A2A release Albatros D.III (Oeffag) (Payware)

[stiz]

go get it :running::jump:

http://www.a2asimulations.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=52

[JIMJAM]

Where is the GPS :ques:

[stiz]

Where is the GPS :ques:

look out the side and read the street signs :icon_lol:

[lucas81]

Hello,

JIMJAM, because this is some pretty old design, I decided not to install a GPS in the Albatros. However, if you wish, I can prepare you the files, so you will have the GPS in the pop-up window, under shift+f3 command. On the other hand, I kept the radio panel.
Stiz, thanks for posting!
Gents, if you will have any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

Lucas

[JIMJAM]

djwaglik- Man I am kidding. BTW- I do add a gps to all my planes but when the wings are wood,covered in cloth I make a exception.
This is the US. Most have never unfolded a map. The streets are not being maintained leaving most signs unreadable. Unless you are flying betreen "Crime watch zone" and "speed checked by radar" its going to be tough lol.

Great looking plane and like their Accufeel the price is very reasonable.

[lucas81]

:D Sorry, JIMJAM. But in any case I have just made the entry in my panel.cfg :)
We are very glad that you will like it!

If may I suggest you something, then visit the Alps with this plane. Innsbruck (LOWI) or the former Oeffag factory field at Wiener-Neustadt will be perfect. As the plane served on the Italian Front during the WW1, she can be also operated from the Northern Italy, mainly in the Venice area (on the other side, the PNW will be great as well, because of the detailed mountains!)

Regards,
Lucas

PS: Hope to release the paintkit soon! :)

[lucas81]

And I would like to add one thing, since the topic has been created - I would like to thank Scott, Rob and Mike P (Empeck) from A2A for a great help and for allowing to publish this plane in the A2A/Aircraft Factory. I'd also like to thank the Beta Team who kindly tested the plane. Thank you very much, Gents!
Sorry for the double post, but I am very excited :)

Lucas

[YoYo]

Very good price from A2A, dont ask, just buy it :) !

12.99$

[RyanJames170]

i am looking forward to getting this one! i kinda hope someone dose a Folker DVII next though it was kinda the P-51 of its day.

[Roger]

Just downloading now:applause:

[Blade124]

And I would like to add one thing, since the topic has been created - I would like to thank Scott, Rob and Mike P (Empeck) from A2A for a great help and for allowing to publish this plane in the A2A/Aircraft Factory. I'd also like to thank the Beta Team who kindly tested the plane. Thank you very much, Gents!
Sorry for the double post, but I am very excited :)

Lucas

I appreciate this, but it's really us that should be thanking Lukas. Everyone on the team enjoyed his passion and attitude. And he did something that is always so difficult to do, finish a product :)

Lucas is a class act and we're proud to be distributing his product.

Scott

[Roger]

Flown the aircraft and as you know Lucas, I love bipes, military as well as civilian and this is a beautiful rendition. Photo-bucket is down for now so I'll attempt to use our attachments utility.

[lucas81]

Nice screenshot, Roger! I am very happy that you are enjoying the plane :)
If you will need to apply the engine cover, please remember to turn the engine off. Then you can apply it through the pop up panel :)
Good for bad weather and looks nicely ;)

Lucas

[OleBoy]

I'd like a BIG helping of screen shots please :)

[Dain Arns]

Screenshots:

http://www.a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=31496

[Barnes]

Great addon - Very impressive.
If anyone enjoys WWI aircraft then they, if not done so already, should try the free demo of Rise of Flight http://riseofflight.com/en

[stiz]

well worth it :applause::applause: :applause:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/Stiz987/2012-9-5_7-6-28-899copy.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/Stiz987/2012-9-5_7-4-1-415copy.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/Stiz987/2012-9-5_6-55-56-742copy.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/Stiz987/2012-9-5_6-52-34-673copy.jpg

[lucas81]

Thanks for screenshots, Stiz! :applause:

Some good news - the paintkit has been uploaded! Those are two master textures - one for the diffuse texture, one for specular.
Here: http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=31526

I will try to collect some a-c profiles which could be depicted.

