ndicki

A further four-letter set was the Stammkennzeichen, or factory delivery code. This was painted on pre-delivery aircraft on the fuselage only for single engined monoplane fighters, but on the fuselage and under the wings on other aircraft, including single-engined dive bombers such as the Ju87. On the fuselage you would get AB+CD, while under the wings, A+B C+D. If there is a discrepancy between what you see on the fuselage of an operational (dive/level) bomber and under the wings, that is often the explanation. On fighters, not to be confused with such things as Reconnaissance unit markings; they also used Bf109s, but which carried four letter codes.

There's a link at Sim Outhouse in the CFS3 Forum, but I can't get it for you right now as the site is undergoing maintenance for an hour or two. http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/forum.php Med Air War is the best thing that ever happened to CFS3, in my rather biased opinion! While you're at it, check out here: http://regshanger.co...raft%20MAIN.htm http://regshanger.co...l%20Website.htm http://regshanger.co...avo4%20home.htm http://regshanger.co...teds%20home.htm http://regshanger.co...%20skins%20.htm For some of the very best CFS3 addons. Others are at SOH in the Downloads Library and Archive. We're not talking about From-the-box CFS3 any more... I admit that the Greek and French G-36 aircraft are "alternative history!" They were ordered but never delivered. A month or two more and they would have been, in both cases. The Bf109G is stock but completely reworked, while the other aircraft are updated addons.

Come to that, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be somehow possible to have mixed units spawning - at the moment, you get 20 say T-55s. That's fine, but sometimes you get 20 jeeps or 20 school buses... Maybe there is a way to stop some spawning (so they can still be used in scripted missions) and to make others appear only in mixed groups - say a load of lorries with a couple of jeeps and an AA vehicle. If TK gives any interest to my idea of maximum group size (he hasn't shown any so far though) it might solve one of the problems!

CFS3 in its box form, perhaps not. But if you have followed what we've done with it... Mediterranean Air War and the ETO add-on, for starters, and a level of aircraft modelling that defies the imagination. If you don't know what I'm talking about, get over to Sim Outhouse http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/forumdisplay.php?f=7 and take a look, especially at some of the screenshots. I'll upload a few here just to give you an idea!

Going along the ground and not taking off is a common prob with FE, too. Don't really understand why, though.

To be honest, a lot of the differences can be covered simply with a bit of paint... Admittedly these are some of my efforts for CFS3 using the stock G-10 (so streamlined cowling without prominent bulges) which I've repainted as a G-14, with cowl bulges. It won't be so easy for SF because as I said above, the graphics are less well developed; CFS uses a specular sheet which enables you to play with levels of shininess and depth of shadow, for example. But I just wanted to show the sort of thing that can be done with a little application!

Great work, Monty! Beautiful! I'm getting on meanwhile with the S-199 - nearly finished the fuselage and about to start on the wings. It's a nice template to begin with - that helps a great deal! But the visual effects are not as good in SF as they might be.

OK... Here goes. Not for Monty, because it's not his thing, but just for general interest. G-2/4 - basically similar to F-4 but has two small intakes on either side of the nose cowling ahead of the exhaust stubs. DB605A engine with larger Fo870 radiator. The quarter-lights in the cockpit windscreen disappear, and one or two small intakes take their place. Bean-shaped bulges appear on the wings during the production run as larger wheels are fitted. Fixed tailwheel. Reinforced "square" canopy. Some with GM-1 boost system. G-6 Early production - as above but with 7.62mm cowl MG17s replaced by 13mm MG131s. This necessitated the installation of bulged covers over the breech blocks and feed mechanism. Usually fitted with GM-1 boost system. G-5 - Similar to G-6 but with pressurised cockpit. Produced concurrently with G-6, but production began slightly later. G-6 Late production/reworked - as above but may have Erla canopy and wooden tailfin and rudder/tailplanes(as IDF S-199) G-6AS - DB605AS engine, new streamlined cowling over the MG131 breeches. G-14 - basically a late-production G-6 with DB605A engine. It does have breech bulges, and usually has the Erla canopy and wooden tail unit. Late units with third type wider wheels and long, "rectangular" wing bulges (as S-199) G-14AS - essentially as G-6AS, DB605AS engine, frequently with enlarged Fo987 radiator. May have lengthened tail wheel and various types of aerial mast. G-10 - externally similar to G-6AS and G-14AS; first major series with new streamlined cowling as for AS engines. Some aircraft fitted with DB605DM engine with MW50 boost - these had larger radiator and bulges on the lower cowling below the leading exhaust stub. This type became the Avia S-99 immediately after the war. May have lengthened tail wheel and various types of aerial mast. K-4 - DB605D, DM or AS engine, essentially similar to G-10; rectangular wing bulges with final type of wheels, long tailwheel, wooden tail unit and Erla canopy. Short or no antenna mast. The main easy recognition features are the R/T access panel moved from frame 5 to frame 4, and the (often removed) secondary undercarriage bay covers. It is rather challenging to tell them all apart, especially as improvements did not necessarily bring about a new mark number. For example, the G-14 is essentially indistinguishable from a late production G-6... And don't try and catch me out, because you'll probably succeed. I'm still a bit dazed after all that - and I've left a fair few things out...

