SOH Team Project - Grumman Tracker, Trader, Tracer

[fallenphoenix1986]

For what its worth naval tankers tend to have quite short hoses:

http://navyphotos.togetherweserved.com/1341081_med.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kIWY2DV0Kn...eling+F-18.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/KA-6D_refueling_S-3As_1976.JPEG
http://airrefuelingarchive.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/oif-d-16.jpg
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~hw2t-hrt...ugi/refuel.jpg

Exactly how short the KC-2's will be I can't say but would be surprised if max extension were even as much as twice the length of the sketch above.

Craig

[SSI01]

Milton I went to YouTube looking for P&D refueling films, everything I've seen indicates the entire drogue retracts into its housing with the exception of the outermost section of the drogue - the circumference - which remains on the outside and when offering wind resistance exerts enough "pull" on the rest of the drogue to ensure it comes out when needed, when released from braking.

[fliger747]

Milton I went to YouTube looking for P&D refueling films, everything I've seen indicates the entire drogue retracts into its housing with the exception of the outermost section of the drogue - the circumference - which remains on the outside and when offering wind resistance exerts enough "pull" on the rest of the drogue to ensure it comes out when needed, when released from braking.

Wonder what they refuel with these? Sort of on the slow side, helicopters? Length of probe in illustration is probably set to keep the illustration compact.

T

[Sascha66]

Well I uploaded the first cargo texture:costum:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...7&linkid=13739

More will follow tomorrow!

Enjoy!

Sascha

[Milton Shupe]

Thank you Sascha I really like that one.

[Sundog]

Wonder what they refuel with these? Sort of on the slow side, helicopters? Length of probe in illustration is probably set to keep the illustration compact.

T

Most A2A refueling by most nations, and the U.S. Navy, have been probe and drogue, partly due to it's simplicity. It was also the first form of A2A refueling developed; by the British, using a Lanc tanker and a Meteor.

I assume you meant why P&D as opposed to boom refueling used by the USAF? Boom refueling, which was developed by Boeing IIRC, was due to the fact the early USAF wanted intercontinental range for it's bomber force. As a result, they needed a tanker system that could pump large amounts of fuel quickly, to refuel large thirsty aircraft, like jet bombers. The P & D system simply wasn't going to be able to cut it, in terms of fuel transfer rate (lbs/min). Also, you need to be fairly responsive with a P&D system to hit the basket. With the boom system you fly in formation and let the boom operator take care of the hook-up which is more favorable for refueling when in a B-47 or a B-52.

[Milton Shupe]

Received the beautiful textures from Duckie and made final adjustments to the models.
Early Sunday morning I will do thorough checks and try to upload early in the afternoon.

[Firekitten]

Looks truely awesome Milton... and the artwork from the painters is truly fantastic... Looking forward to doing one or two myself once I get a break in all the work I'm doing!

[Maarten -]

Received the beautiful textures from Duckie and made final adjustments to the models.
Early Sunday morning I will do thorough checks and try to upload early in the afternoon.

Oh, they look magic! I just can't wait!

Cheers,
Maarten

[Milton Shupe]

Looks truely awesome Milton... and the artwork from the painters is truly fantastic... Looking forward to doing one or two myself once I get a break in all the work I'm doing!

Thank you and I will look forward to that The paint you splashed on the A26's was indeed "collectors edition" material.

Oh, they look magic! I just can't wait!

Cheers,
Maarten

I am just as excited as you, Duckie, Nigel, Fliger747, JAVIS, and N101ST to get this one out. Thanks to all of the contributors who invested time and energy in these aircraft, and those of you who helped keep us motivated through the process.

[Milton Shupe]

Rami is still very busy so not sure when it may come through.

Meanwhile, if you cannot wait, I'll let you punish my website until then :-) :

EDIT: Link Removed

SOH Link: http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...6&linkid=13744

To keep the download small, I aliased the sounds and panel to the earlier C-1A, S2F-3, and E-1B.

