As X-Plane has an open interface, there are many RC airplanes available to run on it.

The only hitch is in interfacing the Mac computer to an RC transmitter. At one time a company, RC Joy, made a universal interface for the Mac computer and every RC transmitter. This company is presently out of business and I have been unable to locate another one.

Do not let the misinformation of the PC crowd discourage you.

Bryan Swinney

[rkramer]

One simulator maker actually wrote me that the Mac graphic capability is far inferior to that of Windows PCs — a point I highly contest

I've done some graphics programming on mac (os 9 in particular) and it always seemed that the openGL interface was somehow crippled in mac. the same card in a similar pc was visually quicker. not sure why, it just was. that and the fact that macs tend to ship with underpowered cards anyway. (apple loved the nvidia 5200 for quite a while, plenty to run realflight but a very budget basement card...)

anyway though... mac's won't get decent simulators for the same reason many games never make it to mac or take a year after pc release. the market is much too small to support it with a decent profit.

[soundman]

There are in fact 2 sims other than X-plane on the Mac now (I have them both).

The first is a heli sim & is far from perfect:
http://alphaomega.software.free.fr/rchelicoptersimulator/RC%20Helicopter%20Simulator.html

& the 2nd most recent addition, which is actually pretty good, is a slope soaring sim - see this thread:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248632&highlight=sss+sim+mac

The 2nd one requires you to subscribe to a yahoo user group, no problem there or spam, & also you need to use the OSX Terminal to get it to run. If you're not familiar with terminal (like me), read through that thread as it tells you how to make it run (it's easy).

There is one other called crrsim - again a slope soaring sim, I never really got on with this one & it doesn't compare to SSS.

Even if you're not a slope soarer (like me) - I'd suggest getting SSS, as it is actually quite good.

What I'd like to know though, is has anyone got a tx adaptor to work on the mac - I haven't tried myself, but I'd like to know what works before buying one.

[bluesky123]

USB interface from MileHighWings.com works on Mac:
http://www.milehighwings.com/faq.htm#4
:)

[werx04]

I have been using RC helicopter Simulator 1.1 for OSX. Im not sure how it rates cause I dont own a rc helicopter (yet) and I have not used anything ese. It does enbable you to adjust turbulence, wind speed, transmitter input.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8558
or
http://www.alphamacsoftware.com/

[davidleitch]

Has anyone got Realflight to work with VPC on the Mac? We have serveral macs in our house, and so long as I buy them, that's what we are staying with. I regret not being able to use flightsims, particularly now that I am contemplating getting an electric helicopter in a year or so.

[martimer]

I have flown successfully using the AlphaMac helicopter simulator (but never got my transmitter to work with my Mac), but never even got close to flying my little Dragonfly.

[Hogster]

& the 2nd most recent addition, which is actually pretty good, is a slope soaring sim - see this thread:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...ght=sss+sim+mac

The 2nd one requires you to subscribe to a yahoo user group, no problem there or spam, & also you need to use the OSX Terminal to get it to run. If you're not familiar with terminal (like me), read through that thread as it tells you how to make it run (it's easy).

There is one other called crrsim - again a slope soaring sim, I never really got on with this one & it doesn't compare to SSS.

Even if you're not a slope soarer (like me) - I'd suggest getting SSS, as it is actually quite good.
Downloaded this last night - it is one seriously cool simulator!!! :D :D

Thanks for pointing out the Mac compatability with the Milehighwings USB interface, bluesky! It's a shame the adaptor for my FF9 is so expensive though! :( Perhaps I could save up for one - it'd certainly be cool to be able to use my Tx to control flight simulators on my Macs, especially as more advanced ones will no doubt be coming out sometime in the future .... :)

[blswinney7]

Perhaps I'm being redundent, but X-Plane is the most advanced simulator on the market. It was developed on the Mac and runs under Mac native code, so it is fast. Because it has an open interface, aircraft of every description are developed on and for X-Plane by people all over the world. There are a number of special interest groups that can furnish aircraft to be run on X-Plane. Because of the way it is written, it produces the most realistic flight of any of the simulators. Even the FAA has authorized its use in training pilots. As for backgrounds you may select, you have an endless array. You may even select the type of weather you want.

Just do a search on X-Plane and Research, who ownes X-Plane.

Bryan Swinney

[davidleitch]

Bryan

I don't doubt that but its of very little help to me. I want to learn to hover, do harriers, torque roll etc so I want a simulator I can plug my MPX tx into and then have a plane or helicopter that behaves just like a real model. I spend all day on the computer, and only want to use it to save money and time in my rc modelling.

[blswinney7]

David,

I hear your plea, but everything you are asking for is available with X-Plane and It runs on your Mac. What is your problem?

