Документ взят из кэша поисковой машины. Адрес оригинального документа : http://crydee.sai.msu.ru/ftproot/pub/rec/games/unsorted/faqs/rec.aviation.simulators.faq Дата изменения: Thu Mar 23 00:00:00 1995 Дата индексирования: Mon Dec 24 11:12:27 2007 Кодировка: Поисковые слова: comet

Archive-name: aviation/flight-simulators
Last changed: 2/22/95



rec.aviation.simulators
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

This FAQ is maintained by rwittick@msu.edu (Bob Wittick) and
is posted twice a month. Any comments, suggestions, additions or
corrections are welcome, so feel free to send me your ideas.

Similar to the FAQ on rec.aviation, there are |'s (pipes) at the beginning
of each line that contains new information. This way those of you with
'grep'-like utilities can immediately search this file for the new stuff.

Our "unofficial motto" (smiley-captioned for the humor-impaired):

"Any product (flight/computer oriented) that considers Angle
of Attack in an at least semi-realistic way is a sim, any other
a game." :)
-- Gary Cooper (not the dead one)

A special thank you is extended to John Mechalas, who founded this FAQ and
spent several years maintaining it. His many contributions to the Internet
flight simulator community have been invaluable.

Thanks also to: Glenn Wallace, Hayden Nanton, G. David Frye, Robert Dorsett,
Mark Strawcutter, Brooke Anderson, Jeff Beadles, Joel Murray,
Linda McGarry, Dan Sharpes, Bruce Jackson, Mary Shafer, Rob
Jones, Michael Jones, Stefan Frick, Gary Cooper, Jim Knutson,
Brian, Paulo Ney de Souza, Tim Tessin, Scott Chan, Brad Bass,
and Alan Epstein for their major contributions.

Also thanks to the countless others who have provided John and me with constant
feedback and other helpful hints.




Abbreviations you may see used on this news group:

AAF or A&AF Mallard's "Aircraft and Adventure Factory" for MS FS4
ACM "Air Combat Maneuvers", a flight simulator for Unix
|AOTP "Aces Of the Pacific"
ASD or A&SD Microsoft's "Aircraft and Scenery Designer" for MS FS4
ATP subLOGIC's "Flight Assignment: Airline Transport Pilot"
AW Air Warrior
BAO The Bruce Artwick Organization
DOF Degrees Of Freedom (used in describing flight models)
F15III "F-15 Strike Eagle III"
F3 Spectrum Holobyte's "Falcon 3.0"
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
FS "Flight Simulator", usually referring to Microsoft's
FSFS BAO's Flight Simulator Flight Shop
FS4 Microsoft's Flight Simulator, version 4
FS5 Microsoft's Flight Simulator, version 5
FTP TCP/IP "File Transfer Program"
MS Microsoft
MS FS Microsoft "Flight Simulator", usually referring to the IBM
version
PC Personal Computer, not necessarily referring to IBM PC's
SB Sound Blaster sound card for IBM computers
SEE Mallard's "Scenery Enhancement Editor" for MS FS4 w/ A&SD
SGA or S&GA Mallard's "Sound and Graphics Upgrade" for MS FS4
USNF Electronic Art's "US Navy Fighters"
VLB VESA Local Bus (usually referring to the video card)




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX

Section A: General information about rec.aviation.simulators
A1. What is rec.aviation.simulators?
A2. Is it okay to discuss games?
A3. Can I post binary files here?
A4. What posts *don't* belong here?

Section B: Flight Simulation Theory
B1. Where can I learn about flight simulation?
B2. What do you really mean by "realism" in a flight simulator?
B3. How does the flight model influence fidelity?
B4. What is a 6 DOF flight model?
B5. What is DATCOM?
B6. How "realistic" are the various PC based simulators?

Section C: Flight Simulator Products
C1. Which flight simulator is best for me?
C2. Can I maintain my FAA currency with a PC-based simulator?
C3. Will a FPU/Math co-processor improve my simulator performance?
C4. Are there any space simulators?
C5. What simulators are available for Unix or Sun systems?
C6. Are there any Air Traffic Control simulators?
C7. Where can I get information on the various flight simulators?
C8. Where can I buy flight-related software?
C9. Are there any flight-simulator-related mailing lists?
C10. Are there any magazines devoted to flight simulators?
C11. What new products are expected and when will they appear?

Section D: Microsoft Flight Simulator
D1. What kind of performance should I expect from FS5?
D2. Are there any patches available for FS5?
D3. What add-ons are available for FS5?
D4. How do I fix the sound problems in FS5?
D5. What products are available for FS 4 (IBM)?
D6. What products are available for FS 4 (Mac)?
D7. What is the difference between AAF and A&SD?
D8. Has anyone decoded the scenery file format? Or the other file
formats used by FS 4 and 5?
D9. Is there a way to get real ATC for FS4?
D10 Why doesn't my copy of USA East work properly with FS4?
D11. Why doesn't my USA scenery work with FS5?
D12. What are the various "companion books" available for FS?

Section E: Specific Questions on Other Products
E1. Why doesn't my Sound Blaster card work with ATP?
E2. The KU antenna won't deploy in shuttle, and I can't de-orbit. Is
there a fix?

Section F: FTP Sites
F1. Are there any FTP-sites that have flight-sim related material?
F2 Is there a way to get flight-sim related materials via e-mail?
F3. Where can I get ACM, FltSim, and Aviator?
F4. How do I upload files to the various flight-sim FTP sites?
F5. Where else can I get flight-sim related materials?

Section G: Misc.
G1. What happened to Mallard?
G2. What happened between SubLOGIC, Microsoft, and BAO?
G3. How do I submit comments, suggestions, or corrections to the FAQ?


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



Section A: General information about rec.aviation.simulators

A1. What is rec.aviation.simulators?

rec.aviation.simulators is one of many sister groups that are under
the "parent" group rec.aviation. This USENET news group is specifically
for the discussion of air and spacecraft simulators, whether they be
PC-based, Workstation-based, or "real". Mostly, you will see talk
about PC sims, since most of us can't afford (and consequently don't
| have access to) the real things. For those that are interested in
| discussing the theory of flight simulation, you may also want to
| check out sci.aeronautics.simulation.


A2. Is it okay to discuss games like "Falcon" or "Hellcats"?

Since the software market doesn't really differentiate between games
and flight simulators, we don't either. However, you are more likely
to find game-related simulators on the newsgroups
comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.flight-sim and comp.sys.amiga.games and others,
whereas discussion of "pure" simulators on here.

If you need help with a game, you are probably going to have better
luck (and more responses) by posting to the games newsgroups.
However, if your questions are about flight or combat technique,
| flight modeling, realism, or other issues related to the software
| you are using, then this is the best place to post.


A3. Can I post binary files here?

In the past, some uuencoded binary files have been posted to this
forum. In general, most of these files have been airplanes or
scenery for MS FS4 and such. Although there's nothing really wrong
with posting such files to the news group, use a little common sense
before doing so, and ask yourself the following questions:

* How big is the file? Whereas posting a 2k TRACON/ATC sector
is probably not a big deal, a 50k scenery file is probably
pushing things. Most administrators probably don't want to
store several large binary files in their news spool
directories.

