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GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

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Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#21

Post by seabass-labrax »

6581 wrote: post #12
user_7832 wrote: post #9

Does anyone have a recommendation for a simple simulator on windows? Not looking for anything too fancy.

FlightGear.

Since FlightGear only comes with one aircraft by default, here are some suggestions for very high-quality aircraft to download:

- TL96. Great little ultralight which will get blown around with the slightest gust (be careful on approach!)

- Piper J-3 Cub. Lots of things to customize on this one, with 'no doors' being an option for those who like the view!

- Cessna 182. Just as good as the default 172 but with some more horsepower.

- Piper PA28. Basically as good as the C172 and C182, but with a low wing to distinguish its performance (it has a tendency to roll into the turn).

- Cessna 337G. Really fun to listen to!

- Lockheed Super Constellation. Beautiful late-50s propeller airliner. The autopilot is touchy, the landing speed envelope is small and the engines are wont to burst into flames, but it's so rewarding to get it right!

- Cessna 208B. One of my favourites - turboprop, high-wing, lots of cargo space. You can fly FedEx up and down California in style with this one :)

- Boeing 707. Very fast early jetliner which is a pleasure to fly. The flight engineer's panel is well simulated.

- Tupolev TU-154b. Amazingly detailed, just like the 707 is. Hope you can read Russian ;)

- McDonnell Douglas MD-11. There are two variants of this available for download, so make sure to get the one with the higher rating. The simulation has some weird glitches but it's a good aircraft overall.

- Boeing 777. Strong contender if you like the 'heavy iron'.

- Airbus A320. Excellently simulated, probably the best there is for FlightGear. Almost every switch and button works exactly as described in the real-life manual. Trust me, I have the real-life manual and I've tried :)

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#22

Post by itsZero »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #19
glhphigxkgx wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a linux avionics system isn't terribly interesting -- what do you think a g1000 is... open source, however, could be interesting

Do you have a reference for the G1000 running Linux? Thanks.

I've seen a kernel panic on G1000 once, does not feel like a Linux (unless they also heavily modified the panic handler)

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#23

Post by NikolaNovak »

user_7832 wrote: post #9

Does anyone have a recommendation for a simple simulator on windows? Not looking for anything too fancy.

Xplane and msfs are the canonical ones. The current msfs is actually very newbie friendly. Great guided tutorials and the complexity and difficulty is hugely scalable.

I enjoyed aeroflyFS also however as a simple pickup and fly.

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#24

Post by the__alchemist »

mbustamanter wrote: post #14

As an occasional general aviation pilot (I found this HOWTO after trying to find tools to aid in flight plan calculations), I think it would be great if we took it a step further and make a full-fledged Linux avionics system, but it seems unlikely [0]. And Garmin will likely not be replaced in a dozen years. [0] https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/36853/do-safety...

Bare metal seems more appropriate than a GPOS.

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#25

Post by mnutt »

mbustamanter wrote: post #14

As an occasional general aviation pilot (I found this HOWTO after trying to find tools to aid in flight plan calculations), I think it would be great if we took it a step further and make a full-fledged Linux avionics system, but it seems unlikely [0]. And Garmin will likely not be replaced in a dozen years. [0] https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/36853/do-safety...

The creator of Asterisk (the linux-based PBX) has been building a modern modular avionics system which I believe is Linux-based. From what I can tell they have plans for certification.

https://www.avilution.com/

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#26

Post by leetrout »

mnutt wrote: post #25
mbustamanter wrote: post #14

As an occasional general aviation pilot (I found this HOWTO after trying to find tools to aid in flight plan calculations), I think it would be great if we took it a step further and make a full-fledged Linux avionics system, but it seems unlikely [0]. And Garmin will likely not be replaced in a dozen years. [0] https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/36853/do-safety...

The creator of Asterisk (the linux-based PBX) has been building a modern modular avionics system which I believe is Linux-based. From what I can tell they have plans for certification. https://www.avilution.com/

I would love to have something like this accessible and hackable just for my simming.

The new octavia device looks really nice but it is pricey for what it is.

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#27

Post by invalidopcode »

mbustamanter wrote: post #14

As an occasional general aviation pilot (I found this HOWTO after trying to find tools to aid in flight plan calculations), I think it would be great if we took it a step further and make a full-fledged Linux avionics system, but it seems unlikely [0]. And Garmin will likely not be replaced in a dozen years. [0] https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/36853/do-safety...

These answers seem to be quite out of date, as the aerospace industry (most notably SpaceX) has been using Linux as part of their rocket control systems for quite a while now.

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#28

Post by exikyut »

itsZero wrote: post #22
seabass-labrax wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have a reference for the G1000 running Linux? Thanks.

I've seen a kernel panic on G1000 once, does not feel like a Linux (unless they also heavily modified the panic handler)

Ooo, what did it look like? A Mach kernel oops (aka "just start painting text from the top-left"), a BSOD (more structured), a dialog box over the top, or...?

Also what info was printed? An inscrutable Guru Meditation, a register dump, or...?

Just idly fascinated to figure out how much info would be dumped by a piece of avionics running in end-user production mode.

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#29

Post by jhomedall »

user_7832 wrote: post #9

Does anyone have a recommendation for a simple simulator on windows? Not looking for anything too fancy.

On the combat side of things, Tiny Combat Arena is well reviewed: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1347550/Tiny_Combat_Arena...

A lot of people also seem to like VTOL VR: https://store.steampowered.com/app/667970/VTOL_VR/

Re: GNU/Linux Aviation HOWTO (2006)

#30

Post by morpheuskafka »

NavinF wrote: post #18
epcoa wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The link you posted doesn’t make it seem unlikely inasmuch as it completely pillories even the notion of using Linux for avionics on both technical and economic merits, completely counter to your claim that it would “be great”. So why would it be great?

In practice most pilots use an iPad app for flight planning and navigation. No technical reason why open source hardware/software could be used for that if it had good UX (which is pretty uncommon in the Linux desktop space)

I think you and the link in OP are talking about two different things. The link talks about "safety-critical avionics" and answers mention that they use proprietary RTOS. Certainly, anything that can be done on iPad could be done on Linux, and Linux is quite common for non-real time embedded things.
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