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Possible new Caudron G.4 Bomber/observer
Hello Folks,
I was trying out the 1915 Caudron G.4 bomber-observer model I had made for FS98 twelve years ago, testing it for
bleeds, and despite all the struts, spars and wires, it seems they are within manageable limits, possibly even
being improvable.
Iīm planning to rig up the Caudron G.4 for CFS1 by putting in the two swiveling Lewis machineguns it had, one firing
forwards and one backwards, and equip it with the bombload of 3 internal 83 lb bombs. The guns make this bomber
an excellent candidate to be used with TG2, so it should be fun.
As per one source:
" ... Bombs were dropped by the observer through metal trapdoor shaped like door of a rolltop desk. Observer, using
the "oculaire" or eyeball technique, could ease the door back to take pictures or drop 3 slender bombs that were hung
on leather straps in the cockpit. ...".
Then, from a technical point of view, this slow-flying aircraft (82 mph top speed) had very interesting engines, which
work nicely in the CFS1 .air file. They are Le Rhône rotaries, whose animation also comes through very well.
Driving 10-foot-diameter, fixed pitch wooden propellers, the engines were rated at 80 Hp at 1200 RPM, although factory
specs state that maximum performance was 92 Hp at 1300 RPM. The necessary engine and propeller adjustments in the
.air file yield a very satisfactory result at S.L. of 82.3 mph with 92 Hp at 1301 RPM and 28.9 Hg.
Its climbing and altitude performance (13000 ft ceiling) was also very appreciable for the time, and this also comes
through very well in CFS1.
Hereīs a screenshot.
I expect there could be some interest for an upload...
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp
3 Attachment(s)
Biplane Struts / Wings bleed problem
Hello all,
Thereīs one specific type of bleed-problem Iīve been trying to deal with for years now, again and again,
to no avail, namely the interaction on biplanes between wingstruts and landinggear struts, and the wings.
The best solution is always to place the top wing in Canopy-High Wing, and have the struts in Wing Mid left/right
and/or Inner Wing Mid Left/right, and the lower wing in Wing Low.
However, there always seems to be one or two angles at which what is shown in the screenshot happens, and as yet,
it seems totally unavoidable. Additionally, the more the wing curves downwards, (obviously), the worse it becomes.
Other groupings with glue-sequencing without using Canopy High-Wing, can prevent this problem, at the price of worse
things happening with other elements such as engines, cowlings, and also struts, but in different ways.
So, it seems that we are landed with the lesser evil here, and some viewing angles simply MUST be avoided. A pity,
because otherwise, these old vintage contraptions come out looking quite good in the simulator. Too bad, ...unless of
course, there is something Iīm missing, that perhaps someone has succesfully tried out that I havenīt!
...but then, not many build biplanes nowadays...
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp
2 Attachment(s)
Another possibility, another chance.
Hello all,
I was quite disappointed at the impossibility of supplying a properly SCASMed Le Rhône Rotary powered Caudron G.4 for reasons previously expressed, and that my other version, the FS98 Anzani Radial powered one, was a bit boring-looking, lacking the attractive feature of the animated rotary engine.
The Anzani engines on my old model were made with the same 12-sided cross-section structures as the Rotaries, with an engine bitmap on them, but donīt turn and are un-cowled. A model with this kind of engine-build would (most probably) not be rejected by SCASM, but would look rather dull, and that was the reason for my reticence for the job.
However, now I remember the very good-looking radial engines I built for the Stearman 45 series, with instruction from Ivan. They were made out of 2 components, with properly shaped cylinders and crank-case, in 7-cyl and 9-cyl versions.
Here is a screenshot of my old Anzani-powered model with its bitmapped, circular structure engine, compared to the Stearman PT-13 with the component-built engine - also bitmapped.
I find the properly built radial engine sufficiently attractive to warrant a try at a CFS1 upgrade of the Anazani powered Caudron G.4. Being un-cowled and not animated, it will most probably not present any modification problems.
So, possibly, we WILL get a CFS1 Caudron G.4. This change in plans, at least for me, and probably also for some, is very pleasing indeed!
P.S. It will be an interesting engine to build - 10 cylinders in two rows, so alternate cylinders are staggered, and thereīs a split exhaust ring. Letīs see how that comes through on the engine component.
The performance increase due to the 20 Hp extra engine power thanks to the extra cylinder, although not documented in any sources, comes through in the simulator as an overall gain in speed of a little over 3 mph, which is interesting and probably to be expected.
A large numbers of Le Rhône rotary powered Caudron G.4īs were re-engined with Anzani Radials, but how many, is unknown.
Also, twelve Anzani-engined units were apparently licence-built in England in 1913, reportedly giving very good results.
A 1913 article in "Illustrated War News" described it as an "immense improvement in the construction of British aircraft" and that "...it can climb very rapidly and attains high speed.".
Anyway, letīs see if it comes out nicely!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp
Quite uncanny - no good either!
Hello all,
This is getting very uncanny and quite unnerving with the mods. SCASM still wonīt have it!http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ies/rocket.gif
Parts-count on the uncowled Anzani version during improvement work, as yet WITHOUT the engine components, has never been over 125% parts, and after fitting out the model with the gun and crew, I got the same unnerving SCASM error messages after Aircraft Animator had animated the model:
-> Invalid BGL EOF Byte
-> .MDL File format not recognized
As before, although I hadnīt mentioned it yet, this happens with the animated model file.
The non-animated model is accepted by SCASM, but thereīs no point in that, is there?
Obviously it had nothing to do with the many cowl-panels on the other model, because this one hasnīt got any.
Evidently it is something else, and it must be something that can be tracked down step by step during the modification work, but will involve tedious testing for SCASM errors at every step.
Consequently, in theory at least, BOTH models should be possible - the rotary engined one and the radial-engined one with the planned new sophisticated engine components, unless SCASM has a personal grudge http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...on_twisted.gif against twin-engined, strutted fuselage type sesquiplanes!!
... although SCASM does accept both of the original, unmodified FS98 animated .mdl files.
I just want to improve them and put in a Lewis gun!!
Well, this is not just a normal CFS1 upgrade of a FS98 model, but quite a challenging project, which MUST be possible!
Anyway, I have no other interesting model to work on at the moment, so Iīll see if I can beat the darn thing, even if it takes a long time!http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum.../tommygun2.gif
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp