AH Avro Lancaster for FSX/P3D (preview)

[Anthin]

I have seen G for George numerous times
Bazz but was never in it . I bet that will be a
memory never to get. It is a bit hard for me to get
to the War Memorial these days as I live down in Greenway .

The city is too far for my mobility scooter.

Anthin.

[Josh Patterson]

You've probably seen the Vulcan as well. That's something I'll sadly never see. The Hornet will be interesting, but the crew doing it have become adept at restoring Mosquitos (even making a replica) but still there wasn't much left of it. The folks at MAAM had more to work with with their battered P-61. (And that really isn't saying much! Check out the Widow's Web photo gallery and compare how it looks now to what it looked like when they pulled it off the mountain in New Guinea!) If the Black Widow proves anything, it's that planes lives are not finite. There's nothing on them that can't be remade, it just depends on if you want to spend the money. I wouldn't give up on the Canadian Lanc just yet! (Point of example, the Flying Heritage Collection will be flying an authentic Me-262 with Jumo 004 engines..Almost. They spent the money to have the Jumo internals rebuilt with modern alloys. I can't IMAGINE that bill! They will still behave and sound like the real deal, but I think the TBO will have jumped a few hours because they won't be burning out the relatively shoddy materials of fledgling jet technology!)

[Pips]

Lovely chubbly. Made a note of this. Sign me up!

[Odie]

Okay, time to break out the rolodex of excuses "for errant charges on the plastic" because it looks like Baz has a steady line-up of wonderful a/c for 2018! The ground crew is always delighted when another AH model shows up. This one looks like a winner, Baz! Keep'em coming!

[simondix]

That might be a bridge too far.
You could always ask on the developers site.

Just for anybody who may be interested. I sent an E-Mail and got a very prompt reply. No they have no plans for a Lancastrian. Shame, but I live in hope as I want to totally migrate to P3Dv4.

[IanHenry]

For anyone interested in the Lancaster I'd highly recommend Mike Rossiter's book Bomber Flight Berlin, a story of a multi national Lancaster crew who survived two tours of duty together. It also highlights the true horrors of modern warfare, with unbelievable numbers of civilian and bomber crew casualties.

Ian

[ak416]

Looking forward to this one! I am lucky enough to have a Lancaster fly over my house every weekend in the summer months. Still run to the window to get a peak, really brings the kid out of ya

[dhasdell]

I'd highly recommend Mike Rossiter's book Bomber Flight Berlin

If we are recommending books, then Miles Tripp's The Eighth Passenger is worth a look. He gets in touch with his old crew after the war and discusses how affected by fear, the eighth passenger, they had really been beneath the surface. Another excellent read while we wait for Bazzar to do his stuff is Jack Currie's Lancaster Target.

(Bazzar - these are not for you. You have far too much to do!)

David

[DickB]

A new Lanc is definitely a cause for celebration. There is an enormous amount of information out there, so there is no reason why the exterior and interior model should not be accurate. But where some previous versions have fallen short is in the flight and ground handling characteristics. I'd be interested to know what plans the developers have to validate these aspects of their model e.g. with current or past Lancaster flight crew.

[bazzar]

WIP pics of the two front offices. In the turret shot you can see the arming wire used to pull the ammunition belt through the feeder and into the breech of the gun. We've modeled the left gun to show the system in use. You can just see the hook in the link at the feeder end just before it enters the mount and the wire exiting the open breech cover. A similar but shorter wire with a "t" handle and ring was used to cock the guns. The turret gunners had a lot of preparation work to do before a flight.

[bazzar]

F24 Camera and bombing computor.

[strykerpsg]

Baz, absolutely beautiful interior. So, if I understand you correctly, most everything seen in operable in the turrets and cockpit? I will buy this as soon as its out.

[bazzar]

Well, we'll be animating a lot of stuff but there is unfortunately a cap on amimation calls in FS and with main cockpit, radio station, nav station etc. to add, we'll need to be selective.

[DaveWG]

Very nice. Great work there Baz.

[strykerpsg]

One other question please. With the amount of detail you are showing, will there be an AI type autopilot to allow one to move into the various positions and enjoy all the beautiful stuff you and team have created and put into this forthcoming gem?

[Bjoern]

Well, we'll be animating a lot of stuff but there is unfortunately a cap on amimation calls in FS and with main cockpit, radio station, nav station etc. to add, we'll need to be selective.

There's no such limit for visibilities, so switching between visual on/off states for switches is an alternative.

[bazzar]

3D visibility switching requires twice the amount of geometry. On and off states both require geometry and mouse rectangles. The VC10 had close to 700 individual animations which we had to cull before it would run. The Lanc will certainly be close to that figure.

[bazzar]

One other question please. With the amount of detail you are showing, will there be an AI type autopilot to allow one to move into the various positions and enjoy all the beautiful stuff you and team have created and put into this forthcoming gem?

Well, the bombroom has a degree of proportional control anyway so that the bombardier can adjust final course, aircraft trim etc. But we will probably fit a dummy autopilot so that you can "fly" from all stations. As we get into this we will have more updates on what actually happens in those stations.

[hairyspin]

I hope Tail End Charlie, the rear gunner, gets his office too. I met a real Tail End Charlie once who had done 26 ops when the war ended. I remarked he must have been glad: he replied, with feeling, that he was!

[hairyspin]

...The VC10 had close to 700 individual animations which we had to cull before it would run. The Lanc will certainly be close to that figure.

Bill Leaming reported some years ago a limit of little over 500 animations in an FSX model, iirc.

[bazzar]

It's on the list but only after the other stations. There's more equipment in the tail turret than in the front or upper mid. Not to mention four machine guns and their belt feeds.

[bazzar]

Bill Leaming reported some years ago a limit of little over 500 animations in an FSX model, iirc.

Yes that's right. With a little smoke and mirrors you can improve that but not by a great deal. I believe one major developer has asked LM to look at the issue.

[wombat666]

Well, the bombroom has a degree of proportional control anyway so that the bombardier can adjust final course, aircraft trim etc. But we will probably fit a dummy autopilot so that you can "fly" from all stations. As we get into this we will have more updates on what actually happens in those stations.

'Bombardier'????????

Really Baz, 'Bomb Aimer' please, no 'Bombardiers' in the Royal Air Force.
Looking forward as usual to another classic AH masterpiece.

[bazzar]

Sorry matey but in official RAF training films they refer to the bomb aimer as a bombardier.I believe the term goes back as far as Waterloo and all that.

[jankees]

for those that want to get an idea what it was to be a Lancaster pilot, I heartily recommend a comic by Belgian artist Marvano called the Seven Dwarfs



outstanding story explaining the horrors of these flights, and it's available in English on amazon.