Conspicuous by Their Absence

[Josh Patterson]

Hello Smilo, Aleatorylamp,
Yes, this does have a "Crimson Skies" look to it, very much like the screenshot attached.
(That was an "aeroplane" that I did some editing on for the old JG 57 crew many years back.)

I now have my Curtiss Engineering Team working on a study on how to go about building such an aeroplane.
They have recognized that although the mock-up shows two Merlin engines, those engines will not be available in production quantities and this aeroplane will need to use Allison engines.
It will be using an auxiliary supercharger as on the P-63 King Cobra instead of a turbo supercharger as on the P-38 Lightning and altitude performance will be considerably better than the standard P-40.
The Wing will need to be much larger than found on the mock-up because with an additional engine and fuel, the aircraft will weigh at least a couple thousand pounds more than the P-40.
The other obvious issue is that if two engines are installed ahead of the center of gravity instead of just one engine, the balance of the aeroplane will be quite different.

The problem of balancing the aeroplane is probably the most difficult without a serious redesign at which point, the original concept would be lost.

- Ivan.

Actually IRIS did a twin P-40 that looks quite a bit like the model in the upper right hand corner of the picture in ale's post but I don't know if one was created for CFS. (I'm running a version in FSX.) It is freeware. (Maybe could be ported to CFS?)

[smilo]

am looking at the crimson skies box
and see what could be an A6M Type Zero twin,
or something really close.
but, that's not the subject here, is it?

[Ivan]

Actually IRIS did a twin P-40 that looks quite a bit like the model in the upper right hand corner of the picture in ale's post but I don't know if one was created for CFS. (I'm running a version in FSX.) It is freeware. (Maybe could be ported to CFS?)

Hello Josh,

Thanks for the information. I found a couple images of their "P-40 Experiments" which look interesting.
CFS uses a much older model format, so I doubt the model would be portable but I am glad someone else also built this aeroplane. You are right, it doesn't look like they changed it much from the shape of the mock-up.


Hello Smilo,

Nothing wrong with discussing a twin engine A6M Type Zero.

- Ivan.

[smilo]

i decided to ask mr google
and apparently, crimson skies is also on xbox.
who knew? i surely didn't.
anyway, here's the "zero twin" i spoke of.
if one wanted to call it a zero twin.
i guess, it's more of just the twin concept.
i like the twin boom, but, am not a fan
of the twin cockpit idea.
but, that doesn't apply to the p-40 twin, does it?
again, my apologies for getting off track.

ps, i believe you are correct,
in that newer sim models don't work in cfs1.
some from cfs2 will work, but,
there's the issue with model z buffering.
or, should i say the lack of it in cfs1.
for example, i can build a model with ad2k
and drop it into fs2000 or cfs2 and it looks fine.
but, if i drop the same model into cfs1,
the parts look like a bleeding mess,
unless, i manually enter each part's sequence coding.
z buffering built into the newer sims does the sequencing for me.

[Ivan]

Hello Smilo,

I had no idea that was the one you meant. I actually have a copy of Crimson Skies still in the box in my Son's closet.
I don't think I ever opened the box after I bought it many years ago.

My problem with this project as with many others is that it has to meet certain standards and I already am running ino some conceptual problems. I tend to get there a lot which is why so many of my other projects get stuck somewhere in the contruction pipeline. The Ki 61 is about to go through a minor change in texture layouts because of an issue that I found when laying out the textures. It isn't visible, but I know it is there, so I won't be satisfied until I know I have addressed the issue.

Building the Twin Warhawk visual model is actually pretty trivial because I have all kinds of pieces for the P-40 series of aeroplanes. The problem is one of plausibility in my mind.
One of my "requirements" is that the profile of the new model be as close as possible to the standard P-40 which puts a slight limitation on what I "can" do.

I thought about the Center of Gravity problem a bit and may have come up with a creative solution. It may look a bit weird but I won't know until I try out a few drawings.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
My texture-specialist friend Udo Entenmann contacted me re. the P-47D that was recovered from an Austrian lake after 60 years, and has recently been fully restored into flying condition.
It flew again in July last year!
Please see attached photo, and more info on this page:
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-482093-1.html)

As you have built a couple of excellent P-47D models, Udo is planning to make some new metallic textures incl. nose art, correspoding to the restored Bubbletop model, specifically for FS98, but of course also for CFS1.

