Just received the B-25 today, and WOW!

[yellow5 0]

Just wanted to send a thanks out to all of those that worked so hard on putting together the best looking vintage aircraft ever, the B-25J!I flew it for the first time today and I was so impressed. I think I spent atleast a half hour just walking around, kicking the tires, panning around, opening and closing what ever I could, just to get aquainted with her. Then I climbed into the cockpit and started her up! Boy was I drooling now. The sounds the sights! Oh, she is beautiful. Listened to ATIS then got my clearance to taxi (by the way I am at Reading,PA). I was amazed at how much throttle it took just to get the plane rolling. Most aircraft for FS2002 don't add in the realism of weight on the ground. You add a touch of throttle and the plane goes shooting across the tarmac. Anyway at the end of the runway I was ready to go. Set up for takeoff received clearance and down the runway I went. If I was impressed by the sound of starting up, the sound of rolling down the runway was even better. The vibration of the airframe, the drone of the engines, MAGNIFICENT! I only flew around the Reading and Allentown area for about an hour, and then returned to reading, but it was the most impressive hour of my FS2002 career. I was worried about the frame rates, but I was using the full installed version and had no trouble at all. 15 FPS around the congested areas, and around 20 - 30 in the non congested areas (of course it will be different for everyone)!I am very pleased with the B-25. Words do not describe how cool it is to fly my very own B-25. The best part of it all is it went to a good cause, restoring a piece of history!Great work and thank you......

[rambow 0]

Wow, yourself! :-) That's quite an endorsement and on behalf of the whole team, thanks very much.There is one point at which you give us undue credit, though. Quoting the user's manual from the section on Taxiing:"Complicating things further, and this is something Russ does not have to cope with, is a peculiarity of FS2002 that we call "sticky tire syndrome". There is a built in inertia which no amount of fiddling and cheating the parameters by Rob Young could get rid of, without destroying the rest of the plane's realistic performance. The result of this tendency for the plane to stay anchored to the pavement when at rest is that you are going to have to apply a considerable amount of power to get her rolling." It goes on to say, "In reality, the B-25 begins rolling as soon as the parking brake is released at idle power. The Mitchell wants to move and fly.""You will find that, with the props full forward, you must advance the throttles to about 25 inches of manifold pressure to break the tires loose and get rolling. Then you can pull them back to about 12 or 13 to maintain a sedate, controllable taxiing pace. This would be easy enough to deal with, but of course as soon as you use the brakes to steer, you are going to have to add power. It's a juggling act, but with practice it can be done and you'll soon be an old hand at it. Remember to do as the manuals and film says; use power and rudders to assist in steering. Remember, the front gear is free-castoring, so it will go where the brakes, rudders, and engines direct it. Just be ready on those sensitive brakes, because when you use differential power to assist steering, it's easy to build up speed quickly to the point where you can not keep the bird under control. If you mire it in the mud because you missed a taxiway turn, you go tell Russ!"Thanks for your support. Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif