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# #
# RCBhc-15.zip: FS2004 controls & effects for a Harrier aircraft #
# #
# By Rob Barendregt 30 June 2004 #
# Release 1.5 #
# #
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PLEASE, READ THIS MANUAL CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING & USING THIS PACKAGE !!!

This archive contains a set of gauges, effects, sounds and new flightmodel
that you can add to Adam Preece' GR.7 Harrier.
Which, IMHO, is (visually) the best freeware Harrier available at this time.
See "Installation" for required files.

FUNCTIONALITY
=============
A VSTOL-capable, fast jet aircraft (like a Harrier) is probably the most
difficult aircraft to model in FS. Like you may have found out if you ever
tried a Harrier download :-)
Since "vertical thrust" is not modelled in FS, you need high thrust
combined with excessive drag/lift to provide for vertical takeoff/landing.
Which usually is at the expense of "normal flight" characteristics, like
max. speed, acceleration, sensitivity of elevator/rudder, etc.
Moreover, a real Harrier uses vertical thrust from it's main engine (by
rotating the nozzles) and additional thrusters for lateral and directional
movement.
This model uses a number of "tricks" to emulate this behaviour, although
it still remains a compromise between low-speed and high-speed stability,
min. flying/hoover speed, top-speed, etc.
So it still CANNOT hoover or takeoff/land with ZERO airspeed. But 5-10 knots
is a nice approximation, especially since there usually is some wind, and
with even a little head wind the groundspeed is almost zero.

What this archive adds/changes:
- Effects:
- Cannon effect (visual and sound) when airborne, controlled by the FS
RightBrake command when the aircraft is in the air.
- Engine heat/smoke, when throttle > 30%. Depending on nozzle position,
the smoke is directed backwards and/or downwards.
- Wingtip vortex and wing vapor, when Gforce > 3.
- A trimcontrol gauge, which is active when the nozzles are NOT Horizontal:
- Thrustboost and ailerons/rudder trim control, to allow stable hoovering
with directional and lateral control via the aileron and rudder axis.
- Elevator trim control, with two modes:
PitchHold ON: provides a stable pitch angle when hoovering.
This pitch angle is adjustable between 0 and 10 degrees
(default: 6). In this mode the elevator axis of your stick
is continuously forced neutral (effectively disabling it).
- PitchHold OFF: elevator trim follows the elevator axis, to enhance the
elevator effectiveness.
- Flaps/nozzle control, to make the aircraft "wind-proof" on the ground.
- A display gauge, indicating flaps/nozzle position, PitchHold/PitchAngle
and windspeed/direction. When PitchHold is active (PitchHold ON and Trim
control ON) the PitchAngle is green, otherwise red.
This display gauge has clickable spots (with tooltips) that allow:
- Changing the Flaps/Nozzles position up/down
- Switching the PitchHold function on/off
- Adjusting the target pitch angle for PitchHold mode
- Auto-brake release when throttling up for takeoff.
- The animated flaps and nozzles are now visually sequential.
Although still controlled by flap commands, the visible positions are:
- 4 positions flaps (with nozzles horizontal).
Visually: 0, 10, 20 and 40 degrees.
followed by:
- 4 positions nozzles (with full flaps).
Visually: 0, 20, 45, 70, 90 degrees.
- Nozzles are forced Horizontal if the airspeed is > 100 Knots IAS
The display gauge indicates "LOCKED" (in red).

The result: an aircraft which is well-controllable in all stages of flight:
- Realistic accelleration (thrust) and flight controls at cruise speed.
- Ability for VSTOL operation, even stable hoovering at 5-10 knots IAS.
- Doesn't tumble-over or drift-away on the ground, when Brakes are applied
if there is some surface wind.

DONOT use the included aircraft.cfg file for other Harrier models without
adapting things like contact points, effect positions, etc.. in the
aircraft.cfg file. Especially the Flaps operation is very tricky !!!
Also note, that the air file / aircraft.cfg and the control gauge are tuned
to work together... So don't start tweaking things unless you understand
what you are doing.

