Perhaps obvious question

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Sorry if this is a question/suggestion that's been thrown about before and dismissed, but I haven't heard a response about it before and it's been nagging me for a while.

 

I know that the reason we can't see the Propeller of our aircraft 99% of the time in the cockpit is because of a CFS3 issue where the Pilot has to be a certain distance from the prop to be able to see it, so there's nothing much you can do about that.

 

But I see in a number of craft the rotary engine spins around and can be seen from the cockpit view, such as the engine at the back of the D.H.2 - also the Sopwith Triplane has a little fan to the right which spins around at different speeds / directions depending on (I presume) the engine power.

 

So I was wondering if it wouldn't be possible to totally remove the "in built" CFS3 propellers and replace them with 3d props attached to the aircraft that spin in much the same fashion as the radial engines and Sopwith fan?

 

Is it a technical thing - or would it just look abit rubbish?

Edited April 2, 2010 by MikeDixonUK

[Olham 164]

I wonder if it might depend on the zoom factor?

I believe to see my prop, or rather "a darkish rotation haze", all the time.

Try pressing Ctrl. and - (minus), to zoom out from your surrounding.

You can repeat it, until it looks right.

Perhaps you see it then?

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Thanks for the tip Olham, I already fly the Triplane with the 2nd smallest zoom level and don't think I've seen it in that, I've seen the prop blur in the SE5 and the Strutter sometimes by looking slightly to the side, it's just abit odd that it appears and disappears - I think it depends upon how far away the camera is from the propeller, so it will be different with each aircraft.

 

Thanks for clarifying the use of the little prop in the Triplane Uncleal - as for the D.H.2 cylinders, do you mean you can't see them when running in real life, or in OFF? As I can see them spinning all the time in OFF, even while the engine is running at full power. (I saw them this morning looking back during my balloon attack for example.)

Edited April 2, 2010 by MikeDixonUK

[Slartibartfast 153]

When your misguided youth was 67 years ago, you'd be amazed at what you can't see. I'm beginning to feel like Sherlock Holmes, in that everywhere I go, I bring a magnifying glass to read the fine print.

 

What you mean there's fine print...

[+Polovski 460]

Yes we could make it like the small one in the Tripe cockpit, but that only works because it's not a "see thru" prop. I.e. it's an actual blade. So you'd see it spinning slowly like the one in the Tripe. May be better than seeing none though, but you also would often see BOTH the single blade going around, plus the real see through prop from the outside at the same time sometimes.

 

If we just didn't bother with see through disc for the props, then we'd have fixed blades moving just like the little one in the Tripe. Not sure it would look good?

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Thanks, I thought it might be something to do with the looks of it, although I wouldn't realy know what it'd look like with a proper sized prop running at full speed, as all we have to compare it with atm is the one in the Triplane - thanks for the answer.

[Olham 164]

Not sure either, Pol.

I have been flying in a motorised sailplane, and you don't see much of the prop in flight -

it just turns so fast. Don't know, how fast the WW1 props turned, but if we get a "real"

propellor, and then could really watch it turning, that would seem wrong to me.

[+Polovski 460]

Yep agreed Olham that's why we haven't done it ;)

[MikeDixonUK 5]

I tested the Sopwith little prop like you said Uncleal, and you're right that when the engine is off or when you're slow the prop spins dependant on the airspeed, but I tried changing the throttle with the engine on at both 100mph and 160mph and both times the little prop changed depending on the throttle, at 100% throttle it spins quickly anti-clockwise, at 0% throttle it spins quickly clockwise and at around 50% throttle it stops spinning or switches between clockwise and anti-clockwise, this is all while it's going at relatively the same speed, don't know what that means though.

[Flyby PC 23]

Haven't tested it in OFF lately, but when I made videos, you could see the prop move with an external view. If you were flying yourself, no auto pilot, you'd see your prop turning. Turn on auto pilot and it would stop.

 

Took practice to 'fly' by proxy so the prop would keep turning.

[Duce Lewis 3]

although I wouldn't realy know what it'd look like with a proper sized prop running at full speed, as all we have to compare it with atm is the one in the Triplane - thanks for the answer.

Mike, here's a video of an Oberursal ground test:

http://thevintageavi...ine/urii-action

Interseting to see the throttle blips and low speeds

I think maybe the video camera fps and monitor refresh rate might create some aliasing issues

...but it looks pretty good

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Mike, here's a video of an Oberursal ground test:

http://thevintageavi...ine/urii-action

Interseting to see the throttle blips and low speeds

I think maybe the video camera fps and monitor refresh rate might create some aliasing issues

...but it looks pretty good

 

 

Thanks Duce, great video - it's good to see what these things look like in "High defenition" so to speak, as opposed to in old film etc.

[+Polovski 460]

I tested the Sopwith little prop like you said Uncleal, and you're right that when the engine is off or when you're slow the prop spins dependant on the airspeed, but I tried changing the throttle with the engine on at both 100mph and 160mph and both times the little prop changed depending on the throttle, at 100% throttle it spins quickly anti-clockwise, at 0% throttle it spins quickly clockwise and at around 50% throttle it stops spinning or switches between clockwise and anti-clockwise, this is all while it's going at relatively the same speed, don't know what that means though.

 

The prop doesn't change direction, just the "apparent" direction due to a similar thing to wheels moving backwards in movies. i.e. the prop rotates the same, but at certain Frames per second it may not make a full rotation and may say do 95%.. so every frame it appears to the eye to move the opposite direction as it's always a bit back from previous frame.

[+Polovski 460]

Haven't tested it in OFF lately, but when I made videos, you could see the prop move with an external view. If you were flying yourself, no auto pilot, you'd see your prop turning. Turn on auto pilot and it would stop.

 

CFS3 thing unfortunately AI craft (or AI controlled) don't rotate the blurred prop. We have looked before, but as always if we ever find a way to improve / fix we will.

[Flyby PC 23]

CFS3 thing unfortunately AI craft (or AI controlled) don't rotate the blurred prop. We have looked before, but as always if we ever find a way to improve / fix we will.

 

 

That's cool Pol, totally relaxed about it - just an observation.

[Bletchley 8]

The liitle prop on the Sopwith Triplane would be the Rotherham Pump, a little windmill-type device that was used to pressurise the fuel tank - it would work with the engine off, as it is powered by the airflow, but I guess it would also spin faster as the throttle is advanced due to increased airflow generated by the prop. See this reference for pictures, etc. :

 

http://www.aerolocker.co.uk/Shop/tabid/61/CatalogItemID/135/CatalogID/11/psnavcmd/CatalogItemDetails/psmid/401/Default.aspx

 

To pressurise the tank on the ground, with the engine off, or if the Rotherham Pump failed, there was a hand operated pump as a backup.

 

Bletchley