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ndicki
March 25th, 2009, 12:01
Just out of interest, how many of us play any of the Thirdwire sims - Wings Over Somewhere or Strike Fighters? I have SF1 and SF2, and while I don't think they're anywhere near CFS3 for WW2, they are great when used for their original purpose, namely postwar air conflict.

So come on, own up! I'm wondering about something...

redriver6
March 25th, 2009, 12:08
yep i have a bunch of em, including First Eagles...however since i'm totally on Vista now for my gaming PC i can't use any of them except SF2.

Led Zeppelin
March 25th, 2009, 12:17
I like your avatar redriver6!:woot:

wolfger
March 25th, 2009, 12:46
Hey, ndicki, I have seen your addons there at combat ace. High quality !! :ernae:
Was into WOV and WOE the last weeks and got the download and modding bug - means less time to sleep and my small brain under high pressure:isadizzy:, because I tried to get as familiar with those sims within a few days as I am with good old cfs3 for years.
conclusion: imho third wire sims offer some more features and are well worth thier bucks, but for WWII cfs3 rules and ETO rocks.
good hunting and watch your six!
yours wolfger

OldCrow
March 25th, 2009, 13:27
Just out of interest, how many of us play any of the Thirdwire sims - Wings Over Somewhere or Strike Fighters? I have SF1 and SF2, and while I don't think they're anywhere near CFS3 for WW2, they are great when used for their original purpose, namely postwar air conflict.

So come on, own up! I'm wondering about something...
I don't, do you recomend any one in particular?

NachtPiloten
March 25th, 2009, 16:23
What add ons are yours? I am converting all of my stuff to TW over the next several months. I have WOE and SF2.

ndicki
March 26th, 2009, 00:25
I've done a few Rhodesian aircraft, real (Hunters, including the two modified by SAAF to carry Sidewinders) and what-ifs (Cessna O-1, Fiat Gina), and I'm also working on a campaign for a war in Britain. The scenario is a bit complex, bit it basically involves a bankrupt England pulling out of the Union and reneging on all payments to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland... And things degenerate from there...

The Hunters, Gina and Cessna are all up and available at CombatAce, while the Celtic Wars aircraft are still WIP. All I've done with the Celtic Wars aircraft is a bit of decalling - the base skins are not mine but Sundowner's.

Redriver6, isn't there a Vista patch at the Thirdwire Downloads Centre? I think you'll find there is.

Anyway, SF2 is backwardly compatible with the others, so if you want to get one, get SF2. Well, I think, anyway.

flashgordon
March 26th, 2009, 01:07
[quote=ndicki;146245]and I'm also working on a campaign for a war in Britain. The scenario is a bit complex, bit it basically involves a bankrupt England pulling out of the Union and reneging on all payments to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland... And things degenerate from there...


One for the Historic folder then.

NachtPiloten
March 26th, 2009, 03:25
Did you build these in max, paint them, make the flightmodels? I am curious. Thanks!

markjhnstn
March 26th, 2009, 03:34
I've got 4 thirdwire installs. FE for WW1, SFG for all jet eras WW2-2008, an SFG Falklands-only install and WOE.

Plus my 3 cfs3 installs and a whole lot of other flight sims.

With so much great stuff out there, it's just impossible to get bored!!

ndicki
March 26th, 2009, 04:21
Did you build these in max, paint them, make the flightmodels? I am curious. Thanks!

No, grief, Ted! All I did was what I usually do - paint them and fiddle around with the decals. The Hunter and the O-1 are stock, the Hunter from SF2 and the O-1 from WOV.

Pat Pattle
March 26th, 2009, 04:34
an SFG Falklands-only install

Do you have a link for this please Mark?

O-1Driver
March 26th, 2009, 06:51
Nigel,

Nice paint on the O-1 but the model looks poorly done. Cammo was used only briefly as an experiment but did not work out. In addition to the cammo, large orange stripes were painted across the top of the wings to redeuce the risk of mid airs with gunships and fast movers. The Air Force finaly settled on overall gray while the Army used a satin low lustre OD finish. The Army aircraft used white or orange paint on the top of the wing and or flaps.