Bryan Swinney

[Ron Williams]

Bryan -

Where's the model airplanes, ready to simulate, in x-plane? You don't get it.

ronw

[bluesky123]

Actually, the current, 7th, version of X-Plane has a couple of R/C planes--a small Cessna and a helie. Not sure about the helie, but Cessna flew quite realistically (I only hated its high pitch whine--sounded like a .25-size 2 stroke on pipe, swinging 6x3 prop).
:)

[DaGuy]

I'm running SSS on my iMac G4 under OSX 10.3.5 -and I have no viruses, stupid pop-up adds, spyware or random crashes :D

SSS It's a sloap soaring simulator that's actually pretty darn good and its free. It runs fantastic on G4 800MHZ (machine is over three years old). Windows crowd beware that's not equivalent to Intel or Celeron MHZ you need to put at least a multiple of 2.0 in front of G4 MHZ it to map it to it's Intel equivalent.

There's some info on this forum search for MacOSX. If you can't find it, then I'll be happy to tell you what I did -not much other than copy paste a file.

Good Luck!

[bluesky123]

I don't think that the CPU speed is that important (once you above, say, 1GHz). The most important component, which will largely determine the performance, in terms of Frames Per Second, is the video card. I'm running SSS on my Windows box, which has NVidia GeForce FX 5200 video card and it runs very smoothly. From the other hand, even much older video card (though my FX 5200 is, by no means, a barn burner) should be ok. I ran SSS on Mac G3 with an antique GeForce2 MX -- even then the full screen mode was pleseantly smooth.

[Hogster]

Thanks for pointing out the Mac compatability with the Milehighwings USB interface, bluesky! It's a shame the adaptor for my FF9 is so expensive though! :( Perhaps I could save up for one - it'd certainly be cool to be able to use my Tx to control flight simulators on my Macs, especially as more advanced ones will no doubt be coming out sometime in the future .... :)
Well I bit the bullet and ordered one! :D :D Came to be around £35 including shipping .... not too bad I suppose. I can't wait to try it out! :D

PS. Macs rule! :)

[spirko]

Good set up for R/C sim on mac:
X-Plane
Tx cable from milehighwings.com
Use R/C Cessna (or make your own using Plane-Maker included with X-plane.)
Don’t use tower view, it’s too far away you can’t hear the engine and the perspective is wrong if you zoom in close enough to see the Cessna.
Tip: Taxi the R/C Cessna just off the runway (where you might stand at your R/C field.) Hit the brake (make sure the plane isn’t rolling) and hit the C key. (chase plane) Then save in “save situation” in “file” menu. Now whenever you want to fly, just load the situation, and go.

[soundman]

I now have a copy of X-plane with the tx lead from milehigh wings.

The supplied rc models are a little lame - I have made a few models now with a friend which we will be putting on a webpage soon. These include things like a Tiny, Reno Racer, Blade, Profile Edge 540 & more.....they all fly like their real life rc planes - especially the Tiny which is incredibly like my own.

So far I haven't managed to get a plane to hover or knifedge properly - part of the problem here is the engine response time....if anyone knows of a method to make this faster I would be grateful - I have put all the engine 1 numbers down to 0.01 already.

From what I can see so far - for all aspects of normal flight & some 3D X-plane works brilliantly & looks really nice as well. Making your own plane is actually very easy - much easier than using CAD or 3D programs, & making the textures is incredibly easy as it's a case of paint by numbers in photoshopor something similar. I anyone wants a specific model making as they can't do it themselves - I'm open to requests.

[blswinney7]

Say, Soundman,

It is gratifying to hear of your success and fun with X-Plane. Your offer for assistance in providing new airplanes is very generous. You will find that X-Plane has some space craft simlations that you might enjoy also. How about landing a space shuttle?

The ability to creat your own flying sites and situations are versatile as well. Please keep us advise of your further experiences.

Bryan Swinney

[soundman]

Ah - yes, I haven't tried much of the space stuff yet.....but I do have the mars terrain & have tried that out. The scope & wide variation of things that you can do in X-plane is quite amazing really....I'm very happy with it :D

As far as the plane model offer goes, I have been waiting for a long time for a Mac sime to come about - it's obvious that one is never going to happen. Seeing as X-plane is our only option, I figured I may as well start to get an rc library going as the ones that are available at the moment aren't really that great, here are a couple of examples:

[Hogster]

I'm the friend! :) Tom and I have been having a great time with X-Plane, especially seeing as we both got a Tx interface to go with it! We'll be setting up a website in the near future once we've made and tested enough models. Tom was a great help during the early stages of building my first model in X-Plane, and it's inspired me to build roughly one a day since then! :D

Here are the models I've made so far:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/tiny.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/slowstick.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/unlimited.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/reno_racer.jpg

At the moment I'm having to use my Powerbook to run X-Plane .... which is straining it to say the least - I need all the graphics setting at the minimum possible to get it to run smoothly. :( However, later this month, our family are getting a brand new G5 iMac, so then I'll be able to run X-Plane at super high quality settings! :D

Due to the high realism and accurate physics of X-Plane, it's an ideal program to use for R/C training. Ok so it wasn't specifically designed for R/C models (most of the measurements are in lb and feet), but it still works brilliantly! :cool:

[DaGuy]

Hogster, can those airplanes be shared? I don't have X-Plane but I'm willing to get it if its easy to share airplane files? Also, how hard is it to create a plane from scratch i.e., the Slow Stick? I gather that you first have to create a 3D image of the plane and then figure out the settings to approximate real model behaviour. It seems like a lot of work to me... Or is it really?

[Omita]

forget it

[soundman]

Hogster, can those airplanes be shared? I don't have X-Plane but I'm willing to get it if its easy to share airplane files? Also, how hard is it to create a plane from scratch i.e., the Slow Stick? I gather that you first have to create a 3D image of the plane and then figure out the settings to approximate real model behaviour. It seems like a lot of work to me... Or is it really?

They are going to be shared - that's part of the reason why we're making them.

To create a model, you have to enter the basic measurements - root cord, tip cord, airfoil type, dihedral etc The fuselage takes a little more work to do & requires some 3d mesh manipulation - but it's very easy to do. X-plane works out how the plane will fly from the airfoil, wing settings, control surfaces etc - & from what I can tell it does it very well. All the planes that we have modelled so far we actually own ourselves & can tell if it performs like the real thing or not.


forget it


Well that was constructive - was it really worth posting?

[Hogster]

It's absolutely dead easy to share the files! :D When you make a plane, the program, Plane Maker, creates two (sometimes three) files for that aircraft - the data file (a .acf file which contains all the geometric data about the shape, size, and profile of the aircraft), and the colour map file (one or two .bmp files (depending on how you've built your aircraft) which you can colour in Photoshop (or any other painting program)). The basic method for building an aircraft is really very easy once you've got used to it. It's simply a case of defining the size and positions of the various parts of the plane.

For example, I usually start with the wing. Set the wing span in feet, set the root chord (from leading edge to trailing edge at the centre of the whole wing), set the tip chord (from leading edge to trailing edge at the wing tip), set the dihedral and sweep (if any). Then you can do a similar thing for the tailplane. Set the span of the horizontal stabiliser, the root and tip chords and sweep, and then the height, root and tip chords of the fin.

The fuselage is made by creating cross-sections at various points along the fuselage. Changing the shape of each cross section is as simple as dragging the points on the cross section around until you're happy with the shape (it is quite time consuming though ...). You can set the distance from the reference point (usually the front of the fuselage) by changing the numbers (in ft) above each cross section. The number above the right-most cross section is the total length of the fuselage.

You can easily shift these different components around by changing the lat, lon and vert dimensions in the respective control windows (wings and tailplane are in the Standard menu, under 'Wings', and the fuselage is in the Standard menu, under .... 'Fuselage!').

Then you can move onto the power setup, weight and other things like landing gear. For the power setup, set it up as per the real thing. Ie. if you know the designed prop RPM, the root and tip chord of the prop, etc, enter all that into the 'Engine Specs' window in the Standard menu, under the 'Engine 2' tab. Power wise, it's a bit of hit and miss (well it is for me anyway) - the engine power is measured in horse power (something I can only guess at), and you need to specify the redline RPM and greenline RPM of the engine (maximum and safe operating RPMs respectively). For me it was just a case of fiddling with the settings in all the different engine menus until it performed realistically.

Setting the weight is dead easy ('Weight and Balance' in the Standard menu), and the CofG just needs to be at the centre of lift on the wing (usually about 30% back from the leading edge). Making landing gear is dead easy too - all the variables are pretty self explanatory.

Also a useful thing to know is that when you move the cursor over any variable in Plane Maker it'll tell you what it's for.

If you get stuck, then open up the R/C Cessna that comes with X-Plane and see how they've set it up.

The final step is probably colouring ... and that is soooo ridiculously easy you wouldn't believe it! Once you're happy with the plane, select 'Output Texture-Map Starting Points' from the Special menu, and read the information in the window that pops up. You're then given two .bmp files which you can open up in something like Photoshop, and colour them as you wish! To help you, check out Paint Reference.bmp and Paint Reference2.bmp in the Instructions folder in the main X-Plane folder. The areas hi-lited show you where the different parts of the plane will be coloured.

You can download the fully-functional demo of X-Plane from their website:

www.x-plane.com

It's exactly the same as the real thing (although there's less terrain available), but there's a 6 minute joystick cut out when flying the planes. The Plane Maker however, is exactly the same as the one you get when you buy it ...... In fact, once you've downloaded the demo, the main CD you get when you buy X-Plane simply disables the 6 minute time out! I didn't actually touch the installer on the bought CD!

