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At last, the giant atomic-powered airliner seen in Gerry Anderson's seminal 1960s TV series 'Thunderbirds' comes to Microsoft Flight Simulator!
The original aeroplane seen in the series was not defined regarding size (variable in some episodes!). Since the track of the main undercarriage is very wide,the FS model has been designed to fit (just!) onto the widest international airports. In FS, this still makes her a giant; much bigger even than the A380.
The six 'Atomus' engines of the original have been replaced with two banks of three conventional jet engines, simulated such that it is usable with a two-engined panel. The model has three air intakes on the front of each engine nacelle but only two exhaust outlets - this is not an error: this is how it appeared in 'Thunderbirds'.
On TV, the speed was around Mach 6 at 250,000 feet, which is not capable of being simulated in FS 2002/2004. However, FS Fireflash wlll cruise at Mach 3.2 (the fastest possible speed in FS without going 'overspeed') at an altitude of FL700. This makes her the largest and fastest passenger airliner available for Flight Simulator. Even if you've never seen Fireflash on the TV show, this is still a great plane for flying, if you love 'big rigs'.
FEATURES:
- Cruise speed M3.20 at FL700 on autopilot
- Range >10,000 statute miles
- Authentic reflective paint scheme from the TV show, with night lighting and splash effects
- Cockpit in the tailplane as on the TV show - this is a great view to taxi Fireflash in!
- Main undercarriage retracts into wing pods
- Landing, taxi and interior lighting
- Engine flame and exhaust effects, automatically controlled by the throttle setting:
- exhaust port blue glow at idle and taxi speeds
- ignition flame and smoke at take-off speeds
- Reheat effect during supersonic acceleration
- Kneeboard files that give detailed flying instructions
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Unzip to a temporary folder.
2. If using FS2002, copy the flight dynamics files from the 'FS 02' folder to the main aircraft folder. Same procedure if using FS 04.
3. Copy the 'Fireflash Air Terrainean' folder to the FS aircraft folder. Fireflash appears in the aircraft selection menu under 'Air Terrainean'.
4. Copy the contents of the gauge folder to your FS gauge folder. Make sure that you copy the 'autosmoke' folder as-is; do not copy its XML gauges individually into the main FS gauges folder. Copy the airbrake and flaps gauges directly into the main gauges folder. If prompted to overwrite, click 'NO'.
5. Copy the effects into the FS effects folder.
6. Edit the panel.cfg in Notepad for the panel you are using, remembering to make a back-up first. Insert the following lines as the last sequentially numbered gauges in the main [window00] section:
So if the last numbered gauge is e.g.
gauge56=737-400!Nose Gear Light, 940, 525 ,36,20
then the added Fireflash control gauge reference lines should read:
gauge57=Autosmoke!FireflashReheatControl, 0,0
gauge58=Autosmoke!autosmoke, 0,0,1
PANEL & SOUND:
That's it! The panel and sounds are aliased in this package to the default FS 737 panel and sounds. However, since the flight model is capable of speeds in excess of Mach 3, you will need a panel that displays to this speed. You can amend the default panel by adding the Mach display window from the Microsoft FS2000 Concorde gauge (you will need 'concorde.gau' for this). If you have this gau file and decide to do this, add the following line to the default panel.cfg line below those inserted above, which will give you a display in the default panel that gives Mach numbers over 1. Your top speed will then be an indicated Mach 3:
gaugeXX=Concorde!AP-Mach-Window, 210,25,30,15
As an alternative, I would strongly recommend downloading Nick Pike's C4-SST (including its panel) from SIMViation (http://www.simviation.com/fs2002jets53.htm) and using that panel; it has a really futuristic feel to it. As the C4-SST panel does not have airbrakes and flaps (its delta design doesn't need them), I have included a couple of freeware gauges to add these functions as Fireflash does need these controls. I have also included an amended panel.cfg that will remove a couple of the C4 gauges and replace them with the supplied gauges - all you have to do is rename 'Amended C4 panel.cfg' to 'panel.cfg' after backing up the original. This panel.cfg file contains the lines for the reheat and autosmoke gauges as well as the airbrake and flap control lines.
For the full Fireflash effect, I would also recommend downloading David Maltby's sound set for the Vickers VC-10 (http://www.dmflightsim.co.uk/vickers_vc10.htm), as it gives an appropriate throaty roar!
FLYING INSTRUCTIONS:
Full instructions are given in the aircraft kneeboard files, available during flight. For stable flight, it is highly recommended that the autopilot is used for the flight controls from ascent to final approach.
Feel free to repaint the aeroplane if you so desire: on TV it only ever appeared in the fictitious Air Terrainean livery which is included as part of the package. If you do repaint it and post it on the web, you do not need to get the authors' permission - just include this file in your upload.
Fireflash for FS 2002/2004 was designed and built in GMAX in 2003 by Brian Douglas. The flight dynamics, amended textures, lighting and exhaust effect design were created using FS2002 by Martyn Becker, and have been tested by Steve Wild to work also in FS2004. Much thanks and credit goes to the pioneering work of Rob Barendregt in developing the XML coding that formed the basis of the exhaust effect auto-control and the reheat effects. I have tried to find the authors of the two extra gauges used but have not so far succeeded; so I cannot credit them. However these gauges are and must remain freeware. If the authors concerned object to my use of them, please contact me and I will update the Fireflash package and remove them.
Martyn Becker
thebecken@hotmail.com
'microlight' on the SIMViation forums
January 2005
LEGAL:
THIS PACKAGE IS FREEWARE AND MUST REMAIN SO - PLEASE INFORM THE AUTHORS IF YOU HAVE HAD TO PART WITH ANY MONEY FOR THIS.
DO NOT INCLUDE FIREFLASH OR ITS COMPONENTS IN ANY OTHER DOWNLOAD WITH THE INTENT OF MAKING MONEY OUT OF IT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FOR WHATEVER REASON.
WHILE ALL CARE HAS BEEN TAKEN, THE AUTHORS SHALL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE IF ANY DAMAGE OCCURS TO YOUR COMPUTER - BUT IT DID NOT DO ANYTHING TO OURS.
THIS AEROPLANE WAS DEVELOPED IN FS 2002 AND HAS BEEN TESTED TO WORK IN FS 2004.
THIS PACKAGE REMAINS THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF ITS AUTHORS.
THIS PACKAGE INCLUDES GAUGES FROM OTHER 3RD PARTY FREEWARE ADDONS. THE MODEL AND DYNAMICS AUTHORS DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THEM IN ANY WAY.
