Geezer

More... France obtained many Vickers guns from Britain, but most of France's guns were built by Colt or Marlin-Rockwell in the US. French Ministry of Munitions records show France had received 696 Lewis guns from Britain by December of 1916, 3,650 guns in 1917, and 3,300 in 1918. As this was inadequate for wartime expansion, large orders for Lewis guns were placed with Savage Arms in the US. The Savage Arms logo, an American Indian, was the inspiration for the Lafayette Escadrille squadron insignia. French factories were already working at capacity, so the French firm of Regis Darne, a cottage industry manufacturer of sporting rifles, was persuaded to produce Lewis guns - by 1916, they were producing five guns per week. The Darne version featured a wooden sheath around the gun barrel and gas actuation tube. Darne, profiting from others' mistakes, designed an inexpensive gas-operated gun suitable for synchronization, but the war ended before the new gun entered service. The US firm of Marlin also produced a gas-operated gun suitable for synchronization - Marlin guns were entering service when the war ended. Developed from the pre-war Colt Potato Digger gun, it was an excellent design, but the new Browning .30 gun was even better so the Marlin was withdrawn from post-war service in favor of the Browning.

Crawford: Thanks for the shot. One reason new aircraft take so long, is the extensive research and development necessary. Thought you guys might enjoy reading some of our correspondence: VonS: Have now test flown the latest iteration of the Nieu. 17 c.1 and it flies well, also looks great. I also made some tweaks and created a separate DUX variant for the 17 c.1, slightly lower ceiling and stiffer control input/reaction on that one (attached below). Geezer: Your thorough attention to detail is commendable. I love it! Looks like the DUX N17 should be a separate release? Along those lines, what are your thoughts concerning Lewis gun armed N17s, as they were not the production standard but were a depot/field mod, primarily by the British. I dug out my definitive reference - Early Aircraft Armament (Woodman) - and it paints a rather complex picture about French and British aircraft armament. When war began, the French did not produce/use either the Vickers or Lewis gun and vainly attempted to use their Hotchkiss gun for aircraft use, but failed as it was too heavy and gas-operated. Because of its light weight, Britain and France then preferred the Lewis for aircraft use, and ignored the fact it's gas operation was not suitable for synchronization; they wasted months trying to develop a practical system. The most practical Lewis gear was developed by Sergent-Mecanicien Alkan in early 1916, but it suffered from a low rate of fire resulting from synchronizing engine rpm with a gas-operated gun. The British subsequently developed several synchronizer systems for the Vickers, all of which had minor flaws but were used operationally as nothing better was available. In mid-1917, the Constaninesco gear was introduced and was so successful it continued in use by the RAF until the introduction of monoplanes in the 1930s; it supplemented but never replaced the other gears at the front in WW1. Sergent-Mecanicien Alkan, cooperating with Ingenieur du Maritime Hamy, developed a copy of the Fokker gear and it became the standard French synchronizer for rotary engines. Marc Birkigt simultaneously developed a different gear for inline engines, sometimes called the "SPAD gear." The Alkan-Hamy synchronizer was standardized as the Systeme de Synchroization pour Vickers Type 1 (moteurs rotatifs) and was offset slightly starboard of center line because of the configuration of the cam follower, which transferred mechanical pulses from the spinning rotary engine. Eventually, France had to place large orders with British and American factories for Vickers and Lewis guns, resulting in shortages as the factories were already working at max capacity. Due to these shortages, it was not unusual for French, and sometimes British, aircraft to be delivered without armament. The two air forces then played "catch up" by installing armament at depot level, and sometimes at squadron level. This resulted in the many different installations on rotary-powered aircraft, primarily Nieuports and Sopwiths. There were seldom enough Vickers guns or Alkan synchronizers to equip all rotary powered aircraft built by France.

Sorta/kinda realistic artwork takes a long time. Progress shots below.

Its not just eye candy. The new models are being developed in close cooperation with VonS's new FMs and other upgrades. We have found that many of the early FE/FEG models benefit from upgrading to FE2. Sample of VonS detail below for the Junkers J.1 which eventually wound up having historically accurate wing vibration problems. Hard at work on the FM already, here's a breakdown so far of things done and needing work...for those in the loop who like reading this stuff. - about 2m/s climb rate achieved - with ratio of 700kg empty weight to 150,000 units of engine output at SL (will test at historical empty weight too of 1700kg and engine output of 250,000 to 300,000 to see what happens) - have limited the elevator delta pitch and pitch rate values for the AI, otherwise they are too aggressive and stall this beast (AI now flies the plane well, is careful with the elevators!) - had to change overall armor setting from aluminum to wood, with value of 27 for hardness (this is good); aluminum at values of 21 or 22, even as low as 17, becomes too heavy on the type; I clad the fuselage with aluminum though, thickness value of 2 works well and makes it nearly impenetrable by .303 caliber stuff - aileron sensitivity now reduced, slow and sloppy (as historical) - removed lights, tail hook, other stuff relevant to Baffin but not to the Junkers - elevators now somewhat sensitive but more dampened than before - rudder slow to react, minimally effective but helpful for tighter turns when coordinated with ailerons ---- - must remove entries for ailerons on lower left/right wings since no lower ailerons on the Junkers - perhaps lower yaw dampening to about 0.25, have it now at about 0.45 - possibly increase rudder mobility to value of +/- 23 (is now at about +/-18); will tweak this to see what gives more realistic rudder response, in conjunction with yaw dampening tweaks - will double-check bouncy wheels problem when type is at rest on airfield; maybe problem is asymmetry in castering wheel value (fixed previously on the Halb. D5) ----- - historical RPMs now on the engine of about 1400 to 1800, idle 100 to 200, engine is Daimler 200, other engine info such as gas pressure, oil, etc., taken from same engine type on the Austrian Alby. 153b (Jan Tuma's model) - prop diameter around 2.9 or 2.95 now, slightly longer than on the Alby. 153b (was about 2.8 meters there)...will see if this is historical - top speed is now about 162kph near sea level (will see if I can push this down further to about 155kph for the 200hp variant, and maybe leave it at 162 or so for a "220hp" variant since some of these types got the 220hp Daimler from what I remember reading) - fiddled with inertia values in relation to empty weight (now reduced), but may increase inertia values slightly if experiment is successful with historical empty weight of 1700kg or so...currently an empty weight of anything higher than about 1000kg gives nasty wing vibrations at the tips, as if plane is in perpetual stall...will possibly be offset through higher engine output... Von S