I built all the planes shown above using the demo ......

There're loads of tutorials all over the internet too, some very detailed - have a search!!

Hope this helps :)

[DaGuy]

Thanks a whole bunch for the details! I'll probably end up getting x-plane. I downloaded the demo now I have to figure out what to do :D

[Hogster]

If you have any problems, PM me and I'll do my best to help. :)

[DaGuy]

A very kind and generous offer. Thanks very much. Well here's my first follow-up question.

The x-plane tutorials that I'm looking at are pretty dense with details which is great but for now my needs are much more basic. Is there a way to get to flying the RC Cessna inmediately without first having to learn about avionics etc?

[Hogster]

To get the R/C Cessna (I'm assuming you're talking about the one that comes with X-Plane?) flying, there are two basic controls you need to know about. F1 and F2 decrease and increase throttle respectively, and clicking in the middle of the screen (where there's a tiny white +) will then allow you to control the elevator by moving the mouse forwards and backwards, and the ailerons by moving the mouse left to right. Also, don't forget to switch off the brakes by pressing 'b', or you aint going nowhere! :p

For more useful key assignment information, open the main X-Plane folder, then the 'Instructions' folder, then 'keys', then X-Plane.txt.

Hope that gets ya flyin'! :cool:

PS. If it isn't selected by default, click on the 'View' menu, and select 'On Runway (Good for R.C.)'. :)

[DaGuy]

To get the R/C Cessna (I'm assuming you're talking about the one that comes with X-Plane?) flying, there are two basic controls you need to know about. F1 and F2 decrease and increase throttle respectively, and clicking in the middle of the screen (where there's a tiny white +) will then allow you to control the elevator by moving the mouse forwards and backwards, and the ailerons by moving the mouse left to right. Also, don't forget to switch off the brakes by pressing 'b', or you aint going nowhere! :p

For more useful key assignment information, open the main X-Plane folder, then the 'Instructions' folder, then 'keys', then X-Plane.txt.

Hope that gets ya flyin'! :cool:

PS. If it isn't selected by default, click on the 'View' menu, and select 'On Runway (Good for R.C.)'. :)


Thanks Hogster, I'll go try it out.

[spirko]

Soundman and Hogster,
Great job building those planes in Plane-Maker. Please post when you can as I’d love to try them. If you’re still taking requests can you build a SuperStar EP so my nephew can practice before crashing my real one?

Where in London are you? I was there this summer shooting a show with Richard Branson.

[soundman]

I don't know that plane.

If you can give me a link to a photo(s) that would help. Also wingspan, root cord & tip cord would be useful figures to start out with (inches)....the rest can be approximated from there with the photo(s)

[spirko]

Soundman,

This is very cool of you to help.

The superstar has both root and tip cords = 8.2”

Here’s some more specs:


SPECS: Wingspan: 48.75" (1240mm)
Wing Area: 400 sq in. (26.dm)
Weight: 2.7lb (1.2kg) ready to fly
Wing Loading: 16.1oz/sq ft (48g/dm)
Length: 36.1" (917mm)


Center of Gravity: 2-1/2" (63.5mm)-2-7/8" (73mm) back from the
leading edge of the wing at the fuselage side


Control Throws: Low Rate High Rate
Elevator, Up and Down: 1/4" (6.4mm) 7/16" (11mm)
Rudder, Right and Left: 3/8" (9.5mm) 5/8" (15.9mm)




Here’s the link to the place I got mine and there’s a photo:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGVZ3&P=ML

thanks,
Craig

[soundman]

Can you give me the elevator span & the rudder height?....then I'll be able to get it finished - wing is done already.

Also - the length quoted, is that the distance from the nose to the back edge of the rudder? if so, could you give me the fuselage length on it's own.

[spirko]

Soundman,

The fuselage itself is 33.6” The elevator and rudder tip both stick out another 1.5” The prop and prop shaft add another inch at the front to give the overall length of 36.1”

The horizontal stabilizer:
19.2” span
6” root
4.3” tip
(of that, 1.5” all the way across is the elevator)

Rudder:
5.75” height
6.5” root
3.5” tip
(and the sweep is 1.5” in back so it’s even with the elevator tip. )

when you get it done, can you mail it to me (and any other planes you care to share) to spirko@earthlink.net unless, of course, you can post it/them for everyone to share.

thanks.

[soundman]

ok - it's done.

Email on the way as well.

[DaGuy]

Where is X-Planes for Idiots? I have the demo version. Here's what I'm looking for:

1. How to reset after a crash. :D

2. Where is the rudder control? I don't have a joystick.

3. Clicking in the middle activated the mouse for elevator and ailerons but they fail to work after my first crash. I tried reopening the rc cessna file but that didn't help. So moving the mouse doesn't move the control surfaces. Is there anything, I need to reset?