* Would it be better to put it up for FTP? In the case of larger
files, it would be better to post the file to an FTP site
such as ftp.iup.edu or wuarchive.wustl.edu, and then just
announce its existence on the news group, telling people where
they can find it and what it is. See Section F for a listing
of FTP sites that carry Flight-Sim related material.


A4. What posts *don't* belong here?

In general, if it's not related to flight simulation products or
theory, you're better off taking it somewhere else. This includes,
but is not limited to, political discussions, flames, chain letters,
government propaganda, and anything by Robert McElwaine or Melvin
Gladstone. Also note that requests for cheats, cracks, or other ways
of bypassing copy protection, are not welcome. *Several* major product
developers read this forum, and you're more likely to offend the
people that are trying to make their living than you are to get any
help in illegal activities.


Section B: Flight Simulator Theory
-----------------------------------

B1. Where can I learn about flight simulation?

For the actual flight dynamics, try the references listed below. You
would be best off reading books on computer graphics for handling the
graphic displays:

Foley et. al., _Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics_,
Addison-Wesley. [Basics only. -R D Dorsett]

_Microcomputer Displays, Graphics, and Animation_, Bruce A. Artwick,
Prentiss-Hall, 1985, ISBN 0-13-039322-3. Previously published
as _Applied Concepts in Computer Graphics_.

_A versatile computer-generated dynamic flight display_, Bruce A.
Artwick, Aviation Research Laboratory, Institute of Aviation,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, prepared for Engineering
Psychology Programs, Office of Naval Research, May 1975.

_Flights of Fantasy_, by Chris Lampton, completely implements a PC
based flight simulator. While it isn't Strike Commander or Falcon
3.0, it _is_ much better than any other book on the market for
learning implementation details of 3d graphical games. [ -Brian]


The following references are mostly academic texts, and provide more
of introductions to dynamics and flight dynamics theory. Additional
references are listed in B4 and B5.

_Aircraft Control and Simulation_, by Brian L. Stevens and Frank
L. Lewis, John Wiley & Sons, 1992, ISBN 0-471-61397-5. This is
what a lot of people seem to think Rolfe's _Flight Simulation_
is. Develops a 6 dof F-16 flight model. [ -RDD]

"Modeling Flight," in _IEEE Potentials_., April 1990.
Performance-based model of bizjet-category airplane; Turbo Pascal
source available on various ftp sites as "SIMULATE.PAS"

_Simulation Of Aircraft_, Connelly, Mark E. Report 7591-R-1.
Feb 15, 1958, Servomechanisms Laboratory, MIT. It is a bit dated
but its what CAE Electronics used to throw at new graduates in the
Aero Group to educate them. [ -Iab Maclure]

J. D. Anderson, Jr., _Introduction to Flight_ (McGraw-Hill, 1989).
[A great intro to flight dynamics. Read this first before tackling
the more difficult texts that follow. -B Anderson]

C. D. Perkins and R. E. Hage, _Airplane Performance, Stability, and
Control_ (Wiley, 1949). [One of the best books I've found on the
gritty details of flight dynamics, including all of the complicated
effects ignored by all PC flight sims. Written by and for aircraft
designers. -BA]

B. Etkin, _Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight_ (Wiley, 1972). [A more
modern treatment. Relies more on linearization, which I don't like,
but the treatment is more well organized. -BA]

R. Von Mises, _Theory of Flight_ (Dover, 1959). [Another detailed
book like the one by Perkins and Hage. This one is even a little
more involved than Perkins and Hage's, and it's not suitable unless
you are comfortable with physics and math at the freshman or
sophomore level. However, since it's a Dover book, the list price is
only $13-- a steal considering that Perkins and Hage's and Etkin's
books cost about $90 each. -BA]

J. M. Rolfe and K. J. Staples, eds., _Flight Simulation_ (Cambridge
University Press, 1986), pp. 36-60. [This is a book about the
development of flight sims. Pages 36-60 (Chapter 3) contains
information on the quaternion formalism for representing an
aircraft's attitude. This is the way to do it in a flight sim. It
is much simpler and faster than the Euler-angle formalism (i.e., it
is much more suitable than using the gimbal equations). -BA]

Another excellent reference is _Spacecraft Dynamics_ by Kane, Likins,
and Levinson (McGraw-Hill, 1983). [Also details the quaternian
formulation, as well as gives transformation equations between the
various sets of parameters. Also lists transformation matrices for
several sets of euler angles. -JM]

If you want to see a flight model in action, you will definitely want
to check out the flight model used in ACM (a Unix-based flight
simulator for X11 environments. A separate FAQ for ACM is maintained
and posted periodically).

Tim Tessin writes:

ACM uses a 6 DOF model with roll, pitch and yaw modeled using
NACA stability derivatives. Also ACM actually models the spring
and motion damping effects of the landing gear struts, as well as
the contribution of ground friction by the wheels.

B2. What do you really mean by "realism" in a flight simulator?

Robert Dorsett Writes:

There are two major issues to consider: realism and fidelity.
Realism is how "real" a system feels; fidelity relates to the actual
models used.

Realism is a highly subjective issue: a simulator might model each
blade of grass on the approach end of a runway, but if the user's
flying overhead at 37,000', that won't affect his perception of
*realism* at that point. Similarly, a graphics system might provide
a high- resolution database, but if it only uses an orthographic
projection, it won't win over many pilots!

Simulation is, therefore, the *art* of providing the expected cues
and response characteristics for a specified mission. Most military
simulators are so specialized that they're optimized for certain
missions or flight regimes; airline simulators tend to be much more
flexible (all regime). For each regime, appropriate feedback must be
maintained.

Real-world systems models are usually (but not always) the
cornerstone of high-fidelity simulation; final "realism", even in
airline simulators, is obtained only after an exhaustive survey and
fine-tuning process. The acceptance process for even a
production-run simulator can take up to a year.

A third issue is perception, and the intent of the game as an
entertainment product. For example, pilots realize that airplanes
are essentially very easy to fly and land: non-pilots may expect them
to be horrifyingly complex to fly, given a lot of the mystique
surrounding aviation, a lot of which has been enthusiastically
promoted by pilots themselves. :-)

All retail flight simulators are just games, and, to some degree,
help shape and feed off the perceptions of their users. So if the
users expect an F-16 to be almost impossible to fly, an F-16
simulator that IS almost impossible to fly wouldn't disappoint anyone
except real pilots. Conversely, a simulator that is actually easy to
fly might disappoint game-players as too easy, or "arcade-ish,"
because it IS too realistic.

In discussing "realism," one should really pay attention to three
factors:

1. The flight dynamics and flight instrumentation. (flight
simulator)
2. The visual system.
3. The systems support. (systems simulator)

The basis for such discussions in this forum should be from the
pilot, not entertainment, perspective.


B3. How does the flight model influence fidelity?

True fidelity in a flight simulator comes from the flight equations
used in the flight model. In general, the more complex the flight
model, the better performance you are going to get, though there are
instances where even a *good* flight model can lead to poor flight
simulation (more on that in a minute).

