Dangerous Places Altitude

[Doug]

I would like to fly my B-17 from Europe into Bremen, Germany to simulate a bomb run at 26,000 feet like that it was done in WWII and return to Europe again. The problem that I have is that when I am at that altitude I get NO surface to air fire at all, even though I have modified the dangerous places file to include Bremen. I would like to modify something so that I can receive possible damage at that altitude. Is there any way to do this?

Thanks for helping!



Post Edited ( 10-19-07 06:18 )

[Joeflyer]

Ahh, you want that flying tank to limp back home,eh? You might try flying at a much lower altitude as a test Then you might get the anti
aircraft fire...

[Doug]

Joeflyer wrote:
Ahh, you want that flying tank to limp back home,eh? You might try flying at a much lower altitude as a test Then you might get the anti
aircraft fire...

Yeah, you’ve kinda got the right idea. I would like the challenge of getting her back IF I sustain any damage during the flight.

I appreciate the thought about flying lower but that kind of takes the whole idea away from what I want to accomplish. Everyone knows that
bombers could take damage from flak at 26,000 feet, so it would be nice if that could be simulated into this fine program. I don't want to
be a B-17 crop duster over Germany.





Post Edited ( 10-19-07 06:19 )

[Joeflyer]

Unfortunately, flying at a lower altitude, not necessarily on the deck like a duster, will make those natives come alive

[Doug]

Joeflyer wrote:
Unfortunately, flying at a lower altitude, not necessarily on the deck like a duster, will make those natives come alive

I understand and I did fly lower a few days ago before I posted anything just to see if the enemy fire was working. The result was that I did
sustain damage because I had modified the dangerous places file. However, in the mean time, if anybody knows of a way to cause the
natives to come alive at 26,000 feet please let me know. If it cannot be done please tell me that, as well, so I will stop thinking about
ways to make if work.

Much appreciation!

[Valoran]

From what I've read in various places on the internet and in books, the practical bombing altitude for a fully loaded B-17 in combat kit
was around 20,000 ft. Any higher and the defensive guns began to freeze up and the bombing accuracy fell to roughly 0% not to mention
a fully loaded G began exhibiting stall characteristics above 22,000ft.

You also might want to add more dangerous areas to simulate the flak batteries the Germans set up under heavily used flight paths that
lead to the common targets. I remember reading that B-24 crews flying out of Italy late in the war knew some of those spots and learned
to try and avoid them but the brass would route them right through the flak batteries anyway.

[Doug]

I do remember reading about their guns freezing up at 26,000 ft. I am flying the F series though, so I don’t think the stall characteristics
would have affected it that much at 22,000 ft. Regardless, I have not gotten any enemy fire even at 20,000 ft.

Your suggestion about adding more dangerous areas to simulate the flak batteries that the Germans set up along heavily used flight
paths is a good one but if I can’t get any flak, even at 20,000 ft, the effort would be useless. Is there a way to turn the enemy fire up to a
higher altitude, or is there not? Does anyone know for sure?

Thank you for your time, Gentlemen!

[Doug]

Okay, does anyone know what is the maximum altitude that you can fly and still get shot?

Thank you,

[poden]

You could do a re-enactment of the Ploesti bombing raid in 1943 and go in on the deck . . .





Post Edited ( 10-24-07 05:35 )

[JanniCash]

Maybe a "bullseye" repaint can help?


Jan

[Doug]

poden wrote:
You could do a re-enactment of the Ploesti bombing raid in 1943 and go in on the deck . . .

Thanks for the thought. That sounds like a really great mission idea! But I would need to climb out of my B-17 and get into one of my B-
24s for it to be historically correct.

I have actually been working on a mission in the Hawaiian Islands flying from Lihue at Kauai Island to Bellows AFB, which is near Pearl
Harbor, to simulate when the twelve B-17s were coming in from the mainland on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor. This would make
a very good mission using FsPassengers. However, I am having a problem getting the active fire to work consistently in that area for
some reason. I modified the dangerous places file and got active fire at Bellows AFB airport but when I fired the mission up and flew into
Bellows AFB there was no fire at all. As a matter of fact, I have not been able to get any fire anywhere in that region since. I don’t know
what could be wrong.

[Valoran]

Well, interestingly, none of the B-17's were harmed in that particular mission so I guess it went down pretty accurately.

[scandahl]

Hi Doug.
I wanted to do the same thing some time ago, but it just did'nt seem to work. Instead I did some of the Operation Bolero ferry flights. You
can find AI planes, flight plans, airfields etc on flightsim.com. FSPassengers workes perfect for ferry flights, but for the bomb runs I ended
up buying 'The mighty eight'. It's a little old (but also inexpencive), but the graphics still fine, and it simulates bombing much better than
you will ever have FS9 do. You can spend hours limbing back home over europe, nursing your overheatet engines while hoping the
Luftwaffe does'nt see you.

I never made it long enough to ferry the B17 back to the US though

Cheers
David

[Doug]

Valoran wrote:
Well, interestingly, none of the B-17's were harmed in that particular mission so I guess it went down pretty accurately.

I guess you could look at it that way. However, the new B-17s were mixed in with the Navy’s anti-aircraft fire and the Japanese
although none of the B-17s were actually shot down on that infamous day . With regards to my simulated flight I heard no fire at all, which
took much of the challenge and the fun away for me.

[Doug]

scandahl wrote:

but for the bomb runs I ended
up buying 'The mighty eight'. It's a little old (but also inexpencive), but the graphics still fine, and it simulates bombing much better than
you will ever have FS9 do. You can spend hours limbing back home over europe, nursing your overheatet engines while hoping the
Luftwaffe does'nt see you.

I will have to check this sim out. Do you know if “The Mighty Eight” has the capacity for me to hook my yoke, throttle quadrant and rudder
pedals up? Thanks for the advice!