Spinners

Demons of the Desert

Saunders-Roe Firebar FAW.2 - No.25 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1965 Pasko's Yak-28P.

The game engine looks for the hangar screen in the skin folder first. I checked this out on the Kfir C2 - it ignored my new hangar screen. I changed the name slightly on the ini and on the hangar screen (obviously names must match) and it worked just fine.

You can also rename your hangar screen to Kfir_C2_Hangar and change the ini to read; HangarScreen=Kfir_C2_Hangar.JPG I've just tried it with a homemade screen for the Kfir C2.

Later on in SF2 there were hanger screens in the skin folders.

Double check your spelling and also check for a hidden alpha layer.

Desert Shield

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-14 Gidgee - No.5 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, 1945 When Joseph Lyons led the United Australia Party to a landslide victory at the 1931 Australian General Election to become the Australian Prime Minister he also served as the country's treasurer until 1935 overseeing Australia's recovery from the Great Depression. "Honest Joe" Lyons was a masterful political campaigner and his personal popularity was a major factor in the government's re-election in 1934 (albeit a coalition Government between the United Australia Party and the Country Party). In early 1935 he met Essington Lewis, the Chief General Manager of Broken Hill Proprietary, who had visited Europe and who had formed the view that war was highly probable. Lewis expressed his concern at the lack of manufacturing capabilities in Australia and suggested that miltary aircraft might not be available from Britain during wartime. Prime Minister Lyons was receptive to the lobbying campaign led by Lewis to establish a modern aircraft industry and the Australian government required little persuasion and encouraged negotiations between a number of Australian companies which would soon lead to the formation of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) in October 1936 and by September 1937 a new factory had been completed at Fishermen's Bend, Port Melbourne. Whilst the company would initially pursue the development and production of the CAC Wirraway (a licence-built version of the North American NA-16) the firm would soon be presented with demands for the large-scale production of military aircraft to re-equip the Royal Australian Air Force. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 created an urgent review of Australia's defences and, in particular, Australia's air defences were found to be a perilous position with just small numbers of CAC Wirraway general purpose aircraft and aging Brewster F2A Buffalo fighters available to the RAAF to defend the mainland. Although Britain and America possessed considerable aircraft manufacturing capacity their output was destined for their own air forces who were by now both engaged in battle. Furthermore, even where capacity was available the delivery of fighter aircraft would involve them being crated and shipped over long distances in wartime conditions. Australia's new Prime Minister, John Curtin, met with Lawrence Wackett (CAC's Manager and Chief Designer) to examine the possibility of designing and building an indigenous fighter aircraft. Wackett proposed a two-step solution of an interim design that would use elements of aircraft that were already being produced in Australia and a later design for a new high performance fighter designed from scratch. The CA-12 interim design would become the tough and nimble CAC Boomerang for which Wackett had decided to use the airframe of the CAC Wirraway as a starting point as this had the advantage of requiring little additional tooling and would therefore reduce the design time and lead to the earliest possible depolyment. Within weeks, the Australian War Cabinet authorised an order for 105 CAC Boomerang aircraft off the drawing board. For the new fighter design (now designated CA-14) Wackett schemed a neat single-engined, low-wing monoplane with an all-metal, semi-monocoque fuselage and graceful, evenly-tapered wings. To power the CA-14 Wackett and his design team selected the promising Alison V-1350 - a liquid-cooled inverted-vee 12-cylinder piston engine rated at 1,350 hp at 7,500 ft altitude with 2,600 rpm and featuring a mechanical direct fuel injection system using small pistons driven off the crankshaft. When compared to the Merlin installation on the Spitfire and Hurricane, the lowered inverted engine installation improved visibility for the pilot and also improved access to the cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds for the ground crew. Armament consisted of two synchronized .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns set in the upper fuselage decking fed by ammunition boxes positioned behind the engine bulkhead and with a further .50 caliber AN/M2 Browning machine gun in each wing. Pilots would later comment favourably that the 'four gun' installation was a good compromise between lightness and firepower and sufficent when used against most Japanese aircraft. For the new CA-14 design, and in keeping with the aboriginal theme, CAC chose the name of Gidgee - a lethal quartz-tipped spear. Development continued through the first half of 1942 and shortly after the first flight of the interim CAC Boomerang in May 1942 the Royal Australian Air Force approved the CA-14 design concept proposal and issued design specification 6/42 for work to commence on two prototypes and, subject to a successful test flight programme, a production order for 250 aircraft. The first Gidgee prototype was rolled out in February 1943 but the first flight would have to wait another two months following delays with the Alison V-1350. Finally on April 25th, 1943 CAC Test Pilot, Jim Schofield, flew the prototype Gidgee and this was soon followed by the second prototype just two days later flown by CAC's Ken Frewin. By the middle of 1943 there were many USAAF fighter squadrons now deployed in northern Australia operating a mixture of P-39 and P-40 fighters and the RAAF had also begun to receive P-40's of their own. With the first three Boomerang squadrons having also become operational the RAAF reduced their order to 125 Gidgee aircraft and the programme lost some of it's urgency so it was not until August 1944 that No.5 Squadron of the RAAF became operational at Toogoolawah before being deployed to Piva Airfield at Torokina on Bougainville in November 1944. No.4 Squadron became the second Gidgee squadron in February 1945 deploying to Morotai and then to the island of Labuan to support Australian ground forces in the Borneo campaign. The third and final Gidgee squadron was No.77 Squadron who re-equipped with the type at Morotai in April 1945 conducting ground-attack sorties over the Dutch East Indies before redeploying to Labuan to support the 9th Australian Division in North Borneo until hostilities ended in August 1945. All three Gidgee squadrons deployed to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force with No.4 and No.5 squadrons returning to Australia in 1948 and No.77 squadron was about to return to Australia in June 1950 when the Korean War broke out. Flying from Iwakuni in Japan, No.77 squadron joined United Nations forces supporting South Korea flying escort and patrol sorties until April 1951 when it converted to the Gloster Meteor. Skin Credit: Charles

