Time for a new year's update on the L-39. Work has been continuing, even without status updates to this topic, so no need to worry about this project being on hold.

Hydraulic System Implemented
Main and Emergency Hydraulic Circuits
Main Hydraulic Pump Pressurization from engine bleed air
Interconnect Valving and logic
Hydraulic pressure consumers: Gear, Gear Doors, Flaps, Ram Air Turbine, Wheel brakes, Speed brakes (main system only)
Emergency Extension Levers for Gear, Flaps, and Ram Air Turbine
Emergency Brake Lever

Miscellaneous
Random failures code was started, but has been put on hold for now
Fixed several major bugs (for ex: Engine would shut off during air starts)

Advanced Flight Model
Tweaks to Yaw Stability and Rudder Effectiveness

Advanced Turbofan Engine Model
I began work on this new fully dynamic engine model back in October, but it has not been implemented into the simulator at this point, so many things are still subject to change. However, I thought I would pass along some details about the planned features of this new turbofan engine model for the L-39. So far, I have written the entire engine model into a standalone program that runs at the same frequency as the DCS flight model and reads my throttle inputs in real time to simulate realistic dynamic conditions. I also view the output of the engine conditions in real time in several performance graphs.
Improved Thermodynamic Model that accounts for enthalpy changes across each subsection of the engine given inefficiencies and current dynamic conditions
Inertial Twin Spool Rotor Modeling
Aerodynamic blade drag for each compressor/turbine stage
Fuel Governor with a simple control algorithm to maintain sufficient fuel pressure at varying altitudes and airspeeds
Compressor/Turbine Efficiency Curves based on airflow and rotor speed
Two Anti-Surge Bleed Valves affect performance of the engine in the specified ranges for the L-39
Combustion efficiency dependent on Fuel/Air ratio
Air-starter Modeling of initial engine spool up
Light-off produces correct RPM acceleration and combustion allows for self-sustaining idle conditions
etc.

An example output from a slam acceleration/deceleration test in an early version of engine and fuel controller.

Happy new year to you all.
A little video to show cockpit at night with and without NVG.
http://youtu.be/TnkPYG1qYLI

The finished ventilation control panel.

There has been a number of topics posted here and there about IRIS and our work on the DCS: World platform over the last year or so, some truthful, and some that I've seen from community members which borders on outright misinformation.
So I thought it prudent to clarify a few things 'from the horses mouth' so to speak.

Are you still developing aircraft x/y/z for DCS?
Yes, a resounding yes. Unless you hear something to the contrary from myself directly or The Fighter Collection, we are 100% invested in DCS: World as a simulation platform.

Why do I see lots of FSX and Prepar3D content and nothing for DCS?
Quite simply because we do more work in our FSX line than we do on DCS. Our developments for FSX and Prepar3D pay the monthly bills and keep the business running. Without that income, we would not be able to fund development on the DCS platform. This situation was outlined to The Fighter Collection right from the outset and was a condition of our development for the platform.

Why aren't you showing a/b/c plane any more
During development, Eagle Dynamics have worked hard with the 3rd Party Developers and are constantly changing and updating the core platform to best suit the needs of customers and 3rd party developers. Sometimes these changes result in us having to re-evaluate our product plans and subject matter. In all honesty, sometimes during the development cycle, we realise that we've picked up a subject matter we just don't have the technical expertise to complete at that time.

It's been x months and you've got nothing to show
Yes, often that's true. This is either due to the fact that we have to periodically shift focus onto other platforms for internal reasons or sometimes it's just that we have nothing new to show off. The DCS workload is a significant increase than what we're used to in other platforms. It's a steep learning curve for us, and well, sometimes that just means things are slow.

What happened to the BD-5J, will you still release that?
The BD-5J reached a certain point and we felt that our time was better spent working on other airframes instead. I had investigated the option of releasing what we had free to the market, but after discussing with the team, we felt that the quality of a proof of concept aircraft such as the BD-5 would be counter productive.

How's things going with the T-38C?
The principle modeler of the T-38C has taken a leave of absence to concentrate on furthering his education, something we are 100% behind. Until he returns, the T-38C will remain on hold, however we do have another project lined up for the DCS platform.

What is it?!?
Learning from previous mistakes of being a little over-enthusiastic in our announcements, we're not saying currently. We will of course work in the background as we have done for many months now, taking what we've learned and applying it to what we're currently working on.

Rest assured that when the time is right, we'll be sure to let you all know!

Dear users!
Due to scheduled maintenance of the primary server, the DCS website, Module Manager, and Multiplayer (master server) services will be unavailable on Tuesday, January 14 starting at 06:00 UTC for a period of no more than 6 hours. The server's IP address will change, so we highly recommend that you update your DNS cache (run "ipconfig /flushdns" in Windows).

