A-3B Skywarrior [A2OA + opt. ACE]

[NightIntruder 710]

looking great! Are there plans for more Vietnam era aircraft?

The answer to that is "Yes" since I am going to convert Milton Shupe's Grumman family aircrafts, and those are my first priority. They ARE from Vietnam era, no doubts. Also CH46 and CH-21C are on production line and I hope to see them be finished in serveral weeks.

Generally speaking, I am historically focused guy and as such throughout this year I am going to make addons coming from cold-war era, mainly aircrafts/choppers.

Edited March 4, 2014 by NightIntruder

[sv5000 127]

Excellent!

[NightIntruder 710]

It is untextured refuelling pod of KA-3B, WIP. Tomorrow I am going to animate it and work on coding. Please disregard the main texture as it needs to be fixed.

[hcpookie 3770]

Remember you'll have to rotate that rear turret so it points forward at init. Had to do that for my Tu95's rear turret ;)

[NightIntruder 710]

Too late, mate!!! Ahgrrr....!!! I already know that as I was strugglling with the turret for whole day! :D Finally found the solution = turret pointed forward.

Wait... I already done it as drogue is last part in production line, so why my turret is pointing aft at the screenshot?? Got gunner? ;) Weel, it's not so funny. I must find the answer.

[hcpookie 3770]

The init and min rotation, max rotation settings in the turret's config decide all of that. Presumably your config has init @ 180. Problems I've had is gunner view clipping on the sides when in max rotation, and making enough of the back of the turret so it doesn't show empty space when at max rotation. The rear-facing turrets of the boats are done up in the same way.

[NightIntruder 710]

Presumably your config has init @ 180.

Exactly, it has such init and as you said config was loaded thus in Buldozer everything looked in-game like. I sent you PM.

[islesfan186 83]

Wow rear turret and a tanker version. Pretty sweet man

[eggbeast 3673]

so Night - pook was saying you may want help with the weapon bay loadouts? As you know, we two made all of the loadsouts for approx. 100 unsung aircraft in past 6 months and can help you with this.

I'd suggest:

a proxy plan/ picture like this

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/eggbeast/A7proxyplan_zps61ebce09.jpg (119 kB)

and a reasonably historically accurate loadout option plan like this:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/eggbeast/A7plan_zps5b6ac158.jpg (159 kB)

and a bit of model tweaking from pook in tandem.

then we can have your beast looking right...

---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:20 AM ----------

ok here's a starting point

i cannot find a picture or schematic of the bomb bays yet - probably because they carried nukes up until the bomb bays were removed, so it would have been a no-no to photograph the inside i guess.

anyway, based on a pic of nukes in the inside of a P6

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/eggbeast/p6mrotarybombbaywith2nukes_zps9bce71eb.jpg

and knowing the bays were 5x5x15 feet, I figured they would carry weapons as follows:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/eggbeast/a3b_5_zps8fd94f8b.jpg

and this can be best mapped to proxies like this

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t247/eggbeast/A3b-3_zpsa1f3677f.jpg

to make this work you then use the following turret system:

#define _ARMA_
class CfgVehicles
{
class Air;
class Plane: Air
{
	class ViewPilot;
};
class A3B_LBMB: plane
{
	scope = 2;
	side = 1;
	displayName = "A-3B Skywarrior (LBMB)";
	class Turrets
	{
		class MainTurret: NewTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_MK82Launcher"};
			magazines[] = {"uns_24rnd_mk82"};
		};
		class Rear_Turret: MainTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_TwinM3"};
			magazines[] = {"360Rnd_20mm_HEI"};		
		};
	};
};
class A3B_HBMB: A3B_LBMB
{
	scope = 2;
	side = 1;
	displayName = "A-3B Skywarrior (HBMB)";
	class Turrets
	{
		class MainTurret: NewTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_MK84Launcher"};
			magazines[] = {"uns_4rnd_mk84","uns_20Rnd_pylonblank"};
		};
		class Rear_Turret: MainTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_TwinM3"};
			magazines[] = {"360Rnd_20mm_HEI"};		
		};
	};
};
class A3B_MBMB: A3B_LBMB
{
	scope = 2;
	side = 1;
	displayName = "A-3B Skywarrior (MBMB)";
	class Turrets
	{
		class MainTurret: NewTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_MK83Launcher"};
			magazines[] = {"uns_6rnd_mk83","uns_18Rnd_pylonblank"};
		};
		class Rear_Turret: MainTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_TwinM3"};
			magazines[] = {"360Rnd_20mm_HEI"};		
		};
	};
};	
class A3B_ATBMB: A3B_LBMB
{
	scope = 2;
	side = 1;
	displayName = "A-3B Skywarrior (AT BMB)";
	class Turrets
	{
		class MainTurret: NewTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_MK1APLauncher"};
			magazines[] = {"uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_2Rnd_pylonblank","uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_1rnd_MK1AP","uns_14Rnd_pylonblank"};
		};
		class Rear_Turret: MainTurret
		{
			weapons[] = {"uns_TwinM3"};
			magazines[] = {"360Rnd_20mm_HEI"};		
		};
	};
};		