White Tail Tony

Bear Sandwich

Shepherd Spy

Defenders of Dhimar

View File [Fictional] Hawker Hurricane 'Furacão' Hawker Hurricane 'Furacão' for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a simple mod of Raven's radial engined Hawker Hurricane to create a fictional 'Furacão' in service with the Poruguese Air Force in the 19424-1954 timeline. BACKSTORY The Hawker Hurricane entered service with the Royal Air Force at the end of 1937 when No.111 Squadron re-equipped with the type at RAF Northolt. By late 1938 the production capacity for Hurricanes at the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft group of companies was sufficient not only to meet the needs of the RAF's ambitious expansion scheme but also sufficient to allow exports to Yugoslavia, South Africa, Romania, Persia, Belgium, Poland and Turkey. Belgium and Yugoslavia had both negotiated production licences but only a handful were produced by Avions Fairey in Belgium before the German invasion in May 1940 and in Yugoslavia the Zmaj factory managed to build 20 Hurricanes before the German invasion in April 1941. At the start of World War 2, Portugal was keen to both maintain it's neutrality and also bolster it's defences - recognising that the Portuguese mainland was of strategic importance as was it's island territories of Maderia and the Azores. Indeed, both the UK and Germany considered invading the islands but British diplomacy won the day in June 1940 when the UK formally asked for use of the Azores by invoking the Aliança Luso-Britânica (Anglo-Portuguese Alliance) of 1386 which is still the oldest alliance in the history in the world that is still in force. In return, Portugal asked for a wide variety of defence equipment from the UK including "100 modern monoplane fighter aircraft". With the UK facing a desperate struggle the Portuguese 'wish list' was largely unfulfilled until much later in the war but in December 1940 the British government agreed to supply 100 Hurricane fighters by the end of the following year. However, there was an urgent demand for Rolls-Royce Merlin engines for the RAF's day fighters and also for the Boulton & Paul Defiant and Bristol Beaufighter night fighters. In addition, RAF Bomber Command were about to go on the offensive with the Handley-Page Halifax having just entered service and the superlative Avro Lancaster and de Havilland Mosquito were both on the horizon. In February 1941 the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, blocked the sale outright but Sydney Camm at Hawker considered that the Hurricane airframe could be adapted to take a different engine and Camm was already aware that Roy Fedden of the Bristol Engine Company had developed a modular engine installation or 'power egg' for the Bristol Hercules radial engine. Fedden and Camm quickly schemed the Hercules powered Hurricane Mk.III and instructed the Gloster Aircraft Company, who had been manufacturing Hurricanes for the RAF on behalf of its parent company since 1939, to slot in 250 Hurricane Mk.III's onto the Hucclecote production line. Whilst there was no Hurricane Mk.III prototype as such, the first two production aircraft were thoroughly tested by Gloster's chief test pilot Gerry Sayer and also by Bill Humble of Hawker's and both praised it's flying characteristics noting that "the aircraft is simple and easy to fly and has no apparent vices" although the stalling speed was 8 knots higher than a standard Hurricane. The first 100 Hurricane Mk.III's were crated and shipped to Portugal arriving at Santo Amaro in November 1941. After local assembly, they were flown to Ota Air Base and Sintra Air Base to eventually equip six day fighter squadrons of the Aeronáutica Militar (Army Aviation) although, at the time, these squadrons (typically, with 15 aircraft on strength) were confusingly classed as 'flights' with two-digit flight codes that were used to designate the squadron. 'SU' Flight were the first to be declared operational at Ota in April 1942 followed by 'MP' flight at Sintra. In Aeronáutica Militar service the Hurricane aircraft were locally known as the Furacão and remained in service even after the formation of the Força Aérea Portuguesa in 1952 and it was not until August 1954 that the Furacão finally passed from service. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the Furacao folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the Furacao folder into your Decals folder. 3. From the WEAPONS folder drag and drop the FuracaoTank into your Weapons folder. That's it! CREDITS As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim. Special thanks to Raven for his awesome work on the Hawker Hurricane in all it's forms and for generously including his templates. And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - 02/06/2020 Submitter Spinners Submitted 06/02/2020 Category What If Hangar  