The single most important aspect of the O-1 was completely overlooked by the model builder.The O-1 was a virtual flying communicatins center. The model should have either a single 8' FM whip antenna mounted at the top front of the cabin, or two slightly smaller FM whips mponted on the wing tips (missing on this restoration). It should have a long wire antenna that runs from the rudder fin to the aft cabin area. It should have twin FM Dipole antennas mounted on the stabilizer. It should have a VHF/UHF blade antenna mounted on the spine of the aircraft.

The O-1 could home in on Infantry using their FM field radios, talk to the Army artillery, vehicles, rotary wing aircraft, VHF for fighters and the airborne communications center aircraft.

Then finally it does not have the 2.75" FFAR launchers mounted. It could carry either WP or HE. There were two lengths of launcher tubes. the Air Force used the shorter tubes and the heads of the 2.75 rockets were clearly visible. These tubes could handle the oversized WP heads.

The O-1 was a formidable aircraft and could rain down an incredible amount of destruction on the enemy using fighter bombers, gunships, and artillery.

PS: I forgot to add that the letter O prfix before the serial # (O-12079) indicates that this aircraft is over 10 years old. The same prefix was used on other aircraft with the 10 yr age factor and not just O-1 Bird Dogs.

Steve

ndicki
March 26th, 2009, 06:56
The model is poorly done, correct. It was initially intended to be AI-only, floating round in the distance; it's been made flyable by one of the modders.

Camo was used systematically on all Air Force aircraft, including Cessnas, although admittedly, there were only two of them. Usually, Trogs were used for observation and tracking because of their greater range and carrying capacity. The Cessnas weere just a convenient find. They carried normal radio equipment to enable comms with Army tracker teams. They were, of course, unarmed.



Look at the markings first.

O-1Driver
March 26th, 2009, 07:03
Quote
"The Cessnas weere just a convenient find. They carried normal radio equipment to enable comms with Army tracker teams. They were, of course, unarmed."

Here is a picture of 2.75" launchers built from fatory drawings mounted on MA4A shackles. the Bird Dog could carry two sets of these with a maximum load of 250lbs per hardpoint and 500 lbs per wing. The 2.75" rockets were in short supply most of the time especially the wp. The ones in the photo are HE. The arming panel was located in the cabin top left hand side. The entire rocket launcher assembly could be dropped from the aircraft with the "salvo" button. The rear shot of the launcher shows the :"breakaway" cannon plug that would separate when the launcher drooped free of the aircraft. The firing pins at the rear rotate clear for loading.
Steve

ndicki
March 26th, 2009, 07:08
Yours, yes. These are Rhodesian ones. They don't have all that sort of kit. They were actually impressed civilian ones, in fact, but if you start giving the manufacturer's type, a lot of people get lost!

O-1Driver
March 26th, 2009, 07:12
Yours, yes. These are Rhodesian ones. They don't have all that sort of kit. They were actually impressed civilian ones, in fact, but if you start giving the manufacturer's type, a lot of people get lost!

Roger that Nigel,

Steve

ndicki
March 26th, 2009, 07:16
Like I said, there were only two - they'd originally been used by the BSAP, but were taken over by the Air Force. That's about all the info there is. Nobody was really interested in them, because the usual tracker aircraft was the AL-60 Trojan.

redriver6
March 26th, 2009, 07:48
nice lookin A/C there ndicki....i need to download those:jump:


Redriver6, isn't there a Vista patch at the Thirdwire Downloads Centre? I think you'll find there is.

Anyway, SF2 is backwardly compatible with the others, so if you want to get one, get SF2. Well, I think, anyway.

i think the reason for SF2 is to make it compatible with Vista...i dont see any patch on the Thirdwire site for the other versions.

i didn't realize SF2 is backward compatible with SF1 etc...the program looks totally different in the folder than the other games...i haven't been able to get any SF1 addons to work in SF2 so far..

gregoryp
March 26th, 2009, 08:05
I wonder if the SF community will do a better version of the O-1 since SF supports a FAC :jump:

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2630489/O_1_Bird_Dog_coming_soon.html#Post2630489


http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7457/swampfoxah9.jpg

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5606/wip8dec08lm3.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/4792/ravens01rx2.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1610/lftpitgw1.jpg

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6497/rtpitrt5.jpg

http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/5791/inboundix3.jpg

Starspeeder_3000
March 26th, 2009, 08:22
Wow those are some nice pics!!!:faint: I have SFP1, WoV, and WoE, all combined into the same install along with hundreds of add-ons, I love the sim! The only thing I don't like so much is the lack of realistic flight models on many of the aircraft and the lack of realistic scenery. The add-ons help but are a far cry from the MSFS series.

