Thank you for trying this product, it is the last in the series and you will find it like nothing else available in the simulation world.
My hobby/interest in sim flying has always been to develope "flying" panels based on other peoples bitmaps as I am not capable of producing the initial cockpit artwork. The new panel layout of this project is complex using up to 38 windows in the Panel.cfg file to create the tools for low flying.
The design is for a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 whilst flying.
The ED912 AJ-N Lancaster is specific to the Australian association with the Dambusters as it was the F/L Les Knight (RAAF) crew that breached the Eder Dam. This product is dedicated to the crew of that aircraft.
The sim is powered with representative Merlin Series XX engines, the first, at this date, to specifically do so. The textures are from Keith Clifford's Dambuster Lanc AJT re named as AJN. You will have noted the blue cockpit windows, during daylight training the Dambuster aircraft had additional film tinting to simulate moonlight. It was removed for night training.
AN EXPLANATION OF THE NAMING OF THIS LANCASTER:
The book "The Dambusters" by Jonathon Falconer, republished twice in 2003 refers to the Dambuster aircraft as "Lancaster B Mk1 (Type 464 Provisioning)" powered with Merlin 28 engines. This of course is at variance with all other writings on the subject. Merlin 28's till now have been said to have been made only under licence in the USA by Packard and hence Lancasters fitted with them where designated as Type III's.
Falconer therefore indirectly indicates that Rolls Royce UK also made Merlin 28's, at least for the Dambuster Raid.
It should be noted all writers credit the B1 Lancasters as being powered with Merlin 22 and later Merlin 24's which were part of the Merlin XX series, all of which had the same basic performance specifications or so says the web site page listing specifications.
To distinguish this design from my previous sim Lancaster aircraft I have designated it in accordance with the book as Lancaster B Mk1's and therefore this aircraft should simply add to any you may have on your FS2002 system.
THE MERLIN XX SERIES ENGINES:
What I mean by this is my sim aircraft is based upon an unmodified original airfile (in this case the Keith Clifford Dambuster Lanc151.air for AJG) with a purpose written aircraft.cfg file to reflect the physical dimensions of the Merlins as summarized below and compared with those of the original file.
Orig: 13 cylinders, 1976 cu inch, compression ratio 8, rated hp 1600.
M XX: 12 cylinders, 1649 cu inch, compression ratio 6, rated hp 1485.
I originally failed to achieve success in this because I rigidly stuck with trying to use the actual maximum power listed in the Rolls Royce Specification for the Merlin XX series. The sim aircraft would not climb in a fully loaded condition when set to provide the 271mph maximum speed at 6000 feet. Success only came with setting the rated 1485hp in the aircraft file but designing for increased power output to achieve a 500fpm rate of climb all the way to 20000ft (40 minutes) without stalling. The Lancaster spec is 41.6 minutes to 20000 feet.
Panel gauges that indicate developed engine horse power (by Jerry Beckwith) showed that to climb (clean, full 65000 lb load) at 160mph on 2600rpm required 1150hp at +4 boost. This climb was well beyond a sim engine only having the spec 1280hp at takeoff using the specification +12 boost at the red line speed of 3000rpm.
As noted above the other criterea to be met was the maximum TAS of the Lancaster flying level at 6000ft had to be 271mph or about 235kts. With the Series XX Merlins maximum boost is given as +16 lbs with 100 octane fuel. Later Merlin versions used 150 octane fuel and much higher boost levels.
In the process I actually lost the auto start function [Ctrl+E] until I increased starting torque to spin the engine at a minimum of 600rpm.
The benifit of the change to actual Merlin dimensions has been to reduce fuel consumption and to allow a reduction in the MS calculated flight plan average GS initially from 240kts to just over 205kts and now to 165kts making it possible to fly and achieve FS2002 flight plan times and consumptions at a lower altitude than the original over 20000 ft altitude required.
I chose an altitude of 10000ft to set up fuel consumption for the average ground speed calculated by FS2002. This altitude was chosen as a compremise flying height for the "restored warbirds" world we live in. At lower altitudes and the same GS the aircraft will use more fuel.
If you fly higher, fuel consumption is less and the aircraft flys further at the same average ground speed. As you fly higher the maximum boost pressure available becomes less also. For example at 20000ft my Dambuster Lancaster can only achieve a +4 boost from the original sea level boost spec of +16. Its interesting the Lancaster spec states maximum useable boost at 20000 feet is +4 lbs, wow what a fluke!
Be aware however, as noted, the checklist is only valid for takeoff on runways below 10000ft in altitude. Above that altitude the +12 boost is not available, reduced weights or very long runways will be required. For example, La Paz (SLLP) in Boliviar is at 13313ft and only +8 boost is available, the runway is 13214ft long and you will need every inch of it to get off fully loaded. At sea level you will get off easily from 6500ft.
From a flight plan point of view one can now achieve the calculated flight times for longer flights by flying higher and adjusting useage.
As an example I have a developement flight plan for flying from Adelade to Darwin, refueling and then flying onto Singapore all in the one plan. One needs to fly slightly faster than the MS calculated average GS as they do not allow for getting up to or down from the cruising altitude.
The MS calculated flight plan fuel usage is as follows:
available fuel: 2586USG, required average GS 165kts:
Adelaide to Darwin : 2223 USG, time 08:32, 1415Nm, 86% fuel used.
Darwin to Singapore: 2833 USG, time 10:53, 1802Nm, 110% plus required.
On the surface then, the flight plan indicates that one cannot fly the Singapore leg, however, with the Merlin modification it is possible by flying higher to achieve the extra 387Nm in the FP time.
Lets do the sums: assume one wants a range based on 1:08 hours longer than the flight time, thus fuel consumption must be no more than 53 USG/hr/engine. At 20000ft and a GS of 170 the Merlins use about 51 USG/hr/engine so the flying range is about 12.5 hours or 2125Nm.
So one can fly the Darwin leg at 10000ft and look at the country (???) and then the Singapore leg over the sea at 20000ft and succeed where prior to the Merlin XX modification a watery failure was always the outcome.
You may well think why worry when the Dambuster Lancasters flew at +60 feet, the answer should be obvious, its called "better simulation".
THE PANEL (CHANGES):
The panel layout in this version is similar to the previous FS2002 upload. This new layout is immediately distinguished by the "Spitfire" boost gauge that allows direct reading of the +16 boost of the Merlin XX. The buttons on the right have been re-arranged to place the Upkeep weapon tools as the middle group. The fuel contents gauge begins in kg's and is then overlayed with a USG gauge. A green button is placed alongside the trim gauge to provide one operation for centering the trim to the zero position.
In this version the Dann Bombsights and Low flying tools include an additional ground radar gauge that reads to 250 feet thus indicating how far you need to reduce altitude to induce the 0-100ft gauge to be active.
The FS2002 GPS covered the engineers section of the panel and therefore the boost and rpm gauges needed to fly could not be seen. To overcome this I have added in this version a sub panel which has those gauges and so it is now possible to fly with the GPS active and visually see the engine settings. Because the GPS is in 24 hr clock time I have added a digital clock within the GPS frame that works in FS2002 and shows the current time for easier comparison with the GPS data.
The engine monitor gauges used for setting up the aircraft remain and a full test panel by Jerry Beckwith can be activated from within the Panel.cfg file [window38]. Unfortunately the TAS (true airspeed) gauge used only becomes active above 200 kts.
SPECIFIC ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
In World War II bombers took off fully loaded and returned at minimum weight. In FS2002 there is no provision to simulate that. Whilst the fuel load reduces, the payload cannot be changed whilst in flight.
There is also no way in FS2002 of actually reading the total weight of your aircraft at any time and checking that it is within specification for landing. FS2004 has corrected both of these, hoorah!
So, for this FS2002 version I have re arranged the tankage in the Lancaster such that the full load is spread over three tanks (Left, Right, Center2) that empty before the fourth (Center) begins to provide fuel. This allows this fourth tank to be used to represent a variable payload.
Fuel for the Lanc is type 1 so it weighs 6 lbs per US gallon. Fuel usage as set in the aircraft file is such that 10% represents 1000lbs. The payload then is deliberately chosen as 1667 gallons to provide a maximum payload of 10000lbs. If you wish to fly a restored aircraft with a payload of 3000lbs for example, you only need to set 30% in the "Center" fuel tank window, [Alt A F].
This radical change in logic and non realistic tanks does lead to initial confusion in the fuel gauge readings. The analogue fuel gauge with red needle shows visually the fuel level in the 3 flying tanks. The digital fuel content gauge shows the total fuel capacity including any payload. The fuel percentage gauge has been removed because it confuses the issue. The fuel used on the flight is still simply what you started with minus what you finished with. The all up weight in lbs of the aircraft at any time is 39000 + 6 times the digital capacity gauge reading in USG. Example, if the indicated fuel content is 3000USG the total weight of the aircraft is 57000lbs.
