FlightGear 2.0.0. reflects the maturation of the OpenSceneGraph
port that started with the previous 1.9.0 release. In addition to many internal code
improvements, FlightGear 2.0.0. marks the introduction of many new exciting improvements in
the graphics and sound system, as well as improved usability of key features, and improved
behavior of exsisting features. Highlights of this new version include: Dramatic new 3D
clouds, dramatic lighting conditions, improved support for custom scenery, and many many new
and detailed aircraft models.
Sound
Complete overhaul of the sound code
doppler effects
distance attenuation
3D positional sound sources
assignment of sound sources to external objects (i.e. AI controlled aircraft)
User selection of the sound device
Visual Effects
Use of Shaders for dynamic textures
Use of Effects files
Improved 3D clouds
Color changes based on humidity and other weather effects allow for very dramatic
lighting conditions
Dynamic water textures
Text animation based on OSGText
Usability
Allow screenshots in more common file formats
User selectable sound device
More intuitive selection of the weather settings through the GUI and/or commandline
Infrastructure
Airport geometry data can be read from the scenery, allowing for more flexible
regeneration of terrain tiles
Internals
Improved efficiency of the property tree
A more efficient ground cache
Many improvements to the route management code
Removed many compiler warnings
More realistic atmosphere model
Behavior
More realistic ILS behavior
Autopilot improvements
A generic autobrake function
Winds over mountainous areas cause up- and downdrafts that can be used for gliding
More realistic behavior of the route manager
Wild fires, which can be extinguished by firefighter aircraft operating across the
multplayer server
Navaid frequencies and radials can be transmitted to Atlas
Utilities
A python script to visualize Yasim configuration files in Blender
AI
Allow traffic departing and arriving at the same airport
Add Ground Vehicles - including automobiles, trucks, articulated trucks, trains
(including high speed trains)
ATC interactions between AI aircraft and ground controllers
Performance characteristics of AI aircraft can be specified in a performance database
Push-back vehicles are available for a selected number of aircraft
Add escorts for AI carrier - frigates, guided missile cruiser, amphibious warfare ships
now make up the Vinson Battle Group
Improved radar functionality - now detects AI escorts etc.
AI objects are now solid (i.e. users can collide with them)
Some preliminary support for SID/STAR procedures for AI aircraft
January 25, 2009: Version 1.9.1 released
This is a bug fix release.
December 21, 2008: Version 1.9.0 released
FlightGear 1.9.0 represents a fundamental code rearrangement,
incorporating over two years of development. After finishing the 1.0.0 release in December
2007, the FlightGear development team has directed their full attention to finishing the code
overhaul that had already started in October 2006. The current 1.9.0 version of FlightGear is
built upon the critically acclaimed OpenSceneGraph library, thereby widely expanding
FlightGear's graphical capabilities. To make use of FlightGear's rich feature set,
OpenSceneGraph 2.7.3 is minimally required (OpenSceneGraph 2.7.8 is recommended to avoid
rendering bugs). The switch to OpenSceneGraph marks an important milestone for FlightGear, as
it allows us to make full use of the advanced rendering options already available in
OpenSceneGraph, such as stereographic view modes on screen statistics, easy definition of
cameras for multiscreen systems, onscreen statistics, native OpenSceneGraph 3D model loaders
and much more.
While the most dramatic changes to FlightGear have been taking place under the hood, the
latest version does offer many new exciting features not found in any previous version.
Some highlighted new features include:
Major new developments and features:
Major overhaul of the graphics code. FlightGear 1.9.0 makes use of the OpenSceneGraph
library
Easy setup of multidisplay systems using multiple OpenSceneGraph "Cameras" driven by one
single instance of FlightGear.
Multithreaded 3D model loader leads to much smoother performance
New particle system based precipitation code
configurable XML particle animations for smoke, spray, fire, etc
New dynamically configurable 3D Clouds.
pick animations, which allow for better clickable instrument panels
multiplayer specific on-screen menu
AI code can generate wingmen
At selected airports, it is now possible to start at a predefined parking position, as an
alternative to starting at the runway.
Support for Lighter than air vehicles
Shader based tree rendering. This new feature allows For much denser tree density without
any frame rate loss.
Support for jpg and png textures
A new multikey command mode, where multiple key strokes can be combined to form a
command.
Detailed buildings at various airports and major cities around the world
Scenery can be kept up-to-date by downloading it from and SVN repository using TerraSync
Over 200 Aircraft are now available for separate download.
Code Improvements:
Improved Flight Dynamics
Several Improvements to animations
Improved behavior of Taxiing AI Aircraft.
Miscellaneous GUI improvements
Major improvements to FlightGear's route/waypoint manager code.
Improved runway management
Improved encapsulation of Navaids
Improved nasal scripting security
Improved behavior of VOR radios when close to their maximum range.
