Ferry_vO
Retired SOH Administrator

:icon_lol::icon_lol: You have another few days then !

The Hudson Expansion Pack will be available from my webshop next week. Separate donations for Simon can be made there too.... there's a little graphic on the right to click on). The Expansion Pack will cost 5 Euros (ex VAT) and will need the full pack as prerequisite.

My view is that in the early films the SW Universe was still mostly at peace, so to go from that state to it falling into darkness, some comic relief etc. had to be introduced. If you look at the second trilogy it's great how the look transforms as events take place.

Dead Island. Love it!

Yes, I bought that during the previous sale, especially for the Belgian and German models. Slightly disappointed with all models having the same cabin interior but still great value.

I checked my back-ups and found an impressive list of Dutch F-16 paints but that particular one wasn't included..

Yep..... It was one of the first add-ons I bought, and I had every Dutch F-16 paint I could find installed. Had about 130 entries I believe! :icon_lol: Now if I compare it to the Aerosoft FsX F-16 or even Olsson's F-16 it does look outdated. Still had a lot of fun with it in Fs9 though!

Interesting to check the ICAO codes and see where those aircraft were going to. The 3 in the Cub picture came out of our target, HKJK: Jomo Kenyatta International. That main airport of Nairobi had only opened in 1958 and was originally called Embakasi (Kenyatta led the independence struggle against the British, so they had to leave before the airport was named after him). The British United Britannia had originally come from EGKK, London Gatwick. The Cub itself was going to FZRM, Kabalo in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (the 'Z' dates back to when it had the snappier name Zaire). In 1961 that was just on the verge of ceasing to be the Belgian Congo (more about that later, the Ladybird party will eventually pass through). The other two in the Cub shot are both going to what is now Malawi: FWCL, Chileka International, and FWLI, Lilongwe, the capital. In 1961 Malawi was still Nyasaland, yet another British colony. Big mountains way ahead: I think that was Mount Kenya/Kirinyaga straight in front, north of Nairobi. It's about 5199 metres high according to my atlas. Off to starboard:

Safe at Reno. Lot of headwind and a bit of a grind through the desert though. Not the most enjoyable segment of the circuit. Flight Time: 01:16:01 Fuel Consumed: 166.6 lbs http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=O62KsdljOZA0QIGWFJKJoQjpB8

Up next, L06 to 4SD Reno.

This is realistic because our Comet VP-KPJ was one of the first two (out of a total of 7) that EAA ordered in 1958 and took into service in 1960. It made sense, of course, to use the same aircraft type that BOAC had already established on their main routes. You probably noticed that we left from RW30 where we landed in the BOAC Britannia, so were facing north. Though Comets can climb very quickly, we were sent a long way in the opposite direction, away from our destination, before being instructed to turn and head in the right direction! That gave some fine views of the airport when we flew back over it:

:applause: :applause: :applause:

The best were built by Xesa..... I think they may still be in business: http://www.xesasystems.com/

Simon has sent me an update on the panel and I will make it avaiable as soon as I have tested and packaged it. ut not sure it will solve THIS particular problem :kilroy:

Next stop in the Ladybird book was Nairobi. In 1953 the British had formed an East African Federation of Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika (today's Tanzania; you can see the Federation flag at their airports in these shots). This had its own airline, East African Airways which outlived those countries gaining their independence in the early '60s before they also formed independent airlines in the '70s. It seemed a good idea to link the three capitals Dar-Es-Salaam, Nairobi and Kampala/Entebbe with a flight that went on up to Khartoum and eventually Rome and London (sometimes via Benghazi, Libya when the British weren't so welcome in Cairo). I was thinking of catching the old EAA601 Britannia for this leg, but don't have a flyable version in East African livery, so we'll just have to slum it in the slightly later Comet 4, Flight EC715: (There was also a C-47 which had two stops in between the capitals, but we'll get enough Dakotas as it is, and don't want to go to Jinja and Kisumu.) Going by Comet is lovely, but you have the same problem they had in reality: the cities are so close that it's hardly worth using an aircraft designed for much longer-haul flights. Nor did the Comet fly so beautifully at only 15000 feet! Noticed in the background, typical British freight/charter operators who dominated East Africa at this time - it'll be French and Belgians in the West:

Yes, I had stopped the carrier to save the flight with an aircraft on deck and forgot to get it moving again. The extra 20 knots would have made it a bit easier.

