Glad to have you on board and another one interested in the project. Im currently working on tying in the electrical system and seeing how in depth I can get it. I mean if Leroy was strapped in the right seat with Hoser then there definitely needs to be a virtual Leroy! Send any more pics that you have and ill see what I can do.FIRST POST !!! I have been creepin on this thread for almost two months checking daily for news. I yelled in joy when I seen that this project was underway and the incredible job that is being done with it. It has been my dream to have this aircraft in a sim and fly out all the missions I remember them going on around my community. I almost had it done by helping out a little known Shade tree micro aviation with the pics and schematics but they never got it finished after the Cal fire OV-10 they did, Xplane 10 days. I was the base retardant manager of Phos-chek at KGOO and in charge of mixing and loading these tankers before Cal fire took over operations in 2016. Best 10 years of my life by far. After studying the pics provided of this beautiful project I was impressed in the fact that you are 99% accurate in the model, down to the place cards and the sheep skin seats. However one important item missing. Leroy isnt there. Now Leroy was the legendary Joe de "hose" Satrapas co pilot in T-89. Hoser Never went on a sortie without ol Leroy strapped in the right seat. Leroy with his rubber heart and nerves of steel has seen it all and I feel is in need of consideration for the final build.
I saw that video Dave. It is awesome. Ive been studying it a bit to see what details I can pick out of it. Glad to have you on board and another one interested in the project. Im currently working on tying in the electrical system and seeing how in depth I can get it. I mean if Leroy was strapped in the right seat with Hoser then there definitely needs to be a virtual Leroy! Send any more pics that you have and ill see what I can do.
Hoser was an awesome guy,i didnt know him well,i mean we werent friends,but in the 80s,i (my crew and i) took direct hits from him.in the early 80s,i was rear nozzle cleaning up what remained from front nozzles knock down while doing a fast mobile attack on a grass fire,it was getting out of hand on us,strong winds,tall/heavy fuels,it was kickin our butts.something caught my eye in the cab,i looked and the engineer/captain was looking in the mirror and was frantically rolling up the window,i turned to look and all saw a wall of red,took a direct,low level hit from T89,with of curse hoser flying it,later that day,we were asked to go up to the tanker base at grass valley,the NYP ECC was still in Auburn (Bowman) at the time. we got up there,we had no idea as to why we were asked to go up there,its like 30 miles from Auburn,so well out of our coverage area.we met with hoser where the crews rested,i remember there being like a shack sitting there,but my memory could be wrong,anyway we met hoser and he apologized to us,explained to us how they werent supposed to be that low,nor go direct on a crew and so on,cant say he was shook up about it as he couldnt hold back anymore and started to chuckle and told us the he T88 and AA230 had circled a bit and were watching us pick ourselves up,then hosed each other off,said he saw a few arms raised with an impolite finger gesture ( he was right about that,it knocked the fire down,,but knocked us down too,id even lost a boot when i went for my tumble.
anyway, just a stupid story about the first time i met him. i was told he passed away not long after he retired, that true?
Any ETA there Tankerguy when we can test/ fly her?I saw that video Dave. It is awesome. Ive been studying it a bit to see what details I can pick out of it. Glad to have you on board and another one interested in the project. Im currently working on tying in the electrical system and seeing how in depth I can get it. I mean if Leroy was strapped in the right seat with Hoser then there definitely needs to be a virtual Leroy! Send any more pics that you have and ill see what I can do.
tankerguy should prolly be the one to address your question. but i dont think hes doing anything on this plane other than the Cal Fire firefighting airtanker version. the state of california uses these for wildland firefighting to drop retardant to build a fireline, or another layer of protection to slow the progress.Great looking aircraft. A turbo version of the Stoof. Any chance it will have a viable tail hook?
Well I asked santa for a shiny new Stoof and all he brought me was a Goose. Guess I deserved that. I wasent very good this year. I am going to really try and be a good boy this next year and instead of leaving cookies for santa I am going to leave him a blank check so I can get my shiny new S-2T.
So looking forward to this one too. Going to also get the Orbx McCall add on to compliment this beauty. Thanks for the fantastic dedication to this aircraft.