Cliffhanger31

Hey all Sorry for the lack of updates, it’s been a crazy summer so far and I haven’t been able to work on the Cub as much as I wanted to. I’m currently working on an intro/tutorial video that I will release soon so you all can see it in action. The FM refactor is coming along nicely and should be done soon. After that I just need to fix a few minor bugs and wrap up some textures and she’ll be ready to go! Damage model is simple but it’s there. I made it pretty fragile so if you take a hit from any of the AA in the game you are likely cooked. Pilot model might be an EA item because I haven’t started it yet and I don’t really want to delay the release while I work on it.

You are correct. There’s a switch panel in the cockpit for for arming each tube, which is fully implemented. I just fired all 6 at once in the video so I would actually hit something

It's functionally complete. I'm pretty much just finishing some textures, playing with the sounds, and fixing bugs that have cropped up over time. Right now, the biggest barrier to release is that I decided to re-architect my flight model codebase for the third time. It won't have any effect on the aircraft itself other than hopefully making the code run a little faster, but it should make it much easier to create other aircraft in the future.

And here's a stall and spin from the cockpit spin.mp4

Here's a stall, the green boxes are all of the aerodynamic components of the flight model. stall.mp4

Thanks everybody for the kind words! Here is a clip of the rockets in action. Apologies for the low res, my laptop can't handle any higher graphics settings. rockets.mp4

Hey everyone I've been working on a full-fidelity Piper Cub mod, specifically the WWII L-4A variant, for quite some time. Now that it's getting close to completion, I figured it was time to share it with you all. I started this project because I wanted to learn about aircraft physics and flight modeling, so I chose the simplest aircraft that came to mind, thinking I would just write the EFM and use a free 3D model as a stand-in. Eventually, I got tired of looking at ugly models and decided I wanted to take a stab at 3D art, so I ended up creating a 3D model, textures, and animations to go along with the EFM. Currently, the Cub mod features a fully custom EFM that uses a blade-element theory approach to model aerodynamics. This method divides the aircraft's wings, tail, fuselage, propellers, and other surfaces into multiple components and calculates the lift and drag forces acting on each aerodynamic component. These forces are then summed up to produce the total force acting on the aircraft every frame. This approach is really cool because of its simplicity and how it naturally captures complex flight dynamics that occur at high angles of attack, such as spins or snap rolls, without relying on large datasets stored in lookup tables. The EFM also includes a realistic simulation of the Continental A-65 engine and propeller, including effects like p-factor, gyroscopic precession, and propwash. While my primary focus has been on the flight model, I've also taken some time to make sure the model looks decent and is realistic to the L-4A. I chose this particular variant so it can be used in various WWII scenarios, whether early or late in the war, and it will have skins appropriate for the ETO, PTO, and MTO. Additionally, I've included some M1A1 Bazookas, so it has at least a bit of firepower, and we can recreate the exploits of Bazooka Charlie. Some parts of the 3D model are still WIP, but here are some pics of the current state of the Cub.

I’ll always rep for a new airfield. Northolt would be great!

Great work @DD_Fenrir! I agree that all 75 is likely not possible for several reasons. However in my opinion adding the airfields of the 2nd TAF, 9th USAAF, and a few of the ADGB airfields to the map would allow for endless mission/campaign creation for a variety of different aircraft. These organizations account for the majority of air power that operated over the Normandy area in the summer of 1944. Thus, I believe they offer the best gameplay possibilities compared to airfields that would only offer novelty missions such as Airborne, Photo Recon, or transport.

Great map Fred! I thought I would add this map of 9th USAAF bases in the Southern UK. Taken together these maps detail the locations of all the important airfields in the region during 1944.

North Weald would be a great addition! Very historic and important.

Couldn’t agree more @Fred901. Like Spuks mentioned, airfields are where we spend the majority of our time on the ground, and they deserve as much attention to detail as other landmarks on the map. Thanks to Fred’s excellent thread here, the burden of research is almost entirely lifted.

I’m actually very impressed with Normandy 2.0, it is by far the best WWII map ever created for a flight sim. There are a few issues that need addressing, including Creil, Odiham, Poix, Amiens, and Conches, but I think these are just early access problems. The devs have shown they are willing to tweak airfields to make them correct, for example Villacoublay, Orly, and Cormellies are spectacular.

Yeah maybe it’s just an early access issue and they will continue to improve the airfields moving forward. We’ll see

Ahh yes I meant to say that Conches and Odiham don’t have the same number of runways, at least in the way Conches is represented in the game. Even still, Creil is the one that needs to be fixed the most because it’s not even a wartime airfield layout, the whole airfield is modeled as it looks in the present day.

Yes I’ve noticed that many of the airfields are “copy-pasted”. For example Beauvais-Tille and Amiens-Glisy are the exact same airfield. Similarly, Odiham is just Conches copied and pasted into England which is really disappointing because it looks nothing like a wartime RAF base and they don’t even have the same number of runways! Poix is also exactly the same as Evreux. I hope they can bring all of these airfields up to the same standards as Villacoublay and Cormellies which are both excellent representations of the real airfields during the war.

Creil airfield as it currently modeled on the Normandy 2.0 map appears in a modern NATO era configuration instead of its wartime layout. Below is a photo of Creil from 1944 followed by a current Google Earth image of the airfield.

It’s not completely outside of the high detail area, seeing as Dieppe is in included in high detail the cliffs should definitely be added as well.

I would just like to congratulate the folks at Ugra for creating a truly outstanding map which is certainly the most realistic WWII terrain ever made. Can’t wait to experience it!

The only exception to the “no-foliage” rule would be the ALGs which by their nature were temporary and thus the surrounding terrain was not extensively cleared. St Pierre Du Mont for example has many aircraft dispersals in the surrounding hedgerows.

Looks great! Is there any chance we’re still getting RAF Thorney Island @MAESTR0? It was announced earlier in this thread but I don’t see it on the list anymore. It would be great to have as it was a very important base and landmark during the Normandy campaign.

These liveries are fantastic and are far superior to the ones included in the base game historically and graphically. I know download size is a concern when adding new skins to an aircraft but if that’s the case I would be 100% in favor of replacing all of the A8 skins with the one created by Magic Zach.

Maybe, but given that the most likely opponent for the Hellcat and Corsair in the near future will be the A6M5, I think it would be a very balanced scenario similar to the P-51 vs 109-K4 or D9. The -5 Hellcat will have all of the cards over any variant of the Zero so it would be less compelling from a 1v1 perspective. I definitely don’t think we should take the German aircraft into account when considering the best variant of the Hellcat.

Just to clear things up, the only difference in “ground pounding capability” between the -3 and -5 is the introduction of HVAR on the -5. Apart from that they could both carry the exact same bomb load. Furthermore F6F-5s only carried rockets occasionally, as by that time the F4U-1D was operating off of fleet carriers as the primary fighter-bomber (VBF) type, leaving the A2A role largely to the F6F. If we are only going to get one variant I’d much prefer the -3 as it would be an excellent match for the WWII Marianas map and the lack of water injection would make it a really balanced match for the A6M5 Zeke. The ideal scenario would, however, be the development of both types as the differences are relatively minimal.

Quite often. For example in the Marianas, many of the CVEs and CVLs were apart of the amphibious fleet operating right off shore to provide direct support to the landings.