[What If] RAF '43. Early jet madness. 1.0.0

What if ... RAF went 'full jet' much earlier? 

Basic modding skills are required to run this mod.  (copy/paste, mod folder structure, etc.) 

Install:
Copy and paste specific folders into the correct destination.

A fake pilot is required to run this mod. Also, the Thirdwire Meteor cockpit is required from the original game. 

Fuel tanks- Overwrite or just leave it. 100 gal tank is the original TW tank. You can overwrite or just simply do not copy.
175 gal tank also.
Tanks are just ini files. The mod uses tanks that are part of aircraft lod.

After successful trials of Meteor F.1 Ministry of Defense urged the Gloster company to increase the speed of production. How financing this enormous effort was possible until today is a mystery, that can not be revealed until the year 2375 - due to a secret agreement. But rumors are that behind that substantial loan was the First Bank of Commerce of Ferenginar. But this is a quite different story that we should not discuss here.
MoD sent requirements for the development of special versions. Gloster at that time focused on the F.3 variant. But having prepared airframes and finally a large stock of Rolls-Royce Dervent I, the company decided to put what they had together resulting in Meteor F.1b  which was an upgraded F.1 variant with modifications known from the upcoming F.3 model. 
Meanwhile, the company took the development of a fighter-reconnaissance version resulting in the FR.2 Meteor equipped with elongated nose with recon cameras. FR.2 was powered by an uprated engine- Derwent II.  Also, the high altitude variant marked as HF.5 received longer span wings and an uprated newly developed Derwent 4 jet engine. The fuselage was reworked by increasing the height of the fuselage right after the canopy which allowed it to fix slightly bigger internal fuel tanks. Only 26 HF.5 were built. 

Knowing that Gloster can not afford to work on all MoD requirements some of the work was moved to other companies. Armstrong-Withworth focused on the development of a radar-equipped night fighter version - NF.6. In this model AW installed a Bristol-made turret with four 20mm Hispano cannons. Additionally, two 20mm cannons were installed in the wings. This version was powered by engines initially installed in the HF.5 variant. Which already had better performance at higher altitudes. 
DeHavilland took the mantle of developing a fighter bomber variant. Based on HF.5 but with shorter wings FB.3 was delivered in the middle of 1943. This variant was equipped with 4 bomb racks under the fuselage. Since DeHavilland made a significant amount of changes in the airframe by strengthening the airframe, received permission to change the name of the aircraft - and there where Banshee was born. Only 24 fighter-bombers Banshee FB.3 were built before switching to production of full-grown fighter-bomber variant FB.5.

At the same time remaining airframes and long-span wings were put together into the photo reconnaissance variant PR.4. which was still in fact development of the HF.5 variant. Full fighter bomber variant FB.5 was ready two months later. Knowing that FB.3 had serious issues with drag when loaded with bombs, DeHavilland redesigned the central part of the aircraft and equipped FB.5 with an internal bomb bay. Additionally, FB.5 had a remote-controlled turret. Nose contained similar to FB.3 weaponry - four 20mm Hispano canons and four 0.303 cal Browning machine guns. In further development, FB.5 could carry specially made for small bomb containers, additional fuel packs in a bomb bay, or 57mm canon which was required for Coastal Command variant - FB.5C. Coastal Command additionally equipped its Banshees with ASV mkVII surface radar. Based on the FB.5C variant Fairey Company developed the torpedo fighter Banshee TF.6 - where the main difference is the lack of an internal bomb bay but with a semi-recessed belly to accommodate Mk.12 torpedo. All FB.5 and TF.6 were equipped with a new jet engine  a joint Rolls-Royce DeHavilland program - which resulted in Hobgoblin 2 and Derwent 5 engines

Special note:

TF.6 /FB.5c - you will find that loading a QF6 57mm cannon Mk.12 torpedo is possible on both birds - this is just a 'fake weapon station' that allows choosing your wingman to fly FB.5c and still have the possibility to load a full range of weapons for second aircraft. 

All skins are in 4096x4096 format. 
I Made a bunch of decals covering all real serial numbers of Banshee and Meteor

Also, the RAF letters folder should be added to the Decals folder I know it is big but it gives slightly better quality with still a small file size. If you have already my RAF letters from the real Meteor pack - you can overwrite them - this adds a few more variations of letters.

There are many reasons why I have made things in this mod the way they are...versions, skins, and decals. A lot to explain but I doubt anyone wants to read about it anyway.

Pack is big..but I think you will see why it is, the way it is.

Credits.
Veltro2k  - the original old model of t7 
Yours truly  -  model rework, mambo jumbo like skins, decals, research...

Pilots - RAF pilot by Geezer

I used Ravenclaw's weapons - bombs and rockets (those that are required due to stated in loadout.ini)

The rest are done by me.

This model is designed/checked only to work with Ravenclaw's rockets and bombs - so there might be some strange positioning in other (stock - often oversized) weapons. 
 

During the creation of squadron patches, I might have used the wrong crown on squadron crests. (according to the squadron timeframe)Gaffe indeed.  All should have St. Edward's Crown but I am aware that some have Tudor Crown. It is not out of ignorance ...Hope this small faux pas can be forgiven.

Have fun.
Report bugs. *
Expect the unexpected.
Live long and prosper.

Jarek Hereda

THIS MODEL IS ONLY TO BE DISTRIBUTED AS FREEWARE AND IN NO OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE SHALL IT BE USED, EVEN IN PART OF ANYTHING THAT IS PAYWARE.
UNDER THE COMBAT ACE MODDERS AGREEMENT

* report BIG bugs...If I misspelled something or forgot to add a sound file...for dog's sake try to fix it.  Not like this mod is using some ancient or extraterrestrial files..