|
 In
the last newsletter I introduced you to a free model flight
simulator (FMS) that I hope will keep the thumbs loosened up
during the winter months. albeit some of the flying
characteristics of the aircraft in the program are not as
realistic as they could be. But for a free program, I think it is
pretty good especially for those new to the hobby, to become
familiar with the orientation problems associated with flying
model aircraft.
As
promised here is another freebie program called CRRCSIM.
The
program is aimed more at glider guiders and is a little more
complex to set up. Although, if you know how to type and find your
way round a few file directories within windows explorer you
shouldn’t have too many problems.
The
best thing about this program is that you can change the
parameters, from wind speed / direction to how big and often the
thermals come through; in training mode, you can even see the
thermals. They do however, look more like mole hills scooting
around all over the place.
 
Once
loaded, you have an initial choice of flying sites – “Davis” (default) is a flat field where the second option is Cape
Cod, which for those that don’t know, is a slope site. You have
an assisted high start if desired. Using the arrow keys on the
keyboard you can get a gentle to a full 40-cell electric motor
type launch!
  For
those of you that need a castor oil fix, there is among the model
profiles, a low wing powered model. However, if you fancy slope
soaring your ‘gangster’ type model, then just load Cape Cod as
your flying site and run the program and away you go. Take off
from the cliff and fill your boots!
For
all you zagi lovers out there – there are two different variants
of the zagi model to choose from.
Ever
fancied doing a bit of Dynamic soaring? - flying on the leah of
the hill in the negative air (Down draught)– Simply change the
wind speed and direction at Cape Cod and go for it, all without
being able to break the model; not that you’d break a zagi
easily.
However,
there is the down side on realism. The flying characteristics of
the models are I think, pretty good, but if the model crashes,
there’s something not quite right……... Crash? What’s a
crash? – Didn’t you know that models bounce like there’s no
tomorrow! Well they do on this program!
My
son thinks its pretty funny. The graphics could also be better but
hey it’s free and I’m sure you will have lots of fun with it.
I fly it with a joystick but there are other options from mouse
(default) to keyboard and even through a Transmitter interface
cable –also provided from the crrcsim linked site.
top of
page
What’s
more, you are not limited to the models that come with the
program. There are more model profiles out there for the taking
all free. You could even try your hand at a little programming
yourself and develop your own colour scheme etc.
How
do you get your copy? You should go to the following web sites and
register. From there you will be invited into the group and the
free downloads are available.
There
are three zipped files required to run the program. I will try to
make them available from the rafmaa downloads page however, for
the time being:-
1.
crrcsim81.zip
(program)
1.055MB
Download the latest
crrcsim zip file from
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crrcsim/files/
2.
Port95nt
1.61Mb
Download
port95nt.exe
ftp://ftp.keithley.com/pub/metrabyte/unsupport/port95nt.exe
or
http://www.naughter.com/download/port95nt.exe
or
http://www.sstnet.com/ftp/unsupported/port95nt.exe
3.
glut-3.7.6-bin
(The zipped graphics driver) 118kb
Download the latest glut library from
http://www.xmission.com/~nate/glut.html
Note:-
If you do not like to join discussion groups for obvious reasons
with junk mail etc, although I haven't had any problems with the
one above, then drop me an email and I will arrange to get the
main program sent to you by return email.
To
help get you started, I have included an amended set of
installation instructions on the rafmaa download page.
“crrcsim.doc”
I
initially had a few problems getting the program to run. The
original instructions give a hint on what to do, but it was still
a little confusing. The graphics driver file location creates the
problem. It unzipped itself to the right directory as specified,
but it stayed in its own sub directory, it also contained the
hidden driver file, which you need to reveal, to enable you to
copy it to the main program directory. The secret is to copy all
the files from the ‘glut’ subdirectory into the directory
containing the crrcsim program. That done, everything should work
fine. More detailed instructions in the text file on the rafmaa
downloads page.
If
you need help then drop me a line and I will try and talk you
through the problem.
Hope
you have lots of fun with this. It’s worth the initial hassle of
setting it up.
Changing
the parameters is easy. Just modify the text file
“crrcsim.cfg” file with the windows notepad, save it, and then
run the program.
Happy
stick twiddling
Colin
W
editor@rafmaa.co.uk |