I also included prop textures and thumbnails for FSX port-overs.

[pfflyers]

Milton,

Thanks for the link to your site. Downloading as I type.

[vonernsk]

Rami is still very busy so not sure when it may come through.

Meanwhile, if you cannot wait, I'll let you punish my website until then :-) :

http://www.flightsimonline.com/downloads/G7S2F1.zip

To keep the download small, I aliased the sounds and panel to the earlier C-1A, S2F-3, and E-1B.

I also included prop textures and thumbnails for FSX port-overs.

Thank you so much Milton and your team. Duckie has produced some classic and outstanding work. Guys, we are so grateful for your work. You do not just 'go that extra mile' you run laps until you have perfection.

Rgds
Mal

[Maarten -]

Hi Milton, Steve,

Just made a few spins in the beautiful Royal Netherlands Navy S2F-1 around NAS Valkenburg. First flight was in memory of the late LTZV Sibout C. Gooszen. During his naval career he flew Fairey Fireflies, Grumman TBM Avengers, Grumman S2F-1/de Havilland Canada CS2F-1 Trackers and Bréguet Atlantics (he even managed to put one Atlantic extremely close toa Dutch beach on its belly after problems with an inoperative elevator; his co-pilot turned out to be the brother of a schoolmate of mine :-). Mr Gooszen was an avid flightsimmer and several of us Dutch SOH-members met him once or twice, right Ferry_vO, Jankees, Huub Vink and robcap? He would have loved to fly this Stoof and sisters, I'm sure.

Thanks for another amazing aircraft, guys!

Cheers,
Maarten

[Ferry_vO]

Mr Gooszen was an avid flightsimmer and several of us Dutch SOH-members met him once or twice, right Ferry_vO, Jankees, Huub Vink and robcap? He would have loved to fly this Stoof and sisters, I'm sure.

If he was still alive he surely would have visited the Fs Weekend again to try to land the Stoof on the Karel Doorman like he did twice with the Avenger. Wonderful man and one of my best memories of all of those weekends. The other one being the entire crew of the Dutch Catalina checking out the Alphasim Cat on my computer, while the real thing was only about thirty meters away!

A funny Stoof memory: When I was about twelf or thirteen I visited the Dutch airforce museum (MLM) with a few friends from school. At that time there still was a small platform next to the Stoof so you could see inside the cockpit. One friend was so enthusiastic that he jumped up the platform, placed his hands next to the window and moved his head forward to check out the cockpit. He found out the hard way about the bulging side windows.... :isadizzy:

[Milton Shupe]

Maarten, I am also disappointed that we did not deliver the stoof series sooner for the late LTZV Sibout C. Gooszen. That would have been interesting to see and hear about.

Ferry, great story too ... thanks for sharing that. :-)

[Maarten -]

Great stories, Ferry!

Milton, there is nothing that could have been done about it. I found out that Mr. Gooszen died before the idea came up in this forum to create the Stoof (with and without roof) family. I'm so sure he would be approving if he knew about this project. He was just that kind of man. A real gentleman.

[Ferry_vO]

The first time I met him he was introduced to Rob and me by Huub and Jankees. I think you were there too Maarten..? I showed him the Maam-Sim Avenger with a repaint by Marcel Ritzema which happened to be of his own aircraft! He immediately asked if he could try to land it, and when I told him I didn't have the carrier gauges and the Karel Doorman Carrier installed he gave me a USB stick with all the needed files on it. He tried to land the Avenger a couple of times but couldn't quite get it right, partially due to the different hardware set up.

The next year he came back, same USB stick in hand and said to me:"I came back to try again! I'm still annoyed I couldn't do it last year!". Well he tried again and this time he did make it, about eighty years old but still very well up to date on flightsims and computers. After his attempts he had a chat with Jan Visser why the gauges in the Avenger didn't work in FsX..
Great guy!

P.s. Interview in Dutch: http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1013/Buitenla...-oefenen.dhtml

[Maarten -]

The first time I met him he was introduced to Rob and me by Huub and Jankees. I think you were there too Maarten..? I showed him the Maam-Sim Avenger with a repaint by Marcel Ritzema which happened to be of his own aircraft! He immediately asked if he could try to land it, and when I told him I didn't have the carrier gauges and the Karel Doorman Carrier installed he gave me a USB stick with all the needed files on it. He tried to land the Avenger a couple of times but couldn't quite get it right, partially due to the different hardware set up.

The next year he came back, same USB stick in hand and said to me:"I came back to try again! I'm still annoyed I couldn't do it last year!". Well he tried again and this time he did make it, about eighty years old but still very well up to date on flightsims and computers. After his attempts he had a chat with Jan Visser why the gauges in the Avenger didn't work in FsX..
Great guy!

P.s. Interview in Dutch: http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1013/Buitenla...-oefenen.dhtml

That's right Ferry. In fact we would meet up for the first time after having been in e-mail contact for a couple of years. First time I heard from him was when he had downloaded a repaint for the Douglas DC-5 I made (based on a repaint by Wayne Tudor) representing DC-5 PK-ADB of KNILM (Royal Netherlands Indies Airways). He was very pleased with the repaint because when he was a boy, just before the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies where he lived, his father took him up in a KNILM DC-5. Although a very early repaint, it is one that is closest to my heart just because of what Mr. Gooszen wrote me. So you can imagine how pleased I was to meet him (which turned out to be mutual).

Attached photo of the Atlantic that he and his co-pilot Gert Ekhart (brother of my schoolmate Rob Ekhart) ditched on 15 August 1973 just off the coast near Wassenaar (region The Hague).
Milton, I hope you forgive me "hijacking" this thread.

[Milton Shupe]

Thanks guys for sharing the stories, and picture. I envy all of you who met him.

Not a problem Maarten. :-)

[Milton Shupe]

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...6&linkid=13744

[oldpropfan]

Would anybody have the relevant manuals that give the slow and fast AoA indexer values for the Grumman 7 series. I've been trying to land these planes in FSX using virtual LSO to track my approach and carrier landings but had to guess on the AoA values and think my grades are suffering because of it. Or maybe I just need more practice? Most likely a combination of the two.

Some shots from a combined arms exercise with the Frence Navy ( sorry for the bad prop blurs, forgot to change them out w/the FSX ones )







Thanks for any help

Al

[Blackbird686]

BEAUTIFULLY DONE!! Thank you, Milton and team! I am partial to the dark blue variant (NAVY 75), as ATC calls it in in FS. She sits proudly next to my copy of Dave Wooster's superb P4M-Q "Merc" Mercator. The two planes may have never met in reality but the Stoof and the Merc are a nice compliment to each other in FS. :salute:

The nice thing about all of these Tracker variants is that each version handles different from the other. A testiment to the time, thought, research and hard work that goes into creating these excellent models.

BB686:USA-flag:

[Mick]

... She sits proudly next to my copy of Dave Wooster's superb P4M-Q "Merc" Mercator. The two planes may have never met in reality...

Oh, I think they must have met. The Stoofs didn't stay on the boat all the time. Aside from being based ashore between cruises, they went ashore as transients at many air stations. And those Mercators were likely to turn up almost anywhere... I'd be very surprised if the two types didn't share a ramp from time to time in one place or another.

Since the types were contemporary, one place they were almost certain to have been at the same time is NAS Patuxent River. If I ever get around to installing FS in my current computer, I will certainly add an AI Stoof and an AI P4M to Pax River.

If I do get FS installed and get back into the hobby, this fabulous Stoof will be a big piece of the motivation.

I've always been partial to that old overall Glossy Sea Blue livery...

[fliger747]

As to fast slow indicator, I don't believe one was installed. Carrier approaches are flown at 85-95 knots depending on weight, she should come aboard nicely at those speeds.

T