CFS2: Training with the Dambusters

[33LIMA]

Flying the Lancaster in Just Flight's venerable 'Dambusters' add-on for CFS2

 

There can't be many missions more famous than that flown in May 1943 by RAF Bomber Command's 617 Squadron to attack dams in the Ruhr, Germany. And justly so, for the mission was a triumph of technical ingenuity and airmanship, immortalised in the film named after the Dambusters. Flown with real Lancasters, some of the most impressive footage in the film was shot in daylight and recreated the squadron's low-flying practice over Derwent reservoir, with the mighty Lancs seen from above wheeling over the water as they made their practice runs.

 

 

The Just Flight CFS2 add on 'The Dam Busters' was officially licensed by the RAF and like most of the company's add-ons, comes in a nice, solid little box with a decent printed manual. It's far from a one-horse wonder. Subtitled '617 Squadron's Greatest Raids', as well as Operation Chastise, the dams mission, it provides many others, including raids on the Tirpitz, the Dortmund-Ems canal, the Bielefeld railway viaduct and the attack on Hitler's mountain-top lair at the Berchtesgaden. There's a variety of Lancaster variants, including the basic bomber and types adapted to carry the dam-busting 'Upkeep' mine and the Tallboy and ten-ton Grand Slam bombs; plus a pathfinder Mosquito, a late-model BXVI. There's even a Wellington bomber, included so you can fly one of the trial missions flown at Chesil Beach to try out the 'bouncing bomb' in daylight. I believe the add-on is still available:

 

http://www.justflight.com/product/the-dam-busters

 

Despite CFS2 not being built to handle bombers, the package does a rather good job, featuring such neat touches as the twin spotlights used for over-water height-finding and the 'wood and nails' rangefinder sight, both as developed for the dams raid. I believe the add-on was used as the basis for a TV documentary a few years back, which featured a crew drawn from current RAF personnel who were trained up and then attempted to re-fly the mission in a specially-made Lanc simulator.

 

As for the real thing, while we're lucky (in the UK anyway) to be able to see (and hear!) a real Lanc flying with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, you can get no better than this documentary, which features superb authentic wartime footage in colour:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQAA2rcBno

 

Having recently once again watched and enjoyed the Dambusters movie, I thought I'd spool up Just Flight's add-on and fly one of the training missions, followed by at least some of the others. While the Dams raid and some others are in darkness, the package lets you fly them in daylight, if you wish. As I plan on doing it in the dark, there's little point in a screenshot-illustrated mission report on the dams raid itself so I thought I'd provide this short one of the training mission, as a little taster.

 

Here's the brief, using some of the custom screens that come with the add-on:

 

 

 

There's also a 'recce photograph, which shows the 'scenery' Derwent Dam that comes with the package, along with various RAF bases including Scampton and Woodhall Spa. The dam is crude but effective, and is neatly dressed up to look like a real-life RAF oblique recce picture.

 

 

For me, the star of this show is the Lancaster itself. The Just Flight version is nicely rendered by the standards of the time. And it has one outstanding feature - the engine sound. The roar and din of four Merlins at full throttle is an absolute joy and by far the best I've heard in any sim for any plane. And here she is, sitting at the end of the runway at RAF Scampton. She's a standard BI bomber, not the modified version cut away below to hold the drum-like dams weapon.

 

 

 

From the caption to the first screenie, you can see another of the add-on's nice touches - the pilot's injunction to the ground crew to remove the chocks. Neither can be seen but the accompanying audio is neat.

 

Looking right, I could see the airfield's buildings, a good selection including hangars and Nissen huts. Beside me was a tractor with some bomb tailers. Without further ado, I checked the controls, set the flaps down three notches, and started up. The engines fired up from left to right, bursting into life with a very satsfactory though muted roar.  Ahead to the left you can see the controller's trailer, and beyond that a pair of parked Lancs. To the right, there's another parked aircraft, this time an RAF Dakota.

 

 

Now, came the mission's highlight - opening the throttles, and soaking up the din as the Merlins responded in full song. A bit of differential braking was needed to keep her on or near the centre line as we gathered speed, the rudders seeming ineffective, possibly as they are masked by that mighty Lancaster wing. Taking off in a crosswind is an even more interesting experience! Past the parked Lancs we went. As the speed increased I got the tail up and held her there until takeoff speed was reached. A gentle tug on the stick and we were airborne. I quickly retracted the undercart - the animation is a bit fast - and we were on our way!

