Where Flight Simulation Enthusiasts Gather from Around the World!
| Category: Flight Simulator X - AFCAD Files | |
| Somerset Airport (KSMQ), NJ |
|
File Description:
Located 03 miles N of Somerville, New Jersey on 210 acres of land, Somerset is a public airport with one asphalt and two grass runways, the longest of which is 2733' in length. The turf runways have no hard surfaces and you will be landing on terrain so have your mesh set as high as possible - both runways are still selectable in the ATC window for landing/takeoff announcements. AI aircraft will not use them. The helipad is a start location in front of the main terminal if a parking location is not wanted to begin helicopter flights. Parking is divvied up into three categories - GA_SMALL spots will accommodate aircraft with wingspans no greater than 40 feet. GA_MEDIUM spots will accommodate aircraft with wingspans no greater than 60 feet. GA_LARGE spots are named to identify locations suitable for starting in a glider if you wish to do so. They can also accommodate aircraft with wingspans no greater than 60 feet. In addition to tie downs, there are 13 hangars open for parking in various locations - they can be identified by GA_DOCK. Only the N Parking hangar can accommodate aircraft with wingspans no greater than 60 feet - all other hangers are suitable only for aircraft with wingspans no greater than 40 feet. Several of the hangars have attendants - look beside the doors for the NAV2 frequency to set for opening them. AI aircraft will only spawn on the north tarmac/hangars (largely to prevent AI traffic crossing the runway on taxi). All objects and static aircraft in the immediate vicinity of parking and taxiways have collision disabled. If your aircraft has a wingspan greater than 40 feet it is NOT recommended that you taxi down the middle taxiway leading to the main tarmac from N Parking as you will not clear the hangars - go either via the NW taxiway past the grass tie downs (NW Parking) or around East to the next taxi way on the other side of the east hangars (E Parking) which has more wing clearance. Fuel is available on both tarmacs north and south of the runway by stopping on the asphalt in front of the tanks/pump.
Scenery constructed with use of satellite images/streetview/aerial photos - the author has not been there in person.
This scenery is meant to be used in conjunction with MegaScenery Earth New York 005. It is not required, but apron use is minimized to allow satellite scenery to show through as much as possible, and objects are placed based on the MSE textures - lack of it may make scenery look out of place.
| Filename: | Somerset_Airport_KSMQ_NJ.zip |
| License: | Freeware |
| Added: | 27th September 2011, 01:15:53 |
| Downloads: | 306 |
| Author: | Drew Sikora |
| Size: | 1.47 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery | |
| PAMR (Merrill Field, Anchorage), 5HO (Hope), 9Z9 (Lawing) - Alaska, USA |
|
Images related to this file:
File Description:
This stand-alone combined V2 version of Merrill Field 2016 includes: windsocks, a parked Fedex 727 that was recently donated to the University of Alaska, some missing taxiway lights, and small corrections to the apron layout. It also includes Hope 5HO and Lawing 9Z9. The 2016 version of Merrill Field PAMR dealt with a spectacular malfunction reported by one recent downloader; see the two screenshots. Merrill Field is in Anchorage Alaska, between Anchorage International to the southwest and and Elmendorf Air Force Base to the north. It caters for general aviation and is the land equivalent of the Lake Hood float plane base, with fuel and numerous maintenance facilities, and several hundred parking spots for small planes. There are three runways, and the longest is 4,000 feet of 100 feet wide asphalt, the second 2,635 feet of asphalt 75 feet wide, and the third 2,000 feet of 60 feet wide gravel. The first two have runway lights. It is a controlled airfield with a relatively new control tower to cater for the numerous flights and to coordinate with Elmensdorf and Anchorage International, the latter also controlling flights from Lake Hood and the adjacent gravel strip Z41 (see my Lake Hood scenery). The gravel runway at Merrill Field is not connected with active taxiways to the rest of the airfield; this avoids you being ordered to land on it when flying a plane too large to do so. The enclosed layout shows the runways and the taxiways complete with their assigned letters to help you find your way around, but note that this shows the current gravel runway with its wandering magnetic headings, not the ones prevailing when I made Merrill. The signage on the airfield is not total. The main taxiways are signed and each entry to a runway has a runway sign, but intermediate taxiways to or from a runway are not; if you have turned off the runway at the first possible exit you could then whether it is R or T is, I suppose, irrelevant. Try not to turn onto Merrill Field Drive at an intersection, this is a road that runs through the field. There are almost 50 buildings on the field and threequarters of them have been modelled from photographs specifically for this scenery; some of them were modelled from photos that were of not very good quality, but when the photos were taken I wasn't thinking that I would ever model the field. Which explains why there are buildings I had no photos of at all, of any sort of quality.
