Convair B-58 Hustler under development

Hi thank you very much for your kind words! I have a 737 home cockpit, so I have the same “problem”, but I overcame it by creating different profiles for each plane with SIOC and MobiFlight, so I can control a lot of variables and commands on different planes. Yes, it is not the best thing for the sake of realism, but the final effect is good enaugh to enjoy many planes and get the best from all of them.
I also added some encoders and switches on an “aux panel” that allow me to control specific variables, as canopy control, encapsulation, drag chute deployment, etc.
If you need some help please don’t hexitate to ask!

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Nice. I only fly VR, so cockpit fidelity is important… Using a bunch of arduinos to control my PC-21 cockpit.
I’ll give it a spin once you release just to kill the bug :smiley:

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absolutely terrific sir!!! You are a master. Flying this cockpit in VR must be something awesome… I probably have seen your pictures on the net before, and always thought it was a beautiful project, congratulations.
But you mean that looking the cp in VR you really find the right switch with the hand ?
This should be something terrific. But how is it possible with the tiny buttons around the displays ?
Here are some pictures of my home cockpit, I made it fit inside a closet, so when I don’t use it I can hide it completely. In less than 1 minute it is fully open and ready to go, but of course it is not as realistic as it could if I had more space…


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Thanks. Nice setup you have there. Congrats.
Yeah, when I reach for a switch or button in VR, it’s there.
Since the front displays have the real life dimensions (15x21cm) I could extrapolate the rest. Muscle memory also helps a bit.
I can adjust the position in VR, reach my arm to button to see if it’s there and adjust accordingly., everything else will fall more or less in place.

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Wow… that must be really near to real life. What visor do you have ? Does it need a monster graphic board ? I have a 2080 GTX… I would really like to get a VR visor but I am not sure what to buy.

I have a Pico 4 with a 5800x3d and a 6800xt. Works ok, some settings on low but it’s ok
I think right now best option is a Pico 4/Quest 3 to keep a low budget.
You’ll need a 4080/7900xtx or a 4090 for best visuals and performance, together with a 7800x3d.

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Ok thanks… I’ll take a deeper look at those components on the net, just to figure out if it would be possible to get them somehow…
if only I could make some money from my planes ;-))

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You will. Those are iconic planes, people will buy it.
Just need to find a good price/features and send it. You’ll do great.

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How is the xb-70 coming along? Cant wait for both the B-58 and the XB-70. thanks

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I’ll buy both to support you, and to enjoy them

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Love seeing the development of the lost aircraft of the Cold War! One of my favorite aircraft is the Hustler and captured my imagination, and the XB-70, as a child just imagining how the air would flow around them at mach +2.

Looking forward to explaining to my wife why there are more aircraft added to my sim hanger :rofl: :sweat_smile:

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Some new pictures…
no this is not a big helmet, it is the escape pod inside the cockpit.



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Sorry, I’m in a hurry, I’ll go away at Mach 2 on full afterburners, see you.

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An impressive plane indeed.

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May I ask what vector graphics you use to define your instruments and panels? Postscript? A tool like Inkscape or Illustrator? Something else?

(Personally I have used Postscript to define instrument face textures, the surface with the circular scales and numbers. Makes it easy to tweak font sizes, line thicknesses, angles where marks appear etc just by editing a single parameter in a source file. Pstscript is a very interesting language, and has exactly the right features needed. But sure, it isn’t interactive. I should learn to use Inkscape when I get to the cockpit stage of my current project.)

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The instrument panel looks amazingly clean and modern for an aircraft of that age. Compare to the surviving XB-70 in the museum, its cockpit is a mess. Even if on the outside the XB-70 still looks very futuristic.

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For all the vector graphics I use Xara 5, it is quite old by now, but it is still a great program, very easy to use and fast.
You can create multiple layers, one for metal base, one for screws and frames, one for lines (I name them scale1, scale2, scale3 for each different thickness and subdivision level), text, shadows, etc.
Then you can export to png, and you can increase resolution as you like without loosing any detail.
You can also export only a black background and lines and text in order to obtain the self-illuminated backlighted signs, or for luminous warning labels, etc.
It is also possible to create a realistic thexture in photoshop and then superimpose the vector graphics for signs and gauges, and finish again with photoshop for further realism.

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Plan on making textures a little more rough and worn? Looking great so far!

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Yes you hit a weak spot… I am trying to improve my textures but as I wrote some time ago I’m hardly a texture artist, or not at all unfortunately… adding worn effects require a lot of “art” and technique, since you have to unwrap all uv mapping, create ad hoc texture for each part, make it look worn but still realistic and accurate.
I am working on these aspects right now.
For instance, I am modelling the safe belts with phisical cloth simulation, that gives a pretty folding belts maintaining their shape.
I am also adding some metalness/rougness/occlusion mapping on panels.
Normal map are more difficult in msfs. I am still looking for good references to follow…
for the moment I use greyscale bumpmap, but this isn’t the best way at all.
I’ll get into this much deeper now that most of the systems and animations are working.

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So hyped for this plane. I just went to the air force museum in Dayton OH today. The B58 there was probably my favorite aircraft.

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