This logic, however crazy it sounds at first, provides a benifit but may also create a problem: the maximum weight of the Lancaster for landing is 55000lbs and this equates to a digital fuel gauge reading of 2667USG including payload. So, if you are carrying and landing with the upkeep weapon (10000lbs, 1667USG) on board you can only do so with a 1000 gallons of flight fuel left.
The reality of a "restored era" aircraft is that it would not be carrying explosives and the Upkeep weapon could either be filled with concrete (as the test ones were in 1943) or constructed as a shell only and left empty. The weight of explosives in the Upkeep weapon was 6600lbs, leaving a case weight of 2650 lbs (27% as you cannot enter 26.5% in FS2002). An easier value to use is 30%. This would allow the carrying of payable freight for off loading and still retaining the Upkeep weapon for demo purposes.
The standard flight fuel load for a fully fueled Lancaster was 2586 gallons. For the Dambuster Raid it was only 1800 gallons. This then can also be simulated by using 70% in the 3 fuel tanks Left, Right and Center2. It is also convenient that usage is 10% per hour so the full range is about 10 hours of flying and 7 hours with the dambuster fuel load. These can be extended by flying at higher altitudes.
A fully loaded Lancaster at takeoff will need to fly for about 6.5 hours to land with a full payload.
HOW TO FLY THIS VERSION:
An extensive revised check list is provided for flying covering the additional functions. Please use it to fly what is probably a more realistic aircraft.
FLIGHTS:
I have again included the 3 flights specific to the Dambuster Anniversary but with modifications. The actual Anniversary Flight in this project starts at the terminal building and you must set the aircraft up, taxi to the runway and then take off. You may have to join a two aircraft queue if you get it all wrong.
Because I mentioned the Adelaide to Singapore Developement Flight and gave examples of how to extend the range of the Merlin powered aircraft I have included that as well. It is my view that it really does not matter where you actually fly, the sim scenery probably looks familar in lots of places around the world. I actually use this flight with 7 different aircraft.
The Notes page available in the cockpit contains information for navigating and in the case of the Australian flight, addition VOR frequences that you fly past on the way. This means you can always know where you are from the DME 2 distance measurement. It will show how far to the VOR and of course how far past you are. Switch to the next in the list and the progression continues. If there is a usable airfield associated with the VOR it is referenced with its identification. Some will consider this an over kill. It is my way of knowing, in the event of a problem, how far it is to a landing field and indeed, in what direction to turn the aircraft. You may like to "drop an engine" and land on 3 at one of these fields enroute, have the problem fixed and continue on.
This flight can be flown with a full payload, 8:32hrs to Darwin, 10:53hrs to Singapore. With an empty upkeep weapon you can have 7000lbs of freight and drop off some in Darwin and arrive in Singapore with the weapon and paying freight. If you have trouble before the 6.5 hours is up you will have to dump fuel to land for repairs.
INSTALLATION:
The folder z_Lancaster_DB_MXX contains all of the required files, simply place it in the FS2002 aircraft folder.
The gauges folder contains two zip files, one is those gauges already uploaded with my previous Dambuster projects and thus you should not need this file if you have previously flown my FS2002 projects. The other file contains some additional guages. Any unzipping should be direct to the gauges folder of FS2002 without over writing any that exist.
Within the documentation zip is a flights and scenery zip. The Dambuster.exe file can be extracted directly to the Addon Scenery folder in FS2002. Activate the Scenery in the normal way. If you already have my Dambuster Projects loaded this is not necessary.
Copy all flight files to the Flights->Myflts folder of FS2002.
After activating the scenery, "Fly"!
KNOWN FAULTS:
The co-ordinate GPS used to find points on the planet not covered by the normal FS2002 navigation aids does not appear to work well in the UK but does so in Germany. The heading arrow follows the aircraft course accurately in Europe but in the UK it stays on one side and then jumps to other when the heading is reached. It may however work correctly from about 2 miles out. It is unfortunate, but I have no fix for the problem.
All the best, ENJOY this final Dambuster experience.
Ross McLennan
January 2005
rmclennan@gmx.net
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This is freeware and I am not responsible for any damage that you believe this archive or the instructions within may have caused you or your computer. The original 2000 designers are not, in any way, responsible for how this aircraft flys in FS2002, I take that responsibility and any flak that results, however I will not fix any problems as this aircraft flew nicely in both my W98se and W2000 pro computer platforms.
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