The Luscombe 8A with the new Continental 65hp engine was approved in March 1939 and on April 8 Jackie Cochran flew one to a national lightplane closed course record of 105.6mph. On Sept 3 Harry Mundy won the "Baby Bendix" flying from San Francisco to Reno in an 8A. The spartan little model 8A sold for only $1975 but offered unmatched performance in it's class. The aircraft pioneered the use of an all metal fuselage with fabric wing. Later models featured all metal construction and began the trend to affordable aircraft for the post war boom.
Specifications:
Length:19' 11"
Wing span:35' 0"
Weight: 690lbs empty, 1260lbs gross
Power:Continental A-65, 65hp 4 cylinder engine
Speeds-Mph: Maximum 108, Cruise 97, Stall 40
Initial Rate of Climb: 650fpm
Range at Cruise: 350miles
Simulation: This model departs from standard fs98 practice in that it is designed to be visually flown from the "virtual cockpit" rather than from a bitmap panel. Use your "hat" button to look around and fly as in real life. It features a working VC air speed indicator and tachometer. Other instruments are on a mini panel which can be toggle using Shift/2. It is recommended that one of the extra buttons on your joystick be assigned to toggle this view on and off. At Shift/1 is a map of Washington . Your own bitmap map may be substituted and the panel.cfg edited to fly from your favorite area as desired. At Shift/3 and Shift/4 are Luscombe factory provided checklists to enhance the flight experience
Installation: Unzip the Install.zip into your main Fs98 or Golden Wings directory and all files will be properly installed. There is a float version of the Lusbombe 8A with British Columbia mountain lake bush scenery for Golden Wings available at The Old Hangar, http://www.flightsimmers.net/tommy/ See enclosed pictures. Come and visit if you like to fly vintage aircraft. It's all completely free and also computer friendly!
Operation: After booting up select the flight "Luscombe 8A Test Flight" to take a flight over Puget Sound to beautiful Friday Bay.
I wish to thank Raphael Sanchez for his great program, VOD, Jack Hill for his invaluable contributions to this project and Tom Constantine for maintaining the best flight sim site out there! Thanks guys!!
Please enjoy this package and I would appreciate any feedback on your virtual cockpit flying experience. Come visit us at The Old Hangar, have fun and happy landings, Bill Lyons
gwings@netexpress.net
