Hodge7
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Posts posted by Hodge7
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Hi Bulau
Did you have any luck developing a mission?
Hodge
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60:1 Wow! Sounds like a great glider to fly in competitive missions. Is it a two seater as per the photo or is there two models?
Jeff
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Had another go - my start was only at 4500 but got to 6800 but ended up outlanding 4nm from the turnpoint. I'm gradually getting the hang of the Discus but am finding it quite twitchy to fly compared to the DG (Are there no flaps or am I missing something?). I have the full version of Cumulus X but as yet haven't noticed the wing lift. Also haven't come to grips with the flight computer yet. Bottom line is I have a lot of reading and learning to do.
Jeff
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Well I got myself organised with the Discus and the latest version of CumulusX and had a crack at this mission. Obviously I have to improve my thermalling skills because I ended up outlanding only halfway to the first turn. Got into the first thermal ok and made it to 7000 before the start but had a devil of a job finding another thermal after that. I found the instruments a bit hard to read compared to the DG but maybe I need new glasses!
Jeff
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Hi Bert
Got this loaded up ok and sure enough there I am flying along in the midst of the gaggle. Great to see a RL comp shown this way. After about 20 min the gaggle all flew into a hill and disappeared, I guess my generic scenery may be out?
Jeff
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Hi Spud
Great to see a new mission. I have to download the Discus and is this mission specifying a particular version of cumulusX ?
Hodge
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Embarrassing as it is, I too have not delved into the detail of how to construct a mission. Maybe this is the time for me to bite the bullet and have a crack. I know that you (b21) have put many posts on the subject over time however if you could point me in the right direction with some links to a step by step guide to doing it I will have a go over Christmas.
Up to now I have been loving the flying but have been a bit lacking in confidence to construct a mission so maybe its not as hard as my mind is telling me.
Some time ago "ddrueding" was interested in constructing a mission and was asking b21 for a flight template file and later when he became unsure of whether he could put the mission together he provided a link to his flight files for an "Italian Alps Crossing"
The link is no longer active however the discussion was here: http://www.flightsimulatorxmissions.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=499&highlight=
I was thinking of having a crack at finishing that mission.
Hodge
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Regarding the above discussion specifically in relation to competitions, cheating, the apparent lack of participants and the truly excellent state of the virtual technology, cumulus X, simlogger and mission capabilities; I too am staggered at the general lack of response to what I find is an amazing and challenging way to experience the fun and challenges of gliding but without the time and expense of real flight.
Perhaps it is simply an awareness exercise and we are hiding in our technological bubble but have made no serious attempt to spread the word. Even the last mission generated by Spud which I found a really well put together mission attracted only the hard core of people close to the action.
Anyway I agree with Harry O and am not worried about the cheating side. The technology is all there thanks to the great work of Peter, b21 and others and basically I would love to see more mission competitions with an increased number of participants but how to achieve that I am not sure.
Sorry to drift off the thread a bit but as you can probably tell, I'm a bit frustrated and dying for some action!
Jeff Hodge
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Harry O
Have you flown any of the already created missions eg b21's virtual competition of the real US Nationals or Spuds recent LSMC flyoff? The latter as I am sure you are aware used Cumulus X, the SoarDG, Winch X and Simlogger and flew out of Ulrichen in Switzerland. A great mission except I didn't see you up in the air. All the IGC simlogger files are posted as zip files in the races and contests section (LSMC flyoff) if you want to have a crack. My winch launches were crap but I am hoping to do better in the future after Peter gave me some tips.
Jeff
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Harry O
Good idea. Where in Australia are you? I'm in Perth and have had a great time over the past few years flying soaring missions in FSX. The only problem at present is that there is only a very few people like B21 and Spud who have become proficient at creating missions, and regretfully I have not been up that learning curve, but I love flying the missions. Spud of course has just become a RL glider pilot like B21 and is busy doing that.
Jeff
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Harry O
I agree with you. I think there is a basic pool of pilots but if more pilots were aware of the great tools available then there would be a lot more.
On the subject of getting them all together for a fly my view is that getting them coordinated with all the international time differences has been a problem which has restricted simultaneous flying competitions in the past.
It seems to me that the existing software with CumulusX, WinchX when combined with b21's Simlogger (which has security built in to minimise cheating by way of setting changes); is the way to go. As long as the task has been put in the format of a mission, it becomes very user friendly for everyone to fly at any time that suits them and IGC files submitted to all pilots and the competion coordinator to determine results. The great thing about this current technology is that we are no longer flying alone. All you have to do is download a few of the pilots IGC files and strap yourself in low and behold you are flying in real time against all the field and able to see all the other gliders in the air.
I know this is a bit different to what you had in mind but anyway these are my thoughts.