In general, most of the low-end, low-cost simulators on the market use
what is known as a "3 Degree of Freedom", or 3 DOF, flight model.
This means that the equations of motion only determine x, y, and z
displacements of the aircraft in space, and then use this information
to determine the flight attitude. The actual characteristics are
based on the so-called "performance" equations, which themselves are
usually only defined for steady-state situations. Various other
characteristics, such as roll rate, must be fudged by the author.
Some simulations don't even pay any attention to angle of attack,
using stick input or airplane pitch as the final determining
characteristic.

Most high-end simulators use a 6 DOF model, described below, and a
lot of PC-based simulators tend to ignore these kinds of models
completely, and rely on a "point-space" performance model instead.

The equations of motion do not make the flight model, however; they
merely set the limit on what is and is not possible. In order to
support these equations, you must also have good models for finding
the lift-curve slope, drag coefficients, stability derivatives, and
other parameters.

In addition, you have to decide how you want to calculate these
parameters. Should you calculate your lift on each wing
independently, or just the lift on the whole wing surface area? The
latter method would be faster and easier, but the former would allow
you to model such flight dynamics as the "Dutch roll" modes,
stall-spin conditions, and other common effects. How about downwash
effects, which alter the effective angle of attack of the tail?
There are several issues that need to be considered.

Finally, after you have your flight model together, you need to find
the parameters that fit your aircraft, so that your *plane* flies
just as realistically as your flight model does. For example, you
could have a high-end, 6 DOF flight model, but if your Cessna 172 has
the wrong wing area modeled, it won't *fly* like one.


B4. What is a 6 DOF model?

Robert Dorsett writes:

A 6 degree of freedom flight model provides for a fairly accurate
modeling of the motion and flying characteristics of an airplane.
It is generally used when the airplane is to be modeled as a "rigid
body." It considers both rotational (yaw, pitch, and roll) and
translational motion, both centered around the center of gravity.
Since there are three axes to consider in each case, this is referred
to as a six- degree-of-freedom model. This model actually considers
twelve variables, since both the instantaneous rate of change *and*
position have to be considered. These are referred to as the state
variables, which are applied to varying matrices of coefficients to
get the desired fidelity.

Several people recommended "Aircraft Control and Simulation," by
Frank L. Lewis and Brian L. Stevens (Wiley Interscience, 1992, ISBN
0-471-61397-5). It is a comprehensive work, using an F-16 model as a
case-study example. It includes FORTRAN code.

A couple of people recommended NASA CR-1756, "The simulation of a
large jet transport aircraft volume I: mathematical model," by C.
Rodney Hanke, March 1971. This deals with the simulation of a Boeing
747. I've found the second half, containing the aerodynamic data, is
all but impossible to find, however.

One of the more accessible references is J. M. Rolfe's _Flight
Simulation_, a survey of the art. It has a bottom-line description
of a 6 DOF flight model, adapted from the Hanke paper. It is more
useful for its insights into other aspects of system and flight
simulation.

One respondent suggested "A review of flight simulation techniques,"
by Max Baarspul, in _Progress in Aerospace Science_, Vol. 27, 1990.
This is a comprehensive monograph (120 pages), detailing the art of
simulation. Portions are reminiscent of Rolfe, but he develops a
flight model for a DHC-2 "Beaver" in much more detail.

Dan Sharpes dug up the following two:

_Aircraft Dynamics and Automatic Control_, by McRuer, Ashkenas, and
Graham, (Princeton University Press, 1973, ISBN 0691080836), which
apparently has a detailed DC-8 model at the end.

_Flight Stability and Automatic Control_, by Robert C. Nelson (McGraw
Hill, 1989, ISBN 0070462186). Dan transcribed the following
derivatives for a 747-100 or -200, on page 260:

Longitudinal
Mach Alt CL CD CLa CDa Cma CLadot CLq
.25 SL 1.11 0.102 5.70 0.66 -1.26 6.7 5.4
.90 40k 0.5 0.042 5.5 0.47 -1.6 0.006 6.58

Mach CMq CLM CDM CmM CL-De CM-De
.25 -20.8 -0.81 0.0 0.27 0.338 -1.34
.90 -25.0 0.2 0.25 -0.10 0.3 -1.2

Lateral
Mach Alt CyB ClB CnB Clp Cnp Clr Cnr
.25 SL -0.96 -0.221 0.150 -0.45 -0.121 0.101 -0.30
.90 40k -0.85 -0.10 0.20 -0.30 0.20 0.20 -0.325

Mach Cl-Da Cn-Da Cy-Dr Cl-Dr Cn-Dr
.25 0.0461 0.0064 0.175 0.007 -0.109
.90 0.014 0.003 0.075 0.005 -0.09

W = 636,600 lb
CG @ 25%MAC
S = 5500 ft sq
b = 195.68 ft sq
c-bar = 27.31 ft

Ix 18.2 E6 slug-ft sq
Iy 33.1 E6 slug-ft sq
Iz 49.7 E6 slug-ft sq
Ixz 0.97 E6 slug-ft sq

All derivatives are per radian.


For more aircraft models, check out the following references:

Robert K. Heffley and Wayne F. Jewell, _Aircraft Handling Qualities
Data_, NASA CR 2144, December 1972, 343 pp. Aircraft described are
NT-33A, F-104A, F-4C, X-15, HL-10, Lockheed jetstar, Convair 880M,
B-747, C-5A, and XB-70A.

G. L. Teper, "Aircraft Stability and Control Data, NASA CR-96008,
1969. Aircraft covered are A-7A, A-4D, F-106B, T-38, F-5A, F-104,
F-105B, B-58, Navion, and DC-8.


B5. What is DATCOM?

A description of DATCOM, from Dan Sharpes:

The Datcom is the short-hand title for the "USAF Stability and
Control DATCOM." It contains methodologies for determining the S & C
derivatives for just about any type of configuration. It does NOT
contain the S & C derivatives of aircraft (popular misconception!).
Here's what the Guide to Datcom says:

"Fundamentally, the purpose of the Datcom (Data Compendium) {OK, I
was wrong. Flame me!} is to provide a systematic summary of methods
for estimating basic stability and control derivatives. ... For
any given flight condition and configuration the complete set of
derivatives can be determined without resort to outside information.
The book is intended to be used for preliminary design purposes
before the acquisition of test data. ... there are many cases where
the Datcom can be used to advantage in conjunction with test data.
For instance, if the lift-curve slope of a wing-body combination is
desired, the Datcom recommends that the lift-curve slopes of the
isolated wing and body, respectively, be estimated by methods
presented and that appropriate wing-body interference factors (also
presented) be applied. If wing-alone test data are available, it is
obvious that these test data should be substituted in place of the
estimated wing-alone characteristics ..."

The Datcom has nine sections:
1) Guide to Datcom and Methods Summary
2) General Information (notation, parameters of wing, body,
section, and platform)
3) Effects of External Stores
4) Characteristics at Angle of Attack (static derivatives in alpha)
5) Characteristics in Sideslip (static derivatives in beta)
6) Characteristics of High-Lift and Control Devices (section and
wing forces and moments, including hinge moments)
7) Dynamic Derivatives (in p, q, r, alpha-dot, and beta-dot)
8) Mass and Inertia
9) Characteristics of VTOL-STOL Aircraft (thrust characteristics)

The methods are a mixture of theoretical and empirical equations.
Each section starts with a description of the aerodynamics that
contribute to the derivative as appropriate to the configuration.
The methods are then discussed with sample problems following. Next
are the references, the tables showing accuracy of the methods, and
finally, the charts. You'll probably recognize these - several
authors use them liberally in their texts.

Where to get DATCOM:

It's $175. It's distributed in four binders, is 3,200 pages, and can
be ordered from:

Global Engineering
7730 Carondelet Ave. #407
Clayton, Missouri 63105

800-854-7179


B6. How realistic are the various PC-based simulators?

Robert Dorsett writes:

This is difficult to establish, since, again, user enjoyment of a
product isn't directly proportional to its realism. Also, different
users might prioritize different aspects of the simulator, which can
contribute to perceptions of realism. An instrument-rated pilot
might value the fidelity of the nav database; a VFR pilot might want
a detailed visual database and good "seat of the pants"
controllability. A combat pilot will want a challenging adversary,
whereas a would-be test-pilot would enjoy just flying the airplane.
So far, there aren't any "combat airplane" equivalents of MS FS,
which will just let one fly around a realistic civilian database in a
really high-performance airplane, so it's not really possible to talk
about "instrument" military simulators, even though a couple provide
"ILS" approaches.

Since "package" evaluations ARE a function of user expectations, take
the following with a grain of salt.

1. _Civilian_ Considering flight realism, database design and
fidelity, and instrumentation.

Realism: Elite (Mac/PC), without a doubt. Developed with a 6 DOF
flight model, very accurate. Followed by Microsoft Flight
Simulator 5.0 (PC), ATP (PC) and MS Flight Simulator 4.0 (Mac/PC).

Database: Elite, for its nav database; ATP and MS FS 4.0 for
their visual databases. Navaids modeled better in ATP.

Instrumentation: Elite (Mac/PC), without a doubt; ATP and MS FS
4.0 and 5.0 are about on par.

2. _Combat_ Considering flight realism, database design,
responsiveness, and challenge.

Flight: "Hellcats over the Pacific"'s (Mac) F6F feels the most
like any airplane, but its performance near the edges of the
envelope feels too stable. Next-up would be "Falcon 3" (PC),
idiosyncrasies and all; followed by "P-51 Mustang" (Mac), and
| "Aces Of the Pacific" (PC). Near the bottom of the list is
"Falcon MC" (Mac), with its horrible flight model.

Database: "Hellcats," again, the most detailed, modeling
everything from moving aircraft carriers to the ammo cans on
anti-aircraft batteries. "Falcon" (3 and MC) are mediocre
seconds.

Challenge: "Falcon 3's" probably the best, due to the necessity
of learning and using the various types of weapons systems.
"Hellcats" arguably provides the best air combat maneuvering guns
environment, although enemy aircraft don't die easily enough when
hit point- blank. "P-51" has a difficult ACM environment, but is
only 1:1. However, when one wins, one has a real feeling of
accomplishment.


Section C: PC-Based Products
-----------------------------

C1. Which flight simulator is best for me?

The answer to this question, like all others of this type, is "it
depends on what you want to use it for". There are a number of
flight simulators out on the market, and they are (mostly) broken
down into the following categories:

* Cheap games -- These would be programs that aren't really flight
simulators at all, but rather programs that have an airplane or
some such thing in them. They are not intended to be flight
simulators, any more than DOS's EDLIN and Mac's TeachText are
intended to be word processors.

* Flight Simulation Combat -- This category would include games
| like Falcon, Aces Of the Pacific, Hellcats, and others. Some
of these have better flight models than others, some have better
combat modeling. It's really difficult to point out which of
them is the best, since it all depends on what kind of planes you
want to fly, and how complicated a program you want.

* Low-end Simulators -- This category includes FS 4 and ATP, and
consists of programs that are really intended to be basic flight
simulation "games" (and I use that term loosely). You get a
fairly good flight model at low cost, and also good graphics.
They are usually intended for VFR flight, and not for serious IFR
practice.

* High-end Simulators -- This category includes software packages
like Elite and IFT-Pro. They typically will have a 6 DOF flight
model, realistic performance, high fidelity, and are designed to
provide existing or future pilots with serious IFR practice.
They are also considerably more expensive, ranging from $150 to
$600 or so.


C2. Can I maintain my IFR currency with a PC-based simulator?

There is no PC-based program that can, at the present time, be used
to log IFR hours. However, the following products are recommended
for serious IFR practice:

"Elite" by Azuresoft(?) is an extremely expensive, but highly
realistic IFR trainer that is available for the Mac and IBM. There
are several different versions out, depending on what type of
computer you have, and they all require a flight yoke of some kind or
another. Elite is not a toy, and is probably the most accurate and
realistic PC-based simulator, both in terms of flying
characteristics, and instrument panel simulation. The list price for
Elite varies from $400 to $700, depending on which version you
purchase.

"Instrument Pilot" by Precision Training is an IBM (386 or better)
based integrated instrument rating instructional simulator. It comes
with speech generation hardware to simulate communications and
includes all equipment necessary for instrument training ground
school. List is about $495, and it can be purchased directly from
the company at (800) 452-0465.

"IFT-Pro" from Flight Deck is also a good choice. Though not as
complex as Elite, it still offers a high level of instrument and
flight realism, and is an excellent package. It's also a lot
cheaper.. list is somewhere around $350. It is available for IBM
systems.

"FS100", by MDM Systems, Inc., is an IBM PC-based (286 or better)
flight sim that is intended for IFR training, and has a "pilot
console" that attaches to your serial port. The console has switches
for nav/com radios, throttle/prop/mixture, flaps/gears, etc..
Databases constructed from Jepp NavData are available for $75 each.
The company is in Charlotte, NC and their number is 704-523-7400.
List price is $595.


C3. Will an FPU/Math co-processor increase my simulator performance?

Robert Dorsett writes:

Most flight simulators, as with most games, use fixed-point
integer arithmetic. They do this both because most production
machines, until recently, haven't had an FPU, but they also do it
because this approach is significantly *faster* than FPU
performance.

This approach is also used by real-life avionics and simulator
manufacturers, and obviously is not a "limitation." A common
misconception is that an FPU adds more "precision," and leads to
greater "realism." This is wrong.

A simulator must explicitly code for FPU use. Thus, simply by
adding an FPU, one won't see any magical speed changes.

So unless a simulator explicitly *requires* an FPU, or *states*
that it will benefit from an FPU, don't bother buying one, unless
you can use it elsewhere.

Simulators that don't use an FPU:

Hellcats over the Pacific (Mac)
Leyte Gulf (Mac)
ATP (IBM)
FS4 (IBM and Mac)
FS5 (IBM)

Simulators that do:

Elite (all versions, IBM and Mac)
Falcon 3.0 (req'd for High Fidelity model, IBM)


C4. Are there any space simulators?

Virgin produces a simulator simply entitled "Shuttle". It is by far
one of the most complex, detailed, and realistic simulators available
for the PC, Amiga, and Atari ST.

Another, older, program, called "Orbiter", is available for Mac
systems.

Microsoft's Space Simulator is a more recent entry into the space
simulator product set. It was written by BAO, the designers of
Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Nick Dargahi writes:

Space Simulator is the most advanced and complex simulation program
ever created for the PC. The program combines the awesome photorealistic
graphics engine of Flight Simulator 5.0 with a newly created orbital
dynamics simulation, so that you can actually recreate the motion of
spacecraft in outer space. Spacecraft can rotate and move in three
dimensions, planets can rotate along their axes and move in their
assigned orbits. Well-known comets, such as Halley's, Swift-Tuttle,
Kohoutek, and West are plotted accurately, as are some of the larger
asteroids of the solar system. Twenty-one nearby star systems have
been recreated with imaginary planetary systems that you can visit with
your spacecraft. It is also possible to take intergalactic trips to
visit 21 deep space objects, including galaxies, nebulae, star clusters,
and black holes. Because even at light speed, or 300,000,000 meters per
second (186,000 miles per second), journeys of such vast distances can
take thousands of years, Space Simulator gives you the option of
accelerating and decelerating the passage of time. This means that
you can fly to the heart of the our Milky Way Galaxy and return to Earth
in time for lunch.

Other features of the program include: choice of spacecraft and space
stations astronomical observatory, external chase and internal
cockpit 3-D view windows with auto-tracking and panning capabilities,
video recordings/ space photographs/ situation recorder, autopilot,
flight computer to link together autopilot commands, and both
space shuttle and Apollo 17 LEM landing missions. [-Nick Dargahi]

C5. What flight simulators are available for Unix systems?

There are currently three flight simulation programs that you can run
on a Sun workstation running SunOS/Unix, or on X-Window systems:

Flight Sim (fltsim.tar.Z) -- A flight simulator for Sun systems. No
documentation, only some notes on what systems it has been run on
(Sun3, 4, 386, IPX with 8-bit color).

Air Combat Maneuvers (acm-4.0.tar.Z) -- A LAN-based combat simulator
for the X-11 window environment. It simulates F-16 and Mig-23
aircraft and is a client/server package, meaning that several players
can fly against one another when connected to the same server. A
separate FAQ is maintained for ACM by Brad Bass (bass@convex.com), and
is posted here periodically.

Aviator (???) -- Stefan Frick writes:

I think it started as a demo-project by two SUN-employees to exploit
the performance of the GX-graphics-accelerator. One of them is Bruce
Factor, can't remember the other one...[The other is Curtis Priem
- Paulo Ney de Souza] A couple of years ago, you could get the program
for free from your local sales-rep., but the authors formed their own
company, called 'Artificial Horizons' and it became a commercial
product. The simulator models the FA-18, X-29 and Boeing 727.

Is uses terrain-data from the US Geological Survey and it gives at great
sense of realism. The cost of Aviator is $40 (US) for the license + $8
(US) for the media.

Scott Chan writes:

Silicon Graphics workstations come bundled with a flight simulator
located in the demos. One can take-off, land, and dog fight in a
Cessna 150, B747, F15, P38, etc. Flight characteristics "seem" pretty
good; frame rate is good, but depends on hardware platform and detail
selected. Scenery is somewhat sparse. Instruments are useful but not
realistic. There is also a heads-up display instrument panel.

Dogfighting takes place against other employees goofing off over the
network. I have no idea if it's been ported to other platforms which
have OpenGL...


C6. Are there any Air Traffic Control simulators?

"TRACON II" by Wesson International is available for many platforms.
It is an excellent simulation of ATC, and the PC version can even be
linked to Microsoft Flight Simulators for multi-player interactive
flying and ATC. There are several variants available, including
TRACON for Windows, and TRACON Pro (suitable for training real ATC
personnel).

Recently, Wesson released a "cosmetic" upgrade of TRACON for IBM
under the title name "ATC". Mallard was handling the distribution
of this product, which is basically a combination of the
IBM versions of TRACON for DOS and TRACON for Windows (both are
included in the package). It is believed that the "ATC" line will
replace the "TRACON" title and will continue to be distributed
through BAO. "TRACON Pro" however, will remain a Wesson-distributed
product. "TRACON" is also available for Macintosh systems

The rumors of the "Microsoft ATC simulator" probably came about when
some people confused the Tower simulator under development by Wesson
and BAO with the new TRACON/ATC package, and concluded that a product
called "ATC" was going to be released by Microsoft, the publisher of
BAO's Flight Simulator. Tower is supposed to be released by BAO's
| marketing outlet in the second quarter, 1995.


C7. Where can I get information about the various flight simulators?

There is an archive that contains reviews, bug-fixes and notices,
screen snapshots, and other related information that you can get via
anonymous FTP:

rascal.ics.utexas.edu (128.83.138.20)
misc/av/simulator-folder

Another excellent source is the WAIS service at quake.think.com.
Simple TELNET to quake.think.com and login as wais. Select the
flight_sim source and ask about the topic you are interested in.
A list of articles will be given to you, after which you select
the ones you want to read. If you wish to keep a copy of an
article, you can have it mailed to you.


C8. Where can I buy flight-related software?

There are a few good places to try. I am sure there are more, but
these companies really stand out (feel free to add to this list):

Chips and Bits (800) 699-4263
DataWings (713) 431-1079
Electronics Boutique (800) 800-5166
Egghead Software (800) EGG-HEAD Software of all types.
Flight Computing (800) 992-7737 Flight-related software and
more. Very aviation-
oriented.
Flight Sim Central (800) 477 SIMS Software and hardware for
flight simulators.
SubLogic (800) 637-4983 Only carry their own products.
TekMate (713) 440-5542 TekMate has all subLOGIC
scenery disks, in addition
to other products.


C9. Are there any flight-sim-related mailing lists?

Falcon 3 users can join the Falcon mailing list by sending a
message to "majordomo@onion.rain.com" with the line "subscribe
falcon3" in the BODY of the message.

The Flight Simulator mailing list is mostly centered around MS FS,
but is not restricted to any particular product or class of
| products. To subscribe send a message to
| with "subscribe flight-sim" in the body of the message.

Air Warrior mailing list can be subscribed to by emailing
"listserv@cactus.org" with "subscribe 666th-etal " in the
body of the message.

C10. Are there any magazines devoted to flight simulators?

There are currently two magazines published that focus on flight
simulators. They are the following:

MicroWINGS Magazine
Official Magazine of the International Association of Aerospace
Simulations
381 Casa Linda Plaza #154
Dallas, Texas 75218
USA

The subscription rate for MicroWINGS is $49/year; it is published
bi-monthly. No telephone number given.


Full Throttle
The Microsoft Flight Simulator Pilot's Journal
Published by The Cobb Group
9420 Bunsen Parkway, Suite 300
Louisville, Kentucky 40220
USA

The subscription rate for Full Throttle is $39/year; it is published
bi-monthly. You can call them at:
800-223-8720
or
502-491-3300

C11. What new products are expected and when will they appear?

These questions are always dangerous to try to answer because the
developers can only give approximate release dates for new products,
and some users get very upset when a new product does not appear on
the date that was originally announced. However, given that, here is
what has been officially announced.

Microsoft has announced a new version of the Flight Simulator, version
5.1. There will be both a disk version and a CD-ROM version. The
CD-ROM version will include over 150 additional airports as well as
major rivers and mountains around the world. The Microsoft press release
indicates a second quarter 1995 ship date. A scenery designer was also
alluded to in the readme file for FS5.0, but this product has yet to be
officially announced.

