FS9 NAA B-45 & RB-45 Tornado Package

[Mick]

A new entry has been added to Add-Ons Library, category FS 2004 Military - Jets

Description: The North American B-45 Tornado was one of the most important American aircraft of the early Cold War period, and one of the least remembered today. It was the first bomber-sized jet bomber in service anywhere in the world, first jet to drop a live atomic bomb, first jet to cross the North Pacific non-stop (Alaska to Japan,) first jet to fly the North Atlantic (with stops), NATO forces’ first and for some time only nuclear deterrent, first reconnaissance plane to fly deep penetration missions over North Korea, the People’s Republic of China, and the Soviet Union, and first aircraft to routinely use in-flight refueling on combat missions. The package includes twenty models and three dozen authentic skins depicting every major variant and numerous minor and sub-variants as they appeared throughout the type’s service life. A detailed manual explains some of the type’s unique operational procedures. Mostly by David Wooster with some help and skins painted by Mick.

To check it out, rate it or add comments, visit FS9 NAA B-45 & RB-45 Tornado Package
The comments you make there will appear in the posts below.

 

[anels9]

Thank you mick and David, can’t wait to fly it once I’m home

 

[AndyG43]

Thanks chaps, looks like a real gem.

Still boggles my mind that we don't bat an eyelid at files of this size. I find myself thinking a download speed of 200-300kb/s is slow, then realise it isn't the long ago that we struggled along at 28.8kb/s. This file is downloading at over 1mb/s on a mobile WiFi setup. Tempus has definitely fugited!

 

[SgtT]

Thank you for the aircraft. Can't wait to download and try out, big download but I know it will be worth it.

I still remember dial up and how long it would take in some instances to render a single picture. I can still hear the sound my modem would make connecting to the internet,

 

[hertzie]

Thanks David & Mick, as always great works!!

hertzie

 

[wbuchart]

Thanks Guys!! This really looks good. This will keep me occupied for a while......
And back to the previous comment about file size, when downloading this it made me think back to the old 1.44 modem days... , and days is how long it would take to download this back then.

 

[Mick]

Thanks for the kind words.

I guess we sort of overdid it, even more than with the B-47. I was without a real computer for quite a bit of last year, so I had plenty of time to read and look at photos and come up with new skins. David kept making changes to the 3D models to accommodate the sub-variants that the would wear the skins.

Here are a couple lesser known variants, TB-45A target tugs. There were three kinds of TB-45s and none of them was a pilot or aircrew trainer. They were all defensive systems trainers. One version was used as a radar target for interceptors and SAM batteries, and two were target tugs. This the second tug version with an external two-sleeve container and the Air Force's then-new target tug livery that was also worn by B-26 and B-57 target tugs.

 

[Mick]

And here's a couple you probably weren't expecting, operated by the Naval Air Test Center at NAS Patuxent River in various test and evaluation roles. The Navy got four Tornadoes in the type's early days, but only this one got a Dark Sea Blue paint job. The others got Navy markings on their natural metal skin.



This one was based at NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

 

[normb]

Thanks David & Mick!

What a great effort to address an unsung airplane.

You fellows come up with some great subjects. I'm still regularly flying the Airmaster (favorite), Twin Navion and Pinto.

Thanks again!
normb

 

[Mick]

Check this out!

I just gotta show off the automated water-alcohol injection system David contrived for the RB-45.

I made up this composite of screenshots to show the sequence:



When you start the engines you get regular jet smoke, heavy at first, then not so heavy.

As you get moving on the takeoff roll the water-alcohol injection kicks in, producing heavy black smoke (and allowing the RB to get off of any runway that the lighter bombers could use.)

When the water-alcohol mix is used up the black smoke stops and the tanks drop away.

They don't follow along after you like droppable bombs, torpedoes and drop tanks or ejectable bang seats on previous FS models - they fall away and behind, then disappear.

The system is fully automatic and works on every takeoff in an RB. You don't have to activate it. Once the tanks are gone they're gone for good. If you make an intermediate stop on your flight and want the system back for takeoff, you reload the plane in the sim.

The system was developed after three failed attempts to make a RATO system using hypergolic fuels. They worked, but since the fuels were violently reactive in the same was as the notorious C-Stoff and T-Stoff that made the Me.163 so dangerous, they were never adopted for service.

The water-injection system was tested on bombers. References disagree as to whether or not the bombers were equipped to use it, or maybe the B-45C but not the B-45A. In service it seems that the bombers never used it. We might infer that om short range flights they took off light and didn't need it, and on long range missions they needed the hard points for external fuel.

Ob the other hand, the RB-45 (and presumably the B-45C-5, which were converted from RBs could and did use it. One reference says they used it frequently and another says they used it pretty much all the time. Since the RB was considerably heavier than the bombers and used the same engines, if it didn't have some kind of takeoff assist it would need longer runways than the bombers, and runways even just barely long enough for the bombers were very rare in the US and almost non-existent elsewhere. With the W-A system an RB could get out of the same runways that the bombers could use, so our RB models use the system all the time.

 

[Mick]

If you wanna see it in action

If you want to watch the water-acohol system in action, select a runway start point so you're perfectly aligned with the runway, and set the parking brake.

Bring up the autopilot, turn it on, select the heading to match the runway heading, and turn on heading hold.

Set the altitude for a few thousand feet above field level and turn on altitude hold.

Start the engines.

Go to spot view and when the engines are at full power release the parking brake and watch the show.

 

[anels9]

Just wanted to say I’m really enjoying this new B-45 for fs2004 mick. Wonderfully detailed by David

 

[Sbob]

I need an early jet like I need another hole in my head.

But, I've been waiting for this one to drop.

You know what this means, right? We need a period specific Forbes AFB in Kansas.

You and David are turning into the Abbott and Costello for early jets.

 

[Mick]

I need an early jet like I need another hole in my head.
But, I've been waiting for this one to drop.
You know what this means, right? We need a period specific Forbes AFB in Kansas.
You and David are turning into the Abbott and Costello for early jets.

It sure took a long time! I was without a computer for something like eight months, and David was off the computer for a while. So I kept doing research that inspired more skins, then David kept making new model variants to wear those skins, then I painted the skins for the new models, then we got stuck on the panels, and we both had to make some new gauges. Then when all the skins, models and panels were finished we discovered a systemic flaw that required every one of those models to be reworked. So it just grew like Topsy!

We came up with so many different models for the bombers of the 47th Bomb Wing because we wanted to have all the different combinations of noses (early greenhouse, reinforced greenhouse and solid), and the various combinations of things under wings (clean, drop tanks, Mk.7 nuke) in the colors of each of the three squadrons. I could've painted fewer skins by having the skins of specific planes worn by different models, but I had to create a new font for those big fin numbers, so I couldn't help myself from painting enough skins to use all those non-standard digits.

David invented a way to have the water-alcohol tanks disappear after being jettisoned instead of following along behind the plane, and that took a while to get right. When David could work on the project and I couldn't, I worked on the manual, which is why the history section is more like a book than a ReadMe file. I kept reading about stuff that fascinated me and compelled me to put it in there even though it has nothing to do with actually flying the model. Some of it, like the section about early American atom bombs, is only peripherally connected to the B-45, but it grabbed my interest and I thought others might also find it interesting.

The B-45 appealed to me since I was a little kid. Back in the early or middle fifties there were airplane cards that came in packs of five cards with a slab of bubble gum, like baseball cards. In the first pack I got there was a card of a B-45C, a classic air to air shot of a B-45C in gleaming factory-fresh markings with those big tip tanks, looking like something out of an episode of Captain Video (an early, schlocky sci-fi TV series.) So I always remembered the plane fondly. Then I read the books listed in the reference section of the manual and learned about the planes service record and became completely hooked. So some seventy years after seeing that airplane card I was really excited when I encouraged David to revisit the B-45 and give it the full treatment like we did for the B-47.

Between SOH and the "big three" sites more than 300 people have downloaded the B-45 so far, not bad for a model built for a sim that's twenty years and three generations old that not many of us use anymore.

BTW, the B-45 fleet wasn't based at Forbes for very long. The runways weren't long enough to safely operate a big multi-engine jet, and the 47th BW soon moved to Barksdale, where the runways weren't much longer and the southern heat more than made up for the any additional runway length. Then they moved to Langley, where the runways still weren't long enough and the planes wouldn't fit into the hangars. I don't recall right now where the RB unit was based. Maybe Forbes??? I could look it up but I've filed my references away in my library so they're not right at hand.

 

[Mick]

B-45 & RB-45 bases

David just sent me this compilation of the bases the B-45 and RB-45 units were stationed at:

Royal Air Force

No. 35 Squadron RAF crews grouped into ad hoc units operated RB-45C variant.
No. 115 Squadron RAF crews grouped into ad hoc units operated RB-45C variant.

Tactical Air Command

47th Bombardment Group (later Wing), B-45A, 1949-1957
Langley AFB, Virginia 1949-1952
RAF Sculthorpe, England, 1952-1957
84th Bombardment Squadron
85th Bombardment Squadron
86th Bombardment Squadron, 1949, 1954–1957
422d Bombardment Squadron, 1953–1954
86th Bomb Squadron operated from RAF Alconbury, England, 1955–1959
19th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, RB-45C 1953–1957
Ninth Air Force (Attached to 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing)
Shaw AFB, South Carolina, 1953–1954
Third Air Force (Attached to 47th Bombardment Wing)
RAF Sculthorpe, England, 1954–1957

Strategic Air Command

91st Strategic Reconnaissance Group (Later Wing) B/RB-45C, 1950–1953
Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 1950–1951
Lockbourne AFB, Ohio, 1951–1953
322d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron
323d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron
324th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron
Note: Operated frequently from RAF Sculthorpe, England; Yokota AB and Johnson AB, Japan (1950–1952)[15]
91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, RB-45C, 1952–1954
Fifteenth Air Force (Attached to Far East Air Forces)
Yokota AB, Japan (Combat in Korean War)

Air Defense Command

4750th Tow Target Squadron
Yuma AFB, Arizona, 1954–1957

Not included on the list are the bases where the Air Research & Development Command's B-45A and B-45C were based. Off the top of my head I can remember Edwards and Wright Field. I know there were others.