Progress shots for color schemes:

The other guys can give you a better idea of really essential mods and tweaks, but here are a few that VovS has developed that make a real difference. Also: AIRCRAFTAIDATA.INI.zip ----- Shimmering: in the relevant data.ini file for whatever terrain you're flying (such as Palestine_data.ini), scroll down to the SolidObjectTextureMaterial section and change the following entry: BlendOp=ONE should be changed to: BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA (this helps to give proper looking telephone poles, cows, and some other objects on the fields - otherwise they show up as cows painted on a rectangle, poles painted onto a rectangle, and so on) ----- Also, do this just to be sure: ----- If you still experience shimmering buildings in the future, I also recommend checking the following post by Mue: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/85970-shimmering-tods-and-target-objects/ Install the FE2 terrain shaders listed there into the relevant Terrain folder that you're flying, and then in the relevant terrain data.ini file, under the SolidObjectTextureMaterial section, change the following value: ZBufferOffset=2.0 change to: ZBufferOffset=5.0 ----- It's possible also that an improved flightengine file can help, by stretching view distances. The link to my modded flightengine ini is below: https://combatace.com/forums/topic/91359-airfield-figures-help-wanted/?do=findComment&comment=738584 If you like the atmospheric effects I get in my screenshots, the relevant files are below. I set my up gameworld lighting for high noon on a summer day - all other situations should use dimmer lighting. Default game lighting is appropriate for a gloomy winter day. Note we have all experimented with various combinations, and much depends on your OS and computer. For example, changing ForceDX9=FALSE to ForceDX9=TRUE (in the Options.ini) will probably improve your graphics, but may influence your frame rates. Also below is a test batch of improved pilots - drop them into your PILOTS folder. VonS can tell you the best way to organize them as I just dump them in and get on with developing new aircraft. wwiPilotNew10 and wwiPilotNew11 are Spanish Civil War pilots with parachutes, so they are not appropriate for WW1. Options.ini Flight.rar New Pilots.rar

More shots from the epic battle over the Alps. A couple of buddies said they look like something Howard Hughes might have filmed when making Hell's Angels. A key component of the immersion is gterl's excellent Italian map, with some tweaks by Quack74 and VonS.

Really looking forward to gterl's improved Italian map - I like mountains! Meanwhile, over his existing Alps...

Over the Alps...

Yup, it looks good over your Italian map!

LOL! Don't feel bad, the MG position drove me crazy when I first began researching Nieuports. The confusion probably started with the British Nieuports not always being supplied with guns, and sometimes not even engines. With so many British machines using centrally-mounted guns, it was easy to assume the central location was "normal." You probably have the drawing below, showing the offset position.

Factually incorrect. The first French synchronizer to see widespread service was the Alkan-Hamy gear, available just in time for installation in Nieuport 17s in mid-1916. The Alkan-Hamy's cam follower was offset to the right, so the gun had to be mounted slightly to the right. The British used several other synchronizer gear systems, such as Vickers-Challenger or Sopwith-Kauper, so other types WERE installed but the offset Alkan-Hamy was the factory standard for the N17. First shot below shows the Alkan-Hamy gear, but with a British Hyland Type A cocking handle.

Thanks - just an old geezer puttering around in his digital garage. VonS and I are working on extensive improvements to a bunch of Nieuports. I noticed you released a mod pack some time ago that added a Lewis gun to already existing Nieuport aircraft. Would you be interested in making a new version of your old pack, using our new models, art, and files?

More test shots...

Ingame shots of Nieuport 17 progress.

Making slow but steady progress. This is going to be a high-polycount aircraft.

Perhaps guys could vote on what kind of cigarette our hero is smoking?

Progress on detailing the front fuselage and Vickers gun.

With time off for Christmas, VonS and I have gotten a lot done with improved files and models. Progress shots below of the N17, plus some shots of contemporary rotary-powered aircraft - rotary engines were filthy!

Merry Christmas to you too! Some ingame shots of a French paint job.

Got the N17 working ingame.

We are also experimenting with improved pilots. Shot of first test batch below. Odd numbered pilots have a "normal" scarf. Even numbered pilots have a winter scarf. Per VonS' suggestion, the torsos are somewhat narrow so they will fit in all existing aircraft.

Heh, I love the research you have done on this. Gotta great story about Anzani radials. Back in the 1970s/80s, the Santa Paula, CA airport was a haven for old civilian aircraft, much like Chino was a haven for old military aircraft. One sunny afternoon there, I had a conversation with an old geezer who owned a 1920's single-seater that was a rough equivalent to the Piper Cub. I don't remember the type, but I do remember it's Anzani three cylinder radial. The owner had welded retaining braces to the cylinder heads because they had a habit of blowing off the engine! He said he had been forced down three different times because of the Anzani blowing cylinder heads!

Yep, its a Nieuport 28 engine I dropped in for a quick test - to get a feel for constructing the nose. Meanwhile, I've been working on a new batch of WW1 pilots.

Experiment...