The Short Stirling was the first RAF four engine heavy bomber. It was the only one of the RAF heavies designed from the start to be equipped with four engines. The Halifax and Lancaster (Manchester) were both intended to be powered by a pair of Rolls Royce Vulture engines and eventually needed redesigns when the Vulture proved unsuccessful.
The 100 ft wingspan limitation was an attempt by the RAF to prevent the uncontrolled growth of aircraft designs that were submitted. This resulted in a low aspect ratio wing that limited altitude performance and had poor take-off performance.
This package is based on Richard Osborne's FS5 model as repackaged by Wolfsglen.
My contributions are a greatly modified Damage Profile and a rewritten AIR file that uses more of the features that are available in CFS. I have also removed the D-Day invasion stripes that were on the original model because by D-Day, the Stirling had been withdrawn from frontline service as a bomber and was serving as a Transport and Glider Tug.
I had originally been using this aeroplane as a test subject for other development projects, but thought it might be a nice distraction from current events for others as well.
Let me know what you think of this project.
- Ivan.
