Hi MAAM guys,I must say that the implementation of a rear facing 2D top turret view in BT is a buzz of an idea when it comes to holding that line on climb-out. Much better than a rendundant 2D rendering of the rear cockpit (Jan's mind-blowing VC has that well and truly covered as it is!). Any chance you might incorporate this same feature in the new R4D making good use of her cute little astrodome?An absolutely stunning product, guys! Thank you very much!Sir John :-sword

Hi Sir John, sir!That's a bloody good idea! If I forget to give you credit in the manual, you can always point with pride at this thread. I hereby acknowledge that the astrodome rear view idea was yours. :-) In recognition of your service to MAAM-SIM, I hereby dub thee Sir Sir John, awarding you the Order of the Bathtub. :( (I'm a two-handed dubber) Sorry about that cut behind your right ear. Better see the palace nurse about that. Arise, Sir Sir John. Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Bill: Remind me never to let you anywhere near me with a sharp implement... :-swordSir Sir John: I can add no more, other than giving you a large gold star! :-hah :-sun1 Ian P.:-halo

Alas, Squire Bill... Worry not... It it but a flesh wound after all.. And a great many of those I've suffered (and broken bones to boot)in the twenty years or so of my chosen occupation!! And thank you immeasurably for the prospect of a mention in a MAAM Sim manual!! I can think of no greater 'tilt of the helm' than that! And also to you Ian P.. That Gold Star I'll have embroidered upon my Standard!! Thanks! :-lol Sir John :-sword The Flying Knight

Hi Sir Sir JohnThought you might like to see your idea is already taking flight.. sorta...http://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/astrodome.jpgI intentionally posted this one which is a bit off center so you can see there really is a vertical stabilizer behind that big horseshoe antenna. I have a perfectly straight and centered one, but I'll wait for a sunnier day to shoot the final one. MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Cor Blimey, Bill! You don't muck about do ya! Been dying to know what the view's like from up there! It's gonna look great when it's done and may even fox a minority who aren't quite so familiar with the R4D-6 astrodome! Your commitment to superb 2D panels and bitmaps is commendable, sir, and honestly appreciated!! Thankfully, my favourite developers are still using them, or at least giving us the option to use them, and I'm sure there are a great many of us out here who still want and need them in our purchases. The 'VC only' opinion has no real argument since one only needs to provide the facility to turn them off! For me, the biggest plus for 2D supplements is in the glance sideways, the 2D realistic bitmap loads instantly everytime! The bonus is that the unseen VC is also being loaded simultaneously beneath it and allows for a super quick and smooth transition to it when the view is changed apruptly to 3D. I don't think anything kills that illusion of reality more than a left or right glance out of a 'cardboard' textureless windowframe as your PC, caught on the hop, desperately tries to load the VC! BT is a legend because for the first time in a product both 2D & 3D operations work harmoniously together!! Long live the MAAM Sim projects! I salute you people!Sir (Sir) John :-sword The Flying Knight.

Well, as the guy who produces the 2-D panels and views, I of course agree with you wholeheartedly! ;-) It's demise would limit my graphic work to gauges and subcontracting textures for Jan on the VC. I also like the photographic 2-D views very much, so we'll keep those coming, as long as the platform allows it. Taking the photo by holding the camera up in the dome - happily, my Canon G2 has a flexible LCD screen - made me wonder what the navigator stood on to use the astrocompass! That instrument, identical to the one in BT, moves on fore and aft rails to allow the nav to get his head in there for observations ahead and behind - barely! Since there is no allowance for lateral movement, I have no idea how the instrument could have been used to shoot an azimuth to the sides. Perhaps someone with some experience could solve those mysteries for us.I remember a story my Dad told about a flight during his stateside training before shipping over to Townsville, NSW in '41. He said he was sightseeing out the astrodome of a B-26 Marauder when a sudden downdraft plastered him into the dome and darn near broke his neck. He could see an altimeter from where he stood, pinned by the g-forces in the dome, and its needles were going around like someone rapidly setting the hands of a clock, as the plane dropped through several thousand feet. :-eek When the weather gods finally turned the plane loose, Dad decided the dome was not the best place for that sort of "stargazing", after all!Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

A disturbing account, Bill, and what surely must have been a very frightening experience for your old man to boot! A case then, for danger lurking in the most unlikely places! Should have been so serene and cerebral a moment against the backdrop of chaos in 1941. Intrigue... How 'did' the navigator get up there and work that rig? I would be very interested in seeing some photos of that compartment and it's equipment and, I agree, a briefing on how it was operated in such confined and uncomfortable conditions would be a hoot! Must be someone out there who knows, a diagram in a textbook perhaps? Hmmm - Incidentally, does R4D-6 still have her astrocompass in situ? You say it was fixed on fore and aft rails - Was it a permanent fixture or was it attached to the rails when it was needed? I can't really profess to know much about such things.Sir John :-sword The Flying Knight

Well, if you take a look at the rear view of the R4D, some of your questions will be answered...http://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/Rear.jpgThere are thumbscrews that clamp the four bakelite slides to the round rails. When they are loosened, the whole contraption can be slid fore and aft. But removal of the astro-compass does not look routine. I imagine it stayed mounted, in normal use. Perhaps they carried a small stepladder. :-hmmmI'll have to ask Russ about it. He probably knows all the details. In the course of restoring an old airplane, people like Russ and the other restorers at MAAM probably learn more about the whole plane and its equipment than any of the original crew members could hope to know. I doubt if even an experienced crew chief of many years experience could match that sort of overall knowledge. You need only look at the P-61 taking shape in the shop to see the truth of that. Bill Rambow MAAM-SIM - Rambow, Visser, Banting, and Younghttp://www.fssupport.com/maam_sim/maamsim_logo.gif

Shame on me! I must have glanced back there a hundred fold during my copious hours in the old R4D! I seem to remember a modification down the line aswell, where the rear bitmap was altered and the astrodome sealed off for users of another DC-3 variant? Blimey! In all that time that mysterious little gadget never really registered! I'm sure Russ will come up with the goods!The Flying Knight :-sword