Stephen1918

View File LFG Roland D.IIa The Roland D.IIa was nearly identical to the D.II, but had a more powerful engine. The 180HP Argus As.III engine increased the plane's speed and maneuverability, but because it was a low compression engine, it started to lose power at higher altitudes. Like the D.II, the D.IIa was quickly replaced on the Western Front, but served until the end of the war on the Eastern and Macedonian Fronts. The skins for the Roland D.IIa are nearly identical to the skins for the D.II, but there are some changes to the engine. If you swap skins, you may see some minor stretching on some of the engine components and around the nose of the plane. I have included two new skins, a light green and brown camo, and a dark green and brown camo. I have also included a full set of number decals appropriate for the D.IIa. My skinning templates are included in the download. I didn't have a sound file for the Argus 180hp engine, so I used the sound for the Mercedes 180hp instead. Credits Thanks to Ojcar for making the data file for the Roland D.IIa. Thanks also to Nix, who made the sound file for the Mercedes 180hp engine. Installation Instructions Note - The engine sound file has been used in several other planes. If you already have a file with the same name in your Sounds folder, then you don't need to install mine. For FE1 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "RolandD2a" into your FirstEagles/Objects/Aircraft folder. If you don't already have it, you will also need to move the sound file "mercedes180m1.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. For FE2 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "RolandD2a" into the FirstEagles/Objects/Aircraft folder. Then in the FirstEagles/Objects/Decals folder, create a new folder named "RolandD2a". Move the folder named "D" from the Aircraft/RolandD2a folder into the Decals/RolandD2a folder you just made. If you don't already have it, you will also need to move the sound file "mercedes180m1.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. Submitter Stephen1918 Submitted 10/04/2015 Category Other Central Powers Aircraft

Nice!

Thanks to Quack74 for coming up with the idea.

Yep. The SPAD XI is coming after the Roland DIIa. The SPAD XI model is mostly done, I'm finishing the cockpit and doing the skins. The SPAD XVI had a bigger engine than the XI, and they but valve covers outside the fuselage, making the bumps like you see in the SPAD XIII. The XI didn't have them. It shouldn't be too much extra work to make the XVI too.

I have uploaded Version 3 of the Roland D.II - with corrected aileron controls, corrected decal sets for LFG and Pfalz versions, corrected tail and rudder details. My thanks to Crowford for all his help getting this right, and for Beta-testing version 3. If we find any other problems, let's just pretend they're field mods...

Yes! I will try to get Version 3 uploaded tomorrow. Thanks for all your help.

I found an illustration of the aileron control for the Roland C.II. Not exactly the same as the D.II, but at least I understood how it worked. That and the other photos Crowford posted brought me to this. The screen shot shows the aileron mechanism at full extension during a hard right roll. The decals and tail support were easy fixes.

Crowford, thank you for your comments. Sometimes when a person is very familiar with a subject, they notice things that others don't see. I need to study the aileron controls on the Roland some more because I don't see what you're seeing.

These are beautiful. I can imagine flying over a town filled with detail like this. The aqueduct is a nice touch. Are you planning to use these in Spain?

I have uploaded a revised Roland D.II. I exaggerated the motion of the aileron controls as much as I dared. It's an improvement, but still hard to notice if you're not looking for it. I also made different decal sets for the Pfalz and LFG versions of the plane. Both versions use the standard insignia, but in real life they were a little different. I added an animation to the machine guns in the cockpit. Now you can at least tell if they're firing, since you can't see them otherwise. I also made some minor tweaks to the skins and model, since I was at it anyway. The DIIa will take a while because I'll have to reskin the fuselage after the changes are made. I also have a SPAD 11 started which I want to get back to.

Quack74 asked me to make some pilots wearing World War I style crash helmets. I made a French style and a German style, and made some with scarves over their face, a total of four new pilots for First Eagles. After they are installed in the game, you'll need to change the data.ini to get them in your plane. Instructions are included in the download. My models don't have feet, so they will fit into Laton's Eindeckers and Morane-Saulniers pretty well, but you may need to adjust the position a little for planes that use the old style pilots. I put them in the Cockpits category of the Downloads section, because it seemed like the logical place. My thanks to quack74 for inspiration and beta-testing.