Lucas

[Pips]

Superb! A must have come payday.

[MudMarine]

Payday purchase!!

[danyboy21]

Love this plane

http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshots/images/7572012_09_05_18_47_12_63.jpg

[Dain Arns]

Absolutely stunning,(and I don't think those two words describes this addon well enough).
This is totally undervalued. It's worth double, even triple the asking price of $12.99USD, IMHO.
The craftsmanship really shows how much you loved this project, Lucas.
It's just so finished and polished, through and through. What a treat!

Really felt like I was sitting in a real wooden WWI era aircraft in the VC tonight.
Any WWI or biplane enthusiast is required to have this addon in their FSX hangar. Period.

Oh, and yes, like aircraft of that era, it has no flaps or brakes.
Plan your landings accordingly. :icon_lol:

Many thanks to you, djwaglik! :salute::applause:

[Lionheart]

A work of art, Lucas! Very nice.

Coincidently, Kermit who owns a museum here in America was just flying an Albatros yesterday in England, posted it in Facebook. Now you release this! Is it tied together? Ad campaign? ;)

Looking good. I will be needing this for my hanger.




Bill

[lucas81]

Hello,

I would like to thank you for a such warm welcome and feedback! I am very happy that you are enjoying this little plane :)
Bill, I also 'like!' Kermit Weeks and saw his pictures from England. I must add that he flew totally different Albatros. He flew original, German-designed Albatros D.Va. We have a licensed built Albatros D.III. So... different nose, engine, cockpit, totally different fuselage. Austro-Hungarian markings instead of German Jastas.

I am going to start making some repaints today. I hope to create one Austro-Hungarian, but I am also thinking about the plane of Merian Cooper from "Kosciuszko Squadron" to honor this great man.

Lucas

[stiz]

just a little WIP :) flown by Godwin Brumowski at Flik 41J.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/Stiz987/2012-9-6_9-37-17-489copy.jpg

[lucas81]

Fantastic!

I wrote that already in the readme included in the paintkit, but just to explain:
Although the package represents the final version of the plane, marked "series 253", the earlier version called "series 153" was very similar. The '153' had 200HP engine (instead of 225HP) and a couple of minor changes (different trailing edge on wings). It will be not very 'historical', but the 153 version had so many beautiful paintschemes that it would be a sin not try to depict some of those :)
Stiz's Brumowski skin is from 153, but this is one of the most classic and known WW1 paint schemes. And he was a top Austro-Hungarian Ace with 35 air kills.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin_von_Brumowski

And here is an Albatros Oeffag gallery with some interesting profiles:
http://www.wwiaviation.com/gallery-austrian-Alb-DIII-Oeffag.html


Lucas

[stiz]

i actually didnt know that! :redf: o well still a nice scheme :)

[greenie]

Thank you ! ..nice flying and nice model

One thing though that surprised me , it seems that you are using the same engine sounds as Ant's Tiger Moth which is the Gipsey motor .
Are the engine sounds very close to the real thing ?

[lucas81]

Hi Greenie!

Yes, those are similar sounds. I had huge problems with collecting some good sounds of the typical Central Powers 6-cylinder inline engine. I tried to contact with few persons who made the soundpacks, but, sadly, without any feedback.
Luckily, I got permission from Donald Putnam to use his Gipsy Major sounds. I know that some replicas of German WW1 planes built in the USA are using 6-cylinder, inline, more powerful Gipsy engines. The best way would be to pay a visit to Mr. Mayrhofer in Austria who built an Oeffag replica with the original engine... Maybe one day...
If you are looking for some alternative, I may suggest the following:
- Mercedes D.III or BMW D.IIIa CFS3 sounds availble at SOH in the Netwings section. Those are CFS3 sounds and may require some additional work in the sound.cfg
- Engine sounds from the Jeanin Taube made by Full. Those are a very good sounds, too.

If you are going to do so, please remember about backing up the current sound folder by renaming it to "sound_original" or something like that.

Lucas

[greenie]

Thanks Lucas for those suggestions , I'll take a look .
I do fly Ants Tiger Moth occasionally and the same sound just doesn't feel right . The Taub I have ( another great model ) , that sound will do but I'll check out your other suggestions too . :)

[RyanJames170]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9PwNxpq87M&feature=related might give u some idea to what it sounds like



Hi Greenie!

Yes, those are similar sounds. I had huge problems with collecting some good sounds of the typical Central Powers 6-cylinder inline engine. I tried to contact with few persons who made the soundpacks, but, sadly, without any feedback.
Luckily, I got permission from Donald Putnam to use his Gipsy Major sounds. I know that some replicas of German WW1 planes built in the USA are using 6-cylinder, inline, more powerful Gipsy engines. The best way would be to pay a visit to Mr. Mayrhofer in Austria who built an Oeffag replica with the original engine... Maybe one day...
If you are looking for some alternative, I may suggest the following:
- Mercedes D.III or BMW D.IIIa CFS3 sounds availble at SOH in the Netwings section. Those are CFS3 sounds and may require some additional work in the sound.cfg
- Engine sounds from the Jeanin Taube made by Full. Those are a very good sounds, too.

If you are going to do so, please remember about backing up the current sound folder by renaming it to "sound_original" or something like that.

Lucas

[lucas81]

Exactly! This is how this plane sounds. Although this is a replica, it has an original Austro-Daimler engine.

Lucas

[RyanJames170]

Exactly! This is how this plane sounds. Although this is a replica, it has an original Austro-Daimler engine.

Lucas

i would have to say a modded version of a RR merlin engine sound set would probaly work, V12's and 6 cylinders sound about the same more or less. it has to do with the shape of the crank shaft and its firing patterns.

[lucas81]

Some WIP started long time ago. The pilots of the 13th Fighter Squadron had some huge personal emblems on the fuselage. Here - Zeus and Leda ;)

http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/9665/20129619211594.jpg

Lucas

PS: I need to find some photos of the Oeffag in Czech aviation serving as stunt plane painted in black-white checkers :)

[stiz]

gotta love the ww1 era, little to no restrictions on how you could paint your plane :)

[Bomber_12th]

First of all, absolutely exquisite work, Lucas! One can easily see that this aircraft has been worked to perfection. I love that "Zeus & Leda" paint scheme!

For sounds, I'm using those that come with Stuart Green's FS9 Fokker D.VII, though still not quite there. If anyone else is interested, the file can be found at Flightsim.com as sgfok04c.zip

Funny enough, the start up and idle sounds included in the "Early Merlin" sound set available at Britsim, are just about dead on I think, though the medium and high power sounds are just not quite there for the old straight-6.

Also, if it hasn't been posted already, here is video of the Mayrhofer Albatros D.III's first flight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f0G8ZSBEQA

[RyanJames170]

How hard would it be to make a sound set for this lovely plane using some sounds from a few diftent sound sets,

B12 I do agree the Merlin and this thing sound alot alike on idol start up and on the lower end rpm

[lucas81]

John,
thank you very, very much for such a nice opinion. I am very grateful that such a respected and talented community member likes our work.

Ryan,
Well this is doable as a kind of an "unofficial comunity addon" :) I'd had to ask the original creators of the sound packs to give the permission. I'd not worry about a freeware project, but this one is a commercial release. I wanted to use some sounds availble at SOH in the Netwings section, but the original author did not reply. So I just can not use them. This is why I am so grateful that Donald agreed to use Gipsy sounds.
Anyways, I'd love to release some update in the distant future where we would have some nice sounds.

