Re-creation of various aircraft of historic interest, particularly to the Commonwealth Air Training Plan as well as miscellaneous others.
There have been no open source static aircraft for war-era scenery of airfields/aerodromes up to this writing so it has been neccessary to create these for historically accurate airfields from World War II Europe. Flyable historic aircraft are somewhat better represented in the community but the more ecclectic of the list w (say the Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley) tend to be farther down peoples list of must haves.
Blender is the primary modeling tool used, and Krita is used to creat the necessary textures as thing stand right now. I will be exploring more photorealistic textures as I learn the tools better. For models flyable within X-Plane the Planemaker and Airfoil maker tools which come with even the demo version of X-Plane have been an mainstay. Though the MSFS 2021 Developer tools are available as well we have not yet set up to introduce our aircraft reproductions for MSFS. This is in my plan however.
The directory structure here will convey a good idea of the directions I am moving as I learn the software tools from scratch.
With the approach of WW2 the need for airmen, pilots gunners etc., was dire and prompted the establishment of a network of training bases throughout the commonwealth (including Australia, Canada and New Zealand). This resulted in a massive addition of aircraft facilities in the host countries which persist, for the most part, in some form to today. Though the runways continue to be usable and often regularly used, unfortunately many facilities have fallen in disrepair.
There is a collection of BCATP scenery (Flight Ontario, Al Gay, Grant Wilson) for older flight simulators available (FSX and FS2004, Prepar3d etc.) these have been slow to be promoted to X-Plane (and FS 2021). This project is to create aircraft models as scenery and perhaps later flyable aircraft from the WW2 era and beyond. These aircraft will include a preponderance of British Wartime aircraft for obvious reasons.
See Jacques Brault's work on X-Plane.org. He made a number of WW2 era aircraft for X-Plane and his scenery includes Picton Airport and does Brian Flynne's work the as well.
As this scenery is my first foray into WW2 airfields it is understandable that the aircraft based there to train the Commonwealth Airmen are the first aircraft to be found her. Picton was a training base for bombing and gunnery school. The aircraft there at the time were Bristol Bolingbroke (the contract built Bristol Bleneim Mk 1), the Avro Anson and the Fairey Battle.
- Robertson, Ian S.; Camp Picton, Wartime to Peacetime, County Magazine and Printshop, Bloomfield, 2013.
- Hatch, F. J.; Aerodrome of Democracy: Canada and the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan 1939-1945, Dept of National Defence, Ottawa, 1983.
- Williams, James N.; The Plan: Memories of the BCATP, Canada's Wings Inc, Stittsville, 1984.
- Innes, Graham Buchan; British Airfield Buildings of the Second World War,Midland Publ., 1995.
- MacKenzie, A.; Engineering ‘The aerodrome of democracy’, Canada 1939–1944, Engineering History and Heritage 162, August 2009, Issue EH3, Pages 147–155
- Milberry, Larry and Hugh Halliday; The Royal Canadian Air Force at War 1939 - 1945, Canav Books, Toronto, 1990.
- Skaarup, Harold A. [numerous books] www.SilverHawkAuthor.com, 2021 August 14 10:51 AM
Acknowledgement: Assistance of Steve Campbell at County Magazine is appreciated.