Julian Foad writes:
> The spinning propellor (on c172-3d) needs a bit of work.
> 
> It spins even when the model is parked and the engine stopped.  If
> pause mode is on, it spins more slowly but still does not stop. 

For me, the propellor does stop completely.

> With magnetos off but starter engaged, the tachometer shows about
> 600 RPM (i.e. 10 revs per second).  

Yes, I think the tach probably should only read 100-200 rpm while the
engine is cranking, before it catches.  Maybe Alex (or David) could
watch this on their next flight?

> The propellor spins at one and a bit revs per second.  I think the
> propellor is supposed to be directly driven from the engine
> crankshaft, but I'm not sure.

Yes, the propellor spins way to slowly compared to engine rpm.  This
might be intentional so that it maintains 'smooth' animation.  But, it
is maybe just a little noticably too slow ...

> The two blades are not twisted relative to each other: one blade is
> pushing and the other pulling. 

I've mentioned this to David M. before, but I'm not sure I
communicated this well.  He really needs to take a look at a real prop
and visualize how it pushes the air as it turns.  One of the blades of
the prop is definitely angled 'backwards.'

> The transparency feature is not working for me, so the propellor
> disc suddenly appears as an opaque object.  I have applied David
> Megginson's plib-smoothing.dif and my plib (from CVS) already
> appears to have the equivalent of the transparency patch.  That bug
> may be the only reason for the following observation: 
> 
> The disc that fades in at higher speeds is solid grey for me.  It
> needs to have a (radial) colour profile that matches the blades,
> i.e. mostly black with some red bits.  The expected grey appearance
> will come automatically when a partially transparent black disc is
> displayed over a light background (sky etc.). 

You need to upgrade to the latest cvs-plib to get a transparent prop.
David found a bug/limitation in plib when he was trying to impliment a
semi-transparent prop disk.  Unfortunately it's there in the stable
1.4.x releases.

> But nevertheless it is a nice fun, eye-catching feature.

Yes, David did a very nice job on his first crack at it.  A few more
little tweaks and it will 'perfect.' :-)

Regards,

Curt.
-- 
Curtis Olson   IVLab / HumanFIRST Program       FlightGear Project
Twin Cities    [EMAIL PROTECTED]                  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Minnesota      http://www.menet.umn.edu/~curt   http://www.flightgear.org

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