Post by Tom Goodrick on Sept 5, 2008 10:41:34 GMT -5
One of the features of real aircraft is the cabin lighting that can be seen at night as they sit on the ramp. I have been encouraged as I walked across a dark, wet and windy ramp to an awaiting King Air to see light spilling out of the open doorway and lighting every window. Adding this feature to your FS aircraft can increase its realism.
There was a brief thread on the BGA side about this but they went off chasing solutions in the GMAX design world. We don't have to go there. Just a few lines added to the aircraft.cfg file can do the trick. We simply add a few lines under [lights] like
light.n = m, x, y, z, fx_vclighth,
where n is the line sequence number, m is either 4 or 10, x, y, z are the position coordinates of the light, and fx_vclighth is a bright light. There is a fx_vclight in the cockpit that is and should remain dimmer for the pilots.
The number m depends on which actual switches you have in the cockpit. If you only have a cockpit light switch or if it is tied in with the nav lights as they often are, you must use m=4 for all the inside lights. But for a realistic electrical system, it is nice to use m=10 which will separately turn on just the cabin lights.
The reason for this distinction is to utilize the electrical system properly. If you get into a cold, dark airplane, you want a light that will not draw down the battery significantly. This is when you want just the cockpit light switch. Then you start the engines. Next you can turn on the cbain lights. After charging the battery, you can shut down the left engine (on the side of the door) so the passengers can board while you keep the cabin lights on. If you don't have separate switches, you have to work fast and hope the engines start before you draw down the voltage. I am putting in a voltage gauge on my aircraft with cabin lights to let you see when you will have trouble and need to start the engines in the dark (with that ever htasty flashlight in your teeth).
There are constraints on how many cabin lights you can set. It seems that four is the magic number but I don't know why or if that is absolutely true. I just added cabin lights to the Learjet 45 and 35 (by Mike Stone) and found this number by trial and error ineach case. I wanted more in the 45 because it has a lot of small windows. I started with eight lights (one for each window) and had to remark them out with // until I got all working that I could. The first one I lost was the cockpit light line (the original light).
Here are the lines that work for the LJ45:
[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing
light.0 = 3, -39.00, -23.6, -0.25, fx_navredm ,
light.1 = 3, -39.00, 23.6, -0.25, fx_navgrem ,
light.2 = 3, -63.63, 0.00, 9.20, fx_navwhi ,
light.3 = 1, -37.00, 0.00, -2.59, fx_beaconb ,
light.4 = 2, -36.97, 0.00, -2.62, fx_strobe ,
light.5 = 1, -63.05, 0.00, 9.75, fx_beaconh ,
light.6 = 5, -29.7, -1.3, -1.71, fx_landing ,
light.7 = 5, -29.7, 1.3, -1.71, fx_landing ,
light.8 = 4, -13.00, 0.00, 2.5, fx_vclight,
light.9 = 4, -18.00, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
light.10 = 4, -23.50, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
light.11 = 4, -29.00, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
light.12 = 4, -34.00, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
Lines 9 through 12 are the ones I added. I also moved the vclight to make it more visible from the outside. I stretched out the positions of the cabin lights to show in all windows. They also shine out onto the wing.
I also added and changed some lines in the [electrical] section:
[electrical]
max_battery_voltage = 12.0
generator_alternator_voltage = 13.8
max_generator_alternator_amps = 40.0
;BusType, MaxAmpLoad, MinVoltage BusTypes:0=MainBus,1=AvionicsBus,2=BatteryBus,3=HotBatteryBus,4-7=Generator/AlternatorBus(1-4)
avionics_bus = 0, 5 , 9.5
avionics = 1, 5 , 9.5
additional_system = 0, 4 , 9.5
marker_beacon = 1, 2 , 9.0
fuel_pump = 0, 1 , 9.0
light_cockpit = 0, 1, 12.0
I set the current for each light low at 1 amp. I also reduced the amps for the fuel pumps. My understanding from reading the ACSD is that these currents are cummulative for additional items of the same type. I am not sure if this is really necessary. I did it when I was trying to get eight lights to work and still had to cut the lines to four.
Park this plane on the ramp with the door open and it looks great - ready to take you home after a long business meeting.
There was a brief thread on the BGA side about this but they went off chasing solutions in the GMAX design world. We don't have to go there. Just a few lines added to the aircraft.cfg file can do the trick. We simply add a few lines under [lights] like
light.n = m, x, y, z, fx_vclighth,
where n is the line sequence number, m is either 4 or 10, x, y, z are the position coordinates of the light, and fx_vclighth is a bright light. There is a fx_vclight in the cockpit that is and should remain dimmer for the pilots.
The number m depends on which actual switches you have in the cockpit. If you only have a cockpit light switch or if it is tied in with the nav lights as they often are, you must use m=4 for all the inside lights. But for a realistic electrical system, it is nice to use m=10 which will separately turn on just the cabin lights.
The reason for this distinction is to utilize the electrical system properly. If you get into a cold, dark airplane, you want a light that will not draw down the battery significantly. This is when you want just the cockpit light switch. Then you start the engines. Next you can turn on the cbain lights. After charging the battery, you can shut down the left engine (on the side of the door) so the passengers can board while you keep the cabin lights on. If you don't have separate switches, you have to work fast and hope the engines start before you draw down the voltage. I am putting in a voltage gauge on my aircraft with cabin lights to let you see when you will have trouble and need to start the engines in the dark (with that ever htasty flashlight in your teeth).
There are constraints on how many cabin lights you can set. It seems that four is the magic number but I don't know why or if that is absolutely true. I just added cabin lights to the Learjet 45 and 35 (by Mike Stone) and found this number by trial and error ineach case. I wanted more in the 45 because it has a lot of small windows. I started with eight lights (one for each window) and had to remark them out with // until I got all working that I could. The first one I lost was the cockpit light line (the original light).
Here are the lines that work for the LJ45:
[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing
light.0 = 3, -39.00, -23.6, -0.25, fx_navredm ,
light.1 = 3, -39.00, 23.6, -0.25, fx_navgrem ,
light.2 = 3, -63.63, 0.00, 9.20, fx_navwhi ,
light.3 = 1, -37.00, 0.00, -2.59, fx_beaconb ,
light.4 = 2, -36.97, 0.00, -2.62, fx_strobe ,
light.5 = 1, -63.05, 0.00, 9.75, fx_beaconh ,
light.6 = 5, -29.7, -1.3, -1.71, fx_landing ,
light.7 = 5, -29.7, 1.3, -1.71, fx_landing ,
light.8 = 4, -13.00, 0.00, 2.5, fx_vclight,
light.9 = 4, -18.00, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
light.10 = 4, -23.50, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
light.11 = 4, -29.00, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
light.12 = 4, -34.00, 0.00, 2.0, fx_vclighth,
Lines 9 through 12 are the ones I added. I also moved the vclight to make it more visible from the outside. I stretched out the positions of the cabin lights to show in all windows. They also shine out onto the wing.
I also added and changed some lines in the [electrical] section:
[electrical]
max_battery_voltage = 12.0
generator_alternator_voltage = 13.8
max_generator_alternator_amps = 40.0
;BusType, MaxAmpLoad, MinVoltage BusTypes:0=MainBus,1=AvionicsBus,2=BatteryBus,3=HotBatteryBus,4-7=Generator/AlternatorBus(1-4)
avionics_bus = 0, 5 , 9.5
avionics = 1, 5 , 9.5
additional_system = 0, 4 , 9.5
marker_beacon = 1, 2 , 9.0
fuel_pump = 0, 1 , 9.0
light_cockpit = 0, 1, 12.0
I set the current for each light low at 1 amp. I also reduced the amps for the fuel pumps. My understanding from reading the ACSD is that these currents are cummulative for additional items of the same type. I am not sure if this is really necessary. I did it when I was trying to get eight lights to work and still had to cut the lines to four.
Park this plane on the ramp with the door open and it looks great - ready to take you home after a long business meeting.