4. Can I assign the control surfaces to keyboard keys instead of the mouse?

Thanks!

:)

[soundman]

Where is X-Planes for Idiots? I have the demo version. Here's what I'm looking for:

1. How to reset after a crash. :D


If it's a bad crash then it should reset itself....if it's just a bump & it sits on the ground, then just reload the plane - there maybe a reset button but I haven't found it.


2. Where is the rudder control? I don't have a joystick.

Off hand I can't think....I'm sure you can control the rudder from keys - the keys are written down in the instructions folder, have a look in the text document.


3. Clicking in the middle activated the mouse for elevator and ailerons but they fail to work after my first crash. I tried reopening the rc cessna file but that didn't help. So moving the mouse doesn't move the control surfaces. Is there anything, I need to reset?
You need to click the mouse in the screen again I think.


4. Can I assign the control surfaces to keyboard keys instead of the mouse?

The cursor keys will control the ailerons & elevator by default if I remember correctly.

[spirko]

Soundman, (or anyone else who’s caught in this X-Plane simulator obsession)

You’ve encouraged me and I’ve built two planes of my own (who needs to sleep/work?) and I have a few questions if I may:

Is it possible to change the measurements from feet to inches or millimeters? I’m doing a lot of rounding off when I divide by 12 and I’m losing subtlety making fuselage shapes, etc.

Painting: For some reason I didn’t paint the right side of the rudder, where do I get that? (also wheels and gear)
Also, is it possible to paint the bottom of the wing with a different color/pattern like I do my real planes?

Flying: My Wright Flyer (a beast of a trainer, similar to the SuperStar, which in real life weighs in at 5.5 pounds) flies fairly well and close to the real, but when I get the speed going it wants to climb or dive abruptly when you least expect it. I’ve set all the weather to zero, is this just a random input to keep us on our toes?

My tiger 400, a tail dragger which only weighs 1lb. in real life but has a quick Axi motor, is unbelievably unstable as I’ve built it in the simulator. If I move the CG forward to try and compensate, it noses over on the runway before I get a chance to start the takeoff roll.

You haven’t figured a good ratio between horsepower and ounces of thrust, have you?

Also, there’s to be a version 8 of X-Plane coming out within the month. It’d be great if they had more r/c planes. Perhaps they’d be willing to buy them from you virtual builders. (who, unlike me, make planes that fly)

[soundman]

Is it possible to change the measurements from feet to inches or millimeters? I’m doing a lot of rounding off when I divide by 12 and I’m losing subtlety making fuselage shapes, etc.

Nope - feet only.....you shoudn't have any problems with the fuselage though as the resolution is quite fine for that.


Painting: For some reason I didn’t paint the right side of the rudder, where do I get that? (also wheels and gear)
Also, is it possible to paint the bottom of the wing with a different color/pattern like I do my real planes?

The best way to do this - assuming you have photoshop or a program that can deal with layers, is to import the guide image from the instruction folder....it has all the parts mapped out ready for you to use - I use different layers in photoshop for each texture - then save as a bmp to use for the texure...that way it means I can go back & edit the original photoshop document at any time.


Flying: My Wright Flyer (a beast of a trainer, similar to the SuperStar, which in real life weighs in at 5.5 pounds) flies fairly well and close to the real, but when I get the speed going it wants to climb or dive abruptly when you least expect it. I’ve set all the weather to zero, is this just a random input to keep us on our toes?
maybe something to do with airfoil selection the wing & tail - for the tail I always use thin plate I think it's called....try setting the main wing to Naca 009 or 012 & see how that is.


My tiger 400, a tail dragger which only weighs 1lb. in real life but has a quick Axi motor, is unbelievably unstable as I’ve built it in the simulator. If I move the CG forward to try and compensate, it noses over on the runway before I get a chance to start the takeoff roll.

might not be cg - put it back as it was.....maybe play with the control throws a bit - sometimes you have to back off on the throws when compared to real life.


You haven’t figured a good ratio between horsepower and ounces of thrust, have you?

I'm going to spend some time fiddling with engine settings in a minute to see if I can find some better results....as for hp & thrust not a clue at the moment....I think the other setting are probably just as important - which is what I'm going to tinker with.

[spirko]

Version 8 of X-Plane is finished.
Shipping next week, 11/22.
It’s downloadable now in its demo form.

[LRHann]

AeroFlyPro Deluxe from Ikarus uses all OpenGL for its graphics, instead of Windows DirectX. OpenGL is the UNIX standard for graphics, thus AFP would be the easiest to port to any UNIX system like Mac OS X.

Dr. Torsten Hans, head of Ikarus, told me that only about 5% of the code would need to be rewritten to do the port. He sais Ikarus was simply unsure of how large a market there might be among Mac users.

If you'd like to email Ikarus and ask for a Mac port, write here: http://www.ikarus.net/ <info@ikarus-modellbau.de> and <info@ikarus-usa.com>.

Also, here's a current poll in the Castle Creations forum to port PHX-Link S/W to Mac OS X:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372552

[DaGuy]

Oh, I would buy it in a second! I hate having to have a windows box just to run Aerofly Pro.

:rolleyes:

[Omita]

Well that was constructive - was it really worth posting?

I think I posted something then deleted it... but because you can't delete i just wrote that instead.

What 3d package are you using to make your planes? And can you have animated or moving surfaces? Like flaps that work?

-Hays

[soundman]

all the modelling is done within the x-plane Plane Maker software - all moving surfaces move visually. I haven't tried version 8 but it has added a few more things to make life a bit easier....I think it is now easier to model in an external program & import it.
You can make objects in an external 3D package & import them into the world maker - if memory serves me right they have to be a .obj file....I never got as far as that though - maybe I will someday.

I did make an interesting discovery a few days ago though - a 3D game engine that is freeware, that uses javascript to make everything work....I think it would be possible to create a sim with that - although I have no knowledge of javascript, it's quite tempting to have a go at learning it. the engine itself is supposed to be very flexable, but I'm not sure how flexable.
If anyone is interested:
3D Engine software (http://homepage.mac.com/ggadwa/KlinkSoftware/dim3/dim3.html)

[Omita]

I wouldn't want to try an make a sim from scratch, but I think an X-plane module or plug-in might be cool. I would want to look into it more first. OBJ files are cool, I would like to find some docummentation on making planes for X-plane first. You must need to some some rigging to get flaps to move. I haven't purchased a copy and their site isn't exactly user friendly.

[k2ramair]

I would certainly buy Aerofly Pro if it ran on a Mac. Until then, I will keep using SSS, RC Helicopter Simulator, and the real thing.

[cvlex]

I've just got RC Helicopter Simulator from AlphaMacSoftware
and Transmitter-to-USB Interface from Milehighwings.
I wish to master nose-in hovering with the sim.

Now I fly Hirobo XRB-SR Lama and Century Hummingbird Elite
CP and can left and rightside hover but nose-in hovering is a
bit difficult.

BTW the stick response is too slow and once heli starts to
drift, I can't control drifting and can't keep heli hovering.
Is it normal or something wrong?

#My Mac is a PowerBook G4 550MHz with OS 10.3.9.
#My Tx is JR 9303.

[mary2al]

By now has anyone found one?

Thanks,
Al the teacher

[planebane]

1. Welcome to RCGroups, mary2al.

2. Way to revive the thread!

3. If you have an Intel Mac, best thing to do is just boot into Windows and run a PC sim. If you don't, here are your basic options:

- For slope soaring: sss http://www.rowlhouse.co.uk/sss/index.html
- For full-size with a few R/C models available: X-Plane http://www.x-plane.com
- For helicopters: RC Helicopter Simulator http://www.alphamacsoftware.com/

These are all pretty good (not great) sims for their intended purpose;
however they're no Aerofly Pro. I'm afraid that's pretty much all she wrote.

[soundman]

i recently started playing with the idea of making one - I've shelved it at the moment, but it is possible & really I need help from someone with scripting experience....but I plan on revisiting this project next year sometime (don't hold your breathe!). I've been waiting for someone else to bring out a mac sim for so long now that I thought I might as well have a go myself....although as mentioned before because of the new Intel macs - the need is now far less (I still have a G4 & no solution).

Here's a rough screen grab of what I started - control is from tx, physics still need more work, although basic flight is working quite well.

[martimer]

It certainly looks like would work. Let us know if you get anywhere with it.

[cozzykim]

Hi guys,

there's also :-

http://macflightgear.sourceforge.net/home/

which has Linux/Mac/Win variants, is free, and will work with a variety of joysticks (if you have the patience to read the howtos)

It's mostly full scale aircraft (incl some helis) but I think when I last downloaded it there was at least one RC model.

Regards

Kim

[noob pilot]

I'm the friend! :) Tom and I have been having a great time with X-Plane, especially seeing as we both got a Tx interface to go with it! We'll be setting up a website in the near future once we've made and tested enough models. Tom was a great help during the early stages of building my first model in X-Plane, and it's inspired me to build roughly one a day since then! :D

Here are the models I've made so far:

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/tiny.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/slowstick.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/unlimited.jpg

http://hogster.rchomepage.com/x-plane/pictures/reno_racer.jpg


hey hogster, would you mind sending me those models please, ive been trying to make a model for a long time now and i have just about given up, all of your planes look very nice

[CommanderChaos]

Hi folks, I am new to these forums, but if you check out www.x-plane.org you will find all sorts of aircraft to download for x-plane - including a few RC models :D . You have to register in order to post and download, but registration is free.

