Military AI Works

thats does help me find my missing 6 airframes mate.
8001,2,3,4,5,7 none of 80sq wear a tail unit marking only "god bless you"
on each side of the cockpit.
you bet if i had just asssumed they had 8001 to 8024 they wouldn't of ?
Taif is gonna get real busy then with all 72 airframes there.

I've just been through a 4-hour exercise to update the spreadsheet that Geoff kindly produced for me a month ago of RAF Typhoon serials, prior to starting the painting. The "churn" through the TMU (centralised maintenance) seems quite large. 19 Typhoons were on the previous list allocated to squadrons, while 37 on the current list that are allocated, didn't feature in the allocation a month ago. How on earth do Scramble keep the list accurate given the churn anyway?

The number of aircraft allocated to squadrons also varies by up to 4 from last month to this one. Even Dan's Coningsby QRA spotting isn't current in the latest Scramble listing. ZK308 is fine, but ZK302 is listed at Lossimouth.

I have 55 serial numbers allocated to squadrons at Coningsby and 36 at Lossimouth according to Scramble. 26 are probably in the TMU, either because they are not allocated to squadrons, are not at Warton , not overseas, not in storage or haven't been scrapped.

So, the serial allocation is very much a snap shot. In a month's time it will be way out of date again. The 55 serials at Coningsby and 36 at Lossimouth should be enough the flood the parking spots for people who want it that way. I've also asked Dan to provide alternative cut down flight plans to better represent reality of aircraft visibility on both airfields for users who prefer more realistic numbers.

Do I really need to paint the 26 aircraft that are un-allocated to squadrons and are probably hidden inside the TMU for the people who want quantity? It's extra work in painting and flight planning and I'm not sure whether they can be parked anyway? Will users really want to go through the exercise I've just done every month to get the current allocation to squadrons, assuming I paint every Typhoon to enable that?

John

I don't think that anybody has mentioned these - specifically - so I will ask. Are the 1435 Flt ones in anyone's plans?

I don't think you need to paint them John, are there any simmers that will actually take note of what serial is taxiing out next ?
you should of pick an easy country like Germany,Spain or even Saudi
i'm sure 1435 Flt will be covered Steve, if not i will do them.

I'll paint 1435 Flt for sure, but I don't know if Dan has the 4 aircraft in his flight plan intentions. There must be some flight plans in existence anyway.

There definitely are plans, John.

On the strict subject of who looks for specific serial numbers, I would imagine everybody that uses TVB and its like. How else could you find a specific aircraft that you are trying to follow. I use it all the time it is one of the tools I use when testing or tracking down bugs.
That being said, I inevitably alter the aircraft and flightplan text files anyway to ensure that serials and names are to my system.

As to what John says about re-jigging plans and aircraft every month. I would say that nobody would. Every package that anybody has released is a snapshot and people should know that by now.

John
I would pick a general number and go with that, the ramp at Coningsby is never full which it would be if you provided every airframe, I would go for a maximum of 10 for each Squadron
Gary

Ray, 3sqn aircraft will be 301 through to 324, 10sqn 1001 to 1024 and 80sqn 8001 to 8024. The reason why scramble has them all allocated to 10sq is because 10sq was the first form and scramble simply doesn't know any further information.

80sqn is all single seat aircraft and don't carry squadron markings, I haven't even seen what their squadron badge looks like.

Although the squadrons will have their own allocation of aircraft, other squadrons will borrow aircraft from others depending on what the requirement is, very similar to the RAF way of doing it.

They have lost some aircraft through various incidents, but I'm not sure the exact aircraft they have lost.

I was planning to do 1435 sqn, they'll be last to do I would think. CGY units will be done first as they're the biggest & most active. I'll put my research onto my ftp so you can see what I've logged over the 2 weeks or so. That said I maybe going to CGY next week sop I'll get a better idea of serials & callsigns if I can make it up there

I'm working on the GAF traffic files. Converting the files from the NBAI generation is basically straightforward, but some roles have changed since then. For example, JG71 at Wittmundhafen is essentially air defence, and shares Germany's QRA with JG74 at Neuberg. As far as I can tell, the vast majority of movements are with a couple of IRIS-Ts and two tanks, and pretty much nothing else. I have yet to see a full Q-fit aircraft in any photos from Wittmundhafen, and nor have I found any reflecting their presumed secondary swing role as ground attack. Are they doing that?

