Berlin Airlift MP Sessions

[Andrew Godden]

We have received an invite from DC-3 Airways (see a copy of the email below) to participate in a series of MP sessions based on the Berlin Airlift series. I have replied to Glen and will post updates as they come to hand.

If you haven't explored MP sessions before, they are great fun and not difficult to be a part of.

Cheers
Andrew

Dear Sir,

I am VP On-line flying at DC3 airways (www.dc3airways.com) and I wondered if you and members of your airline might be interested in combining with other flight simulator organisations to conduct 4 sessions over 4 weekends related to the Berlin airlift? I know that Bill von Sennet had a major input into the original plans for the Berlin airlift and DC3 airways conducted 3 series over the past 8 years, each of around 21 weeks (1 session per week).

My thinking was that the airlift lends itself to flying a variety of old late 1940's prop aircraft and that by combining the participation from a number of organisations we might get sufficient to really pack the skies over Berlin and have some chaps doing the same ATC work that was done also, using either FS Commander or FSNavigator.

My initial hopes are that DC3 Airways, Flight Ontario, Blue Grass Airways, Eagle Air and the Multiplayer adventures group from Flightsim.com might be able to combine their resources to bring this to a successful event.

A webpage is already extent within the DC3 airways web page structure with all the aircraft, scenery and flight routes etc. though it is hidden from access at the moment.

Wthin a couple of hours anyone accessing the site would be able to install the aircraft and scanery. It also includes downloads for FSrecorder traffic that adds things such as harrasing flights by Soviet Yaks and Mig15's in the air corridors. Other fsrecorder files add scores of transports making the correct historic approaches into the 3 Berlin airports.

I am contacting the other organisations over coming days and would welcome your thoughts as to the viability of such an endeavour.

It is hoped that this would be able to be staged via FSHost on the Flightsim.copm server with the use of TS3 for comms. I am unsure at present what the maximum participation level is.

Here is a rough projection of possible numbers though this is at best a guessimate:

DC3 airways 20
Bluegrass 5
Eagle Air 3
Flightsim.com 5
Flight Ontario 3
other 3

Total 39+

I look forward to hearing from you,

kind regards
Glen Broome
DCA996

[Allan_Lowson]

Sounds interesting. If anyone is interested in dipping their toes into multi-player flying, I can set up a session on one of the open sites to have an introductory go at flying GA aircraft in VFR conditions out of the glare of ATC!

[Andrew Godden]

I do a fortnightly MP session with a bunch of fellow nut cases (mostly English types, with Welsh, Swedish and the odd Scotsman thrown in for good measure). We take turns in coming up with routes that involve a series of T&G's over the course and a flying time of about 2.5 hrs. We use Skype for group comms and basically it starts at a low level, joking around, taking the mickey, and general mayhem and degenerates from there.

Either way, we have a craicing great time. Sometimes the flying becomes secondary. Watching someone suddenly stall and take a nosedive because they were too busy talking and not paying attention to their speed is a hoot, the least of which is the reaction at the point of realisation.

It might be a chance to rekindle some MP sessions Allan.

Cheers
Andrew

[Andrew Godden]

The details for the Berlin Airlift MP Sessions hosted by DC-3 Airways have been announced. The details are provided below and the web site is now available at www.dc3airways.com/special_events/bal_4/bal.htm

Other details and NOTAMS will be posted on the DC-3 Airways Forum at www.dcascreenshots.net/dcaforum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15598

DC-3 Airways would like to get an indication of the possible number of participants from Bluegrass Airlines, so, could you please reply to this thread if you are thinking about participating.

Cheers
Andrew

Announcing a cooperative event in association with flightsim.com, Flight Ontario scenery Group, Eagle Valley Air and Bluegrass Airlines.

DC3 Airways Multiplayer Division is pleased to announce a 4 session co-op event with other flight sim enthusiasts to reenact the historical Berlin airlift, of 1948/49 fame. A webpage with all the necessary downloads for FS9 and FSX has been constructed which will provide aircraft, scenery, flightplanning aids and authentic FSRecorder flights of the period. This will be made available in just over a week. Monitor this post for news.

DC3 Airways have held 3 airlift series in the past and this involved our pilots flying DC3's and DC4's. This time, with other organisations flying a variety of the other aircraft types too, the skies over Berlin will truly reflect the varied activity of that era.

My thanks go to Austin of the Flightsim.com multiplayer Adventures group for his support, suggestions and testing in the lead up to this event. To Dave Arnold DCA520 for his usual enthusiasms, critique and testing. To Tim Cook for his quick response to my numerous requests for webpage revisisons and uploads. To Hartwig Rohrbeck, DCA1061, the original inspiration for any airlift activity within DCA and a constant supporter and advisor of all aspects of the process who, through guided tours on site at Gatow, Tempelhof and the 'Red Tower' in the Grunewald area of Berlin gave me a detailed understanding of the history and geographical familiarisation of the situation.


