Ben je er klaar voor?

Klaar voor het zware werk als helikoptervlieger? Nu kan het binnen X-Plane V11.50b4+. De gratis plugin ”Helicopter Sling Load 1.0.0” is namelijk uitgekomen en hier te downloaden. Leuk feitje, je kunt nu ook branden blussen met een zogenoemde helicopter bucket. U vind de plugin hier.Succes!

Features

The plugin is filled with amazing features that make it a really advanced system for sling loading and external cargo.

• Gravity:
  • Using the X-Plane dataref. Yes, it should also work on Mars.
  • Rope forces: The rope is considered an single mass oscillator.
  • Stretch forces.
  • Damping forces according to the speed the rope is stretching.
• Air drag: The object is considered cuboid.
  • Object speed plus wind.
  • Air density depending on altitude and weather, using the X-Plane dataref.
  • CW value for each side of the cuboid.
  • Surface of each side.
  • Roll and pitch of the object are considered.
• Water drag:
  • Same as the Air drag, except that the object is always upright as it hits the ground.
  • Air and water drag are weighted according to the water line. This means that the wind might move a floating object.
• Water displacement:
  • Upward forces by the water displacement. If the object is lighter than water, it will swim.
  • Bambi buckets don’t swim and fill with water instantly, according to the water line.
• Friction:
  • Static friction when the object is still on the solid ground.
  • Glide friction when the object is moving on the solid ground.
  • Damping by the operator: When lifting an object, the operators on winch or on the hook will usually try to stabilize the load. Otherwise the short rope would start hazardous oscillations.
  • Rope length where the operators start the stabilization.
  • Maximum force the operator may apply .
• For 3rd party plugins:
  • Plugin may apply additional forces (e.g. to simulate ground operator).
  • Plugin may rotate the cargo.
• Forces on the Helicopter:
  • Forces of the rope.
  • Momentum that is caused by the positioning of the winch

There are a few things missing, though and the author has listed them all as well:

• Cargo rotation (except rotation by external plugin)
• Rotor downwash
• Ground impact:
  • When hitting the ground, the vertical speed is put to zero. No bouncing off the ground.
  • When hitting the ground, the object is always upright. No flipping over.
• There is no momentum on the load. All forces apply in the CoG, which is considered at the rope
• mounting point.
• Bambi bucket limited water flow when dropped into water
• Terrain steepness is not considered. For HSL the terrain is always flat.
• Cargo maximum forces. Cargo never breaks, no matter how hard it hits the ground.
• Full rope simulation, currently the rope is always straight.
• Fire temperature increase of the surroundings
• Fire turbulence simulation
• Fire in replay
• Load Profiles

Honestly, the amount of information about the plugin is so long that I really recommend you read it all at the download page and explore it.

This plugin was tested in X-Plane 11.50b4, using the Vulkan engine. In fact, it has some issues with the OpenGL version.