O-1Driver
March 26th, 2009, 08:29
Gregory,

Thanks for posting those screenshots, what a lovely bird. The model has the correct weapons panel with the 8 switchguards on it. The screenshot below form the O-1 I restored has the 4 drop panel that was not used for 2.75 rockets. Alas the 8 switch panels cannot be located anywhere by restorers.

One more small detail, the fuel valve selector shows a "both tanks" position. The O-1 only had left or right, the both was never on any models. It is standard on civilian models but never the O-1. None the less, someone did a really nice job on this model.

Steve

ndicki
March 26th, 2009, 09:11
Good grief, that knocks the Combat Ace team into the sidelines! I wondered why it wasn't possible for SF aircraft to reach the level of detail we've seen in (C)FS... The answer is that it is. Fabulous piece of work on somebody's part.

What are your graphics settings? It seems far cleaner than what I'm getting - any special tweaks?

markjhnstn
March 26th, 2009, 11:10
Do you have a link for this please Mark?
This is the link to the Falklands mod for SFP1/SFG.

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?autocom=downloads&showfile=6700

hairyspin
March 26th, 2009, 14:30
I wondered why it wasn't possible for SF aircraft to reach the level of detail we've seen in (C)FS... The answer is that it is. Fabulous piece of work on somebody's part.

I'll second that! Lack of eye candy was a discouragement to me, but I might get SF2 now. Thanks Greg!

popsaka
March 26th, 2009, 22:14
All that and you can shoot? :woot:

Squiffy
March 27th, 2009, 06:50
Nice! Will SF run on P4 machines?

ndicki
March 27th, 2009, 07:39
Runs on mine. (P4 2.8C) Unlike CFS, the specs are "real world". I run on the equivalent of sliders 3 to 5, and never a stutter, unless either the sky gets too full, or the effects go overboard.

Bravo/4
March 27th, 2009, 09:38
Frame rates are very good on the TW sims, one of the big things I've liked about it !

eddie
March 28th, 2009, 16:12
Frame rates are very good on the TW sims, one of the big things I've liked about it !

Jeez John, I thought you liked the sim because you Brits are taking the whole thing over,lol I mean these Brit crates are everywhere, and they seem to be multiplying! I check out this "Chipmonk" and what do I find, that they've got the whole airfield now! And to top that off, the poor Swede's are flying your "Bulldogs", Oh, the humanity of it all!!:costumes:

popsaka
March 28th, 2009, 17:39
Those are sweets fer the ol' eye balls... but where are the shadows?

eddie
March 28th, 2009, 17:47
I turned shadows off, because the new seasonal package for WoE can hit the FR's pretty good! Not that big of a deal for me, (to have the shadows on) and when you start adding in these new F18's with the high res textures, it starts to add up!:)

ndicki
March 29th, 2009, 00:31
Where did you get that Bulldog from? It looks good!

eddie
March 29th, 2009, 07:02
You can ge the Bulldog here, but you have to join first.

http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/

ndicki
March 29th, 2009, 11:25
Off to join!

ceechow
March 31st, 2009, 11:32
ndicki,I was wondering if you use the thirdwire forums...the reason i'm asking is be cause I have a small issue with WOV and tried to join the forums to get an answer.Well,the confermation code(the numbers and letters you need to type in to prove you are not a bot)kept resetting...tried it both ways lower and upper case...still couldnt join...maybe you can help me? Take a look at these two screen shots...this doesnt happen in the game just here....not a bad problem but it bugs me...how can I fix this?

ceechow
March 31st, 2009, 11:33
the right edges appear are cut off.

ndicki
March 31st, 2009, 22:28
No idea at all! Sorry. It may have to do with the way your monitor is set up, or your card settings - maybe someone else will know.

A good TW forum is at CombatAce. Admittedly, it isn't as pally as it is here - though it has its good moments! - but you'll get the answer right away. Give it a try.

ceechow
April 1st, 2009, 14:14
Ok ty m8...mounting my Thud to go drop a load om Mk85 on a bridge.

popsaka
April 1st, 2009, 17:32
Wow, that's one nice collection of aircraft....:faint:

ndicki
April 2nd, 2009, 11:10
And my "Byddin Awyr Gweriniaeth Cymru" Hawk is finished...