Flight Replicas announces next release...

[mike_cyul]

Flight Replicas is pleased to announce that the next release will be the L-4 Grasshopper.

The L-4 has to be one of least recognized of the major frontline combat aircraft of WWII. The L-4 was assigned to the AGF (Army Fround Forces) as artillery spotters, and flew some of the most hazardous missions of the War, from D-Day on, directing the artillery barrages as the front lines advanced, throughout all theatres of operations: Europe, Africa and the Far East. Day in and day out, in all weather, at low altitude, L-4 crews flew over enemy front lines for several hours every single day, not just directing artillery but conducting reconnaissance and rescue missions. It was not uncommon to find themselves up against several enemy fighters (such as the Bf-109) at a time, and L-4 pilots developed some extraordinary low-level nap-of-the-earth evasion tactics to handle these rather unequal situations. The story of L-4 combat operations is worthy of a major film, and yet it's quite possible you may never have heard of these operations, or just think of L-4's as hacks performing menial transportation duties. Not so.

Just as an example, the First US Army in Normandy alone had over 260 L-4's in combat operations. From D-Day to the end of July 1944 (approximately 7 weeks) they flew over 14,000 flight hours, losing 49 aircraft and 34 pilots. And L-4 pilots did not have a number-of-missions limit, like other combat crews: they just kept flying.

Over 5000 of these aircraft were produced in WWII. Such was their effectiveness that they also went on to fly in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

In Europe after WII, the L-4's were mostly sold off to local flying clubs, and there are still hundreds of these genuine warbirds still flying as GA aircraft today.

The Flight Replicas package will include AGF Artillery Spotting and USAAF and RAAF Liaison aircraft, plus two present-day GA versions: one as a restored aircraft (representing the aircraft of Paul Smith, an L-4 owner and restorer in Maryland, USA, who was instrumental in assuring the accuracy of this model) and another as a general sport airplane. Paul Smith's own L-4 has an astonishing history, very representative of many L-4's. This history will be included in the package Manual.

There will also be a paintkit.

Still some work to do, but the model itself is almost done. One thing you can note in these screenshots is that the BC-659 radio telescoping whip-antenna actually bends with the airflow, just like the real one did.

Mike

[Panther_99FS]

:applause::ernae::applause:

[GT182]

Paul Smith usually flies his L-4 up to MAAM's WWII Weekend every year. And it is a nice one too.

[mike_cyul]

Paul Smith usually flies his L-4 up to MAAM's WWII Weekend every year. And it is a nice one too.

Just got it's new post-restoration C of A, and did it's first flight (again!) on Thursday. :)


Mike

[N2056]

:applause::applause::applause:
A sure winner! The detail is amazing - very nice work :mixedsmi:

[MudMarine]

Very Cool!! I love the planes Mike picks!!

[gajit]

:jump: yes - excellent choice :jump:

[grunau_baby]

:applause::wiggle::applause:

[S]

Bravo!

[Bone]

Awesome.

[stiz]

sold! :jump: :jump: :jump::applause:

[mike_cyul]

If you're interested in learning more about the L-4's in real life, here are some good links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f5qK-HwbTc

http://www.warbirds-eaa.org/featured/1Featured%20Articles%20-%20Vol.30,%20No.%2004%20-%20June%202007%20The%20L-4%
20Grasshopper.pdf

http://www.3ad.com/history/wwll/feature.pages/piper.cubs.htm

Try and get in close and read the magazine article here:

http://donereachwest.com/was/was2.htm


This is an impressive slideshow, about one liaison pilot, Lt.Col. John T.Walker. Lots of L-4 and L-5 pictures:

http://news.webshots.com/photo/1537185340051634853sXMHdx


Mike

[dominique]

Superb :medals: !

[mike_cyul]

I may also interest you to know that Ted (our own 'texnetcop'), flew over 50 hours in the L-4 in Vietnam, as a Military Police Observer - but believe me, that's a pretty mundane title for what he actually did, including night ops and detecting camouflaged enemy positions.

