QualityWings Status Update

Greetings from QualityWings,

This first quarter of 2015 flew by unbelievably quick. They say time flies when you’re having fun. Whoever said that never developed payware Flightsim Addons LOL! (I’m only half joking).It can definitely be a painfully fun and frustratingly rewarding process.

Anyways, onto the updates for all things QualityWings.

Ultimate 787 Collection

We’ve put in some pretty long hours over the past 13 weekends to lay much of the groundwork for where we currently are with this project. The majority of the work done this quarter has been to solidify the foundation of the systems on the airplane and to initiate a process of ensuring product performance (AKA Frames per Second AKA the Red Devil) is where we want it to be. We are pleased at the progress we’ve made in both areas. We have reached a very minor (but significant milestone) in that we’ve entered very early Alpha Testing! Initial testing is amongst the team members and a few of our testers to get not only an initial feel of the Flight Dynamics but also the overall aircraft. Feedback has been really positive, especially from the people that know it the best: Our 787 Pilots. So with this feedback, Nick can continue to tweak the Flight Dynamics along with Lars who is controlling the Fly-by-Wire stuff.

So what does “basic foundation of the airplane in place” mean? I guess the easiest comparison is to that of how an automobile is built. We’ve built the chassis (Systems framework like the Overhead Systems, Display Systems, etc) and we’ve put in the Major components like the Engine and Transmission (Autoflight System and Fly-by-Wire). Now that this is out the way, we can continue to add onto the Chassis by adding the Body (Flight Management System Pages and functionality, Thrust Management/FADEC Stuff). By the time that the FMC framework is done, we should have some pretty good data from our testing at what improvements need to made to ensure the plane flies reasonably close to the real aircraft. Then and only then can be complete the Flight Management System.

There hasn’t been much work on the exterior model side as that area is pretty stable at this point. However, the bump and specular mapping for the texturing has been completed and we’re extremely happy with how this aircraft looks. Ron did some nice work.

The majority of the work done during this quarter has been in the Flightdeck Systems Programming department. The Virtual Cockpit textures have also undergone some extensive work from Kyle, who is doing a great job getting the textures to pop despite less real estate to work with. Last we spoke, Overhead Panel Systems Programming was in full effect. We’ve finally completed Phase I of that. The framework has been laid. We will eventually have to go back and tweak all areas (Phase II) to ensure that functionality is accurate. Sure we’ve already laid the groundwork for systems such as the hydraulics, but now we have to make sure that the system does all of the little things that the real airplane does (e.g Left and Right Electric Pumps Shutting off until needed right before takeoff).

There is alot of little stuff with this airplane that we are trying to make sure that we get right. This real life 787 is so marvelously complex and interesting. One of things we are working on is the Airport Display that shows on the Nav Display. Nice addition, but it takes some time. One of the features of the aircraft that we were able to program in was the Checklists. We’ve still gotta go back and tweak some of the features, but this is at about 90% completion. The initial release will only have NORMAL Checklists with a few Non-Normal Situations. Another feature we’re working on is an Active Flightcrew that calls out the need to do the checklists and also other situational awareness type items (Such as approaching takeoff runway). A video below shows the checklist and the aircraft taxiing to takeoff.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152802717999639

We’ve also finally gotten around to programming the Tuning Control panel. It’ amazing how something so small could have so much functionality behind it. I asked a question on Facebook recently about how often you folks use the same frequency when flying using online ATC Services and the answer was a resounding VERY OFTEN. The 787 Tuning Control Panel allows for several freuquencies to be stored. Because of your feedback, we’ve programmed this feature in which allows for you to do just that. The TCP handles many other systems other than VHF Communications as the video shows. All appropriate functionality has been (or is being) programmed.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152802762564639

If I had to give you an overall percentage of completion of this Flightdeck Systems Programming, I’d say it’s around 75%. But that final 25% is an EXTREMELY tedious part of the project. Implementing and trying to perfect the diefferent areas will take some time. I told you during the last update that we were aiming for some point during the middle of this year, but we’d have a better idea around the 2nd quarter of this year. We’ve finally gotten a chance to estimate all remaining areas of the project and how long it will take to get there. Middle of this year is NOT possible given personal commitments of the staff. But we’re pretty confident about Later in 2015. All other areas of the product are at a much higher level of completion.

Though we’ve come extremely far in the last year..we’ve still got some signficant work ahead of us. As I said a few updates ago, we didn’t truly start working on the guts of this aircraft until last year despite the way too early announcement from us. But THIS STUFF TAKES TIME! We do this on weekends and It’s tough. I can’t and won’t apologize anymore for our pace. It’s just the way it is unfortunately.

As tired as you might be of waiting, we’re tried of working on our weekends from regular jobs lol. It’s not easy to stay the course when the development is no longer fun. The 75-80% is a blast. The 20-25% remaining isn’t. The hardest thing to do is to finish these products off but the QualityWings staff has been pretty good about finishing products despite the challenges you hear about (and the many you don’t). But with each weekend of plugging away at the list of Things to Do…the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter. Like I said: “painfully fun and frustratingly rewarding process”.

