FSX Sikorsky S-40 Amphibian Fix

Sikorsky S-40 Amphibian Fix. For use if you are using FSX and the Sikorsky S-40 amphibians won't load any more. File S40NC81V.ZIP (with Sikorsky S-40 amphibians NC-80V "American Clipper" and NC-81V "Caribbean Clipper") can be used in FS2004 or FSX with the aircraft.cfg file supplied. However, the plane sits nose-high in the water in FSX. An alternate aircraft.cfg file for FSX was included, but it is missing the word "amphibian" in the "sim=" lines, and causes the planes not to load from FSX's list of aircraft. This fix contains the corrected alternate file and instructions. By George Diemer.

Fix applies to file S40NC81V.zip (containing Sikorsky S-40 amphibians NC-80V "American Clipper" and NC-81V "Caribbean Clipper") uploaded 31 March 2011. That file contains an aircraft.cfg file which allows the planes to be used in either FS2004 or FSX.

THE PROBLEM:
However, in FSX the planes sit in the water with the nose too high. In an attempt to fix this, I provided an alternate file called "FSX_aircraft.cfg" which sets the nose lower. But this file is missing the word "amphibian" at the end of the "sim=" lines in the [fltsim.0] and [fltsim.1] sections. If you replaced the original aircraft.cfg file with the contents of "FSX_aircraft.cfg" the planes would not load in FSX any more. Sincere apologies to people who have experienced this problem. It is due to inadequate testing on my part.

FIX CONTENTS:
This fix contains two corrected alternate files:
- FSX_aircraft.cfg is a version of aircraft.cfg you can use if you are running FSX and want the plane's nose lower.
- FS9_aircraft.cfg is only a copy of the original aircraft.cfg, if you want to go back to FS2004 and the original was lost.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FSX:
Unzip the files from this fix (S40XFIX.zip) into a temporary location and decide which of the following options applies to you:

1) If you are using FSX, and you are using the original aircraft.cfg file and are happy with it, you need to do nothing. You can delete FS9_aircraft.cfg and FSX_aircraft.cfg if you like, or replace them with the ones in this fix.

2a) If you are using FSX, and want to use the alternate file to lower the nose, you can rename the aircraft.cfg file to something like "aircraft.old". Then take "FSX_aircraft.cfg" from this fix and copy or rename it to "aircraft.cfg" in the S-40's folder. You can then delete FS9_aircraft.cfg and FSX_aircraft.cfg if you like, or replace them with the ones in this fix.

2b) Or if you would prefer to edit the original aircraft.cfg file directly to lower the nose, replace two lines in the [contact_points] section. Take these two lines from FSX_aircraft.cfg and replace them in aircraft.cfg:

point.5= 4.000, 17.000, -4.000, -8.400, 6600.000, 1.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.550, 2.500, 0.650, 0.000, 0.000, 2.000, 0.000, 0.000
point.6= 4.000, 17.000, 4.000, -8.400, 6600.000, 2.000, 0.000, 0.000, 0.550, 2.500, 0.650, 0.000, 0.000, 3.000, 0.000, 0.000

[Note that the only difference between the FSX and FS2004 .cfg files is the 4th parameter in these lines. For FS2004, it is -10.400, and for FSX it is -8.400. Other than that, the files should be identical.]

When you are done, you can delete FS9_aircraft.cfg and FSX_aircraft.cfg if you like, or replace them with the ones in this fix.

3) If you have already replaced the original aircraft.cfg file with the contents of FSX_aircraft.cfg, and now can't load the airplanes in FSX, you can edit aircraft.cfg directly. Four lines need to have the word "amphibian" added at the end:

[fltsim.0]
...
sim=Sikorsky S-40 amphibian
...
ui_type=S-40 American Clipper amphibian
...

[fltsim.1]
...
sim=Sikorsky S-40 amphibian
...
ui_type=S-40 Caribbean Clipper amphibian
...

When you are done, you can delete FS9_aircraft.cfg and FSX_aircraft.cfg if you like, or replace them with the ones in this fix.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FS2004:
1) If you are using FS2004, you don't have to do anything to aircraft.cfg. You can delete FS9_aircraft.cfg and FSX_aircraft.cfg if you like or replace them with the ones in this fix.

With apologies again for any frustration or confusion caused.
George Diemer