For detailed design info and additional operation instructions, see my
comments in the aircraft.cfg, panel.cfg and the three .xml gauge files.
(Note: an .xml file can simply be opened and read in Windows Notepad !!)


Installation
=============
Installation of this archive requires prior installation of:
- Adam Preece' GR.7 Harrier.
Files APDHARR7.ZIP and ADPHARFX.ZIP, from www.SurClaro
- If you want the cannon sound audible, you must have the following files
already on your PC:
- ....\Flight Simulator 9\gaugesound.dll
- ....\Flight Simulator 9\Gauges\dsd_xml_sound.gau
- ....\Flight Simulator 9\Modules\FSUIPC.dll (V3.14 or higher)
If not yet present: download file RCBCO-11.zip, from www.SurClaro
or www.SurClaro.com, and extract these files from that archive.

For safety:
**** !! ALWAYS BACKUP A FILE BEFORE YOU EDIT OR OVERWRITE IT !! ****

Step-1: Extract all files from this archive to a temporary folder.

Step-2: Then, MOVE ...
- File:
- dsd_xml_94.wav
to folder ....\Flight Simulator 9\Sound\
- Files:
- fx_RCB_SmokeDown.fx
- fx_RCB_SmokeBack.fx
- fx_RCB_Cannon.fx
- fx_RCB_WingtipVortex.fx
- fx_RCB_WingVaporL.fx
- fx_RCB_WingVaporR.fx
to folder ....\Flight Simulator 9\Effects\
- File:
- HarrierVSTOLControlF10.xml
- HarrierVSTOLDisplayF10.xml
- HarrierVSTOLDisplayF10.bmp
- HarrierEffectControlF10.xml
to folder ....\Flight Simulator 9\Gauges\rcb-miljet\
(If this subfolder in \Gauges doesn't exist yet, create it first).
- File:
- HarrierAB.air
- Aircraft.cfg
to folder ....\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft\AP Designs Harrier GR7\
- File:
- Panel.cfg
to folder ....\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft\AP Designs Harrier GR7\Panel\
NOTE: In case you use another panel than Adams'standard one, copy the
gauge definition in the included panel.cfg to your own panel.
See the notes in the included panel.cfg.

A few (V-)STOL flying notes
===========================

1. Vertical Takeoff.
- Taxi your aircraft to the Takeoff position, and turn it straight into
the wind.
- Set the Parking Brakes.
- Select PitchHold mode On/Off.
When On, the PitchAngle is fixed, allowing a more stable hoovering.
For vertical Takeoff, PitchAngle must be at least 5 degrees for liftoff
(depending fuelweight and additional payload).
- With your FlapsControl (default keys F5,F6,F7,F8, or gauge clicks), select:
- Nozzle position VERT, for windspeed <10 knots.
- Nozzle position 70, for windspeed >10 knots.
- Throttle up (the ParkingBrakes are automatically released).
- Gain altitude and gradually switch the flaps/nozzles back while the
aircraft is picking up speed.
- Retract gear.

2. Vertical Landing.
- Always approach your landing position with straight (if any) headwind.
- Below 300 knots IAS, gradually lower Flaps (flaps 0 - 3)
- Below 100 knots, gradualy direct nozzles downwards (flaps 4 - 7)
- Use 45 or 70 degrees Nozzles (flaps 5 or 6) for final approach.
- Select PitchHold On or Off, depending if you want to control descend
rate yourself (via elevator axis) or by the gauge (with a fixed pitch).
- When near the landing spot, lower the gear and with throttle handling,
direct the aircraft downwards to the landing spot.
If no wind (and you want the lowest possible touchdown speed), set
the nozzles to VERT just before you land.
With headwind, select the optimal Nozzle position to touch down with
groundspeed near zero.
- When your aircraft touches the ground, immediately set the Parking
Brakes. The gauge sets the "FS Flaps" (NOT the visual flaps and nozzles)
to a position (flaps 8,9 depending on nozzle angle) where there is
no lift to prevent the aircraft lifted off the ground by the wind.
- Set throttle to idle, and Flaps/Nozzles to UP/HOR.
- Release the Parking Brakes, and taxi to your final position.

