Messerschmitt Me-163B Progress

[mike_cyul]

A small update, to let you know that progress is going well, and if all goes well it shouldn't be too much longer now. Have been working on the training side of things, which basically means having made a low-poly Messerschmitt Bf-110 tow plane for the 163 to take you up on practice flights. Before flying operationally, prospective 163 pilots would be taken up in an un-fueled aircraft to practice their approaches and landings. This was also used when ferrying the 163's to different airfields.

A few views of the towing underway. Unfortunately FSX does not appear to allow tow planes to retract their landing gear, but the 110 does if you happen to use it as a basic ai aircraft!

:)

Mike

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/mike_cyul/FR%20Me-163B%20Komet/2014-2-24_9-28-33-723s3_zps283be42a.png



http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/mike_cyul/FR%20Me-163B%20Komet/2014-2-21_18-30-1-543_zpsba04d016.png

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/mike_cyul/FR%20Me-163B%20Komet/2014-2-24_7-57-26-697s_zps77a709ff.png

[Daube]

Looking good ! Thanks for the update :)

[stovall]

Good stuff Mike, I never knew that is how they trained the pilots or transferred the aircraft to other airfields. Having a low poly Destroyer along with the 163 sounds fantastic.

[Bomber_12th]

Excellent, Mike! How about coding the gear animation on the BF-110 to automatically raise/lower at a certain airspeed?

[bstolle]

Talking about training....new pilots had the 163 tanks only 30%-50% filled which resulted in much lower ceiling but at the same time in a much higher initial climb performance.

[Lionheart]

Very cool Mike, as always!!!

[mike_cyul]

Excellent, Mike! How about coding the gear animation on the BF-110 to automatically raise/lower at a certain airspeed?

Thanks, John, yes, I thought of doing something like that, just want to make sure first that there aren't some conditions where the gear actually raises. Also too bad that ai towplanes only fly straight ahead, but using Thomas Murr's excellent tutorial you can actually steer the towplane to a certain degree. Always something new to learn. :)

[Daube]

Mike, you might want to take a look at this page :)
http://lucas.sichardt.net/index.php?Seite=F-Schlepp

[huub vink]

Beautiful as always Mike!

Cheers,
Huub

[mike_cyul]

Mike, you might want to take a look at this page :)
http://lucas.sichardt.net/index.php?Seite=F-Schlepp

Excellent, thanks! Could be just what's needed. :applause:

[mike_cyul]

Talking about training....new pilots had the 163 tanks only 30%-50% filled which resulted in much lower ceiling but at the same time in a much higher initial climb performance.

Must have been quite the ride! Already pretty amazing with full tanks.

[Roger]

Fantastic:applause:

[hairyspin]

It would be easy to think that frame around the armoured glass needs a few dozen more polys to smooth it off, but it actually looked like that. Good job, Mike! :applause::applause::applause:

[mike_cyul]

@Daube: Tested the F-Schlepp program, and it works really nicely. It does require some translation, but if it ends up being recommended for the 163, I can perhaps provide an english language guide to understanding what to do.

[Ian Warren]

Golly .. I'd rather be towed up in the Bat rather having all that yucky fuel in the back :untroubled:

[Daube]

Glad you liked it. It was recently "discovered" by some guy who was asking for help with another similar program, named Aerotow.
Aerotow appeared in 2008, but it suffers from major problems with recent computers. It was not updated. That new one seems to be much better, but I couldn't try it, I have to reinstall FSX first.
I haven't tried it with P3D either.

[Ian Warren]

I can perhaps provide an english language guide to understanding what to do.
:biggrin-new:Some reason in New Zealand .. well maybe at NZFF, now called Ianglish :173go1:

[Sundog]

Nice! I always enjoyed flying those in Aces High. It was always fun to leave a little fuel and save a little ammo, so the planes who were waiting around your airfield could be in for a rude surprise. :)

I never knew they transferred them by towing them. I thought maybe they were trucked from base to base. I guess I had better get around to reading my Me-163 some day.

[Flyboy208]

Really looking forward to the end result .... looks fantastic so far Mike ! Mike

[mike_cyul]

Did some more tests tonight, with the Bf-110 and other aircraft, and and so far it appears that anything that FSX considers to be a tow plane is limited to three animations: flaps down (and staying down), prop (blurred) spinning, and hard-over rudder (if turning). FSX won't recognize any other animation, default or custom. I'll keep working on it, though.

On the other hand, the F-Schlepp program is a treat, and once you have your tow routine set up to suit your operations, your tow plane will execute those maneuvers each time you use a glider, without having to start F-Schlepp each time. (F-Schlepp does rewrite a part of the FSX.cfg, and so making a backup copy of the .cfg before use is, I think, wise.)

Mike

[YoYo]

Very good idea with trening mission because Me-163 was only for very short flight. So forget about long VFR...
Please do many mission as You can :) for long adventure with Komet! :)

[mgchrist5]

Looking great, Mike! I'll definitely be in line for this one....

Just out of curiousity, what airfield are you using in the first picture; the one with the 163 being towed aloft?

[txnetcop]

WOW WOW WOW Mike ya did it again!
Ted

[mike_cyul]

Looking great, Mike! I'll definitely be in line for this one....

Just out of curiousity, what airfield are you using in the first picture; the one with the 163 being towed aloft?


The airfield is Dillingham X, by Bill Womack, plus photoreal island scenery (forget where it comes from - sorry). I don't think the Me-163B was ever tested by the Luftwaffe in Hawaii, but it's one of my favourite fields to fly from! :)


Mike

[mgchrist5]

The airfield is Dillingham X, by Bill Womack

Thanks Mike.


I don't think the Me-163B was ever tested by the Luftwaffe in Hawaii...

If they could have, they would have!

[Ferry_vO]

Great work as usual, Mike!

Must have been an 'interesting' ride in wartime: First shooting up into the skies with all that dangerous fuel surrounding you, trying to destroy a target at high speed and then gliding down without much options to defend yourself...