Configurable Heads up displays
Improved support of GPS instruments
Easier definition of AI traffic patterns
Improved accuracy of coastlines
December 17, 2007: Version 1.0.0 released
CODE CHANGES:
Upgrade to JSBSim 1.0: improved gear handling.
Major update to the YASim helicopter FDM: highly increased realism
Improved gliding (YASIM), with winch launching and aerotowing (by either AI or MP pilots)
Improved soaring scenarios, new aerotowing scenario
Support for water planes (YASim): realistic float friction and anchor support
Surface material aware gear in YASim: friction and "bumpiness", aircraft sink in water
Improved model placement using the UFO: It is now possible to select and edit multiple
objects at the same time, moves are relative to the viewer position.
Improvements to Air-To-Air refueling, with air-to-air TACAN for easier locating, and
KC135 and KA6-D AI models. KC135 can also be used as an MP tanker
New waypoint manager for autopilot/HUD
New property browser dialog, which can be opened multiple times. See Docs/README.gui for
a a list of more features, like enabling verbose mode etc.
Addition of new MIL-STD HUD
Improved viewpoints, including a fly-by view and a dynamic cockpit view. The latter
allows 3D cockpits to move a bit relative to the pilot's head, which stabilizes the pilot's
view at terrain and makes turbulence look more realistic.
Improved fuel and payload dialog for YASim
Multiplayer chat, text and voice (using Asterisk)
Improved Carrier Operations - FNS Foch added, new carrier-capable aircraft
AI improvements, including ground networks for airports, flightplans and boats
Major improvements in taxiing and ground operations of AI aircraft
AIShips wakes, etc
Interactive/scripted control of AI aircraft
Many Nasal enhancements, including debugging console, XML file parsing, improvements to
listener model. New extension functions getAttribute(), setAttribute(), systime() for
benchmarking.
Use of all textured fonts on panels
Fixed initial texture path problems
Improved dynamic sun colors
Update to World Magnetic Model 2005
Path cache for aircraft configuration files to shorten startup time
Submodels added to all AI Objects - MP aircraft can now have contrails,
Addition of protocol for Garmin 400 series
Addition of fluxgate compass
Addition of GSDI for helicopters
New altimetry method
"Passive" mode for autopilot
Tutorial system improvements
Updates to The Manual
More stringent header dependencies
NEW AIRCRAFT:
Boeing 787-8
Northrop Grumman A-6E (Intruder)
Airbus A320
Nakajima A6M2
Antonov An-2
Northrop B-2 (Spirit)
Bristol Beaufighter
Bielsko SZD-9 Bocian
Lockheed C130 (Hercules)
Cessna C182 RG
Sikorski CH-53 E (Super Stallion)
Cessna Citation X
Dornier DO-335
Boeing E-3B (Sentry)
Eurocopter EC 135
McDonnell Douglas F-15 C (Eagle)
McDonnell Douglas F-18 (Hornet)
Chance Vought F4U (Corsair)
Mainair Flash 2 Alpha
Hughes H4-Hercules
Kyushu J7W (Shinden)
Junkers Ju 52
Nakajima Ki-84 (Hayate)
Messerschmidt Me 262
Dassault Mirage 2000
de Havilland Mosquito
NTPS
De Havilland D.H.110 (Sea Vixen)
Sikorsky S-76 C
Sukhoi Su-37 (Flanker-F)
Avro Vulcan B.2
Sikorsky S-70 (UH-60, Black Hawk)
ENHANCED AIRCRAFT
737
747-200
A-10 - Major model improvements
a300
a4f
Aerostar-700 - cockpit, systems, model, FDM
as350 - FDM
B-52F
B1900D - new primus 1000 flight director
bell206 - FDM
bf109
bo105 - cockpit, systems, model, FDM
Boeing314A
c182 - model, panel
ch47 - FDM
Citation-Bravo - autopilot/flight director, FDM
Concorde - panel, FDM, systems
dhc2 - amphibious and wheels only versions added
harrier - new external model and 3-D cockpit
Hunter
Lightning - startup tutorial, model improvements
Lockheed1049
MiG-15
OV10 - 3D cockpit, weapons, NASA variant added
pa24-250 - 3-D model improvements
pc7 - panel
SenecaII
sgs233
sopwithCamel - completely new model
Spitfire
ufo
YardStik
April 5, 2006: Version 0.9.10 released
Many improvements to the multi-player mode. Other airplanes are now updated smoothly.
There is a really nifty google maps based moving map that anyone can use to track all online
activity.
AI planes have improved ground following and are smarter about selecting the active
runway.
Include the ability to send ATC and AI aircraft communication to a local festival server
to be converted to spoken speech output.
Added a detailed model of the Honeywell MK VIII EGPWS ground proximity warning system.
Added background ATC chatter.
Updated/improved rain cone rendering.
Complete overhaul/redo of terrain textures based on USGS satellite imagery.
Updated manual.
Upgraded to v2.0 of the JSBSim config file format.
Fix a discrepancy in sign of twist and incidence values in YASim between code and
documentation.
