About This File
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TBM-3E Avenger for SF2I Expansion Pack - Suez Crisis
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This is a modification of the TBM-3E released by The Wrench, which is itself a mod of the TBF/TBM Avenger available in the WWII aircraft section at the A-Team Skunkworks web site:
http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/
This mod creates a TBM-3E Avenger for use in ThirdWire's SF2I Suez Expansion Pack. Included are French Navy and Royal Navy texture sets.
Historical purists & rivet-counters take note: what you're about to read is likely to cause nausea, dizziness, and mild vomiting.
Before discussing anything else, let me tell you what's wrong with this mod:
1) It uses the wrong aircraft: the French Naval Air unit participating in the Suez Crisis flew the TBM-3S/W, not the TBM-3E. I don't have access to a TBM-3S/W model, so the TBM-3E it is.
2) It represents the wrong unit: the French Naval Air unit flying the Avenger in the Suez Crisis was 9 Flotilla, not 15 Flotilla. I don't have decals for 9F, so I used the 15F decals from The Mirage Factory's F4U-7 Corsair instead.
3) It flies the wrong missions: the French Avenger was primarily an anti-submarine aircraft. Given that there are no Anti-Sub missions in SF2I (and given that flying around over an open ocean for hours at a time would get really old really fast in this game), this Avenger is configured to fly Strike, CAS, and Armed Recon missions like other attack aircraft in the world of ThirdWire.
For those of you still with me, let me provide some other information about this mod.
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Installation
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This mod is NOT a complete, self-contained package. It requires that you download the TBF/TBM Avenger from the A-Team's site (see above for a link). Once you've got that file downloaded, do the following:
1) Unpack the A-Team's TBF/TBM Avenger into its own folder.
2) Copy or move the \Objects & \Sounds folders from this mod (i.e., the Suez Avenger mod) to your SF2I Mod Folder.
3) Copy or move the following items from the A-Team TBF/TBM Avenger to the \Objects\Aircraft\TBM-3E folder in your SF2I Mod Folder:
- TBM Avenger-R5.LOD
- TBM Avenger-R5.OUT
- \Cockpit [the entire folder "as is"]
That's it. You're ready to fly.
Please note that the default unit/skin is the French Navy 15F. I've thrown in Kulbit(80)'s Royal Navy skin as a bonus. This aircraft can be flown reliably on both Hard and Normal flight model settings.
Although packaged for SF2I, this mod will work fine in Wings Over Israel (WOI), provided you move the decals to their proper texture folders in the TBM-3E folder and install the AN/APS-4 radar pod to your WOI Weapons folder.
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Changes & Updates
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This mod makes extensive changes to Wrench's TBM-3E. Here's a short list:
- added French Navy 15F texture set
- added Kulbit(80)'s Royal Navy texture set
- moved decals to SF2 \Decals folder
- added USERLIST.INI
- added custom Hangar & Loading screens
- added updated Loadout image
- added DestroyedModel data
- tweaked flight model for Hard settings in SF2
- tweaked landing gear to fix AI aircraft exploding
on the taxiway
- removed belly gunner node and gun
- performed other minor, misc. tweaks & adjustments
Thanks to Wrench and Kulbit(80) for testing and misc. tweaks & fixes.
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Credits
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As noted earlier, this is a modification of the TBM-3E released by The Wrench, which is itself a mod of the TBF/TBM Avenger available in the WWII aircraft section at the A-Team Skunkworks web site:
http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/
Original aircraft: Dev A-Team (Capun, Charles, Gramps and Kesselbrut)
TBM-3E Modifications: Kevin Stein, aka The Wrench
AN/APS-4 radar pod: Tim Davis
Royal Navy skin: Michal Minta, aka Kulbit(80)
15F decals: The Mirage Factory
Please see the \_Docs folder for the original readme files included with the mods listed above. Any errors or omissions are entirely my responsibility.
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Eric Howes
27 July 2010