Recently I got my hands on a copy of X-Plane, which is easily the best realistic-storylineless flight sims I've ever played in my life. I highly recommend it to all of you, especially those that are interested in piloting and... plane design.
The latter is why I write here. The game has a complex yet understandable plane design system. There are a lot of fan made planes out and about, most of which at http://x-plane.org if you're interested. These planes have ranged from the ordinary, such as simple Cessnas or Pipers, to the fascinating, vintage WW2 planes and modern superbombers, to the insane: a Robotech Valkyrie, or the ever famous NCC-1701. The latter two have inspired me.
Anyone that can't guess what I'm thinking now should be shot, but before the execution happens I might as well tell you what I'm going to attempt.
I am attempting to model WC fighters for the game. Did you guess? Good for you!
I would like to have some assistance, if any of you are of a mind. There are a few things that I need, most notably the physical specifications of the fighters. Wingspan, overall length, weight, any data along those lines that any of you have gleaned from the game for ANY fighter, no matter how lowly or uninteresting. Of course there is the ships database, and I will be pouring over it for information, but if anyone has anything extra I'd appreciate it.
I know there will be huge gaps, of course. I'll need to use a different engine type, none of the books are likely to discuss aspect ratio or get into the finer detailes of weight distribution, but anything we can get is useful.
Although I dream ultimately to have a model for each fighter, I plan on starting with a Hellcat. It's a relatively simple design that will translate easily into an atmospheric fighter (duh). Other ships, such as, say, the Avenger or the Banshee, would have to start in space rather than being able to take off on the ground, though that's somewhat expected.
Anyway. I am going to refrain from calling this a fan project, more of a screwing around sort of dealie. I don't really expect there to be enough information to get any real work done, but I would like to make the attempt. If it turns out to go rather smoothly and things look good, maybe I'll officially give it a project name and set up a site or something. If anyone else has X-Plane and wants to assist/work on their own, I'd be happy to help/have your help.
The latter is why I write here. The game has a complex yet understandable plane design system. There are a lot of fan made planes out and about, most of which at http://x-plane.org if you're interested. These planes have ranged from the ordinary, such as simple Cessnas or Pipers, to the fascinating, vintage WW2 planes and modern superbombers, to the insane: a Robotech Valkyrie, or the ever famous NCC-1701. The latter two have inspired me.
Anyone that can't guess what I'm thinking now should be shot, but before the execution happens I might as well tell you what I'm going to attempt.
I am attempting to model WC fighters for the game. Did you guess? Good for you!
I would like to have some assistance, if any of you are of a mind. There are a few things that I need, most notably the physical specifications of the fighters. Wingspan, overall length, weight, any data along those lines that any of you have gleaned from the game for ANY fighter, no matter how lowly or uninteresting. Of course there is the ships database, and I will be pouring over it for information, but if anyone has anything extra I'd appreciate it.
I know there will be huge gaps, of course. I'll need to use a different engine type, none of the books are likely to discuss aspect ratio or get into the finer detailes of weight distribution, but anything we can get is useful.
Although I dream ultimately to have a model for each fighter, I plan on starting with a Hellcat. It's a relatively simple design that will translate easily into an atmospheric fighter (duh). Other ships, such as, say, the Avenger or the Banshee, would have to start in space rather than being able to take off on the ground, though that's somewhat expected.
Anyway. I am going to refrain from calling this a fan project, more of a screwing around sort of dealie. I don't really expect there to be enough information to get any real work done, but I would like to make the attempt. If it turns out to go rather smoothly and things look good, maybe I'll officially give it a project name and set up a site or something. If anyone else has X-Plane and wants to assist/work on their own, I'd be happy to help/have your help.
