Whale imported in FSX

I thought this thread would be about a whale, like real flying whale in the "Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy" -style. Somebody should model that whale for FSX :greenf:

"And the rest, after a sudden wet thud, was silence."


No, seriously, that Normandy is getting really nicely detailded :applause:
 
Not being a history buff, could someone explain what that is and what it's use was? I can guess why the "Whale" terminology is applied, but what was it used for?:salute:
 
Well, BEING a history buff I can explain Ed :) The 'whale' was a code name for a bridge section as used in the Normandy Landings Mulberry 'artificial harbors'. The whale (bridge) section was attached to two pontoons (code named Beetles) and connected the beaches with the deeper water off coast.
At the end of a whale 'road'(the longest consisted of some 45 bridge segments of 80 feet each) ended onto a pier head (called 'spuds') that would raise with the tide.

The US harbour at Omaha Beach was only functional for three days before a huge storm swept most of it away. The British harbour (Mulbberry B) at Arromanches survived the storm and was 'in business' for over three months!

I am working on recreating the entire Mulberry B harbor in FSX...... which is almost as big an undertaking as the real one was !

Here's a link to a site of someone who visited the Arromanches museum........ it shows models of the harbour parts
http://johnsmilitaryhistory.com/Mulberry.html
 
Out of interest, the last surviving (reinforced concrete) Beetles in the UK still lay on a shingle beach at Loch Ryan up until a couple of years ago. The site is now a ferry terminal for the Stranraer-Belfast ferry service and before building the terminal great efforts were made by the contractors to preserve at least one example. Sadly the reinforcing was rusted beyond usefulness and each Beetle fell to pieces when trying to remove them. I was just a week too late to get photos before the site was closed off, bother it!

More power to your Sketchup, Francois!
 
Sadly time destroys everything in the end. There are still quite a few pontoons laying on the beach near Arromanches and I believe a few on Utah Beach too. But indeed, they too will disappear. So all the scale models and 3D models will be all that is left over time..... I speak to people now who are 'vaguely' aware of 'D-Day' ..... This is my modest effort to keep things alive even for our grand children and theirs.....

....... if only FSX stays alive long enough :icon_lol:
 
TheGrunt said:
I thought this thread would be about a whale, like real flying whale in the "Hitchhikers Guide to Galaxy" -style. Somebody should model that whale for FSX :greenf:

"And the rest, after a sudden wet thud, was silence."


No, seriously, that Normandy is getting really nicely detailded :applause:
Click to expand...

Funny you should mention that, because I've a low poly baleen whale that could be made into a releasable object easily. But what would you drop it from?

Looking great, Francois! There is a good assortment of amphibious ships in the upload que too!
 
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