Project XR3 Phoenix (WIP)

[PhantomCruiser]

I'm diggin' it! I've got a few VSA bean-counters wondering if it would be better to buy or lease...:hmm:

 

[Loru]

Small update:
- cargo bay door re-meshed, UVW mapped
- few more static elements merged into apropriate meshgroups (current count: 72)

As for now exterior is fully meshed and UVW mapped with WIP textures
Moving to modelling interior

---------- Post added at 02:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 AM ----------

Now question - since I have much room in cockpit should I make same arangement of controls for Pilot and Co-Pilot or make them mirrored??? (swaping stick and throttle).

From what I can see Space Shuttle has symetric cotrols while Airbus A320 for example has mirrored controls.

 

[Urwumpe]

Now question - since I have much room in cockpit should I make same arangement of controls for Pilot and Co-Pilot or make them mirrored??? (swaping stick and throttle).

From what I can see Space Shuttle has symetric cotrols while Airbus A320 for example has mirrored controls.

Well, do you want the throttle to be on the central console or not, that is the important question for it.

For the airbus, it was important to keep the throttle control on the central console, because airliner pilots had been used to that concept (note that captain and copilot still use the same hand for holding stick and throttle, as for a central stick aircraft)

For the Shuttle, the throttle control had a different function and was only very rarely (AFAIR, never in a mission) used for controlling thrust. It controlled the speed brake during reentry. More important was the position of rotational and translational controls, which needed to be the same in four places of the spacecraft (Commander, Pilot (w/o the translational control), Aft work station, RMS controls).

So, what do you want? Airliner like operations, even though the throttle is never really used in a spacecraft? Or place the controls by the frequency of their utilisation --> Space Shuttle style?

 

[Loru]

Well - in this case throttle will be used (launch on mains , scram ascent etc). Also I have to keep in mind that UMMU positions in cockpit will be configurable so I don't want to make additional meshes for each crewmember.

Decided then.

Stick will be on the right side , throttle on left. Also there will be no central console as 3rd crewmember will be seating between pilot and co-pilot (cockpit is almost 4 meter wide).

---------- Post added at 02:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:35 PM ----------

Thanks for votes/arguments in IRC and here

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Center seat is for the flight engineer?

 

[Loru]

Center seat is for the flight engineer?

Yeah - I'd need to come up with some modern looking sets of gauges/indators for him though:

1st rough sketch for arangement (details will change of course)

-Left seat - Commander/Pilot
-Center seat - Flight Engineer
-Right Seat - Co-Pilot

 

[Keatah]

I'm not sure I like this arrangement. Seems there's too much space between pilots. Today in real-world jets, part of good CRM is being able to see what your co-pilot (or captain) is doing. That doesn't seem doable here.

 

[Urwumpe]

I'm not sure I like this arrangement. Seems there's too much space between pilots. Today in real-world jets, part of good CRM is being able to see what your co-pilot (or captain) is doing. That doesn't seem doable here.

Must not necessarily mean that you constantly watch over his shoulder. The same rule exists on the bridge of a ship, and there it is also enough that every station repeats important indications about the state of the ship.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Must not necessarily mean that you constantly watch over his shoulder. The same rule exists on the bridge of a ship, and there it is also enough that every station repeats important indications about the state of the ship.

Yeah, maybe it would be better if it were slightly pulled in together, but it would need to be a workspace during the on orbit time as well, so the analogy needn't be taken too literally.

What exactly are you thinking in terms of control/display layouts?

 

[Loru]

I'm not sure I like this arrangement. Seems there's too much space between pilots. Today in real-world jets, part of good CRM is being able to see what your co-pilot (or captain) is doing. That doesn't seem doable here.

Yeah - the craft is wide so it's an issue here - I don't want to go with XR5 aproach with narrow cockpit on wide body.

What exactly are you thinking in terms of control/display layouts?

Not sure how it will look like at this point. first I need to make 2d panels for XR and then probably I'll reuse lots of displays in similar maner on VC.

 

[Donamy]

How about something like the Enterprise? Commander in the center, slightly elevated, and the two officers in front.

 

[Loru]

How about something like the Enterprise? Commander in the center, slightly elevated, and the two officers in front.

That's interesting concept - I need to play with this idea.

---------- Post added at 11:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 AM ----------

While I'm investigating different layouts for cockpit on paper (yes - pencil sketches are usefull ), I decided to do some things I'm sure how they should look/work.

In this case it's main airlock. (added ladders, floor sections, stairs for side hatch, tanks for airlock operations)

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Not sure how it will look like at this point. first I need to make 2d panels for XR and then probably I'll reuse lots of displays in similar maner on VC.

You can, but I wouldn't recommend it. Designing a 3d mesh to match a panel will be more work than the reverse, since placement of controls in 3 dimensional space is really hard; switches have to be reachable, displays need to be visible (and in reality might suffer from glare), hand controllers need to be easy to use (think of the main throttle in the DG), and the crew needs to be in a proper position to see whats going on around them and not suffer adverse affects from any external loads (ie ascent/descent G forces).

Just my :2cents:. Best of luck with this exciting project. :thumbup:

 

[Loru]

Really small update:

2d Panels done for XR3

---------- Post added at 05:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:24 PM ----------

Rather complicated shape of airlock interior has been UVW unwrapped.

Started new 2048x2048 texture for interior.

---------- Post added at 07:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:21 PM ----------

Final update for today:

 

[Urwumpe]

Final update for today:

Gold foil for improved thermal protection?

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Looking sharp, as usual!

 

[Loru]

Playing with heat effect....

100% opacity (alpha map) , 60% and 20%

 

[teslax]

Amazing models there. I wonder how much polys your model of the plane contains?

 

[Loru]

Roughly 32 000 polygons at current moment.

 

[Loru]

I must admit it took some time to match displays to existing panel.