Nicola_M

Not a BK livery, but.... This is the livery of an R44 owned by Jay Kay from Jamiroquai. Download from:

Certainly. No big deal about the doors being not solid. They are there, they look there, that's all that matters. I was just curious why UH60 would try to bomb something without opening the bomb doors first? (Although I can't talk, considering I bombed myself without even leaving the tarmac!) I still think this is one of the best aircraft (freeware or payware) to have graced xp9 so far.

WTF? ???

Quite right. If you've bought something from someone, then they have an obligation to listen to your criticisms (and maybe) do something about it. But you didn't buy this. It was given to you for free, which means no one "owes" you anything, they are not obligated. What kind of response to criticism do you think you'd get from the authors of GIMP? I very much doubt they'd bend over backwards to address your complaints.

Well said. Criticism is unwarranted unless it's cost you money. Either make use of what was given free, or build your own.

Welcome to the BK117 Helpful hints which may be useful. Go into Joystick & Equipment, and Keys and program in unused/less needed keys (I've used Q and W keys, as I don't use 2D panels, but any will do) for Starter 1 and Starter 2. I know Nils has it set for Ctrl+1 and Ctrl+2, but the problem is that while you have the Ctrl key pressed, you cannot zoom in with either a joystick hat or X-Mouse Button Changer. Windows users will find X-Mouse Button Changer helpful (it's free too). http://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/XMouseButtonControl.htm. If you have a mouse with more buttons than the standard 3, they can be programmed to do whatever you want. For instance, I have a 5-button mouse. I have the usual 3 buttons are programmed like this: Left Button Left Click Middle Button (wheel press) Ctrl+O (toggles into/out of 3D cockpit) Right Button Shift+2 (spot view) Side Button 1 - (zoom out) Side Button 2normal Click, + (zoom in) This means that if I use Q/W to start engines, I can still use the mouse to move around and zoom in to look at gauges while starting engines. Ctrl+1/Ctrl+2 won't let you do that, and you need to be able to see the N1 gauge as well as to be able to grab the throttles while starting. Also, program in something like F2 for "Engines/throttle up" - with that you can move both throttles together once the engines are started and at idle. As per Nils' manual, Ctrl+Z & Ctrl+X should be set for 7/engine_l and 7/engine_r This means that you can balance the engines once started. Startup list: ===============Cockpit check Switches off, breakers in, power levers OFF Power ON Emergency Lighting ON, Power OFF, check emergency lights are ON, Power back ON, check emergency lights are OFF Bus-tie to NORM Prime pumps ON, check caution, then OFF. Xfer pumps ON, check caution then OFF Test engine fire pump Test MMI Check fuel Reset Master Warning Test Annunciator panel Check controls then LOCK Fuel valves ON Anti-collision light ON Prime pumps ON Starter button PRESS and HOLD At white dot on N1 gauge move throttle to IDLE Check TOT At 2nd white dot release starter -Repeat for second engine Once started Xfer pumps ON Prime pumps OFF Generators ON Inverters ON check hydraulics Standby artificial horizon ON Yaw sequence switch, press, test, press, segment light OFF Comms/nav/transponder ON AP computers ON AP yaw source BOTH AP remaining switches, as required Bleed air heating CHECK Pitot tubes ON Engine overspeed Trip check Un-guard Engine to be checked keep at idle, other engine push to FLY Select overspeed test switch of engine at idle and flip forward, Check N2 decrease. -Repeat for other engine Set HSI and altitude bugs Pre-Take Off check, power levers to FLY All Lights ON UNLOCK CONTROLS On liftoff, check N1/N2 are at 98-102%, Caution lights OFF Engine and xmsn instruments, recheck go fly

Well done and congratulations, Ola. Make sure you download the Dream Engine plugin for the BK117 - it is fantastic. http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=11927 Nils has also done one of Ben's Gizmo's to help sort out the ETL problem, which you may find helpful. http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=50175 I've put some handy tips & hints here to help you get the BK set up to be user-friendly. http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=1954.msg18060#msg18060

No it's okay, I wasn't arguing. Reading your 1st post, it sounded like he was a kid, till you said what he said!

