Time to introduce Part 1 of a FS9/FSX/P3Dv4 project covering some of the examples in the Augusta Westland AW139 range.

According to Wiki, the helicopter is operated by 38 countries. I’m not proposing to cover anywhere near that number, but a paint kit and a number of model variations should enable users to produce what they want if they are able to have a go themselves.

Part 1 comprises 36 helicopters from the Japan Coast Guard, Police and Fire & Disaster Prevention. They populate existing and new sceneries from Brent. I'm sure he will be posting some screen shots when he is in a position to do so.

Part 2 will feature about the same number of helicopters, this time from the Italian Air Force and Italian Government Agencies with sceneries and flight plans from Giorgio. The longer nose AW139 variant will also feature in the package.

The Japanese packages feature 7 models that have a variation in external equipment, interior seating and pilots. What makes the Japanese contingent really interesting are the colourful liveries in use across the fleet. Indeed most of the Fire & Disaster examples each have a different scheme applied.

Here’s a taster:



Japan Coast Guard:





Police:



Fire and Disaster Prevention:





This model features the STC 326G11 Fire Attack belly water tank:







I’ll be ready to upload Part 1 when Brent has completed his work and I have written the manual and assembled the zips. Brent and Giorgio have already sent me information about the Italian examples and I’ll be making a start on these in the next few days.

John

I was wondering what it was you were beavering away at. They look Fantastic and very colourful.

Nice looking models there.

The less news the more stunning the results! Each surprise is a killer and it seems you are designing pilotable aircraft meanwhile. Those details are awesome. Just a minor critism is maybe to reduce the colored rings inside the props texture...

I'm out of "wows" with you JY, another beaut and great for some government stuff here in the US.

Very nice! The AW 139 is one of my favorite helicopters. Will there be a LAFD version or can that just be painted on the STC 326G11 model?


https://www.lafd.org/about/special-oper ... operations

Great work as ever, John; one of my favourites, too. And many repaint possibilities, not least the offshore crowd. Looking forward to this.

Jon G

Thanks for your kind comments everyone.

It would be good to provide a USA package, but the numbers are very small. According to Wiki, LAFD have 3 AW139's based at Van Nuys Airport. The aircraft carry a spotlight on the left side which is not on my Fire Attack model. The model also has a FLIR under the nose which is not on the LAFD examples. I could fix that very easily with a separate model, but the problem is likely to be the availability of scenery for Van Nuys Airport, ideally for the 3 sim versions. I haven't investigated that.

The other USA user is US Border Protection I believe. I don't know how many aircraft are in use or where they are based. A photo search doesn't reveal much at all.

I will happily produce the aircraft if wanted, but there's not a lot of point unless they have a home and flight plans to enable their use.

John

Fantastic models John - as per usual.

Many thanks for this latest addition.

Hi John, Are you going to cover the European examples especially the rig helos.
thanks
Paul

I might, if I knew what they were.

I was thinking of HM Coast Guard. I think they have a mix of AW139's and the larger AW189's - 10 in total, but with a migration from the 139 to the 189. I'm not intending to make the 189 because it needs additional windows and a major re-build. The aircraft are dispersed around the UK and I don't think we have much of the scenery required. I don't want to take on scenery and flight planning too, so that's probably a non-starter for that user unfortunately.

I'm not clear who operates the rig examples, how many aircraft there are and where they are based, but the same considerations might well apply.

John

Most are operated from Norwich , Humberside , Blackpool and Aberdeen with bristow and Bond but im sure someone would be kind enough to paint a few examples. But I got to say looking good mate

Hi guys, bit of an update on where to expect to see the aircraft from the Japan portion of Johns project.

Chubu 2 x Japan Coast Guard
Miho 2 x Japan Coast Guard
Hiroshima 2 x Japan Coast Guard
Sendai 2x Japan Coast Guard
Fukuoka 2x Japan Coast Guard
Niigata 2x Japan Coast Guard, 1x Police & 1x Fire / Disaster Prevention
Ishigaki 2x Japan Coast Guard
Naha 2 x Japan Coast Guard
Kagoshima 2 x Japan Coast Guard & 1 x Police
Narita Heliport 1 x Police
Sapporo-Okadama Airport 1 x Police
Kasuminome 1 x Police
Matsumoto 1 x Police
Yao 2 x Police
Tokyo Heliport 4 x Police
Toyama 1 x Police
Yokohama Heliport 2 x Fire / Disaster Prevention
Honda Airport 2 x Fire / Disaster Prevention
Tochigi Heliport 1 x Fire / Disaster Prevention

For some of these projects, we already have scenery. Miho and Kasuminome have their own packages. Tokyo Heliport, Yokohama Heliport and Tochigi are in the first Japanese Emergency Services package. New scenery for Niigata and Yao are being prepared to support this project.

Great choice John, looking forward for this one. As you mention it's in use world wide and surely will fill big gaps.

What a surprise John. Great job as usual. Many thanks for this latest addition.

Beautiful as always John! looks stunning!

Much thanks

Mark

Wow John! Your services to the AI world is just insane...have been waiting for the AW139 family for so long.

You mentioned HM Coast Guard, The last 139s (currently at St Athan - G-CILN and G-CILP) are about to be replaced by the AW189...the first of which has recently been delivered and in storage at Lee on Solent. As there is an ok AI S-92 in coast guard colours the AW189 fleet would be amazing. They will stick with the S-92/AW189 fleet for some time now despite not really getting on with the 189. It's so if one type is grounded for whatever reason, they can still operate with the other.

The AW169 variant has just exploded across the civil and HEMS side, your work really well fill so many holes in the simming world!

Let me park the possibility of a 189 while I get on with the Italian 139's. I'll see how things are after that and what else could usefully be done. As I said earlier, we really need scenery and flight plans for what are often dispersed sites, to go with the AI. Just producing paints on their own, doesn't really help a lot. Or does it?

John

Not wanting to stitch Tranquil up, but he's done some great Bristow SAR hangars...and the majority of them are the same layout around the UK. But of course, not wanting to push for the 189 - very grateful for you doing the 139...I tried many times to model it and failed.

We said for years around here that if we ever cracked the code to allow for skidded helos that the lid would be blown off on what all was possible.

Great model John and team.