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Post by bhk on Jan 22, 2012 4:11:05 GMT -5
In 2005 (29th. December, to be precise) I published my very first "Flight" for FS9....the 10-day journey of an Imperial Airways "Empire" Class flying boat from Southampton to Sydney.
Included with the package was a day-by-day account of where the aircraft alighted and where the passengers & crew stayed overnight.
The information for that essay came from various internet sources which had Imperial Airways timetables.
I was recently browsing through a book I bought several years ago - "Flying Empires", by Brian Cassidy.
This book gives a wonderful account of the birth, design, construction and operation - and subsequent disposition - of the 42 Short S.23s constructed for Imperial Airways and it was in the "Operations" section that I discovered some in-depth detail on the routes flown through Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Far East and Australia.
So I am updating that package which, after 7 years, has experienced 779 downloads from Flightsim.com and 865 from Avsim.com.
In addition I am also creating and including corrected AFCAD bgl files for the various "alighting locations" (an Imperial Airways term).
There was a set created by someone back around 2004 but the actual locations were not correct in many cases, as I have discovered recently.
Anyway....just thought that those interested would like to know.
Bruce
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Post by cptroyce on Jan 22, 2012 11:20:09 GMT -5
Bruce -
Being one of the 1600+ downloaders..and someone interested in the history and accomplishments of IA, I'm looking forward to the "revised edition"!
Royce
PS-
I have two publications that detail every route and flight schedule for IA from 1927-1939.
If you need any particular detail for any further flights that you may create, shoot me an email and I'll see if I can research it.
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Post by bhk on Jan 22, 2012 15:00:00 GMT -5
Thanks for the offer, Royce. I hope to have this available within the next several weeks....no particular target date - I'll just plug away as time allows.  Regards, Bruce |
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Post by bhk on Jan 24, 2012 5:34:47 GMT -5
Something that I never realised before now is that no-body (to the best of my knowledge, and I searched Flightsim and Avsim) has ever created the Nab lighthouse for FS9. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nab_TowerIt was used as a waypoint by Imperial Airways for one of the routes that could be flown from Southampton to Marignane (Marseilles). So I have made one for this package (using RWY12). Nothing special, just a combination of a default FS9 chemical tank and a lighthouse poking out the top! But it looks okay, don't you think?   Bruce |
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Post by cptroyce on Jan 24, 2012 11:37:44 GMT -5
Looks fine Bruce. There is a d/l somewhere on flightsim, with lighthouse at accurate points around South Africa IIRC. Perhaps you could use those next time you need a lighthouse. The above looks pretty good though!
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Post by bhk on Jan 24, 2012 14:10:00 GMT -5
Looks fine Bruce. There is a d/l somewhere on flightsim, with lighthouse at accurate points around South Africa IIRC. Perhaps you could use those next time you need a lighthouse. The above looks pretty good though! Yep...I know that package, Royce. The guy who authored it was in touch with me after I commenced the Australian lighthouses. Like me, I think he used the standard FS9 default structures. Maybe an artist out there can create a more Nab-ish model. Bruc |
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Post by bhk on Jan 25, 2012 23:35:58 GMT -5
UPDATE.
I'm as far as Athens in creating routes and alighting locations.
This is taking longer than I first thought, due entirely to the fact that Imperial Airways flew several alternative routes between alighting locations and way-points and which one was flown was determined by several factors: known weather en-route, forecast weather en-route and passenger pick-up/drop-off.
And I am recreating every one.
For example, there were four alternatives between Southampton and Marignane (Marseilles).
There were 3 alternate routes between Marignane and Rome, 3 between Rome and Brindisi, 2 between Brindisi and Athens and so on down the line.
This is the most detailed info that I have ever read regarding Imperial Airways' routing for the Empire Air Mail Scheme (EAMS).
Some of the details are quite interesting, in fact.
Bruce
PS UPDATE
Now at Basra.
This is as exhausting as the real-life trip!! ;D
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Post by bhk on Jan 27, 2012 1:52:55 GMT -5
UPDATE All 36 locations, complete with water runways (thank you, AFCAD2) have been created. Thirty Six!! I ran out of designations so had to go completely unconventional: All locations from Southampton to Batavia (Jakarta) are designated 'EAMA' through 'EAMZ'. All ten from Surabaya to Rose Bay are designated 'EAM1 through 'EASY' (Empire Air Sydney). Why 'EAM', I hear you ask? To match the acronym formed by the words Empire Air Mail Scheme....but the convention used is limited to 4 characters, so I had to replace the 'S' with a location character. The airports themselves are named either "Imperial Airways Flying-boats x" (the 'x' being the location's name) up to and including Singapore. From then on they are named "QEA Flying-boats x" as it was Qantas Empire Airways who had the responsibility for setting up the alighting locations between Singapore and Sydney (initially Brisbane). With this part of the project completed now comes the addition of buildings at each location.....just basic items such as a jetty, etc. It's a bit better than having nothing there at all other than a mark on a navigation map! I was really tickled to find, in my ongoing search for info, an actual sketch from 1938 of the proposed base at Princess Elizabeth Bay, Groote Eylandt (Northern Territory). Previous information about the exact location of this facility has been guesswork, none of which has been correct (including my own!) so to be able to include the precise location after all these years is quite satisfying. Bruce |
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Post by cptroyce on Jan 27, 2012 11:50:17 GMT -5
Bruce - If it is not too much trouble..is possible to email to me the routing information you've found regarding the alternative flights from the various schedule points as you describe above?
Thanks
Royce
,
I
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Post by bhk on Jan 27, 2012 14:40:02 GMT -5
Bruce - If it is not too much trouble..is possible to email to me the routing information you've found regarding the alternative flights from the various schedule points as you describe above?.... No worries, Royce. I'll type something up - I'll be doing that for the project anyway - and send it off. Regards, Bruce |
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Post by bhk on Feb 1, 2012 6:10:49 GMT -5
UPDATE This has really become an epic of MGM proportions! The Flight is completed but what is taking a while to put together is the documentation but it's getting there. I am also creating maps in Google Maps for those who like that sort of thing. Bruce |
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