I've tried this years ago in Fs8, lets see if I can recreate it in FsX...: Didn't land it there, I don't think that would work, so I flew a helicopter in and switched to the C-17. 20% fuel load, no cargo and only the two pilots on board. Wing clearance might be a problem:

Here's hoping ! :applause:

Weather forecast improving a lot for Sunday!

:icon_lol: Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to settle for pictures ;-)

That's an impressive list Mike! I've bought a few helicopters over the years; from Alphasim/Virtavia I have the AH-64D, Merlin, Seasprite, Pave low, Sea King and now the CH-53. I prefer these heavier types over the light helicopters. Much stabler and easier to fly. The Nemeth/Milviz Skycrane/Tarhe is another one I really like.

I'll have my motorcycle rain gear, Nina has an umbrella..... we'll manage :-) See you on Sunday !

Bring an umbrella...... The weather's showing little signs of improvement over the weekend unfortunately..! Still going though, wouldn't want to miss it! As for the others: I know Ome Joop (André) was interested, as was Cees Donker and Warrant but I haven't heard from them in a while.

I think it was a mockup Mike. Here is the only other photo I have- Maybe Wout has something?

Tops! Printed ! and.... <blush>.... Ferry mentioned it in his original post already. I forgot ...... See ya Sunday !

http://militracks.nl/militracks-tickets/ You even get a discount ;-) R.

Landed just ahead of the real life storms bearing down. Eek! At L06. Flight Time: 00:30:54 Fuel Consumed: 57.3 lbs http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=k2xMb6KDUjtafDtT91HTrJ348

Heading into Death Valley, L06.

Nice, I like it. Let me know when you release it. :-) Craig.

E-tickets? Where do I get those !?

Take care man. R.

Hi Huub, yes, they are made of aerial photographs of 1946, pretty much showing the 'scenery layout' as it was in 1944. The ground textures are commercial, but my before, during and after sceneries are (mainly) freeware.

:bump::bump: Bumpetiebump E-tickets are on my disk ready to be printed tomorrow. I'm coming with my son, a friend and his son. We'll see each other there, I guess, and maybe some more people. Cheers, Rob

Back to the days of reading the 'Tangy et Laverdure' comics, and I remember building a two-seater Mirage III model (Matchbox I think..?) back then. One of the most beautiful aircraft ever made!

I have it as a Spanish Siebel. Bien Senior. :icon29:

http://www.sugarpinecafe.com/

Bill is one of the nicest guys I have run across is this hobby of ours. Not to mention all his great aircraft! As it happens, I'm racing his Bellanca Viking in our Western Roundup 2013 event right now (See header at the top of this page). I wish Bill nothing but success in all his design projects. Kevin

Welp, this one was a little off the beaten path. It's a Compagnia Nazionale Aeronautica (CNA) 25. Mike was sniffing around the right country. Onward and upward with a small twin...

Thanks Bill. Trying hard ;-)

Agreed Jag. Would have picked up the B-45 had it been for FS2004.

My houses now moved to FSX..... testing......... works.... (all nice models courtesy of Mark !)

AND that's also why flight simulation still is a popular hobby here..... :wavey: Glad you like the Sling :-)

Britannias are fun on the simulator, but in reality they had quite a lot of trouble with their Bristol Proteus engines and were quite sensitive to the African heat. Not very much at Entebbe around 7.00 in the morning when we arrived: There were a couple of nice Dragon Rapides there:

Inverted six yes, but not an Alfa Romeo. This particular engine showed up in three different aircraft- all from the same builder. First flight in 1938 and was left for dead by the end of 1940.