A-3b skywarrior

[asos]

I have installed and flown an A-3B Skywarrior--trapped and launched with it on a carrier.

 

The file is:

 

"Combat Flight Simulator - CFS2 Aircraft

CFS2/FS2002/FS2004 A-3B Skywarrior

 

Name: a3-dha.zip

Size: 2,866,437 Date: 12-08-2003 Downloads: 2,110

 

CFS2/FS2002/FS2004 A-3B Heavy Attack Skywarrior Bomber. The Douglas Skywarrior is the biggest and heaviest aircraft ever designed for routine use from an aircraft carrier. The Skywarrior was the Navy's first twin-jet nuclear bomber and has been in service for over twenty years. Designed with CFS2 in mind, but should work in other sims. By Rey Lopez and Bruce Baker.'

 

It works fine in in fs9.

 

Some screenshots of my trap attached...

[mrzippy]

Great shots, Nick! I have yet to get my Whale aboard any of my carriers. I actually have a CAT and a TRAP aboard U.S.S. Saratoga in 1969 when I was with Heavy Attack Squadron 10. Flying 3rd seat, of course!

[asos]

mrzippy,

 

Glad you liked the screenshots.

 

I attach some more here:

 

Note that I follow the ILS green feather in the GPS to guide me to the deck, trying to keep inside it, pressing + to make it larger.

 

The 2 landing gauges upper right--the tailhook gauge at right lights green when the gear and hook are extended and that stops me when I hit the deck at whatever point. I try to land in the wires of course but the plane will stop wherever you hit. The launch gauge that says ARM is at right--that launches me, a cat shot.

See your pm and reply.

 

Do you have FS PANEL STUDIO--a tool that adds gauges to panels?

 

VAH-10? Find me a picture with the paint scheme of your plane and I will do a repaint for you.

I googled for pictures and there are plenty of VAH-10 aircraft but I did not know

which to choose...

 

The screenshots have been uploaded in reverse order--bottom one is first, top one is last.

 

Nick

[PhantomTweak]

The 2 landing gauges upper right--the tailhook gauge at right lights green when the gear and hook are extended and that stops me when I hit the deck at whatever point. I try to land in the wires of course but the plane will stop wherever you hit. The launch gauge that says ARM is at right--that launches me, a cat shot.

Make sure you are updated to RCBCO20v2.0, the read the documents folder carefully. There is a text file in there that explains how to define a carrier landing area. so that you only trap in the wires, not anywhere on the boat. There is a specific file where the various carrier landing areas are defined, and a specific setting in there is set to allow you to trap anywhere in the world. I believe that is where the trouble with being able to trap anywhere on the boat lies. Either the specific setting for that carrier is inaccurate, making the entire deck a trappable area, or your gauge is set to allow you to land anywhere in the world.

Setting up a specific carrier that is not included in the fdefault is a bit of a complex effort, but it's not overly technical. Just kind of long an involved, and consists of slew the plane to the four corners of the landing area you want defined, recording the Lat/Long coordinates, then installing in the file I mentioned before.

Like I said, all this is explained in exquisite detail in the documentation included with RCBCO V2.0. And much more simply than I can :D

Does that help any?

Pat☺

[asos]

PhantomTweak,

 

Thanks...

 

But what you advise requires extra work to set up the landing areas.

 

My system does away with that--I am lazy.

 

I will however download the file and see what it can offer.

 

 

Nick

[asos]

PhantomTweak,

 

I could not find that v.2 file--can you please post a link?

[old_wombat]

"Setting up a specific carrier that is not included in the fdefault is a bit of a complex effort". Well, not at all, once you've done it a couple of times, especially if you've got the high-precision RCBCO position gauge in a panel somewhere (which you should). The position you get with shift-Z is not precise enough.

 

As Pat said:

 

You copy an existing file to create a new file to use as a template. Open it up in Wordpad. Slew to a corner and get the lat/long. Put those into the the new file. Repeat for each corner. A minor annoyance is that you can't copy and paste the coordinates from the gauge (because the coords don't display as "text"); you have to type them in. Despite that, you can still do it in about the same time it took you to read this.

 

Takes about one minute for the landing area, and another minute for each catapult.

 

 

One minor annoyance in the Carriers2006 model files is that the launch position of the visual catapult on deck texture does not line up with the area that your aircraft is in when the jetblast deflector pops up.

 

 

Nick, regarding your images. You are trapping on a fast carrier, so it is steaming into the wind at 25+ knots. So the steam from the cats is not just wafting around, it is flying astern. Maybe you might want to review your choice of cat_steam.fx file?

[mikeandpatty]

Ah, yes -the great "Whale"! I have about 150 hours in RA-3Bs and KA-3Bs while a test pilot at NATC Pax River. A bit of a handful, thank the gods for the drag chute on anything less than an 8000 ft runway on a hot day.

