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Starts with a cruddy screenshot and another cruddy ironhand mission to start off your Cruddy Monday Same rules apply as Phantom Phridays CL

Douglas A-1G Skyraider, Leichtes Kampfgeschwader 41, ca. 1959 alternate File for Squad-Badge Position

Stephen's beautiful model for the Da Vinci flyer got me thinking today about butterflies, dragonflies, mechanical birds, early flight in general, also horse power and ox power and other (obsolete) power measurements and ratios (oxes are like torque since they have more "pull power" than a draft horse, but the horse always has more hp...I think the old rule is that an ox can do about 65% of the work of a draft horse). In other words, it only has about 2/3s of the hp of a horse, but that makes sense since it's not a real horse. It seems that the major problem with early powered flight (man or engine powered) was the power to weight ratio (inefficient) of early engines, especially steam engines. Clement Ader's "Eole" flyers of the 1890s (the ones with bat-like wings) were about 150 to 250 kg in weight (empty), and had cumbersome steam engines to power them...of about 20-30 hp. It's possible that they got off the ground briefly but had no pilot control. The Wright brothers also encountered a similar power-to-weight ratio problem but overcame this with a somewhat lightweight combustion engine of about 15 hp, and a fairly long wingspan, plus the biplane construction that gives further wing area for better lift. The Flyer B and C would be further improvements...with engines of about 25 to 35 hp. The Wright flyers had similar empty weights to the Eole variants, of about 200 to 300 kg, but a better wing design and lighter (combustion) engine - and also the capability for controlled flight. Man-powered "ornithopters" are another problem entirely, since, to speak in very rough averages, a man has about 1/3 the horsepower of a single horse (race horse), even less if you measure with a draft horse (which may be how the Germans were measuring horse power prior to the 1920s...perhaps this is why German hp ratings are lower on the Mercedes D.III engine when compared to British tests on the same engine...an interesting side-topic). Something like the Da Vinci flyer might actually work but you would have to be able to pump out, consistently, about 40 to 60 horses given the construction materials of the time (linen, wood, steel tubing perhaps, etc.). I've gone with estimated empty weights for the Da Vinci and Der Flieger variant of between about 150 and 190 kg - which seems reasonable given historical construction materials - about half the weight of the Eole or Wright flyer - but with an "invisible" combustion engine included to simulate extreme pedal power. This gives the Da Vinci flyers enough power to take off. There were some experiments in the 1980s from MIT with pedal-powered flight, but those required extremely long wingspans for lift, also cutting-edge construction materials, and saving on weight wherever possible - and they flew at something like 45 kph and maybe 20-30 meters alt. (haven't looked up those statistics in a while). To get something like the Da Vinci off the ground would require about 50 hp, from what I've been able to test in FE2, similar to what's needed for the early MS types and Bleriot XI to get off the ground too (those have longer wings for better lift when compared to something like the Da Vinci so the Anzani 25 hp engine works but barely works on those, as was the case historically when Bleriot flew across the English Channel in 1909). For some of the types in FE2, I've gone with a lower-than-historical hp rating since the climb rate and lift was already too good on some of the wing types, and they still fly well enough for early aircraft (often you have to juggle between the engine rating, empty weight, and other values, to get the overall result right, without overhauling an entire data ini). I did some more tinkering today with the Da Vinci and provide one more variant in the package below...for this one, I've shaved off the empty weight to 70 kg (average weight of one man maybe), and was able to reduce the power on the invisible combustion engine to only 10 hp - about the power of 10 to 20 men pedaling away - anything less and it can't take off...and I think a lower empty weight also wouldn't be realistic (even this weight is pushing it) - considering typical construction materials for the type. So, this one is as close as I can get it to how birds fly and how a real pedal-powered contraption might behave (one made from materials in the garage or a WWI factory, not with fancy ultralight components or cutting-edge technology) - something to enjoy in FE2. The ai flies it just fine, but requires some time to get to alt. The ceiling on this one seems to be around 500 m, top speed is only about 65 kph. This one is even more delicate than the other two variants posted under the Da Vinci thread, so watch dives and hard maneuvers. To install, simply rename Stephen's DaVinci aircraft folder to TouringEdition and copy over the skin folder and ini files. Von S EDIT: File removed, will be included in mini ver. 9.9 update of the FM pack under the relevant thread.