You didn't say how old your "younger" brother was, but most kids (under 20) pick things up a lot quicker and easier than adults do. Not sure his analogy of the BK117's stability sounds like it came from someone under 35, for instance I haven't found the flight computer causing me to overcorrect, but the beauty of the BK117 is that you can turn off Stability Augmentation (CSAS) on the instrument panel, so you can still fly it "au naturel" like the Jet Ranger, or stabilised with everything on. The Jet Ranger doesn't give you the choice.

"Exterior model passable" !!?? It's got the right number of engines and wings, it looks like a B17, and the paintscheme is pretty amazing. I'd like to see him put over 1200 hours into something and it come anywhere close to the B17. Sad, you give something good for free and still you get moaned at.

It's not that difficult to learn (a lot easier than building a B17!) so even you could do it, Arno. Easiest to learn on (1: easy, 4: hard): 1. BK117 2. Hilli's EC-135 3. Brett's Hughes 500D 4. DreamFoil's 206 Flying helicopters is very addictive.

thx Lukasz, but it was the df one i had probs with. Latency/time lag due to single rotors was just a tad tooo realistic for me.

Nice flying, Lis. I wish that JR was as easy to get steady in the hover. Spent days trying, found it the hardest heli of the lot to hover & land. After much trying, I Recycled mine. Kudos to you.

It's Alberta Scenery by CDN 791M "over there." It's in beta and should be out soon. It's out now: http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=13308

You know you want to... Seriously, it costs less than $25 (£16 over here, that's three packets of cigarettes!) The best value for money I've ever spent, considering the amount of time I've spent on it.

Oh, milliseconds.

I can just see it now.... "screenshot removed etc etc" ;D

X-Pilot livery for Hilli's EC-135 Download: http://nicola.x-aviation.com/X-Pilot%20EC-135.zip

Brake Primer is arrowed. Push all the way in, and then back out. Then push in to about half way. Hope that helps.

+1. Add me to the long list of prospective buyers when it's ready.

If it helps, I set up N for: Weapons/Weapons_select_down And space to fire: Weapons/Fire_Air_To_Ground Anyone bombed anything yet? (apart from themselves, in my case). ;D

Sheesh, they weren't kidding about opening bomb doors first! And putting distance between u and anything hard (like the ground). I just dropped one when sat on the tarmac. End result:

Taken from http://www.b17warhorse.fws1.com/photo5.html B-17 Group Identification Markings Each heavy bomber group flying out of English Airdromes was identified by a large marking on the vertical stabilizer. A smaller letter or number was placed below the group marking to identify each bomber in a squadron. Squadrons were also color coded to further identify a cartain bomber. The letter "G" identified the 385th Bomb Group. The War Horse had a small "S" below the "G" and was code-named "Sugar." The 549th Squadron was also code-named as the "Yellow" squadron. Other squadrons in the 385th were color coded - Blue - Red & Green. In February of 1945 the 385th tail marking was changed to a checker-board of red squares. If the bomber was silver ( aluminum color ) there was no further painting. However - if the B-17 was painted olive drab white paint was used to fill in the red and white checker-board. The checker-board not shown here.