View File Pilots with Helmets for First Eagles Some flyers wore simple crash helmets in WWI, especially recon and bomber crews where they would have to move around during the flight. These helmets were made of heavy leather with cork inserts. They didn't offer much protection by today's standards, but they were better than nothing. I have made new pilots with French style and German style helmets. Each style includes a version with a scarf over the lower face, making four new pilots for First Eagles. You will need to install the pilots into the game, then make a change to the data.ini for each plane to make them appear in the game. The center point matches the center point of the (new) FE2 stock pilot, so they should swap into your plane without any adjustment. If the plane uses the old style FE1 pilot, some minor tweaking may be required. My thanks to Quack74 for suggesting the idea and for beta-testing. Installing the pilots into the game: For FE1 - Open my folder named "FE1" and copy all six files into your "Aircraft" folder. Don't put them into any of the other folder. The LOD names are the names of the new pilot. For FE2 - Open my folder named "FE2" and copy all four folders into your Objects/Pilots folder. The folder names are the names of the new pilot. Putting the pilots into a plane: For both FE1 and FE2 - Open the plane's data.ini file. Find the section for crew (about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way down). Change the PilotModelName to the name of one of the new pilots. Save the file and fly. (You might want to comment out the original name and type in a new line, like in my example, in case you want to change back.) Example: // Crew --------------------------------------------------------- [Pilot] SystemType=PILOT_COCKPIT //PilotModelName=wwiPilotNew2 <--old pilot name PilotModelName=FrHelmetPilot <--new pilot name PilotHeadNodeName=head Position=0.0,-0.82,0.75 MinExtentPosition=-0.30,-0.93,-0.36 MaxExtentPosition= 0.30,-0.24,0.83 Submitter Stephen1918 Submitted 09/26/2015 Category First Eagles - WWI and Early Years - Add On Cockpits

I hope to have revisions to the D.II finished tomorrow. Then I'll start the changes for the D.IIa

I think I can make some changes to improve the aileron control mechanism. I'm hoping to work on it this weekend.

I'll look into making changes to the model for a DIIa. The real world is keeping me busy at the moment so it may take a while...

Crowford, thank you for your comments! I will admit that I did some fudging on this plane. I left off the fuel gauge because the forward view was already obstructed enough with the pylon right in front of the cockpit. I actually made the pylon a little thinner than it should be to try and improve visibility. In real life, the pilot could tilt his head to see around the pylon, (there was also a gun sight next to the pylon, which I also left off) but head tilting isn't possible in FE. For me, it's nearly impossible to hit another plane from the cockpit. I have my best luck flying from outside, positioned behind the plane (F5 key.) If the only difference between the DII and the DIIa was the engine, I could make a new version, if Ojcar wants to make the FM. I used the Roland logo from the Windsock Data File, which shows a black background, but I see in one of your photos that it had a white background? The aileron control rods on my model actually do move, but you can barely see it. From the cockpit, you can sort of see the aileron control wheel rotating on the upper wing. And at the front floor of the cockpit you can see the cross bar turning when you move the stick. I did mix up the two versions. The LFG version had the fuselage insignia farther back on the plane with no serial numbers. The Pfalz version had the insignia closer to the cockpit to make room for the serial number, like my plane. I can make new decal sets for the two versions and upload them in a few days.

I really like the camo on the CR-42.

I uploaded the LFG Roland D.II today. My thanks to ojcar for making another excellent FM.

View File LFG Roland D.II The Roland D.II was a German fighter introduced in early 1917. It featured an unusual fuselage, with the upper wings attached to a pylon in front of the pilot. Although the plane had a strong structure and performed reasonably well, the poor forward view limited its effectiveness as a fighter. On the Western Front, it was soon replaced by other planes, but continued in service on the Eastern and Macedonian Fronts until the end of the war. I have included two skins, a green and lilac camo, and a green and brown camo. I have also included a full set of number decals. My skinning templates are included in the download. Credits Thanks to Ojcar for making the data file for the Roland D.II. Thanks also to Nix, who made the sound file for the Mercedes 160hp engine. Thanks also to Crowford who offered many suggestions and beta-tested version 3. Installation Instructions Note - The engine sound file has been used in several other planes. If you already have a file with the same name in your Sounds folder, then you don't need to install mine. For FE1 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "RolandD2" into your FirstEagles/Objects/Aircraft folder. If you don't already have it, you will also need to move the sound file "mercedes160m2.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. For FE2 - Unzip the file and move the folder named "RolandD2" into the FirstEagles/Objects/Aircraft folder. Then in the FirstEagles/Objects/Decals folder, create new folder named "RolandD2". Move the folder named "D" from the Aircraft/RolandD2 folder into the Decals/RolandD2 folder you just made. If you don't already have it, you will also need to move the sound file "mercedes160m2.wav" into the FirstEagles/Sounds folder. Submitter Stephen1918 Submitted 09/11/2015 Category Other Central Powers Aircraft

Thanks Geezer. The second shot shows what so many pilots complained about. The pylon on the fuselage that held the upper wing made it a very strong plane, but blocked the pilot's forward view. Later Roland D series planes had a more conventional construction.

I've refined the fuselage a little more, finished the cockpit, worked on the skins, and made some decals. Right now I'm finishing the LODs, adding node names and min/max extents to the data.ini, and asking myself "what am I forgetting?" - it won't be long now. I'm not sure about the green and mauve skin, but the green and brown seems right.