If only......UK ordered a phantom replacement in the form of F-14B's .

It's already Tuesday where I'm at but, I guess I might well post something on here. Have some Raptors in supercruise over Manila, probably chasing off Chinese stealth fighters or some shit:

I seem to have misplaced Edinburgh:

Netz to you Mac...........

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19PFL 'Farmer-M' - 921st Fighter Regiment, Vietnamese Peoples Air Force, 1972 Even though Operation Linebacker did not start until May 9th, 1972 the build-up of forces was clearly observed by both the North Vietnamese military and their Soviet advisors. The build-up was also clearly felt by the North Vietnamese on April 10th following the first large-scale B-52 raid when 12 B-52s and 53 supporting attack aircraft struck several petroleum storage facilities around Vinh. This attack prompted VPAF commanders to report that, with only around 200 interceptors, they simply did not have enough aircraft to deal with sustained attacks on strategic targets in the North leading to President Hồ Chí Minh urgently seeking further assistance from the Soviet Union. The Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, authorised the urgent transfer of 50 aircraft from the Soviet Air Force and US analysts were surprised to discover that these consisted of 30 MiG-17PF's and 20 of the hitherto unknown MiG-19PFL radar equipped interceptors. The MiG-19PFL's were pressed into service with the 921st Fighter Regiment based at Phúc Yên and although there were persistent reports that they were flown by Soviet pilots this has never been confirmed. A simple skin applied to the very inventive SM-12 by Cocas.

Blohm & Vos Bv 141 - Fourth Flight, No. 12 (Reconnaissance) Squadron, Finnish Air Force, June 1941 Not Finland but baffmeister's superb Battle of the Bulge Terrain Beta 0.90.

Lousy weather over the Persian Gulf:

Finnish BV-141's - June 1941

https://flic.kr/p/2kwyfwM Moonlight Shadow

You meant PHRYDAY !!!

cool but...... FRIDAY !

Alright, you apes! Don't make me dilute you posts! Put a Rhino screenie up there!!! ------- as required; "out and over a wine dark sea"

I was out having a pint or four but it has now been looked after. Thank you.

Sweet!

AN/MPQ61 Radar is done next will start MIM-23 Hawk launcher.

The bird was flown as prototype. Designation was SM-12PM. vMax 1.720 km/h range: 1.700 km max alt: 17.400 m take off weight 8.200 kg span: 9.00 m wingarea 25.00 m² lenght 13.10 m height 4.02 m enigines: 2 x R3M-26 each 25 kN without and 32 kN with afterburner

Wrench, i said the same but more clear to new member. as i think.

No, you need to only fly on terrains that are NOT NavalMap=TRUE (which is all the original 4, excepting IcelandNA, which is the ONLY stock terrain built from the bedrock/ocean floor for carrier ops in single missions)

oh, shoot! At first I thought I might have been a XF5F Skyrocket Still, cool!!!

since day one, without user set ups, always has defaulted to 'in air start" from the main screen ---> options ----> gameplay ---> mission start position

have you read manuals..or at least check game settings?

FW190-A4

Guyz, I can upload very, very beta of GR.4. I need your help with weapons (mostly for AI) and editing data for AI attacks. This 'very, very beta' is just GR.1 with GR.4 weapon stations and simple GR.4 colours. No finished 3d, no GR.4 cockpit and no decals. Just to test and set GR.4 weapons. Do you want to join Tonka team and help us with weapons ? Wojtek

i made it my self , i needed something for fun this Phantom can carry up to 8 AIM-120 , it has new more powerfull engines and the cockpit from the F-4E_AUP , aahh... and it has working canards mandatory screenshot just in case you wondering if something like that did really fly , yes it did , it was a RF-4E testing fly by wire

First night on Baghdad, UNEDITED SF2 pics. We own the night... Shack! And back to base! The Iraqis never knew what hit them!

Qinetiq energy

Brilliant Idea ! I propose Skyraider Saturdays. Cruddy Mondays, F-8s. Thursday's Thuds, F-105s Screenshot threads also. CL

A Phantom Phantom.

I love the idea. Popeye the sailor.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

works in the WGr.21 of the A8 (it's not a very useful weapon in the simulator)

Thanks Torno !

hopefully, that means it WASN'T towed aloft by the He 111Z Zwilling just kidding!