3. STOL Takeoff (normal takeoff for heavy-loaded Harriers)
- Select Full Flaps plus Nozzles 20 degrees, and PitchHold OFF.

4. Normal Takeoff/Landing.
- For Takeoff: use Flaps UP or 10.
- For Landing: use Flaps 20 or FULL and Nozzles at HOR.

5. AND REMEMBER:
- A higher nozzle angle means:
- Less (forward) airspeed.
- Lower ascend/descend rate.
- Throttle position, PitchAngle (PitchHold ON) and elevator position
(PitchHold OFF) will influence airspeed AND descend/climb rate.
- Use PitchHold ON for stable hoovering and controlled vertical
takeoff/landings; use PitchHold OFF if you want to control descend
rate manually (allows for larger, more instantaneous VS rates)
- Use seperate Rudder controls (either via keyboard/joystick buttons
or rudder pedals) to steer heading, and ailerons for lateral movement.
BE GENTLE with throttle, stick and pedals, to avoid instability !!.
- Above 100 Knots IAS, or when the AutopilotMaster is active, the nozzles
are locked in the Horizontal position.


KNOWN LIMITATIONS
=================
1. Minimum fying speed.
The aircraft won't slow down by itself below 220 knots in leveled
flight, even with the throttle set to idle.
Remedy: Below 300 Knots IAS, slow down with 10 degree Flaps, or use the
Airbrakes for fast decelleration from higher airspeeds.

2. Stability problems when airspeed < 5 Knots IAS.
When airspeed drops below 5 knots IAS, the aircraft may become unstable.
This especially becomes apperant when you move laterally with nozzles VERT.
Watch your airspeed !!. If it start to drop, quickly give slight aileron
in the opposite direction to neutralise the banking (keep it leveled).
Also with nozzles at VERT: if you reduce throttle too much when decending,
the trim may not able to hold the set PitchAngle anymore.

3. Realism settings.
Although this model is intended to fly with Realism Settings "Hard", please
UNcheck the following functions in menu Aircraft - Realism Setting:
- "Aircraft Stress Causes Damage"
Unfortunately this model easily overstresses due to high thrust/drag/lift
with nozzles vertical. So uncheck this box.
- "G-Effect"
In FS9, the "high-Gforce blackening" effect is allready switched on when
4 "G"s are pulled for a few seconds. Which (IMO) is too low. Since this
model easily reaches these forces in a sharp turn or looping, you better
switch this off.


Credit, Copyrights and Disclaimer
=================================
This package is freeware, and is available for your personal use.

Without my explicite permission, it may NOT be sold, re-distributed and/or
uploaded to another website or bulletin board in ANY shape or form.

If you want to bundle (part of) this package with your (freeware) aircraft,
you may ONLY do so AFTER my explicite permission and inclusion of this
README file AS-IS.

And obviously, installing & using this package is at your own risk.

Thanks to:
- DSB Design, for their permission to include their cannon fire effect
and sound.
- Adam Preece, for his great visual Harrier GR.7 model.
- Jan Rosenberg, for his vortex and vapor effect.
- Alejandro Villa, for his extensive help to test & fine-tune this package.



Closure
=======

I hope you will enjoy using this package, as I did creating it.
And I am always open to questions, or suggestions for improvement (no
guarantee that I will make them though).

But PLEASE PLEASE, before asking us questions or report "bugs", make sure that
the answer can't be found in this README file or in the comments made in the
.xml and .cfg files.


Rob Barendregt, The Netherlands
Email: rc.barendregt@planet.nl


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