Spotlight On Tim Conrad

By Phil Colvin (12 April 2005)

But my little articles are nothing compared to so much of the tremendous freeware uploaded to the site. Many of the aircraft we can freely download here are as good as any payware of the same makes and models - sometimes better! And a lot of the best ones, including several of my all time favorites, are the work of Tim "Piglet" Conrad. Tim, a lifelong aviation enthusiast, has worked as a Certificated Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic, done special effects for motion pictures, and even done toy action figure prototyping. The photo is of Tim and his two canine "kids" Ben and Buddy, outside their Burbank, CA home. When I asked him about his unusual nickname, "Piglet" replied, "Hard to say, really. Goes way back to childhood days spent in the dirt. Never thought being dirty was - well, dirty! Also I've always liked pigs. They're misunderstood by most people, much like some of my more 'peculiar' planes". Just as many of us, Tim began building model planes as a kid, but he more recently switched to the virtual world. Among the reasons why, Tim states, are "no glue smell, spilled paint, or fingerprints on canopies".

And lucky for us that he made the decision! How many of us owe "Piglet" a thank you? I just now typed Tim's name into the search feature here at FlightSim.Com, and got 170 matching files, 50 of which were by Tim Himself and the others containing textures and other supplementations for his work. Since 1999 Tim has been uploading a fascinating and very diverse assortment of aircraft to the site. From a homebuilt kitplane to a NASA lifting body, from a classic trainer to Anakin Skywalker's hot-wired Speeder, Tim has been responsible for a lot of enjoyment for a lot of flightsimmers. Of his choices, Tim comments "I like making the more 'peculiar'/rarer aircraft, as I see no need for 24 different 767's. Some planes would never get a chance if I didn't make them".

           

Well I'm sure many of us are grateful that he thinks that way, and in this article I'm going to concentrate mainly on four of his uploads that are all-time favorites of mine. First off, the Martin Marietta X-24A lifting body. This fascinating x-plane from the 1970s was used to research the feasibility of a wingless aircraft as a re-entry vechicle, and data gathered from this plane and its successors figured directly into the design of the Space Shuttle. After being dropped from the wing of a B-52, the X-24's three rocket engines propelled it to just over a thousand miles an hour and seventy thousand feet, and after spending its fuel it would glide in for an unpowered landing. Tim's model of this aircraft is immersive and fascinating. The way the control surfaces move, the startup and shutdown noises, the smoke and flame effects for the rocket engines, and the way the plane flies are all very unusual - which I love. The metal surfaces are very convincing and the virtual cockpit is nicer than the 2D one! By the way, be sure to check out the view of the canopy opening and closing from inside the VC - this is one of my favorite planes to do that in. Of course, no B-52 being handy, you have to take off under your own power - but don't worry, your fuel will last a little longer than it did for this plane in real life. Although I was only able to top out just over 60,000 feet in this plane, and never got anywhere near a thousand miles an hour, it's still an exhilarating and unusual ride, and the flight model exhibits roll and stability characteristics (or should I say lack thereof) that are refreshingly unusual - and somewhat demanding of your attention as well. When I get to altitude I just shut down the engines and glide back in to my chosen airport for a deadstick landing to simulate the way it really was. Nice way to test your judgement, unless you're gonna power back up and cheat!

       

A more recent upload of Tim's, and one of my all time favorite downloads from flightsim.com, is his superb Lockheed T-33A T-Bird. This classic and highly succesful jet trainer was developed from Lockheed's P-80, the United States' first operational jet fighter. Its career in this country alone spanned forty years, ending in 1988. Again, the metal surfaces are varigated and believable - this is one of my favorite things about a lot of Tim's planes because I love metal eye-candy - and quite a few repaints for this fine bird are available. And as for the cockpits, both the 2D and virtual panels are among the best of any I have, including some pretty expensive payware! Piglet's VCs are just outstanding! This plane looks so good inside and out that I keep cycling views all the time just to appreciate each one of them. And lots of repaints are available for it, representing many real-life liveries from the T-bird's long career. The flight model is, of course, much more stable and easy to fly than the X-24A, just as it sould be. Of the hundreds I have, this plane is definitely one of my twenty all-time faves - I just keep coming back to it over and over.

           

Returning to the more esoteric, we come to the Northrop N-9MB, a real one of which has been restored to airworthiness and is currently based at Chino, CA. The brainchild of the visionary Jack Northrop, this graceful, almost organic-looking one-man flying wing was a testbed for the design features of the XB-35 and YB-49 bombers, and could arguably be referred to as the great granddaddy of the B-2 stealth bomber. The plane is rendered in the yellow and blue of the four real prototypes, and with the added red surfaces visible when you extend the flaps, makes for unusually colorful spot-plane views. This is one of my most favorite planes to fly from the virtual cockpit - take a look at that over the shoulder perspective. You just don't see views like that all the time! Another out-of-the-ordinary choice for some very pleasant flying. I could go on and on about all the detail and unusual features of this plane, but just download it and see for yourself if you haven't already. You're definitely in for some fun.

           

Another favorite of mine that I'd long hoped someone would develop for simming is the North American Navion - and, as if reading my mind, along came Piglet! (Although, if he were totally psychic, he would have done the even more unusual Twin Navion). Tim's model is of the original L-17, built for the US military for which it flew from 1946 clear into the 60's. It was a rugged and versatile workhorse of an airplane used for everything from liaison and cargo to training. During this time Ryan acquired the rights for the aircraft and so one also finds it referred to the Ryan Navion. Over the years a number of these planes have been customized as private aircraft with everything from bubble canopies to wingtip tanks. Tim's model is good and lots of repaints are available for it. And once again, as in the Northrop wing, you get some views from the virtual cockpit that just can't be mistaken for views from other planes, thanks to the very distinctive canopy fairing. It's a fun and unusual airplane to look at and to fly.

   

Two more planes of Tim's I fly pretty often are the North American T-28C, (above left) another classic workhorse trainer with many liveries available for download, and his newer Pilatus PC-21 (above right). Included here are just single screen shots of each in case you haven't tried these fine downloads. By the way, a lot of the scenery in these screen shots are the areas near Los Angeles and San Fransisco by MegaScenery and if they look intriguing to you I highly reccomend them. And as long as I'm momentarily plugging payware, I love Voice Buddy so much it more than makes up for my old favorite joystick not being programmable in Windows XP as it was with older versions of Windows. You speak, it happens! It even helped me set up these screen shots more quickly and easily. Voice Buddy is da bomb.

But, returning to Tim Conrad, who is the real reason for this article, I've only scratched the surface here of the Piglet's contributions. One of the things I love about MSFS is that if you want it to be, it can be a brand new sim every single time you fly it, and developers like Tim Conrad are the people who make that true with their hard work and generosity. Just hit the link provided here and go exploring. Thanks, Tim!

Phil Colvin
gimpyfoot1@yahoo.com

Download Tim Conrad aircraft

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