Hang with us.

Ultimate 737 Collection

This late update was all doom and gloom, but I offer a bit of hope for this product. We’re getting off the ground again

Following a recent re-organisation and re-structuring, the 737CL team has been hard at work on a number of fronts. There are a number of exciting developments, which we are delighted to share with you. This quarter, we focused on the status of the visual and flight models since these form the basis of what you see and experience in the simulator. There are also some other exciting features under development, which we will talk about further in a future update

Visual models:

Exterior: The exterior pax model for the -400 (standard wing) is complete, while the standard and winglet (SP) models for the -300 are nearing completion. The screen shots show the -300SP in our work-in-progress livery! The -500 (standard and winglet versions) will be completed once work on the virtual cockpit is complete. The cockpit has taken a bit of priority over the exterior models at the moment as we are in the process of still trying to implement systems.

Speaking of the Virtual cockpit: The modeling of the VC is close to completion, which will then be followed by the detailed mapping process and texturing. Previously you’ve only seen snipets of the VC…but here is the first full shot of the VC. If it feels like step backwards, we’ve had many LOL. But we’re moving forward as best we can.

After mapping, the animation process and the implementation of the cockpit systems will be completed. The detailed and fully interactive VC will feature ultra-detailed controls and 3D gauges and smooth control animation. EFIS is the current focus.

Flight models – Flight Dynamics Engine:The FDEs are well-advanced. The -300 has separate FDEs for not only standard and winglet models, but both also exist in basic and high gross weight variants. The -400 standard wing model has FDEs for basic and HGW variants. Once the -500 models are complete, the FDEs will be finalised for those models, again including basic and HGW variants.

• Based on real-world data, tuned for accurate reproduction of how the 737 Classics fly- Fully capable of replicating real-world by-the-book 737CL operation
• CFM56-3 matched power curve and thrust characteristics
• B1, B2 and C1 engine variants depending on model and requirement
• Dedicated FDE sets for all standard wing/winglet/High Gross Weight variants
• Accurate passenger/hold cargo locations and weight distributions for each variant
• Accurate engine start-up/shut-down procedure and timings
• Accurate ground breakaway and taxi performance in unmodified FSX, variable according to loading
• Good ground performance through the use of one contact point per wheel, to increase lateral friction in turns, and minimise sideways slippage
• Accurate flight envelope characteristics, including climb, cruise and approach attitudes
• Accurate flight instrument engine performance readings, fuel consumption and range
• Realistic FDE-defined landing gear compression and ground position

As we progress, it is envisaged that liveries for many real-world operators of the 737CL will be available. More information about the Classic Series will become available as we make some steady progress. I would like to pubicly thanks some of the members still working on this project for stepping up and trying to do what is necessary to get this product complete. I will NOT offer a timetable on this project as it’s not fair to the development team at this point. Be patient with us, the guys are doing the best they can.

Ultimate 757

I’m not tone deaf to the issues that some folks are experiencing with Crash to Desktop issues during installation of the 757. We certainly apologize anmytime the experience is not as smooth as it should be. These issues seemed to get ramped up in parallel with the release of FSX Steam. The 3rd party Addon Manager that this product uses was updated to accomodate Steam, so it’s possible that this is part of the issue (More on Steam later).

FSUIPC has also been causing some folks issues in not only FSX but P3D. This FSUIPC issue is external to QualityWings. There are many angles, and we are still working on the ones that we can control. We ask that if you do experience with a CTD, please post the issue on the Support Forum. Be detailed with regards to when the CTD occurs. A CTD upon selection of the 757 and a CTD during the initial loading of FSX.

In the last update, I mentioned  trying to get you the latest installer for the latest P3D version as soon as we could albeit with low priority. Well as soon as we tried to do that, another verion of P3D was released. Stay tuned again.

Ultimate 146

No change from the last update which stated:There have been many questions regarding addon variants of the QW146. The truth is we have absolutely no time or resources to focus on this product at this time.

Additional Statement on FSX Steam

As we stated in the previous update, we are WELL aware of the availability of FSX on Steam and the interest of many on having QualityWings products installed on Steam. It should be noted that we DO NOT yet officially support the installation of the product into FSX Steam. Reports from users is that the QW757 can be installed on Steam (alternate install process?) but QualityWings does not currently officially offer information on how to do so. We are currently evaluating the official use of the 757 in Steam, but can only do so when time permits. The QW146 installs with no problems according to reports, but QualityWings doesn’t yet officially offer support for Steam on these existing products.

We are not prepared to address any questions on the availbility of future products on Steam. Hopefully we can have more information on this platform at a later date.

Thanks for your interest and patience. The periodic updates have been lacking this quarter. I’ve been pretty busy personally, so it’s been hard to do the Social Media thing as it may take the time away from development. But to be honest, the stuff we’re doing now is not the “sexy” stuff that’s worth the screenshots.

QualityWings