F8F-2 Bearcat Dev Diary

Hi Guys

Yep that’s right, if you haven’t guessed already the appearance of this thread does indeed confirm that the Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat will be the second release from our Warbirds collection.

So I thought I would kick off the Dev Diary for the Bearcat, Currently the Bearcat is still being modelled and is subject to some tweaking and modifying.

The programmer for the project has started to get his teeth into the EFM(PFM) for it.

We are on track for a release date during Q1 of 2015, we have made the decision that due to the complicated nature of these aircraft we will do open betas for them so that we can continue to refine them and work on them.

I am also pleased to confirm that I have 4 Bearcat pilots who have flown DCS with us previously who have said they will give me feedback and development notes to make this the most accurate Bearcat simulator anywhere.

IP agreements with Grumman are in process, I do not expect any problems here as Grumman have an established process for this kind of thing.

Research is continuing into the performance of the Pratt and Whitney 2800. We expect this to carry on for at least another month so that we can get all the behaviours done correctly.

It is my intention to have the oil smoke from that engine in DCS as well, if there is a way we can do it then it will be done, I know how much seeing that kind of thing in real life means to me and want to capture that effect within DCS if at all possible.

We are also very aware of peoples intent to land this aircraft on carriers, All I can say for that at the moment is ask you to bare in mind that we are seriously looking at a map pack in the future…

Next week I will share a few renders of our Bearcat and look forward to hearing feedback from you guys on what you think.

All the best as always

Pman

This reeks of organisation.:thumbup:

Go Bearcats!

Well just got back from a research trip to duxford, Was snapping some detailed cockpit photos for the model as well as getting some other reference materials.

Thought I'd include a sample of the piccies that I took today

Development work is continuing on the programming front as well as on the model. Research continues as well.

Pman

Am I silly or does that RPM gauge go to 4500?

Also 70" of manifold pressure.

Beastly.

Am I silly or does that RPM gauge go to 4500?

 

Also 70" of manifold pressure.

 

Beastly.

They do, however you will see the Red max line on the RPM is along way before that ;)

Some high supped Stangs can go to 72" Manifold now :)

Pman

What is that gauge at the top left corner of the cockpit?

The digital one? Its part of the modern radio suite. It won't 've included in our module :)

Pman

The digital one? Its part of the modern radio suite. It won't 've included in our module :)

 

Pman

Sorry, should have been more specific. I was referring to the circular gauge directly left of the airspeed indicator (it is numbered up to 24, could it be a 24-hour clock of some sort?)

Ah yes, I can't see the image at the moment (won't display on my mobile) but I'm pretty sure you mean the clock. I quite like it actually :)

Pman

wow, that's a bit unusual for a clock gauge.

thanks Pman :)

Yes, it is a clock indeed !

These are the cockpit schematics for the F8F-1 (day fighter version)

And these are for the F8F-1N (night fighter version)

Hope this helps....

Them Graphics! :music_whistling:

Just Curious?

I noticed in your statement you said, "IP agreements with Grumman are in process, I do not expect any problems here as Grumman have an established process for this kind of thing." I remember a while back reading something that was posted on the forums here about Grumman being a challenge to work with and that we would probably not see the F-14 any time in the near future if at all because of that. Have you encountered any flak from requesting data on the aircraft from them? Stating the obvious here, the Bearcat is a lot older than the Tomcat however I could not see the avionics in the Tomcat being something that is still classified. I am by far no expert and take ED's word on it but was just curious how your encounters have been with them. I would really like to see the Tomcat or Phantom and it looks like that is a pipe dream for a while.

Keep up the awesome work on the Bearcat. Really glad to have developers like you guys so focused on detail and realism. Growing up around these aircraft has been my life and it is a breath of fresh air to finally have a sim that is truly making realistic aircraft. High Five!

Regards

Robert

I noticed in your statement you said, "IP agreements with Grumman are in process, I do not expect any problems here as Grumman have an established process for this kind of thing." I remember a while back reading something that was posted on the forums here about Grumman being a challenge to work with and that we would probably not see the F-14 any time in the near future if at all because of that. Have you encountered any flak from requesting data on the aircraft from them? Stating the obvious here, the Bearcat is a lot older than the Tomcat however I could not see the avionics in the Tomcat being something that is still classified. I am by far no expert and take ED's word on it but was just curious how your encounters have been with them. I would really like to see the Tomcat or Phantom and it looks like that is a pipe dream for a while.

 

Keep up the awesome work on the Bearcat. Really glad to have developers like you guys so focused on detail and realism. Growing up around these aircraft has been my life and it is a breath of fresh air to finally have a sim that is truly making realistic aircraft. High Five!

