AAF WWII Training Fields and Aircraft

[tgycgijoes]

I got the hankerin' for resurrecting one of my favorite WWII trainers along with the Stearman while being privileged to be a part of the GAS Stearman beta team. It's Paul Clawson's Vultee BT-13 Valiant updated by Chuck Lawson to native FSX with a complete remake, textures, VC and all. It can be downloaded from a couple of online places with the textures he custom created accurately. The README is really good.

I came across a site way back when in FS9 http://www.fuselagecodes.com compiling a ton of research on the BT-13. I started flying from Coffeyville AAF which has a nice scenery in FS9 and created the correct repaint for the aircraft as well as custom XML gauges to fit the POH and a few other manuals I was able to acquire.

I want to stay on the East Coast training so my BT-13 or Basic Trainer is stationed at Greenwood AAF Mississippi where my graduate student aviators who completed their training in the (GAS) Stearman would have been ordered to from Daniel Field, GA. The texture below is how the Valiant would have looked in 1941 training RAF pilots before we got in the war on December 7, 1941. I will be doing a custom texture and also some ai BT-13a's as this project progresses.

Here is a view of the BT-13 in front of a hanger at KGOW (its current ICAO code) This airfield is currently a work in progress. It actually had 375 buildings built by the Army Corps Of Engineers but for the sake of fps's I won't quite be putting that many or a hundred or more ai aircraft either. Just enough so that it looks good and its populated. Once it is complete I will share it along with Daniel Field and the third of the trio Spence AAF in Georgia none of which have been done in WWII layout. As good as I am able in ADE-X anyway.

[dhasdell]

Remember there is also a PT-19 available. How is the AI looking? Are you getting the same strange excursions into the wilderness?

[tgycgijoes]

I never actually got "excursions into the wilderness" like Falcon409 but on Runway 11 at Daniel Field, the ai would taxi to the runway and then just sit and not takeoff and then disappear only to reappear in the air on course to the destination. Once I checked the taxi path on the runway I noticed that it only pointed to the end away from takeoff and that the runway start was misplaced. When I fixed that with a taxi loop in the direction of takeoff it is working perfectly. I do see sometimes that the Daviator Stearman does have a wide turnaround at Runway 11 into the grass but returns correctly onto the runway and takes off. All the ai communicate audibly with ATC as well which is really cool to listen to. I learned a lot this past week about AIFP and how to properly use it programming ai aircraft. There is a good manual but you still need to study and experiment. I have not checked any ai yet at Greenwood just having finished all the runways, taxiways and am in the process of assigning parking according to the b/w photo I have of the field. Also need a lot of buildings to be placed before it is finished to my satisfaction. As I place groups of buildings I will be checking fps. Right now I am getting 18s which is great for me. As far as Daniel Field, I reduced all the textures of the ai from 1024 to 512 with no visible difference to my eye and increased fps a lot. I remember that Gypsy Baron did that in the 91st for all the bombers that fly in formation to increase fps and vasi.

I did not forget the PT-19 but according to the chart they were not used at the fields that I am creating. It is a very nice aircraft and I have flown it before in FS9.

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply.