RFN F-8 Crusader is out!!

[expat]

 

[fsafranek]

What I posted is an early "rough" picture so Sylvain could see how it was developing. The height and slope are based on scale drawings, so I'm confident they are correct. The thickness had not been adjusted to the drawings dimensions yet, which is why it looks a bit "funky" ....... I just wanted to show exactly what pylons I'm talking about.

Navy Chief might be our only hope. Let's see if he can get us some good pictures when he's down at the Naval Aviation Museum.

Keeping fingers crossed!

Was this ever finished and passed along to Sylvain? Seems there was some question about panel lines and rivets -- things that can be sorted once it is on the model and mapped to a texture. I noticed some opening panel(s) with piano hinges at the top in the photo. But the plastic model version had none. Maybe the hinged openings were only on one side (which side?) and the model maker only had an image of the side not shown in the photo and decided it was true for both sides? If so, that would require a right and left side mapping, probably true in any case if there is an text. There is an RF-8G down the road at the museum at MCAS Miramar but I don't think it has any pylons attached. As far as cross section width I would think a pylon of an A-7 would be a good guide/guess.

 

[gray eagle]

Was this ever finished and passed along to Sylvain? Seems there was some question about panel lines and rivets -- things that can be sorted once it is on the model and mapped to a texture. I noticed some opening panel(s) with piano hinges at the top in the photo. But the plastic model version had none. Maybe the hinged openings were only on one side (which side?) and the model maker only had an image of the side not shown in the photo and decided it was true for both sides? If so, that would require a right and left side mapping, probably true in any case if there is an text. There is an RF-8G down the road at the museum at MCAS Miramar but I don't think it has any pylons attached. As far as cross section width I would think a pylon of an A-7 would be a good guide/guess.

Don't know if any of this is any help but here goes.


Looks that the USMC had machines to do all the bomb loadouts. The USAF did the same.

This is A-7 wing pylon, They look the same as used on F-8. Notice the safety pin on the inside wing pylon, holding the wing tank.
I think the wing rack was a universal left or right side use.

This is bomb load out on F-8E wing pylons -

 

[awstub]

I made the Aero 7A pylons, MER-7 (A/A37B-6) & TER (A/A37B-5) bomb racks and the LAU-7/A Zuni pods in Blender. Someone (a well known pro) is now converting them to 3DS Max for me ..... so my hope is that Sylvain should have them within a week or so.

Regarding the panel lines.... the plastic model lines were totally incorrect. The actual Crusader pylon has piano hinges that are for three doors on the left side of the pylon and two doors on the right side.
Unfortunately I couldn't find any detailed pictures or drawings of them (despite having the F-8 Tactical Manual and the F-8 Crusader Safety, Survival, and Ordnance Systems Parts Flight Manual) so I did the best I could based on the few pictures I could find.

This is how things were looking at about 80% done. They actually look much better (and things line up properly) now.

Was this ever finished and passed along to Sylvain? Seems there was some question about panel lines and rivets -- things that can be sorted once it is on the model and mapped to a texture. I noticed some opening panel(s) with piano hinges at the top in the photo. But the plastic model version had none. Maybe the hinged openings were only on one side (which side?) and the model maker only had an image of the side not shown in the photo and decided it was true for both sides? If so, that would require a right and left side mapping, probably true in any case if there is an text. There is an RF-8G down the road at the museum at MCAS Miramar but I don't think it has any pylons attached. As far as cross section width I would think a pylon of an A-7 would be a good guide/guess.

 

[bob407]

Hi expat. Looks great. Where can this paint be downloaded? Thanks.

 

[expat]

Glad you like it but all thanks go to Jan Kees Blom, whose paint work I took and doctored slightly with dxt/bmp and MS Paint ..

 

[fsafranek]

Even more interesting than Omar on the tail tip is the combination of single Sidewinder and the Zuni rocket tubes. And is that a flag still hanging on the pylon?

Just a bit of info on that mark on the tail:

In 1961 the Sundowners' traditional mascot, "Omar," was conceived by squadron enlisted men to mark the transition to the F-8D Crusader. The triangular stick figure appeared on VF-111 aircraft and squadron spaces. During the 1960s, VF-111 flew four different versions of the Crusader (F-8C/D/E/H).

 

[fsafranek]

This is more an observation for Sylvain's benefit but if you look at USMC Crusaders with that MER loaded with Mk82 bombs, they never attach any bombs to the fuselage side.
The Navy did the something similar with the inboard TER mounted under Sidewinders -- no bombs in the station closest to the fuselage.

I made the Aero 7A pylons, MER-7 (A/A37B-6) & TER (A/A37B-5) bomb racks and the LAU-7/A Zuni pods in Blender. Someone (a well known pro) is now converting them to 3DS Max for me ..... so my hope is that Sylvain should have them within a week or so.

Regarding the panel lines.... the plastic model lines were totally incorrect. The actual Crusader pylon has piano hinges that are for three doors on the left side of the pylon and two doors on the right side.
Unfortunately I couldn't find any detailed pictures or drawings of them (despite having the F-8 Tactical Manual and the F-8 Crusader Safety, Survival, and Ordnance Systems Parts Flight Manual) so I did the best I could based on the few pictures I could find.

This is how things were looking at about 80% done. They actually look much better (and things line up properly) now.