Our apologies for the inconvenience.

Since the last update, the NTTR map undergoes refinement, but the big gating item is currently setting up the DCS code structure to handle EDGE-based terrain data (textures, objects, DTED, etc.). In the meantime, I've uploaded some new images. The sharped eyed of you may be able to see some new changes/improvements.

Thought it was about time to post up some more eye candy for you guys
I've started a new thread to show development during 2014 as I get cracking on working on this beautiful bird.

Enjoy the pics

First export to DCS.
Yes it needs a lot of work on textures (obviously) as just has basic maps at the moment.

Last picture before she get it's texture I know she actually should have her skin but I only have time in the evening to cradle her

I like to call this one "Rifle...pickle...fox..."

Hey guys,
I can't believe it's the middle of January already, this year is going to fly by, excuse the pun!!
Development of the Hawk is going very well and she is up and running in DCS World 1.2.7. with full weapons capability so all my stressing on that front is over, thank you ED!!!

This takes us to the next stage of development, BETA...yes you read that correctly

We have a small group of public testers that will become the first closed Beta testers alongside our dedicated VEAO testers team. They will be testing all aircraft functions to make sure it's purring like a kitten and biting like a tiger.

Which will then move us to the next stage, hmmm I wonder what that one is, suggestions anyone??

Following a team discussion last night and pending any natural disasters, zombie outbreak, IPR lawyers putting the breaks on or Tango getting hit by a bus; we are pleased to make the following announcement.

Hawk Open Beta will be released as an FC3 level aircraft with fully clickable cockpit before the end of February 2014!!

Confused? yes we thought you might be so please let me clarify.

We are still working on the AFM, in fact that's going very slowly so we will be releasing the open Beta version of the Hawk as an FC3 level aircraft (as it doesn't have AFM) but it will have the fully clickable cockpit as some of you have got used to in the public alpha release.
Should you not wish to use the clickable cockpit, we are looking at an option to turn that off/on.
Now some of you may argue that this is in fact a DCS level aircraft because of the fidelity of the systems and clickable cockpit but we felt that without AFM it would be unjust to call it DCS level.

So do we call it DCS:Hawk or simply Hawk or something else. We think in line with ED's FC3 products we will simply call it T.1A Trainer to differentiate this version from the full DCS AFM version.

Costings; well we have considered the cost of standard FC3 aircraft add-ons and cost of DCS level add-ons (current and future) and have taken a decision as it will come with fully clickable cockpit functionality.
The product will cost $39.99 and when we have the AFM version ready for release there will be a $10 upgrade charge should you wish to go for that.
Final DCS:Hawk product will be $49.99

We feel that is reasonably priced for what you will get in this version which is basically everything you would expect in a DCS level fidelity aircraft apart from AFM.

By releasing the aircraft next month and taking sales it allows us to further invest in the AFM programming. As you know I have fully funded development over the past few years but further investment is required and this is the best way to do it. We get investment and you get to fly the product, win win on both sides.

To clarify; this will be a paid-for BETA version. Some things will not be implemented fully yet and we will make it very clear at the time of selling what is included and what is still left to be completed.

Thank you again for all of your support and interest in our products.

Chris and the VEAO team.

Also please note that past competition winners will receive the FC3 Hawk and the upgrade to DCS:Hawk when it's available.

Startup and Takeoff demo

http://youtu.be/TDaNALBKgxU

Good evening gentlemen!

We are finally getting back to business after the long Russian holidays.

As I mentioned in my last update, most of the team members were off from December 31st to January 10th, and the calendar being what it is, most did not get back to work until January 13th.

I have used this time to take some much-needed rest myself, spending lots of time with my children, and finally getting lots of sleep. Normally, I work on Moscow time all the way from California with an 11-hour time difference, starting my workday at 10 PM, then converting to single dad mode by 7 am. That makes eight hours of sleep in a single block, well, something out a fairy tale for me.

Anyway, I thought it would be best to begin 2014 with our most important single task from 2013, the highlight of our kickstarter drive, the cockpit for the Me.262.









Unlike most other team members, the two-man crew working on this pit worked through the holidays. With that kind of a work ethic, coupled with doubling up on projects that are usually made single-handedly, these DCS heroes are doing an amazing job staying ahead of schedule and producing consistently stellar quality work. They make the rest of the tasks look bad in comparison, but of course, the overall number of working hours for their cockpits is about the same as for the others. It’s just they need half the calendar time to do the same amount of work.

That concludes this week’s update. Please stay tuned for more next Friday!