NEW Realistic HUD for the Hornet

[neutrino]

Hi, guys! I've been working on a new realistic HUD for the Hornet for about two months now and it is finally ready It is an enhanced version of the original HUD by Scott Printz, who fully supports the new version. I added many new features, including:

- Precise ILS and TACAN navigation for aircraft carriers (including moving carriers) that will allow carrier landings in low visibility and at night.

- The HUD is conformal to the outside world: Horizon bar stays on the horizon (at sea level), velocity vector shows actual flight path as read against the outside world (if you keep your vector pointed at a certain place on the runway, this is exactly where you will land).

- Caged mode with ghost vector for use in heavy side wind conditions.

- Elements repositioned to make the HUD look as close as possible to the real Hornet HUD.

Here is a short demo of the HUD that includes a night landing and a carrier break landing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZplmhTGObQo

Note: The HUD glass in the demo is a new glass by Enrico Bandolin, which is not available yet, but I hope he uploads it soon.





The HUD is fully functional and comes with a complete install package and instructions, but before I upload it I'd like to release it for a limited beta test. This will be an opportunity to make some final improvements or change some default options for the HUD. If anyone is interested in testing the HUD, please send me a pm. I expect to upload the final version pretty soon.

Thanks in advance,
J.R.

Edit: The official version of the HUD is now available to download at:
http://www.simviation.com/simviation/?ID=67&page=4&mark=7181

I would like to thank:

-   Christian "Sludge" Snow
-   Sonofabeech
-   Wilycoyote4
-   Capthaltli

... for their support in the beta testing. The HUD would not be as complete as it is without their help.

[GOONIE]

Looks like Christmas is coming early this year!!! 

ILS, TACAN, conformal, caged... this is the holy grail for HUDs

Thanks!

[Intrepid]

Thank You VERY Much
I can't wait to try this out
I wrote to this forum a long time ago about how individuals, not driven by monetary rewards, could and would enhance FSX or create a better sim than Microsoft ever could.... YOU  prove my point
Two Thumbs UP 
Randy

[JamesChams]

Nice Going Mr. J. R.; looking forward to its release.

[Sludge]

WOW!  Looks great...  no other words needed other than a big thanks!

[SpazSinbad]

Sounds good neutrino. Thanks for the work for sure. Any possibility of having a clear HUD option also? Tah.

EDIT for question below:
NEUTRINO, Apologies - I COULD HAVE BEEN CLEARER! :-) I was meaning to say in haste that having a see through HUD - with all the information on it though - would be nice. Any colour shading of the HUD glass is detrimental to having a good view through the HUD IMHO.

[neutrino]

Hi Spaz, what do you mean by clear HUD ?

Sounds good neutrino. Thanks for the work for sure. Any possibility of having a clear HUD option also? Tah.

[Pop]

the STDS HUD has a shaded center which can be fixed!

[neutrino]

Spaz, you can have a clear HUD if you put a transparent glass

Enrico B. has a transparent glass in his package here: http://www.simviation.com/simviation/?ID=3881

Here is a screenshot of the HUD with a fully transparent glass:



neutrino

[SpazSinbad]

neutrino, At moment I'm not able to test anything out in FSX. I'll assume that your new HUD will work with transparent glass? Is that correct? Thanks again.

[neutrino]

Yes, it will work. You can have the transparent glass with any HUD. I hope you get your PC up and running soon 

[Sludge]

BIG DAY fellas!  Thanks to all involved who made this happen!  This will easily take me to the release of the SuperBug and even then, will probly fly the ol' girl every now and then!

[SpazSinbad]

Sludge, bear with my questions please - I'm not familiar with these systems. Do the crosshairs in the circle indicate on glideslope, lined up? I'm not complaining here, so in your screenshot as indicated by the ball 'slightly low' your glideslope indicates 'slightly low'? What is lineup info? Is that still visual? Both yours and neutrino's night screenshots are lined up so it is not clear to me about line up.

[Sludge]

Spaz...

No worries, ask away.  Yes, crosshairs do show ILS line up and glideslope.  And I think ILS does have some plus/minus built into it but gets more precise as the Hornet gets closer.  Hence how my line up needle is in the middle at .7nm but my velocity vector is over the meatball, whereas Neutrino's lineup needle is a tad left (left lineup correction required) at .2nm, and his V/V is inbetween the angled deck centerline and rightside runway lights in his foggy nightlanding.

And yes, as indicated, I am slightly low and fast.  Also, as you can see, the TACAN arrow is pointing to BRC of 024 deg.  It even comes across (right hi/left lo) as a real TACAN does when you cross the BRC radial (in this case, same as the wake of the ship).  I will try to get a movie made so you can see what Im talking about... its definately a leap for the Hornet HUD.
Its so good and close to real, if someone makes a movie using Javier's carriers, does some post-processing (a tad blurry, maybe with some static), it will be hard to tell the difference between FSX and real life.  But it would have to be done by someone who gets better wake than me, as you can see from the pic, I still get the "chopped off" carrier wake for both default and AICarriers.

Questions answered?

[SpazSinbad]

Sludge, thanks for explanation. Had to look up BRC (Base Recovery Course or ship's heading) so take off the angle deck for 016-7 degrees for the angled deck heading (according to Sludge Screenshot)? I'll post pic below. Looks excellent. Everyone involved making more realistic HUD should be CONGRATULATED!