Camera Views for Landing Practice in the 172

[silentsage]

Below are two additional camera views that I've found useful when practicing landings in the 172. I wanted a 3D cockpit persistent view of two specific view points. There may be other ways to do this, but I couldn't find them, so I created the views below.

When you take flight training in the 172 (or 152, or many other aircraft) you're taught that a way to tell if you have the correct lateral displacement on the downwind leg of the landing pattern if the runway cuts through the middle of the left wing strut. The first camera cfg provides a view for this. I mapped it to a control hat on my joystick (I use a Thrustmaster HOTAS).

A second thing you're taught is that you perform the first power reduction when you're aligned with the end of the runway. This view helps with that too.

A third thing you learn is that you should start the turn to base when the runway is 45 degrees behind the left wing (i.e., at the 7:30 position). The second camera cfg provides a view where this can be seen.

There is also a useful training exercise where you fly at about 1500 - 2000 feet and pick a single tree in a field. You then point your left wing tip at the tree and fly a constant diameter circle around the tree, correcting for wind as you go around the circle by changing your bank angle. It's a great way to practice rudder, aileron, and elevator coordination, and to learn how to compensate for winds in the pattern. This is why I wanted persistent views rather than snap views, and wanted them with visible cockpit elements.

Just copy these into you aircraft.cfg file (make sure you have a backup!).

The first is the existing "Pitot Tube Heat Test" view slightly modified to give a better in-flight perspective. Replace the existing CameraDefinition.0 entry with the one below. This is mapped to HotKeySelect 4 so you can assign it to a button. I use "View Camera Select 4" in FSUIPC.

The second is a new view. Insert this after the CameraDefinition.0 entry. This is mapped to HotKeySelect 5. (View Camera Select 5 in FSUIPC.)


[CameraDefinition.0]
Title = "Pitot Tube Heat Test"
Guid = {3A09FD6C-D406-4d8f-A5CD-FA4F5E0A88ED}
Description = Preflilght inspection
Origin = Virtual Cockpit
SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel
SnapPbhReturn = FALSE
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel
PanPbhReturn = FALSE
Track = None
ShowAxis = FALSE
AllowZoom = TRUE
InitialZoom = 0.3
ShowWeather = Yes
InitialXyz = -0.5, -0.05, 0.15
InitialPbh = 25, 0, 283
XyzAdjust = TRUE
Category=Aircraft
ClipMode=Minimum
HotKeySelect = 4

[CameraDefinition.1]
Title = "Over Shoulder"
Guid = {3A09FD6C-D406-4d8f-A5CD-FA4F5E0B88ED}
Description = Preflilght inspection
Origin = Virtual Cockpit
SnapPbhAdjust = Swivel
SnapPbhReturn = FALSE
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel
PanPbhReturn = FALSE
Track = None
ShowAxis = FALSE
AllowZoom = TRUE
InitialZoom = 0.3
ShowWeather = Yes
InitialXyz = -0.5, -0.05, 0.15
InitialPbh = 25, 0, 235
XyzAdjust = TRUE
Category=Aircraft
ClipMode=Minimum
HotKeySelect = 5

[Nick - A2A]

Interesting idea, but it's probably worth pointing-out that if you make edits to the "[CameraDefinition.0]" and following entries in the aircraft.cfg file, you're very likely to mess up the views that make up the preflight inspection.

Instead, I'd recommend that any extra internal views you wish to create are added after the "[CameraDefinition.003]" entry, which is further down the aircraft.cfg file. (e.g. you could add [CameraDefinition.004] and [CameraDefinition.005] sections.)

Thanks,
Nick

P.S. Did you ever check to see whether switching props in the A2A 172 restored the take-off behaviour which you're familiar with silentsage? (As discussed here.)

[silentsage]

That's the best way to do it, but the problem I ran into is that the only unused camera definition between 0 and 19 was number 1. Since the pitot tube view was almost exactly what I wanted, I just changed the perspective a bit - it can still be used in preflight. The addition of number 1 doesn't affect the other entries, so I think preflight is still possible. Maybe the new one should be called "Door Closed Check".......

You guys nailed it on the prop thing. I was using the S prop and that explains the difference. There must be something in the flight dynamics model that causes the difference in behavior. I checked the aircraft.cfg file and as best I can determine there are no changes to CG or weights when props are changed. In the real world the engine weight difference is only 14 lbs. The disk loading between the two props is very close, and changing the prop pitch should change climb and cruise performance, but not trim at a specific airspeed. If I have time I'll look into it further just as a matter of curiosity about how these sims are modelled.