However, being a CFS model, there are certain canopy transparency incompatibility issues with FS98, and so, Udo asked me if I could in turn ask you if you would be willing to let me rework your Bubbletop model with AF99 so as to let the bubbletop canopy transparency show up correctly in FS98.

In exchange, Udo would be very happy to share the new textures that he is planning to produce for this aircraft, with the CFS community!

How would you feel about such a project?

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[smilo]

a quality, metalic textured P-47?
yes, please

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo,
Yes, I did think it would be quite enticing! The rerstored model certainly looks fantastic.
Perhaps Ivan could let me have his AFX to fix the canopy, as Udo says that it shimmers
and isn´t transparent in FS98.
OK, then! Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Smilo, hello Ivan,

I just noticed something about the transparent canopies on one of my recent Ju52´s.
Importing the models into FS98, one of the four shows a non-transparent, shimmering
canopy, so I looked into the model and found what was causing it:

I´d ommitted to tag the window component as smooth, leaving it as regular, but
because I ´d applied alpha transparency 179 to it with Aircraft Animator, it worked
perfectly well in CFS1. Not so in FS98, though!

Now, looking into in the SCASMed final model version, the listing for the transparent canopy component is totally different if not tagged as smooth, so the correction won´t be something
that can be simply corrected with AF99 - it would have to be totally re-SCASMed afterwards!

Thus, I imagine it will be difficult to find a simple solution for P-47D canopy without causing
a lot of hassle.

Although Udo does have CFS1, he normally re-works textures for FS98, so in this case I
don´t know if he´ll be interested in doing the metallic Dottie Mae textures...

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ivan]

Hello Aleatorylamp,

I am actually not really interested in such a collaboration.
I just did a quick check of what my Thunderbolt would look like in Flight Simulator 98 and was not impressed with the result.
Besides, this really isn't the correct Thunderbolt model anyway.
I was planning at some point to do a bit of reworking of some minor details (mostly the Propeller and Spinner) to get a D-25 with the Hamilton Standard propeller instead of the Curtiss Electric version that both of my Thunderbolts currently have.
That would be closer in appearance to Dottie Mae, but I still think the models would look pretty poor in FS 98.

For what it's worth, the Canopy already is "Smooth" and is coloured Transparent White. It does not have Alpha Transparency yet but was going to get it when next updated.

For some reason I could not get a screenshot out of FS 98, so this was done as a photograph of the screen.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
A couple of weeks ago I managed to rig up a very stable-working Win98
Pentium-III and have just put in your P47D-27, although I couldn´t fly it
because of the .air file, but that´s a minor issue.

I´m sorry to hear that you think your model is not as good as I do, and
I respect that, although I don´t agree at all!

I feel it looks absolutely fantastic - a clean, detailed build, totally up to full
Ivan-type building standards! I couldn´t get a screen shot because I still
have to install a programme that can do it.
Here´s a screenshot - the model looks really great!

The only thing of course, is that in FS98 the aft cockpit glass shimmers when
viewed from above the horizontal.

I ran the model file through SCASM, but of course I couldn´t identify the
canopy component because I haven´t got the AF99 AFX for it.

A pity! Generating the AF99 canopy component on its and giving it Alpha
Transparency 179 would of course give me the SCASM code I need to
identify the corresponding routine in the SCASM listing of the model to
substitute it for the correction.

In case you change your mind, please, do let me know, because Udo would
then be able to make the corresponding new metallic Dottie Mae Textures
to celebrate the restoration of the unit recovered from the Austrian lake
last year.

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ivan]

Hello Aleatorylamp,

Your screenshot looks pretty good.
I believe you were misunderstanding me.
I do believe that my Thunderbolts are some of the nicest and cleanest looking ones out there for CFS.
I just didn't think that they looked good in FS 98 but your screenshot shows that there isn't much difference between FS98 and CFS.
Perhaps the settings on my computer are not correct for getting the best display possible.

The landing gear would not stop "dancing" when I tried out the D-27 out at National Airport.
I also don't know how to change the views around or even get a screenshot.
A couple years ago, I purchased a copy of FS 98 with all the manuals for $2 at a model show and perhaps I should read the manual.
I actually have about 4 copies of FS 98. Some are still new in the package but the newer copies came with just a CD and no printed manual.

