MAAM-SIM ANNOUNCES NEW STRAFER MITCHELL J-MODEL and FS9 UPDATES
The Mid Atlantic Air Museum’s FS development team has launched a new solid-nose gunship model of the B-25J, based on their award-winning “Briefing Time’ add-on aircraft package. The work of the team’s aircraft designer, Jan Visser, the soon-to-be-released freeware model uses the virtual cockpit and cabin, flight dynamics, panels, sounds and other features of MAAM-SIM’s “Briefing Time’ B-25J Mitchell.
The livery depicts a B-25J of the 498th Bomb Squadron, known as the “Falcons”, of the 345th Bomb Group “Air Apaches” of the 5th USAAF which served in the Pacific theater during World War II. The sim features new engine start-up smoke effects (seen above) by Jan Rosenberg, the newest contributor to the MAAM-SIM team.
The model will be released as a freeware add-on to the
“Briefing Time’ aircraft package for FS2002 and FS2004 and will be available
within the next couple of weeks, but requires installation of the full
‘Briefing Time’ package. If you do not
already own ‘Briefing Time’ there’s time to get your copy of the CD from www.maam.org in time for the gunship’s
arrival. All proceeds go to support
the restoration programs of the museum.
Equipped with eight Browning M-2 .50 caliber Machine guns fixed in the solid nose, four more in “pack” blisters on either side of the fuselage, and the top turret’s pair, which could be turned forward, the strafer version could focus immense firepower in the strafer role. It was legendary as a “ship buster” in the Pacific waters and shredded many a Japanese island airfield.
The fierce Falcon nose of the 498th BS was one of the most colorful of the war. The team expects, and encourages, many freeware repaints of this new model in the future.
Plans are in the making for other Mitchell variations in the future, such as the 75mm howitzer equipped H model and the earlier B model made famous by Jimmy Doolittle on his Tokyo Raid. All will be add-ons requiring the full ‘Briefing Time’ package be installed in FS2002 or FS2004, but will be released at no additional cost.
Also due out in a matter of days is the free FS9 update for ‘Briefing Time’. Like the gunship, it will feature new start-up and touchdown smoke effects. The flight dynamics have been extensively reworked by Rob Young to make BT fly to the book numbers in FS9’s changed FD environment, as she did in FS2002.
Also to be released on top of the BT FS9 upgrade is one for the Bare-Metal version of ‘Briefing Time’ for you shiny metal fans flying “Century of Flight”.
All of these are due out at the beginning of November, 2003. Watch for further announcements here, and at the MAAM-SIM Support Forum in the very near future.
