One of the things that Robin's new F-8 model has reminded me of is the problem
that comes from looking at the world through only one eye, as we do in
FlightGear, or any other simulator without VR goggles. This problem becomes
very noticable during close formation flying, refueling, or taxiing close to
other objects. Cockpit parts that block out big pieces of the world when
looked at with monocular vision are not much problem when using binocular
(i.e. real world) vision.
As an example, here's what binocular vision does for you, making cockpit parts
seem semi-transparent:
http://home.comcast.net/~davidculp2/binocular-vision.jpg
Note that the lead airplane is not obscured by the cockpit parts of your
airplane. This is a more realistic view, even though the implementation,
semi-transparent cockpit, is not realistic. To be even more realistic you
have to take care to make the vertical parts more transparent than the
horizontal parts.
There is another reason why the semi-tranparent view is more realistic, and
that is that we subconciously make small head movements, both up/down and
left/right, to see around obstructions, which allows us to build a mental
picture in which the obstructions are semi-transparent.
Just thought I'd toss this out there for modelers to think about when making
either 2D or 3D cockpits. Formation flying looks much different in real life
than it does in the sim with monocular vision.
Dave
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