Vickers FB5 "Gunbus" Version 2

The Vickers FB5 was the first British plane designed specifically as a fighter. It was nicknamed the "Gunbus" because the pusher style aircraft had a factory installed machine gun mounted in the front, giving the gunner a wide angle of fire.

Although underpowered for its size, the large tail surfaces made it quite maneuverable. The Gunbus was an effective fighter for its time and was used to create the first fighter squadron, the RFC No. 11 Squadron. The Vickers FB5 was quickly outclassed and replaced by other fighters but it made a lasting impression on pilots.

I have included two skins with decal ini's for both the Standard Linen used by Britain and France, as well as an early British skin with flags instead of roundels. I have also included a set of serial numbers which will be applied randomly. I have included my skinning templates for the plane and the cockpit.

Historical Notes

The serial numbers are fictitious, but in the correct range for most FB5s.

Details of the instrument panel are mostly conjecture.

Several kinds of gun mounts were used on the Gunbus, most of them required considerable upper body motion for the gunner. In First Eagles, it is not possible to animate the gunner, so my gun mount is fictitious, but at least allows the gunner some freedom of movement.

Credits

My thanks to Ojcar for once again making an excellent data file for the Vickers Gunbus.

My thanks to Nix for providing the sound for the Gnome engine

Version 2 - Ojcar has created a new FM which improves the fighting performance of the AI. A fake machine gun has been added which causes the pilot of AI planes to be more active in pursuing enemy aircraft. Installation instructions for the new gun are in a separate file.

Installation Instructions

For FE1 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "VickersFB5" into the FirstEagles/Objects/Airplanes folder. You also need to move the sound file "gnome80m4.wav" into your FirstEagles/Sounds folder.

For FE2 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "VickersFB5" into the FirstEagles/Objects/Airplanes folder. Then in the FirstEagles/Objects/Decals folder, create a new folder named "VickersFB5". Move the folder named "D" from the Airplanes/VickersFB5 folder into the Decals/VickersFB5 folder you just made. You also need to move the sound file "gnome80m4.wav" into your FirstEagles/Sounds folder.

To install the fake machine gun, follow the instructions in the file named "InstructionsForInstallingGuns".