Power Plant Simulator

Greetings to all. I have been enjoying this hobby for some time and am facscinated by simulators of all kinds. I also appreciate and respect all the advice I have received on this and other forums. A little about me as I have never introduced myself, I am 31 live in Alaska and have, through a turn of events, found myself deep into the hobby of cockpit flight simulators.I work in a power plant with six natural gas fired turbines, two of which have their waste heat passed through two boilers which feed a steam turbine. I have tried to find a training simulator I could configure to match/simulate my plant. I have had no luck. One day while changing settings in the .cfg filesof MSFS I wondered if I could model a Gas Turbine Generator in MSFS. I though that one could design a 2D panel to represent the control panel the operators see in the control room, model an aircraft file to represent the plant with six "engines/turbines" and modify the parking brake settings at the contact points to hold no matter what. The prevailing winds could represent the "electrical load" and peak demand hours could be repressented by dawn and dusk. I figure the visual "aircraft" could look like the plant building. The sounds would be easy as well. I would like to create this just for my satisfaction but would offer it as freeware for anyone to use. I beleive it is acheivable as I see ships and FS land vehicles offered. The problem, I have never designed a panel or aircraft, I have just scratched the surface as to what free software is available and I have not found much.

1) To those with experience in this field, is this plausible?

2) What freeware could I use?

3) Would anyone be interested in working with me/ mentoring me in panel and aircraft design.

4) Is this something anyone would download as freeware, just for kicks?

5)Has this hobby finally ate my brain?

From what you describbe, I think you could actually DO this. Or at least a reasonable enough approximation. First off you will need all the technical specs of the internal workings and parameters of the plant equipment. Fuel flows, turbine speeds, "red lines" for factors, and so on. But I BET you can come up with something that would work.

You are going to need serious programming though. And this being more of a "commercial venture" you might find that people are a bit less free with their efforts in that regard.

But you might find someone who has time and will find it a challenge.

Not something I can tackle... my plate is PLENTY full. But just wanted to comment that it SOUNDS plausible to at least one OTHER person. Maybe the sim has eaten MY brain TOO. ;)

Good luck.

best,

......................john

Lemme tell ya, even if you BUY a developer's software, they aren't too keen to help out with any modifications you may need to adapt it to any kind of physical simulator. They write the stuff for desktop jockeys with a joystick and a mouse.

Good luck with your project. It sounds like an interesting concept.

If you know Visual Basic then that's a much better way to go.

I can't remember the name of the software that will (easily?) build 2d cockpits. Its called FsPanel or something like that. Its supposed to be pretty easy to use.
Than maybe a program like Airwrench that will let you change flight and engine parameters on any Fs aircraft.
If you find an aircraft that is close to what you want, you should be able to tweak it to an acceptable proximity to what you want ??

I have never tried anything like this myself,, but it does seem doable,,, and very interesting.
Please keep us posted on how it turns out.

P.S. Airwrench has a free demo. It shows you the full program and what it can change/do but won't allow the changes until you pay. (its not expensive)

I found a file on another forum featuring a "Mobile Control Tower", it features five levels (rooms) and radar screens and the such. So with this I have the building (tower=Plant Building), I'm sure I can substitute the file for the default power plant in FS for the one offered by this freeware download. It is a start anyway.By the way if you fly near Beluga, Alaska, (PABG) with the scenery settings on high, you can see a fair representation of the plant I work at. It looks nothing like that of course but still cool that it is shown. We work week on and then week off. We used to fly to work with ERA in their Twin Otters, but SEACORP/Millionaire bought ERA and replaced them with B-1900. We loved the Otters, two 300 hp turboprops and a near spotless safety record in Alaska. (save for one incident up north where another air carrier forgot to turn off the AP on final) The B-1900 are low wing, and we operate off a gravel strip, so they did not renew the contract. Luckily Security Aviation ,(under new ownership) picked up the contract. By the way, for some interesting reading; Google, "Security Aviation, Alaska, Anchorage Daily News", the true story involves 12 demilitarized Czech made L-39 fighter jets, Two demilitarized(?) pod rocket launchers, mercenaries, FBI, ATF,millionaire widows and some amazing intrigue for our town. Anyhow, Security, under new ownership, now flies us to and from work in Piper Navajos. Great aircraft, amazing though, they are smaller than the Otters, but land much faster around 94 vs 65, and cruise much faster. All in all a great plane , with great pilots, who let me ride right seat, provided I sit on my hands the whole way.;)