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What with HQ's latest assignment given to Lt. Colonel Artemus Burroughs, (my longest-running DID pilot), I am needing to add in the many aerodromes across Britain from which the nearly 200 training schools and squadrons operated from. I spent some time yesterday on this little project and have about a third of them placed already, and I will return to the task after my upcoming work road trip. For those interested, here is the list of the aerodromes in Britain, (give or take a few, and not including Ireland), involved during the course of WWI in the training of its much-needed pilots:

1. Beaulieu
2. Beverley
3. Bicester
4. Boscombe Down
5. Calshot
6. Catterick
7. Chattis Hill
8. Crail
9. Cramlington
10. Cranwell
11. Croydon
12. Doncaster
13. Driffield
14. Duxford
15. East Fortune
16. Eastbourne
17. Eastchurch
18. Easton-on-the-Hill
19. Edzell
20. Fairlop
21. Feltwell
22. Fowlmere
23. Gosport
24. Gullane
25. Harlaxton
26. Harling Road
27. Hooton Park
28. Hounslow
29. Hucknall
30. Lake Down
31. Lee-on-Solent
32. London Colney
33. Lopcombe Corner
34. Montrose
35. Narborough
36. Netheravon
37. Newmarket
38. Northolt
39. Old Sarum
40. Redcar
41. Rendcombe
42. Rochford
43. Scampton
44. Scopwick
45. Shawbury
46. Shoreham
47. Shotwick
48. South Carlton
49. Spitalgate
50. Suttons Farm
51. Tadcaster
52. Tern Hill
53. Thetford
54. Throwley
55. Upwood
56. Waddington
57. Waddington
58. Weston-on-the-Green
59. Witney
60. Wittering
61. Wyton
62. Yatesbury


As you can see, only three or so are currently in WOFF. But won't it be nice to be flying about over jolly old England and see a few more fields at your disposal. Keep in mind however that while you will see them in the landscape and can use them if you choose to, they will not be included in the list of available aerodromes to operate from in WOFF, (unless of course the devs choose to add them into the core of the sim).

I will keep you all posted of my progress.

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Wow that is a lot of work. Thank you, Lou. What an awesome community we have.

+1 to Hellshade comment.

Lou, you seem incapable of not biting off more than you can chew!!

Seriously, I would be remis if I didn't thank you for all you do for us WOFFers!

Lou, come back down on the carpet, man! 200 aerodromes... Geeze!

All hand crafted to be historically accurate, too.
(just kidding Lou!)

Yessir. That is a mighty big list and a mighty big job however...

I see 56 Squadrons original field is listed there and I'll have to break out my books to see where they stop and refueled in route to their first deployment in France. Be kind of neat to recreate that first deployment trip out of England.

Looks like this could be brilliant.
I am in awe of you and all the modders on this forum that take time out of their schedules to make WOFF even better.
Great work by all of you guys

Fantastic effort! Luv it. will certainly make use of them.

And here I am just watching the forum, not even able to squeeze in a flight, not even able to post in all the threads that I'd like to. Not to pity me, but real life is awfully full right now. Our man here is incredible, no other word to describe it. He just keeps hitting 'em out of the park!

You the man Lou!

Lou, that is a great idea and knowing you, it will be well done in record time. And not to be greedy, do I sense a map of Britain in our future?

Hi Lou,
Some task you've taken on
If it's any help I haveseveral of the old Action Stations books, which give data, photos and plans of airfields in the various counties of the UK.
If needed I can scan and mail information to you.

Wow Lou, that´s an impressive list!
A hard job for sure, keep it going, it will be much appreciated.

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Thanks for the encouragement Gents, it is greatly appreciated. I had time this AM, (after returning home from my recent road trip and before heading out the door again), to finish inserting all the lines of new text in the gsl layer test file and was pleased to find that all the new aerodromes now appear in the sim. Next I will inspect each drome for fit into the surrounding landscape and for correct elevation. Keep in mind I am using one of the British generic aerodromes for all these new fields and once they are all where they should be I can come back and tweak the layout of individual dromes when, and if, time allows. But I will be releasing the mod before that.


Robert, I never bite off more than I can chew, but there are occasions where it can take me a long time to fully chew said bite.



Olham, it is only about 65 aerodromes, so not nearly as bad as all that. 200 or so different squadrons operated from them over the course of the war.



Hellshade, damn right you're kidding!



Possibly, depending on how far into the future you are looking.



Sandbagger, I would very much appreciate any information you may be able to provide. Photos, dates of operation, squadrons based at which dromes at what times – anything of that sort really. Thanks!


I will continue to plug away at this and post progress as it is made.

Cheers!

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ONLY 65... Is there a cocaine factory near your water supplies, Lou?

When you get all those done, Lou, WOFF will play at 19 frames/sec.

If that's the case, I'll just pretend my pilot has epilepsy

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I don't think they will have that much impact Hauksbee but if they do you can simply shut off the mod via JSGME when not flying in Britain. Also, I am using the smallest of the generic aerodromes in terms of object count which should help.

Oh, and Olham, no cocaine factory near our water supply - that I'm aware of.

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OK, so, every time I delve into one of these WOFF projects I am quickly struck by just how much time and effort the devs have had to put into this sim over the years. Even a relatively simple task like properly placing an aerodrome into the landscape takes far longer than anyone might first imagine. Keep in mind this process involves no model work of any kind as it is nothing more than entering a single line of text in the global layer file. However, that single line of text requires that you first research and find the precise latitude and longitude for the aerodrome you wish to add. Once that is accomplished you create the new line of text using these coordinates, then enter in your best guess at what the elevation of the new drome should be, after which you jump into the sim above the newly-placed aerodrome and see how it initially fits with the surrounding landscape. Unless you are living a truly blessed life it will not fit well. That elevation guess you took will be off, anywhere from a little to a lot, and thus will need to be adjusted to match that of the countryside surrounding the drome. After you have the elevation sorted out you could just call the thing done as it will work fine, but if you want it to really fit in nicely you will need to rotate the aerodrome to better mesh with the fields adjacent to it, and move it about slightly until it connects with one of the nearby country lanes or highways. This can be quite tedious, especially if you're an AR type.

So, how long does this entire process take for an aerodrome you may ask? For me it is currently averaging about 30 to 45 minutes, and given that I have sixty-some aerodromes on my list - well - you can do the math.


Here is an example of a properly fitted drome. It is Beddington as seen looking north towards London, and it sits directly on the west side of the main road between Purley and Croydon. Later in the war Waddon aerodrome would be built on the other side of the road, and in 1919 the two would be merged and become Croydon aerodrome.



And here is a view from the cockpit. Notice how I have lined up one of the roads coming from the aerodrome with the lane across from it. This is just one of the madnesses I suffer.


Ah well - back to it!

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