Hogster, if you are still looking for a place to post the cool planes that you modeled, www.x-plane.org would be a great site for them. ;)

Cheers,
Commander Chaos

[Storman11]

And new to RC as well.

I just ordered the Mini Telemaster kit. (Love to build)
BUT..... I have never flown an RC and I am so glad I ran into
this site and discussion as I have a Mac w/ OSX. As an old
IBMer who just woke up...... I'm thrilled with my Mac and after
only a few short months with my Mac........ I'd rather fight or just
do without rather than go back to a #@*! Windows operation.

Good to see you fella's feel the same.

Norm

[a8rotor]

Yes, there is one and its downloadable free from www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8558/rc-helicopter-simulator.

It works for the heli on it and it does help one to learn to use the controls on the transmitter but you have to use the keyboard and its not realistic.

The info says you can use a radio transmitter as well but I can't find out how to enter transmitter data into the sim to make it work. I have a Blade CS2 and know a sim will help me avoid some crashes.

Anyone have any luck using a transmitter with this sim?

[bluesky123]

Yes, there is one and its downloadable free from www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8558/rc-helicopter-simulator.
Anyone have any luck using a transmitter with this sim?

RC Helicopter Simulator from AlphaMacSoftware is a piece of crap! I totally agree with somebody's comment: "This SW is not worthy of Mac status. ... Designed for a Mac. what a joke. Oh! Are they hiding info re. the $30 registration fee?"

Instead of RC Helicopter Simulator, I would recommend you to try a truly free Slope Soaring Simulator (SSS), which has Mac version and which also includes several helicopters:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248632

All Mac simulators can work with decent USB interfaces, the best of which is sold by MileHighWings company out of Boulder, Colorado:
http://milehighwings.com/index.php?cPath=22
(Yes, I do work for MileHighWings.)

I have just uploaded Mac version of eFlightWorks 3.05 software, which is used to configure our USB interfaces as well as drives eFlightWatt wattmeter/data logger:
http://milehighwings.com/download/index.htm
It runs natively on all Macs, both Intel and PowerPC based, under MacOS X version 10.4 or later.

Boris
MileHighWings R&D

[planebane]

RC Helicopter Simulator is not "crap". C'mon. It works fine. I used it to learn helis enough to fly HoneyBee FP without any disastrous crashes.

Out of the box, it feels rather simplistic, but that's because the "wind" and "turbulence" are turned down to zero. Turn those up and you have a surprisingly realistic sim. The photorealistic sceneries are really nice.

[bluesky123]

RC Helicopter Simulator is not "crap". C'mon. It works fine. I used it to learn helis enough to fly HoneyBee FP without any disastrous crashes.

Out of the box, it feels rather simplistic, but that's because the "wind" and "turbulence" are turned down to zero. Turn those up and you have a surprisingly realistic sim. The photorealistic sceneries are really nice.
Ok, it's no worse than freeware FMS, but absolutely no comparison to any decent PC simulator!

[CunningStunts]

Has anyone tried running realflight under parallels?

[flyguytki]

from what i have read realflight does not work with parrallel. It does work with Bootcamp however

[bluesky123]

from what i have read realflight does not work with parrallel. It does work with Bootcamp however
I have Mac with Parallels 3.0, but I haven't tried running RF there. For one, Parallel runs video in emulated mode, so, all video is probably too slow. Second, I don't thing the Interlink will work, as Parallels handle all USB data flow (I know this for sure). When I have time, I'll try to run at least some Winddows sims in Parallel.

Bootcamp, from the other hand, is simply a boot manager--you boot into true Windows, so, all Windows software will run as well as in any other Windows installation.

[nahum]

RF G4 works very well on MacBookPro 15" 2.2 G 128 on video card with win XP pro under bootcamp. I really do not see any point of running it under parallels as bootcamp is now a part of Mac system 10.5

[pearcem]

Hello All,

I am looking to get a sim set up on my mac with OS X, but I do not have a transmitter. I obviously have no heli yet either, but I wanted to get a lot of sim practice in before even taking the plunge. Anyways, I have no problem buying a dummy controller or my own with an adapter cable or interface, especially since most of the entry level helis come with transmitters, but I have no idea what to look for, or what will work with macs. I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. The last thing I want to do is end up with a transmitter, real or dummy, that won't work with my sim. For the record, I am going to go with Heli-X and eventually get x-plane as well to do some fixed wing stuff. Thanks

[RyanNX211]

IS there any RC simulators for Mac?


At the Toledo Show, Aerofly Pro said they would have an excellent version soon

[Catweazle]

Get the a convebtional flight sim for the Mac. Use "tower view" to simulate R/C flight.