get in touch with pook to build this if you're happy with the plan and i can make you a full standalone weapons cfg

Edited March 7, 2014 by eggbeast

[NightIntruder 710]

I just do not know what to say... :) Man... that's SOMETHING! Of course, I am happy with the plan! You have already done most of the work I started thinking of just now. The only difference is that I would add 5 internal fuel tanks for KA-3B in place of bombs (as a replacement of 5 external wing tanks used by John Spartan in his F/A18 buddy-pod aerial refuelling system, as I am gonna modify the system for KA3B). Perhaps, there is easier way, but it requires extensive work on scripting and fuel counting on HUD. Also, I found somewhere that L3M had 500 rounds per cannon, but not sure if the source is credible enough. Anyway, this's great help, thank you Beast!

BTW, looking at those weapon classnames above I am wondering whether you have any Nuke in UNSUNG's arsenal :)

[eggbeast 3673]

well there's no reported use of any nukes in nam... in cambodia or laos though... maybe lol

i don't imagine they got further than Guam or Diego Garcia.

i can make mags for you and also fix the rippling so you can fire 1, 2 or all bombs in a mag

fuel mags can be made and used using setvariable and we can do a script to resupply, it just will have a few probs working in MP as it needs to make publicvariable, but as i guess you only refuel once in a blue moon shouldn't lag too much

re the cannons - i based that on the F8, which being a fighter is bound to have carried less ammo so your ref may be better than my base level assumption of minimum ammo

so when youre ready send me the configs and ill write in the bits unless you have them in hand

if sav gave you 2.6 to review you can pinch the mags and weapons above from uns_missilebox

the only one missing is the mk1 1600lb naval AP mine (for ship bombing) - i can make that or you can. would suggest you base it on halfway between a mk83 and a mk84 and increase the caliber rating in the ammo to simulate AP

Edited March 8, 2014 by eggbeast

[hcpookie 3770]

the only one missing is the mk1 1600lb naval AP mine (for ship bombing) - i can make that or you can. would suggest you base it on halfway between a mk83 and a mk84 and increase the caliber rating in the ammo to simulate AP

Geez what in Vietnam are we going to blow up with THAT? LOL

[NightIntruder 710]

Geez what in Vietnam are we going to blow up with THAT? LOL

Not necessarily in Vietnam, mate ;) A-3 will likely to be included in, undisclosed yet, future MOD as well :)

[hcpookie 3770]

Even so, all those sampans won't stand a chance :)

[eggbeast 3673]

well in historical terms i guess this was the best anti ship capability they had before guidance of missiles came in

[NightIntruder 710]

well in historical terms i guess this was the best anti ship capability they had before guidance of missiles came in

That's exactly what I read. BTW, if there is any trouble with making config for anti-ship bombs, we can live without it. Frankly speaking, I do not think that one could find a good use of it in-game. I already fixed refuelling hose animations but encountered an issue of crashing during landings at Nimitz deck, because of bounding box shifting or changes in mass distribution probably. Hiding of buddy pod (in Vis and Geo LODs) did not solve the problem unfortunately.

[eggbeast 3673]

yeah we all crash on nimitz in almost any plane whereas LHD works fine

[NightIntruder 710]

yeah we all crash on nimitz in almost any plane whereas LHD works fine

?? then you should hire a professional testing pilots! ;) Being serious, I haven't got any problems with Nimitz flying in all your carrier-based aircrafts. Perhaps, you did test with older version of it? I tested with 0.93 version of Nimitz, a backport from A3. Everything works fine - CAT launches, arresting gear and so on. I cannot, however, land or take off from Nimitz in A-3B without being destroyed (by some mysterious collision detection, I quess) and the reason might be the refueling pod with its hose and basket added to the model's mesh lately.

