Please read this carefully until you understand it fully.
A key feature of the Gotha G-II to G-V was the fact that they became progressively tail heavy both as the bombs were dropped (one by one) and as the fuel was consumed.
By default FS2002 does not support variable payloads other than by altering the weight and balance schedule in aircraft.cfg before take off. However to appreciate and understand the real flight model of the Gothas you need to be able to drop the bombs, both internal and external, during flight to experience the problems this causes in a typical WW1 aircraft trimmed only with throttle.
To allow the bombs to be dropped in FS2002 the bombs have been implemented as fuel in two bogus fuel tanks.
The INTERNAL bombs are in the LEFT tank.
The EXTERNAL bombs are in the RIGHT tank.
By default FS2002 draws fuel from all tanks at the same time. This appears to be yet another bug in FS2002.
To prevent this;
a) the panel must include a fuel selector which has other options
b) the selector must be cycled by the user during the engine start sequence.
Be sure you understand that even though the Gotha panels will invoke with tank 1 selected on the tank selector gauge FS2002 will draw fuel from all tanks regardless unless you cycle the fuel selector from tank 1 to tank 2 and back to tank 1. The selector will actually cycle back to tank 1 via tank 3 but you should cycle 1 - 2 - 1.
All the real fuel and oil has been placed in tank 1. The Gothas burned over 50 pounds of oil as well as fuel per flight. The specific fuel consumption has been adjusted accordingly.
The bombs are in tanks 4 and 5 and will not be consumed as fuel provided you cycle through the available tanks and back to tank 1 as part of your pre take off or engine start procedure.
To drop the bombs just open the aircraft / fuel menu and deduct the appropriate weight in pounds from either the LEFT or RIGHT tank depending on whether you have decided to drop an INTERNAL bomb or an EXTERNAL bomb. The flight model weight, induced drag and CoG will adjust correctly. The IAS will reduce. It was not safe to drop all the bombs at once in a real Gotha, but you can do so in FS2002. The trim change will be substantial if you do. You may stall as a consequence.
Neither FS nor CFS models the drag of external stores.
If you are carrying EXTERNAL bombs you should use the spoiler key to 'extend the spoiler'. The flight dynamics have been written to add the drag of the external bombs when the 'spoiler' is extended. When the last external bomb has been dropped 'retract the spoiler'.
It is not possible to understand the problems surrounding Gotha operations unless the weight of the bombs is removed before landing. In FS2002 you will not see the bombs, but by the means set out above an accurate simulation of Gotha operations becomes possible. Other aspects of Gotha operations are dealt with in another read me within this release package.
I encourage other FDE authors to copy this technique when providing bombers or para dropping aircraft for FS2002.
