FLIGHT(6D) FLIGHT(6D)
NAME
flight - simulate the flight of any of several aircraft
SYNOPSIS
/usr/demos/flight [ -h ]
DESCRIPTION
One large viewport shows the world; several smaller ones
simulate instruments. The world is shown from the cockpit
of an aircraft or from a control tower. The mouse and key-
board control the aircraft and its environment.
If the -h option is selected a "heads up" display is used
instead of the instrument panel. This kind of display is
commonly used in the military. It allows for a wider view,
which forces a slower update rate. Try it, you'll like it.
Starting Up
flight provides two pages of help information. The first
help page briefly describes the program. To freeze the ac-
tion at any time and display the first page, type h. Read
the first page and press any key to continue. The second
page offers descriptions of five aircraft: one two-place
trainer (Cessna 150), one heavy transport (Boeing 747), and
three fighters.
Type 1 to select the Cessna 150. The view you see is from
the cockpit of the Cessna. Type d to see the Cessna from
the control tower. Type x a few times for a closer view.
Type d to return to the cockpit and strike s three or four
times to advance the throttle. The aircraft will start to
taxi towards the runway. Type F twice to raise the flaps -
Cessnas normally take off that way. When the plane is al-
most on the runway, tap the right mouse button five or six
times to apply right rudder. The plane will start to turn
right. The left mouse button moves the rudder one increment
to the left; the center one sets the rudder to zero. Move
the mouse till the cursor is centered on the bottom edge of
the windshield and tap s until the thrust indicator shows
all blue. When the airspeed indicator passes 50 knots, move
the mouse smoothly toward you. The cursor should be in the
upper center of the horizon indicator. When the rate-of-
climb indicator shows blue, you are flying! Congratulations!
Now turn around and land.
Flight Controls
flight is controlled by the mouse, the mouse buttons, and
the keyboard. The mouse holds the primary flight controls.
rightmouse and leftmouse move the rudder one increment to
the right and left, respectively. middlemouse centers it.
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FLIGHT(6D) FLIGHT(6D)
The rudder position is shown by a small red triangle at the
lower edge of the artificial horizon. The rudder is used
primarily to maneuver the aircraft on the ground. Airborne
turns are made, as in real aircraft, by coordinated applica-
tion of aileron and elevator.
The mouse X and Y valuators control the ailerons and eleva-
tor, emulating a control stick. Left-right motion controls
roll; forward-back motion controls pitch. The stick posi-
tion is indicated by a square white cursor. Both controls
are at their neutral position when the cursor is centered at
the bottom of the windshield. Stick position for level
flight is slightly below center.
The s key increases the throttle setting; the a key de-
creases it. The left bar indicator shows the throttle set-
ting as a percentage of full power. Reverse thrust is
available and shown in red. Thrust goes to zero when the
plane climbs through 50,000 feet and the engine flames out.
It can be restored by descending and applying throttle.
Thrust also goes to zero when fuel goes to zero. Fuel can
be restored only by making a safe landing.
Secondary flight controls include the landing gear, flaps,
and spoilers. To raise or lower the landing gear, type l.
To increase or decrease the flaps, type f or F. To increase
or decrease the spoilers, type c or C. Flap and spoiler
ranges are determined by the aircraft. The Cessna has no
spoilers and its gear is down and welded.
The landing gear has two functions: to protect the fuselage
from the ground and to add drag. You may lower the gear to
slow the plane down and make handling easier.
Flaps and gear are structurally unsound at high speeds.
They fall off if you exceed approximately 400 knots while
they are deployed. Missing flaps make good landings diffi-
cult. Missing gear makes a good landing impossible.
Flaps increase lift, increase drag, and decrease stall
speed. Takeoffs are normally made with partial flaps; land-
ings are made with full flaps.
Spoilers decrease lift and increase drag dramatically. They
are most useful in dissipating excess altitude without in-
creasing speed. While spoilers are deployed, it is diffi-
cult to recover from a stall.
Display Controls
Several controls allow the viewer to alter his view of the
world.
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FLIGHT(6D) FLIGHT(6D)
The left-arrow and right-arrow keys rotate the pilot's point
of view 90 degrees to the left or right respectively. The
viewing angle (front, left, rear, or right) is displayed on
the windshield. The keys are useful for looking around, but
remember to set the view back to the front for any but the
simplest flying.
The d key switches the viewpoint from the cockpit to the
control tower or back. The control tower always looks to-
ward the plane. The x key decreases the tower's field of
view, effectively magnifying the aircraft. The z key in-
creases the field of view. If there is doubt as to whether
the view observed is from the cockpit or the tower, observe
the center of the window: an orange cross marks the cockpit
view.
The n key changes the time of day from daylight to night or
back. There is an interesting city NNW of the airport.
Instruments
This section describes the instruments on the panel from
left to right. In the bar indicators, blue denotes a posi-
tive value and red a negative value.
The thrust indicator shows thrust as a percentage of full
throttle. Reverse thrust is possible only on the ground and
is used for braking.
The airspeed indicator is calibrated from 0-1000 knots.
(100 knots is about 118 miles per hour.) Negative airspeeds
can happen during such acrobatic maneuvers as hammerhead
stalls. Since wind is not simulated, airspeed = groundspeed.
The numeric display at the bottom of the band displays the
exact speed.
The climb indicator shows rate of climb in feet per minute.
Note that the fighters (in normal operation) and the civil
planes (usually while crashing) can exceed the 10,000 fpm
maximum rate displayed. The numeric display at the bottom
of the band displays the exact climb rate.
The G-meter indicates vertical acceleration. Each aircraft
has maximum stress limits. If they are exceeded, the atti-
tude indicator shows the message ``G-LIMIT.''
The artificial horizon helps orient the plane when the real
horizon is not visible. The triangular indicator at the
bottom edge shows the rudder position. If the maximum angle
of attack is exceeded, a ``WING-STALL'' message is displayed
and a warning bell sounds. The more severe the wing stall,
the less control you have over your plane. Very severe
stalls may throw your plane into a violent spin.
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FLIGHT(6D) FLIGHT(6D)
The heading meter displays a combination compass and radar
screen. The compass rotates and indicates your heading.
Your plane's location is always at the center of the radar
screen. The radar screen shows the positions of the runway
and planes that are within a few miles of your aircraft.
The blue line indicates the position of the runway.
The fuel gauge shows remaining fuel as a percentage of a
full tank. To reduce fuel consumption to zero (for tests
only) type ~. This is considered cheating in normal flight.
Landings and Crashes
A good landing is a landing on the runway, with gear down, a
descent rate of less than 600 fpm, and wings level. Good
landings are rewarded with scores from 0 - 100 points.
Points are subtracted from a perfect score of 100 based on
touchdown location, descent rate, roll, heading, and drift.
For every point scored, fuel on board is increased by 1% of
total capacity until your tank is full. For every ten
points scored you receive a missile up to the plane's limit.
Landings with the gear up, descent rate, roll, or drift too
high, but not disastrous, count as crash landings. You can
keep flying, but get no more fuel nor ordnance.
Landings off the runway are ``crashed into the swamps''
landings. Landings with excessive descent rate, roll, or
drift are ``EXPLODED ON IMPACT'' landings. In either case,
all you can do is look at the wreckage from the tower or
restart the game.
Restarts
Your plane is destroyed if it crashes, taxis too far off the
runway, raises the gear while on the ground, or is shot
down. After your plane is destroyed, r, R, or u reincar-
nates your plane and restarts the game at the second help
page. You then choose which type of plane you want to fly.
The r key restarts you at the original starting location.
The R key restarts you at the south end of the runway. The
u key reincarnates your aircraft at a random location in the
sky with randomly low airspeed. Hit the throttle and dive
to build up flying speed. These different restart options
are included to make it easier to restart in intense dog
combat. Without them, some pilots simply hang around the
runway and blast new planes as they appear.
Weight
flight models aircraft weight accurately. Ordnance and fuel
have substantial weight. As you fire weapons and burn fuel,
your plane becomes lighter and more maneuverable.
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FLIGHT(6D) FLIGHT(6D)
AUTHOR
Gary Tarolli
ENHANCEMENTS
Barry Brouillette and Gary Tarolli
NOTES
flight and its offspring are continually being improved.
There is a significant creative spurt before each major
trade show. Improvements may be documented in the program's
help display before this document is updated.
As noted above, a "heads up" display is available. Further
improvements include 3-D mountains, several bug fixes, a P-
38 fighter plane, and retracting landing gear. A new airshow
was created by Barry Brouillette to show these new features.
The Cessna is too difficult to bring out of a stall.
HARDWARE CONFIGURATION
12 bitplanes and 1.5 Megabytes of memory are required to run
flight.
ORIGIN
Silicon Graphics, Inc.
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