AMPHIBIAN AREA-51's FLYING TRIANGLE the TR-3B (Tactical Reconnaissance type 3B) ASTRA LOCUST
used by the Government/Military for purposes of information gathering (spying) and special missions since the late 1980's. Yep, believe it or not.


OPERATION

There are 2 models : The White TR-3B Locust prototype. And the Blue-purple TR-3B Astra or Locust with detailed metallic texture, specially designed by Milan Lisner.

The Prototype is the smaller craft, and is designed for high speed (Mach 4+) at low to medium altitudes. The larger variations, such as the Astra, Locust and Hellas are designed for high altitudes (Do not exceed Mach 2 at low altitude. Cruise Mach 4.7 at high altitude).

Sorry, FS2002 does not allow cruise speeds over Mach 4.76 and altitudes over 100,000 feet. It is an FS2002 limitation. Otherwise this TR-3B could bring you right into space. It would be great to fly the same routes as the Space Shuttles and the Space Station. Well, perhaps FS2010 might ...


This TR-3B is for the more experienced simmer, who has already flown helicopters, bush planes, ultra-lights, military jets, float planes and speedboats, because this TR-3B does it all ! The TR-3B can land on ground and on water.

The TR-3B uses a centrally located MFD, Magnetic Field Disruptor (abbreviated as MFD, not to be confused with aircraft Multi Function Display), the same engine as for the flying triangle TR-3B that was built in Area-51. See www.PastPresentFuture.info for all the details. It uses 3 vectored Cosmosphere Electromagnetic Impulse engines (1 fore, 1 aft-left, 1 aft-right) of Russian origin, one at each corner, for forward thrust and lift. The rectangular openings on the sides are for inlet and outlet for horizontal movement & maneuvers.

The MFD makes the TR-3B lighter, by reducing the weight by 89%, but slows down forward speed.
The gravity pull device is to increase the effect of gravity on the craft, i.e. to decrease the MFD intensity. This is used to reduce lift, increase drag and slow down the craft, similar to flaps at a conventional airplane.


Many of the gauges give digital read-outs that are laid-out in logical groups. You will easily discover their meaning. The panel includes an integrated GPS and HUDs and AIradar. The HUDs can be switched ON/OFF from within the cockpit. View zoom is 1.0, the normal setting.

The panel is fully ATC enabled and includes buttons for kneeboard checklist, map and ATC.


Use one hand to operate the mouse, because you need to click the switches frequently while using your other hand for the joystick. Autorudder should be ON if your joystick does not have rudder (twist) capability, otherwise you should turn autorudder OFF if you do have pedals or twister.

This TR-3B may be a bit complex to fly, like a Harrier, but soon you may want no other plane anymore.

The TR-3B reaches maximum speed of Mach 4.8 at approx 42,000 feet, service ceiling of approx 70,000 feet and basically flies like a Harrier or STOL aircraft, but a lot faster though.

For straight level autopilot high altitude very high speed, and for low altitude very low speed (MFD [flaps] is ON), it is highly recommended to keep an eye on Trim. The trim is extremely important to keep the TR-3B flying correctly.





K N O W N P R O B L E M S

None



PS :

DO READ, STUDY AND UNDERSTAND THE THE DOCUMENTATION THOROUGHLY TO LEARN OPERATING THIS TR-3B CORRECTLY.

It takes lots of practice to learn all the ins and outs of this complex craft. It is NOT like flying an ordinary airplane ! Remember, it is a TR-3B, and Area-51 freaks think different. And you do need to have some pilot experience because this panel has over 130 gauges to keep track of !

It is written in plain English, so no excuses if operating the TR-3B drives you insane. So read the operations manual thoroughly !



C O N S T R A I N T S

There are no virtual cockpit views available this time. You can view from all sides. The flight console has an overload of gauges and switches, on purpose, to meet the requirements of the most demanding (or crazy) pilot





George Philip Birney, Western Europe
http://www.PastPresentFuture.info
mail@pastpresentfuture.info


Special thanks to Edgar Fouche from Area-51, the Author of the book 'Alien Rapture', who holds legal copyright for the TR-3B model. In his book the TR-3B is described in detail, along with other highly classified Dreamland information. His web-sites : www.mindsurfing.com and www.fixmylife.com tell more about his various works

Special thanks to Milan Lisner from Czech Republic, who edited, textured and resized the 3D model, and who exported the 3DS/gMAX model to DLL. His web-sites : http://mlk-airbase.wz.cz (in English language) and www.flightsim.persikop.cz (in Czech language) tell more about his flight simulator models