Lucas

[greenie]

I'm currently using the Taub's sound and find it OK . Off to check out the Fokker option :running:

[RyanJames170]

maybe we can work out a freeware fix for it maybe.

i do hope one of those guys let you use the sound set later on.
i do have a idea for a few things to add, im not 100% sure if they ever had them on the DIII but a temp gage would be cool i think they had them.

also quick question but how on earth dose the real ones starter work?


John,
thank you very, very much for such a nice opinion. I am very grateful that such a respected and talented community member likes our work.

Ryan,
Well this is doable as a kind of an "unofficial comunity addon" :) I'd had to ask the original creators of the sound packs to give the permission. I'd not worry about a freeware project, but this one is a commercial release. I wanted to use some sounds availble at SOH in the Netwings section, but the original author did not reply. So I just can not use them. This is why I am so grateful that Donald agreed to use Gipsy sounds.
Anyways, I'd love to release some update in the distant future where we would have some nice sounds.

Lucas

[lucas81]

You mean how the plane was started ?
I am not sure about priming this engine (I read from some memoirs that unexperienced ground crews were pouring fuel through the exhaust pipes, lol). Once the priming was done, the pilot had to provide air pressure in the fuel tank to "push" the fuel through the lines and the prop was rotated. Inside the cockpit, the pilot had magneto switch and a hand starter. When the prop was being moved, he had to rotate the handle to start the ignition.

In general - the Central Powers planes had many "custom" installations. Many cockpit instruments were placed in a different locations. Some were equipped with additional gauges, some not.
During the WW1 you did not have cylinder heat temperature or oil temperature gauges. Instead of it you had water temperature gauge connected to the radiator line. If the water temp was cool, you had to change your engine management or close the radiator shutters to increase it. Low water temp meant the cold engine and the risk of overcooling. Most of the WW1 engines had pretty low compression ratio - something between 4,5:1 or 5,0:1. High compression engines, reaching about 200HP had a ratio of 5,5:1 or even more. The high compression, altitude engine, the BMW D.IIIa which used high octane fuel mixed with benzoleum had a compression about 7,5:1. In that times that was a lot! It was installed mostly in the famous Fokker D.VIIF

Lucas

[RyanJames170]

I'm referring to how did they crank the engine over ie a starter?

[Dain Arns]

I'm referring to how did they crank the engine over ie a starter?

Usually by hand...
(Video of vintage planes being hand propped at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome)

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EVJO5hwcqak?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

The Tailwheeler's Journal video on Hand Propping....

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/28453677" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" width="500"></iframe> Hand Propping (http://vimeo.com/28453677) from Tailwheel Town (http://vimeo.com/user7822767) on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com).

[Lionheart]

Picked it up tonight, Friday evening. Very well done model, flies great, well done cockpit.

Thanks Lucasz!

My fave paint scheme is the raw wood version with the detailed camo fabric on the wings and top of the fuselage. Very well done.


Now to find an airfield for it...




Bill
LHC

[Lionheart]

My dad and his friend were going flying (long ago) and the battery was dead in the plane. His friend had him go out and prop start it. Well, his friend had the throttle up, and when dad got it running, the vacum from the revved up engine tried to pull him in via the vacum. He hit the prop spinner (which of course was spinning) as hard as he could with the palm of his hand and it bounced him out of the vacum trap of the prop, which would have killed him.

His friend was laughing so hard inside the plane. That tells you something.

So close to death.



Bill

[griphos]

No disrespect to you or your dad's story, but no prop at any speed creates a vacuum. And if it did create a vacuum, which it can't (the laws of physics don't allow vacuums in open systems), popping a spinner with your hand wouldn't break it.

