CFS2 Lockheed Model 9 "Orion" fast transport, 1937.

Original FS2000 aircraft by Tom Schaad. Features panel, all moving parts including canopy and start-up and shut-down engine sounds.

To install: Place OrionSCW file in your CFS2 Aircraft folder.

Wicker chairs courtesy "George_Diemer"
Pilot courtesy Dave "Eckert" (self portrait?) :-)
Sliding canopy by Steve Daly and Mike Crosthwaite.

Use front slash "/" key to open canopy.

SOUND: I have aliased the A6M2 sound to save file space. There are plenty of great radial sounds out there however.

PANEL: I kept the original panel bitmap but used as many default CFS2 gauges as possible, again in the interest of saving file space.

TEXTURE: Represents an Orion in Spanish Republican colors. In case you were wondering, those are American Racing rims on the wheels (artistic license). I also put Betty Boop on the tailfin. I don't know if the actual TK's (Republican designation for the Orion) had decorations on them but there was a Republican squadron that had Betty's face adorn their I-16 Mosca fighters.

MODEL: I had to change the color on some components (landing gear doors, fairing behind the pilot) as these parts were not textured.

DP File: Based on A6M2 Zero DP File. No armor, no guns, minimal bombload. I am not sure where the bombs went on the TK but under the wings seemed to be a logical place to put them without compromising structural integrity.

AIR File: re-configured to reflect the use of a Wright SR-1820 radial putting out 645 hp. I also fixed the pitch sensitivity to be a bit less touchy. Due to the increased fuel burn of the Cyclone as opposed to the standard Wasp I put in an additional 30 gallon center tank to acheive an approximate range of 750 miles (give or take).

CFG File: set up the thrust and power scalars to get a fuel burn rate around 41 gph at 75% power which works out to 200 mph. The only bug I got with this was the fact that the engine won't idle well; try to keep it above 500 rpm.

Flying the Orion
For the most part it is pretty straightforward. Once you get it started give it a little bit of gas as the engine will die pretty quick if you don't. Once you are airborne you don't have to worry about it as long as you keep your rpm's above 500. In flight it's no fighter plane but it is a bit more lively than most airliners. After all it was the Depression-era equivalent to the Learjet--$25,000 and you too could have a plane that could outrun all but the fastest fighter planes then in service. Dogfighting is still not recommended as these planes were not fitted with machine guns. Best bet when encountering enemy fighters: RUN! At the time this aircraft was in Spain the only Nationalist fighter that even had a chance of catching an Orion was the Messerschmidt Bf-109 and they were relatively rare.

LEGAL: This project is released as freeware. You may modify it, repaint it, etc., upload to another website as long as it is not for profit. You need my written permission to use any of these files for commercial purposes; otherwise a simple credit would be nice. This airplane should not hurt your computer but I am not responsible if it causes problems.

CREDITS:
My wife Leeanna--for putting up with me and my hobby.

The entire flightsim community--for giving me the inspiration and instruction to pull this off.

Tom Schaad--for providing an excellent rendition of a Lockheed Orion for this project.

CFGEdit--excellent panel design utility

Martin Wright--for his excellent mdlcolor utility

Microsoft--for giving us this incredible playground we call Flight Simulator (and all its variants).

Installation: Just unpack the contents of the main zip file into
CFS2's Aircraft folder

All comments and suggestions welcome.
E-mail: drzook@charter.net

Ron Vander Molen
April 2005
On Startup:
Make sure you keep the rpm above 500 otherwise it will die on you.

forward slash key '/' will open the canopy visually. to get the actual effect you will still have to hit 'ctrl+e'.

Cruise is at 75% which gets you about 200-205mph (175kts).
Top speed is actually around 235 mph (205kts)-still pretty fast for its time.

On Landing:
just remember this plane has no flaps. Slipping will drop your speed and make your plane fall out of the sky-be careful when trying to pull this maneuver.
Stalls out around 60 mph (about 52 kts).