 

 

 

...to be continued!

[+russouk2004]

Excellent video...79.000 aircrews lost...im glad "Harris" and all his crew survived the war...brave men all of them.

thankyou for posting it

[fallenphoenix1986]

Nice touch there, gunner(s) & bombaimer are only at their stations after gear up.

 

Craig

[33LIMA]

'Maintain proper speed and altitude'…Derwent Dam

Airborne from RAF Scampton, I started a gentle, left-hand climbing turn which brought me slowly around onto my heading for the training area, out at Derwent Dam. For the cruise, I cut the throttles to about three-quarters and trimmed the elevator for level flight. My Lanc was equipped with a standard bombload, not the 'mine' (as the bouncing bomb, codename 'Upkeep',  was officially described). At this weight, the Lanc was responsive but sluggish, with a fairly ponderous rate of roll which quickly reminded me that I was not flying one of the fighters to which most of us are accustomed!

 

 

This add-on was produced at the time when the 'virtual cockpit' 3-dimensional view, supporting panning, could not provide the detail of a fixed, 2-dimensional cockpit/instrument panel view, and so you got both. And here they are, including the side views from the 3d virtual cockpit, complete with some of the Lanc's unusual instrumentation like the radio beacon direction indicator, up top. The add-on's manual includes annotated instrument panel pictures for the Lanc, Mossie and Wimpy (Wellington).

 

 

 

 

 

Looking out the side windows, the flattened tips to the propeller spinners are a little crude but overall the the view conveys most effectively the sense that you're sitting up there in the distinctly open, lightly-framed cockpit that graced this ruggedly-handsome big black bird. No co-pilot, just a seat for the flight engineer beside me…and the sweet music of those engines in my ears. As with take-off, the sense of 'being there' in Just Flight's Lancaster is immensely enhanced by the roar from the four Merlins, a real treat.

 

Outside, it's noticeable that the twin Browning MGs in each turret lack breeches, but in flight, this is hidden by the arms and gauntleted hands of the air gunners. These little chaps are invisible before takeoff but they pop into position afterwards, another nice touch (as FallenPhoenix already noticed!). Likewise, the bomb aimer appears in a businesslike pose over his sight, in the dome under the front turret. He's obviously one of those keen types, as he sits there most assiduously, throughout your trip.

 

 

Preserved Lancs are generally a glossy finish but the JF version nicely portrays the stark, flat black of the wartime original. The upper surface Dark Green and Dark Earth shadow-shading is nicely rendered, complete with panel and rivet detail and suitably weathered with exhaust stains. Naturally, she's rather lower-polygon and therefore more angular than we'd expect to see in a more modern sim, but she still just 'looks right'. The only (minor) negatives are the rather hi-vis aerial wires and the fact the camouflage pattern is mirrored left and right, not as it should be, 'handed', with the patterns basically reversed. Overall, it's a nice rendition and with authentic squadron codes in red. AJ-A was carried on the dams raid by 2ic (2nd in command) Sqdn Ldr Henry 'Dingy' Young, who caused the first breach in ther Moehne dam but was shot down and killed with his crew over the Dutch coast on the way home, having nearly made it back to safety; the real AJ-A was actually ED887, but the Just Flight serial number DV385 was apparently carried by a conventional BI Lancaster used later by 617, bearing the codes KC-A.

 

Back to the mission; I knew I was going to 'warp' to the objective to save the long cross-country flight over the pleasant but bland CFS2 European terrain textures. But I could not resist flying on for a bit at a couple of thousand feet - no point in climbing higher, only to descend again - to soak up the sight and sound of my Lanc in flight, from inside and out. There aren't many sim aircraft I enjoy just taking off and flying but the JF Lanc is certainly one of them.

 

 

Before hitting the magic key, I thought again about what I was going to do, on arrival. The aim, I remembered, was to practise a steady approach to a dam, at right angles and coming in over the reservoir, flying at a set height and a set airspeed, within a small margin - 1130 feet and 195 Knots, to be precise. I decided that - first time, anyway - I would fly this in the external view (for better peripheral vision) and using the 'Z' key to display, top left of screen, height and airspeed. Not as realistic as flying in the cockpit view of course but there you go. As for using the 'Z' key display, there's something to be said for a digital display over dials and I rationalised this as asking the flight engineer to call out the readings while I concentrated on flying the aircraft.