 

Regards

Robert

I can't comment on any commercial relationship that we have in any detail for obvious reasons. That said Grumman do have an established process for this kind of thing.

That said we don't really need any tech stuff from Grumman as we have access to 4 airworthy Bearcats so we are pretty set on that front.

It is currently impossible to make any high fidelity simulator for the Tomcat or the Phantom due to issues revolving around classification and other restrictions placed by various organisations and governments. I'm not going to get into what they are or what things are.

I know people want a Phantom and a Tomcat in dcs , however it is our feeling that with these limitations implanted upon us that we can not produce a consumer simulator that even remotely simulates these aircraft.

As such both of these will not be developed by VEAO

Pman

I know people want a Phantom and a Tomcat in dcs , however it is our feeling that with these limitations implanted upon us that we can not produce a consumer simulator that even remotely simulates these aircraft.

 

As such both of these will not be developed by VEAO

 

Pman

do you think we could maybe hope for something ala Flamming Cliff instead of ala A-10C ?:music_whistling:

do you think we could maybe hope for something ala Flamming Cliff instead of ala A-10C ?:music_whistling:

You prob could possibly, although 3 areas I can think of would still be restricted even with that.

However not from us. FC3 level aircraft is not something we are interested in developing.

Pman

You prob could possibly, although 3 areas I can think of would still be restricted even with that.

 

However not from us. FC3 level aircraft is not something we are interested in developing.

 

Pman

Thats sad to hear cause with your dedication we would get a plane every three months. And not everyone can deal with a DCS level modern aircraft.

You prob could possibly, although 3 areas I can think of would still be restricted even with that.

 

However not from us. FC3 level aircraft is not something we are interested in developing.

 

Pman

Come on, please :cry:

If you do the F-4 we give you a platinum frequent eater card at Nando's :P

FC3 level aircraft is not something we are interested in developing.

:thumbup:

So if I understand this right, there's gamey and then there's you. And should that _really_ be the situation, I know I'd personally choose you any and every time over arcadish competitors. WE-HEY!!!

Come on, please :cry:

If you do the F-4 we give you a platinum frequent eater card at Nando's :P

He's already got six

(and it's still too expensive)

Thats sad to hear cause with your dedication we would get a plane every three months. And not everyone can deal with a DCS level modern aircraft.

There is nothing to say that we won't release a non clickable pit version of the Typhoon, but we wouldn't go into a development project knowing that we are limited to only a non clickable pit without accurate systems and flight performance.

Come on, please :cry:

If you do the F-4 we give you a platinum frequent eater card at Nando's :P

Lol, sorry not even free Nandos for life can swing this one

 

So if I understand this right, there's gamey and then there's you. And should that _really_ be the situation, I know I'd personally choose you any and every time over arcadish competitors. WE-HEY!!!

All of our modules will be up to Military grade specifications with the only exception being restrictions due to security or classification reasons.

Any SIM you get from us will he as close as you can get without signing the dotted line or buying one of these aircraft.

He's already got six

 

(and it's still too expensive)

Nevah!!

Pman

First skins I hope we will see for the Bearcat. Totally what if, but having the Mustang with proper skins and this ones, I will be able to represent the 100 hours war with those ones.

In case you don't know those are Honduras (left) and El Salvador (right) paintschemes used in their 1969 war.

First skins I hope we will see for the Bearcat. Totally what if, but having the Mustang with proper skins and this ones, I will be able to represent the 100 hours war with those ones.

 

 

In case you don't know those are Honduras (left) and El Salvador (right) paintschemes used in their 1969 war.

I dont think those will make the offical VEAO release, however we will be releasing the templates for people to make their own skins for our aircraft :)

Pman

I have to say that I wasn't initially running to your door ready to throw money at you but I'm pretty excited to see the Bearcat coming along now. It will be great to put it up against some of the FW190 and BF109 planes that should be done when this releases.

Just don't throw any of those god awful South American paint jobs on this beautiful plane. ;)

Thought I'd give you abit of an update on the dev of the Bearcat...

Flight modelling is in its infancy and is being programmed by the same AFM programmer as the P-40F so I would expect this to be completed slightly after the P-40F

The external model is going really well and should be completed in the next couple of weeks, work on the cockpit has already begun and is progressing well, I will post some more screenies during the week for this :)

We have managed to get the last of the references we needed for some of the more obscure areas of the aircraft so that has finally come to an end for now at least!

Thanks to Nick and Stephen Grey we managed to pickup a couple of small errors in the shape of the main body of our model, these have now been corrected and signed off.

Will bring you guys more news as it develops :)

Pman