NZFF

MSFS had an update which included the Dune movie ornithopter expansion.
I didn't realise it wasn't part of the update as such and installed it, to find it had removed all my custom key mappings.
Irreversibly, I'm told. Well if you can't beat 'em...

The Dune Ornithopter is a formidable beast, just to look at:



For those not in the know, it flaps its wings in rotary fashion and sometimes pretends to be a helicopter, when it's not a screaming bat out of hell.
It has these "afterburners" strapped to its sides, which produce something like Warp Drive.



When you decide to dive on something, the wings can be folded back and it then behaves like a rocket.
Popping the wings out again and lifting the nose will produce 110 g's and you'll be back up there before you regain consciousness.



On the ground it behaves like an insect, folding its wings in a very menacing but entertaining way.



It's final party trick is an airbrake, operating through reverse wing flapping, which stops you in about the length of the craft from any speed.
And it is bigger than anything so agile deserves to be.



OK I guess it is aimed at the XBox gaming market.
Certainly the traditional flightsim forums seem unimpressed with this Toy.

But you know what? it's a whole lot of fun.
Every personal craft should aspire to this thing's capabilities.
I'll play with it until MSFS 2024 lands, and then get back to my flightsim.

Bloody hell Charl
Great shots btw.

Yes, very annoying that it removes custom key mappings.

Luckily there's not much to map for the Insect, but coming back will be a chore certainly.
It's an inexcusable goof on the part of Asobo.

Splitpin wrote:Bloody hell Charl

Well, exactly

Great shots btw.

Thanks!

Charl, things like that always make me think...if "they" can think these things up, and make it fly albeit virtually, why not in real life ?
As I understand it, almost all new developments are flown on a computer before being touched by biological pilots.
I think Elon could get this scary thing up and going.

The sim does not use physics to do what it shows, unfortunately.
I suspect they use a modified helicopter flight model for the ornithopter.

Laws of physics apply at this scale so might limit the possibilities...
Also, we have the wheel, which as far as I know is not a Natural Thing.
This gives us certain advantages over Nature's reciprocating machinery.
Even Musk would have difficulty in Reinventing the Wheel, despite what he says.