Has released their B-36H Peacemaker
The exterior model is superb, and the virtual cockpit is good; it's quite
a steal for only $16 dollars. There is a 3D Bombardier's position in the
virtual cockpit due to me asking them during the development process
if it was possible.
The 2D Cockpit panel is a work of art, with a native resolution of 1024x768;
linked below
2D Cockpit - 280 kb PNG file
AlphaSim has managed to get most of the performance down right for
the B-36H model, despite two major limitations of Flight Simulator 2004;
you can only have four engines; and you cannot mix and match different
engine types. So the game treats it as a piston engined heavy bomber
with four engines.
Since this is a B-36H model, the retractable gun turrets are included; along
with snap-action bomb-bay doors. Quite a nice little model. Smoke effects
are also included. To get thick black smoke, just hit I, and the smoke belches
forth.
The exterior model has some remarkable features, such as little bombardiers
at their seats which you can see through the nose.
Also included with your $16 dollars is a repaint kit with the raw graphic files
used by AlphaSim's texure artists to create the original texture files for your
new shiny B-36; You have to download it separately from your B-36, but it
allows you to create your own Big Stick paintjobs that look just as good as
the default scheme. (The Repaint files are in Photoshop format, you need
Photoshop to make full use of them)
The B-36H behaves like it's described in many publications by former Big Stick
pilots; it's a forgiving plane, but it's like slapping a cockpit on top of your house and
flying it through the sky.
At 40,000~ feet and above, the B-36H does not behave like you'd expect it to;
it still behaves like a slow heavy bomber, but there's one important detail; you
can put it in a near vertical bank without stalling out.
Now for my first mission in the B-36H that I actually finished once I had figured
out the dial layout of the B-36H....
Took off from Maine, with a 80,000 lb bombload, using all four engines,
once I was at about 10,000 or so, I turned off engines 3 and 4, and
throttled back 1 and 2; to simulate turning off the jets.
Cruised across the Atlantic at 20,000 feet or so; it took quite a while
to get to Europe, I lined her up to go into Germany over the north sea,
turned 3 and 4 back on and throttled up to full power.
By the time I was over central Germany I was up to 45~ thousnad feet,
and I shortly dropped my bombload; and now that I was 120
kilotons lighter, I turned around and scooted out of germany, at one
point hitting 50~ thousand feet for a brief period.
Once i was over the North Sea Again, 3 and 4 went off, and 1 and 2
were throttled back slightly; on this trip back home across the
Atlantic, I was able to maintain a 40~ thousand foot altitude easily,
and at the end of it all, I was going in for a night landing at Novia
Scotia, when I was at about 1,500 feet when I noticed that my engines
were not responding. I paused the sim and checked.
No wonder! I was at 0 fuel state!
Oops.
In summation, a fun addon to haul through the skies in FS2004,
and well worth the money.
