A day out with Fifi

[Paul K]

I've spent this weekend making a concerted effort to extract the maximum performance I can out of P3Dv2.2. I installed the latest Nvidia driver (337.88 ) wiped the config clean and let it rebuild, made a single Vsync adjustment in Nvidia desktop control panel, and worked out my own affinity mask setting ( 92, which seems to suit by set up ). Then I took Fifi out for a spin from Seattle, and even with the sliders well over to the right, I was getting excellent FPS, as the counter shows.

[WarHorse47]

What a coincidence.

You know that the real Fifi is visiting the Seattle area??



--WH

[TSR2]

They're great shots Paul, really atmospheric

[Paul K]

What a coincidence.

You know that the real Fifi is visiting the Seattle area??

I had no idea! I chose the Seattle area in Orbx's FTX Pacific North West, because it has both dense urban areas ( Seattle itself ), and mountainous countryside nearby. So, I was able to set up scenery configuration profiles with the appropriate building and vegetation autogen settings for each. But 'Fifi' was there in person...no wonder I was getting good FPS ! What a wonderful aircraft she is, and soon to be joined in the air by another B-29. Can't wait for the photographs of that reunion.

They're great shots Paul, really atmospheric

Thank you, Ben. I love the Superfortress and Virtavia's model, while not perfect, is much more than just 'good enough'. With internal self-shadowing enabled in P3Dv2, the VC is wonderful.

[WarHorse47]

Yes, Fifi is on her West Coast tour.

Last weekend she was at our local airport/air show. She blew two tires on Friday and had to wait for replacements driven up from Dallas, TX. Tires were replaced on Monday, and flights resumed on Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon she was up at Boeing Field for a static display.

From there she flew up to Paine Field in Everett, WA. Last I heard they had problems with one engine, so again they are waiting for parts and again flights are delayed. She's one tough bird.

She is beautiful in person. The wife and I took the cockpit tour, and had a chance to socialize with one of the crew members. I got tons of photos. And like you I had to take a few flights with the Virtavia B-29 Fifi in the PNW with ORBX scenery.



If you have a chance, take a flight over to Eastern Washington Fairchild AFB and let me know if you had any issues with the autopilot. It should have been straightforward, but for me it would never hold the heading.

--WH

[Paul K]

Hi Warhorse, I've just done some flying around Fairchild AFB in the default Maule and had no problem ( I presume the autopilots all use the same code, no matter which aircraft ). I know that the B-29 autopilot sometimes seems to switch itself off and will not accept heading changes, even though the switches in the pop-up ( Shift+2) are still in the correct position. This usually happens after switching view (say, VC to external ) or after you've dismissed the pop-up. Its a case of re-clicking on the buttons to get things responding again. Something else I've noticed is that often, the aircraft will settle down a couple of degrees either side of the heading you have selected, in a slightly banked attitude. You can sort the bank out with the wing leveler switch, but obviously this has to be turned off again as soon as your done, otherwise you'll have more problems trying to turn. I put it all down to 1940s technology, a bit like banging the top of an old television to get a better picture.

Generally, I like the Virtavia B-29. It's got some strange shapes and textures about it, and maybe could have benefited from more rigorous beta testing, but it gets very regular use by me. A nice alternative to the more systems-heavy props like the A2A B-17 and Stratocruiser. There are some very nice repaints emerging for it, too.