Ted, needless to say, has been an essential beta tester on this project. Can't thank him enough! Would have included this in the first post here, but only just got Ted's permission to tell you.

We're also working on doing a texture to represent the aircraft Ted flew in, based on his recollections as no photos have come to light as of yet. If you happen to know of any photos of L-4's in Vietnam, please let Ted or I know.

Mike

[Dain Arns]

Outstanding! :applause: That is a must have for me, the "Office" looks great. :jump:

[txnetcop]

Hey if any of you guys served in any capacity with 6th Ranger Bien Hoa III Corp/CTZ we are looking for markings on the only L4 they had (Owned by the ARVN Air Force) that was used for starlight spotting at night during the Tet Offensive. It was different than the markings of the L18 and L19 and O-1A-B they used. The marking had a yellow band with black checkerboarding vertically at an angle on the rear of the fuselage just before the tail. The tail had a marking pK just before the elevator-small p large K in light grey lettering. The US star was in black camo instead red white and blue. If anyone has a picture of the Tired Old Dog I would really appreciate it. I have asked Mike to make this paint.

As for flight characteristics Mike did an authentic job on this. You can almost smell it while you fly. The Pilot side window slides down and you open both sides exactly as you would the original. From the prop to the rudder this is a first class aircraft.

Thanks Mike for the memories
Ted



I may also interest you to know that Ted (our own 'texnetcop'), flew over 50 hours in the L-4 in Vietnam, as a Military Police Observer - but believe me, that's a pretty mundane title for what he actually did, including night ops and detecting camouflaged enemy positions.

Ted, needless to say, has been an essential beta tester on this project. Can't thank him enough! Would have included this in the first post here, but only just got Ted's permission to tell you.

We're also working on doing a texture to represent the aircraft Ted flew in, based on his recollections as no photos have come to light as of yet. If you happen to know of any photos of L-4's in Vietnam, please let Ted or I know.

Mike

[Roger]

This will do very nicely...looking superb Mike!:applause:

[harleyman]

I may also interest you to know that Ted (our own 'texnetcop'), flew over 50 hours in the L-4 in Vietnam, as a Military Police Observer - but believe me, that's a pretty mundane title for what he actually did, including night ops and detecting camouflaged enemy positions.

Ted, needless to say, has been an essential beta tester on this project. Can't thank him enough! Would have included this in the first post here, but only just got Ted's permission to tell you.

We're also working on doing a texture to represent the aircraft Ted flew in, based on his recollections as no photos have come to light as of yet. If you happen to know of any photos of L-4's in Vietnam, please let Ted or I know.

Mike



That old Ted guy is a man of many talents........:d

If Ted flew it I'm sure its seen better days....:costumes::costumes:

[MCDesigns]

:ernae::ernae::ernae:

[Ferry_vO]

An unexpected but very good choice of aircraft to model IMHO!

:applause:

[txnetcop]

That old Ted guy is a man of many talents........:d

If Ted flew it I'm sure its seen better days....:costumes::costumes:

In all honesty I was not the designated pilot. I was the observer. However I was given a fantastic flight school under sometimes stressful conditions by a man of great courage whom I deeply admired.

I can tell you this much, that I am here and still kickin is a testament to the sturdiness of the L4 and very bullet-ridden L18-B. My understanding is that the L4 was owned by the French who left it behind in 1954. It was reconditioned several times-at least I guess you would consider that plane reconditioned (it rattled and vibrated a lot). The funny thing was they were buying war surplus engines and parts for the four remaining L4s in country from the French who had been defeated.

After my brief tour I was assigned as liason to a ROK unit in Korea after the USS Pueblo was taken and they were still using some old L4s old Bell H-13 choppers from the Korean War for spotting and observation-they just wouldn't die-tough little bird. I was ground only then and unfortunately did not get to pilot again until after I left the service.