| Filename: | PAMR_Merrill_Field_Anchorage_5HO_Hope_9Z9_Lawing__.zip |
| License: | Freeware, limited distribution |
| Added: | 26th February 2016, 09:54:17 |
| Downloads: | 758 |
| Author: | Roger Wensley |
| Size: | 22.64 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator X - Original Aircraft | |
| B-2A Spirit Stealth Bomber |
|
Images related to this file:
File Description:
The B-2A Stealth Bomber is the most sophisticated aircraft on the planet. She is essentially a “Flying Wing†platform with no V-Tail, and is controlled by pre-programed flight computers stationed in various positions within the crew cabin and wings. There is one main computer that controls the aircraft, with two redundant back-up computers assigned to it in case of failure. All additional computers are assigned to functions involving flight control, system monitoring, data communications, and radar. Engine and Aerodynamic effects are controlled by these computers which serve several actuators and ailerons, including the spoilerons, which further compensate for the lack of a V-Tail. In theory, and because of these computers, the aircraft is “Stall-Proofâ€. The only way it can stall is if the computers fail. There is no way she can be flown without the computers active. The REAL aircraft does almost everything based on pre-programed data, other than taxi to the runway (although this is also possible to program). Before each flight, the Mission is designed and then assigned to the Mission Flight Box (Portable Computer) which is then carried by the Commander to the aircraft, and the data from the box is “transferred†to the main on-board computers. Because of this, the B-2 cannot be flown until the box is ready for the mission, and pilots cannot simply jump in and fly her, with the exception that the data is transferred via satellite. Everything is pre-planned, and this takes several hours. Once the data is on-board, the taxi can begin. When lined-up on the runway, all the pilot needs to do is push a button or three. Everything else is computer controlled until landing. The aircraft CAN be flown manually with basic data inputs into the main computer systems, but even in that case it is not conventional. If a pilot wants to turn right, he sets the data to turn to a certain degrees of heading. The same with climb and descent, speed increase or decrease. A pilot cannot over-ride the computers in any case, so steep banks, climbs, or descents cannot be forced. There is a lot of space for the two member crew within the cockpit, but there is also a space reserved for one observer. This additional seat is known as “Suicide Position†because there is no ejection seat for that observer. In the event of a mishap, the observer can try to bail-out through the ejection hatches after the pilots, or can try the exit ramp door, or the bomb bay as an exit route. The odds of escape for the observer are very small, but he has a parachute as reassurance. Otherwise, what the crew does during missions is only a guess, since they really don't have to do anything unless an alarm goes off. Since the plane flies so smooth, we can only imagine what sort of things they may dream-up to entertain themselves during a long flight. High altitude flights are conducted at night mainly due to the obvious contrail such a flight will exhibit during the day with such hot engines. The engines are encased in a heat absorbing shield material (still exhaust exists), and the rest of the plane is coated with Radar absorbant material, with the additional low profile effect of the aircraft design itself. If it can be seen by the ground or a fighter, it can be attacked by fighters or the ground. During daytime flight they will stay below the contrail level, and monitor the radar systems in preparations for counter-measures. If a fighter can visually observe them, the fighter may be able to shoot them down with bullets from behind, but not likely with missiles because of the sophisticated counter-measures available. On Radar the aircraft appears the size of a pigeon, until about 8 to 10 miles away, which would be too late to counter from the ground, so most attacks are either done at night or during the day at very low altitude. Upon landing the aircraft is automated down to about 200 feet AGL, when the pilot takes