[hcpookie 3770]

No idea which version we have. No idea if we have access to the updated version. I have seen mention of others updating it so when we finish 2.6 and look to v3.0 I sincerely hope we will be able to incorporate those updates w/o needing to reinvent the wheel.

About your model - if your pod geometry is below the wheels then that would do it. The landcontact points are what make the model decide when it is on the ground. Probably a dumb question, but if you have not modeled the wheels in Geometry and animated them, you could be "belly landing" as far as the engine is concerned. You probably have already done all that already however so probably not the issue. I point it out as I had that problem once. Added the geometry pieces for the wheels, animated them to the appropriate landing gear animations, presto I could land w/o blowing up :) So my guess is your pods are below the height of the wheels.

EDIT - I should mention that you CAN successfully land on our Nimitz if you try really hard. I've done it but more often I crash like Egg :D

[eggbeast 3673]

yeah i'm not boasting here but i'm a better than average pilot. i can land an A10 on the LHD. what i find hard with the nimitz is stopping in time. so i put my flaps down and engineer the already very low plane to a near stall as it approaches the carrier deck, then pull nose back and throttle down on the deck, and usually i fly straight into the ocean. i have added rock's wheelbrake to many of the planes but my test mission has some script lag so that is not usually working fast enough to stop me. even thehook catching on the corsair (i think) catches onto the plane but doesn't slow it down enough.

[NightIntruder 710]

Beast, that's strange what you wrote as every time I land on deck, arresting gear slows me down enough to stop, even in F/A18 that has app. 220 kph landing speed.

Mine procedur is as follow: a) fly on speed where you've got -3 ms VS b) over deck beggining point cut throttle and let the A/C fall onto the deck, and c) shortly after, apply full power in case of missing of arrestment gear to do "bolter" and make another approach. It should work.

Regarding the issue of crash landings, finally I have found the reason - land contact points placed too high, overlapping wheels geometry boundaries, so Pook - you were right mate :) I am gonna finish the A-3 soon and incorporate weapon cfg by Beast. Thanks guys for help!

Re Nimitz, as I was told, the ship was released under CC license and I do not think you need its source files for something. Just DL the addon and use it, or point that the older version might be replaced with the newer version without any problems, as they share the same class names, I guess. It would solve the issues of landings. Although, to have refuel point working on Nimitz's deck, all aircrafts are required to have specific memory point on its fuselage. You can find explanation in documents attached to the package of Nimitz.

[NightIntruder 710]

what i find hard with the nimitz is stopping in time. so i put my flaps down and engineer the already very low plane to a near stall as it approaches the carrier deck, then pull nose back and throttle down on the deck, and usually i fly straight into the ocean. i have added rock's wheelbrake to many of the planes but my test mission has some script lag so that is not usually working fast enough to stop me. even thehook catching on the corsair (i think) catches onto the plane but doesn't slow it down enough.

I just noticed that I had no issues landing on Nimitz with UNS aircrafts as I had used the mod WITH the ACE2 all the time :o. Arresting gear appears not working with the UNS aircrafts while playing "clean" UNS mod. With A-3 it does work however, no matter if the UNS mod is clean or supplemented with the ACE2, no clue why is that.

[hcpookie 3770]

Arresting gear appears not working with the UNS aircrafts while playing "clean" UNS mod

The tail hooks on the planes I have updated are visuals only, no memory points attached to them. Egg's wheel brake script is used in lieu of any tail hooks

[NightIntruder 710]

I see... It's pitty as the landings on Nimitz with using of arresting gear gives fantastic feelings for pilots.

A-3 UPDATE:

All needed textures are done. There are four versions of the A-3 available for the squadrons of Skywarrior aboard USS Coral Sea: VAH-2 flying A-3A, A-3B with markings NL6XX; VAH-10 flying KA-3B with markings ZAXXX and VAP-61 equipped with RA-3B, markings SSXXX. At this moment, the only issue I have is an implementation of aerial refueling, means the scripted logic to make it working. I have been struggling with Spartan's system for two days with no major successes so far.

[chortles 263]

Should would-be users be of the understanding that the four versions are just differentiated by hiddenSelectionsTextures[]=""; or...?