1637 replies to this topic

[KentV]

Airstairs on the new Twotter, please! Looking GREAT...

Kent

[Scandinavian]

But if is soooo ugly...

Ugly but has it's charm, and it's German. And never gotten a good FS treatment.

[Mathijs Kok]

the autopilot is a collins APS-65 Autopilot System but you guys will have to call rockwell collins for more info then that be cause thay don't have mutch info on the web page.

chad

We now have the info on the APS-65 we need to make it fully realistic.

[Chad Hittenberger]

does the aicraft that you are modiling have gpws or egpws and are you going to modle the it or not.

[Mathijs Kok]

This is the model and the instrumentation we will do:

[Mathijs Kok]

slowly the model is getting more detailed...

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[simmerhead]

Thanks for the screenshots Mathijs! That is the 100-series variant right?

[Mathijs Kok]

Thanks for the screenshots Mathijs! That is the 100-series variant right?

Yes.

[Matt_Smith]

She's looking damn fine already

[Holgi]

Very nice, thank you! I dream at the sight of this machine from the Maldives ... my coolest holidays!

[Twinotter_Pilot]

Very nice - cant hardly wait to fly the new Twotter...

[degt]

Very excited about this new development, I am pretty sure it will be a hot seller! I am a current Twin Otter X user and at least on my part in addition to what I experience now with this, this will be what I would want to see in the new Twotter to make it appealing:

- An accurate VOR CDI
- Readable instruments
- Ability to hide the yokes in the VC so that one can see or operate things obscured by it
- IFR material, I use the Twin Otter X extensively for IFR training on my PC
- A 400 variant
- Animation on all doors not just pilot and boarding
- A Vista Liner variant (has larger, squared windows for sightseeing)
- A random failure system

In terms of livery my favourite is Nature Air

[Chad Hittenberger]

i the previous pictures it looks like they have a long nose on the aircraft that you are modling so i assumed that it was the -200 or 300
please do those modles to mathis. it looks like the plane that youare modling has pt6-35 787eshp and 750 shp engines on it with 4 bladde propellers please get the empty weight corect tthink its 5850 pounds with an max grose weight of 10600 with 4550 payload capasity. please simulate the hp of the aircraft as best as you can. the starting of the engines needs to be 100 percent realistic in sound and animation / ignition timing as well.

[Mathijs Kok]

Some more images before the development team leaves for the X-Plane conference at Mallorca.

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[Vadim]

Great work!

[nikoporter]

Great work,plus I'd like to know the progress of the Pilatus Porter Marcel Felde,you could give me news?Thank you Nicola

[Shaun Fletcher]

Great work,plus I'd like to know the progress of the Pilatus Porter Marcel Felde,you could give me news?Thank you Nicola

Well considering this is the Twin Otter thread then maybe we should stick to questions regarding this and not other projects.

[Eric Bakker]

nikoporter, on 09 March 2012 - 05:40 PM, said:
Great work,plus I'd like to know the progress of the Pilatus Porter Marcel Felde,you could give me news?Thank you Nicola

Well considering this is the Twin Otter thread then maybe we should stick to questions regarding this and not other projects.

Maybe the correct place to ask is this thread:
http://forum.aerosof...5239-whats-next

[nikoporter]

sorry guys i didn't want to post a topic that has nothing to do, only that this other post is not active now for several months and does not respond any more, sorry again

[strid]

Some more images before the development team leaves for the X-Plane conference at Mallorca.

This going to be an X-Plane 10 product as well ? Correct me if im wrong....

[Coban]

This going to be an X-Plane 10 product as well ? Correct me if im wrong....

Your question is wrong. It should be "This going to be an FSX product as well ?" because as far as I know this going to be only X-Plane 10 product.

[cosnowboarder_777]

Your question is wrong. It should be "This going to be an FSX product as well ?" because as far as I know this going to be only X-Plane 10 product.

Where did you read this information? According to Mathijs it will most likely be for all platforms. If you read the first post, one could assume since he said it was replacing the old one that it would at least be for FSX.

[Coban]

Where did you read this information? According to Mathijs it will most likely be for all platforms. If you read the first post, one could assume since he said it was replacing the old one that it would at least be for FSX.

You right, I guess I was thinking about new ATR..sorry

[Mathijs Kok]

This going to be an X-Plane 10 product as well ? Correct me if im wrong....

Yes, we do plan to make this our first internal X-Plane aircraft. But officially I will not confirm it now, lol.

[cosnowboarder_777]

You right, I guess I was thinking about new ATR..sorry

No worries, on the ATR you are right the big question is, will it be for FSX also....One can only hope.

[degt]

So what would be the sales pitch? I mean, for what I see it isn't going to have a Vista Liner version, nor a -400 model, the panel would still be analog? what would be THE set of features that would make any current Twotter X owner say "I need this one too" ?

[Finn]

So what would be the sales pitch? I mean, for what I see it isn't going to have a Vista Liner version, nor a -400 model, the panel would still be analog? what would be THE set of features that would make any current Twotter X owner say "I need this one too" ?

The modelling and texturing will be in a whole new league. Also systems will become more realistic.
It´s no secret that the current Twin Otter is an aging woman that not quite is state of the art concerning quality.

Doing the -400 would mean ALOT of additional work increasing the salesprice to where no one will buy it. The Virtual cockpit is the singlemost complex part to do on an aircraft addon. Doing both the -100 / -300 and -400 models would mean almost two seperate projects.

So what You will get thats not featured by the current Twin Otter:
-New external and internal models with more accurate proportions (we got very good reference stuff).
-Modelling and texturing that will be up to if not exceeding current state of the art.
-Flight dynamics done by our FM guru John Cagle (Catalina, GliderX, Dimona, Bronco etc..)
-Deeper systems simulation for electrical, hydraulical and fuel systems etc.
-True 3D gauges.
-Floatplanes will have propeller startlatches will be added, eliminating the "surge" forward when starting the engines.
-A few other surprices that needs some testing before putting them on the featurelist.

It will NOT be an upgrade of the current twin Otter X, but an entire new project.


Finn

[Eric Bakker]

-Floatplanes will have propeller startlatches will be added, eliminating the "surge" forward when starting the engines.

Finn,
This alone will make the new version worth it's money!
But the wheel/ski versions will not have these startlatches?

[Finn]

Finn,
This alone will make the new version worth it's money!
But the wheel/ski versions will not have these startlatches?

Yes - I have not looked deeper into the Ski version yet, but if they have in real life - we will add them.

Finn

[Mathijs Kok]

A lot of details getting added at this moment. Soon texturing will start.

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[Holgi]

Very nice work ...

[dfw]

saw many otters at tncm, tffj last week. looking forward to this release. option for rxp gnd530 like the katana would be my request.

[Mathijs Kok]

I just realized that we forgot to mention we got a great partner in this project, André K. Aepfelbach. He knows the Twin Otter really well and is a superb source of information for us. He runs a great website about his Twinotter homecockpit. You really should check that out at www.twinotter.de

[mp623]

nice site, does he have an aersoft forum account?

[Twinotter_Pilot]

Indeed, he is...

[BeaverDriver]

So what would be the sales pitch? I mean, for what I see it isn't going to have a Vista Liner version, nor a -400 model, the panel would still be analog? what would be THE set of features that would make any current Twotter X owner say "I need this one too" ?

Hmmnn, I've seen a few requests here for the models you have mentioned. I think Finn answered your question very well, but let me respectfully add the following. The Vista-Liner and -400's are extremely rare birds. I'm not sure how many of each are actually out there, but I know in 40 plus years in Aviation I've seen neither. Obviously I've not seen every airplane out there, but I've worked professionally in aviation for that period (with a couple of breaks) and in places where one would see a lot of Twin Otters, Beavers and other bush machines as well as a number of their more "sedate" counterparts (i.e. the Viking Beaver, Twin Otters used for exec transport and airliner missions, etc.). It stands to reason that producing the variants you describe would appeal to an extremely limited market then. Yes, if you live near the Grand Canyon and want to replicate a flight by Scenic Airlines, then yes, you are limited. However, in Googling the Vista Liner, I came up with very, very few results (well, a number of results but only from about 3 airlines in total). That's a pretty small market place.

The Viking Twin Otter was really a hot idea for a while, which seems to have cooled off again. It will likely become more prominent later on as the 100 and 300 series age more, but that's still a ways away. Like the Beaver, these airplanes keep "going and going and going". Unlike the Beaver, they already are turbine equipped, which is a huge bonus in very cold climates, so the conversion to the 400 is more for flying in "civilization" than it is in the boonies, and it's primarily the boonies that the Twin Otter was designed for in the first place. So at this point at least, the 400 is also a highly limited market place, as well as being a whole new project as Finn mentioned.

As a company, it makes sense for Aerosoft to appeal to the widest audience/market place possible. If they only did the Vista Liner and/or 400, I (and none of my bush flying virtual colleagues) would be in the market for it as neither would be particularly suitable for taking off from a paved runway and landing next on a gravel bar at the mouth of a river in British Columbia, or on a dirt strip high in the Himalayas for example. These are far more common/typical missions for a Twin Otter than sightseeing flights and IFR short range flights from city centre to city centre under the watchful eye of ATC. Of course the latter do happen (otherwise there wouldn't be a Vista Liner or -400), but they are nowhere near as common as serious STOL operations that you see the -100 or -300 doing on a regular basis.

As I say, I think Finn answered your question best of all, and I think also Aerosoft is taking the right approach in appealing to the masses here. As for why I will buy the Twin Otter again (and at full price) - again I refer to you Finn's answer.

[Wildbird]

Now, I don't particularly care to see the -400 for FSX as the glass panels would complicate the development without adding much value, but I feel like defending the -400 a bit anyway. The way I understand it there has been no "cooling off" as Viking has an estimated order backlog of $350M, with one aircraft delivered each month. It has sold well to places like Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Nigeria, Chile and Peru, all places that can provide true bush flying. Take the already awesome capabilities of the -300, add lighter materials, upgraded engines, simplified electrics and electronics (a reduction from something like 30 avionics providers down to 3.) and optional de-icing. I'm sure it will do well in the North too when the current ones hit their limits.

[Mathijs Kok]

Gents, it's all a bit of useless discussion as we just are not going to do the 400 models. There is too much difference and they are too rare.

[Mathijs Kok]

I dare say there is no better 3d model for the Twin Otter 100 done to date. Antennae are missing at this moment.

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[Holgi]

So cool,

incredibly beautiful!!!

Thank you!