What engine was he propping? I hand prop an A-75 every time I fly. I've propped it when the throttle is set pretty high to catch the engine in a flooded situation and I've never experienced any "pull" from the moving prop. It is, of course, pulling air through the prop, but it's a much stronger force on the back side of the prop than on the front side (again, those laws of physics at work). I realize that hand-propping is pretty much uncommon for most GA pilots, so these kinds of scare stories tend to spread. But hand propping, while potentially dangerous (since, of course, you are near a fast moving blade with a fair amount of horsepower behind it) is a fully safe operation if done correctly. Now trying to prop an engine that isn't built to hand-prop, without impulse coupling, for instance, isn't fun, and could be dangerous for the engine and attached equipment, not to mention the person doing it. But the danger there is kickback and not clearing the path of the blades, which is always the main danger.

[Lionheart]

Some good fun flying this baby around.

Ive been lucky on my landings, slowing down in time for the end of the runway.




Bill

[lucas81]

Great shots, Bill, and I am very happy that you are enjoying the plane :)
As for the landings (just to make them a bit shorter), you can turn the mags off before the touchdown. This is how the pilots from Kosciuszko Squadron were landing to minimise the risk of fire (and the plane will stop much faster, too)

Lucas

PS: I hope to post two repaints today in the evening.

[lucas81]

Just to mention that I have uploaded the L. Patalas's paint scheme on the SOH.
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/local_links.php?catid=1&linkid=14309
The next one will be a plane of Merian Cooper - creator of King Kong movie - when he was a part of Kosciuszko Squadron in 1920 :)

Lucas

[Roger]

Thanks Lucas, downloading now:ernae:


In Dx10:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/rogera/dx10-2012-14.jpg

[Roger]

just a little WIP :) flown by Godwin Brumowski at Flik 41J.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/Stiz987/2012-9-6_9-37-17-489copy.jpg

Upload it Stiz,
We know it's not 100% accurate for this model but it's nice scheme and I'm sure a number of us would like to have it.

[lucas81]

Agree! I do not care about that as well. We have so many skins for the A2A Spit where some are for PR or Mk.V versions... Since the 153 series was very similar to 253, I think that it would be great to have some, including your beautiful scheme, Stiz!

Something from me:

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/1246/201299235526.jpg

Personal plane of Merian C. Cooper, VCO of 'Kosciuszko Squadron' where American voulunteer pilots were flying during the Polish-Soviet conflict between 1919-20.
It is worth reading the note about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merian_C._Cooper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merian_C._CooperAnd) as well as his fantastic biography "Living Dangerously: The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong" by Mark Cotta Vaz.
http://www.amazon.com/Living-Dangerously-Adventures-Merian-Creator/dp/1400062764/ref=la_B000APIEZS_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1347230771&sr=1-14
and this one is very interesting as well: http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Eagles-Kosciuszko-Polish-Russian-1919-1920/dp/0884980227/ref=pd_sim_b_4

Lucas

[JohnC]

My piloting has some sloppy moments, but what a fun plane to put through its paces;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTltR7MHaGA

[lucas81]

Thanks for posting the movie, John! :)
I spent hours and hours testing the aerobatics just to be sure that the main combat maneouvers are doable. Some may say that the rudder is too sensitive, but it played an important role during the sharp turns and others. The ailerons were not so effective those days and had to be supported by the rudder. Again, personally I am very happy about the fan videos :applause:

Lucas

[RyanJames170]

Thanks for posting the movie, John! :)
I spent hours and hours testing the aerobatics just to be sure that the main combat maneouvers are doable. Some may say that the rudder is too sensitive, but it played an important role during the sharp turns and others. The ailerons were not so effective those days and had to be supported by the rudder. Again, personally I am very happy about the fan videos :applause:

Lucas

yeah it dose make for a neat way to fly though,

[Bomber_12th]

Great movie, John, I enjoyed it!

Lucas, I personally love that you put as much rudder authority into it as you did, since, as you mention, turns (especially typical pattern turns) are usually done mostly with the rudder, and watching these types of aircraft fly (most all of those of the same period), pilots are able to execute very tight, mostly yawing turns using very little bank. I tend to find myself usually adding some more rudder authority when these era aircraft come out for FS (like Robert Bruce's "Brisfit"), to be more accurate in that regard, but I didn't have to do that here. When it comes to maneuvers, most of these era aircraft would have never been able to complete a roll without the rudder having enough effect to get the aircraft rolled around - I think aileron rolls were out of the question for most if not all of the aircraft of that era.