BAO has announced Las Vegas photo-realistic scenery for FS5, which should
be available second quarter, 1995. They have also announced Tower and
Flight Shop as being available during the second quarter 1995.


Section D: Microsoft Flight Simulator
--------------------------------------

D1. What kind of performance should I expect from FS5?

The faster your machine, the better off you will be. Although a
386 is the minimum recommended processor on the box, you will find
that you'll want a 486DX *at least* if you want to use all of FS5's
new features and still get high frame rates. To give you an idea of
the "low end" computers, John's former 386DX/25 gave a frame rate of
between 2 and 5 fps at Chicago with the following configuration:

ET4000 video card, 320x400 VGA (256 colors)
Textured sky, gradient horizon
Textured ground
Normal scenery density
No dynamic scenery
No shadows
No building textures
No aircraft texture
Airport lighting on
"Enhanced readability" instrument panel
No image smoothing
Low instrument update rate

He could increase this frame rate to about 3 to 8 fps by removing the
textured ground. Removing the textured sky further increased frame
rate, and switching to the 16-color mode essentially turns the graphics
display to FS4 levels, but with a slightly lower frame rate than FS4
(this last one is difficult to measure accurately). These frame rates
were playable and acceptable to him.

When he upgraded to a 486/25, (same video configuration), the frame
rate was roughly twice that of the 386/25.

A 486DX2/50 or higher will (in most circumstances) allow you to run
with all the special effects turned on with more acceptable frame
rates.

You'll find that your video card will make a big difference, especially
if you are running VLB. Configuring for large disk caches (1 MB to
2 MB) will further increase performance, and FS5 prefers EMS to XMS.

The main idea to remember is that you can't expect to turn on all the
display options and dense scenery and still get high frame rates,
especially if you have a 386 processor. FS5 is essentially a 486 or
Pentium program, and unless you turn down the details to match your
processor, you will not be happy with the results.


D2. Are there any patches available for FS5?

BAO and Microsoft have released a patch which upgrades FS 5.0 to
version 5.0a. This patch fixes many of the bugs that are present
in the original release, reduces the in-flight pauses, and
slightly improves the frame rate. It also includes a 320x200x256
graphics mode to provide improved frame rates on slower machines.

The patch, FS50A.ZIP, and a text file describing the revisions,
is available from ftp.iup.edu in the FLIGHT-SIM.FS5 directory.

The latest Microsoft press release indicates that version 5.1 of
the flight simulator will appear during the second quarter, 1995.


D3. What add-ons are available for FS5?

Real Weather Pilot, a release from Mallard, allows you to access
and incorporate current weather conditions into your FS4 and FS5
environment. [I don't own RWP. Can someone send me a brief
description?]

Currently, there are also several scenery disks which are distributed
through BAO and Microsoft. These scenery disks each cover a major area
(San Francisco, New York, Paris, Washington DC, Japan, Caribbean, and
Europe I are currently available) in great detail, and part of the
surrounding area. With all the details turned up, the San Francisco
scenery has given frame rates as low as 2 frames/sec on a 486DX2/66
(worst case), so some of these disks are definitely not for the CPU-
impaired if you want to partake of *all* the features. San Francisco
and Washington DC are photo-realistic scenery sets distributed by BAO.
This type of scenery requires a lot of hard disk space (around 17mb for
each) and looks very blurry from low altitudes, but from high altitudes
it is much more realistic than the synthetic scenery (New York, Paris,
Japan, the Caribbean, and Europe I are examples of the synthetic
scenery), which requires much less hard disk space (around 3 mb per set)
and offers better resolution at low altitudes. BAO has announced Las
Vegas, as a new photo-realistic sets to ship in the future. BAO has
released a frame counter that tells you how many frames per second you
are getting in FS5. It is available from ftp.iup.edu in the FS5
directory, as filename FC-FSO.ZIP.

Flight Shop is due to ship second quarter this year (1995). This will
allow you to design new aircraft for FS5. It is also supposed to allow
you to convert FS4 aircraft for use with FS5, provided you have the
original crated file. It is also supposed to have adventure capabilities
similar to those offered in AAF for FS4.

A new version of the Aircraft and Scenery Designer is also expected
some time in the future, but no formal announcement of its release has
been made yet. Two freeware scenery compilers are presently available.
They are called BGLGEN and BGLTOOLS. Both are available at ftp.iup.edu.
They are not as easy to use as the A&SD for FS4 (no graphical interface),
but I used both of them in designing my Hong Kong scenery and Scotland
scenery for FS5, and they do work well, once you get used to the edit-
compile-test cycle that is needed to use them.


D4. How do I fix the sound problems in FS5?

Sound related problems are probably the biggest complaints about
FS5. The first thing to do is be sure you have upgraded to FS5a;
that version solved several of the known sound problems. If you
are still having problems, try all the possible options for sound
boards, even though your board may be different from the options.
For example, I found that I could get the best sound with my
Ensoniq SoundScape board when I chose the option *Gravis Ultra*.
It wouldn't work at all when I put the board in SB mode and chose
the SoundBlaster option. Also, be sure the EMM386 line in your
config.sys looks like: DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM D=64 H=255

D5. What products are available for FS 4 (IBM)?

There are several commercial products available for the IBM version
of FS 4. Most of these are listed below:

* Aircraft and Adventure Factory -- Allows you to create aircraft
models for your A&SD/FS 4 aircraft. Note that the aircraft factory
is not and does not modify flight characteristics or parameters, it
is merely a "paint shop" for designing the *visual model* only.

The Adventure Factory lets you create interactive FS "adventures"
that you can use to do a variety of things, such as simulate Air
Traffic Control.

* Aircraft and Scenery Designer -- Design your own static and dynamic
scenery.

* Facilities Locator -- Both subLOGIC and Mallard distribute a
facilities locator that can instantly place you at any airport or
nav-aid in the FS database. Both products have different
features.

* Scenery Enhancement Editor -- Enhance your A&SD scenery files by
adding custom library objects, day/dusk/night effects, rotating and
elevating scenery objects, and much more.

* Sound and Graphics Upgrade -- Provides sound support (and digitized
sound) for most of the popular sound boards (SB, SBPro, AdLib,
etc..). Also has graphics drives for VGA and SVGA modes (only
certain SVGA cards are supported).

* Real Weather Pilot -- See above.

Scenery disks are also available from subLOGIC and BAO.


D6. What products are available for FS 4 (Mac)?

Currently, the only "add-on" products for the Macintosh are the
Scenery Disks I - IV from BAO (note that only I - III are needed to
cover the continental US).

Note that there is NO scenery designer for Macintosh systems, and the
last anyone knew, there were no plans for one.


D7. What is the difference between the aircraft "designers" in AAF and A&SD?

A&SD is the program that actually allows you to design the flight
characteristics of your aircraft (within certain limits). The
Aircraft Factory in AAF, however, is merely a "paint shop" that lets
you draw the outward appearance of your design. It does not allow
modification of your aircraft's flight parameters.

In short, if you wanted to design a 727, A&SD would make your plane
*fly* like a 727, while AAF would make your plane *look* like a 727.
AAF can also be used to generate "static" scenery library objects
(.SC0 files) that can be inserted into your scenery files. Thus, you
could also put your 727 in a static scenery file, and display it
parked at your favorite airport terminal.


D8. Has anyone decoded the scenery file format? Or the other file
formats used by FS 4 and 5?

There is an excellent description of the various FS 4 file formats in
a file called FSSTRUCT.ZIP, and an FS Structure decoder exists under
the archive name FSDECODE.ZIP with accompanying files in DES.ZIP. Both
can be obtained via anon FTP from the ftp.iup.edu site in the directory
FLIGHT-SIM.FSDECODE (see section F).

FS5STRUC.ZIP is also available, and discusses the currently known FS 5
file formats. It comes with .DES files for use with FSDECODE, above.
It is strongly recommended that you read this file if you want to use
either BGLGEN or BGLTOOLS to design FS5 scenery.


D9. Is there a way to get real ATC for Flight Simulator v4.0?

IBM users have the following options:

TRACON/ATC, from Wesson and Mallard (described above), can link
with two computers running Flight Simulator, and allow you to
send your ATC messages to the Flight Simulator programs. With
special hardware, up to 16 FS programs can be linked.

Pilot's Power Tools, a commercial product from Mallard, let's
you design AAF adventures from your flight plan. These
adventures will provide you with full ATC from takeoff to landing,
and VOC support is included.

Approach Control, a shareware product from John Mechalas, generates
AAF adventures that simulate airport approach control at any user-
defined airport. These adventures provide you with the ATC
commands needed to line you up for an instrument approach for the
runway most favored by the local winds. VOC support is included.
It is available form ftp.iup.edu in the FLIGHT-SIM.AAF directory.

ATC Net, also a shareware product from John Mechalas, generates
AAF adventures that create entire ATC "networks" for your FS4 world.
You can create several pre-defined adventures as well as define
several airports all in the same .ADV file. Full ATC is provided
from takeoff to landing, and it incorporates the Approach Control
engine for instrument approaches. It is available from ftp.iup.edu
in the AAF directory.

Mac users can try the following product:

FS-ATC is a shareware program from Miika Asunta that uses undocu-
mented Apple Events to find the position of your aircraft, and
sends messages to the FS program via the Notification Manager.
It also speaks the ATC messages vi the Speech Manager. The file
fs-atc-21-cpt.hqx is currently available from the sites
sumex.aim.stanford.edu, mac.archive.umich.edu and their mirrors, as
well as ftp.iup.edu.


D10. Why doesn't my copy of USA East work properly with FS4?

Most problems with USA East are caused by low memory (these problems
include: no runways or buildings displayed when scenery is loaded,
loss of map or multiple 3d windows, and sometimes very low frame
rates). Because USA East is so large, those of you with A&SD
installed with have to cut their static and dynamic memory
allocations. It is also recommended that you install a memory manager
in order to maximize the amount of 640k base memory that is available
from DOS. Last, do not use the SVGA modes that come with S&GA,
particularly the 800x600 mode. These higher res modes both eat up
memory *and* lower frame rates.

A good way to monitor your available memory in FS is to use the
Sound Control menu (if you have SOUND.DRV installed) as you modify
your A&SD settings.

You might also want to make sure that you are loading the FS4 version
of the scenery, and not the ATP version. The ATP/USA CD-ROM package,
for example, only includes the ATP scenery, and as a result it will
not work with FS4.


D11. Why doesn't my USA scenery work with FS5?

There are lots of possible answers to this question:

1) FS5 requires a special driver to display all of USA's scenery.
Without this driver, only the .SCN file will load, and as a
result you won't be able to see any buildings, airports, or
other details. The driver is available from subLOGIC, if you
don't already have it, along with some utilities.

2) Both FS5 and USA scenery are memory hogs. Free up as much
of your 640k base memory as you can, and invest in a memory
manager if you need to. I don't have any problems with
USA loading as long as I have about 620,000 bytes free (this
has not been tested thoroughly, however).

3) FS5 is very flaky when it comes to displaying FS4 scenery,
and many of the problems you experience with USA scenery are
also present with other scenery disks. Some examples include
the red error boxes and position jumping. (Note that the
latter problem can be prevented by keeping your NAV1 radio
tuned to a local VOR, though no one is really sure why this
works).

4) Make sure you are trying to load the FS4, and not the ATP,
version of the scenery. The ATP/USA CD, as mentioned above,
only has the ATP version of USA, which won't work with FS5.

5) Currently, USA scenery is not compatible with FS 5.0a, so
if you have the new version, or you have installed the patch,
you will not be able to use USA. subLOGIC (and, apparently,
Microsoft and BAO) are working on a fix.


D12. What are the various "companion books" available for FS?

Here are two currently available books for FS5:

Dargahi, Nick. 1994. _Microsoft Flight Simulator: The Official
Strategy Guide!_. Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA.

Trimble, Timothy. 1994. _Adventures in Flight Simulator,
Version 5_. Microsoft Publishing, Redmond, WA.

These three can be used with either FS4 or FS5:

Calfior, Fred, and Douglas Miller. 1994. _Flights of
"13MIKE"_. CalMil Publishing, Prescott, AZ.

Calfior, Fred, and Douglas Miller. 1994. _IFR Flights of
"13MIKE"_. CalMil Publishing, Prescott, AZ.

Calfior, Fred, and Douglas Miller. 1995. _Airienteering
with "13Mike"_. CalMil Publishing, Prescott, AZ.

These two are for Microsoft's Space Simulator:

Barba, Rick. 1994. _Microsoft Space Simulator: The Official
Strategy Guide!_ Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA.

Dargahi, Nick. 1994. _Space Simulator Strategies and Secrets_
Sybex.

Section E: Specific Questions about Other Products:
----------------------------------------------------

E1. Why doesn't my Sound Blaster card work with ATP?

If you are hearing only the first word of every ATC message through
your sound card, it is generally cause by an improper setting in the
SETBLASTER line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.

Linda McGarry writes:

I had the same problem with only 'Los' spoken from my Soundblaster
card. After a few phone calls to my supplier, I found out that
there is another option to the SETBLASTER environment variable that
is not mentioned in the leaflet that comes with the upgrade, the T
(type of soundblaster?).

I have: SETBLASTER=A220 D1 I5 T1 (??)

(I believe that the recommended value of T for current soundblaster
cards is T3).

Hope this helps!


E2. The KU antenna won't deploy in Shuttle, and I can't de-orbit. Is there
a fix?

Joel Murray writes:

There is a bug-fix available directly from Virgin. All you have to
do is send them a letter stating that you want the fix and enclose
the UPC code from the back of the box. I did and have experienced
NO problems since installing the fix.

By the way, if you type SHUTTLE /ALL (I think), all of the missions
become available to you.


Section F: FTP Sites
---------------------

F1. Are there any FTP sites that have flight-sim related material?

There are several places you can go (IP addresses are subject to
change. Please use the alias/name if possible):


ftp.uml.edu (129.63.17.1) A&SD Scenery (US scenery)
/msdos/Games/FltSim/Scenery + some IBM utils

wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) A&SD Scenery (US scenery)
/mirrors2/msdos-games/FltSim/Scenery (ftp.ulowell.edu mirror)

ftp.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4) (ftp.ulowell.edu mirror)

ftp.iup.edu (144.80.128.8) A&SD scenery and aircraft +
(This is a VAX/VMS machine) general FS info. Lotsa
goodies in the various
directories. Mostly
IBM, but some Mac stuff.

onion.rain.com (147.28.0.161) Falcon 3 missions and misc
/pub/falcon3 progs/utilities etc..

cactus.org Mirror of the above. Better
Internet connections, but no
uploads.