 

[FlyingsCool]

This is more an observation for Sylvain's benefit but if you look at USMC Crusaders with that MER loaded with Mk82 bombs, they never attach any bombs to the fuselage side.
The Navy did the something similar with the inboard TER mounted under Sidewinders -- no bombs in the station closest to the fuselage.

Any idea why that was?

 

[awstub]

It depended on what ordinance they were carrying......but for the most part....and especially in the case of the picture I just posted, you are correct. They didn't carry MK-82's on the inside of the pylons because of clearance issues.

I was just doing a quick and dirty check of the loaded TER (which will be used for other projects) to see how it looked as i was working on it.

Fortunately, I gave Sylvain a copy of the F-8 tactical manual, so he has all the necessary info concerning what could be carried based on whatever conditions applied.

This is more an observation for Sylvain's benefit but if you look at USMC Crusaders with that MER loaded with Mk82 bombs, they never attach any bombs to the fuselage side.
The Navy did the something similar with the inboard TER mounted under Sidewinders -- no bombs in the station closest to the fuselage.

 

[gray eagle]

It depended on what ordinance they were carrying......but for the most part....and especially in the case of the picture I just posted, you are correct. They didn't carry MK-82's on the inside of the pylons because of clearance issues.

I was just doing a quick and dirty check of the loaded TER (which will be used for other projects) to see how it looked as i was working on it.

Fortunately, I gave Sylvain a copy of the F-8 tactical manual, so he has all the necessary info concerning what could be carried based on whatever conditions applied.

Yup, MK 82"s (500 LB) were the biggest they could carry and it was for clearance issues that nothing was loaded on the inside stations.
I was with VF-24 (F8-C), we didn't have the wing hard points to support that weight however, our sister squadron (VF-211) would have lots of bombing missions on Dixie station.

 

[ericrab]

RFN F-8 afterburner effect

Finally downloaded and installed this fine bird ( v1.2) for my FSX-A. Initial test flight very positive but I seem to have 2 problems.I don't get the nice afterburner flame effect apparent in the screenshots. When at full throttle I only see a bright blue glowing 'star' pattern that surrounds and actually bleeds through the exhaust nozzle but no flame. I wonder if I've somehow previously overwrittenany previous default .fx files that that this effect depends on. I have several other aircraft both payware and freeware installed that use anafterburner effect (Aerosoft F-14, Dreamteam f-18, Dino's birds, etc) .Some guidance on what to look for to troubleshoot and get the AB effect as intended, would be most appreciated.The second issue is that my test traps on Javier's Nimitz all fail with the F8 going 'through' the deck and landing in the water, as ifthe ship is visible but not actually there. This is the only aircraft that fails in this manner. Any suggestions?Thanks in advance for any help and to the creators of this most excellent freeware.

I'm getting the same "blue star" afterburner effect. How can I fix this? Itoo am using v1.2 and FSX/A.

 

[Duckie]

I'm getting the same "blue star" afterburner effect. How can I fix this? Itoo am using v1.2 and FSX/A.

Make sure you copied the effects files and textures from the downloaded zip correctly into the main FSX effects folder. The three AB effects are

fx_cruz_afterburner_1_FSX.fx
fx_cruz_afterburner_2_FSX.fx
fx_cruz_afterburner_3_FSX.fx

They are called via the smoke system in smoke.13=, 14=, 15=. Unfortunately that's the extent of help I can be on this item.

Good Luck,

Steve

 

[ericrab]

Make sure you copied the effects files and textures from the downloaded zip correctly into the main FSX effects folder. The three AB effects are

fx_cruz_afterburner_1_FSX.fx
fx_cruz_afterburner_2_FSX.fx
fx_cruz_afterburner_3_FSX.fx

They are called via the smoke system in smoke.13=, 14=, 15=. Unfortunately that's the extent of help I can be on this item.

Good Luck,

Steve

The zipfile I downloaded from the RFN website had three files named differently as fx_cruz_afterburner_1.fx, fx_cruz_afterburner_2.fx and fx_cruz_afterburner_3.fx. I fixed the afterburner display problem by renaming the effects files as noted above.

 

[Duckie]

The zipfile I downloaded from the RFN website had three files named differently as fx_cruz_afterburner_1.fx, fx_cruz_afterburner_2.fx and fx_cruz_afterburner_3.fx. I fixed the afterburner display problem by renaming the effects files as noted above.

Great. Glad I could help.

 

[sparouty]

Hi,
I known that the spot lights are not on FSX or even P3D these last tweeks, but I wanted to share this screenshot of the on-going work...
Regards,
S.

 

[Priller]

That is brilliant!! Any plans to bring it to MSFS??

Cheers,

Priller

 

[Cees Donker]

Af far as I'm concerned the spotlight is still on FSX! Good to see that there are still people adding to the sim!

Great work!

Cees

Hi,
I known that the spot lights are not on FSX or even P3D these last tweeks, but I wanted to share this screenshot of the on-going work...
Regards,
S.

 

[ZsoltB]

Hi,
I known that the spot lights are not on FSX or even P3D these last tweeks, but I wanted to share this screenshot of the on-going work...
Regards,
S.

Great!
I waiting TacPack FSX version

Thank you,
Zsolt

 

[delta_lima]

Fabulous news, Sylvain.

I know you’ve been working on this a long time.

DL