Updates to YASim for more fine grained propeller modeling.
UFO will now honor elevator trim value so that it will respond to the autopilot altitude
hold module.
UFO can adjust it's speed range so you can use it for super high speed world exploration,
or extremly fine grained precise positioning.
Much work and progress with carrier interaction and launch/recovery modeling.
Add a feature that allows the end user to click any where on the terrain. The system will
compute a ground intersection and report back the lon, lat, and elevation of the click point.
The click point is reported in the property system so it can be read by just about anything
including external programs. Later we added the ability to place an object at the click point
as well.
Add a feature to play one-off wav files. These are qeued and played sequentially. This
was then leveraged to build an ATC background chatter module in nasal that can be turned
on/off at run time. This could also be leveraged for tutorials or other interactive type
scripts to play prerecorded messages at specific times or under specific conditions..
Allow clock to report local time as well as universal.
Add a model of a KLN89 GPS.
Allow nav radios to be slaved to the gps.
Allow enabling/disabling of menu entries.
Replace old hardcoded frame rate display with a much more flexible nasal/gui version.
Add a listener function to properties so that nasal code can be triggered whenever a
property changes. This is more efficient than polling.
Add a save-on-exit option to save user preferences.
Add support for point sprites.
Add support for emissive layers (such as lights) on 2d panels.
Updated gui styles.
Updated airport and navaid data.
Added a new Nasal/XML based tutorial system.
Fix a bug in the metar (real weather) threading that could lead to long pauses and even
crashes.
Various compiler/platform fixes.
Fix various valgrind complaints.
Better use of exceptions in places.
Fix the 2d compass texture handling.
Many tweaks and improvements to our keyboard input handling system.
Added a first attempt at MS-VC8 project files.
Updated aircraft:
A4/A3F (cleanups and updates, functional drag chute)
A-10 (3d cockpit, fdm tuning, munitions, drop tanks)
AN-225 (fdm tuning)
B1900D
BO105 Eurocopter (new livry/logo options.)
B-29
B-52F (major overhaul)
Boeing 314 (3d cockpit, fdm updates)
747 (modeling fixes)
Cirrus SR20 (improve interior a bit)
C172 (added KLN89 gps)
C310 (many modeling updates)
Citation Bravo (many modeling updates, Primus 1000 PFD)
Concorde (updated to v2.1, new views, sounds autopilot, fdm updates, new systems)
New well integrated volumetric clouds by Harald Johnsen
Removed 'old' 3D clouds code.
Fixed the jitter problem with 3d cockpits.
Volumetric shadows are now supported so that aircraft can cast shadows upon themselves as
well as the ground.
Better support for redoing livery textures on an individual aircraft.
Support for seasonal terrain textures. (Updates to summer textures plus new winter
textures added.)
Carrier - added working arrester wires and catapults. The carrier is selectable as a
starting position. AI has been added to the carrier in the form of an operating box and an
automated turn into/out of wind. TACAN beacon added.
Extensive revisions to the Multiplayer code. Multiplayer servers are now available. A
Google-based map server is also available
Enhanced weather modeling (lightning and rain.)
Support for high G redout/blackout effects.
Add status updates to the initial splash/startup screen.
Allow switching the tower view location at any time.
Add support for configuring views with asymmetric view frustums.
Many updates to gui/dialog box infrastructure. Ability to alter border thickness, change
fonts, dialog boxes are draggable across the screen, you can enable automatic line wrapping,
select colors, and allow key presses to be bound to widgets.
Replaced many hardcoded dialog boxes with xml configurable dialog boxes.
Support for xml configurable gui themes.
Help dialog boxes supported for each aircraft listing special keys, global keys,
procedures and performance data.
Updates and enhancements to many of the dialog boxes to fix problems, expose new
features, enhance usability, etc.
Added a generic, XML configurable, autopilot framework, and several high level,
configurable filter implementations for use by autopilot designers.
Added a transponder and Altitude encoder.
Made the instruments code much more configurable, it is now possible to only include
instruments that are actually present.
Implemented the groundcache code which made it possible for aircraft to follow the ground
precisely and, as a result, made it possible to land on aircraft carriers.
Updated JSBSim version since the last release. (More updates pending after this release.)
YASim: expose "spool-time" of a jet engine as a config parameter, add an oil temp model,
support gear compression along any arbitrary axis, reworked MP calculations for
super/turbochargers.
Allow setting individual sample/update rates for any of the PID autopilot stages.
Support TACAN instruments. And an IVSI instrument.
Support for new animations and effects such as heat-haze and chrome.
Dynamic taxiway following at airports equipped with a logical ground network.
Ability to define "AI" scenarios with scripted moving objects that interact intelligently
with the environment and the simulator state.
Depricated old (somewhat less the spectacularly conceived) electrical system model in
favor of a much more flexible script based system that can be tailored to any individual
aircraft.
Include an external utility that can feed saved nmea tracks back into FlightGear. If you
take a gps on a real flight with you and capture the output, you can replay your flight in
FlightGear.
