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How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 8:10 pm
by SJDobby
Hi

I have A2A's excellent Spitfire package and wish to use it to fly my Spitfire Mk XIV that I have in my FSA private hangar, but unfortunately I always get told by FSA client that it is the wrong aircraft.

What can I do (to the config file of that plane) to make me able to use it with FSA for private flights?

Thanks in advance
Simon

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 1:24 am
by joefremont
I suspect it's a weight issue, the. Client looks at engines, Dow and MTOW to see if it's looking at the right aircraft. A quick look makes me think our database may be a bit overweight. Check the aircraft.cfg file, what does it have for weights?

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 1:36 am
by joefremont
I see the A2A Spit is based on the Mk 1 or Mk 2, which is quite a bit lighter than the XIV, I will try to add the Mk2 and if you like can convert your XIV over.

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:34 am
by SJDobby
Thanks Joe.

Quite right, the early Spitfires were over a thousand LBs lighter than the later (and especially XIV) aircraft.

The weights info for the A2A model (all 3 simulated variants - MkIa, MkIIa, MkIIb) is as follows:

[weight_and_balance]
max_gross_weight = 6178.000
empty_weight = 4000.000
reference_datum_position = 0.000, 0.000, 0.000
empty_weight_CG_position = 0.000, 0.000, 0.000
empty_weight_pitch_MOI = 5851.000
empty_weight_roll_MOI = 5800.000
empty_weight_yaw_MOI = 7615.000
empty_weight_coupled_MOI = 0.000
max_number_of_stations = 18

I you can convert my existing MkXIV (reg P8385) to a MkII that would be be great, but if not then I have the virtual funds to buy a "new" one.

Cheers
Simon

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 5:27 pm
by joefremont
Converted it to a MK 2, you may want to update empty_weight as the 4000lb in the cfg file is a bit low for a production aircraft, most references I have seen have it around 4306 for an MK1 or 4541 for a MK2. The max_gross_weight values is pretty spot on for a MK2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermari ... in_engines
http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/aircraft/ty ... ifications

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 10:41 pm
by SJDobby
Thank you.

I have adjusted the empty weight to 4400.

However, the ICAO code reported in the hangar is still SXIV, but SPIT in the aircraft's info page; and when I try to file a flight plan it is auto-entered in the plan as SPIT, and doesn't let me book it, saying the aircraft doesn't exist (presumably because it is still an SXIV in the hangar). Not sure why the hangar says it is one code and the booking/info pages have the new SPIT code.

Cheers
Simon

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 1:18 am
by joefremont
ok, fixed the type code on your aircraft and it should work now.

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 9:34 pm
by SJDobby
Excellent; I am now able to book a flight, and hitting the "Fly" button takes me to the fueling screen, so all looking good from an FSA point of view. Thanks for sorting that all out.

I then had an issue with the Spitfire itself (it wouldn't let me got into the maintenance hangar to check the engines/etc before my next flight), but I sorted that out with a complete Spit reinstall. I mention this because, by re-installing it, the empty weight setting went back to its original value, and FSA client didn't complain; so the FSA "SPIT" definitions work with the default A2A config.

Cheers
Simon

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 8:38 pm
by SJDobby
Hmmm. Seemed ok but after a single flight it's status has gone from 100% to 33% and will cost over $800k to fix. Apparently I was above the max landing weight.
Maybe I'll stick to flying the Texan in FSA.

Re: How to make A2A Spitfire be treated as a Spitfire MkXIV

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 5:39 am
by joefremont
Ah, you experienced a bug I have been tracking down, please email me the file called 'fsairlines_debug.txt' that you should find in My Documents\FSAirlines, I will PM you the email. I repaired your aircraft to 100% for you.