USS Hancock CVA-19 circa 1968 with HD textures.
FACTS
Displacement 32,800 tons
Length 895 feet Beam 103 feet
Armament 4 x 5 inches
Aircraft 60 to 70
Speed 33 Knots
Crew 2000 plus 1500 air
Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Whiskey - Lima - Delta
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "RAMPAGE"
IL2 MODEL
This carrier was abitarily selected for IL2 modification and probably the only accurate item in the model is the number '19'. Details were fairly well researched but, often, sensible compromises or good guesses had to be made. However, it is hoped that enough has been done to make a pilot think he's on the 'Fighting Hanna'.
MODIFICATION
Large texture maps were used wherever possible. There are very few plain surfaces, most objects were mapped onto textured areas to give variation in hues and tones. No damage models and few collision boxes were included to save memory, time and to maintain realism. Similarly, smoke and flags were excluded. Modelling was carried out in Blender 2.67 (see reference 1) using a mesh convertor (reference 2) and exported via GMax using BuggyBuggy exporter (3). Textures were created or reworked in Gimp 2.8 (4). It was tested in DBW 1.71 on Vista 32 SP2 and separately also in DBW 1.71 on Vista 64 SP2, but it should also work in other configurations. There was no significant change in FPS using a Q6600 CPU, 3GB RAM and 1GB GF GT240.
INSTALLATION
USS Hancock CVA-19 HD model is to replace "USSHancockCV19_1968" in western0221 ....\XXX\USSEssexCVs_SCB125\3do\Ships\.. folder. So -
1) If you haven't already, you need western0221 Essex SCB-125 carriers installed and working (see reference 5).
2) You also need to install the amazing High Resolution / True Color Textures Mod package by Carsmaster and Storebror (reference 6).
3) Unzip 'USSHancock_CVA19_1968_remodel.zip' file (see reference 7) to a temporary location.
4) Copy and paste the unzipped 'USSHancockCV19_1968' folder to your XXX\USS Essex SCB-125\3d0\ships folder, where XXX = 'MODS' or '#DBW' or '#UP#'.
5) Open .....XXX\STD\com\maddox\il2\objects\Ships.ini with a text editor (NotePad, TextPad or Gedit). Use Ctrl-F or other search method to find the beginning of the entry for "USSHancockCV19_1968". Delete the whole entry containing Parts 0 to 60. Replace it with the new one from "Ships_ini.txt" containing Parts 0 to 13.
6) Installation of the catapult mod is almost mandatory; see western's advice on this (8 ).
7) Essex carrier crew by Ranwners is a must (9), but you will have to change the ....\XXX\0USSEssexCVs_crew\3do\Ships\USSHancockCV19_1968\Hier.him file. Replace it with the new one.
SIMPLIFIED OPERATIONS FOR F-4
Task Force
CVA-19 centre; cruiser 1 o'clock 800 m; destroyer 3 o'clock 800 m; destroyer 5 o'clock 500 m; destroyer 7 o'clock 500 m; destroyer 9 o'clock 800 m; cruiser 11 o'clock 800 m; helicopter 4 o'clock 500 m at 500 ft.
Wind Over Deck
Wind at 5 m/s; turn into wind at 57 k/h.
Takeoff - wide angle view; lights on; engine on; panel lights on; canopy open; chocks off-chocks on; check speedbrake; chocks off; brake; taxi; brake; catapult link; wings down; flaps takeoff; elevator trim; canopy close; engine revs; shoot; gear up; trim; slight heading left/right; trim; flaps up one; trim; flaps up two; trim; max altitude 500 ft; trim; 2 miles join track.
Landing (10) - overhead Hanna 800 ft; check load; landing lights; turn left descend; trim; wide angle view; 700 ft 200 knots crosswind; lower gear; trim; 600 ft 180 knots downwind; flaps; trim; flaps; trim; 500 ft base; lower hook; trim; 400 ft finals; trim; 150 knots; no flare; stop/bolter; wings up; canopy open; taxi as directed.
REFERENCES
1) Blender
http://www.blender.org/2) Mesh convertor by Dr Jones
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,3004.0.html3) BuggyBuggy IL2 exporter by Fatduck
http://allaircraftsimulations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28667&sid=ae02fc2b53af1f47b3f1aedb547b0b354) Gimp
http://www.gimp.org/5) western0221 Essex carriers
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,24177.0.html?PHPSESSID=5cb3fd69d58e51a842cf6bb5d06f12f66) HD mod by carsmaster and SA~Storebror
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,33239.0.html7) Remodelled USS Hancock CV-19, MediaFire download
https://www.mediafire.com/download/j40wad95w94alnw/USSHancock_CVA19_1968_remodel.zip8 ) see western0221 for details on catapults
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,24177.0.html?PHPSESSID=5cb3fd69d58e51a842cf6bb5d06f12f69) Essex carrier crew by Ranwners
https://www.mediafire.com/?s9486es3ekq5e1k10) see diagram
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,33626.24.htmlACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
early carrier mods by Diving_Hawk
western0221 Essex angled deck carriers
asheshouse for friendly assistance
Also thanks to all you hard working modellers and artists.
EDIT 13AUG13 - simplify installation