command. All she/he does at this point is allow her to glide down and contact the runway, and retard the engines. Brakes are used to slow, then the computers are turned off, and the pilot can control the throttles, nose gear, and brakes. The Commander watches for obstructions, mainly, and communicates with the tower and ground crew. Everything in this model has been reconfigured to meet realistic standards, without any tricks or flight tuning, and following real world aerodynamic principals and available data, including MOI. The panel requires study before use, but very realistic. The sounds are very authentic. There is no other model offered anywhere that compares to what you have now available in front of you. Please read and study the Readme.txt file within the main folder before attempting to fly this 2.2 Billion Dollar aircraft. Yes, that's correct ... $2,200,000,000 each! The use of this model, and the configuration of such, is designed for educational purposes, and protected by the Free Use Act: (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107). The Authors will not approve redistribution for monetary purposes. Original aircraft design by Alphasim; VC Adaptation, panels and gauges by Philippe Wallaert; Sound by Ruggero Osto; REAL WORLD Engine/Aerodynamics, data and effects by Douglas E. Trapp ([email protected]) June 2018
| Filename: | B2A_Spirit_Stealth_Bomber.zip |
| License: | Freeware |
| Added: | 2nd June 2018, 17:16:30 |
| Downloads: | 1,038 |
| Author: | Douglas E. Trapp |
| Size: | 14.81 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator X - Original Aircraft | |
| Boeing 787-942 VIP-BBJ |
|
Images related to this file:
File Description:
Boeing 787-942 Boeing Business Jet (VIP), AKA "DreamJet", is the Corporate version of this aircraft, modified for individual client specs. The range is extended beyond the normal 787-9 due to additional fuel tanks, a lot less payload weight, and more powerful and efficient engines. The Cabin Pressure is decreased to 6,000 ft, allowing for higher Flight Levels than normal. The tail number on this model can be changed to match the user's preference, since it is not apparent on the exterior (No Airline Call used on Private Aircraft).
This is a huge aircraft and normally seats about 300 passengers, but there are only 48 (including Pilots/Attendants) on this plane. A lot of space remains for luxuries that are well beyond any Business Jet of any kind other than the 747 or A380. Some of these luxuries include automated beds that are hidden in the floorboard and activated by the attendants when requested, and each of these includes a privacy barrier. There is one Large Screen TV with stereo surround sound with theater seating in the fore section, and separate small screen monitors located at every assigned seat (including flight data relay of all positioning and aircraft data viewable). The kitchen is fully equipped with 935 lbs of various food and drinks, with one attendant being a Master Chef. There is a automated Dance Floor that can be activated in the theater area, after the seating chairs are automatically stored below deck. The crew also experiences luxury as the pilots have a twin-bed sleeping area with a private kitchen (2 sleep while 2 fly), as do the attendants (fore and aft upper deck) with twin beds and private kitchens. The aircraft is also more luxurious in that it has 6.000 ft of pressure continuous to 47,000 ft, and has a very low interior noise level. There are also many added safety features that provide for survival in the event of a mishap, making it possible to survive a water crash for several days through the use of 6 inflatable skiff-rafts with engines, radios, and supplies. All attendants are trained and certified Registered Nurses, and they have 25 lbs of medications and supplies stored in the aft. Some of these features add to the empty weight, so the MTOW is the same as a normal aircraft of this design for commercial use (the gear are also modified for these accommodations).
This aircraft is designed for educational use protected under the Fair Use Doctrine:
(http://www.expertlaw.com/library/intellectual_property/fair_use.html)
It cannot be sold or bundled for sale, and such will never be approved by me or the original authors. FREEWARE DISTRIBUTION ONLY!!!