Jeff
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Thanks b21, I was wondering about that. Did you have a crack at this mission? I noticed that you have been pretty busy on the Discus front. I am planning to get the Discus from Aerosoft so that I can get familiar with the plane and instrumentation etc.
Jeff
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Ok Spud, I defer to the race directors rules; here's my first flight winch launch run from race day.
Jeff
H07_Mission_First Flight Winch Launch 56.55.2 2010-03-28_0915.zip
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Yeah well after a while I realised that you could actually get a better start with a winch launch so I thought I'd give myself a handicap by using an aerotow. Lol !
If you start the mission and just sit there instead of calling up a tow plane or winch launch you can watch everybody take off. Check out Peter, boy did he get some serious height and speed from his winch launch, right from takeoff he is away and higher than everyone else and just before the prestart time expires have a look up and you will see Peter way up higher on the ridge.
Jeff
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The way the race unfolded:
Apart from minor variations essentially 3 out of 4 competitors used the same route for this race while Bert took a slightly longer route using a lower altitude.
Pre Race: Peter and Spud do a winch launch and Hodge an aerotow
Peter launches like a rocket and gains more height than either Spud or Hodge but then is nearly half a minute late to the start line. Bert veers immediately towards the downwind ridge during his winch launch,(what a thrillseeker), apparently to get into the lift sooner but this results in a lower effective altitude.
Leg1:
Peter and Spud gain height on an earlier ridge with Hodge on the ridge before the lake. Spud makes an early break to the lake followed by Peter and last is Hodge who is still lolling around on the ridge. Bert heads for same ridge as Hodge but is nearly 4 minutes down from his low start (timed as pilots crossed the lake after the start)
Halfway to TP1 all the first group of pilots end up in a similar place in the sky. At this point its Spud – Peter – Hodge - Bert
At 8min 55sec into the mission Peter curves away to get some height on a ridge which basically gives him a height advantage enabling him ultimately to take a short cut to TP1 (7500ft was needed for this). 14.30 Spud and Hodge go the long way but are getting more lift due to the better orientation of the ridge on the way to TP1.
16.20 Peter and Hodge go around TP1 only seconds apart with Spud 15 sec back.
On this first leg Peter has basically outflown everyone especially considering he has made up the 30sec he lost at the start. Bert flew higher than anyone else on this leg and also took the shortcut and has not lost any more time at TP1 than the initial 4 minutes.
Leg 2:
Strategies diverge here with the first group of 3 pilots heading for the ramparts while Bert heads for the mountain range on the South side of the big lake.
17.30 Peter has now powered to the lead with Hodge 20sec back and Spud 20sec behind that. Of course at this stage various strategies have come into play with Hodge trading speed for height. Height for speed Peter and Hodge are probably neck and neck
19.40 Spud has increased speed and all 3 pilots are only 15sec apart
29.00 Peter steps on the gas and is now 1min 06 ahead of Spud and Hodge (has this guy got a motor or something!) who are flying together but Hodge has 900ft in hand over Spud.
30.00 Bert does not have enough height to clear the ridge in front of him and has to make a short detour to the North.
33.00 Peter appears to have the race in the bag being well over a minute ahead.
34.30 Hodge has just enough height to take a short cut over a mountain saddle and wipes out Peters lead. Spud takes the same shortcut shortly after.
35.15 Peter and Hodge are neck and neck with Spud half a minute back.
Bert meanwhile is at 8000ft pruning the treetops as he clears a mountain saddle and turns South towards TP2
37.10 Different route strategies are into play now with Peter and Spud heading South to a ridgeline whereas Hodge continues on SW over another mountain saddle.
40.20 Hodge hits TP2 with Peter 10sec behind and Spud a minute later. Bert is flying very smoothly admiring the scenery and at no stage has to exceed 8500ft. Not like some of the hare-brained routes the others are taking scraping over ridges only 100ft below the 10,000 ft limit. Hodge put his wheel down going over one saddle just to save scraping the fibreglass on the ice; Lol.!
Leg 3 (Final)
42.30 Peter heads off towards an inviting line of thermals but it doesn’t appear to pan out and is now passed by Spud who is over with Hodge on the ridges.
45.00 Peter trades height for speed and rockets past Spud.
47.40 Peter deviates again to the middle of the valley looking for thermal lift, meanwhile Spud is hard down on the ridges behind Hodge. Spud is now steadily gaining time on Peter. The alignment of this section of the ridges to the wind is not ideal however the intermittent thermal lift is obviously not ideal either.
Finish:
Hodge first followed by Spud followed by Peter and then Bert. Peter loses over 3 minutes on the final leg after aceing the first 2 legs while Spud gets into second by some great low flying considering he was over a minute behind at TP2. Bert comes in at 1hr 10min which is a pretty good time considering the extra distance he had to cover.
