FS2004 Flight Plan for OB-1 Wilder Idaho IFR high speed low altitude military training route through mountainous terrain in Oregon, Nevada and Idaho. This is the first in a series of FS2004 flight plans I will upload. These are great routes for B-52, F-111, B-1B, B-2 A6, A4, Vulcan and any fighter or bomber enthusiasts. Of course you can fly the route with any aircraft of your choice. Included in this package is a gauge by Karol Chlebowski for TFR flying at very low altitude. This gauge will greatly enhance your ability to fly these challenging routes and is a great companion of the flight plans. Another option to download Version 2.0 of my FS2004 mini panel which has all this functionality and more.
Background:
Strategic Air Command (SAC) from the early 1960's through the 1990's had many Low Altitude High Speed Training Routes throughout the United States where it's aircrews could practice Low altitude Terrain Avoidance Navigation, Simulated Bombing and Electronic Warefare Training. These routes were called "Oil Burner" until the mid 1970's when they were renamed "Olive Branch" to be more politically correct. Each route had an associated Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) site that provided Bomb scoring and Electronic Warfare activity. These routes were located in very unpopulated areas. Each route also had a name normally associated with the nearest town or village closest to the RBS site.
As an old B-52 crewmember myself for over 14 years I flew most of these route routinely. Although that type of flying can't totally be simulated these Flight Simulator routes using some of the very nice add-on aircraft come very close to reality. I will be releasing more of the "Oil Burner" routes as I get them developed. I have been able to get the data for most of the routes from old paper charts and files I had stored away for years. I have also been able to find much information on the internet the on routes I did not keep the charts from. Even though these routes are old some of them have been renamed and are still in use today. I think you will find these fun and sometimes a bit challenging to fly.
Overview:
FS2004 flight plan for the Strategic Air Command's OB-1, Wilder Idaho bomb plot. This is a high speed low-level route through mountainous terrain in Oregon, Nevada and Idaho. Targets have been added in the area of the bomb plot to simulate release of weapons.
Many of the targets on the Oil Burner routes were not visual target. I have added object at each target so you can see something in the target area. The bombers that flew these routes used radar for aim points that were offset from the target itself. The targets for this simulationw are contained in the .BGL file provided.
Installation:
1. Place the .FLT .WX and .PLN files in "\Documents and Settings\Your User Name\Documents\Flight Simulator Files" folder.
2. Place the .BGL file in "\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Addon Scenery\scenery" folder.
3. Place the .CAB file in" \Microsoft Flight Simulator\Gauges" folder
The installation is a copy and paste approach.
Insert the following to line in the panel.cfg file located in the aircrafts panel folder. Normally found in [Window00].
gaugexx=TFR!TFRcp, 1,25,35,18
NOTE: the xx will be changed to the next available numbers.
NOTE: I have placed the TFR icons on the top left corner of the main panel window. The size and position of the can be changed to suit your needs. I will not go into how to make this change of position and size because there are several programs and info on how to do this on the web. Search is your friend.
(Suggestion) Another method to have access to TFR is to download and install one of my FS2004 mini panels. I have developed minipanels with both analog and glass cockpit gauges. If you decide to take this approach, decide if you want analog or glass cockpit style panels and download one or both of them from AVSIM or SurClaro. Search either site for "fs9_glassminipanel_v2.zip" or "fs2004_analog_minipanel.zip".
Usage:
Start FS2004 and select the route by clicking the Select Flight button on the FS2004 Free Flight panel. Select either "Entering OB-1 Wilder ID" or "Approaching IP OB-1 Wilder ID". You will most likely get a message during the loading process indicating "Aircraft Initialization Failure". If you click the "Close" button on that window your default aircraft or the aircraft you have selected will be loaded.
The best approach to keep this warning from occuring in the future is to make a minor edit to the .FLT file located in \Documents\Flight Simulator Files" folder with notepad. Once you have the .FLT open search for aircraft=. Now open the aircraft.cfg file with notepad of the plane you desire to fly and copy TITLE of the desired aircraft. Now paste that title of the aircraft you selected over the "B-52D Camouflge" to the right of aircraft= and save the .FLT file. Now you will not receive the warning during the loading of the route.
Entering OB-1 flight will Start at the entry point for the route at 15000 feet and 280 knots. The autopilot is already set to the entry altitude, speed and all radios and NAV aides are set to the appropriate frequency. You will then start a descent to 8000 feet at 3500 ft/sec. Once you level off set the altitude window in your autopilot to the clearance plane level you wish to fly (e.g. 600 feet) and click the TFR button installed earlier on the main panel in the upper left hand corner. If you didn't install the TFR fly the IFR altitude listed in the route profile below. You will then continue through the route to the bomb run at Wilder Idaho. Accelerate to 370 knots. After striking the targets slow to 280 knots to begin your egress of the route as shown below in the Route Profile. You can continue on to your post strike base at Fairchild AFB Washington.
If you selected the "IP Inbound OB-1 Wilder ID" you will start just short of the Initial Point (IP) for the bomb run at low altitude. The autopilot is already set to the altitude, speed and all radios and NAV aides are set to the appropriate frequency. set the altitude window in your autopilot to the clearance plane level you wish to fly (e.g. 600 feet) and click the TFR button installed earlier on the main panel. If you didn't install the TFR fly bomb run at 8000 feet IFR altitude or any altitude you wish. This is a very challenging bomb run because of the terrain in the target area. After striking the targets slow to 280 knots to begin your egress of the route as shown below in the Route Profile. You can continue on to your post strike base at Fairchild AFB Washington.
You also have the option of flying the route from takeoff to landing. To do this Start FS2004 and select Create a Flight then click the "Flight Planner" button. Next click the "Load" on the Flight Planner page and select "OB-1 Wilder ID.PLN" from the list of files. Now click "OK" and when ask if you want to move to the departure airport listed; click "Yes". You will need to configure the aircraft for takeoff on your own. After you have successfully taken off and have the airplane cleaned up for normal flight turn on the autopilot and click the NAV function. Also turn your GPS/NAV switch to GPS. Set 15000 feet in the altitude window of the autopilot and turn on the altitude function. This will take you to the entry point of the low altitude route where the procedures will be identical to the entering the route as documented above.
For weather conditions I have light winds and good visibility set. I you desire different weather you can set it using the normal FS2004 procedures for changing weather conditions. You can save these weather conditions by clicking Flights\Save and overwrite this route or create an new name for the flight on the Save Screen.
Route Profile:
Pt_A Cross at 15,000 or as assigned. Start Descent to 10,000 MSL
Pt_B Cross at 10,000 MSL. TA/TFR Initiation Point
Pt_D Start climb 11,000 MSL
Pt_GA Start Descent to 9,000 MSL
Pt_K Start Descent to 8,000 MSL
Pt_L Initial Point (IP) Start Maneuver Area
Tgt_A
Tgt_B
Tgt_C
Pt_N End Maneuver Area
Pt_O TA/TFR Termination Point
Pt_Q Start Climb to 15,000 MSL
Pt_R Cross at 15,000 MSL
[CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS]
Thanks to Karol Chlebowski for the use of the very impressive TFR gauge.
[COPYRIGHT & DISTRIBUTION]
The software contained in this archive is supplied as "freeware", and as such no fee or charge may be made for its use.
The author grants permission for the free distribution in its PRESENT FORM ONLY, however the aforementioned archive and its contents, as well as all other freeware files included in this package remain the exclusive copyright of their respective authors, and again, no charge may be for any part of this archive.
DISCLAIMER
There is no warranty or guarantee of any kind, expressed or implied, for any problems whatsoever resulting from the use of this software (though its very unlikely). The user assumes all risk related to the use of these files.