 

Cockpit somewhat like the cab of a steam locomotive, but I liked flying with enlisted aircrew, who really took care of these birds. I loved the sound of J-57s spooling up to taxi out of the chocks -you could really hear them with the upper escape hatch open!

[PhantomTweak]

PhantomTweak,

 

I could not find that v.2 file--can you please post a link?

 

Why, certainly! It's right HERE, in the Flightsim Library. Just plug RCBCO into the text line, and FS2004-All Files into the "where to search" line. You get 22 selections, one of which is RCBCO-20.zip Or click the link I gave :D

Another dandy add-on to it is THIS ONE, which will move your plane to the selected catapult zone on the chosen carrier. Very handy if you have a default flight of, let's say, an f-14, sitting on a shore station runway. Poof! you are out on the carrier you want, ready to go.

Most of the other files listed in the library under "rcbco" are ships, and planes that include the gauges for RCBCO. Some really nice one's too, like the Waikato, a fictional New Zealand carrier.

You are trapping on a fast carrier, so it is steaming into the wind at 25+ knots. So the steam from the cats is not just wafting around, it is flying astern.

Sadly, the carriers in FS9 don't move, so his steam effect is accurate. All you can do is set the Advanced Weather to give you the correct WOD for your plane. One thing to watch for, though, is that if there is a magnetic variation where the ship is located, it will be allplied to the wind you set up. You can set the wind at 250°, and when you look at a wind direction gauge, or whatever you use, it can be 243°. You have to do a little tweaking of the wind direction to get it down the angle deck like you need. Since the ships normally sail directly into the wind during launch and recovery ops, you actually SHOULD set the wind to the BRC, but heck, nothing wrong with a touch of cheating :D

Hope all my rambling helps a little...

Pat☺

By-the-bye, mikeandpatty, as to what you said,

but I liked flying with enlisted aircrew, who really took care of these birds.

Of course they did. It was their tails on the line when that bird was in the air too! Of course they're going to take care of the bird that holds their lives in it's seats. I don't blame the. I sure would too if I we Enlisted Air Crew too :D

Pat☺

[old_wombat]

Sadly, the carriers in FS9 don't move, so his steam effect is accurate. Pat☺

Of course they don't move, but if you set a headwind of say 24 knots, then it's worthwhile getting a steam effect flying astern. And a thrashing wake effect too. And rapidly disappearing ships smokes for the support fleet

 

I found it well worth while doing that, as it does give a good simulation of a carrier blasting into the wind. To each his own, I suppose.

[mikeandpatty]

Actually, a carrier does not sail directly into the wind during launch/recovery. The navigator calculates a heading that results in a wind (combined of surface wind and ship course/speed) that will "split the angle". let's say for argument that a carrier has an angled deck of 11 degrees. Splitting the angle means you want the relative wind 5.5 degrees off the port bow, typically 25 knots for a NIMITZ Class.

 

Why? it is common to be launching and recovering at the same time. Also there are times (tankers especially) when the bow gets crowded during a recovery and you launch a plane from the waist cats in the middle of a recovery (it takes about 1 minute). Splitting the angle gives the best solution for bow/cat launches and recoveries with the best crosswind solution in any case Obviously if there is little or no surface wind, you suck it up with an apparent right crosswind 11 deg off your nose at 25 knots and work harder maintaining lineup. It's been a few years fir me, but the E-2C was the critical airplane for recoveries. its max engagement speed dictated 25 kts WOD. We had F-14s, A-6s, A-7s but no F/A-18s. I doubt the "bug" is a limiting factor these days.

 

Also, I have made several traps in the Virtavia payware A-3B series. I think it is pretty good, but they are the modernized versions with the "duck butt" tail cap and no tail guns. it is a pretty good external model of the KA-3B and RA-3B, also an EK-A3B.

[mrzippy]

Not wanting to turn this into a "screenshot forum", but a couple of appropriate snaps from the past. This is aboard the "Sucking 60 from Dixie".

 

"Admiral, there be Whales here!"

[asos]

mrzippy,

 

Is this the USS SARATOGA and is it modex no. 610 and airwing code AC (on fin) the aircraft you flew in?

That info is vital for me to do the repaint.Check the pm I sent you please.

 

Nick

[mrzippy]

mrzippy,

 

Is this the USS SARATOGA and is it modex no. 610 and airwing code AC (on fin) the aircraft you flew in?

That info is vital for me to do the repaint.Check the pm I sent you please.

 

Nick

 

I actually flew in A/C 611, the one in the TRAP photo. Bureau number 142650. I thought I responded to your PM. I'll resend. U.S.S. Saratoga CVA-60

[asos]

mrzippy,

 

I cannot find how to see the pm's I have received.

Any help?

[mrzippy]

mrzippy,

 

I cannot find how to see the pm's I have received.

Any help?

 

[Rupert]

mikeandpatty,

 

You're obviously referring to angle-top carriers. Those are way too new for me to have much RW experience.:o

[asos]

zippy,

 

 

I have started the repaint of modex no 611...