An extra story, about Anne Hayward, who painted the nose art, taken from "Aircraft Nose Art: From World War I to Today" Annie, as she was known to the crews, was lively and vivacious enough to be well admired but her ability to paint large, well-proportioned female figures propelled her into great demand. Living with her mother and sister Joan in a thatched cottage near the field, Hayward's primary diversion was exercising her two riding horses, a token of her prewar string of ponies and love of amateur racing. While attending an English finishing school, she was planning to go to Paris and study art but the war broke out and that was that. When she went to work serving coffee and doughnuts at Great Ashfield, the mess officer heard about her artistic talents and asked her to decorate the mess. Then, working in the enlisted men's aero club, she set about enlivening things up a bit by painting women rhumba dancers on the walls. In short order she was requested to decorate the officer's club in similar fashion. So enthusiastic was the reception that, with what little spare time she had left, she was out on the ramp painting nose art for B-17s: Dragon Lady, Thunderbird, Pregnant Portia, Shack Bunny, and Madame Shoo Shoo to name a few. By December 1943 Hayward was in such demand that the 385th Group Commander, Lt Col Elliot "Pete" Vandevanter Jr, requested the British Ministry of Labour allow her an extension since "she has been rendering very valuable service in this Command... with certain essential work in lettering and painting designs on the B-17s at this station." She ended up doing a great deal of work. She recalled, "I was responsible for painting the pet names on nearly all the Great Ashfield Fortresses, the leather flying jackets of most of the crewmen, and, I suppose, nearly all the interior murals on the walls of the mess rooms." Eventually, a B-17 was named after her and it flew a record number of missions without a single engine failure. Hayward ended up spending so much time on the flight line painting beautiful women that her immediate superiors and more sedate co-workers would remind her the primary job of the Red Cross was to serve coffee to returning combat crews. Too young to worry that the veiled resentment mattered very much, she kept painting. To keep the situation from boiling over, the base commander issued a statement saying Hayward was "a great morale builder." Other bomb groups got wind of her talent so they began to recruit her to paint their aircraft. Once, according to 385th historian Christopher Elliott, when she took her paint pots and palette over to the 447th Bomb Group at Rattlesden, upon her return she was told, "Anne, you're a first class traitor." After the war Hayward married to become Mrs Anne Gordon and earned a degree in art history from Oxford University. Today she continues to paint, and recalls her close association with American bomber crews in the fondest of terms. When asked by writer Phil Cohan about current opinions that nose art is an offense against women or other groups, Hayward was quick to answer, "Its purpose was worthy, to bolster military morale in a terrible time. The members of each crew came to feel that their plane and their painting were somehow special and would bring them luck, a safe return from hostile skies. The art may have been frivolous at times, but it was never anti-social." Sadly Annie Hayward died in 1999. More information, and more photos: http://www.usaaf-noseart.co.uk/hayward-ann.htm

Okay guys, here's what I've found so far. It's incredibly hard to find much info, as it would seem either people were too busy fighting the war to keep much of a record of the guys, or much of it hasn't found its way onto the web. From what I can tell, there were 2 B17's called Blue Champagne and they both were based at Great Ashfield, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Great_Ashfield The first, 42-37977, was shot down in early 1944 and all ten crew made POW. (http://www.b17warhorse.fws1.com/photo3.html) The second Blue Champagne, B-17F-75-DL 42-3547, began life as "Latest Rumor" of the 549th BS/ 385th BG, Great Ashfield. As Latest Rumor, in late 1943 this shark-mouthed B-17 was assigned to the 385th BG and named by the Vandiver crew. The patch below the forward window covered a hole punched through the fuselage by flak, which killed navigator Phil Vockerath. After months of near-daily missions to Germany, Latest Rumor was salvaged on 11th April 1944 and renamed Blue Champagne (second). It carried the same nose art as the original (shot down) Blue Champagne (42-37977) but with the girl's clothing colour changed and she was 'sat' in a glass and surrounded with bubbles. Anne Hayward painted the nose art on this machine, as she did with many other 385th BG B-17s. Google "Anne Hayward nose art" and I got a great book site about her with lots of photos of the aircraft she painted, including Blue Champagne. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MI5H1pxPuH4C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=Anne+Hayward+nose+art&source=bl&ots=YLY6j6aGxX&sig=6i4sR6btgfqUIHBlchW-AhLyZb8&hl=en&ei=CuOTTfvtEYaChQei1oDwCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Anne%20Hayward%20nose%20art&f=false It would be nice to have a crew list, or know what happened to this aircraft, but at least I cannot find anything which says it was Missing In Action. Regarding the differences between a B-17F and a B-17G, there seems to be something about the chin turret, but also lots of info saying that both variants often had that too. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=125730 I wasn't looking for holes in Khamsin & Arno's work, merely that with aircraft like this there's a human story behind the serial number. Sources http://www.war44.com/allied-bomber-planes/512-b17s-their-history.html http://www.markstyling.com/3ad_b17s2.htm http://www.bradenton.com/2010/11/11/2729605/blue-champagne-classic-tune-rekindles.html