Model design and paint by: Camil Valiquette;
Sound by: Emil Serafino;
Engine/Aerodynamics and Details by: Douglas E. Trapp, ([email protected]) May 2018
| Filename: | Boeing_787942_VIPBBJ.zip |
| License: | Freeware |
| Added: | 20th May 2018, 16:58:42 |
| Downloads: | 878 |
| Author: | Douglas E Trapp |
| Size: | 77.99 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery | |
| Sydney CYQY in Nova Scotia Canada |
|
Images related to this file:
File Description:
Sydney is a maritime port on the east coast of Canada, on the eastern corner of Cape Breton Island. It was founded in 1785 and grew in size emormously from 1900 as a steel mill was founded that prospered along with local coal mines until 1950 or so. After that date and following the final closure of the mill in 2001 the population declined to the current 29,000 or so. The airport is 3 or 4 miles southwest and inland of a coastal urban area which stretches from New Waterford in the north through Lingan, Dominion, Reserve Mines, and Glace Bay, to Port Caledonia, and 5 miles east of the town of Sydney which is beside a sheltered deep water harbour area. This version is not from a fixed date as although I had video of some of the buildings from 2010 I inadvertently constructed part of the apron layout from 2018 information, and then decided to keep it like that either because I liked it or perhaps was too lazy to redo it. The terminal building and the garages to the east of the terminal are original and old, though renovated and maintained to a fairly good standard. The other buildings on the airport are "hangars" in the expected form, with steel frames, insulated cladding, and pitched roofs. The airport publicises it's ability to cater for all the needs of visiting aircraft, with a large FBO hanger just beside the terminal. There are (or were, before the virus came along) scheduled flights by Westjet, Air Canada Jazz, and Air North, which are included in the AI along with GA flights. The runways are 07-25 at 7,000 feet and with PAPI on 25 and ILS on 07, and 01-19 at 6,000 feet with PAPI on 01 and ILS on 19. You will see once the scenery is installed that there are two folders in Sydney CYQY called "Scenery summer" and "scenery winter". Editing the folder name down from "scenery summer" to just "scenery" results in FS9 loading the summer ground textures and parked planes etc. In February you would edit down the "scenery winter" folder to just "scenery" and the unused and unswept taxiways, runway, and aprons will be invisible under the snow, the open-topped cars will not be parked in the open, and privately-owned planes will be in the hangars. If FS9 decides that there is snow on the ground then you need the winter textures, if not then the summer textures. The winter textures are not the full-snowdrift-middle-of-Winter-gale type and are more like early or late winter. One thing you must NOT DO is to edit both folders down at the same time.
| Filename: | Sydney_CYQY_in_Nova_Scotia_Canada.zip |
| License: | Freeware, limited distribution |
| Added: | 22nd August 2020, 00:07:58 |
| Downloads: | 277 |
| Author: | Roger Wensley |
| Size: | 29.42 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Miscellaneous Files | |
| Sorted POI global cities and airports pack for FSDiscover! |
|
File Description:
README:
FSDiscover! Global Point of Interest pack.
Here is a poi pack of roughly 147 000 cities, 40 000 small airports,
1 177 seaplane bases, 4695 medium airports and 475 of the largest
airports.
Airports are split up in categories, small, medium, big, seaplane base.
Cities are split up into files of 10 000 cities each by size.
There are 15 files for cities.
The smallest cities are in xaa, xab, xac, xad, and so on.
The biggest cities are in xam, xan, until xao.
You should open the files in notepad to see for yourself which city
files to activate in FSDiscover! to balance clutter and detail.
This has been my main problem with the default populated places list;
there is no way to sort by population size
Compared to the default FSDiscover! populated places here are some
notes:
I have noticed that in the default FSDiscover! set for europe and many
other places, the coordinates are placed like on a "honeycomb" grid
which obviously is not very precise. In general, in terms of city map
precision, this pack should be better.
In the default pack, in an area I am familiar with, a city was placed on the other side of
a river compared to reality. In many other areas, you can clearly see
that the cities are not well-aligned with Ultimate Terrain europe or
even some places in UT USA. My theory is that either data was not super
precise for europe to begin with or that the dataset has been arranged
in the honeycomb grid fashion perhaps to reduce clutter or something.
Mostly though, the default populated places FSDiscover! file is very
useful for really small villages since these tend to be forgotten in
other datasets. The problems come when you want to filter out smaller
villages or airports. This is where this pack comes in handy.
Since no data is perfect, you can use this pack alone or in
combination with the FSDiscover! defaults. Personally, I put the same
files in both "Documents/FSDiscover Files" and
"Program Files/FSDiscover" so I can pick and choose a useful combo
from relevant sets inside the options.
Personally, I prefer the cities from this pack and the rest
(mountains, rivers etc.) from the default FSDiscover! pack.
INSTALLATION:
Just unzip the archived files into "C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\FSDiscover Files"
or "C:\Program Files (x86)\FSDiscover!\geodata" or both!
I do not know if the geodata folder is completely overwritten some
times or not so keep that in mind. (probably safe, though)
AUTHOR:
fs9_2003 thanks to data made available by opendatasoft.com and ourairports.com
The source for cities:
https://public.opendatasoft.com/explore/dataset/geonames-all-cities-with-a-population-1000
The source for airports:
https://ourairports.com/data
| Filename: | Sorted_POI_global_cities_and_airports_pack_for_FSD.zip |
| License: | Freeware |
| Added: | 6th May 2024, 14:13:54 |
| Downloads: | 53 |
| Author: | Kim Husainov |
| Size: | 3.18 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator X - Original Aircraft | |
| FedEx McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (N604FE) |
|
Images related to this file:
File Description:
The Boeing MD-11F aircraft, N604FE, named "Hollis" is based out of Memphis, TN and can fly both Domestic and International Routes. The MD-11F (53 built) are the Freight transport aircraft version and were the second variant on offer at launch in 1986, and was the last and longest (1988-2000) manufactured version. 22 MD-11F's were delivered between 1991 and 2001 to FedEx. According to Flight Aware, she flies mainly domestic routes daily. The aircraft is almost identical to the DC-10F, although BOEING modernized their model with a longer fuselage and more powerful engines, giving her a longer range and higher service ceiling. Most flights are at full payload, and those disclude the center long-range fuel tanks, and involve flights ranging between 2,000 and 4,500 nm. I've been dealing with several versions of this aircraft for many years, actually since the first offered on CompuServe for FS98 in the '90s, and through time have found many aerodynamic details that were required in order to make her fly realistically. The Internet slowly added the details I needed, and then came the testing. Needless to say, I've flown many versions, including this one, for way too many hours, and added and corrected things along the way. This version is the best I've ever done, and I've worked on her for about a year before this upload. Everything is aerodynamically correct, and the engines (and their placement) are beyond anything ever presented by anyone with anything like this previously. I even fixed the gear to be 100% authentic in placement and use. I tried to fix the lights, but the textures are from FS2004, so I did the best I could. I chose this aircraft because it is actually in service today, and because the painter did a great job in making her look authentic. She now flies in FSX just as she does in reality, but you are better advised to study this on your own, rather than take my word. Aircraft ratings by manufacturers are based on simple standards, and very conservative. FSX is a virtual “WIND TUNNEL†when realistic aerodynamics are employed, so we can see what aircraft are capable of if we do it all right. Sorry to say, no one ever builds a free aircraft for upload with the correct engine/aerodynamics employed. In fact, I don't think anyone, other than myself, has ever put that much effort into it. So, keep this in mind. What you have now is real. It is Free. Now learn from it. READ THE MD11Readme.txt document before any operation after unzipping this. Tri-Engine Sound by B.G. Hany; Textures by Bradley McCoy; Panel by Marco Spada; Real World Engine/Aerodynamics by Douglas E. Trapp, [email protected], June 2018. This aircraft is designed for educational use protected under the Fair Use Doctrine: (http://www.expertlaw.com/library/intellectual_property/fair_use.html) ... It cannot be sold or bundled for sale, and such will never be approved by me or the original authors. FREEWARE DISTRIBUTION ONLY!!!