Added a function that can intersect any arbitrary vector with the loaded scenery and
return the hit point.
Many updates and fixes to the joystick configuration files, many new joysticks directly
supported.
Removed all lingering dependencies on plib's SL sound library.
Add support for OpenAL 1.1 and alut. OpenAL is a 3d sound system supporting directional
sound and doppler effects.
Better cross platform compatibility with our standard network structures.
More cpu friendly frame rate throttling code that can leave more cpu available for other
apps.
Various Nasal (scripting) bug fixes and language improvements.
Various bug fixes, various platform/compiler compatibility fixes, several memory leaks
fixed.
New aircraft available (in various stages of developement): A380, Boeing 314 (seaplane),
Citation Bravo (glass cockpit), Hurricane IIb, MiG-15bis, TU-114, B29, C150, and SR20.
Aircraft that have had updates since the last release: 737, A-10, AN-225, B-52F,
BAC-TSR2, Citation-II (550), Comper Swift, Concorde, Hunter, OV10, Spitfire, T37, B1900d,
bo105, C172 et. al., C182, DHC2F (Beaver), F16, Fokker DR1 Triplane, Fokker 50 (turboprop),
Fokker 100 (jet), J3 Cub, P51, Santa, Seahawk, and 1903 Wright Flyer.
January 18, 2005: Version 0.9.8 released
Added an encoder and transponder to the available avionics modules.
Updates to the AI traffic manager.
Updates to the submodel system. This allows things like contrails, payload dropping,
projectile firing, and aircraft carrier landings.
Added some controls for aircraft carrier operations.
Updated to sync with latest JSBSim developments.
YAsim adds support for contra-rotating propeller pairs as well as crude models for ITT,
Oil Temp and Oil Pressure in the jet turbine engine model.
Instruments, avionics, and subsystems are now configurable per aircraft. You can assemble
the correct componets available for each particular aircraft.
Updates to the wet compass to make it behave much more like a real wet compass including
various errors and motion effects.
Make display list usage optional since these can be a net performance loss on some older
or low memory platforms.
Make sound inaudible until after the scenery is loaded.
Move radio stack and avionics code from cockpit library to instrumentation library.
Added several digital filters to the autopilot: exponential, dobule exponential, moving
average, and noise spike. These are available to aircraft designers via the autopilot config
file.
Make sure the ATIS reports surface winds at airports above sea-level
Default C172 3d model has been completely reworked and many things have been fixed or
sized or placed more accurately.
Replace old basic.dat.gz and runways.dat.gz with apt.dat.gz (x-plane format)
Fix a crash that could occur when the joystick config specified more buttons or axes than
the physical hardware provided.
Fixes to make FlightGear work with 16bpp visual depth.
New aircraft: Cessna Citation-II (wip), Beech 1900D, DHC-2 Beaver (on floats)
Updated KAP140 autopilot instrument (used in default C172.)
Updated Nimitz model (aircraft carrier), updated radio tower models, added Oracle head
quarters to bay area scenery, added Dumbarton bridge at the south end of the SFO bay, added a
model of Alcatraz,
October 12, 2004: Version 0.9.6 released
Added some initial support for "submodels" which can be used to impliment things like
contrails, flares, tracers, etc.
Make real world weather fetching a bit more robust and network friendly.
Ensure the entire world is initially loaded before initializing the flight dynamics
(avoids wildly varying frame rates at a time when the FDM might be trying to do various
initialization steps that might benefit from consistent and fast frame rates.)
Other various (and minor) code cleanups, tweaks, and fixes.
New aircraft: Concorde, MD-11, Spitfire IIA, TU-154.
Updated airport, runway, taxiway, windsock, beacon, and tower data.
Updated world scenery based on SRTM terrain data. New scenery includes accurate radio
towers for the USA.
Fix a small bug in the "generic" export protocol.
Fix (workaround) the shrinking dialogs bug.
Delay FDM initialization until initial scenery is fully loaded.
March 26, 2004: Version 0.9.4 released
Implement SimGear's (aka Andy's) Nasal scripting language in FlightGear and integrate
with the FG property system.
Many updates from David Culp and David Luff to the AI aircraft and ATC modules.
Complete overhaul of the autopilot system. The new system uses a much more advanced PID
algorithm, is much more flexible, and is completely reconfigurable for each aircraft.
Added the ability to fetch current weather in real time during a flight (via a thread)
from the weather.noaa.gov web site and update the current weather conditions in the sim.
Added properly working VASI/PAPI lights.
Make the ground intersection code smart so allow flying under bridges, taxiing on the
lower level of the bay bridge, taxiing into hangers, etc.
Added a utility to automatically manage scenery installation and removal.
Several updated ground textures, plus a variety of new random scenery objects.
Much additional work on the San Francisco area buildings and bridges.
