On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 7:28 AM, Heiko Schulz <aeitsch...@yahoo.de> wrote:
> I really would like to admit your sentences.
> But - on their website I can't see any reference, hint or link to Project
> FlightGear.
>
> But I see that he earns money with our work. I do know that this allowed
> under or licence. But is this moral?
> I do understand that he sells this without any offical reference to
> FlightGear- if he woulden't no one would buy it because it is downloadable
> for free for anyone.
>
> I can see other big OpenSource Projects like Blender, which have have this
> kind of support- without beeing sold.
>
> If really both sides wants to win, then we should make a derivative work of
> FGFS like a FAA-licenced, one which is beeing sold then. That would really
> help this project to gain some more respect and even a lot of more
> seriousness to our project. Even now, as Microsoft ESP is stopped and
> Aerososft is coming with a replacement 2012.
>
> Just my thoughts, correct me If I'm wrong with some facts.
>
There is a PC-ATD certification, but if you read the spec, it requires
certain things with control inputs that you cannot achieve with a $20
walmart joystick. We meet most of the spec, but there are a few gaps that
go beyond just software. Take a look at http://www.sf.net/projects/fgatd/
However, the PC-ATD certification is very limited in terms of how many hours
you can log with it.
For more serious pilot / IFR training, the entry level is usually Advanced
ATD certification, (or more historically Level 3 FTD certification.)
However, these certifications are for the "whole simulator", and not just a
certification for a software application. In fact, the idea of getting FAA
certification for a software application is really misleading because it's
not something that they directly do. They certify a whole simulator which
includes software, flight dynamics, physical controls (with correct size,
placement, and control loading), and often a full enclosure, as well as a
visual system. Interesting things that are required for Advanced ATD
certification are a GPS and a Flight Director/Autopilot.
If you read that X-Plane is FAA certified, they certainly mean that X-Plane
was one component in an FAA certified simulator, not that the software
itself is FAA certified, however they don't work very hard to make that
distinction clear to their users.
For the "Official Record": FlightGear is also been a key software component
in several FAA certified simulators, just like X-Plane. So we can make the
same claims that they are able to make (if we want to be misleading.) I've
been involved in the FAA certification process and my experience is that if
you (a) meet the certification requirements that the FAA lays out (which is
doable but a lot of work) and (b) you schedule an FAA inspector to come on
sight and verify that you meet the requirements and sign off on it, then you
too can have an FAA certified simulator. The inspectors I've dealt with
have been very fair and generally look more towards ways to pass you instead
of trying to find any little thing they can fail you on.
Interestingly, for the Level 3 FTD certification, the FAA requires that each
installation be individually certified. Even if you relocate the simulator,
you need to have an FAA inspector come out and recertify the sim. It's my
understanding that for an Advanced ATD certification (which allows you to
log essentially the same things as Level 3 FTD) the FAA certifies a product
and then you can replicate it and sell it and the FAA doesn't need to come
out and sign off on each one.
Fun stuff ... there's nothing here that FlightGear can't already do, it's
just a matter of going through a sometimes an intense amount of work to pull
all the pieces together and verify and document that the entire simulator as
a whole meets all the requirements and there is a lot more to it than just
software work.
Regards,
Curt.
--
Curtis Olson: http://baron.flightgear.org/~curt/
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