Favorite Era of Commercial Aviation
- Thread starter Cowboy1968
- Start date
And the P-3 Orion; one occasionally pays a visit to the airport at work at, and makes my day when they do.
Not enough pics getting posted in this so I thought I'd add a few of my favorite airliners of the late 30s to the 50s to add a little color to this :d.
1 A nod to Ernie Gann with an American Airlines DC-3 from when he was flying them. Default DC-3
2 One of my all time favorite propliners, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, this one is TWA's "Zuni" from 1940. By Jens Kristensen
3 Western Air Lines DC-6B. An outstanding flyer from California Classics that there always seems to be an update in the works.
4 Actually from 1961, but I had to include the last piston engined Air Force One, a VC-118 that uses the CalClassics DC-6B with the AF1 paint.
5 Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L049 Constellation. FSDezigns classic Connie
6 US Navy Lockheed R7V Super Constellation "Pegasus 7" Model by Mike Stone, flight model from Wolfram Beckert and the paint available here under my name. My go to Constellation.
7 United Air Lines Boeing 377 Stratocruiser in delivery colors. Another from California Classics
8 BOAC DeHavilland Comet 1. IMHO, the only jetliner to fly. Not sure whose this is as I've got two or three Comet 1s, but a good early Comet is available from Jens. For the later marks, I use David Maltby's.
1 A nod to Ernie Gann with an American Airlines DC-3 from when he was flying them. Default DC-3
2 One of my all time favorite propliners, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, this one is TWA's "Zuni" from 1940. By Jens Kristensen
3 Western Air Lines DC-6B. An outstanding flyer from California Classics that there always seems to be an update in the works.
4 Actually from 1961, but I had to include the last piston engined Air Force One, a VC-118 that uses the CalClassics DC-6B with the AF1 paint.
5 Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L049 Constellation. FSDezigns classic Connie
6 US Navy Lockheed R7V Super Constellation "Pegasus 7" Model by Mike Stone, flight model from Wolfram Beckert and the paint available here under my name. My go to Constellation.
7 United Air Lines Boeing 377 Stratocruiser in delivery colors. Another from California Classics
8 BOAC DeHavilland Comet 1. IMHO, the only jetliner to fly. Not sure whose this is as I've got two or three Comet 1s, but a good early Comet is available from Jens. For the later marks, I use David Maltby's.
Corsair 14F
Charter Member
Very interesting pool...
It probably shows that the payware industry has missed something thus far....
It probably shows that the payware industry has missed something thus far....
Cowboy1968
Charter Member
I am in the process of reinstalling FS2004 and i intend to keep it around 1959 to 1962. So i have to install the Boeing 707 and DC-8. I am going to do this kicking and screaming, but they are a part of the history. So they will be put in. GGGRRRRR....damn jets. I am going to have General Aviation form the time as well. As long as military planes.
I will have the Tri-Motors too. I can't turn my back on the old Fords and Fokkers. And i have to have the Ju-52.
My question is, well FS2004 work with out the default modern jets installed?
I will have the Tri-Motors too. I can't turn my back on the old Fords and Fokkers. And i have to have the Ju-52.
My question is, well FS2004 work with out the default modern jets installed?
Cowboy1968
Charter Member
I haven't heard of that. is it for FS2004 and where do you get IT?
Cowboy, I kept the default jets installed but I don't even use them as AI. I recommend going to California Classics and using their retro'd scenery and AI traffic. They give you a choice between 1959 or 1962 to fly in. I used their scenery and AI set with my own AI flight plans when I was working on my version of FS 1954. I also used of bunch of other aircraft that were either default classics (like the Trimotor), AI from other sources (Bill Lyons made bunches in his packages) or converted flyable aircraft to AI. The CalClassics AI propliner set comes with flight plans based on actual old airline time tables for the period you set up. I did use repaints of the default Ford Trimotor and conversions of the JBK Fokkers and a bunch of Ju 52s.
Silver Wings is similar to Golden Wings but meant for the 1950s period. Yes it is for FS9 and can be found at the Old Hanger.
Silver Wings is similar to Golden Wings but meant for the 1950s period. Yes it is for FS9 and can be found at the Old Hanger.
delta_lima
Charter Member 2015
I don't do these types of polls, but I'll chime in on the addons in question.
I've had Silver Wings (by Bill Lyons, google The Old Hangar) as an install for 50's era flying. All Calclassic AI - nary a jet airliner to be found, except for the Comet and Caravelle. Unlike Willie, I tossed out the stock jets and turbo props. There are enough packages out there to cover the entire earth reasonably well with piston engine, early turbo prop aircraft of that era.
I've also created another install, also using Silver Wings, that has the 70's era. That allows a slightly more modern environment for the rare instances where I want to fly a more "modern" aircraft - F-101B, F-4 Phantom, F-5 Tiger, etc. The process I'm describing below applies to either 50's, 60's, or 70's (or any era) - but since the focus seems to be on the 50's ....
The trick for me was to tackle it in two parts.
1. The stock traffic.bgl can be as much your friend in this situation as your enemy. I opened with TTools, and replaced the aircraft references with those airliners that I handle showing up randomly around the world. In my case, I replaced the Orbit 747 with the Pan-Am B377, the Soar 747 with the Transcanada Airlines L-049, etc. Replaced all of the planes down to the GA with Calclassic and/or stuff from Golden Wings and Golden Hawaii. That gives you lots of semi-realistic "volume" of AI. The key is to match the type of aircraft you're adding in as close as possible to the type you're removing. Hence replacing larger jet airliners with large prop liners, small commuters (Dash-8) with Convair 440, etc.