[Bomber_12th]

Some great virtual flying!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/TT%20Restored/DIII_1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/TT%20Restored/DIII_2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/TT%20Restored/DIII_3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/TT%20Restored/DIII_4.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/TT%20Restored/DIII_5.jpg

[Lionheart]

Awesome repaints! I look forward to checking those out.

:applause: :medals:

[lucas81]

Great screenshots, John!
Since Stiz released him red skin of Godwin Brumowski and I released schemes of 7 and 13 Fighter sqns of the PAF, I am going to create some Austrian ones (+ one extra on personal request) :)

Lucas

[Lionheart]

This fabric work is incredible. Looks very real.

You cant see it in the photos, but the fabric wings and tail have such a nice grain and alot of weathering done to them. The bottom view was brilliant in the sim, but the screenshot just doesnt show how rich it is.

[stiz]

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/Stiz987/2012-9-8_19-18-18-477copy.jpg

get your pretty red devil here :) http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/files/file/3125-a2a-albatros-diii-oef-15345/

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you Stiz, and Lucas, for the excellent repaints!

[lucas81]

And here comes the next one :D

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6848/2012910215636624.jpg

Should upload it soon.

Lucas

[YoYo]

How many new skins :-) . Great model with nice couple of skins and thx for the new screenshots.

[huub vink]

Thanks guys!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Huub_Vink/Oef_albatros_a1.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Huub_Vink/Oef_albatros_a2.jpg

[bentwing]

Just another word of thanks! The airplane and the repaints are great!

[rayhere48]

To bad it did not have a mounted machine gun, that would have been cool. Very sexy plane. Can't wait for paid.

[lucas81]

Thanks, Gents!

rayhere48, some Albatros Oeffag scouts had a flare pistol mounted on the upper wing - mostly in the Flight Leader planes. As for the machine guns - most were buried in the fuselage, some planes had them mounted on the top of it for an easy access.

Lucas

[lucas81]

Slowly finishing the 'additional skins' concept :) I posted some useful links for the repainters. I hope that some more will be created in the future.
In the meantime, here is another one: The Old Rhinebeck Black Baron's paint scheme from their Albatros D.Va replica. Although those are two completly different planes, I hope you will like it. It represents the "German-style" painting, I darkened the fuselage and applied slightly different crosses. This paintscheme was done as a request of the SOH community member :)

Lucas

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/9449/20129131121655.jpg

[RyanJames170]

gota say i love this plane in FSX and i love the D III in Rise of Flight... handles verry nicely

[huub vink]

Thanks for this absolutely stunning repaint Lucas! As I was't the one who requested it, I want to thank whoever made this request as well.

Hopefully this will inspire you to extend the series and create models from the Johannistal and O.A.W. D.III versions as well :icon_lol: (wishfull thinking...)

Cheers,
Huub

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/Huub_Vink/Oef_albatros_a3.jpg

[P38man]

This plane has one of the most incredibly beautiful VCs in all of FSX, somehow I did not realise this at the time of release (yes that is right I am a dummy of monumental proportions sometimes).

Really immersive and drop-dead gorgeous!!

Updated flight dynamics are wonderful, I just had a riot flying it through the Phenick barn thingy (FDE updated March this year 1.1)
http://a2asimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=34161

I mistakenly assumed it couldn't be that good because of the price (I know I know - as the Oracle said to Neo "Not that bright, though").

It is worth 3 times as much as the price.

Better late than never.

Thanks so much Lucas! :salute:

[YoYo]

Yep. O Flightsim is a new review of this Bird: http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/content.php?14319-Review-Albatros-D-III-From-Aircraft-Factory

http://www.flightsim.com/images/reviews/albadiii/header.jpg