Hawker Hurricane IIIA 'Furacão' - SU Flight, Aeronáutica Militar, 1944 The Hawker Hurricane entered service with the Royal Air Force at the end of 1937 when No.111 Squadron re-equipped with the type at RAF Northolt. By late 1938 the production capacity for Hurricanes at the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft group of companies was sufficient not only to meet the needs of the RAF's ambitious expansion scheme but also sufficient to allow exports to Yugoslavia, South Africa, Romania, Persia, Belgium, Poland and Turkey. Belgium and Yugoslavia had both negotiated production licences but only a handful were produced by Avions Fairey in Belgium before the German invasion in May 1940 and in Yugoslavia the Zmaj factory managed to build 20 Hurricanes before the German invasion in April 1941. At the start of World War 2, Portugal was keen to both maintain it's neutrality and also bolster it's defences - recognising that the Portuguese mainland was of strategic importance as was it's island territories of Maderia and the Azores. Indeed, both the UK and Germany considered invading the islands but British diplomacy won the day in June 1940 when the UK formally asked for use of the Azores by invoking the Aliança Luso-Britânica (Anglo-Portuguese Alliance) of 1386 which is still the oldest alliance in the history in the world that is still in force. In return, Portugal asked for a wide variety of defence equipment from the UK including "100 modern monoplane fighter aircraft". With the UK facing a desperate struggle the Portuguese 'wish list' was largely unfulfilled until much later in the war but in December 1940 the British government agreed to supply 100 Hurricane fighters by the end of the following year. However, there was an urgent demand for Rolls-Royce Merlin engines for the RAF's day fighters and also for the Boulton & Paul Defiant and Bristol Beaufighter night fighters. In addition, RAF Bomber Command were about to go on the offensive with the Handley-Page Halifax having just entered service and the superlative Avro Lancaster and de Havilland Mosquito were both on the horizon. In February 1941 the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, blocked the sale outright but Sydney Camm at Hawker considered that the Hurricane airframe could be adapted to take a different engine and Camm was already aware that Roy Fedden of the Bristol Engine Company had developed a modular engine installation or 'power egg' for the Bristol Hercules radial engine. Fedden and Camm quickly schemed the Hercules powered Hurricane Mk.III and instructed the Gloster Aircraft Company, who had been manufacturing Hurricanes for the RAF on behalf of its parent company since 1939, to slot in 250 Hurricane Mk.III's onto the Hucclecote production line. Whilst there was no Hurricane Mk.III prototype as such, the first two production aircraft were thoroughly tested by Gloster's chief test pilot Gerry Sayer and also by Bill Humble of Hawker's and both praised it's flying characteristics noting that "the aircraft is simple and easy to fly and has no apparent vices" although the stalling speed was 8 knots higher than a standard Hurricane. The first 100 Hurricane Mk.III's were crated and shipped to Portugal arriving at Santo Amaro in November 1941. After local assembly, they were flown to Ota Air Base and Sintra Air Base to eventually equip six day fighter squadrons of the Aeronáutica Militar (Army Aviation) although, at the time, these squadrons (typically, with 15 aircraft on strength) were confusingly classed as 'flights' with two-digit flight codes that were used to designate the squadron. 'SU' Flight were the first to be declared operational at Ota in April 1942 followed by 'MP' flight at Sintra. In Aeronáutica Militar service the Hurricane aircraft were locally known as the Furacão and remained in service even after the formation of the Força Aérea Portuguesa in 1952 and it was not until August 1954 that the Furacão finally passed from service. Raven's Hurricane anthology, including templates, can be found in SF1 downloads section.

