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Screenshots!
- Thread starter Bravo/4
- Start date
33lima
Members +
Hands up, whoever remembers building the old Airfix 1/72 kit of this aircraft...
Lovely skin, looks as good as anything I've seen in any sim. I'd have been delighted to have turned out a model half as well...not that my first Airfix Spit IX was painted at all, it was left in the original pale blue after assembly by my dad; probably my very first Airfix kit, which will have come home, from Woolies probably, looking like this:
I well remember it sitting on the mantelpiece with the wings propped up with matchsticks while the glue dried, to get the dihedral right, as recommended in the instruction sheet. Those were the days, but now we have so many superb, dust-free virtual models at our fingertips from the skilled hands of so many talented builders, so I mustn't get too carried away by the nostalgia!
Lovely skin, looks as good as anything I've seen in any sim. I'd have been delighted to have turned out a model half as well...not that my first Airfix Spit IX was painted at all, it was left in the original pale blue after assembly by my dad; probably my very first Airfix kit, which will have come home, from Woolies probably, looking like this:
I well remember it sitting on the mantelpiece with the wings propped up with matchsticks while the glue dried, to get the dihedral right, as recommended in the instruction sheet. Those were the days, but now we have so many superb, dust-free virtual models at our fingertips from the skilled hands of so many talented builders, so I mustn't get too carried away by the nostalgia!
Led Zeppelin
Charter Member
Sure, famous aircraft, famous pilot, famous kit!
Led Zeppelin
Charter Member
Nice one, looking forward to the second part
sixstrings5859
Charter Member
Firepower was a great addon. Love the Ta-152's the most.
Josh Patterson
SOH-CM-2023
What about James May's Airfix 1/1 Spitfire? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y30iAESLak (The actual HD version of this episode of James May's Toy Stories is on either Netflix or Prime.)Hands up, whoever remembers building the old Airfix 1/72 kit of this aircraft...
Lovely skin, looks as good as anything I've seen in any sim. I'd have been delighted to have turned out a model half as well...not that my first Airfix Spit IX was painted at all, it was left in the original pale blue after assembly by my dad; probably my very first Airfix kit, which will have come home, from Woolies probably, looking like this:
I well remember it sitting on the mantelpiece with the wings propped up with matchsticks while the glue dried, to get the dihedral right, as recommended in the instruction sheet. Those were the days, but now we have so many superb, dust-free virtual models at our fingertips from the skilled hands of so many talented builders, so I mustn't get too carried away by the nostalgia!
33lima
Members +
Some more favourites from Firepower...which incidentally is still available as a download on the A2A Sims store https://a2asimulations.com/product-category/cfs3/
(Luftwaffe aircraft feature the historical tail markings mod available from the CFS3 Netwings section of the Warbirds Library at Sim Outhouse)
(Luftwaffe aircraft feature the historical tail markings mod available from the CFS3 Netwings section of the Warbirds Library at Sim Outhouse)
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
Havoc I Turbinblight practicing with Squadron Mates
33lima
Members +
The Memphis Belle - first mission, November 7th, 1942
Some pics from the Belle's first operational sortie, as recreated by the Just Flight add-on
Our target is the U-boat pens in Brest. The 91st Bomb Group is putting up six aircraft plus one reserve, from each of the 322nd and 234th Bomb Squadrons, the latter being the Belle's outfit. They are probably the only friendly aircraft I will see on the mission, as we have no close escort.
Here I am on the runway at Bassingbourne. I seem to have stopped my engines after taxying out but that's easily remedied. I think JF''s Belle may include the so-called 'publicity markings added for the bomber's later tour of the US, but the differences are minor. JF has opted for the greener look visible in some of the many colour pics or footage taken for the Belle's wartime film; interpretations of this vary from greenish, to khaki, to the much browner shade featured in the Firepower Belle (which like the JF add-on, includes scripted missions recreating the bomber's operational career). I like the caps worn by the pilot, co-pilot and bombardier.
Take off was ponderous, and I didn't miss the trees by much. Climbing out is equally stately, as I struggle to find the sweet spot between angle and rate of climb. As far as the view is concerned, I had forgotten that the CFS3 winter terrain is a bit too snowbound for most of the season in NW Europe, but I'm just glad not to have flown into it!
After a while, I invoke the miracle of warp, which takes us onward and upward, above the clouds.
All seven of us are present and correct.
Those clouds are a problem. How we're going to locate the target in these conditions, let alone bomb it, I have no idea.
It's no consolation that the skies above are clear.
Anyway I included this pic mainly as it's similar to a sequence in William Wyler's wartime film!
...more to follow!
Some pics from the Belle's first operational sortie, as recreated by the Just Flight add-on
Our target is the U-boat pens in Brest. The 91st Bomb Group is putting up six aircraft plus one reserve, from each of the 322nd and 234th Bomb Squadrons, the latter being the Belle's outfit. They are probably the only friendly aircraft I will see on the mission, as we have no close escort.
Here I am on the runway at Bassingbourne. I seem to have stopped my engines after taxying out but that's easily remedied. I think JF''s Belle may include the so-called 'publicity markings added for the bomber's later tour of the US, but the differences are minor. JF has opted for the greener look visible in some of the many colour pics or footage taken for the Belle's wartime film; interpretations of this vary from greenish, to khaki, to the much browner shade featured in the Firepower Belle (which like the JF add-on, includes scripted missions recreating the bomber's operational career). I like the caps worn by the pilot, co-pilot and bombardier.
Take off was ponderous, and I didn't miss the trees by much. Climbing out is equally stately, as I struggle to find the sweet spot between angle and rate of climb. As far as the view is concerned, I had forgotten that the CFS3 winter terrain is a bit too snowbound for most of the season in NW Europe, but I'm just glad not to have flown into it!
After a while, I invoke the miracle of warp, which takes us onward and upward, above the clouds.
All seven of us are present and correct.
Those clouds are a problem. How we're going to locate the target in these conditions, let alone bomb it, I have no idea.
It's no consolation that the skies above are clear.
Anyway I included this pic mainly as it's similar to a sequence in William Wyler's wartime film!
...more to follow!
MajorMagee
SOH-CM-2022
Here's the real thing, fully restored by the local museum.
The repaired / replaced anything that was functionally damaged by corrosion and neglect, but left all the wartime field repairs/patches intact.
The repaired / replaced anything that was functionally damaged by corrosion and neglect, but left all the wartime field repairs/patches intact.
33lima
Members +
I'm basically following the headings given me by the navigator as represented by the bearings on the Tactical display. By now, we're over Brittany, confirmed by intermittent sight of wood- and farmland below.
There's not much else to do but plough on and hope for the best at the target, those U-boat pens. What damage the 500-pounders we're carrying will do them anyway, is a whole other question.
We reach what should be the Initial Point...
...and a gentle left-hand turn lines us up for the bomb run.
Bomb doors open! Now all we need is to be able to see what we're supposed to bomb. I could have dropped below the cloud, but medium level bombing isn't supposed to be what the 8th Air Force's B-17s do, is it?
Suddenly there's a distraction. Below and right an aircraft is going down, with another trailing him. I can't identify either aircraft; they're too far away.
No time for such things - somewhere just ahead is the target. But where?
...more to follow!
There's not much else to do but plough on and hope for the best at the target, those U-boat pens. What damage the 500-pounders we're carrying will do them anyway, is a whole other question.
We reach what should be the Initial Point...
...and a gentle left-hand turn lines us up for the bomb run.
Bomb doors open! Now all we need is to be able to see what we're supposed to bomb. I could have dropped below the cloud, but medium level bombing isn't supposed to be what the 8th Air Force's B-17s do, is it?
Suddenly there's a distraction. Below and right an aircraft is going down, with another trailing him. I can't identify either aircraft; they're too far away.
No time for such things - somewhere just ahead is the target. But where?
...more to follow!
33lima
Members +
At last I see some coastline through a break in the clouds. Just I time! But the navigator/TAC doesn't seem to be sure if we're at the target, no matter which type is selected to display. Is that grey puff below flak? Where are the pens? We should be able to see some sort of installation - if it's there - but all I can see is coastline. The Jerries can't be that good at camouflage, surely?
Our track seems right, out location seems right, but clearly something is wrong. To hell with it! I didn't come all this way to stooge around while the insidious sense of being lost grows and grows. Whatever is down there is going to be bombed!
I let fly as the sight touches the coast, about where any installations should be. The others drop on my lead. The airwaves fill with reports telling me so.
The pattern we achieve isn't too bad. I forgot to aim a little long, to allow for most of the bombs being dropped from behind. It probably doesn't matter much - it looks we're doing what they called tongue-in-cheek 'agricultural bombing'.
Shortly after turning from home, some 109s find us. At first they wheel and roll around. Then they start getting serious.
Our return fire looks pretty feeble, and the first Fort goes down. It's a sobering spectacle, even in a sim.
The B-17 behind on my left is next to go. One of his engines is shot clean out of its mounting.
I know it's the Belle's first effort and I'm seriously out of practice flying CFS3's bombers, but this isn't going too well, is it?
...more to follow!
Our track seems right, out location seems right, but clearly something is wrong. To hell with it! I didn't come all this way to stooge around while the insidious sense of being lost grows and grows. Whatever is down there is going to be bombed!
I let fly as the sight touches the coast, about where any installations should be. The others drop on my lead. The airwaves fill with reports telling me so.
The pattern we achieve isn't too bad. I forgot to aim a little long, to allow for most of the bombs being dropped from behind. It probably doesn't matter much - it looks we're doing what they called tongue-in-cheek 'agricultural bombing'.
Shortly after turning from home, some 109s find us. At first they wheel and roll around. Then they start getting serious.
Our return fire looks pretty feeble, and the first Fort goes down. It's a sobering spectacle, even in a sim.
The B-17 behind on my left is next to go. One of his engines is shot clean out of its mounting.
I know it's the Belle's first effort and I'm seriously out of practice flying CFS3's bombers, but this isn't going too well, is it?
...more to follow!