What's this "conventional flight sim for Mac"? What flight simulator out there do you actually mean?

[Catweazle]

RF G4 works very well on MacBookPro 15" 2.2 G 128 on video card with win XP pro under bootcamp. I really do not see any point of running it under parallels as bootcamp is now a part of Mac system 10.5

Well my Mac is only a few months old. It runs off the latest Os X thing. Do you mean to say I've got bootcamp? :) How would I configure it to, say, use RealFlight G3.5?

[planebane]

Well my Mac is only a few months old. It runs off the latest Os X thing. Do you mean to say I've got bootcamp? :) How would I configure it to, say, use RealFlight G3.5?You need to install Windows on your Mac. So you need to have a copy of Windows somehow. You will want to back up your system, too, because you have to partition your hard disk. Then you will run the utility "Boot Camp Assistant" in your Utilities folder. It walks you through the process.

Apple makes it about as easy to do this as possible but you're still doing major surgery on your computer so if you know a Mac expert you should have him/her help you out.

Once you have Windows installed you basically have two computers in one and you can boot up in either OS X or Windows. Just remember to install antivirus and antispyware for Windows if you're going to enable the internet on it.

[planebane]

What's this "conventional flight sim for Mac"? What flight simulator out there do you actually mean?X-Plane is a pretty good, and cheap, flight sim. You can fly full-size models as if they are R/C but the actual R/C models available don't fly realistically. Not really worth the bother as an R/C sim.

[Catweazle]

X-Plane is a pretty good, and cheap, flight sim. You can fly full-size models as if they are R/C but the actual R/C models available don't fly realistically. Not really worth the bother as an R/C sim.

Thanks! what would you suggest for a Mac r/c sim? I've heard of something called SSS, but it seems somewhat complicated (or perhaps it's just the website thats complicated)

[Hansm]

http://www.ikarus-modellbau.de/onlineshop/deutsch/oxid.php/sid/3961bc3fe37a982a81b3b260188b8f64/cl/alist/cnid/e5749952c97689774.33415363

[Gino CP]

How much hard disk space should I allocate for my Windows XP partition to accommodate mac compatibel sims? I need total space which includes windows and for sim apps. I have a 120gb hdd.

[planebane]

How much hard disk space should I allocate for my Windows XP partition to accommodate mac compatibel sims? I need total space which includes windows and for sim apps. I have a 120gb hdd.You mean Mac-INcompatible sims, right? ... About 10GB for the partition should be enough.

[planebane]

Thanks! what would you suggest for a Mac r/c sim? I've heard of something called SSS, but it seems somewhat complicated (or perhaps it's just the website thats complicated)What Hansm said! Can't go wrong with Aerofly Pro Deluxe. Didn't know it was out for Mac. It's getting pretty old but it's a good sim.

[Catweazle]

What Hansm said! Can't go wrong with Aerofly Pro Deluxe. Didn't know it was out for Mac. It's getting pretty old but it's a good sim.

It certainly looks extremely good, but it's quite expensive. Even more than a copy of Real Flight G4!

[bilboa]

It certainly looks extremely good, but it's quite expensive. Even more than a copy of Real Flight G4!

Wow, $250 for the version with just a USB cable, and $325 with a controller! I'd like a native Mac simulator, but that's pretty steep. Compare that to $200 for RFG4 with a controller, or $180 for PhoenixRC without a controller.

[phil2005]

Wow, $250 for the version with just a USB cable, and $325 with a controller! I'd like a native Mac simulator, but that's pretty steep. Compare that to $200 for RFG4 with a controller, or $180 for PhoenixRC without a controller.

I've just bought Aerofly Professional Deluxe for my Mac. The store I bought it from charged £159.99 (controller included), as opposed to £161.99 for RealFlight G4.5 - so there wasn't much in it. I could have tried RealFlight with Bootcamp but I couldn't get an earlier version of RealFlight to work with my Intel iMac or my Opteron PC, it seems rather picky about what hardware it runs on.

[Gino CP]

Oh no, I was planning to use Realflight G3.4 on my MacBook. Looks like I'll try Reflex XTR. It seems to have lower system requirements.

[phil2005]

Gino, the version of RealFlight that I had problems with was G3 (which I guess is old hat nowadays ?). It may be that the latest RealFlight "just works™" on any PC hardware, I wouldn't claim to be a sim expert.

[timm747]

I installed RF 4.5 on my 2.2ghz GMA X3100 macbook via Bootcamp today and my buddy who let me try it out to see if it works, said it looked better than on his PC and he just upgraded his vid card for RF 4.5.

I'm now leaning towards FS One because its cheaperh thoug...

[Gino CP]

How much space did the G4.5 take? I have a 10gb partition for XP. Maybe 3.5gb free space now.