USS Mispillion AO-105
Earl Watkins
Orange, CA
July 31, 2007
ewatkins999@att.net




DEDICATION

This is dedicated to all those who served aboard USS Mispillion AO-105, and to those who plied the seas aboard all fleet oilers.

DESIGN NOTES

During my career in the U.S. Navy, I served aboard 6 different ships. After 27 years of service, I retired and began a new life in the civilian community. So many years have passed now. But something that has never left me are the memories of those days aboard "my ships". The reproduction of this ship model is an attempt to provide a means for other's to experience something magical about seafaring. Although much time and effort went into the construction of this model, it is far from perfect. I apologize for any imperfections that may be evident. Future revisions are planned. The model was constructed with FSDS2, and is designed for use with FS2004 (FS9). It has not been tested with prior versions. I am open to any advice and or suggestions for improving this model. Because this project is a labor of love, I want to make it as close to reality as time and resources will allow. Eventually, I hope to upgrade the model for use in FSX. If you encounter a problem with this model, I will try and help. My email address is: ewatkins999@att.net

REFERENCES

The USS Mispillion AO-105 Reunion Association


INSTALLATION
IMPORTANT: Always make back up copies of important files and folders before making changes to your original set up.

Unlike previous versions of Flight Simulator, it is not necessary nor is it advisable to place the aircraft textures in FS9's texture folder. Remember to just leave them where they are, and copy the whole "USS Mispillion AO-105" folder to the aircraft folder in FS9.

Ok, here we go:

1. Unzip the downloaded file ao10501.zip to a temporary folder.
2. In the temp folder you will find 3 folders:
USS Mispillion AO-105
EFFECTS
GAUGES

3. Copy the folder "USS Mispillion AO-105" with all of it's contents (just as it is) to your Aircraft folder. Example: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Aircraft\. Your location may be different.

4. Go back to the temporary folder, copy the contents of the EFFECTS folder to your FS9 Effects folder, over writing files when asked. IMPORTANT: Make a back up of your Effects folder first.

5. Go back to the temp folder, copy the contents of the GAUGES folder to your FS9 Gauges folder, over writing files when asked. IMPORTANT: Make a back up of your Gauges folder first.

7. That's it. Start up FS9, select "Skip's Drydock" from the dropdown aircraft menu, and then select the Cimmeron Class variation. Then click OK. Happy steaming.

NOTE: For those who don't know, just selecting this ship as your aircraft in the menu, and firing up Flight Simulator for the first time, may result in the ship sitting at the end of a runway at some airport. An easy way to fix this is to first select a sea plane of your choice, take off and land on the ocean somewhere. Or move it with the map function. Once the plane is on the ocean, select this ship from the aircraft menu. When the ship appears, save your flight. From then on you can always select that flight, and you're in business.

Also, because this is a very detailed model some tweaking of your Display Settings may be necessary. Here are a couple of recommendations:

1. Set Global aircraft quality to "High"
2. Set Virtual cockpit gauge quality to "High"
3. Set Hardware Mip mapping quality to "5" or greater.




OPERATION OF MODEL

Both the 2D cockpit view and the 3D (virtual) cockpit view are from bridge.

The working model has several animated features:
1. Smoke and wake effects.
2. Rotating surface search radars (in spot plane view).
3. National Ensign, flying from the mast.
4. Lights (including masthead range, stern and port and stbd running lights)
L - turn on/off all lights
Shift L - turn on/off panel lights
5. Rotating "Union 76" orange ball. Lights up at night when the "L" key is pressed.
6. Horn (sounds in cockpit view only) - press G
8. Bell (sounds in cockpit view only) - press zz. Use joystick to turn the ship, throttle to move forward. NOTE: See the "pushback.txt" file on how to make the ship go in reverse.
9. Engine Order Telegraph "EOT" handles move with throttle in VC mode.
10. The helm rotates left and right with joy stick movement in VC mode.


"EYE CANDY"

I have included a few details in the model that are worth zooming in to have a look. These include:

- The "Union 76" ball, lit up at night.
- The signs located port and stbd sides on the signal bridge handrails, which read, "AO-105, You are the 500 customer this deployment". It was customary for replenishment ships to post such signs. It was an indication of the pride the crews took in their work. The signs also contain a picture of "Dino", the Sinclair Oil Company dinosaur. This sign is a very close approximation of the real thing.
- Detailed 3"/50 Caliber gun mounts fore and aft.
- Vehicles located on the cargo deck. A Dodge pickup truck, Dodge van, and a forklift circa 1960's - 1970's.
- Detailed gauges inside the VC pilot house, including an animated rudder angle indicator, and ships speed transmitter.
- Animated sailor (lookout) standing watch on the port bridge wing.




CHANGES AND UPDATES:

V.1.0

1. None, as this is the initial release.



CREDITS

In order to create these working models, I had to borrow the work of several other designers. Let me know if I have not given you credit, or if you want me to delete any portion of this zip file.

The gauge files are modifications of other gauge files, including the speedometer created by Lynn and Bill Lyons and various Microsoft gauges. ShipSmoke.xml was designed by Rob Barendregt.

The sound files are modifications of other sound files, including various Microsoft sounds.

The effects files are modifications of other effects files, including the effects files created by Holger Sandmann. The drain effects files were generously supplied by Hama.

The model, panel, and sound files are all based upon Phil Crowther's excellent Fletcher Class ship. My thanks to Phil without whose help and advice I could not have begun this project. And for allowing the use of modified components of his marvelous Fletcher Class VC pilot house. Thank you Phil.

Special thanks to the USS Mispillion AO-105 Reunion Association, whose staff and member's were an inspiration.

My personal heart felt thanks to all those who provided the numerous photos, ships plans, technical information, and sound advice, without who's support this great ship model would not have been possible. Too many to name, but thank you!



COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION

The following are copyright 2007 (c) Earl Watkins:
USS MISPILLION AO-105.mdl

Although I am distributing the mdl files without restriction, all of the other files were at least partly created by other authors and retain their restrictions against distributions for commercial purposes. For this reason, you should not use this package to create a commercial product.

ShipSmoke.xml is copyright 9 August 2004, Rob Barendregt. Although it is freeware, it may not be renamed, copied, modified, or bundled in an other archive without his prior consent.