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Flight Simulator For The Avro Lancaster Four Engined Bomber Sitting Behind Your Very Own Computer
The moment I write this I am 64 years old and so is the peace that followed World War II. This means that I'm "post war", which is exactly the way I want to keep it! It also means that I only saw Roy Chadwick's Avro Lancaster bomber in peacetime fly-by's which is a scarce enough happening, considering that there are only two (!) airworthy Lancasters left in the whole wide world. There's very little airtime to be shared among the eager crowd, so there are probably less than a dozen people who get to fly a real Lancaster from the left seat every once in a while.
The closest us lowly earth dwellers can come to flying Lancasters, is via a flight simulator. I am dedicated to Microsofts Flight Simulator X, in which I fly "my own" version of the B1 Lancaster, a hybrid based on the "Wings of Power" version for exterior and flight model, and for the 2-D instrument panel on just about everything including the kitchen sink. From lots of available panels that I collected in years of flight simming, I created a my personal panel.
Panel redrawing required!
I've got two reasons to design my own panels and gauges. Firstly, of course, because there's no ready made Lancaster panel available that looks to my liking. Secondly because existing panels put the simulated captains eyepoint somewhere in the center of the cockpit, like straight behind the throttle and prop controls. That's no good: it takes away much of the illusion or immersion. Although my real world flying experiences are sadly confined to single engines like Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee, I know that Lancaster pilots did not sit with their valuable parts shoved painfully into the throttle/propeller quadrants of their Avro Lancaster bomber!
My panel redesigns produce a more natural pilots position, and considerably enlarged gauges. Simulation, including flight simulation, is simply illusion - and I don't care much about the panel lay-out being realistic: I want it to look and feel realistic within the confines of a computer screen!!
The controls and such
In order to achieve a sufficient level of realism, flying your simulated bomber with the keyboard or mouse won't do. If you can even remotely afford it, a steering yoke is an absolute must, with a set of pedals coming in a close second. Fortunately such hardware add-ons are available in a wide price range, from very strong but equally expensive, to somewhat wobbly but easily affordable for most of us.
Now, bashfully I have a confession to make. Some six years ago I got the cheapest yoke and pedals available, and I still have and use them without a problem and to my complete satisfaction! In those years I must have bought for more than a couple of thousand dollars worth of other flight sim equipment, but I never saw any reason for discarding my old and faithful pedals/yoke set! Sure, eventually I'll replace them, even if it is only on account of normal wear and tear from almost daily use, but it's not necessary yet.
A very flustered face!
I will never say that a relatively simple computer simulation like MicroSoft Flight Sim X can ever give you the joy of flying the real thing, but sometimes it comes pretty darn close. I've made quite a lot of sim landings under conditions that turned my face sweaty with concentration, and sweaty with almost physical fear! Nor am I the only one with such experiences. I think it was around 2004 that an RAF flight crew trained for, and eventually flew, an MS-simulated famous Dam Busters raid. Those jet pilots and "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime" types left their specifically constructed after their exhausting final flight with a healthy respect for flight simulation, and for the good old Avro Lancaster. You won't see them looking down on "that game" or "that old bomber" anymore!
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