Mike's rendition of the L4 is as close as we are going to come to flying these wonderful old birds. It was a brief love affair but a love affair none the less. Again, thank you for this excellent aircraft, Mike.
Ted

[MudMarine]

In all honesty I was not the designated pilot. I was the observer. However I was given a fantastic flight school under sometimes stressful conditions by a man of great courage whom I deeply admired.

I can tell you this much, that I am here and still kickin is a testament to the sturdiness of the L4 and very bullet-ridden L18-B. My understanding is that the L4 was owned by the French who left it behind in 1954. It was reconditioned several times-at least I guess you would consider that plane reconditioned (it rattled and vibrated a lot). The funny thing was they were buying war surplus engines and parts for the four remaining L4s in country from the French who had been defeated.

After my brief tour I was assigned as liason to a ROK unit in Korea after the USS Pueblo was taken and they were still using some old L4s old Bell H-13 choppers from the Korean War for spotting and observation-they just wouldn't die-tough little bird. I was ground only then and unfortunately did not get to pilot again until after I left the service.

Mike's rendition of the L4 is as close as we are going to come to flying these wonderful old birds. It was a brief love affair but a love affair none the less. Again, thank you for this excellent aircraft, Mike.
Ted

Ted, good stuff!! Thank you!!:applause:

[Bomber_12th]

Man Mike, that looks great! I have longed for an L-4 like yours. I even have a prop off an L-4 hanging on my wall right now, that looks exactly like the example that you have reproduced. I think this will fill a major gap for many folks.

[MudMarine]

I'll have to do some research on the Navy/Marine Corps ones that flew over Iwo Jima. I think that would make a cool paint!

[huub vink]

Really beautiful Mike! The model looks great, most likely it will be a great flyer, but the crew is really astonishing!

Huub

[Panther_99FS]

Mike,
You also gonna have a "dirty" paint too :ques: :d

[mike_cyul]

Mike,
You also gonna have a "dirty" paint too :ques: :d

Thanks everybody, for the nice comments!

They never seem to look that dirty, especially from a distance. So far, I've never seen chipped paint on an L-4, either, inside or out. The schemes all have weathering that I assumed would be appropriate, after looking closely at photographs. If you look up close at the screenshots, you should see some weathering and dirt, but, just as with the real aircraft, when you get some distance it seems to mostly disappear.

The Bougainville scheme is the most weathered, with its extreme heat, humidity and combat airfield environment.

How dirty do you want 'em? :)

Unless you're referring to 'scantily clad young ladies'.... which seldom appeared on L-4's, I'm afraid. :d

Mike

[scotsman]

Hi Mike,

First I thought it would only be "the next Cub" in a long line - but yours seems to be the ultimate one.
Here's a bit o' dirt:
http://www.armywingsandwheels.com/res/Army%20Wings%20and%20Wheels%202008/target306.html
BTW - some more interesting pics of L-4 veterans on that page.
Looking forward to flying a payware bird:costumes:

Mike

[mike_cyul]

Hi Mike. This is the kind of dirt I have on there, and I'll probably leave it at that. A couple of good puddles, ground crew who love their aircraft....:d

Mike

[scotsman]

Well done:costumes:
Mike

[Lionheart]

Awesome work Mike!

You are trully an artist at making these virtual beauties. I love the strengthening ribbing on the tank under the front panel. Awesome attention to scaling. And that panel is brilliant....

:ernae: :applause: :medals: :applause: :ernae:


Bill

[Epsillon]

Absolutely stunning! :applause::applause::applause:

[Lionheart]

There is a brilliant article on this very type of Piper in the latest issue of the EAA magazine. One has been totally restored. Same rivets! I was really impressed at how Mikes Piper mirrors it so well...

:ernae:



Bill

[Doolittleraiders]

Makes me wish I had FSX... Only FS 2004 here.

Ryan