HAL FAR FLOAT BASE, MALTA, version 1.0, circa WWII, for FS9 released on
25 May 2012 by Stew Stewart (Robert J. Stewart, Jr.)
((You MUST have Aerosofts Islands of Malta installed and working!!!))
((The next few sections are background, limitations, quirks, and history. If you wish, go right to INSTALLATION which I plan to keep more sterile and direct.))
My Mother was born in Sliema, Malta, in 1925. She was raised in Velletta, Malta. Living on the waterfront of Grand Harbour, she learned to swim, perhaps, before she learned to walk.
Though aristocracy [on her Mothers (Vassallo) side)], her immediate Family (Vassallo-Lapira) lost everything during WWII. An air raid which resulted in the all but leveling of her home killed her Father, Paul Lapira. My Mothers Brother, my Uncle Edwin Lapira, was in charge of the antiaircraft batteries around Grand Harbour in some function and degree through at least part of the war he told of the 21 Italian (then enemy) PT boats which entered the harbor to attack and destroy its facilities. Not one of the PT boats escaped the harbor.
At the end of the War, my dear Uncle remained in the British Army (Malta was, at the time, a British Protectorate and her citizens were British Subjects) and took what was left of his immediate Family with him as he was stationed in Tripoli, Libya (then North Africa).
Enter a slick, young US Army Air Forces Lieutenant, one Robert J. Stewart (not me; notice the Jr. at the end of my name I wasnt a slick, young USAF Lieutenant until about 25 years later, but thats another story ). To shorten a much longer and very romantic story, after they were married in the Wheelus AB (now Mitiga International Airport) Chapel, Mom & Dad moved to the North Bay area of San Francisco. Dad flew out of Traverse AFB. Over the next few years and after Mom became a US Citizen, they sponsored Moms Mother; Moms elder Sister and two of her children; my Uncle Edwin, his Wife, and their infant Daughter; and an unmarried elder Brother and younger Sister.
Once again, to shorten a much longer story, I was raised on tales of St. Pauls ship wreck (and the Legend of the Snake), the perennial fighting and sieges to rule Malta (Who rules Malta controls the Mediterranean!) including the Ottoman Siege, and the most emotional tales of the Maltese defiance and perseverance through the horrible bombings of WWII. Of some clear memory were her stories of hiding from the bombs, the deception the British used to obscure the harbor and the airfields, and the heroism of the Maltese people leading to the presentation to everyone on the Island the George Cross.
MY Hal Far Float Base:
I am neither a scenery designer nor a scenery builder. I do not purport to possess any real talent in such endeavors. I build scenery for my own use and I find it very easy to excuse myself for the many flaws in my scenery.
Hal Far Float Base is a figment of my imagination. It does not and never has existed. With the publication or Mr. O. Morris very fine Hal Far Royal Naval Air Station (hal_far_v2.zip) as it existed in the WWII era, I felt a question was left being loudly begged. With the Axis baring down, with all the RAF and RN flight activity and the many defensive air bases, should there not be a seaplane base? My heart told me the British had surely missed the boat when they failed to install such a defensive float base. I did spend hours locating and surveying the coast for facilities areas. The beach just southeast of Hal Far RNAS struck me as the best suited and most logical site. It was only after many hour of placing scenery that, while researching another facet of Maltese Military and flight history, I stumbled upon the Kalafrana RN Seaplane Base just around the corner to the right in the protected bay from my Hal Far Float site. With too much time invested, I decided to finish Hal Far Float Base.
No piece of scenery is ever really finished. I consciously omitted the following items get to the scenery published. I did have an eye on frame rates, but my machine suffers no such maladies. I would appreciate any feedback. I omitted:
- vehicles
- workbenches, tools, racks, and other interior details
- static aircraft though I have my eyes on some and some of the conversion to static aircraft programs show promise a couple of swordfish and an RN and RAF XC-47 would be interesting!!!
- cargo and clutter
- lots of sail and motor boats out in the waters surrounding the base and the civilian marina
There are some quirks:
- I do not know why some scenery objects especially RW & TW lights, roads, and some ground cover polygons show they are installed properly while building them, and, at the next Flight Sim opening, they are at different and inappropriate levels (usually losing, but sometimes gaining, altitude).
- Some (a very few) scenery objects do not show up in the top-down view.
- Some of the Civilian Marina scenery objects are built into the West End Sea Supply .BGL. I closed a scenery building session and, when I returned to building, I failed to adjust the default save location and initially began saving marina objects in the ship supply depot this has no impact unless you find yourself turning any of the .BGLs on and off.
((For those experienced in installing FS9 scenery: just unzip, place the Hal Far Float folder where you want it, and install it in the normal manner. The following explanation is provided with the neophyte in mind))
What you will need:
You MUST have Aerosofts Islands of Malta installed and active for this scenery to work. In the default scenery, the base and the runway are on land. I have mixed results using my Hal Far Float Base with other (otherwise excellent) Malta offerings for FS9. If you do not have and do not intend to purchase the excellent Aerosoft offering, do a Malta search on the popular Flight Sim sites. You may find one which is more or less compatible with Hal Far Float.
THE FLIGHT
Unzip Hal Far Float.zip into a temporary folder of your choice. See THE FILES IN THE .ZIP FILE above.
Libraries:
OK. It is not mandatory to install the flight files. If you do not, you will have to fly to the location (I recommend slewing) where Hal Far Float Base is installed (immediately south of Hal Far RNAS). The flight I have created and included starts you at the Hal Far Float VIP dock in the default Cessna 208 Amphibian. It goes into your main \My Documents folder in the \Flight Simulator Files sub-folder. I am using Windows7. My main \My Documents folder is located in the \Libraries folder in the \Documents sub-folder, that is:
MALTA Hal Far Float.FLT and
MALTA Hal Far Float.WX
into the same subdirectory on your machine they will not be anywhere in your FS9 folder. Your folders may have other names or be in other sub-folders if you are not using Windows7. Do a bit of browsing if you are not using Windows7 and just find all of your other flight files (those .FLT and .WX files) and put these two files with them!
THE SCENERY
You will find a single scenery folder: Hal Far Float. To install it, first copy it into your FS9 Addon Scenery folder (once again, almost anyplace will do, but the convention is in the Addon Scenery Folder). Just highlight it and COPY it, then Paste it into the Addon Scenery folder. Start Flight Simulator.
- On the opening screen click on Settings at the bottom left.
- When the next screen comes up, click on Scenery Library in the Scenery Box in the lower left of the screen.
- When the next screen comes up, click on the Add Area button at the right.
- the next screen which comes up is a browser used to locate the file names of the scenery you wish to install; you must now find the files you wish to install;
-- double click on computer icon in the dark grey window on the left;
-- double click on the drive letter of the FS9 drive, usually C:\
-- double click on your FS9 folder {{{My FS9 folder is in the main directory of my C:\ drive and is called \FS2004, --->---> yours may be in the \Programs folder in a \Microsoft Games sub-folder}}}
-- Double click on the \Addon Scenery folder
-- Single Click (SINGLE CLICK!!!!) on the scenery folders name (Hal Far Float), then click on the OK button at the bottom. In a second, the scenery library screen will come back up and the scenery you just installed will be the first scenery on the list.
{{{If, after you click OK, nothing happens, click the up folder icon at the top of the window this should bring you back to the scenery library; if it does not, click cancel and try again}}}
You must restart FS9 for the scenery to show up. You can do this immediately by clicking the red X in the upper right corner. I suggest clicking on select a flight, waiting for the select flight window to come up, then exiting.
Now, restart FS9. When the opening screen appears (be sure you are on the Select a Flight screen), scroll down to
MALTA Hal Far Float
Hit the F key or double click on the Flight Name or click on the Fly Now button at the lower right.
*** I believe the written explanation is more difficult than the actual installation operation!!! ***
((NOTE: I included no textures. I believe I possess every scenery object file every published up to about 2010 when I began becoming selective in my acquisitions. I keep track of which scenery objects I use (but sometimes I forget to log an object). If you get a black box or white or grey 2D or 3D polygon which looks like it should be a structure or object, please first download and install all the general scenery object libraries in normal use. If you really, really cannot get an object or set of objects to come up, e-mail me. I will look up the specific library I used and inform you.))
CREDITS: I used EZ-Scenery exclusively to place the scenery objects. I used Douglas A. Pouks wonderful (for the day) FS Architect to create the runway file. I used freeware scenery object libraries too numerous to list for the actual structures, roads, etc. My sincerest thanx to those who create all forms of freeware which I enjoy and use. You are the artists of our hobby.
Freeware: Something designated as freeware is given away at no charge by the designer, however the designer retains the copyright and other rights. In the flightsim realm some people use the term freeware to also mean that no one may charge for copying, distributing or otherwise making available (i.e., through an online system of some sort); this extension to the actual meaning is contrary to usage outside the flightsim world and has been the cause of some confusion. A designer, as copyright holder, can include additional terms and conditions beyond those implied by the term "freeware" but should not assume that "freeware" means more than it actually does. (From SurClaro Uploading)
Copyright and Distribution
--------------------------
This scenery is released as Freeware. Copyright Robert J. Stewart, Jr. As freeware you are permitted to distribute this archive subject to the following conditions,
- The archive must be distributed without modification to the contents of the archive. Redistributing this archive with any files added, removed, or modified is prohibited. Should you wish to expand or improve upon this archive, you must first contact the author and receive his written approval. No charge may ever be made for this archive or any part of it or any package or collection of files which includes it. Any approval from the author to modify this archive in any way will include a requirement to give him full credit for the original endeavor and renaming your effort with sequential version numbers.
- The inclusion of any individual file from this archive in another
archive without the prior permission of the author is prohibited.
- No charge may be made for this archive or any part of it.
- The author's rights and wishes concerning this archive must be respected.
Copyright 2011 by Robert J. Stewart, Jr. All Rights Reserved.
I reiterate! I created this software for my personal use. It serves my (very nostalgic) purposes.
Please use it freely if you think it of value. If you modify it for your own use, I will never know. If, however, you release any of your modifications, you must first get my approval. Never, NEVER demand any kind of charge for any part of my software, but feel free to distribute the unmodified original freely being sure to give me credit for creating it.
Should I discover you are distributing my product without giving me credit or should I find you demanding anything (money or anything else) for distributing it, I shall find and implement legal and/or social means to become a festering boil on the part of you which meets the chair when you sit. I am not vindictive, but I can be provoked! Teddy Roosevelt (I think )
Have fun and be well!!!
Stew
Robert J. Stewart, Jr.
Major, USAF (Ret)
Science Teacher (Ret)
Fayetteville, NY, USA
steworbob@live.com
25 May 2012
