Dear Verticopter™ Newsletter subscribers and Verticopter™ X-Plane pilots,
After the launch of the 2-seater Reference Design (v1.2) and 7-seater Reference Design (v1.1) during this summer, we decided that there was room for improvement, also your early feedback has been quite helpful.
Dan and I have been focusing on several aspects of the design :
- Enhancing the flight model by altering the wing distribution, canards and winglets.
- Improving the instrument panel and readability with a new HD resolution
- Fixing various cosmetic details inside the cabin
- Offering new very-HD texture support for the liveries
- Releasing a user-friendly scheme to custom-design your own livery.
This goal was achieved last week after some short beta-testing (thanks to all our beta-testers by the way !), so we could release the new design as version 1.3, with the help of our distributor at http://www.x-plane.org/
I invite you to learn about the new plane, upgrade your sim version if you have one and discover its new performance.
Improvements of the v1.3 Verticopter (over v 1.2) – release notes.
1) Flight model : (see wing comparison and changes in Appendix #1)
While the overall geometry and airfoils were unchanged, the wingspan of the canards and the main wing has been increased, the wing surface slightly increased, the AC (aerodynamic center) moved forward a bit.
The winglet design and location were much changed.
The benefits being now :
- increased stability over the 3 axes.
- Improve L/D max (going from 14+ to 16+)
- Increased aspect ratio => reduction in induced drag
- Better gliding capability
- Easier “pseudo autorotation”
- Lower fuel consumption (not measured precisely)
- New engine location favoring lowest drag signature and better weight distribution
- Small penalty of the larger wing being : the top speed at SL is reduced from 330 knots to 325 knots.
- Conversion from vertical to horizontal and back are softer and better controlled.
- More neutral pitch response over the whole speed envelope (less use of the elevator trim)
2) Engine tweaks
The modeling of the Rolls-Royce turbines has been tweaked again. The critical altitude, at typical temperature, is set now to 4,000 ft based on the manufacturer data book, although this parameter seems to be ignored in XP921, the behavior of the 2 turbines is deemed correct :
- there should be no loss power up to 4,000 ft (450HP per engine)
- ceiling is unchanged to 20,000ft, cabin is still not pressurized (you’d need ‘virtual’ O2 above 12,500 ft)
- optimum cruise altitude should be 16,000 ft
- acceleration numbers are improved: 0-to-top_speed (325 knots) happens in 51 seconds at typical gross weight (1 pilot and ½ fuel) and SL.
3) Electronics overhaul
The artificial flight stabilizer received new setup with a faster response and a more controlled response, especially while on the ground. Also it was confirmed that by setting up both the auto-pilot and the artificial stab during vertical flight, conflicts occur due to the two computerized systems competing against each other. This seems to be a fault in X-Plane.
4) static thrust
Max gross weight is still 2,500, but you have still 12% of thrust margin and can still take off vertical with an extra 300 lbs of fuel or payload (SL and typical temps) – ultimate max gross being 2,8000 lbs
5) Instrument Panel Design
Numerous improvements went into the new panel, first the pixel resolution was bumped to 1,280 (which should be the size of the sim window), the switches have a new 2D and 3D design, proper logos have been added etc…
6) livery complexity and resolution
Bitmap of 4M pixel are now being used (2Mx2M) for increased texture quality and added resolution.
A new user-friendlier solution is being offered to quickly design custom liveries.
Since the livery files are now quite huge, only a small subset was included in the base VC package (4 liveries). All
other and new liveries are available as complimentary download from the XPlane.org forum and from the Verticopter.com site at : http://verticopter.com/media/pictures/liveries.php
Recommendations to existing customers to upgrade your XP9 Verticopter package.
1) Upgrade your XP sim.
It is recommended that you upgrade your version of XP to 9.21, version for which the new VC1.3 design was optimized : http://x-plane.com/demo.html
2) 2-seater and XP-Pack customers of the Verticopter.com site (orders before middle of July)
our distributor (X-Plane.org) should send you a free upgrade
3) 2-seater and XP-Pack customers of the x-plane.org store (orders after middle of July)
our distributor (X-Plane.org) should send you a free upgrade
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE THE 2-SEATER V1.3 DESIGN, IF YOU ALREADY HOLD A LICENSE FOR ANY PREVIOUS 2-SEATER VERSION (1.0/1.1/1.2), OR A LICENSE OF THE XP-PACK. EXISTING CUSTOMERS ARE ENTITLED TO FREE UPGRADES FOR XP9.xx
Recommendations to new Verticopter sim customers.
1) it is recommended for you to try the new 2-seater first, since most enhancements apply to this version
(the 7-seater in version 1.1 still has excellent flight characteristics and will be overhauled at a later date)
4) the store to get your license and files is here : http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/x-planestore/Detail?no=138
Launch of a new Livery Design Contest – participation rules.
Since it is now quite easier to design your very own liveries, we came up with the idea to organize a monthly contest for the best livery that the VC community out there is invited to create.
Please read the details of the livery contest on line at : http://verticopter.com/media/pictures/Verticopter_Livery_Contest_Rules.php
Here is a quick summary of this context :
1) learn how to build yourself your own livery : http://verticopter.com/Verticopter_Livery_Images/Verticopter_Paint_Schemes_Tutorial.pdf
2) acknowledge the rules of the contest and submit your own creation by the last day of the month, to be considered for that month contest (Email us at sales@verticopter.com)
3) wait until the middle of the following to see if you won the monthly contest, winning design will be posted at :
http://verticopter.com/media/pictures/VC_Livery_of_the_Month.php
4) Every 6 months, the best design of the last 6 monthly winners will be selected and be awarded a cash prize ($50) or a Verticopter R/C model (a $80 value) when available.
5) The best livery designs will be added to the VC distribution package.
See the current design for the Month of October (Appendix #2), we had to close the submissions 10 days earlier, just to initiate this process. Every new submission starting today will go for the November contest.
Again, your interest and support in the Verticopter project is greatly appreciated, we are hopeful that you will :
- enjoy the revisited 2-seater design
- consider designing and create your very own livery
- continue to provide your good feedback via email or via our guestbook.
Thanks and fly safe !
Oliver Garrow
Garrow Aircraft
P.O. Box 4130
Mountain View CA 94040.
Appendix #1 : Wing design comparison (v1.3 versus 1.2)
Appendix #2 : October livery of the month (Dan authoring example)
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