Added a Comper Swift (nice), a Hawker Hunter (nice), added a T37 Tweet,
Updates to the 737 (nice panel, 3d model, and flight model), updates to the 747 flight
dynamics, updates to the OV10, T38, AN-225, bo105 (helicopter), better sounds for the DC-3,
updates to f104 model, many updates to the F16, updates to the J3 Cub, 3D cockpit added to
the pa28-161, updates to the sgs233, overhaul of the tsr2 and yf23 models.
The UFO became Santa Claus over the holidays, but it is back to being extra terrestrial.
First stab at a weather radar instrument.
Added a number of basic 3d instruments to the instrument library that could be reused
used for any general aviation cockpit.
Clean up much of the extraneous alias system entries for aircraft. Generally this means
that if there is only one version of an aircraft, there is only one entry and no aliases. If
there are multiple versions of an aircraft, we may still have an alias to point to the
preferred or default version.
Added RedHat packaging files.
Added some perl script utility functions which are useful when writing remote perl
scripts that interact with a running copy of FlightGear. Includes routines to facility remote
control of data logging and even some simple graph plotting.
Updates to OpenGC interface.
Various JSBSim updates.
Various YASim updates.
Various UIUCsim updates.
More work on the native multiplayer system.
Sorted out the confusion between left, right, and parking brakes vs. the cockpit controls
vs. the wheels they apply to.
Much infrastructure added to support future GPS instruments.
Fixed a meter/feet conversion problem in DME distance calculations which would cause it
to often read quite high.
Fixes to nmea output so it can better trick a moving map software application into
thinking it is talking to a real gps.
Fixed a subtle problem with our star database that has been lurking for many years, but
it took an astronomy expert to spot the subtle misalignments.
Add support for Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, thrustmaster top gun afterburner USB, Logitech
WingMan Force 3D, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro USB, and Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro joysticks.
Removed the old WeatherCM module (it can be resurrected from CVS if any one ever wants to
do that.)
Removed the NetworkOLK module (it can be resurrected from CVS if any one ever wants to do
that.)
Removed support for the PSL scripting language.
October 24, 2003: Version 0.9.3 released
Added a flight "replay" system.
Many updates to the ATC and AI aircraft subsystem. (David Luff)
Add support for moving cloud layers.
New "symbolic" time of day dialog box for easily setting dawn, dusk, noon, etc.
Aircraft are now each self contained in their own individual subdirectories for easier
end user addition and removal.
Many improvements to scene lighting throughout the day->night range including more
realistic sky and fog colors, more realistic scene illumination, better dusk/dawn sky
coloring, better specular lighting support.
A nice new chase view has been added.
Added displaced thresholds on all runways that have them.
Updated default scenery for the KSFO area.
Many buildings and bridges added in the San Francisco area.
Updated airport and navaid database, many new taxiways, many corrected runways, many new
airports (especially outside the USA.)
Updates to the man page.
Better Win32 packaging (more standardized installer, plus a launcher which allows
selection of starting location and starting aircraft.)
Added an initial cut at modeling helicopters.
Support multiple inside the cockpit views.
Updated FlightGear Flight School tutorial.
Use the field elevation for GS when no specific altitude listed in FAA/DAFIF data
Fix to translate DME and TACAN X/Y channels to paired VHF frequencies correctly. Thanks
to Jorge Van Hemelryck <ML@JVH.NET> for the fix.
Fixes to runway search routines (didn't always work correctly under some circumstances.)
Many fixes and updates to the autopilot. Autothrottle tracks speed much better with much
less jumping around.
Expose the tuned navaid via the property system to support building more advanced
avionics.
Improvements to the environment manager and gui's, more control over turbulence, ability
to specify boundary condition layers as well as aloft condition layers.
JSBSim updates including a new turbine engine model that supports things like starting
and stopping procedures and thrust reversing.
UIUCsim updates (compiler warning and namespace conflict fixes.)
YASim updates (fix drag from shutdown engine, helicopter support, better in air startup
support.)
Support for "clock" instruments that operate independently of computer system time.
Annunciators shouldn't work if electrical system not serviceable.
A few updated splash screens.
Added various fields to net_ctrls and net_fdm to include various failures, faults,
control surface positions, and other interesting things.
A few updated joystick definition files.
Various keyboard mapping tweaks and changes.
Many updates and tweaks to default material properties and random land cover objects.
New Aircraft: J-22, Paraglider, SGS-126 Sailplane, ASW 20, and AN-225 aircraft; Bell 206
JetRanger, CH-47 Chinook, and Ecureuil AS-350 helicoptors.
Updated cloud textures.
Removed dependency on Metakit. The airport and runway databases are now stored in a
simple flat file ascii database.
FreeBSD, Solaris, MSVC, Irix, Mac OSX, cygwin, and mingwin fixes.