 

Plan made, I hit the 'W' key, watching the CFS2-style short animated sequence of my machine whizzing past and on to the objective. I kept a firm hold on stick and throttle, ready to resume control the instant that we came out of 'warp'. 

 

No messing about, there...'warp' exited with my Lanc right at the start of our approach. Just ahead of me, the land fell gently away, down to Derwent Water. At the other end of the artificial lake, I could see the darker grey line of the dam itself, a rectangular tower towards either end. Time to get busy!

 

 

I quickly hit the 'Z' key to turn on the flight info display and chopped the throttle back to near idle, knowing without looking that I would be too fast and too high...and that the dam was rapidly drawing closer. Time, tide and dams wait for no man.

 

 

'Maintain proper speed and altitude!', an English-accented crew voice gently but firmly reminded me…or maybe it was speaking my own simulated thoughts for me? In case I'd forgotten what these numbers were, a text display at the top of the screen on my initial approach had helpfully reminded me - 1130 feet, 195 Knots. Naturally, pushing the stick down to put me 'on the money' as regards height initially pushed up my airspeed again, but it soon fell back. Gentle aileron and rudder inputs kept my nose lined up roughly between the dam's towers while I juggled throttle and elevator controls to get and keep the numbers right. What was my margin for error? I didn't know but the occasional reminder to 'Maintain proper speed and altitude!' made me think I was edging in and out of the comfort zone. In those long few seconds as we ran in to the dam, I was certainly made to concentrate and work hard enough…if it was like this at 1100 feet, what would it be like at the real mission height of 60 feet…and in the dark? And this was just a sim!

 

 

Working the controls all the way in and with one eye on the flight info readout, I seemed to be managing to avoid any crass errors in this comparatively relaxed daylight try-out. Soon I was on top of the dam, then roaring over it. With a mix of relief and satisfaction, I heard the same crew voice telling me we'd made it, albeit with a reminder that further practice would be required!

 

 

 

As I banked away, I contemplated making another run, but was deterred by another mission announcement. This time it seemed to be my pilot's voice, telling the radio operator to advise Scampton that were were homeward bound, followed by a burst of Morse as the required signal was tapped out. I dare say there's no reason I couldn't have flown as many circuits as I wished, but I decided I'd go with the flow and 'warped' home.

 

 

 

This brought me out neatly lined up for my approach. The little but well-produced Just Flight add-on manual may give you some numbers for the Lanc but I just flew her in by the seat of the pants, gradually putting in maximum flap then dropping the undercart.

 

 

Juggling throttle and evevator to keep my rate of descent aimed at the runway threshold and my airspeed at about 120-130, I was again flying from the external view and using the flight information display. While this is one of those planes l also much enjoy flying from the cockpit, on this occasion at least I was very happy to enjoy the CFS2 'spot' view - which zooms in fixed steps but thankfully lacks the horrible wide-angle lens effect of CFS3 - as my big aeroplane slipped down and gracefully settled onto the concrete after a short flare as I pulled the throttles all the way back. Home sweet home, now back to the apron and then off to the Mess for a beer and a natter with the virtual chaps!

 

 

 

And here's the debrief screen:

 

 

For someone who's not much into flight sims where you don't get to 'blow stuff up', I found this non-combat mission quite a lot of fun, even if it didn't involve doing much more than takeoff, a single run, and then landing. I suppose this is a sign of how much I enjoyed the experience of Just Flight's Lancaster, compared to others I've flown (Screamin' Demons over Europe, CFS3/Firepower, CFS3/ETO Expansion). I'm certainly tempted to fly some of the other missions again now, even if a Mission Report on the night raids is unlikely to see the light of day, if you see what I mean. Two of this add-on's raids feature the attacks on the battleship Tirpitz with adapted Lancasters and Tallboy bombs - the second being the raid which capsized the 'Lonely Queen of the North' in her Norwegian fjord lair. I think I'll have a crack at these and some of the other daylight raids, or maybe take up the option of flying the night raids at a more civilised time of the day. The roar of those four virtual Merlins is calling me away!

 

Edit - just found this clip on Youtube which, though rather low resolution and the night raids are evidently flown in the daytime option, gives a good idea of the scope of this neat little add-on.

 

 

And in case anyone found this mission report a tad dull, don't worry - next time, it'll likely be back to blowing stuff up!

 

Dusk takeoff in the Tallboy Lanc included with the Just Flight patch for ''The Dam busters':