Welcome back, we hope you are all enjoying your summer!
Firstly, we would like to introduce Amy Parent, our latest addition to the growing FlyJSim Team. Some of you may know Amy as “Amyinorbit”. Hailing from Scotland, with a specialty in programming and astrophysics she will be heading up the work on the UNS-1 FMS for the Q4XP and beyond. Welcome to the team Amy.
Shared Flight
We’re getting closer! Over the past few months, we’ve been undertaking private testing, making sure our server infrastructure holds up, and tailoring aircraft configurations to work as flawlessly as possible.
Some of you may recall signing up to our beta-signup sheet, and voicing your opinions on what aircraft you want to see.
We are happy to reveal a few more aircraft to you today that will be available at the launch of beta testing!
If you don’t see a particular aircraft on there, don’t worry. We’re still updating our list and listening to feedback and developers.
Is testing available yet?
On the 29th July, we moved Shared Flight into an expanded Alpha. The first wave of invites were sent out for Discord users. We now have over 70 users using the plugin, and we couldn’t be happier with the responses.
Our aim with Shared Flight is to have users trust the process. Flying with others shouldn’t be more complicated than flying solo. Not only do our alpha testers appear to be embracing this concept, but also taking to more challenging conditions they would not have otherwise done so themselves.
Here is an example of the testers in progress. Here is a crew flying online in Vatsim attempting an approach to Madeira. Winds for this date were 310/015 gusting 25kts with sporadic wind shear. As you can see by the flight plan, they did not have the most comfortable ride. But this is exactly the type of situation where CRM starts to become an essential part of flight simulation, and Shared Flight enables this. This is also quite the spectacle for the real passengers spectating this flight, only available with Shared Flight.
We hope to share more news and demonstrations with Shared Flight next time.
Q4XP
Q4XP development continues at a swift pace. The biggest advancement in the last few months has been the UNS, which is being worked on ferociously by Justin and Amy. The current version of the UNS that will ship in the Q4XP v1.0 is the UNS-1E with version 802/803. We have a few clips to show for the first time today.
What makes the UNS different from the default FMC? For the first time, we’re actually “simulating” an FMS unit, and not just a superficial unit designed to interface for route planning. Therefore, everything gets considered into the simulation. Sensors, electrical input, approach handling, data handling is all a deep part of our simulation.
Let's take the sensors as an example, positional data input (either from GPS, GNS etc) makes use of Kalman filters. This is an algorithm designed to provide an estimate out of multiple, random inputs. The UNS can filter out statistical noise, and also make predictions in the absence of data. Keep an eye on those RNP tolerances!
Our UNS will simulate a level of electrical connection, and act as independent units. Each unit is tied to an electrical input source from the aircraft (more on that later). Once connected, each unit will compute at realistic times. Loading screen times will variably change, changing pages comes at varying refresh rates, the display will even simulate a linear lag time from top to bottom with a screen change.
Because each unit can act independently, a separate communication bus link must be simulated independent of both UNS units, and enabling crossfill. Whilst the Q4XP ships as a dual UNS unit, the groundwork is in place for each unit to act in a single configuration.
And on the topic of independent control, how about independent display control? Take charge of display brightness, power and position.
There’s a lot to talk about the Q4XP, and we can’t wait to share further details with you next time!
Setting Expectations
We’ve heard a lot of comments… for a comment on our development plans. To be simple and to the point, our plans have not currently changed, and our current lineup of products in development are for X-Plane only at this point in time.
On the contrary, we welcome and respect companies that aim to push the boundaries of flightsim. We’ve been in this genre for many years, and we follow the work of many of our peers. Our ideals as a company are for high quality simulation and as much of a care for our fans as possible. It’s fantastic to see developers that subscribe to that ideal. The community is all the more stronger for it when it does!
Going Forward?
The naming of news will now change. Developer notices will no longer be just quarterly.
Shared Flight Alpha will continue, and more invites will be sent as we gradually advance the programme and testing schedule.
We have now started streaming on Discord. This is by far the most up-to-date and direct hub for the most content. Visit us through the following link : https://discord.gg/Ds7hBP2
This will be the last month to purchase the current round of merchandise on the webpage. To grab a FlyJSim mug before it changes over, visit https://www.flyjsim.com/
Until next time, enjoy the summer and stay safe!