F2. Is there a way to get flight-sim related materials via e-mail?

In addition to anonymous FTP, the Internet flight simulation file
archive at ftp.iup.edu may be access with the mail-based server
mailserv@ftp.iup.edu. Commands go in the message body, not the
subject. Try HELP to get started.


F3. Where can I get FltSim, ACM, and Aviator?

The following sites are taken from archie as of 2/17/94:

fltsim.tar.Z -- ftp.germany.eu.net /pub/windows/sunview

acm-4.0.tar.Z -- ftp.x.org /contrib
pdq.coe.montana.edu /pub/mirrors/X11-contrib
sunsite.unc.edu /pub/X11/contrib
theta.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp /pub1/contrib
ftp.luth.se /pub/X11/contrib

Aviator can be purchased from QUALiX (yes, that's a lower-case "i")
for $48 (US):

QUALiX GROUP, Inc.
1900 S. Norfolk St., Suite 224
San Mateo, CA 94403
Phone: 1-800-245-UNIX, 415-572-0200
Fax: 1-415-572-1300
E-mail: info@qualix.com


A Windows port for ACM is under construction currently, and a demo
of ACM for Windows is available at ftp.iup.edu in the FLIGHT-SIM.ACM
directory. It requires a 386/7 for the floating point power, and runs
as a native Windows App.


F4. How do I upload files to the various flight-sim FTP sites?

The incoming/uploads directories for some sites are given below.
Read the README files at the particular site for details on the
upload procedures.

Site Directory Comments
---------- ------------- -------------
ftp.iup.edu UPLOADS: Note the colon
after the directory
name-- it's needed.

[for alternate methods of submitting files to ftp.iup.edu please
see the file [anonymous.flight-sim]00readme.txt on ftp.iup.edu.]

ftp.ulowell.edu /pub Archiver puts new
files out every
month or so. Mail
to archiver after
uploading.

wuarchive.wust.edu /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS/games

onion.rain.com /pub/falcon3/incoming Mail to archiver
after uploading.

Remember to always send mail to the archiver after uploading a file.


F5. Where else can I get flight-sim related materials?

One other source, if you don't have Internet access, is to check out
FSFORUM on CompuServe. The libraries and forums there cover flight
simulation of all types, from games to simulators like FS to air
traffic control and more. [Does anyone have information on Prodigy
or Genie? --JM]


Section G: Misc.
-----------------

G1. What happened to Mallard?

Mallard was a publisher of software titles for the flight simulator
community. However, they fell on financial hard times and went out
of business early in 1994. Those Mallard titles which were written
by BAO are now available directly from BAO (such as the FS5 San
Francisco and Washington D.C. scenery sets).

G2. What happened between subLOGIC, Microsoft, and BAO?

| The file [anonymous.flight-sim.misc]lawsuit.zip on ftp.iup.edu contains
| a collection of press releases, etc. related to this situation.]

Glenn Wallace writes [trimmed for brevity -JM]:

Well, it turns out it was BOTH Microsoft and Bruce Artwick that filed
against subLOGIC...

Ancient history I know, but I just had to dig this stuff up...

------- reprinted without permission, of course -------

Q65285 PR Court Enjoins Release of SubLOGIC's Flight Simulator: ATP
Microsoft News Releases (NEWS)

Court Enjoins Release of SubLOGIC Corporation's Flight Simulator: ATP

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- August 28, 1990 -- Finding that there is a
strong likelihood of copyright infringement of Microsoft(R) Flight
Simulator(R), Federal District Court Judge Richard Mills has ordered
an injunction against the release of Flight Simulator: Airline
Transport Pilot (Flight Simulator: ATP) by SubLOGIC Corporation. This
preliminary injunction prohibits SubLOGIC Corporation from
distributing Flight Simulator: ATP pending resolution of the
copyright infringement suit filed by Microsoft on December 19, 1989
against SubLOGIC Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Illinois.

Microsoft filed its complaint alleging that Flight Simulator: ATP
infringes Microsoft's copyright in Flight Simulator by its use of
computer code taken from Microsoft Flight Simulator. Microsoft
requested an injunction in papers filed July 18, 1989 after SubLOGIC
announced its intention to release Flight Simulator: ATP on July 23,
1990.

----------

Q67946 PR MS & Bruce Artwick Reach Settlement with SubLOGIC Microsoft
News Releases (NEWS)


Microsoft and Bruce Artwick Reach Settlement with SubLOGIC

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois -- December 21, 1990 -- Microsoft and Bruce
Artwick reached a settlement today with SubLOGIC concerning various
lawsuits which arose out of SubLOGIC's planned release of its ATP
(Airline Transport Pilot) product. Artwick and Microsoft filed
separate claims in U.S. District Court in Illinois earlier this year
claiming that ATP would infringe copyrights in the Microsoft(R)
Flight Simulator(R) product. The agreement settles all claims and
counterclaims asserted in both federal cases as well as those
asserted in a state case filed by Artwick.

The settlement will lift a preliminary injunction which was entered
by the federal court on July 24, 1990, barring the release of ATP.
The settlement permits SubLOGIC to release one version of ATP
containing certain computer code from older versions of Microsoft
Flight Simulator.

The settlement acknowledges Microsoft's ownership of Microsoft Flight
Simulator software copyrights, it acknowledges Artwick's ownership of
other Flight Simulator software copyrights, and it acknowledges
SubLOGIC's ownership of the scenery disk software copyrights. As a
result of the settlement, Artwick will own the "Flight Simulator"
trademark, but SubLOGIC will continue to publish Artwick's Flight
Simulator software products for computers like the Apple(R) II,
Atari(R), and Commodore(R) under license from Artwick.

"The agreement allows all parties to turn their attention full time
to developing products. SubLOGIC plans to release ATP as soon as
possible and to continue development of scenery disks. ATP will
simulate the flight of five aircraft, the Boeing 737, 747, 767, the
Airbus A320, and the Shorts 360, between 26 major cities throughout
the United States. Scenery Disk 12, covering the northeastern United
States, is now also available for release," said Stuart Moment of
SubLOGIC.

"Microsoft and Artwick will continue to work together to produce new
versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator as well as exciting new
products such as the recently released Microsoft Flight Simulator
Aircraft & Scenery Designer. This add-on product for Microsoft Flight
Simulator version 4.0 allows users to customize their flight
environment with a powerful scenery designer. The package also
includes four new aircraft, including a Boeing 747-400 developed in
conjunction with Boeing," said Charles Fitzgerald, Microsoft's
product manager for Microsoft Flight Simulator.

"The Bruce Artwick Organization will continue to be a significant
player in the development of flight simulation software, not only
through our work with Microsoft on Microsoft Flight Simulator, but
also through new products we will be releasing in the future," said
Bruce Artwick, chairman of The Bruce Artwick Organization, Ltd.


G3. How do I submit comments, suggestions, or corrections to the FAQ?

Send email to rwittick@msu.edu

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