photo from www.sampol.de website
Why RWD-9?
When I was reviewing the list of aircraft planned for "Races'n'Records" series (yes, if you like our models, there will be more ;-) ), I had a hard time deciding which one to pick as the first. I was aware that some of them are quite obscure (even for Polish flightsimmers :) ), so I had to choose a plane with a lot of potential - a winner, which can win the hearts of MSFS gamers ;-)
Even though there are aircraft for which I have more reference materials and other planes may look more modern, I've picked the winner of Challenge 1934 contest, fairly unique design, a touring aircraft - something that fits MSFS perfectly and 2004 edition ("A Century of Flight") in particular. Another good thing is that it was also sold to France, Spain and Czechoslovakia - decent excuse for including few repaints ;-)
For WIP screenshots and a brief description of the aircraft and its technical specification, please visit my website: www.rr.9-1939.pl -> MSFS:R&R -> Aircraft -> RWD-9
work-in-progress screenshots of external RWD-9S model
Development Diary, Episode One: A new hope.
One thing I knew for sure from the begining: it won't be an easy one... Building an aircraft which no longer exist (as far as I know there is only a rudder and a prop left in Spain) is a difficult endeavor, especially if you strive for accuracy and realism, like me. The level of detail required for MSFS aircraft forced me to look for every available source, including unpublished ones. And so far I have gathered quite a few details that were not mentioned in previous monographs of this plane. No wonder that - should everything goes OK - I promised to donate a multimedia presentation of virtual cockpit to Polish Aviation Museum. I want to re-create that piece of aviation history.
Aside from the help I get from the Museum, many of my thanks go to Mr. A.Glass - renowned book author specializing in Polish aircraft monographs. I got from him not only numerous tips (he studies this subject for 50 years, I'm not surprised he knows things others don't) and yet unpublished drawings and photos, but also such gems as original documentation for those old aerodynamic profiles used on this bird (we also found - by chance - its NACA designation and Technical Memorandum describing the aircraft). I have a real aircraft engineer working on the FM (you may already know Elias from the Schneider Trophy project), so this will ensure that RWD-9's Flight Model will be as close to real a/c performance as it gets. There is a chance that I could reach (via A.Glass) the.... engineer, who converted this plane to RWD-20! Mr. B.Zurakowski supposedly has excellent memory
Keep your fingers crossed for me!As you can see on the work-in-progress screenshots, the external model for RWD-9S is fairly close to be finished - we're adding last fixes to mapping, texture painting has been started (the aircraft will come with few repaints), some animations have to be added yet (such as folding wings). Please note that the interior is still an ersatz, so this is why there is no crew yet - ghost plane! ;D
I have planned RWD-9W version as well, but I didn't get any answer from the Czech museum in Praga yet (maybe they're on Summer holidays?). I need the data for Walter Bora I engine and I assume they have such stuff. If I'll loose my patience, I'm going to write to Walter
Most of the cockpit work remains to be done, though. Oliver Fischer (you may know his "Jungmann" and Ju 52/3m) already prepared the 2D panel (only the top part - framing, Townend ring, prop - has to be rendered from the 3D mesh). This way I ensured that German gauges will be of high quality. I only wait for the last instrument, for which reference materials are being collected in France. The rest of the instruments is done: speedometer, altimeter, tachometer, climb indicator, turn & bank indicator, compass, pitch indicator, fuel gauge, oil pressure gauge, oil temperature gauge, chronometer
and engine fire indicator.We are begining the work on 3D cockpit...
Enough typing for today!
Stay tuned for more...
