Military AI Works

As usual John exceptional work.
Brian H
Plumber


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Oh, you’ve done the 748 as well? Huge scope for liveries for that! I’m sure lots of us have the DWAI one. 60 Sqn at Wildenrath were probably unique in operating both the C.1 and CC.2 Andovers at the same time (shiny white livery).

I've forgotten the 32 Sqn CC.2's. I think there were 4, in a mix of schemes, so I'll do those. That means of the 32 built, I will have painted 28. Two were written off and 2 I can't confirm ownership with any confidence.

John

For such a small fleet, there’s a lot of history. Quite a few of my erstwhile C-130 mates were ex-Andover, and the 46 Sqn Association appears to be still alive and kicking and busily reminiscing about the aeroplane.

Which 2 are you struggling with, John? I may have info in my book collection, or contacts who might help.

Really looking forward to seeing these, they look fantastic

Tim,

XS595 shown on my list as "84A" then "5MU"

XS642 shown on my list as "84C" then "5MU"

I think from further research, these two aircraft were in a contingent of 7 Andover's belonging to 84 Sqn based in the Middle East, I believe. 5 of the aircraft were later absorbed by 46, 115 squadrons and one to the A&AEE, but the two mentioned probably became instructional airframes.

Does that make sense?

John

Hi John. This is what I have:


XS595: c/n 1573. First Flight 6/10/65. A&AEE Boscombe Down 25/1/66 (CA Clearance and Navigation Trials). HSAL Woodford 11/2/66 [presumably for modification and update]. Detached Aden 1/3/66 (hot weather trials and dirt strip landings). Delivered to Abingdon (no unit or date). To 84 Sqn Sharjah (A) 6/11/67. Gulf COMSAR Sqn Muharraq 9/7/69 to 8/9/69. Back to Sharjah 84 (A) 16/12/70. To 5MU Kemble 20/2/72. 46 Sqn Abingdon from June 72. Back to 5MU Kemble by 5/73 to 8/81. Fuselage dumped at Brize Norton , cockpit to Tiltman Langley, Redhill by 12/6/82(conv as GI for Dan Air) [Ground Instructional]. Nose-less fuselage extant at Brize 15/5/85 to 28/6/86. Wings to St Mawgan by 7/8/85, fuselage expired by 12/86.

XS642: b/n 26. AWCN 9/9/67. Delivered 15MU Wroughton 15/6/67.HQ Air Forces Gulf charge 17/8/67. Via Abingdon to Middle East 31/8/67. Arr 84 Sqn Sharjah 4/9/67. Gulf COMSAR Sqn. Muharraq loan 2/3/70. 84 Sqn Sharjah 13/3/70. 5MU Kemble 22/12/70. 46 Sqn Thorney Island (C) by 2/71. 5MU Kemble by 6/73 - 6/80 (Long Term Storage). Benson by road 6/81 - 11/81 (CRT) [But Benson by road 18/1/83 as GI 8785M (BDRT)] [Battle Damage Repair Training] Dumped by 5/90 to 3/92. BU c 7/94.

This is from the 46 Sqn Association website 46squadron.org

Thanks Tim. I'll drop XS595 I think, so we don't have to worry about Middle East scenery and later e-allocation of 84 Sqn serials. I can use XS642 though, but with 13 aircraft that might be too many for Thorney Island parking.

These are the 4 32 Sqn Andover's to complete the pack (I love that darker low-vis scheme):









I'll number up the 46 Sqn aircraft next and then take a look at the Thorney Island scenery.

John

I don't know whether you can work it out from the screenshot I shared a few days ago, but I currently have 9 Andover-sized parking spots, 9 Herc (or Argosy) sized spots and a few FJ/Helo spots. I'm trying to ascertain whether any of the WW2 dispersals were still in use in 1970-ish, but I suspect not. I do have evidence that the northern dispersal complex had been largely resurfaced in Tarmac at some point post-war, and that it was still in use as a training area by 22 Sqn and various ground forces (ATC camps, mainly!) in the 1970s, but I don't think any of the large aircraft ever went up there after the war. If 14 Andovers were based there at the same time as 242 OCU was operating C-130s (I suspect they operated 6 to 8, though I'm pretty sure they had no dedicated aircraft and they were shared between Colerne, Fairford, Lyneham and Thorney), it must have been tight!

