Cockpit ratio

[Reflected]

I've never sat in a real F-14, so this is more of an open question than a criticism. I've been flying the Aerosoft F-14, and when I saw the screenshots of the LN Tomcat my first impression was that the canopy rails are too thin. What do you think?

 

 

 

The second one looks more plausible to me, after all it doesn't extend too far forward to give such a perspective that should make the rails look thin.

[BlackLion213]

Well it's worth noting that LNS' picture is not their cockpit, it's a placeholder for coding the HUD.

 

I would hold judgement till they post pics of their actual cockpit.

 

-Nick

[Badger1-1]

Are you really doing this right now....? We get one Cockpit pic and you are asking if this or that is correct...please dont :D

[dekiplav]

I've never sat in a real F-14, so this is more of an open question than a criticism. I've been flying the Aerosoft F-14, and when I saw the screenshots of the LN Tomcat my first impression was that the canopy rails are too thin. What do you think?

 

The second one looks more plausible to me, after all it doesn't extend too far forward to give such a perspective that should make the rails look thin.

 

Worth pointing out is that the cockpit on these images is nothing but a placeholder used to enable our programming staff to execute their work.

 

 

Don't worry, I'm 100% sure that the final product will be much, much beater than the second picture you posted :music_whistling:.

[Reflected]

Awesome, thanks for the info! I thought the cockpit textures were placeholders not the entire cockpit :)

[Cobra847]

Actually, the model is not a placeholder. :)

The textures are.

 

I can verify the canopy thickness again; but I'm fairly sure we're dead on as I modelled that area very carefully.

 

Here are a couple of photos that are good reference for the thickness of the canopy.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2016 by Cobra847

[Reflected]

Hmm...i think i can describe what looks strange. The two front rails cut out a much smaller part of the big arc in dcs than on the other screenshots/pictures. Perspective and fov shrinks stuff that's further away. But the arc is at the same distance more or less, and the joint of the arc a d the 2 front rails are in the same plane (no pun intended). Therefore the upper part of the 2 rails shouldn't be affected by FOV and perspective. I hope you see what i'm trying to say :)

[BlackLion213]

I've never sat in a real F-14, so this is more of an open question than a criticism.

 

I am also happy to say that I did sit in an F-14 today. :D

 

Here at the Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola.

 

 

You can sit in the cockpit off to the right. I didn't take any pictures because all of the instruments are covered in plexiglass (wouldn't have photoed well). But based on what I saw, I think the Aerosoft version is little too thick. It didn't look that bulky in person IMHO.

 

These photos aren't the right orientation for judging (I didn't anticipate this discussion while I was at the museum). But it was a stock canopy and a good point of reference.

 

 

 

I HIGHLY recommend this museum if you are a Tomcat fan. This F-14D is one of the few Tomcats in the US that looks like it could still fly. You also have clear access to it (not roped off) and walking around it and under it is so much fun. :D

 

And a fringe benefit, this is the home of the Blue Angels and they happened to be practicing during the visit.

 

This is an iPhone photo (not good for distance objects), but you get the idea:

 

 

The soloist were also out and made some impressive low-speed passes by the parking lot and buildings. It had rained today and there were some impressive vapors (including some early shockwave formation - one of the passes was probably close to M0.95).

 

There collection was also quite complete and diverse. I wish that I brought a better camera and took more photos, but it was an awesome place to visit.

 

-Nick

 

PS - judging the size of the canopy rails from this dark screenshot is not going to be very accurate. There are too many visual reference points that are missing. It really would be best to wait till there is more info or better pictures.

 

Of note: this canopy looks really good to me in terms of forward canopy thickness and shape.

 

 

I would use this for comparison more than the very dark screenshot. The "near" portion looks quite correct compared to the cockpit I sat in today.

Edited April 12, 2016 by BlackLion213

[Fracture]

I think it may be more of a camera angle issue in that screenshot as aposed to model issue.

[Fracture]

Hey Cobra.

Do you model 1:1 in max at 1 unit = 1 meter, or do you model at a larger size to avoid some of the 3ds max quirks, and then either let the exporter rescale or manually rescale?

Just curious as I'm still trying to find my workflow groove for DCS.

[probad]

the aerosoft view is at a wider fov than the lns and you're seeing quite a bit of distortion there.

 

i'd stick to using irl references to judge by, games may handle fov differently amongst other engine related factors.

Edited April 13, 2016 by probad

[Sideswipe]

I read though this whole thread under the impression that the title was "Cockpit radio". I kept thinking, well all this is interesting but what the heck does it have to do with the radio??! It's been a long day!

[Grundar]

I read though this whole thread under the impression that the title was "Cockpit radio". I kept thinking, well all this is interesting but what the heck does it have to do with the radio??! It's been a long day!

 

Lol I thought the same thing! Tried looking in that first picture thinking - it's too dark, whats wrong with the radio.

 

Clued on by the end of the first post though lol, ahhhh raTio!

[Sideswipe]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who misread that!

[Belgeode]

I am also happy to say that I did sit in an F-14 today. :D

 

Here at the Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola.

 

BlackLion213. I have been there. It was one of the best experiences of my life to be able to sit in that cockpit. Naturally I had my girlfriend at the time take pictures of me in it LOL!

 

I then told her to pull the car up around back and I would wheel it out to take home and hook up to my flight sim, but she declined as the car was not big enough.

[BlackLion213]

BlackLion213. I have been there. It was one of the best experiences of my life to be able to sit in that cockpit. Naturally I had my girlfriend at the time take pictures of me in it LOL!

 

I then told her to pull the car up around back and I would wheel it out to take home and hook up to my flight sim, but she declined as the car was not big enough.

 

Yes, it was awesome! It also really surpassed my expectations. I grew up 20 minutes from the National USAF Museum and it totally spoiled me (it's huge and the depth of the collection really is second to none). But the USN's National museum was also VERY impressive. The collection was also very diverse and included many aircraft that I love, but have never seen in person (F3H Demon, Banshee, Panther, F4F Wildcat, etc, etc). I took too many Demon pictures, not to mention a ton of Tomcat pics (mostly close-up detail shots).

 

The Museum also had more cockpits that you could sit in than I have seen anywhere (F-14A, A-7E, S-3B, C-2A, there's more that I forgot).

 

Overall, it is truly a peer of the National USAF Museum and Smithsonian, very much worth a visit to Pensacola (I'm vacationing in nearby Destin meeting up with family and my sister picked the town - purely a coincidence!).

 

Sitting in a Tomcat cockpit was, of course, very cool as well. I got to do it back in 2000 at another museum in Florida (near Orlando), which I think is the last time I was in Florida. It was a small museum and they had received their Tomcat less than a year before. It was before the "de-milling" program so the airplane was only missing 2 or 3 components from airworthy status. In that case, I got to pop open the boarding ladder and climb in. That was really awesome, because it was essentially a complete and operational Tomcat. I took some pictures, but they disappeared (on a roll of film somewhere - surely gone now...remember film? :)).

 

The best part of the USN National museum was that pretty much all of their aircraft look and seemed like they could fly, plus you have free access to the airframe (like at an airshow). It was the first time since 2003 (when I saw a VF-32 F-14B at the Dayton Air show - that flew there :)), that I walked around a Tomcat that didn't feel like an airplane carcass. That part was totally worth the trip. :thumbup:

 

The fact that the Blue Angels were also practicing over the parking lot...best opener to any museum visit ever! :D

 

-Nick

[Reflected]

I experimented with the Aerosoft F-14. If I lean closer to the panel and raise my head, it looks much like the DCS Tomcat. I reckon the DCS screenshots were taken with a larger FOV too, so that might explain the difference.

[Belgeode]

Yes, it was awesome! It also really surpassed my expectations. I grew up 20 minutes from the National USAF Museum and it totally spoiled me (it's huge and the depth of the collection really is second to none). But the USN's National museum was also VERY impressive. The collection was also very diverse and included many aircraft that I love, but have never seen in person (F3H Demon, Banshee, Panther, F4F Wildcat, etc, etc). I took too many Demon pictures, not to mention a ton of Tomcat pics (mostly close-up detail shots).

 

The Museum also had more cockpits that you could sit in than I have seen anywhere (F-14A, A-7E, S-3B, C-2A, there's more that I forgot).

 

Overall, it is truly a peer of the National USAF Museum and Smithsonian, very much worth a visit to Pensacola (I'm vacationing in nearby Destin meeting up with family and my sister picked the town - purely a coincidence!).

 

Sitting in a Tomcat cockpit was, of course, very cool as well. I got to do it back in 2000 at another museum in Florida (near Orlando), which I think is the last time I was in Florida. It was a small museum and they had received their Tomcat less than a year before. It was before the "de-milling" program so the airplane was only missing 2 or 3 components from airworthy status. In that case, I got to pop open the boarding ladder and climb in. That was really awesome, because it was essentially a complete and operational Tomcat. I took some pictures, but they disappeared (on a roll of film somewhere - surely gone now...remember film? :)).

 

The best part of the USN National museum was that pretty much all of their aircraft look and seemed like they could fly, plus you have free access to the airframe (like at an airshow). It was the first time since 2003 (when I saw a VF-32 F-14B at the Dayton Air show - that flew there :)), that I walked around a Tomcat that didn't feel like an airplane carcass. That part was totally worth the trip. :thumbup:

 

The fact that the Blue Angels were also practicing over the parking lot...best opener to any museum visit ever! :D

 

-Nick

 

Yeah that's their hometown, so depending on what time of year you are there, seeing the Angels is like a real treat. I absolutely love the Pensacola Naval Air Museum. If I had the money to travel right now, I would love to go back. When I was there, I also got to see some nuggets graduate!

[punk]

I once sat in the real bird too over in Santa Rosa a couple years back when they had the open cockpit for her and other display AC, it fit like a glove and the visibility over the nose was incredible, video games never come close to how it really is. Just awesome. Felt like they tailored the cockpit to my size.

 

<Salute>

[Hummingbird]

Wish I could find a bigger picture:

[Cobra847]

Wish I could find a bigger picture:

 

This does not include the canopy, which is very wide. :)

[Hummingbird]

This does not include the canopy, which is very wide. :)

 

Oh I agree, I think the only thing that makes your cockpit look a little strange in the picture is the depth of view, makes the instrument panel look awfully small & narrow in comparison to the canopy. DoV seems more natural in the aerosoft picture :)

[Hummingbird]

It's hard to find great straight on pictures, but here's a couple from the back:

 

[Cobra847]

It's hard to find great straight on pictures, but here's a couple from the back:

 

 

Our initial renders offer a fairly long FoV (~80mm lens IIRC).

 

It's easier to see how they match up with photos.

 

 

[HairyPOOnuggets]

Canopy SCHManopy, AFTER I GET DONE, FLYING THEM OFF< I WONT CARE< COBRA< RELEASE IT, PPPLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSEEEEEE