Subject: PC flight simulators
From: Andreas Maurer
Date: 11/19/03 4:34 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

On 19 Nov 2003 22:30:20 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

Subject: PC flight simulators
From: Steve
Date: 11/19/03 2:22 PM Pacific Standard Time

1943!! ROFLMAO!!

If you were with us (The 344th Bomb Group) in 1943 I don't think you would
have found much to laugh about. We sure didn't. There was a lot going on,
but
none of it was very funny.

Could you tell more about that simulator, Art?
How were the visuals done? What computed the flight model?

Bye
Andreas
..

Sure Andreas. Since you ask like a gentleman, I'll be glad to discuss it with
you. As I stated before, it was a real B-26 truncated behind the radio/Nav
compartment and mounted on a swive-l tilt base in a hanger. When we climbed
into it the pilots went into the cockpit, and went through turning on all their
switches and starting and running up the engines as if for a real takeoff.
Everything lit up and came to life. I climbed into the nose, and switched on
everything activating the bombsight, watched the gyro stand up and come to
speed, watched the intervelometer light up and the bomb rack station indicator
show loaded bomb racks on each station. Now to the interesting stuff. My view
was a color photograph chart that rolled under me at groundspeed. But it was
a scrambled image, That is the target area might be a port that showed
Manhattan in the center, the China coast to the West and San Francisco to the
East. This was to prevent anyone rom being familiar with any area so you
couldn't say, "hey I lived there and know it well" You had to fly and navigate
since no one had a recognition advantage. We had been briefed before the
simulator drill as to the exact rarget are we were to hit and the route we were
to fly. Where we were to expect flak and fighters but we were never given any
indcation of the damage that we would sustain. On course we had extensive flak
that shook the simulator violently. We had an engine out that rolled us
violently into the dead engine but Paul and Bob caughtiit in time and we
connued on course on sungle engine. We were now losing about 300 feet /minute
and couldn't do a damned thing about it. We were jumped by fighterand returned
fire. Our cockpit and my nose filled with smoke and had a strong cordite
smell;; mixed with the odor of urine and vomit which was always present. I
opened the vent and a strong relative wind blew the nose clear of smoke. We
stopped losing altitiude and the target came into sight.I lined up the Norden
head with the target uncaged the gyro and called "on course" to Paul locking
in the Norden head to the base, Suddenly we got heavy Flak that rocked the
plane violently. "please don't tumble my gyro" I prayed. ****, The gyro
tumbled.I grabbed the gimble ring erector knobs, got the gyro up and caged it.
But it was too late. We would now have to do a go around through that ****ing
flak again. I had totally forgotten I was in a simulator. I was sweating ,
tense and upset about the go around as though it was real It was real to me at
that point. I got on the intercom and asked Paul to hold us steady through the
run.I forgot that the simulator was pre-programed and there were certain things
that were going to happen that was beyond our control. On the second run we hit
the target with good results. closed the bombay doors and we turned for home.
The run was over, We got out of the plane sweating and shaken. Note that I
call it a plane, not a simulator because to us it was a plane,not a simiulator.
And we were almost surprised to find that when we got out of the plane we were
in a hanger. Reality rushed back. That night we went to the officers club and
over a few Scotches we drank and kept saying. "holy ****. holy ****"

Adreas that is as I remember it. If you have any questions I will be glad to
answer them.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer