Boogus Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 i was browsing their site this morning and noticed it's out. looks like 31.40 US. at aerosoft.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper31 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Cool...I've been keeping one eye on this plane, and I am curious to hear feedback from users to see how she looks and flies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boogus Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 wow - been looking at the demo startup checklist movie... looks awsome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennyson Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Thanx for the HU, mate. I've wanted to buy one of these babies for a while, but the only Cats around were for FS2004. Now I've got one in my hangar. The shots on the forum look good, hope the model lives up to them. Expect screen shots shorty. Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennyson Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Holy Cow, this is not an aircraft you just jump in and fly. The manual is 440 pages long and very in-depth. It's a very well explained publication, but will certainly take some time to digest. I'm a bit miffed at the Aerosoft site, though. I paid for it via paypal and I've been given the old "account processing" palava, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow before I get my grubby little hands on it. I checked the FSS site but it wasn't there. Would much rather have got it there, but beggars... Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Lehmann (FSS) Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I checked the FSS site but it wasn't there. Would much rather have got it there, but beggars... It'll be up at FSS today some time. Just waiting on the file to transfer down from the Aerosoft server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Looks good will have to put this on the list i think Thanks for the Heads Up on this. cheers Iain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ja-durant Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 It's a must . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexter Dog Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Catalina departing for Lord Howe! Can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennyson Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Yep, should have waited, Adrian. I got the old story now, paid my money but nothing to show for it. Now I gotta wait for emails explaining what went wrong, where my download is, bla bla. Next time I'll just shoot you guys an email and ask if and when you gonna have it. Meanwhile I'll just knit a jumper or two while I wait for my new Catalina..... Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Archie Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Well, just spent 30 minutes going through the startup sequence.... oh my, she is a real beauty! Absa..bloody..lutely wonderful, you have to hear the sound set to believe it, turn up that volume as loud as the missus will allow! I was a little dubious when I read over at the Aerosoft forums that they don't recommend Vista 32, but on my system (Vista 32 bit Ultimate) she flies like a dream, no FPS worries at all (although I have only flown her out of Port Lincoln at this stage). This is a keeper. Oh, and btw, there is an Aussie repaint included, one of the Black Cats. (They were based out of Cairns in WW2, so brings it right home for me!) Go get her lads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurdy Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 looks awesome... putting it on the list after the Duke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I read over at the Aerosoft forums that they don't recommend Vista 32 Aye ? So what are they recommending then ? Linux ? Dale, how is this beauty on the FPS ? I am a bit worried since the Do-27 and the Bushhawk... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolb Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I just downloaded after reading some great post, and wow, is this a great plane, and amazing on the FPS, I have an old system that have locked at 20fps, and on external view its about 19.7 FPS, and internal view is about 19.2. As good or better than any of the standard default planes, and the sounds are to die for. Great job Aerosoft. NOTE: Iam running Vista 32-bit and works great!!! Couple quick pic's: one more: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotspot Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Yep, looks great, good on frames, easy to fly, maneouverable on water, sounds authentic - has anyone found the model with the glued on gear which toggles on and off like a light switch? - looks atrocious, but hey - ten out of eleven ain't bad!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Archie Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Yep, looks great, good on frames, easy to fly, maneouverable on water, sounds authentic - has anyone found the model with the glued on gear which toggles on and off like a light switch? - looks atrocious, but hey - ten out of eleven ain't bad!! Thats just a placeholder animation because those particular models had no landing gear, specifically made for water (or beach) landings only! The tack on gear is just to allow you to take off from land, it disappears as soon as you toggle the G key after lift off. @Mango, no probs with FPS at all mate, she is a real gem, and its worth it ($40 AUD I paid) for the sound set alone, crank it right up!!! This is actually what Mathijs said on the Aerosoft forum : In the product pages you will see that we do not advise Vista for this product. In fact we do not advise Vista for any FS addon but the more complex the project is in visuals the easier it is to get into memory problems. Now the Catalina is intended to fly low and you will be tempted to use high detail scenery that also increases the memory load. Up to yesterday there was not a lot that could be done other then downgrading Vista to XP but that is not a very attractive option. Today however you got the option to use Microsoft newest and very cool operating system for over a year without any cost. Windows 7 is everything that Vista should have been with a lot of new stuff thrown in. Microsoft makes the Release Copy (the one they will start to sell soon) available as download from this link: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx. You got till March 1st 2010 to replace the 'free' copy with a paid version, that upgrade will be seamless and easy. It is simply a very good deal, a high end try-before-you buy Operating System. Nobody likes to rebuild the complete operating system and I'm not saying you need it. But we CAN now say that we do not advise Vista as there is a better and cheaper alternative. The Catalina will work fine on Vista as long as you do not overload the memory bus that will get you the dreaded 'out of memory' messages. On XP and on Windows 7 you will not see these messages (assuming you got 2 gb of mem) and it will be about 10 to 15% faster. -------------------- With regards, Mathijs Kok (on behalf of Aerosoft) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Thanks Dale. They should use Vista 64 then to avoid memory problems... . I'll go for w7 with my new PC, too much hassle to reinstall everything now because a few weeks. Sounds like the Catalina is a must have - poor credit card... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Archie Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Here is a little story about the RAAF Cats in WW2 if anyone is interested (long but worth it) Catalina Flying Boats of World War Two CATALINA FLYING BOATS   Who was Fl/Lt A.E.(Bill) Minty, and what did he do that deserves recognition?     Bill Minty did what was thought to be every young man’s duty. But like a lot of young men at that time he carried out deeds that - looked at in cold blood - were nothing short of heroic. He was born and educated in Sydney, and when the war intervened he was midway through a civil engineering degree at Sydney Technical College. Volunteering for the RAAF he was sent to a Catalina squadron (no. 11) based in Cairns, and there learned to lay mines, first as a second pilot, then after completing one tour of ops, retraining as a captain and doing another tour with 20 Sqn.     Minelaying. Mention that to European ex-service people and they will come up with vague ideas of Coastal Command doing something like that around Holland in aircraft that were too obsolete to use in mainstream raids. Mention it to an Australian, and you will draw a blank. However the minelaying missions carried out by the members of Australia’s Catalina squadrons were long and arduous, rivaling the European raids for length and hazards.     In Europe raids were usually carried out by large numbers of aircraft operating over a previously mapped course that had also been extensively photographed. This gave the crews an idea of what to expect in the way of resistance, and landmarks or features by which to accurately navigate. The concentration of machines also gave weight to their defensive armament, and the moral support of not being alone. Their flightpath was mainly over land, and there was a better than even chance of succour after a forced landing, even ditching into the North Sea gave you a good chance of a quick retrieval. Their target was often marked by pathfinders in a manner that was usually visible for over thirty miles, and precision bombing was carried out by special crews or squadrons.     If a specific target was to be hit, the crews were given special training, flew simulated missions, often had models of the target area to study, and were supplied with recent photos of the target area.     Minelaying in the Western Pacific though was a different ballgame. There were two Australian PBY-5 Catalina squadrons operating out of Cairns that were the major and sometimes only long range offensive arm of the RAAF. The Catalina is a sedate flying boat designed for long range ocean patrolling. Not visualised as an offensive machine, it has no bomb bays and only two hard points under the wing that are capable of carrying 2000lbs each. As well as utilising these hardpoints, it was not unusual for Cat crews to carry up to 300lbs of 20lb fragmentation bombs on the floor of the aircraft to be thrown out over the target through the fuselage gun blisters. They were very slow, but with great range (and as Bill Minty often claimed, it also made them the only aircraft known to suffer birdstrike from behind!) Until late in the war, most Australian Catalinas were not amphibious, being the earlier models without undercarriage.     They were designed to operate from sheltered bays, inlets, lagoons, and rivers, not the open ocean, hence the hull plates are only made of 1.5mm sheet metal. To allow the aircraft to carry more load, a large portion of the armour plating was removed, along with the self sealing apparatus in the fuel tanks, some of the guns, and a lot of the ammunition.     The missions required excellent navigation skills as the target area was usually very small, say an airfield or in the case of mines, a ten metre square of water, and ten hours flying away over featureless ocean that was sparsely populated with islands that due to Japanese occupation had to be avoided. (In fact the navigation was so good that from mid 1942 the Cats were used as pathfinders for the American heavy bombers.) It was known by the crews of the Cats that capture by the Japanese was usually followed by beheading. The target was often a harbour or river entrance and to get the most effect the mines had to be laid with an accuracy that has only recently been re-achieved, (this time by smart bombs during the Gulf War).     To get these results the crews were given a datum point to work from. This was a known fixed point, usually on land. Once at this point the aircraft was flown at a precise height and heading for a period that was timed with a stopwatch until the mines were released. This may not sound too difficult, but consider that to actually get to the datum point the Catalina had to be flown for distances of up to 1000 Nm. Not only that, but for the most part they had to be flown by "hand" because the constraints of aircraft performance due to their overloaded condition precluded the use of the automatic pilot. Then once at the target the most precise instrument flying had to be undertaken, often in the face of searchlights and enemy fire. When the task was completed a return to base that took another ten hours flying. Missions ranged from fifteen to twenty-five hours duration. Two or even three missions a week was not unusual.     Knowing all this you would expect the crews of these machines would be pretty special. Not so. The crews were standard aircrews, and whoever was next on the flying list got the job. Intelligence was gathered by whatever means was available, often out of date photographs, verbal descriptions by crews that had been to the target area, and at times pre-war tourist pamphlets with photographs of the target harbour. Then to top it all off, the mission was often carried out by one or two machines. If more than one aircraft was going to the same target they flew independently, and arrived at the target at different times. A not uncommon occurrence was to mine or bomb more than one target on each mission, or be instructed to carry out procedures to induce "alarm and despondency" over a protracted period. An almost famous example of this is the five hour continual harassment of the Bismark Sea convoy by Fl/Lt. Duigan and crew with only four 250lb bombs! This convoy was later almost totally destroyed during the battle of the Bismark Sea.     Fl/Lt. Minty was an ordinary chap of medium build and stature. His manner was quiet and unassuming, but his mind was extremely sharp and calculating. Despite having completed only half of his civil engineering degree before joining up he had an excellent grasp of the fundamentals of it, and had no trouble turning his knowledge to aircraft. Known to both his crew and commanding officer as a man to whom thorough was a watchword, he could at a pinch fill any position in the crew and perform their tasks as well as they. Minty was known for careful forethought planning, and determination. What follows is an account of one operation that he was involved in. Though it appears to unusually difficult and lengthy, the only really unusual thing about it was that it had to be aborted.     On January 21/22 1944 Fl/Lt Minty and crew were detailed to lay mines in Kau Bay, a central harbour of the Halmahera part of the Dutch East Indies, about 1000 Nm north west of Darwin. Their datum was to be a small wharf from where their run would be sixty seconds at 85 knots, at mast top height. Moored near the wharf was a Japanese cruiser. The departure from Darwin harbour was that day made more than usually difficult by a long swell that Minty avoided by making a crosswind take off. Even then, the aircraft was so overloaded that during the 2min 10sec take off run ( as opposed to the normal 50 second run) the pilots had no forward visibility due to their tremendous bow-wave that at times sent water over the wing. Added to this was the fact that sitting so low in the water as they were, rotating caused the rudder to partially submerge. This (as Minty was wont to ruefully comment) was yet another occasion upon which a Catalina had only become airborne because of the curvature of the Earth.     Whilst in flight to the target they encountered the intertropic front and stormy weather. Gaining altitude to clear mountains on the island of Ceram, the aircraft demonstrated yet another of it’s traits, and began leaking heavily. To help control the deluge, a groundsheet was rigged above the navigator and re-directed the water into the bilge. Upon reaching the other side of the storm and having flown on dead reckoning since Darwin, Minty took a star shot and when the navigator returned with the fix they found that they were quite a way off course. An alternative course was given and they approached the Halmaheras from the west. The idea was to arrive at Kau Bay from inland, fly just over the top of the harbourside mountain on minimum power, and glide down to the datum point for the mining run. By this tactic, two things were hoped for, the first was to make themselves very difficult to see, and secondly to give them a clear low level run across the harbour. An added advantage of this approach was that it would silhouette the cruiser against the water enabling them to pinpoint it’s position.     Unfortunately upon arrival they found cloud down to water level and Minty decided to abort the mission. This was one of only two missions that he aborted during his entire flying career. The next problem was how to get back to Darwin ( a ten hour flight) in full daylight past Japanese held islands and not be seen. They dropped to wavetop height and headed south while they discussed where to jettison the mines. This duly done, they continued on and again encountered the intertropic front. This time it brought violent winds as well as storms, and the Catalina suddenly surged upwards at a rate of almost 1000 feet/minute. Minty was able to control this ascent a little by putting the aircraft into a thirty degree nose down attitude. As the weather appeared to be slightly better ahead, he applied full climb power in the nose down attitude, dragged the machine out of the upward surge, and decided to take shelter in nearby Snake Bay on the northern coast of Melville island. Whilst riding at anchor there, a trawler approached and they were informed that a small supply of AvGas was cached there in 44 gallon drums.     Upon consultation with the flight engineer and considering the consumption of fuel on take off, Minty decided to avail himself of this opportunity and taxied to the indicated area. Using an electric bilge pump they began transferring the fuel, but halfway through the second drum contact between the fueling nozzle and the wing was momentarily lost and the resulting spark ignited the fuel. The rear third of the Catalina wing is skinned in doped fabric, and when the flames reached this they quickly took hold and destroyed it. the crew hurriedly vacated the craft in fear of an explosion, as there were tongues of burning AvGas erupting from the fuel tank. However when no explosion was forthcoming, Minty went back aboard armed with a cornsack soaked in sea water. This he draped over the fuel tank opening, and then dived off the wing. This action successfully extinguished the fire, and they clambered back aboard to survey the damage.     Apart from the fact that a large portion of the lifting surface was missing, the aircraft was in surprisingly good condition. A radio message was sent to Darwin appraising them of the facts, and eventually the flight commander arrived in another Catalina, bearing dire threats from the CO. At this stage Minty was justifiably upset. Having had to abort the mission, sleepless for over thirty hours, and now through no fault of his own having had his aircraft partially destroyed and being threatened with a Court Martial for it, he became somewhat agitated. He burst out wrathfully to his flight commander that it was patently ridiculous that the fueling system should rely on a man holding the fueling nozzle in continuous contact with the wing to prevent sparks. Why, he continued heatedly, hadn’t someone thought of attaching an earthing wire ending in an alligator clip, to the pump? The clip could be attached before the pump was started, and there would be no more problems. (This is now mandatory procedure in general aviation. Ed.)     Bill Minty and his crew were ferried back to Darwin for some much needed sleep that night, and returned the following day to somehow get the Cat home. Fortunately the minesweeper HMAS Mercedes was there, and they followed it out to sea whereupon a 200m towline was attached, and they were unceremoniously towed the 200Nm back to Darwin.     The threatened disciplinary action did not proceed. Bill Minty survived the war and lived in Canberra until his death in 1995. Bill Minty and the Catalina Seaplanes of WWII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyla1 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Thanks for the story Archie.....very interesting. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-WCE Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Very good story that! I enjoyed it a lot! Was very interesting That would have to be the most I've read in a long time lol Hopefully i can get the cat soon! is a very nice bird! and by the sounds of it is worth getting!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotspot Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Thanks for the story Archie Capt P G Taylor of 'filling an engine with oil while airborne over sea with Kingsford Smith' fame wrote a fascinating book about his long over ocean flights in the Catalina; but my sixpence worth is to mention that my flying instructor for much of my commercial navigation training was an ex Catalina pilot who flew over the islands north of PNG on very long missions during WWII, and often told amusing and hair raising stories of flights which lasted from memory for seventeen hours, hence my interest in the mighty Cat. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boogus Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 excellent story! And a 2 min 10 sec takeoff in high waves??!! what a ride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper31 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Thanks for sharing that story. Definately some moxie climbing back onto a burning aircraft with a "cornsack soaked in sea water" to drape over the fuel tank opening while it's on fire!...intense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divad_strebor Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I've got my Catalina! I've gotta go to work in a minute, so I'll read the above story when I get home later.. As for getting it, I used a screenshot comp prize that I've had sitting around since November last year. I placed my order last night and waited. Nothing. Then I had a brilliant idea, I sent a quick email to Shaun (whom I had corresponded with about claiming the prize in the first place) letting him know that I had placed the order and how, just to ensure it didn't get lost in the crowd, and BAM! 5 minutes later, he'd emailed me back and I started downloading! Impressive service I must say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Harris Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 For those unaware (like I was half an hour ago) there is/was a Catalina base right next to YPEC Aeropelican airfield "RAAF Rathmines" was home to No. 11 Squadron from February 1942 onwards some links http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/No._11_Squadron_RAAF http://www.catalinaflying.org.au/rathmines.htm from looking at GE there is still a huge ramp there in real life, Rathmines is said to be the most intact RAAF seaplane base left today (was a 61 hectare area back in the war) Google earth KML attached Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I've got mine from FSS this morning. Very nostalgic and I must say very nice to fly. So easy to trim. Don't need an auto pilot. Flying from Andreas AB, Isle of Man to Walney Island, I posted some pictures on the Horizon Forum. I didn't think it would be good form to post them here. Anyway, to cut a long story short, everything went fine, take-off, navigation etc. My intention was to land it on Barrow but I thought; 'Dammit, its a flying boat', so within sight of the airport I made a nice landing in the sea, taxied, then started to turn left and the right wing simply dipped itself in the water and stayed there! As I'm sure the thing isn't meant to list to starboard when at rest in water and it appears to have no floats, has anyone discovered a way of keeping it upright? Oh, and while I'm asking, where can I get the manuals from please? Many thanks. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Archie Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I've got mine from FSS this morning. Very nostalgic and I must say very nice to fly. So easy to trim. Don't need an auto pilot. Flying from Andreas AB, Isle of Man to Walney Island, I posted some pictures on the Horizon Forum. I didn't think it would be good form to post them here. Anyway, to cut a long story short, everything went fine, take-off, navigation etc. My intention was to land it on Barrow but I thought; 'Dammit, its a flying boat', so within sight of the airport I made a nice landing in the sea, taxied, then started to turn left and the right wing simply dipped itself in the water and stayed there! As I'm sure the thing isn't meant to list to starboard when at rest in water and it appears to have no floats, has anyone discovered a way of keeping it upright? Oh, and while I'm asking, where can I get the manuals from please? Many thanks. John http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?showtopic=25298 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Hi Dale Thanks. I've got the manual but I still can't find the operation instructions for lowering the floats. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Archie Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Hi Dale Thanks. I've got the manual but I still can't find the operation instructions for lowering the floats. John Make sure you have enough hydraulic pressure then just look for the big orange outlined switch on the right hand side of the yoke buttons, flick it down to lower the floats, up to raise them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Hm, sounds technical to me. Thanks Dale. I would have thought there would be plenty of hydraulic pressure built up during a flight of that distance and I did try to lower the floats. I'll have another go as I do like it. It is so very easy to trim, so flying low and slow is a doddle and because of that its great for viewing the scenery. During WW2 we saw a lot of them because of their use for searching for submarines, downed pilots, all sorts of stuff. Sorry, I'm babbling. Thanks again Dale. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divad_strebor Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 There are 3 positions on the floats switch, make sure it clicks all the way down.. I'm lovin this bird! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Yep, cracked it: Thanks for your help everyone. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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