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[Catahoulak9]

I did this a few years ago and posted it at AAA. I thought I 'd resurrect it and offer it here for you Tempest groundpounders. I don't know if it will work for 4.10 but I would imagine it would.




The Beamont Modification

S/Ldr. R.P. Beamont commanded a squadron of Hawker Typhoons engaged in low-level attacks on German installations in occupied France. Low clouds and poor visibility were often encountered, and it was found that, even if the gunsight lamp was turned right down, the large ring and range bar tended to obscure tracking and target aquisition. Beamont decided to cut down the graticule pattern on his Mk II* sight, so squadron armourers blanked off the ring and bars, leaving only the centre dot visible. The smaller aiming ring proved a big success: Beamont could discern much more without the large orange glow.

On subsequent operations he realised that it would be even better if the glass reflector screen was removed and the graticule projected onto the windscreen, the rake of which was 45 degrees. The following day he used the sight in an attack on an installation in the Lille area, and found he had a better field of view than ever before, so he had all No.609 squadron's sights altered to the same configuration. When news of this modification reached the authorities, terse instructions were issued to remove the unauthorised alterations forthwith. Eventually it was agreed that in low light conditions the system had its advantages, and the spot was easily seen in full daylight conditions if the brightness was fully turned up.

Type I Mk III Projector Sight

Beamont's modification was taken up by Farnborough and a new version of the Mk II* sight was designed with the reflector screen removed and the graticule modified to a plain 161 km/h (100 mph) ring and dot. The two control rings were replaced by a single ring which moved the graticule forwards or backwards, raising or lowering it on the windscreen. A dual-purpose graticule was devised consisting of an adjustable ring for rocket-firing and a dot for the guns. An angle of depression scale was fitted, but it was found that a white celluloid strip, on which a pilot marked settings for various dive angles with a marker, was more practical. A detachable shroud was fitted over the sight head to prevent images of the sun being reflected into the pilot's eyes.

Trials revealed several shortcomings in this model, which was known as the Type 1 Mk III projector sight: the graticule was dim and allowed very little eye movement. However, a simpler modification was agreed in which the graticule reverted to a single dot only, without a reflector glass. A production order was issued for this version, which was first officially used when the Hawker Tempest Mk V entered service in February 1944. Similarly altered Mk IIs were also used by night-fighter and Typhoon squadrons. Beaumont's modification was further improved when Grade A armoured windscreens became available. These were optically correct, and prevented the double image which sometimes occurred if the lamp was turned up to high (shades of the GM5). In a special night-fighter version tested by the Fighter Interception Unit in November 1942, a green filter diffuser cell was inserted between the lamp and the graticule to enable tracer to be seen to a maximum range at night. Another idea tested by the Air Fighting Development Unit consisted of an optically correct reflector glass screen the same size as the windscreen fitted 38 mm (1.5 in) behind it, which gave the pilot much more eye movement.

More than 84,000 GM2 sights were manufactured, mostly by Barr & Stroud, the production of lenses alone amounting to over 1 million units. The production versions were as follows:

Mark II: Oval reflector with sun screen
Mark IIs: Rectangular reflector with no sun screen
Mark II*: Similar to the IIs, slightly different dimensions
Mark IIL: Adjustable sight head (0-5 degrees) for rocket firing and 40 mm guns
Mark III: Produced by Goerz
Type 1: Mark 1 (Projector) open/shut graticule one ring only
Type 1: Mark 111 (Projector) dot graticule
Type 1: Mark 8 (Projector) standard range/base graticule

The above text was taken from "British Aircraft Armament Vol.2: Guns and Gunsights", by R Wallace Clarke.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/hqjmaohzdmd/Reticle_GB_Beamont_Mod.rar

[stranger]

i'll test in 4.10 and report

[Catahoulak9]

Thanks guys.

Apparently Beamont was a old school modder from way, way back. He would have fit right in here at SAS.

[stranger]

works perfectly in 410,hfsx even

[Knochenlutscher]

Ha, I remember that post. Will try again.
Thanks

[BravoFxTrt]

I tried this in SAS ModAct 4.0, it didnt work but works great in DBW

[karo]

That's a very nice and historically correct mod David.

It works perfect with HSFX5, but I modified it a little bit. The dot was too small for me .... so I made it twice bigger  
 

 

[Fresco23]

It works in HSFX 6.017 just perfectly! Thanks for making it available! These kinds of historical mods, while not huge, or eye-catching additions, add to the immersion for me, and are among my favorite mods to add. Many thanks to the modders who have focused on this area of our game! 

New cockpits, voices, weapon sounds/effects, and visuals such as this reticle, or RedFox's  late Yak 1 canopy mod, are invaluable toward making this game as in depth and complete as it is!

[SAS~Malone]

this seems to work in almost every version, except Modact 4, which is strange, as it's a simple tga edit.... ???

[SAS~Gerax]

Yes, strange, because for me it works in MA 4.0.

[Catahoulak9]

Strange indeed.

I had an original pre-wrapper installation that I swear was possessed by demons. I never really got everything working until the Mods folder/wrapper structure was introduced.

There are so many places for conflicts to hide, it's maddening. For reticle problems, 90% of the time I find another hidden folder loading first. Look for a /3do/cockpit/TempestMkV folder loading from somewhere else.

Of course, there is always the possibility your installation is possessed. If that's the case, you'll need a priest.

[SAS~Malone]

well, i performed a midnight solo seance last night, and it seems i ridded my install of the demons, at last.
Beaumont reticle now working in my Modact 4, after finding the culprit, yet again,lying with the revisited pilots pack mod. https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,26438.msg278077.html#msg278077
to date, i have discovered almost 90% of any recent cockpit/3do issues can all be traced back to this mod.
it might be easier for me to simply remove this pilots mod completely, as i've already had to disable more than half the planes in it, due to this and similar problems.
considering i spend most of my flying in-cockpit, a pilots mod that is only viewable from external is pretty much a waste of time, for me, anyway.
the difficulty with this is also similar to other issues i have had with Modact 4 - normally, i load a mod for testing to be first in the loading list, so that it over-rides any other mods using similar files later in the list.
now, this method has generally worked for me over the years, across many versions.
however, i have found that this method seldom seems to work in Modact 4, and the only way to ensure that the correct files are loaded, is to totally remove any other files.
so, the normal 'loading order' technique seems not to work in this install, at least, for me.
anyway, all is well now, and thanks again for this cool mod