June 4, 2003: Version 0.9.2 released
New aircraft available: P51-D (w/ full 3d cockpit), Sea Hawk (WV908), a research
ornithopter (propelled by actual flapping wings), A10, B-52, F-104, F-15, F-16, OV10,
PA28-161, T-6A Texan II, T-38, British TSR2, YF-23, 737,
Updated aircraft: airwave extreme hang glider, asw20 glider, A-4 Skyhawk, Beech-99,
Cessna 172 w/ 3d cockpit, Cessna 310 w/ 3d cockpit, DC3, Piper J3 Cub, 1903 Wright Flyer,
Sopwith Camel, Space Shuttle, Boeing 747-400
Overhauled menu/gui system and made it xml configurable rather than hardwired. Include
support for things like checkboxes, sliders, and dials.
Added some early multiplayer features.
Added support for in-air presets relative to a VOR, NDB, or fix.
Support for Futaba, Airtronics, Hitec, JR, Multiplex and Tower R/C transmitters using the
RCJoy USB interface box (see http://www.rcjoy.com).
Much improved sky and coloring as well as more realistic coloring of the sunset and
sunrise.
Clouds are drawn on a surface that better matches the underlying curve of the earth.
A few updated terrain textures, better variety of random ground cover objects.
Most weather options can now be set via the GUI. Added an option to randomize the
weather.
Various instruments and systems can now be failed/unfailed via the GUI.
Developed scripts to build Navaid and ILS databases from DAFIFT, FAA, and other data
sources.
Update Navaid and ILS databases based on DAFIFT, FAA, and other data sources.
Continued development of voice ATC, robot aircraft AI, logical taxiway networks
(continues to be a work in progess, but much progress has been made.)
Separated out much of the low level model/material management code and moved it over to
SimGear where it can be potentially used by other projects.
Separated out the low level sound effect playing/management code and moved it over to
SimGear.
Added functions to the "telnet" interface to allow remote management of autopilot
waypoints.
Support the parking brake in the "external" flight dynamics interface.
Added support for an audio panel (set of switches to set various avionics audio sources
on/off in the aircraft.)
Add support for speed brake and spoiler controls.
Many code updates to UIUCmodel including support for ornithopters (flapping wing
vehicles.)
Many JSBsim code updates include a new turbine engine model.
Added a "named pipe" external flight dynamics model interface.
YASim updates including support for manual-pitch control props, support for wing washout,
and adjusting aircraft masses as fuel is consumed.
The property picker interface now shows the property values changing 1 dynamically.
Added support for a simple annunciator panel (fuel, oil, vacuum, volts dummy warning
lights.)
Added a "gyro" model. This can be driven electrically (turn coordinator) or via vacuum
(attitude indicator). If one of these systems failes, the corresponding gyro will spin down
realistically an introduce realistic errors in the gauge reading.
Model attitude indicator tumbling at extreme attitudes.
Modeled the pitot system and use that drive the air speed indicator.
Added a very simplistic volts/amps model to the electrical system...enough to make the
gauges behave plausibly and drive the annunciator panel correctly.
Updated the vacuum/suction model to behave more realistically.
Added Italian and Polish translation for the GUI.
Mac OS X fixes.
Better FreeBSD support.
Mingwin fixes.
Improved native sgi compiler support.
MSVC fixes.
Fixed problems in marker beacon audio.
Fixed several subtle problems in the modeling/positioning of glide slope transmitters in
FlightGear
Don't allow the dewpoint to go higher than the temperature.
Don't allow gust speed to be less than base wind speed.
Fix a couple problems in the external fdm interface that prevented FlightGear from being
driven properly by an external source (i.e. to act as a image generator only.)
Fixes to camera parameters for external views (especially when rotating the view around
the different axes.)
Many miscellaneous code clean ups, many bug fixes, and much code refactoring.
December 5, 2002: Version 0.9.1 released
Fixes a problem with a missing file in the source distribution of 0.9.0
Updates to AI aircraft subsystem (this is a work in progress)
Added a canned ATC voice handling class (using prerecorded voice snippets.)
Added voice ATIS
December 3, 2002: Version 0.9.0 released
Support for fully animated, fully clickable 3d instrument panels.
Support for runway, approach, and taxiway lighting. Lighting is directional and intensity
varies smoothly with relative view direction.
Many new and updated aircraft.
Improved runway textures.
Some improved terrain textures.
Added a util called terrasync to runtime fetch just the scenery you need from the master
scenery server as you fly. No need to pre-download large chunks of data.
Add a vacuum system and support for it's failure.
Add a pitot system and support for it's failure.
Model gyro spin for various instruments.
Added support for modeling complex aircraft electrical system. Sample implimentation for
a C172, simplistic electrical model provided for other aircraft until their specific system
is modeled.
Added a "presets" section to the GUI.
Localization support for GUI and for command line option help, including the ability to
specify a custom per language font.
Support for specifying an initial startup runway.
Splash screen now slowly fades out revealing the ready to run sim.
Support additional joysticks: Logitech WingMan Force, Logitech WingMan Extreme Digital 3D
(USB), and Saitek Cyborg Gold 3D USB, CH Virtual Pilot USB/USB CH Pedals,
Many updates to External/Network FDM interface.