2. The realism comes from installing a good variety of the retroai airline packages. Again, I like to cover all the continents, major countries - and now you're really set. It takes time, but the combination of Calclassics and retroai allows you to cover the 40's to the 70's very beautifully - and realistically. I haven't seen an MD-80, 737, or Dash-8 in my sim in five years. Just for fun, I'll fly into some airport I've never been to, and see the airport full of airplanes from that country - that alone makes it worth binning all the stock AI planes forever - whether you want to go 50's or stay in the current time period. Flying into Vladivostok and seeing the airport full of Aeroflot Ilyushins and Antonovs is just too cool.
Of equal importance to the AI is the airports - and the packages from CalClassics and Early Sixties (avsim) are must haves. The latter is nice, because there's more flying space out there than just the USA - and that's their specialty. Airports in Karachi, Calcutta, London, Paris, Entebbe, Sydney, and dozens more are rendered beautifully, so at the end of the day, you can create an entire FS world that is scenery-wise and traffic wise, set anywhere within a 50 year period. The fact that you can do all this using freeware is staggering. Glass is definitely more than half full.
I hope this helps.
dl
I've had Silver Wings (by Bill Lyons, google The Old Hangar) as an install for 50's era flying. All Calclassic AI - nary a jet airliner to be found, except for the Comet and Caravelle. Unlike Willie, I tossed out the stock jets and turbo props. There are enough packages out there to cover the entire earth reasonably well with piston engine, early turbo prop aircraft of that era.
I've also created another install, also using Silver Wings, that has the 70's era. That allows a slightly more modern environment for the rare instances where I want to fly a more "modern" aircraft - F-101B, F-4 Phantom, F-5 Tiger, etc. The process I'm describing below applies to either 50's, 60's, or 70's (or any era) - but since the focus seems to be on the 50's ....
The trick for me was to tackle it in two parts.
1. The stock traffic.bgl can be as much your friend in this situation as your enemy. I opened with TTools, and replaced the aircraft references with those airliners that I handle showing up randomly around the world. In my case, I replaced the Orbit 747 with the Pan-Am B377, the Soar 747 with the Transcanada Airlines L-049, etc. Replaced all of the planes down to the GA with Calclassic and/or stuff from Golden Wings and Golden Hawaii. That gives you lots of semi-realistic "volume" of AI. The key is to match the type of aircraft you're adding in as close as possible to the type you're removing. Hence replacing larger jet airliners with large prop liners, small commuters (Dash-8) with Convair 440, etc.
2. The realism comes from installing a good variety of the retroai airline packages. Again, I like to cover all the continents, major countries - and now you're really set. It takes time, but the combination of Calclassics and retroai allows you to cover the 40's to the 70's very beautifully - and realistically. I haven't seen an MD-80, 737, or Dash-8 in my sim in five years. Just for fun, I'll fly into some airport I've never been to, and see the airport full of airplanes from that country - that alone makes it worth binning all the stock AI planes forever - whether you want to go 50's or stay in the current time period. Flying into Vladivostok and seeing the airport full of Aeroflot Ilyushins and Antonovs is just too cool.
Of equal importance to the AI is the airports - and the packages from CalClassics and Early Sixties (avsim) are must haves. The latter is nice, because there's more flying space out there than just the USA - and that's their specialty. Airports in Karachi, Calcutta, London, Paris, Entebbe, Sydney, and dozens more are rendered beautifully, so at the end of the day, you can create an entire FS world that is scenery-wise and traffic wise, set anywhere within a 50 year period. The fact that you can do all this using freeware is staggering. Glass is definitely more than half full.
I hope this helps.
dl
Cowboy1968
Charter Member
Plane of action is to first work on the USA using Cal Clasics and then work on the rest of the worl, but ultimate goal here is to have 1950's in this set up. thank you for your much needed advice............it helps a lot.
Cowboy1968
Charter Member
First flight in a very basic sim of 1950's. This is my first flight using Silver Wings package mixed with CalClassic airports. Still have a long way to go on setting up my 1950's install. but it looks good so far.
This is a flight I put together of an American DC-3 that was chartered to fly from Reno to Los Vegas in 1958.
It is about 80 miles into the 300 some mile flight at about 12,000 feet doing 130 knots IAS on an aproxament course of 120.
I tell you it gets a little bumpy flying over those mountains.
This is a flight I put together of an American DC-3 that was chartered to fly from Reno to Los Vegas in 1958.
It is about 80 miles into the 300 some mile flight at about 12,000 feet doing 130 knots IAS on an aproxament course of 120.
I tell you it gets a little bumpy flying over those mountains.
Cowboy, you can edit the air files (there's several free tools to do it) so that the Sim thinks they're AI only and won't put them into the menu.
Cowboy1968
Charter Member
Willy, over that part of Nevada you haven't a choice or you will run flat into to a 'big hill", once i get out of the hills the flight plane drops the bird down to a leg of the flight that puts the bird at around 8,000, but you have to remember I am flying VOR and VFR here and well the VOR flight plane calls for 12,000 to keep you from plowing new farmland in the Nevada Desert. Actually you are anywhere from 4,000 to 1,000 ft. AGL in this leg of the flight. This is part of the high desert of California and Nevada.
Here is the trouble with keeping to 10,000 and below in some places of the flight. Mountains taller then 10,000 ft. This picture was taken about 47 miles north west of Los Vegas in rout.
Cowboy1968
Charter Member
Is it posible to add B707 and DC-8 to AI triffic put out by CalClassic. I want some flying around 1960?