Mover Creator 0.4 Beta - 11 Oct 2019¶
General¶
This is the fourth beta release of Mover Creator. It is compatible with AFSIM V2.5.0 (Mission, Warlock, Results Vis, and Wizard).
Known Issues¶
There is currently no support for ailerons or flaps on wings in the beta version. This will be added in the initial release.
Damping for yaw, pitch, and roll is still being refined.
Tailless flying wing configurations are currently unsupported due to a lack of a yaw damper and split ailerons for yaw control.
There is a lack of accuracy in some aerodynamic predictions, especially transonic drag. This is being improved.
The current dihedral effect (Cl-beta) is often too weak, due to excessive roll damping (and required corresponding excessive roll control) in some configurations.
There is currently no support for hinged aero surfaces (such as rudders, elevators, and ailerons) – only full-flying (all moving) surfaces (such as stabilators) are currently supported.
There is a known lack of accuracy in the relationship between roll control and damping and other stability derivatives.
Aerodynamic damping, especially roll damping, needs additional stability derivatives.
There is currently no Linux support for the beta release (although it will be supported later). Only Windows 64-bit is supported at this time.
Wide variations in missile cg as propellant is burned can challenge autopilot control, which is currently tuned for a single cg location.
There are seemingly random font sizing problems. This is due to a conflict between Qt and Windows (acknowledged by both Qt and Microsoft) which may cause incorrect font size. If this happens, logout and login again.
Speed brakes have partial functionality (drag is modeled, but lift and side forces need improvement).
The following control configurations are not yet supported: StabsTwoVentralTails, StabsVTail, and StabsInvertedVTail.
Changing from a single tail to twin tail (or vice versa) for aircraft may result in loss of yaw control. This will be corrected in the next release.
There may be some rendering problems with flight envelopes and turn performance plots. This is due to the rendering algorithm, not the P6DOF models themselves.
The ability to adjust autopilot limits via the Mover Creator GUIs is currently quite limited. This will be expanded in the next release.
There is currently no temperature limit on jet engine (turbojet/turbofan) performance. As a result, engines may produce excessively high thrust at low altitudes.
The list of airfoil files is not complete and many airfoil files need some clean-up on their data.
Grid fins are not yet supported.
Cl vs Alpha-Beta-Mach may exhibit sign errors for some vehicle configurations. This is being investigated. For now, if a vehicle has this problem, set the global multiplier for Cl vs Alpha-Beta-Mach to zero.
Corrections¶
When a component is deleted on the Geometry page, Mass Properties now update properly. (Issue #125)
On the Geometry page, clicking on the vehicle model now gives focus correctly. (Issue #127)
The Moveable Aero drop-down menu now updates correctly when the vehicle changes. (Issue #130)
After creating a new engine from the Geometry page, the new engine now appears in the Engine Model list. (Issue #133)
When viewing Cl vs Angle-Alpha-Beta in the aerodynamics plots, attempting to change from viewing Cl vs Angle to Cl vs Alpha or Cl vs Beta no longer crashes the program.
Enhancements¶
Alpha/Beta symmetry is now used to improve the speed of aerodynamics calculations. The user can set this option in the Geometry Page Settings. (Issue #122)
When transitioning from the Geometry Page to the Aerodynamics Page, the aerodynamics will not be recalculated if the geometry didn’t change. (Issue # 123)
If a controlled vehicle is found to be uncontrollable, the user must now modify his/her vehicle to continue to the Performance page. (Issue #126)
The Pilots/Controls and Autopilot tabs are now disabled for uncontrolled vehicles (Issue #126)
Missiles now support delayed ignition. (Issue #132)
Ramjets now support options for latch_fuel_injection, use_proportional_throttle, and minimum_proportional_thrust (Issue #136)