Drivable WWII vintage jeep

[hubbabubba]

Hello everyone!

CFS1 may be an old game, but it is not an outdated game. From now on, it has one of the most intricately detailed WWII vintage jeep of all Microsoft© Flight Simulators.

Let me present her.



The "dashboard" (cockpit doesn't fit her at all) is pretty barren, but the essential gauges cluster is there; fuel quantity, speedometer, ammeter, oil pressure and engine temperature. Not exact matches, but close enough to the real deal.

And the 2D view hide some secrets. You can, if you wish, get the AACGPS, the ADF-NDB dial and tuner, a radio stack ( with COM1, NAV1 and 2, transponder, and MP3-WAV streaming radio ), a clock and a compass, to appear. You can also use a "kneeboard" with six pages, useful to transmit way-points, maps, routes, or keep personal notes.

The vehicle was to be "a wee bit better" than the CFS stock and, as usual, it kept getting more an more ambitious. I will let you discover it by yourself;



Performance-wise, it does 0 - 40 mph in 8 seconds and reaches ± 50 mph on flat ground. From full speed to full stop, it takes about three lengths. It can climb up 25° slopes at ± 12 mph an climb down 45° and more. It is truly an "all-terrain" vehicle. I have tested her in the Swiss Alps and have made numerous trips from Interlaken - Lucerne - Berne both ways. Of course, I've killed myself many times on the same trips but, once you know where to go, and especially where not to go, you can pretty much get from A to B, wherever A and B are, as long as they are not more than 400 statute miles apart, as it is the range. This make for eight hours of traveling without refuelling!

The jeep is not indestructible. If you drop from a cliff, you will die. If you collide with another vehicle, you will die. If you collide with "collision enabled" scenery, you will die. If you flip over, you will die. If you go into the side of a mountain, you will die. If you're shot at, you will, most probably, die. But the fun is to drive while trying not to do any of those things. The collision bubble is small enough to let you travel in close convoy with other jeeps though.

It can travel at a steady pace from 10 to 50 mph, turning being easier below 20 mph. Engine sounds were sampled from real Go Devil 60 HP engines. The horn is also a true jeep horn. Suspension creaking and wind are also included. Most sounds are stereo.

The 3D panel has virtual instruments on it and, IMHO, offers the most immersive way of driving. The steering wheel will obey to rudder function, so will the two front wheels. The windshield can be folded with the spoiler key. Engine is started with the "E" key and stopped with the combination "M+KB-----...". Black out lights are switched with the "L" key and headlights with the combination "Ctrl+L". Being a FS98 style air file, there is no startup-shutdown sounds. If Ivan or me can ever develop a CFS1 style air file, I will remedy to that limitation in a future release.

Black-out lights consist of two dimmed front blue lights, a lantern on the left front fender, and two red lights at the rear. Black out lights were used for night driving, especially in convoys, at night while being subdued enough as to not attract attention from above. Headlights will cast light on the ground in front of the jeep. A single left-sided red light will also be alight.



Other jeeps will follow, and maybe other ground and sea vehicles as well. But for now, download this one and have fun, alone or in multiplayer session. Incidentally, this vehicle is using multi-resolution to permit a high level of details at close range while using less elaborate renditions when it is further away, saving on framerates.

Since, during the server overhauling, SOH does not permit add-ons to be uploaded, you will have download from Simviation or Flightsim for now. As soon as SOH is resuming add-ons uploads, it will be available here as well.

There is enough mesh terrain, stock or third-party, to keep you occupied for a while. I think I will go and have a look at the "Arc de Triomphe" from the perspective it was intended to be observed, how about you?

[Francois]

I am even sad I don't have CFS anymore....... looks awesome ! Well done !!

[smilo]

very cool
let's keep it on top for a while

[Helldiver]

On the headlights, there was a one inch clear space that allowed light to come out in Europe.The rest was blacked out.
Domestic Jeeps in the USA had just the top half of the head lights blacked out as did all civilian automobiles.

[hubbabubba]

PICTURE

Somewhere in France or Belgium, most probably in Normandy. The black-out light of this jeep is on the right and the right headlight is obviously full while the left spot is covered by some makeshift blind.

PICTURE

Spa, Belgium. Both headlights are full.

PICTURE

Maastricht, Holland. Both headlights are full.

PICTURE

Bastogne, Belgium. Left headlight is full, right also appear to be full.

From 42 to 45, Willys and Ford jeeps were delivered with both headlights, with the exception of the Canadian jeep contract (one black-out lantern in the left "socket"). Black-out lights were standard equipment on the jeeps. Headlights could only be put on with a two-action knob, so that they would not be accidentally opened. I don't deny that some jeeps were modified, especially in Great-Britain, to have slotted headlights, but this practice was a "field modification" not always performed, especially once the blitz was gone.

Once on the continent, it was rarely observed, as the above pictures links clearly show. During the rush of the 101 for Bastogne, for example, trucks went on all night with their headlights on to get there before the Germans.

And even in England, you could find jeeps with full headlights, and then some, as this VIP jeep used by Mickey Rooney shows;

PICTURE

[Ivan]

Hey Hubbabubba,

I had loads of fun driving your Jeep around my test Airfield in the Hawaiian islands though it was with my experimental Jeep Air file. It puts a different perspective on scenery to see it at ground level. I find that I am typically driving around with a chase view to be able to see the actual vehicle though.

Next trip will be through the mountains!

Kind of ironic that the most interesting ground vehicle to come along is built by the man that doesn't drive!

Well Done!
- Ivan.

[Ivan]

Hello Hubbabubba,

I noticed another interesting thing. If I raise or lower the flaps, flap movement seems to cause a "Horn" to sound. If the flaps don't move, there isn't any sound. I have already noticed that the spoilers raise and lower the windshield. What is REALLY supposed to sound the horn?

- Ivan.

[hubbabubba]

I noticed another interesting thing. If I raise or lower the flaps, flap movement seems to cause a "Horn" to sound. If the flaps don't move, there isn't any sound. I have already noticed that the spoilers raise and lower the windshield. What is REALLY supposed to sound the horn?
- Ivan.

Yep, the flaps are activating a horn. They go 100% up, 100% down. You can «honk» by clicking the horn button in the 2D panel as well.

The horn sound is sampled from a real jeep horn, soundtrack of a short YouTube movie.

It is in the Panel instructions.PDF btw...

[Ivan]

Instructions???? Read the instructions???? What a novel concept!!!!

Cool. Didn't know.
- Ivan.

[hubbabubba]

"I don't need any stinkin' instructions!"


You're starting to sound like you-know-who (and I'm not talking about Voldemort!) LOL!

[Ivan]

Naaah....

That's, "I don't need NO stinkin' instructions".

- Ivan.

[smilo]

badges...it's badges!

we don't need no stinking badges

[hubbabubba]

The jeep is now available in SOH CFS1 Add-ons section. At Simviation and FlightSim, it has already been downloaded more than 300 times, which is a very respectable figure for a CFS1 file.

Enjoy!

[Dave Cumming]

Hubbabubba

2 weeks ago I was in Cavaillon (Provence) and someone there had reproduced the jeep that liberated the town. He looked very smart driving around, until he overturned a tin of yellow paint in the back! There was then lots of Gallic shrugs and shouts!

Anyway i took some photos in case anyone cares to do a paintjob of your lovely jeep. I was also examining the hood attachments on the jeep, remembering your comment about it in the thread.

Enjoy
David

[Dave Cumming]

And here are the remaining pictures.

[hubbabubba]

Very nice pics Dave!!!

Talk about killing two birds with one stone;
1- You went to France, land of my ancestors, and;
2- You had a genuine WWII jeep ( a Willys, I think ) at arms' length!

Two things I would love to do...... well; I'm not dead yet! So there's hope!