New Release: Pilot's Boeing B314 "The Clipper" Flying Boat

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That “Zinc Chromate” color is a paint on metal surface (to prevent rust). The walls, and apparently floors, on the B-314 are all fabric here, so Zinc Chromate would NOT be the color being replicated here.

As the author noted, he researched the color of the fabric and the fact that these surfaces were covered with fabric and not painted and assured us of that research. At this point, given that this author has been researching this plane for I believe at least 10 years (yes, he’s been working on this model that long, maybe longer, and you can tell by the documentation his research has been extensive), personally I’m going to trust he got the color close to correct.

It’s ugly, yes, but, it’s 1939 - 1941, esthetics were different then :wink:

I wouldn’t call it being something “horribly” wrong with the physics, but I also think it’s possible some work needs to be done, not to mention it’s well known and admitted by Asobo their water physics are pretty basic/non-existent, adding its own issues. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with your installation, and your approach looked spot on compared to the videos, so it seems like your technique looked good. Speed is always an issue on landing, but, as I noted, your technique looked good. It looked more like there’s a contact point issue. And that issue may be that the contact points need to be fudged (i.e. wrong) for it to work “right”.

In other words, it looked like the contact point was right on the tip of the back of the step of the hull, when, really, it would may work way “better” if the “contact point” was well up inside the hull, such that it contacts the water at the point within the hull as if the hull wasn’t there so to speak, if you know what I mean, so it’s where the boat is floating essentially. But I have ZERO idea how Asobo’s water physics work, so it’s going to take some work to get it right.

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That would make a lot of sense and should hopefully be a relatively easy and quick fix.

Another possibility I thought about after my post and that I will check later is if this issue is related to the water rudder. I can’t remember if I had it engaged or not, but I would assume it would be located pretty much in the location I touched down on. Maybe it gets registered as contact point when it is down and is the cause of that issue.

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Wow, good catch… I wouldn’t have thought this plane had a water rudder (I’m concentrating on getting a dock space to start with, cause, adhd, you know… lol). Hope that’s what it is… makes sense as being an issue. Should be pulling that up before takeoff…

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I just tested it again. The water rudder sadly wasn’t the cause. I think you are right, it must be a contact point issue. Currently the only way to land seems to be pretty flat, with almost no flare and for takeoff you need to be a lot faster and let it lift off on its own.

In regard to getting a dock space I can truly recommend getting the free Water Airports @Megadyptes7635 linked above. They are great =) Since I’ve got them, I use the Wal, Hercules and Marchetti a lot more.

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I’m at work, but you could test it yourself, find the contact points and move them up and see what happens. Sadly, that may change the way it sits in the water. I know nothing about how floats work.

Here’s the SDK page on contact points…

https://docs.flightsimulator.com/html/Content_Configuration/SimObjects/Aircraft_SimO/flight_model/contact_points.htm?rhhlterm=floats&rhsearch=floats

Maybe even comment that tip point out and see what happens, maybe the other points are enough to keep it floating. Looks like I might have some other fun tonight if I retain access to my computer (I might go to my other house to avoid the likely power outage from the foot or so of snow we might get), along with creating my dock for it in SF etc…

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Thanks for the link! I have never modified a flight model, but I give it a try =)

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The “;” comment line character is your friend, Copy a line, comment the original out, and make changes to the copy.

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Thanks =) If I should get a positive result I will post it here.

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Finally a Youtube video about this plane!
Unfortunately it is asking for a refund, which is a rare rare thing from Jonathan.

It is a very early access release but it was never announced as early access which is a shame.
For a payware I think I’ve never seen such an untested release, I mean you can lift the plane magically above water dropping the invisible unexistant undercarriage.

It needs a lot of work to be done, and now I’m really worried about the Dash 7 :frowning:

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yes, it needs a lot of work; I am not sure that I woudl recommend this to a friend for this price in the state that it is in. I just hope the dev will work it from here…

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Yeah, I feel a bit embarrassed now for not waiting a bit for more reviews as I really wanted to like this but the more time I spend trying to fly it the more frustrated I get. I won’t ask for a refund on the hope that the devs will improve it quickly. I did enjoy reading their manual though and it inspired me to learn more about the history of the plane.

Such a shame to release like this and get such a poor review from one of the top yt’ers which will certainly hurt sales/reputation. Would love to hear from the dev in this forum about their plans for fixing/updating. I’ll put her in the virtual hangar for now…

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For anyone considering this purchase I would suggest googling the history of the P3D release of this same plane by Pilot’s a couple of years ago. Many of the same issues: gyropilot, controls not working etc. It was then punted over to a third party to try to get it finished. Two years after release many are still waiting. Including those who paid $100. Extreme caution seems to be warranted.

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It’s beginning to make sense why it was released with zero announcement, let alone fanfare.

I’ve been waiting years for this, I suppose I can wait longer for it to be finished.

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After tweaking on the contact points for the last few hours, it now takes off at 75-80mph (as by the manual) and you can land it tail low. (in this video I landed a bit too tail low…the bounce is still not as bad as before) This fix isn’t perfect and I think in between I was closer without any bounce on the landing. I might have to look at it again tomorrow.

Here is what I changed on the flight model:
point.11= 4, -6.160041, 0, -7.458217, 3500, 0, 0.1, 0, 0.25, 3, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1
;point.11= 4, -6.160041, 0, -7.758217, 3500, 0, 0.1, 0, 0.25, 3, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 ;original
point.12= 4, -38.278723, 0, -7.458195, 3500, 0, 0.1, 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1
;point.12= 4, -38.278723, 0, -7.758195, 3500, 0, 0.1, 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 ;original
point.13= 4, -70.974108, 0, -1.459247, 3500, 0, 0.1, 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1
;point.13= 4, -70.974108, 0, -6.759247, 3500, 0, 0.1, 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 ;original
;point.14= 4, -70.974108, 0, -6.759247, 3500, 0, 0.1, 0, 0.5, 1.5, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1
;point.15= 5, -72.115259, 0, -6.759248, 3500, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 ; water rudder (original)
point.14= 5, -72.115259, 0, -6.759248, 3500, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1 ; water rudder

But I have to say I’m disappointed that a developer would release an aircraft for 30 USD with an issue that someone with zero experience can get halfway fixed in a couple of hours. To me that looks like very little time was spend on testing.

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I look at it this way, he gave us a model that I never could have made. Usually there’s people like you out there and together we can all make this closer to what we want, something that can be at least fun to use. Nothing’s perfect, best to not expect it. I’d rather spend my money on something like this that gives me hours of enjoyment (yes, I find development time fun :slight_smile: ), than spending $100 on a dinner for two. Either this or climbing a mountain is way more fun :slight_smile:

Thanks for the new points :slight_smile:

Check out what Denarq did for the Beech 18!

Yeah, I have no idea why developers don’t pay attention to the little details (I fix stuff all the time), but, people are people and this sim is a ton of fun :slight_smile:

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Please, don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad that we got a Clipper in the sim and I’m sure it will receive further attention and will improve over time. I love vintage aviation and it’s great to see so many fantastic aircraft in the sim that will sadly never fly again in the real world. And that we get the chance to “fly” so many other aircraft types most of us most likely will never get the chance to fly in real life either. And I agree 100 % with you I also prefer spending my money on addons I will enjoy for many hours =)

I’ll try to tweak on the points a bit more tomorrow, hopefully I’ll be able to get rid of the bouncing. Thanks again for the link and the tips on how to adjust them =)

I’ve yet to try Denarq’s mod for the Beech, but the changelog sounds incredibly impressive. I’m really looking forward to trying it out =) Especially since I was very, very lucky to get a ride in a Beech 18 by a friend a couple of years ago. I liked the Beech before but now I’ve got a real soft spot for it.

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There’s unfortunately limitations that make it currently not possible to start anywhere (land/water) from map mode, even for Asobo if they wanted to implement it.

However, I just released an update to Location Manager that lets you do that, albeit you need to “start” in fly mode.

Keeping an eye on the Clipper via this thread, looks great, will pick it up eventually I think!

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Such a shame it was released in this state after such a long wait. I do praise the devs for not hyping it up though - at least there’s that. In the refund video you can hear the disappointment and flatness of Jonathan’s voice and I think that says it all: another unfinished release which in itself may not be terrible but is just one too many for some. I don’t want to pay for an aircraft that has bugs that are visible right off the bat and would have been known by the devs on release - at least make the mixture/fuel cutoffs on a prop aircraft work properly!

This is nothing against the B314 itself but I’m now a bit tired of playing the waiting game for a product to be finished and my first flight spent noticing bugs that any dev would be aware of. Hopefully it gets the further attention it deserves and I’ll definitely pick it up once the required effort has been put in - for me another early access in the hangar is just one too many.

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may have a look when it is finish :roll_eyes:

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I am totally with you on this :+1:t2:

Jonathan is one of my favorite You Tubers for his down to earth approach and honest reviews. I have never ever seen one of his streams where he states that he has requested a refund. This in itself is very telling to me.

The product to me is obviously very early access and has imo a long long way to go. I will be watching this space but it will have to have a lot more work done on it before I am even tempted to buy it.

Like you I am now beginning to wonder about the Dash 7 :cry:

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