It would be fun to look at Sharjah, but I'm not sure how much demand there'd be - especially given that the airfield site is now under modern city blocks and our various sims and add-ons probably reflect that (the modern Sharjah Intl is a fair way from the erstwhile RAF Sharjah). The tower still exists as a museum, however.

Small point John; on the RNZAF roundels, the Kiwi always faces forward, feet down, or towards the fuselage (if on the wings). One screenshot, on the SEA/Green and Brown paint has the Starboard rounded facing aft..

Sean

Thanks Sean, I'll correct that and check the others. I'm going to set the RNZAF aircraft up in the default Whenuapai (NZWP) scenery, using your converted FS9 flight plans, just in case you can't get permission to convert the third-party scenery you have. I'm just working on the 46 Sqn Andovers using Tim's RAF Thorney Island scenery that he is building, but I'll let you have a test package soonest.

John

Just a quick update on where we are with the Andover package.

All the aircraft are finished and it's been a case of getting them into the relevant scenery. Tim has made RAF Thorney Island and RAF Abingdon, while Sean has been working on Whenuapai for the New Zealand Andovers. The AFCAD is proving a little difficult, but in the meantime, I can illustrate the RAF part of the package.

This is Tim's Thorney Island in FSX, the package will also include P3D:





I took the opportunity to supplement the traffic with visiting C-130K's that were around at the same time. This involved some small mods to my C-130 model and 4 new paints:



Also present at the time were AW Argosies, but in this case, the model and paints already exist:



Finally this is Tim's RAF Abingdon. There were no resident transport aircraft there at the time of the package, but we have included visitors from Thorney Island in the traffic file:



I'm not proposing to include scenery and flight plans for the miscellaneous Andover's, illustrated in previous posts - it's just too much work.

The manual is largely written and as soon as I have Whenuapai from Sean, I'll update this post and complete the packaging ready for upload.

John

Looking forward to this. I remember having the Andovers parked in Base hanger at Brize when they were withdrawn from service.

Regards Paul Day.

Those Andover's really look the part. I'm looking for to adding them to the flt sim. Tim's scenery looks awesome as well. Thanks guys.

Nearly there. These are the Royal New Zealand Andovers at Whenuapai (NZWP) in P3Dv5, using converted retro scenery with kind permission of Tim Barnes and Robin Corn. The conversion was done by Sean, who is also finalising a version for FSX:



The base was also home to RNZAF Boeing 727's, C-130H's and P-3 Orions:





The 727's and P-3's are from the MAIW conversion packages. I modified and painted my C-130H AI model to create the 5 RNZAF retro examples:



Four of the same C-130H's are still in use today, the fifth was retired last month. All are due to go after the introduction of C-130J-30's in 2024. It was very easy to provide the modern paints as well for anyone who might want them:



With Tim having finished Thorney Island and Abingdon for the RAF Andovers, I'll be packaging up as soon as I have the FSX Whenuapai from Sean and have tested it.

John

Looking good, John! Those are the first C-130Hs in existence (1965) and, like the C-130K, were only lightly modified from the C-130E that continued on sale for another couple of years before all production shifted to the H. The only real difference from the E was the -15 engines. The Kiwi Hercs have since been modified in many ways and now have largely glass instruments and lots of other gucci kit!

Those look brilliant.

Very nice work!

The Andover package and associated scenery and flightplans was uploaded for processing to the MAIW Hangar this morning.

Just to recap, the package is for FSX and P3D and features just about every C.1 Andover produced along with 2 CC2 examples. 43 paints are included as is the scenery for RAF Thorney Island (Tim), RAF Abingdon (Tim) and RNZAF Whenuapai (Sean and John). Flight plans are included for these 3 scenarios. Scenery and flight plans for additional Andover airfields may follow in due course.

New JYAI C-130K and C-130H models and paints for the RAF and RNZAF flightplans, respectively, are included. Links are provided to existing JYAI Argosies and MAIW Bulldogs (RAF scenery) and Boeing 727s and P-3 Orions (Whenuapai scenery) that also feature.

A late addition to the line up (aircraft only) were the 3 Andovers of 60 Sqn at RAF Wildenwrath, Germany in the period 1987 to 1992:



As a final screen shot, this is a Royal New Zealand Andover passing the Aukland skyline:



As always, please allow time for the package to be made available.

John, Tim and Sean