Also, Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin.

And the Navy at Patuxent River and Quonset Point, among others.

 

[Sbob]

Well, some initial impressions...

Wow, this thing likes to get out of town fast.
I was expecting something closer to the B-47 but it is four engines in a smaller air frame.
I know you guys sweated it out on the flight dynamics and it shows.
BTW, I haven't gotten to the "Romeo Tango Foxtrot Mike" part yet so please excuse any omissions.

Pattern characteristics are great as long as you keep an eye on your speed.
The engine smoke effects are SUE-POIB. Well done.

Panel work is top notch. I like the way you laid it out. The gauges all look "right".
The Panel.cfg could use an automatic "smoke switch", but this is a really minor gripe and its easy to add.

Animations are pretty slick. The bomb bay doors are a "must see" and the sequencing is really tight.

Two small gripes in the Aircraft.cfg file. The nose wheel position is a little "tall" for folks using higher resolutions and larger monitors, not a big deal.
The ATC stuff could use a little help. "North American" is one of the stock types ( atc_type=NORTH_AMERICAN ) in FS9. The "call sign" for this period is tricky, in reality it should be in Morse Code so it all comes down to "Pilot's preference" and my go-to would be "Air Force" followed by the buzz number (ie, "Air Force Bravo Uniform Oh Three Five"). I like how you snuck in "Tornado" but its the Brit pronunciation.

The models and textures- Give me a couple of weeks, this is going to take a while.
Over-all, they look great. The bare metal textures just look right.
One question, though. Who are those old duffers sitting in the seats? They look like they would wear brown shoes while nursing their Boiler Makers in the O Club.

The Sound folder is really good.

Over-all, you guys knocked it out of the park AGAIN.

 

[Mick]

Thanks Bob!

Thanks for the review and the positive comments.

One correction - there is no need for a smoke switch. David went to a lot of trouble to make it so.

On all the B-45s the engine smoke is automatic. It comes on strong at full throttle and diminishes at cruise settings. On the RB-45s the engine smoke is automatic and so is the dark black water-alcohol smoke. That starts when you get rolling at full throttle for takeoff on the runway and stops when the water-alcohol mix runs dry and the tanks jettison. All automatic.

The one thing I forgot to add the the pilot's notes in the manual and checklist was: "Forget that your keyboard has an I key! Never touch it!" If we could've figured a way, we would've disabled it.

For the ATC items I tried to make them the way they would be spoken on the radio. Such as, "Eddie tower, Air Force B-45 4001 ready to taxi for take-off for departure to the north." FlightSim provides for North American as a type, but it is not a type, it's a company and it would never be mentioned in a radio call - unless it was a company test flight. Then it could be, 'Inglewood tower, North American B-45..." where North American is the "airline" and B-45 is the type. Except for the Ju Jitsu missions where I figured (possibly wrongly) that the RAf crews might've said Tornado. But that was never an RAF official name so maybe they said B-45 like USAF crews would. And I'm pretty sure that ATC always used voice radio, never Morse code!

The sound set is the one David made for the B-47.

Do check out the water-alcohol take-off system on the RB. I think you'll really like it.

 

[ian elliot]

Finally got to try your 45, really loving it and all the FX extra's. Not as hard to fly as i was expecting, as long as your a bit more patient and give you self more time when on approach, no more harder than the Alpha B66 or Skywarrior, or their V-bomber's. The 66 was being a replacement for the 45, but they didn't really gain much in the transfer.

Big thanks to you and Chris, it was well worth the wait

 

[Mick]

Finally got to try your 45, really loving it and all the FX extra's. Not as hard to fly as i was expecting, as long as your a bit more patient and give you self more time when on approach, no more harder than the Alpha B66 or Skywarrior, or their V-bomber's. The 66 was being a replacement for the 45, but they didn't really gain much in the transfer.
Big thanks to you and Chris, it was well worth the wait

Thanks Ian!

I know you meant me and David.

I also found it less difficult to fly than I expected. I haven't made a real flight from here to there in it, but I made a few test flights of the water-alcohol injection effects, and a couple times I got the gear and flaps up, made a circuit and landed. It was the first time I ever flew a model of a big jet! And I got it back on the runway in one piece. It seemed to fly like the references say - it did not like to slow down and it did not like to descend, and it liked to float before touchdown. And I did my tests at Edwards AFB, where the main runway is a lot more than the 5,000 feet they said the B-45 could get off from and down on! More than the 10,000 feet that was recommended too.

 

[wombat666]

You and David have just made me enthusiastic to load up FS9 and fly this outstanding aeroplane Mick!
I keep a few special FS9 installations on my system and keep a watch for any aircraft that appeal, like the B45.
Many thanks from a somewhat jaded Wombat.