E-Sky Simulator FMS in Linux / Windows

5/26/2012 by gadicc in Tech, Coding, Sysadmin

Note: The box says “MODEL1 002203” and “MODEL2 000502”, but I couldn’t find any way on the remote to identify which model it was. It’s USB identifier is 0402:0402 ADC by ALi Corp.

E-Sky Simulator FMS in Linux / Windows (with FlightGear)

So I bought the ESKY HOBBY simulator pack, and the included CD contained just the freeware Flying-Model-Simulator package, which it seems was discontinued back in 2004. It doesn’t run on Windows 7, never mind Linux, fortunately there are some good open source alternatives.

Meet FlightGear, an open-source multi-platform flight simulator, with a host of features, including 3D support! And of course, create recognition for a variety of joysticks (in our case, a modified version of the E-SKY radio control built for it’s helicopters) — with some tweaking of course.

Installation Instructions

1. Download and install FlightGear

On Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install flightgear Otherwise find the appropriate files from here: http://www.flightgear.org/download/

2. Download appropriate aircrafts

http://www.flightgear.org/download/aircraft-v2-6/

The Alouette-III, Lynx-WG13 and S-51-Dragonfly are the most relevant helicopters.

3. Create $FG_HOME/Input/Joysticks/ADC.xml

Assuming you have the same controller as me. If not, see [] about creating these files yourself. The box says “MODEL1 002203” and “MODEL2 000502”, but I couldn’t find any way on the remote to identify which model it was. It’s USB identifier is 0402:0402 ADC by ALi Corp.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<PropertyList>
  <axis>
    <desc>Aileron</desc>
    <direction>right</direction>
    <binding>
      <command>property-scale</command>
      <property>/controls/flight/aileron</property>
      <offset type="double">0</offset>
      <factor type="double">-1</factor>
      <power type="int">1</power>
    </binding>
    <dead-band type="double">0</dead-band>
  </axis>
  <axis n="1">
    <desc>Elevator</desc>
    <direction>down/forward</direction>
    <binding>
      <command>property-scale</command>
      <property>/controls/flight/elevator</property>
      <factor type="double">1</factor>
      <power type="int">1</power>
    </binding>
    <dead-band type="double">0</dead-band>
  </axis>
  <axis n="4">
    <desc>Rudder</desc>
    <direction>right</direction>
    <binding>
      <command>property-scale</command>
      <property>/controls/flight/rudder</property>
      <factor type="double">-1</factor>
      <power type="int">1</power>
    </binding>
    <dead-band type="double">0</dead-band>
  </axis>
  <axis n="2">
    <desc>Throttle</desc>
    <direction>forward</direction>
    <binding>
      <command>nasal</command>
      <script>controls.throttleAxis()</script>
      <factor type="double">1</factor>
    </binding>
    <dead-band type="double">0.01031526178</dead-band>
  </axis>
 <name type="string">ADC</name>
</PropertyList>

4. Launch like this:

fgfs --aircraft=Alouette-III --timeofday=noon --enable-fullscreen --airport=LLHZ

Other cool stuff

• 3D view (with glasses), etc. TODO