December 20th - Planes & Cargo System FAQ

Comments Posted on Dec 20, 2008 Posted by RKSL-Rock

After the C-130 update on the 17th and the Cargo system on the 15th we got a lot of emails asking how the C-130’s were going to use the system. What sort of functionality we were planning and how it would work. And of course what other transports we were making.

If you’ve not already seen the Cargo System Video, go watch it now. The rest of this won’t make sense if you haven’t seen it - Click Me.

Load handling.

One of the first questions we get asked is: “Will I be able to drive into the back of a C-130?”

The answer to that is no. We’ve taken this decision to circumvent some of the engine limitations we discovered. Originally we did make it so you could drive in. But it has some weird effects due to poor collision geometry and mass handling. There are other issues with adding roadways to aircraft too. Altimeter reading becomes unreliable and odd handling with the AI.

You can see what I mean in our video If you watch you will see the C-130 rock and roll around (cue music) due to clashes and the mass properties of the vehicles. So what we’ve decided to do is use the Cargo System’s GUI to handle the loading and unloading of the pallets and vehicles.

What can you carry...?

The answer to that is pretty much anything as long as it is registered with the Cargo system Core scripts. (A short tut on how to do that will follow soon after release). There are limits of course. For example: You wouldn’t be able to fit one C-130 inside another. Nor would an Abrams fit inside a C-130. But you could fit Land rovers or other air transportable vehicles.

Special Delivery...!

Another leading question is about cargo delivery. “Can i drop stuff at low level/high level ? Do i need to land? The list goes on. We’ve tried very hard to create a realistic system for cargo drops. And to do that requires some modification to the addon and model setup. The Cargo System Addon (CSA) alone cannot be expected to accomplish this alone. So exactly what and how you can do drops is going to depend on how you customise the transport plane. We are still developing the more advanced features of the CSA and Hercules. But we plan to support several methods

LAPES - Low Altitude Parachute Extraction style drops – is a system intended for low speed and very low level drops. The aircraft flies in as though to land with the ramp open level. A drogue chute is opened, dragging the palletised cargo out the back. Once into the airstream the drogue slows the pallet down until it literally falls on the ground and slides to a stop.

There are advantages to this and there are of course drawbacks. The system was used in Vietnam to rapidly resupply bases with no airstrips. The advantage is that it can be very accurate. The disadvantage is that nothing fragile can be dropped since the landing is rather rough.

500LVADS – 500ft Low Velocity Airdrop Delivery System – Is the more commonly used system since it means heavier plant and equipment can be dropped with accuracy and some degree of confidence that once it’s on the ground it may actually work without repairs.
Essentially it’s the same method as LAPES but dropped from 500 ft/150m. The Pallet is dragged out by the drogue, but unlike the LAPES system a larger descent parachute is deployed slowing the loads descent to accepted and survivable levels.

Guided Deliver Systems – This is something I’ve considered but not really done anything about. For those that don’t know there are now GPS guided containers that will, when dropped in the right area guide themselves down to a preset landing site (LS). This is something we may consider for future uses but right now its not being looked at, just thought about.

What other Aircraft are you going to add the cargo system to?

Well, most aircraft can exploit it to some extent. But we are making several types specifically for the Cargo System Addon:

C-130 Pack
- C-130E/H/K Hercules
- C-130E30/H30/K30 Hercules
- C-130J Hercules
- C-130J30 Hercules
A-400M
IL-76/78

I’d like to make some smaller and older types eventually but no promises. We already have a huge list but as I keep saying our priorities do shift occasionally and side projects do happen. Who knows what will happen in 2009.

So will we be able to use this system on our own aircraft?

That’s our plan. Originally it was just going to be an RKSL only feature but UNN’s taken a modular approach to the system that means it should be far easier to adopt for other mods. However as I said in the video, the air drop aspect is an “advanced implementation” of our system. It isn’t going to appear straight out of the box. Our aircraft have been modified to make it possible. We hope to eventually provide a basic tutorial with supporting models to help you make the conversion yourselves.

Will you model RATO/JATO take offs?

Jet/Rocket Assisted Take Off: This is one of those terrible recurring questions I keep getting asked It's always:

"this is such a cool feature I want it in game..."
"Why?"
"Becasue its cool"

I can't really see the need for it in game if im honest and no one uses it in real world military ops anymore. The USAF used it very rarely anyway and as far as I know no one else ever took it up. From what i’ve read, it was dangerous enough to the aircrew and aircraft as to outweigh common use too. The packs sometime sheared off damaging the aircraft, other either exploded or failed which mean the cost of maintaining and replacing them wasn’t really worth it. In the end they were made obsolete by improvements in engine power and wing design. So final word, No we won’t be adding JATO to any of our aircraft.