Many updates to the JSBSim FDM model code.
Many updates from the UIUC folk to their FDM package.
Many updates to the YASim FDM model code (fuel usage, tunable induced drag parameter,
better gear tuning, fix a ground effect bug, and a standalone config file compiler.
Make rotational rate FDM values available in the property tree.
Fix a subtle bug in the ssg partial tree deleter code.
Started a new XML configurable GUI subsystem.
Some preliminary support for AI driven aircraft.
Fix ILS back course needle deflection.
Fix for ATI driver "issue" causing instrument panels to be all gray.
Support for toggling 3d instrument hotspot visibility (debugging/learning tool.)
Tweaks to instrument panel night lighting.
Added a per engine fuel pump switch.
NOMINMAX fix for cygwin/gcc-3.2
Renamed External FDM to NullFDM
New module/submodule system.
IRIX build fixes
Restructured some of the initialization code to facilitate reseting the sim to alternate
presets (airport, runway, offset distance, altitude, speed, etc.)
Fixed DG heading bug hold to work with new instrumentation updates.
Updates to autopilot to let it work with perfect values as a compile time option.
Split Nav/Com units, and DME out into their own source files.
Fixes to support newer versions of plib/cvs
September 7, 2002: Version 0.8.0 released
The world is now populated with random ground objects with appropriate type and density
for the local ground cover type (buildings, water towers, farm houses, silos, cows, trees,
etc.)
Many (most?) ground textures updated for a much nicer, more coherent, more realistic
overall look and feel.
Added a java client library for FlightGear.
Added some external scripting examples (python.)
Implemented a Bendix/King KT 70 transponder.
Implemented a Bendix/King KR 87 adf.
Added support for 3d instrument panels inside 3d cockpits.
Added support for animation of 3d models tied to internal properties.
New/updated aircraft include: Cessna 172, Piper J3 Cub, DC-3, A4 Skyhawk, Cessna 310,
747, 1903 Wright Flyer (non-linear with stall modeled, based on wind tunnel data.)
Convert the magic carpet into a UFO, complete with sound effects and a 3d model (based on
real world data of course.) :-)
Environment manager overhaul
Support for a base wind speed with gusts.
Support for a base wind direction with variation.
Support for more dynamically reconfigurable cloud layers. Cloud layers are no longer hard
coded.
Updates and additions to the FAQ
Improvements to the sound effects module.
Autopilot fixes to allow it to work much better on large airliners.
Added a generic interface for running the flight dynamics model as a separate process
communicating via a network connection.
Synced with the latest JSBSim code.
Synced with the latest UIUCmodel code.
Many fixes and updates to the YASim FDM (fixed flap drag issue, new tail wheel lock, lots
of solver fixes, and fixes to other internal stuff.)
Added support for menus defined in an xml file.
Make the help system start more robustly/quickly in Win32
Added support for detecting the name of a joystick and using the appropriate default
joystick config file.
Overhauled the remote/network property interface.
Added a --show-aircraft option to dump out a list of all the available aircraft you can
select with the --aircraft=NAME option.
Added a --random-wind command line option.
--wind= option can now contain ranges, i.e. --wind=min_dir:max_dir@min_speed:max_speed;
the system will automatically vary the wind within these ranges.
A "physical" crash (i.e. too-hard impact with the ground) causes the sim to freeze. You
can then reset the sim to the starting state with the menu->reset option.
Support in the scenery tile cache for maintaining tiles in the cache relative to several
view points that could be very far apart.
Brake makes the magic carpet fly backwards.
Many clean ups, fixes, and improvements with the tile pager. Memory free is now done
incrementally and spread out through multiple frames to hide it.
Modernized the autoconf/make scripts.
Cleaned up old cruft from the build system.
Default to using FGEnvironment
Removed support for efence (in favor of valgrind.)
Bumped minimum plib version required up to 1.4.2, however the latest cvs (and hopefully
release) works much better.
Added valgrind debugging config files/scripts.
Weeded out many warnings/errors flagged by valgrind.
Overhauled the FGSubsystem class.
Fixed reporting of winds, cloudbase and altimeter setting.
FGSteam converted to a proper FGSubsystem.
Fix fog on 3dfx cards.
Added internal support for turning each tank on/off individually.
Added support for a fuel selector switch.
Fixes to builtin property browser.
Fixed several math overflow problems with time elapsed calculations that had crept in.
These would cause some things to stop updating (like portions of the instrument panel, and
radio station frequency matching.)
Updates to the network OpenGC interface.
Irix fixes.
Mac OS X fixes.
MSVC fixes.
IA-64 w/ Intel compiler fixes.
automake/conf script enhancemnts and fixes.
Updated the UIUCModel code.
Removed some dos line endings that crept in.
Spelling fixes.
Removed some depricated code related to the old view management system.
Fix a problem with VOR station lookups where we wouldn't always find the closest station
of a given frequency.
Changed the default Nav radio frequencies to be more appropriate for SFO.
Retrimmed the C172
Added seats and other interior stuff to the J3 Cub, and retrimmed. Also fixed wing
incidence in the 3d visual model.
Fixed C310u3a-3d. 3d cockpit instruments can now be seen.
Fixes to the DC-3 such as tank location; other surface and wheel position adjustments.
Increase effectiveness of rudder, vstab, and hstab.
Updated some of the preconfigured joystick files.
Updated man pages
Fixed problem with pressure/altitude getting botched up after a reset
Use a nicer helvetica font for the menus.
Various fixes to the internal pui property browser.
Fixed a typo in the scenery file loader that could cause a crash on some platforms.
More joystick configuration defaults. (Saitek Cyborg Gold 3D USB, non FF sidewinder
precision 2 usb)
More texture tweaks.
Additional fixes and panel work for the J3 Cub.
April 20, 2002: Version 0.7.10 released
Much work on drawing and animating 3d aircraft models for things like the chase and tower
views. Propellers spin, control surfaces move, gear retracts, etc.
Overhauled mouse handling code and make it user configurable.
Added a new environment (as in weather) subsystem.
Added a new logging module
Added a new ATC subsystem.
Virtual 3d Cessna 172 cockpit (work in progress) but many things are animated and
working.
Virtual 3d Cessna 310 cockpit.
Instrument panel background can now be a set of tiled textures so we can achieve
much higher resolution.
Major property manager overhaul.
Major view code overhaul. All views are now configurable via config files.
Major overhaul of the sound manager, it is now much more configurable with many sound
effect improvements.
Separate XML I/O operations into a separate header.
Implement a standard FGSubsystem interface for module consistency.
Add waypoint dialog now shows entire current waypoint list in a scroll box.
Use an LED font for radios (and added infrastructure/support for additional fonts.)
Continued work on developing a generalized network interface to an external flight
dynamics model running as a separate process on the same or different machine.
Initial glideslope and climb rate can be specified from the command line.
Fixes and improvements to make ground trimming more robust.
Many JSBSim updates and improvements, JSBSim now exports all it's interesting internal
state via the property manager.
Many updates to UIUCsim including support for non-linear models, flaps.
Move tower view location when teleporting to a new airport.
Created a new /devices subtree in the property manager to display current device status.
Many YASim updates and bug fixes, autogen contact points for collision detection, support
for full engine startup procedure, minimal support for magnetos, support skid objects
(non-rolling gear objects), reduce idle power a bit, export gear compression amount to the
property tree, include wind when computing airspeed.
Fixes to the property picker/browser.
Fixes and updates to the configure script.
Several potential memory abuse bugs detected (valgrind) and fixed (Melchior)
Fix an instrument panel text bug ... an integer overflow could prevent the text from
displaying if the panel was turned off for more than 37.8 minutes.
Fixed a segfault when trying to audibly ident a nav station. Changes in the sound manager
code broke some assumptions.
Fixed a bug (another int overflow) which could trick the event manager into thinking the
next time to run the events is way in the future.
Various performance optimizations.
More work on saving/restoring flights
Of all the ILS stations of the specified frequency, pick the one the most directly points
at us.
Various restructures in the scenery loading code in preparation for more flexible runway
lighting support.
Fixes/improvements to the scenery/line intersection code.
Various IRIX fixes.
Various MSVC fixes.
Various compiler warning messages fixed.
February 16, 2002: Version 0.7.9 (final) released
Fixes to the Thanks file.
Fix --time-offset in the man page and options help.
Fixed the spelling of Celsius.
Cleaned up some stray cout's
Removed some redundant FG... class qualifiers in various headers.
GUI dialog box fixes for autopilot.
Ensure that initial engine settings are copied over from FlightGear to JSBSim.
FreeBSD fix from JSBSim.
February 13, 2002: Version 0.7.9pre2 released
JSBSim FGPiston mixture improvements
Enable Audio by default in MSVC builds
Added a clock freeze option.
February 12, 2002: Version 0.7.9pre1 released
Switch to JSBSim (jsbsim.sf.net) as our default flight model.
Added additional aircraft: Cessna 182, Cessna 172 (ifr panel), and a Cessna 310 (twin
prop).
Added an entirely new set of flight dynamics modeling code by Andy Ross. Includes several
aircraft such as a 747, A4, and DC-3. This is (Y)et (A)nother Flight Dynamics (Sim)ulator. It
is a first cut of a "different take" on FDM design. It's intended to be very simple to use,
producing reasonable results for aircraft of all sorts and sizes, while maintaining
simulation plausibility even in odd flight conditions like spins and aerobatics. It's at the
point now where one can actually fly the planes around.
Added an optional embedded http server that provides a property manager interface to
external programs and scripts.
Added an optional embedded http server that can serve out live screen shots to anyone on
the web.
Sync with the latest JSBSim code.
Added simple ATIS support.
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