Vultee P-66B Vanguards - 'OK' Flight, Portuguese Aeronáutica Militar, 1944

No thanks, I've had one. 😄

Gloster Meteor F.8A - No.30 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1951

View File [Fictional] Convair F-102J Delta Dagger 'JASDF' Convair F-102J Delta Dagger for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a simple mod of Veltro2K's F-102A to create a fictional F-102J in service with the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force in the 1957-1977 timeline. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the F-102J folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the WEAPONS folder drag and drop all folders into your Weapons folder. That's it! For sheer simplicity, this mod uses stock Third Wire F-4EJ decals. CREDITS Special thanks to Veltro2K for bringing us a freeware F-102A and also to FastCargo for his revisions and fixes to the 3D model. Thanks to Kesselbrut & Pasko for the F-106 cockpit with F-102A mods added by Ordway. Thanks also to 331KillerBee for the 509FIS camo skin that has been used for this JASDF Delta Dagger. As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim. And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - 30/05/2020 Submitter Spinners Submitted 05/30/2020 Category What If Hangar  

Republic P-72C Superbolt - Esquadra No.10, Força Aérea Portuguesa, 1955 Following the formation of NATO in 1949 there was an immediate acknowlegement that most of the air forces of the member states needed an urgent transfusion of modern combat aircraft and the Portuguese Aeronáutica Militar was especially in need of replacing it's old Hurricanes and first-generation Spitfires. In November 1950 it was agreed that, under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, the United States would supply 50 P-72C Thunderbolt fighters to Portugal. The 50 P-72C's were all ex-USAF aircraft previously based at Bordeaux–Mérignac in France and were ferried to Portugal in small batches during the Spring and Summer of 1951. The aircraft were equally distributed among the newly created Esquadra 10 and Esquadra 11 and also a training flight at Ota Air Base. However, training proved to be a difficult time for the Portuguese pilots used to the lighter British fighters and there were also problems with the Portuguese air bases not having the appropriate radio equipment but these were soon addressed and both squadrons were fully operational by the time that the Portuguese Air Force was formed on July 1st, 1952 following the merger of the former Aeronáutica Militar and the Aviação Naval. An important milestone was reached in September 1952 when four-ship flights from both P-72C squadrons were sent to Zwiebrucken in Germany to participate in 'Blue Alliance' a large NATO exercise where they acquitted themselves well in defending their temporary home against 'enemy' RAF Lincoln bombers. Back home in Portugal the P-72C force were soon hit by a serious shortage of spares leading to Esquadra 11 being disbanded and it's remaing aircraft were transferred to Esquadra 10 who moved across to Tancos Air Base in late 1954 where they operated the P-72C until disbanding in October 1956. Skin Credit: Charles

Cast A Giant Shadow

Vultee P-66D Vanguard - Royal Dhimari Air Force, 1944 The British dependence on oil from the middle-east, and especially from the Kingdom of Dhimar, during World War 2 made the sporadic Parani attacks on the Mazadran Oil Fields a deep concern to Britain during the summer of 1941. In late September 1941, to support the Dhimari armed forces defending Mazadran and the Al'Samara region, the British Government donated 30 of the 100 Vultee P-66 Vanguard fighter aircraft it had itself inherited from an embargoed Sweden order. Delivered during November 1941 the Dhimari Vanguards were more than a match for the Italian Fiat CR. 42 Falco aircraft that formed the backbone of the Parani Air force but were later outclassed when Germany began to supply Bf 109E-7's to Paran during the Spring of 1942. Skin Credit: Charles

Dhimari P-66D's rush into action following a Parani raid on the Mazadran Oil Fields