I still have no intention of sending the AFX, but you actually don't need it for identifying pieces in SCASM.
This still isn't the correct model for "Dottie Mae" though. It still needs a Hamilton Standard "Paddle Blade" propeller.
The diameter isn't hard to find. I need to find the blade chord to adjust the model.
The version I have now is actually quite a bit better than what was released years ago. The most obvious change is in the Canopy Frame.
As I have commented elsewhere, the biggest problem is that the model was done by eyeball and some profile drawings rather than dimensional drawings and station diagrams.

I know from the last experiment with FS 98 that a "Smooth" Canopy doesn't get rid of the weird opaque business with the glass at some angles.
I take it you believe that the "Speed Below 179 Knots" Tag for Alpha Transparency in Aircraft Animator is a solution?
I can test that out in a matter of a few minutes.

I also know that BMP textures do not work for FS 98. The mapping ends up very strange.

If the changes are very simple, I can make them and send you the resulting model.
I don't guarantee a response time because I actually have several projects going at the moment, but this one looks to be very quick.

As for re texturing this model, it is actually very easy to do with a program that I wrote to do the Ki 61 paint scheme.
If I have a set of good profile and other orthogonal image, it should be pretty easy to cut them up to overlay on the model.
It was what let me match up camouflage patterns across the different pieces of the aeroplane without a lot of pain.
I did a quick search, but all I have found thus far are profiles for just one side and both sides are needed to get the lighting and colours consistent.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
Thanks for your comments!
I was just on my re-furbished Win-98 Pentium III at 800 Mhz with its
128 Mb acellerator card, which I thought was so stable.

No sooner I´d said it was stable, than the graphics card gave up the ghost!
Now I have to fix up another card before I can continue.
Never a dull moment - there had to be a kicker!

I had just been working on the unarmed Ju52/3m version with the cockpit windows
that were shimmering opaque in FS98. They were designated as Alpha Transparency 179,
but defined as regular instead of smooth AF99 components.

Being SCASMed models, I took the SCASM code of the cockpit windows of the other
Ju52/3m that worked correctly in FS98 (I noticed that there certainly were differences
in the SCASM text), and overwrote the old code that was giving problems, and the
windows display correctly now.

Anyway, I can confirm that with a cockpit-window component designated both
as Smooth AND with Aircraft Animator´s Alpha Transparency 179,
FS98 displays a correct and very soft light grey transparency.

Well, with this in mind, it looks like it probably won´t be too much trouble for you to
make the Bubbletop Thunderbolt´s canopy compatible with FS98.

There´s no hurry, and I appreciate your efforts - thanks in advance!

Udo wouldn´t be worried about the propeller, so you can skip that if you want.
It will be interesting to get his new textures! There is foreseeably no problem with the actual texture format either - He always uses standard 256 colour, 256x256 pixel .Xaf textures.

P.S.
I just put in another graphics card into my PIII Win98 computer, and found the drivers - it works again!
Just for you to rest assured that it looks fine in FS98, here´s another picture of your Thunderbolt!

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ivan]

Hello Aleatorylamp,

Glad you got your computer working again.
I haven't actually bought a Desktop computer in over 10 years.
I had a lot of spares until the water leak in the basement.
There is still no shortage of actual CPUs that are reasonable for CFS, but the problem is in finding a matching 3D Graphics Card.
I had a couple spare PCI cards but no idea where Anna Honey packed them or if she just simply threw them out.
We also just bought a laptop computer for my Son last week for about $1450, and my Daughter got an even more expensive laptop late last summer, so we are not going to be spending much on computers any time soon.

What I really need to find is a few inexpensive older PCI (not express) graphics cards and set up a little test area.
PCI express cards are easy to find. Plain PCI cards are not.

By the way, In case you haven't quite figured out how I work:
I am actually not terribly concerned with what would satisfy Udo.
I don't know him and don't believe I have ever even run into him online anywhere.
What I do has to satisfy me or I won't do it.
If you look at my various stalled projects, they are all stuck because of limitations of what I can build or accomplish.
The Ki 61 waited many years for a decent paint job and I know there are folks out there who can do a lot better than what I can do even now.
There are a bunch of projects that are waiting for panels and gauges because my shop isn't quite up to speed on those yet.

My goal is really to learn how to do things rather than push out new releases.
(So the quickest way to get me to finish something is to teach me how to do it!)

Regarding Thunderbolt Propellers:
There were 4 different types that were used.
1. Curtiss Electric 12 foot (This was the first propeller and typically called the "Toothpick")
2. Hamilton Standard 13 foot "Paddle Blade"
3. Curtiss Electric 13 foot "Paddle Blade"
4. Curtiss Electric 13 foot Asymmetric Blade

I have a little trouble telling the difference in photographs between the Curtiss 12 foot and Curtiss 13 foot Paddle Blade propellers unless they are next to each other.
My Thunderbolts both carry the Curtiss 13 foot Asymmetric Blade propellers.

Note that any of these propellers would fit on any model of Thunderbolt and many newer propellers replaced the older Curtiss 12 foot propeller to improve performance.
Dottie Mae was a P-47D-28-RA. It currently wears a Hamilton Standard propeller but that is not really proof because just about all flyable P-47 regardless of model typically use the Hamilton Standard propellers.

From doing just a little bit of reading, it appears that aircraft originally equipped with H-S propellers were -RE (Republic Farmingdale) while most -RA (Republic Evansville) were equipped with C-E propellers. That would suggest that the original propeller on Dottie Mae was a Curtiss-Electric but not the 12 foot of course! These late model Thunderbolts had a lot more power than the 12 foot propeller could handle.

The question would then be whether it was the "Paddle Blade" or the "Asymmetric Blade" propeller that was originally installed.
For that, I will use research by some other folks. Please see the linked images.

First image is a painting, but from the lower propeller blade, it appears from the trailing edge that it is an Asymmetric type.
It is a little hard to tell though.

The second image shows the four types of blade side by side for comparison. Yes, they are plastic models, but it really isn't easy getting photographs of the real thing all at the same angle and same scale. Besides, these guys are typically much more nit-picky than I am.

The third image shows the colour scheme of Dottie Mae. Note that the propeller shown here is clearly the Asymmetric type.
It also gives a little more information as to what happened to her.


Additional Data from Joe Baugher's site:
1942-29150 (MSN 2812) 511th FS [K4-S], 405th FG, 9th AF; "Dottie Mae" - artwork of a young lady wearing a
Santa Claus outfit; Ditched in the Traunsee, Salzkammergut, Austria May 8, 1945 and sank. Pilot injured but saved.
Aircraft recovered by Sandy Air Corp, June 13, 2005. Brian Kenney/Trojan Aircraft Services, Chino, CA, 2005,
shipped to California July 2005. Registration N328FA reserved May 7, 2008; not registered; cancelled
June 24, 2011. Jack Croul/Air Corps Pursuit LLC, Newport Beach, CA, 2008. Restoration to airworthy
condition at Rialto, CA, 2008. Restoration project moved to Caldwell, ID, 2009. Allied Fighters,
Sun Valley, ID. Registered as N47DM to Vintage Fighters June 27, 2012; current [Jun17].
Test flights at Caldwell June 23, 2017.

Bottom line is that it appears that no modification is needed for a reasonable representation of P-47D-28-RA "Dottie Mae" to the extent that I can build.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
That´s a detailed research line! Interesting the number of differently shaped propellers. And... that Dottie Mae girl sure was a good looker! Dancing and singing is very important for the moral.

Thank you for your time and pacience explaining things! So, if I understand correctly, the existing propeller will not pose an obstacle for a correct model of the Dottie Mae model using your P47D-27 as a basis.

Udo is a friend and we have been working on FS planes for about 11 years now - we have also met twice when he has been on holiday here on the islands on two occasions. I know he likes WW2 aircraft as much as you and me do, and I have sent him FS98 compatible versions of my latest models.

At the moment I´m working on the texture bitmaps of default FSFS-Conv Engine 1 to 4 RPM and Boost/Fuel Flow gauges for FS98, as these were the only gauges missing to complete the engine-gauge set with the re-worked dials. Upto now, we were completely limited to the FSFS-Conv gauge set for FS98.

Like we managed in CFS1, the old-looking gauge frames and dials with metric conversion, give the FS98 panel a much better look.

By the way, I have a couple of old PCI Graphics cards here. They are not the fantastic 64 Mb or 32 Mb accellerator cards, more like 4 Mb or maybe even 8 Mb 2D-3D cards of the time. If you like I can post them to you. Do let me know if you are interested!

I dug up a couple of AGP accellerator cards. I think there´s a 32 Mb, a 128 Mb and a 256 Mb one. The one that blew was another 256 Mb one, and I´m just testing a 4 Mb one because of the power supply which is a bit small. Anyway... hardware tinkering is part of the fun too, I suppose!

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ivan]

Hello Aleatorylamp,

Dottie Mae was the pilot's wife, but not the pilot who crashed the aeroplane.
I doubt she really looked like that. Most certainly she was not around to pose in a Santa Claus outfit.
Check out the last image I posted to get more details about why I believe this.
I don't actually have all that much faith in paintings for the most part.
This was basically a Alberto Vargas style painting probably with a lot of artistic license.

No need to send the PCI cards you have. I don't believe they would work because I have what I believe is a 8 MB card in the Game machine and it can't handle some of the models that work fine on the 16 MB card. I did have a AGP machine with a fairly hot graphics card for the time. I just need to figure out here it went.

The laptop computer that we bought for my Son actually would work pretty well if it were not a Windows 10 machine.
Problem is that a lot of the older tools won't work with the newer Operating Systems even if CFS does.
It has Nvidia 4GB 1060 and a fairly hot processor for a laptop. Only a 15.6 inch screen though so it is a bit smaller than I would like....

I actually have no idea what you are referring to with the FS 98 gauges.
I know that programming FS 98 Manifold Pressure gauges was easy. I never did have any luck with the FS Tachometer though. I never tried to do a Fuel Pressure gauge.
I believe I am pretty competent in C Programming but with Gauges, I am basically a "Cookbook Programmer".
I can follow recipes and maybe make a few small changes but that is about it. Sometimes the results are pretty cool though.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
I see... Well, at least Dottie Mae then boosted the pilot´s morale!
Anyway, the plan behind all this is the new textures Udo can make - if in FS98 the model can display the canopy correctly, then we be able to have them! As it´s such a cool looking plane, it will most probably be worth while.

What I´m doing with FS98 gauges at the moment, is completing the multi-engine set for FS98, with old-fashioned frames and dials, for use with the unarmed versions of the Ju52/3m in FS98. Udo often does textures for me, so I help out with what I can to compensate.

Remember the CFS1 Engine 1 to 4 RPM and Boost gauges you programmed with the bitmaps of the default CFS1 Messerschmidt gauge bitmaps? I had then proceeded to adapt matching dials and frames for some of the other existing gauges that come with Flight Shop FS98 Converter: EGT/CHT, Oil Temperature and pressure, and fuel gauges.

The RPM and Boost gauges were still missing, and I´m adapting the bitmaps now to have a complete matching engine instrument set, and it´s coming along OK.

OK then! ...and good luck with your graphics hardware for the development machine!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
Well, so it looks like the propeller needn´t be updated, and with the
Aircraft Animator Alpha Transparency 179 option, from what you
said, it will be quite easy to make the canopy of your P47D-27
compatible with FS98.

So, I was wondering if I could count on you to send me the new
model in the near future, so that Udo can start on the metallic
Dottie Mae textures, which he would naturally be glad to share
with the SOH community!

Thanks very much in advance!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ivan]

Hello Aleatorylamp,

I will get to the Thunderbolt but I cannot promise a time for response.
I currently have one project ahead of it which I do not want to pause at the moment for various reasons.
Anna Honey is out of town for a week, so I am also doing the single parent thing again and this is also the end of the third quarter of the school year and any requests for assistance from my Son come first as well.
Thus, I may spend a fair amount of time on my laptop on a browser but haven't fired up the Development machine since before Anna Honey's trip.

From what I can tell, the updated model for the D-28 will need just about all the changes minus the texture renaming and the reference point shift. With a good working computer, it should take a couple hours. With my current computer, it took me around two days each for the Ki 61 and Wildcats. (Graphics problems, programs that sometimes don't run, lock ups, reboots and chkdsk after a hard shutdown make the difference.)
You do have my permission, if you need it, to SCASM and edit the D-27 model for FS 98.
Please leave the copyright notice in place if you edit.

Even if you do not edit the MDL for FS 98, the mapping of the textures will not change when I update the model,
so even with the current MDL, there should be no limitations on re-texturing even if it is an issue for a release.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
Thanks for your coming help! I hope your development computer problem will be solved soon.

As regards the P47D-27 textures, they seem to be standard straight forward format, and I realize that the texture spread won´t be affected, so that will be nothing to worry about to convert them for the D-28 Dottie Mae.

Regarding the SCASM listing, I´m afraid I haven´t been able to discover the code corresponding to the aft canopy parts in question, so I´d prefer to wait until you send me the model with the compatibilized canopy.

Actually, I´ve just had an idea! Maybe it would be easier for you just to pin-point which SCASM subroutine refers to the aft-canopy, and I could try and make the necessary corrections myself.

On the other hand, it probably wouldn´t! It would entail having to compile a separate individual transparent aft canopy with AF99 twice and pass it through SCASM: Once without Alpha Transparency 179, to identify the SCASM code, and once with it, to make the necessary corrections, so in reality it would not be much of a difference for you...

Update:
P.S. I tried inspecting the model file with a program called MDLVUE.EXE which can identify polygons and gives their addresses, to identify them with a hex editor, but it´s a bit difficult to see what I can actually do with that.
Anyway, I can tell Udo to go ahead and start with the new textures, as that will take quite some time, and later the textures can be fit into the P47D-28 when that´s ready.

Thanks very much again!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ivan]

Hello Aleatorylamp,

While my Son was eating dinner, I decided to see how difficult it was to edit the P47D27 using SCASM.
It turned out to be pretty trivial even without AF99.
It took about 15 minutes to identify the code and make changes and test.
It actually took a bit longer to package everything up in a ZIP file which is now an attachment in a thread called
"Thunderbolt".
Except for going online to use a calculator, this was all done on my game machine which is light in the way of tools.
(My Game Machine isn't networked.)
At some point I should install a Hex Editor on it but it wasn't necessary to accomplish this task.

Time to go clean up after dinner.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
That´s very nice and forthcoming of you. Thank you very much indeed.
I´ll have a look and do the download.
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Folks,
I was wondering if an Il2 Shturmovik, a Petlyakov Pe-2 or an
Australian CAC-12 Boomerang would be of any interest for CFS1.
Any opinions?
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

P.S. Being quite a fan of twins, I tend towards the the Petlyakov PE-2FT light bomber/heavy fighter. It seemed to be quite a performer. Vmax is given as 360 mph, with its two impressive 1210 hp (2700 RPM) Klimov V12 engines, developments of the Hispano Suiza V12, with refinements including a 2-speed supercharger. Critical altitude: 13000 ft. Emergency boost(max. 2 minutes): 43.30 MP at 2,800 RPM.
It would sound fun programming the performance into the .air file...

[Ivan]

Hello Aleatorylamp,

I had not responded because I personally don't have any great interest in any of the aeroplanes you listed. Perhaps others do.
I know there is a very mediocre Commonwealth Boomerang out there and a reasonably fair IL 10 Sturmovik that might substitute for a IL 2. I believe there is also a Petlyakov Pe 2 out there as well though I can't find it at the moment.

I do find it rather surprising that there has never been a very good Yakovlev single engine fighter of any model available for CFS.
A couple Yak fighters are on my build list but they are not anywhere near the highest priority and with my speed of building, they may never even get started.

I figured that for this poll, you really needed opinions other than mine because if I wanted something bad enough, I would just build it myself. My choice of ideal subjects and things I would want to see are quite a bit different from yours.

Last night I ended up working pretty late on edits to the P-47D-25 Thunderbolt and decided to do a little looking around at other projects afterward. Recently I have been involved in several discussions about the P-39 Airacobra and decided to see what I had.

The AFX I have is from Eric Johnson and is very old.
The shapes don't look too bad in the simulator but it was built to a way different standard than we are using today.
The total Parts count is only 460 while current projects seldom run fewer than 1150 Parts unless someone got lazy.
Working with someone else's AFX always SEEMS like an easy approach, but has never really worked well in my experience.
Looking at other AFXs are great ways to learn different build methods though.

The Airacobra has been on the build list for a long time but always gets put off for something more interesting.

- Ivan.

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Ivan,
Not to worry! I realize out tastes are different, but thanks for your comments anyway.

I find the design of the IL-2 Shturmovik and the Petlyakov PE-2 quite appealing, and
their performance quite worthy, so they are next on my building list.

I remember Christoph Ruhtenberg some years ago re-worked the flight dynamics for
a series of quite well made FS98 Bell Airacobra models. There are a number of them
about on the net, of about 640 Kb, as well as some older ones of about 71 Kb, but
none with AFX. Anyway, I was never very interested in it, although the Russians
did put a number into good use!

Regarding your comment on improving existing AFX, I quite agree with you!
Of course it is always interesting to see how others approach a building project,
but it can be very irritating or even a nightmare. Often whole sections from other
planes are used and are just "pushed" into position, where they continually exasperate
you because they never stay put, and end up flying around all over the place all the time!

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp