Testing of the 1.28a exe is nearing completion.
Ralf has re-written some of the AI routines for carrier landings, and for realistic stall spin behaviour, so Iron Mike and I tried them out online this afternoon.
The mission was an escort in 190As of Stukas from Axis Carrier 1 to attack Allied Carrier 1 with Spit 1As in opposition. The mismatch of planes was deliberate because we wanted the bombers to take off successfully from behind us on the carrier, bomb the target, get back to the carrier and land.
We also wanted to test the stall/spin routine for the 190A, and the new flight models Ralf has written


We got to the target first, and waited for the bombers:


A Stuka had a near miss:


Heading home:


IM and I both made disgusting landings, but here comes the first of our Stukas:


And here comes the last of them:


Seven safely on the deck. The first one collided with IM's half wrecked plane. Both went over the edge of the deck and were destroyed


Mission results. IM and I both had some low level stalls from which we did not recover, but there's enough evidence to suggest that the new stall/spin routines wil be much better, expacially when we have adapted our flying skills. The best thing was that the AI takeoff and landing routines worked well- I'll say no more about the human landing efforts LOL!

Jel

Looks cool

Landing on a carrier is much harder than it looks. Take off is a differnt matter entirely, I managed to shoot down 2 Spits and fall off into a flat spin, over recovered and slipped off in the other direction.

One thing though, when you land taxi up to the end of the flight deck or else the AI will try to taxi through you.

Hi guys -

do you know the original German carrier fighter, the Bf 109T (T = Träger = carrier) with extended wing span is available here:

Messerschmitt Bf 109T-2

The carrier Stuka variant for the "Graf Zeppelin" carrier would have been the Junkers Ju 87C with folding wings....

Otherwise - you make me

Fran,

If you get some more details on it, I'll modify a hi-res 109 model and I'll bet iron Mike would skin it for you.

Here some drawings and a profile:

http://www.messerschmitt-bf109.de/displa...p;fotonummer=15
http://www.messerschmitt-bf109.de/displa...p;fotonummer=14
http://www.messerschmitt-bf109.de/displa...fotonummer=1152

Concerning the carrier versions T-0 and T-1 the y weren´t used actually because of the abandonment of the "Graf Zeppelin". Any carrier camo would be pure fantasy (within rules, of course ) The T-2 variant was a T-series stripped of the arrestor hook but retaining the wide span. Was used with good success well into the 40´s in the scandinavian scenario.

But don´t hurry Ray, I´ve got still some work to do with my Macchi fighter - you remember

Yep, top of the list after New Guinea, but keep poking me for the 109 so I don't forget. Now that we have carriers it's a worthwhile mod.

Now that we´re speaking - what about this carrier feature?

Could the gear-down feature be used as it is not necessary for the Ju 87?

Ju 87 C folding wings
Side view

I've got proper profiles from Hitchcock's 'Messerschmitt "O-NINE GALLERY', and photos of the carrier Ju-87 too.

If I have got the code right (so that the values of some new variables that have been added are passed from the host to the other players) we now have some very interesting multiplayer choices.
We have secondary bases

I will be flying from Allied Carrier 01, and the Stukas from Axis Carrier 01:


The enemy secondary 110Cs will fly from Marquise, and the friendly secondary hurricanes from Manston:


The Stukas on their carrier:


The 110Cs at Marquise:


Me and the Spits on our carrier:


The Hurricanes at Manston:


What this means is that all sorts of combinations will be possible, especially in a Pacific scenario- Corsairs from one carrier escorting Avengers from another, or B17s from a land base.

I'm not really interested in developing a carrier based scenario for ETO, but the one we use just helps us to get the routines in the new exe working correctly. It will be up to the modders to use these new capabilities

Jel