| Filename: | FedEx_McDonnell_Douglas_MD11F_N604FE.zip |
| License: | Freeware |
| Added: | 1st July 2018, 02:41:02 |
| Downloads: | 1,475 |
| Author: | Douglas E. Trapp |
| Size: | 121.26 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery | |
| Homer PaHO in Alaska US |
|
Images related to this file:
File Description:
Homer is a mainly GA airfield with rows of open air parking, but it also has scheduled flights, a terminal building, a long (for GA) runway of just under 6,700 feet that is 150 feet wide and aligned 03-21 with VASI on both ends and ILS on 03. So I think we can refer to it as an airport. Plus, at the time of this scenery (around 2010) there were three newly completed hangars on the north apron that I was told were for three companies, Bald Mountain Air service, Maritime Helicopters, and Pathfinder Aviation. I do not know which was for whom, but all three companies are in the helicopter and/or plane charter business. The south apron has a number of hangars and other buildings along it's length, starting at the western end with Smokey Bay Air that has an old control tower on the roof, then the Fire Station, and then Homer Air. I am not aware of who owns what after those first three, except that at the far eastern end there are several garages etc for the airport maintenance equipment. Next to the airport at that end there are a number of boat maintenance companies with boats pulled out of the water; this could not be well replicated due to the airport elevation above the sea level and a misplaced road. The nearby Beluga Lake 5BL float base is also included here, with some AI. The lake height above sea level has been adjusted to cope with too many cliffs intruding into the water; this is an annoying FS9 habit. The Homer scenery is as close to the actual airport as I could make it, while coping with inaccurate coast lines and roads, and grassed areas that could not all be modified for reasons that I will not bore you with. The Spit is a major scenery feature next to the airport, and I have added to this to provide some boats, docks, and nearby buildings etc. Small planes use the adjacent gravel taxi path instead of the runway when back-tracking to take off on runway 21. They only go as far as the path takes them and then u-turn onto the runway and take off. By the way, this airport's AI will function at its best if the prevailing wind makes 03 the runway in use. And I will eventually stop writing 03 and just call it 3, as the US, alone in the world, does not put a zero in front of 01, 02, 03, 04 etc. Just one other thing to note is that all access to the runway is from taxiways A and B; there was (in 2010) no access to the extreme western end of the runway as the taxiway there is marked as out of service pending a needed resurfacing.
If you find an error email me please, and note that my email address has been changed to rogwens at Gmail dot com.
| Filename: | Homer_PaHO_in_Alaska_US.zip |
| License: | Freeware, limited distribution |
| Added: | 28th July 2021, 03:31:04 |
| Downloads: | 129 |
| Author: | Roger Wensley |
| Size: | 11.86 MB |
| Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Scenery | |
| FS9 Fort St John CYXJ in BC Canada |
|
File Description:
Fort St John is close to the border between British Columbia and Alberta, around 40 miles north-northwest of Dawson Creek. The airport was originally a Royal Canadian Air Force base, associated with the wartime construction of the Alaska Highway. The airfield was part of this construction effort and the wartime ferrying of planes to Russia. It is currently named "North Peace Regional Airport", or "North Peace Airport"; apparently there has been no final decision?
The date for this scenery is around 2006. I was given an old video tape cassette which was filmed on an uncertain date, but which had to be before the terminal building was renovated in 2007 and totally changed in appearance. The only way to view the video was to play it in the camera and watch it on a small screen. After I had completed everything except the buildings I started to view the video to establish the building appearances and within an hour or so the camera died. It was so old there was no way to repair it, so I then made some new buildings from memory of the video and what was available online. I also used some that I had already made for other scenery but which were similar. I may replace the terminal building that is in this version with a build of the new one, as I know this one is not a very accurate reproduction. The replacement, if I do it, will be towards the end of this year.
The AI included here is for GA, Air Canada Jazz, and two helicopter companies that were (and still are?) based there. One is at the western end of the apron and the other is at the eastern end but separated from the apron. To gain access to the taxiways and runways (so that all airport users follow the same procedures, for safety reasons) the eastern end helicopters just taxi across the grass. The helicopters are used for maintenance trips to the oil and gas fields in the surrounding area. My screenshots show Westjet at the terminal; this is because I have later Canadian AI installed, while the AI included here is only for the time around 2000 to 2010, when Westjet were not flying to Fort St John.
