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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

What I've been modeling lately

J

jdhaenens

Luddite in Training
I've been ATTEMPTING to model the control cab for the USS Akron. Of course I only have a picture of the USS Macon's gondola, but I'm not too choosey. The two were pretty close. I just need to clean upa little and I'll start learning how to make 3D meters and such.

What's everyone else modeling?
 
Wow Jim, that looks really good!
When you get to working on those 3d gauges let me know. I have done a bunch and would be glad to share what I know.
 
Man Jim, that is really really looking good. That is one ton of work to make all of those struts and windows and keep them going in a fluid teardrop shape.

I can hardly wait to see it flying. They were magnificent ships with all those props going, the tall windows on the sides going up the ring bulkheads, the planes coming out the belly hanger.

Awesome.....




Bill
 
A correction on airship anatomy for Lionheart,

Those "tall windows on the sides going up the ring bulkheads" were not windows. They were devices that recaptured the moisture out of the exhaust gases of the engines. This process was used to maintain the airship's weight while flying. If these devices had not been used, the airship would have to be venting gas. As the engines burned up fuel the airship would have gotten lighter and therefore gone higher. The airship could not rise above 4000 feet (if it did the gas would expand so much it would burst the cells). To help replace the weight of the burned up fuel, these devices would capture the moisture out of the exhaust gases from the engines and the weight of the stored water would be used to maintain the airship's balance.

View attachment 9442
 
Hey Paul,

I thought I had seen one by you. Thanks for the heads up.


Imagine being a pilot stationed aboard that awesome ship. Bunking on board that thing, flying around the country. What an awesome thing that must have been like. 'Yep, gotta go on a training sorti today, taking off at 0800 and flying the outskirts of Chicago area, back at 1400 for refueling and maintenance check, debrief.'


Bill
 
Thanks, Bill, The sad part of it is there does not seem to be a practical way of duplicating a hook-up between the plane and airship. Both the rcbco-30 gauges and the Acceleration method require more than just "hitting the wire" to simulate a landing.
Jim, that gondola looks awesome! When that project is done I will be inspired to try to find a hook-up method again. :salute:

Paul
 
I seem to remember a group developed a model of the USS Akron for FS2002 IIRC. To simulate a hook-up with the Sparrowhawk you had "land" on an invisible platform located just below the lowered trapeze. There were severe size limitations as well. I think there were two versions. One was the flyable version and the other was actually an animated scenery object built at half scale that you would try to land the Sparrowhawk on. An amazing bit of flightsim engineering for it's day.

I built a player controlled version of the USS Monterey that had a harden deck on it. Having the ship controlled by a flight recorded using FSRecorder, you could then land a player controlled SNJ aboard the player-controlled carrier. Problem was the SNJ wouldn't sit still on the moving carrier. The only way to get it to work was having an AI version of the ship. If you built an AI airship you could have it cruising along between 80-90 mph which was normal cruise speed for an airship. How would you control the animation to raise and lower the trapeze? Maybe something similar to how you have planes trigger hanger doors by using certain radio frequencies. Of course this would only work if your sailing the airship over the ocean. It would get a bit bumpy if you had an AI airship moving over the land.
 
Lionheart said:
Imagine being a pilot stationed aboard that awesome ship. Bunking on board that thing, flying around the country. What an awesome thing that must have been like. 'Yep, gotta go on a training sorti today, taking off at 0800 and flying the outskirts of Chicago area, back at 1400 for refueling and maintenance check, debrief.'
Click to expand...

It would be like "Crimson Skies" or "Sky Captain" in reality!! :d
 
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