Has anyone got any local knowledge (or links) that can help inform the traffic files? I would like what flies there to reasonably accurately reflect current reality.

Regarding GAF Eurofighters

Wittmund:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category ... noscript=1

I have not seen anything other than A-A loadouts on the Wittmund Eurofighters until today.



this forum requires registration so that you can view the photos in the posts

Wittmund
https://www.flugzeugforum.de/threads/fl ... 75/page-45

Nörvenich
https://www.flugzeugforum.de/threads/fl ... 92/page-25

Neuburg
https://www.flugzeugforum.de/threads/fl ... 82/page-31

Laage
https://www.flugzeugforum.de/threads/fl ... 88/page-42

That's really useful, Hartwig - thank you. That very much confirms what I found.

John, are you ok if I change the models associated with some registrations in the aircraft.cfg?

Dan,

I've put an updated and more simplified spreadsheet of RAF serial numbers in your FTP folder. That obviously reflects the situation as of now, as far as I can ascertain it. I have also found recent photographs of all the aircraft allocated to squadrons, with the exception of 6 examples (all at Lossimouth). I needed to determine whether each aircraft is unmarked (plain) or has squadron or other livery applied (marked), so I know what to paint. I'm going to start painting from this list tomorrow.

If you visit Coningsby in the next few weeks, the allocation could well change. I can easily re-allocate paints of the unmarked aircraft in the light of what you spot or I might need to make some new ones if any aircraft emerge from the Typhoon Maintenance Unit (TMU) as is likely, or the aircraft spotted is wearing a squadron livery that I haven't previously painted with that serial.

The more difficult problem is not what you spot, but what that spot replaces as aircraft rotate back into the TMU. It might be better to freeze the allocation as of now. We can indeed update in a few weeks time with the added work, but that allocation will also be out of date within a few weeks.

Let me know what you think.

John

John Young wrote: ↑23 Jul 2020, 20:47 Dan,

I've put an updated and more simplified spreadsheet of RAF serial numbers in your FTP folder. That obviously reflects the situation as of now, as far as I can ascertain it. I have also found recent photographs of all the aircraft allocated to squadrons, with the exception of 6 examples (all at Lossimouth). I needed to determine whether each aircraft is unmarked (plain) or has squadron or other livery applied (marked), so I know what to paint. I'm going to start painting from this list tomorrow.

If you visit Coningsby in the next few weeks, the allocation could well change. I can easily re-allocate paints of the unmarked aircraft in the light of what you spot or I might need to make some new ones if any aircraft emerge from the Typhoon Maintenance Unit (TMU) as is likely, or the aircraft spotted is wearing a squadron livery that I haven't previously painted with that serial.

The more difficult problem is not what you spot, but what that spot replaces as aircraft rotate back into the TMU. It might be better to freeze the allocation as of now. We can indeed update in a few weeks time with the added work, but that allocation will also be out of date within a few weeks.

Let me know what you think.

John

Thanks John, I think the best way is to freeze it as of now. Otherwise it'll be never ending, as someone said earlier does anyone actually pay any attention to the serials?

Thanks Dan. Let's proceed on that basis.

The painting stage of the project is rapidly coming to an end. This morning, Ray kindly delivered the FS9 textures for the Saudi Typhoons to compliment the FSX/P3D set he did earlier. He has also included a set of flight plans that I want to check out with the scenery choices. Ray of course has also painted the German and Spanish Typhoons, which has been an enormous help.

I've now finished the RAF Coningsby sets with a total of 55 paints over 5 squadrons. To test the aircraft, I have all 55 departing at the same time in Ian's current FSX version of the airfield:



Note that in this shot, the 12 Squadron aircraft are parked according to the current AFCAD. I think Ian will be adding the new shelters for them in his new version:















It will need Dan's magic with the more realistic flight plans to spread the flights and de-clutter the parking. I'll be passing a copy of the aircraft to him along with the Lossimouth aircraft as soon as I have them painted. That's my next job.

John

Looking great John, can't wait to get to work on them

That looks superb.

Really impressive!

Congratulations and thanks to all involved

Fred