Project Hybrid airship

[boogabooga]

This is a very cool add-on that deserves to be in the addon section, not lost in this obscure six year old thread.

 

[Arvil]

Would be great if all the addons in these threads could be moved to Resources.

 

[Buck Rogers]

Would be great if all the addons in these threads could be moved to Resources.

I think it's up to the owner.
@markp How about an update and release

 

[markp]

I think it's up to the owner.
@markp How about an update and release

I guess it's about time for a release.

I'll look into it over the weekend.

 

[boogabooga]

I guess it's about time for a release.

I'll look into it over the weekend.

Feel free to include any of my spreadsheets, if that helps anyone.

 

[markp]

So it looks like the airship works in Orbiter 2016 but not Orbiter 2024.

My IDE in the past has been Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 express but that doesn't seem compatible with Orbiter 2024. So I've tried compiling the project with Visual Studio 2022 Community but it's not working yet. If it takes too long to do then I can just release the 2016 version of the airship and update it later if I get a Orbiter 2024 version working.

 

[francisdrake]

I am also using the old Orbiter 2016 API, with Visual C++ 2008, and can compile 2024 addons.

Try this:
Initialize your variables in void myVessels::clbkSetClassCaps (FILEHANDLE cfg)

Previously I initialized the variables in the constructor
myVessel::myVessel (OBJHANDLE hObj, int fmodel)
: VESSEL3(hObj, fmodel)

After I moved all the initialization code to clbkSetClassCaps(), the CDT's were gone,
without changing any content of the initialization code itself (cut & paste coding )

 

[markp]

I am also using the old Orbiter 2016 API, with Visual C++ 2008, and can compile 2024 addons.

Try this:
Initialize your variables in void myVessels::clbkSetClassCaps (FILEHANDLE cfg)

Previously I initialized the variables in the constructor
myVessel::myVessel (OBJHANDLE hObj, int fmodel)
: VESSEL3(hObj, fmodel)

After I moved all the initialization code to clbkSetClassCaps(), the CDT's were gone,
without changing any content of the initialization code itself (cut & paste coding )

Thanks for the advice francisdrake. It was good to now you're using an IDE from 2008 ...

I've compiled an old version of my code using the 2010 IDE set up and the airship works well in Orbiter 2016 and Orbiter 2024.

It seems the newest version of my code, which I compiled and tested in Orbiter 2024, might have some bugs in it.

 

[markp]

Here's a test flight on Orbiter 2024.

 

[francisdrake]

Here's a test flight on Orbiter 2024.

That looks absolutely cool!

And it will open the way for airships on Mars, or steerable balloons in the stratosphere of Venus.

 

[markp]

That looks absolutely cool!

And it will open the way for airships on Mars, or steerable balloons in the stratosphere of Venus.

Thanks.

Airships and balloons are fascinating because they are quite sensitive to the atmospheric conditions and weather.

 

[markp]

It seems the airship doesn't work in Orbiter 2024 when I start with the airship in flight. I get a CTD. Starting with the airship parked on the ground everything seems to work fine. So I'll have to try and figure out what might be causing this. Maybe it's some obsolete code I can update.

 

[boogabooga]

Let's make sure that we don't make perfect the enemy of excellent.

I would suggest that you release as it is under Orbiter 2016 compatibility and upgrade later.

 

[markp]

Let's make sure that we don't make perfect the enemy of excellent.

I would suggest that you release as it is under Orbiter 2016 compatibility and upgrade later.

Ok good idea on the first part.

It's working with Orbiter 2024 now. It turned out to be some old code that just needed deleting. Visual Studio 2022 Community is also compiling the code now. It turned out that the file and folder paths needed changing.

I've made a small addition to the code. I've added the option of allowing the user to set the size of the airship by length in the scenario file. But boogabooga is right, I'll check the documentation and try to release it at the end of the week.

 

[markp]

Yesterday I spent some time familiarising myself with the code, tracking down some bugs and basically remembering how it's all designed and flown. It seems to be working quite well now. Today I'll do some test flights, test for any more bugs, remember a bit more about how it works and add some useful tips to the documentation.

 

[francisdrake]

Hi, just asking how it is going with your project?
Would be great to look for some Easter Eggs in Valles Marineris with an airship.

Also - as boogabooga said - I does not need to be perfect at the first shot.

 

[markp]

Hi, just asking how it is going with your project?
Would be great to look for some Easter Eggs in Valles Marineris with an airship.

Also - as boogabooga said - I does not need to be perfect at the first shot.

Hi francisdrake, it's going very well! I'm finishing off the documentation. I expect it'll be ready by Easter.

It's taken me a while to remember how it all works.

 

[markp]

Well it seems to be ready. Some screen shots from a test flight. I hope to upload it tomorrow.

 

[francisdrake]

A very interesting concept!
It gives a real feeling of the big mass - though weightless - that responds very slowly to steering inputs.

The key controls are a bit complicated. I'd ask for a flight computer to simply the steering tasks.

Also, would it be possible not to intercept the [Shift] keys?
Normally they are used to control the MFD's.. Intercepting them requires mouse input on all MFD's.
The [Alt] keys could be an alternative.

 

[markp]

A very interesting concept!
It gives a real feeling of the big mass - though weightless - that responds very slowly to steering inputs.

The key controls are a bit complicated. I'd ask for a flight computer to simply the steering tasks.

Also, would it be possible not to intercept the [Shift] keys?
Normally they are used to control the MFD's.. Intercepting them requires mouse input on all MFD's.
The [Alt] keys could be an alternative.

Thanks.

Interesting, I didn't know about the shift keys. The keys were assigned in a haphazard way. I'll look into it for the next version. Thanks for the suggestion.