In this mission because Spud deliberately graduated the wind speeds according to height, this may have slightly favoured pilots who took a high altitude strategy. Virtual gliding races have now reached a new level with the current facilities in place. Many thanks to Peter and Ian for all the software facilities and Spud for all the work he has done on creating missions in the last year or so and Ian before that.
Jeff
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I agree, not worth the effort. I was wondering how the hell simlogger was showing the gliders doing these nice smooth banking turns. The ultimate effect is great being able to watch a bunch of pilots racing as if you have an armchair in the sky.
With RL gliding can similar logs be submitted which can be uploaded so that after a comp all pilots can watch the other competitors strategies via computer?
Jeff
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Just a hint:
I found a route where I didn't have to go any higher than 8.500ft. My fastest time so far 1h10m, but you know me, I fly like a turtle.
TP1 0:22:00
TP2 0:53:00
Finish 1:10:27
Bert
Bert... Would you be able to post your igc simlogger file for this mission, I am interested to have a look at that sub 8500ft track you took and am putting together a post race commentary to wrap up the contest.
Jeff
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Thanks for those tips Peter, I will work on improving my winch launches.
One thing I noticed when looking at this mission in slew mode was that all three gliders still had wheel down even though I am pretty sure that all competitors has pulled their wheel up. Does this mean that fsx thinks the wheel is down with the associated aerodynamic penalty or is it just a glitch?
Jeff
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I just loaded this mission (ticking mission changes allowed) so that I could view all three competitors flying the mission at once using slew mode.
The combination of Cumulus X, WinchX and Simlogger and using slew mode, results in an absolutely facinating view of the strategy and tactics in a race. It is almost possible to imagine what each pilot is thinking at various stages in the comp.
Being in slew mode of course enables the viewer to zip all over the place at speed and different heights to get the best perspective of the competitors. I usually put the glider into a nose down attitude before hitting the slew key so that I get a really good view of the action.
The first thing I noticed right from the start was that Peter did an amazing winch launch topping out I think at 5600ft. I would appreciate some tips on that because I have never been able to get much over 5300. I pull flaps full on, stick full back and wheel up.
Jeff
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Got a message from Spud and he said to go ahead and post igc files for this mission, I have included my best flight. Looking forward to seeing other pilots flights.
Hodge
H07_Mission_55min33sec.3 Best time aerotow 2010-03-30_2007.zip
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Thought I would fly this great mission again by navigating the Northern Route, following the mountain ridge line which runs West from TP1 and North of the big lake.
Managed 1hr 1min 54sec from a winch launch.
My best time for this mission is 55.33.3 and I haven't been able to improve on that time. It sure is great fun flying in this kind of terrain.
Hey Spud, must be time to release the simlogger tracks what do you reckon?
Jeff
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b21
Very cool. Sounds like a great system!! I would love to max out all my sliders! Very interested in your comment that it only took a couple of minutes to overclock your i7 920. I have an i7 at work and investigated overclocking but got cold feet at the last minute (didn't want to stuff it up). Would appreciate the steps you took for the overclock, I have the i7 920 with 12g ram, a big cooler and an asus P6T motherboard with Win7 64bit.
Be great if FSX could share itself evenly over the 8 processors. I am trying at present with my work stuff to get a greater utilisation of the processors......... I have a need for speed!!!
Jeff
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Thanks Scott that would be really great, get well soon.
Jeff
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absolutely fantastic - I'm moving over my FSX install from my previous PC to a fancy new one, with an SSD as it's main drive and so want to be a bit selective over which folders sit on the SSD and which ones go on the hard drive... Anyway, the issue I hit was exactly this one and it had me stumped for a while - it's confusing because the glider just slams into the ground right at the start of a mission.
The fix was exactly as Peter said, and it's great the answer was there to be found as soon as I looked in this forum.
Thanks...
B21
Hmmmm.. solid state hard drive, sounds great, can you let us know the specs for your new system??
Jeff
Building FSX PC? ****please**please**please**** help me FS Pilots
in General Discussion
Posted
Hi Robby
I have an i7 2700K with 16gb 1600 ram and AsusP8Z68V-Pro motherboard and a H100 cooler. I purchased these components with a view to some mild overclocking (say to 4.2). The H100 has quite a large radiator and thus needs a case big enough to take it. Some applications run as much as 3 x faster if you disable the hyperthreading in the bios and I suspect that FSX falls into this category. I would suggest that you may wish to get a triple head video card as then you can run three monitors which will greatly enhance your FSX experience.
PS Check that your H100 runs quietly as I had to replace mine under warranty as the pump had a constant noise.
Good luck and have fun with your new "beast"!
Hodge