Monty, you are not at all joking when you say you can't tell which is which! it is unbelievably confusing. I'm concurrently doing a series of late-war 109s for CFS3, and it's driving me mental... Not just the visual models, but the flight models too. There were so many different combinations of airframe/engine/boost/etc that it's dizzying. Having said that, if Monty agrees, from the original S-99 I can cook up the G-6AS, G-10, G-14AS and K-4. There are visible differences although the airframe is much the same for each of these models. Most of the differences can be painted in quite convincingly, even if some, such as the tailwheel length, simply will have to stay as they are. But I hope nobody's in a hurry! I have my CFS3 series to complete and I'm also working on further skins for the S-199 - Monty was good enough to send me his templates, which has saved a certain amount of blood, sweat and tears!

Grief, don't even think of asking... !

(OK, I'm in the wrong forum again!) SF2 complete merged. Looks as though I'm going to have to take a look at particlesystem.ini AND 20mmFireEffect... Thanks - Back in a bit... Edit - I meant HMGFireEffect - the only entry is in ParticleSysyem.ini, and both stock and added are identical... Stumped. Unless it's the tga files that share the same name but different content.

I'm trying to find the effects file that determines the 20mm cannon muzzle flash effects, and simple though it should be in theory, I can't find it! There's one which basically makes it look as though the entire aircraft has caught fire, and if you're flying Monty's Avia or a Bf109 with guns in the cowling, you get a rather shocking gout of flames pouring back over the canopy... I'd rather go back to the stock one, but short of removing the entire effects folder, I haven't managed to nail it. Could somebody please point me in the right direction? Thanks!

Now those do look promising! Great work there. Do you need cockpit photos as well?

Grief, Monty, sooner you than me! That shows brains, a dummy jet engine!

Found them. The other thing I've noticed compared to the real one is that the slant from windscreen to spinner needs to be quite pronounced, and in two steps. Don't pay any attention to the guns, exhausts or fixed cooler - they are effectively Swiss only! But the rest of the aircraft is the same.

I mean to in due course, but don't hold your breath! I have a lot to do, not all for SF...

Looking very promising! One of my favourite early-war aircraft; I was on the team for the CFS3 version. If I may make so bold, though, I have a feeling that the lower cowl needs to be a bit deeper and the angle up to the spinner more pronounced, and the wheels need to be at a significant angle to the undercarriage legs. The "bulges" behind the canopy were usually flattened down, and the cannon bulges on the wings were wider and deeper. If you need photos, I did a walk-round of the restored Swiss one - if I can find them.

Thanks, both of you. That must be what happened, then!

Could somebody remind me how to set things up so I can reload my weapons in flight? I seem to remember there was a trick to enable this, but I've lost the "paper" I wrote it down on. Thanks!

I've got Monty's Avia on my plate at the moment, and that's if I have the time, so don't look at me! at least, not for a while. These multiple-sheet SF templates are a pain...

No probs, just wanted to point it out. No harm done.

Actually, at the risk of upsetting the party, I'd like to point out that the templates used are mine. Admittedly somebody has stuck the technical blurb on them and tweaked them here and there a bit, but that doesn't change the fact that I did most of the work. They were released under the Freeware Agreement, but the terms of that agreement are pretty clear: 1. The work may not be used in payware projects or in projects that will not be freely distributed under these same terms. 2. You must give proper credit in your readme file. 3. If feasible, include the original readme along with your new mod. I'm quite prepared to think it was simply an inadvertent error on somebody's part, but it goes to show that before you release anything that is not 100% your own work, you should check to see where it really did come from, and if you're not sure, say so.

You're right. My (French) reference book that I did a quick check in is not. "Messerschmitt Me109 Volume II" by Dominique Breffort and Andre Jouineau, page 78. Never buy books published by Histoire et Collections. They have so many careless mistakes and unreliable "facts" in that you can't catch all of them. Anyway, with an S-99, you can do a G-6AS, G-10, G-10AS and G-14AS.

Wake up, Kevin! You're a bit slow off the mark... The Avia S-99 is the local redesignation for the Bf109g-14. Then with TK's Spits and Mustangs, there's business to be done!

After that? Well, there might be a market for a nice S-99...