The airport is square in plan, with the apron running along the northern side and two runways forming diagonals. The two runways are 11-29 (6,882 feet long and 200 feet wide, with ILS at the 29 end and PAPI at the other) and 02-20 (6,684 feet long and 200 feet wide, and with PAPI at each end). The eastern side taxiway that runs north-south is not used. The western side taxiway is in use but only as a race track for cars.
Please email me if you find faults, such as a plane without textures.
| Filename: | FS9_Fort_St_John_CYXJ_in_BC_Canada.zip |
| License: | Freeware, limited distribution |
| Added: | 10th October 2022, 14:03:38 |
| Downloads: | 214 |
| Author: | Roger Wensley |
| Size: | 37.49 MB |
| Category: Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) - Aircraft Repaints, Textures and Modifications | |
| Bleriot XI Britannia |
|
Images related to this file:
File Description:
This folder contains a repaint for the Bleriot XI by Wings42 in the colors of Bleriot XI-2 Britannia. The third Bleriot XI imported into New Zealand, it was a two seater presented by the Imperial Air Fleet committee to the New Zealand government. The committee's aim was to promote the development of aviation in the British empire, and the presentation was intended to stimulate military aviation in New Zealand. The aircraft was a proven one, having been flown 347km non-stop from Dover to Cologne by Gustav Hamel in 4 hours 18 minutes on April 17, 1913. The aircraft was dubbed "Britannia' at a ceremony at Hendon on May 22, and Hamel then took former New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward for a short flight. The committee was composed primarily of London businessmen and Sir Joseph was the deputy-Chairman. The aircraft was paid for by public subscription and was valued for insurance purposes at 1400 pounds. The aircraft was disassembled and shipped to New Zealand aboard the Athenic. The aircraft arrived in Wellington on September 29, 1913, where it was discovered that the propeller was not in the shipment. This was soon shipped to New Zealand. In the meantime the aircraft was stored in a purpose built shed at the Buckle street Defence stores. In late 1913 Joseph 'Joe' Hammond had been appointed official Government pilot.
Mr Hammond suggested flying the aircraft to Auckland for display at an Exhibition. However the aircraft was railed north and was assembled in Auckland on January 14, 1914. On January 17, 1914 Mr Hammond made his first flight in the aircraft from the Epsom showgrounds. The following day he completed an hour long flight over Auckland at low level. A flight on the 19th with a journalist as passenger was aborted during takeoff when Hammond found he had no rudder control. Repairs were made and the aircraft flown again on January 24th. Another flight with a passenger then took place. Rather than a member of the media or any of the officials present Hammond chose to take Miss Esme McLalland as passenger. Miss McLalland was a member of the touring Royal Pantomime Company which was performing in Auckland, and the choice failed to impress the officials - Joe Hammonds employment as official pilot was terminated. The aircraft remained on static display for the remainder of the Exhibition and was returned to Wellington at the end of April 1914. Without a pilot (there were several Army Officers training in England - 2nd Lt. A. Piper and 2nd Lt. W. Burn) any official role for the aircraft (and officials did not seem to know what to do with it), it was placed in storage at the Mt Cook barracks in Wellington. Soon after, a report by General Hamilton, the Imperial Inspector of Overseas Forces discouraged further aviation development. With the outbreak of war an offer was made to send the aircraft with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. It was shipped back to England, departing on the Arawa on October 16. It was unloaded in London on January 15, 1915 and and went from there to Brooklands where it is believed to have been used as a trainer. Repaint by Jan Kees Blom
| Filename: | Bleriot_XI_Britannia.zip |
| License: | Freeware |
| Added: | 8th May 2021, 17:39:55 |
| Downloads: | 17 |
| Author: | Jan Kees Blom |
| Size: | 38.51 MB |