Participants should aim to download and install the required files early in case they should have any queries to raise well in advance of the sessions. I will make myself available on a number of occassions via teamspeak on the MP1 server to assist with regard to any issues.

A detailed installation guide will be supplied in due course to assist users from the outset.

Flightsim.com have kindly offered to the 4 saturday sessions being held on their FShost server and comms via their TS3 server.

A master schedule of available 'slots' for each session will be provided from which users should choose to fly which will determine not only the aircraft but the route, departure point and destination. Each 'slot' is unique and therefore the schedule will be on a first come first served basis. We are requesting that non DCA pilots opt for aircraft other than a DC3 or DC4.

As part of the commitment to enhance the experience and realism of these 4 sessions, FSrecorder flights of authentic aircraft types flying historical approaches etc. both into and out of Berlin and the other airfields, have been created. This is why the 2 aircraft packages are so important. Without them you are unable to see the 40+ aircraft in the Berlin control zone for instance. There is even a file that included Soviet Mig and Yak fighters that harrass the transport aircraft in the corridors. The FSrecorder files used in previous series have been revised and new ones added.

Lite air traffic control will be available for some airfields, certainly the 3 in Berlin itself. However pilots will be expected to have a fair knowledge of their specific route and approach requirements to their destination, involving as it does critical altitude, speed and heading restrictions to ensure safe separation between the approaches to the 3 airports (see the supplied charts within the package). Detailed approach instructions will be supplied so that you can familiarise yourselevs with each one and of course the Lite ATC will be there to guide you to a safe landing, even in fog or rain (we hope!).

There will be 4 sessions only, on Saturdays at 19:00z (clocks will have gone back by this time) which will be 2pm EDST. Participants will be expected to be in the session at the correct point of departure a minimum of 5 minutes before the session starts so that everyone can coordinate both the fsrecorder file playback and initiate the timed departures from all of the airfields. We would hope to have pilots starting from Berlin as well as others departing the numerous airfields in western Germany to head for Berlin in the 2 air corridors so that we have traffic in both directions simutaneously.

Some pointers to look for:

i. Be careful to ensure that when you unzip a file, that you drill down to the correct level as some of the files may have been 'double wrapped' during the zip process and so the scenery and/or aircraft may be one level lower than you expect . This will be important to identify before you copy it into the addon scenery folder for instance.


ii. For those with FSnavigator, remember to refresh the FSNav database from the ODBC.exe file in the Bin folder under FSnavigator. This needs to be done after the scenery has been activated and with the FS9 sim shut down. The same is true for the FS Commander database.


iii. Within the package supplied on the webpage is an item for FS Commander users. Back up your userwaypoints file in the database folder and replace it with the small file I have created. This adds all the airlift NDB's as user waypoints so that they show up in FSC. I would recommend changing the colour display for user waypoints to match whatever you use for NDB's which on my system is a bright green.


iv. You can get the fsrecorder software (which is a very small .dll) file from www.fsrecorder.net. There is a version 2.1 for each of FS9 and FSX. Install it into your modules folder and check that you can get to the FSRecorder menu from within your sim software afterwards. A seperate instruction file will be supplied for FSrecorder as to how to configure it and how to use it.

v. A full schedule of flight plans for FSnavigator, FS Commander etc,. will be available nearer the time and made as a download. These are currently being coordinated and catalogued into a useable schedule.

I hope as many DCA members will make the effort to participate in this event, which will be an interesting one due to the coordination with the other organisations. Details of the TS3 and FSHost server and how to configure them will follow nearer the time. If the Varsity event was anything to go by, which followed a similar methodology, this event will build on our relationships with these other organisations and fellow flight sim enthusiasts. Good luck with your downloads and setting up and please contact me if you encounter problems.

[Allan_Lowson]

Viel Spass.

Downloads made, now deciding on Halton/Hastings/Tudor/York/Lancastrian.

[Allan_Lowson]

The glitch is now sorted. So if you had downloaded and installed the original fsrecorder aircraft files, the simplest and cleanest solution would be to delete the existing zBAL aircraft and download the latest versions from the DCA site.

Cheers,

Allan

[Allan_Lowson]

Glen has been kind enough to forward details of the flight schedule for the first session in November and also for a try-out session this Sunday at 1800GMT:

"Here is a schedule of available slots for session #1 23rd November 19:00z.

We are also doing a shake down session this Sunday at 18:00z on the flightsim.com fshost server.
Your members may wish to check out the multiplayer forums at flightsim.com for all background information.

SESSION #1 23RD NOVEMBER 2013
Slot: FROM---------TO -----------------A/C--------------COMMENTS
1 TEMPELHOF-----FRANKFURT--------DC4 5500'
2 TEMPELHOF-----FRANKFURT--------DC4 5500'
3 TEMPELHOF-----WIESBADEN--------C47 4500'
4 TEMPELHOF-----WIESBADEN--------C47 4500'
5 GATOW---------FASSBERG----------DC3 4500'
6 GATOW---------FASSBERG----------DC3 4500'
7 GATOW---------WUNSTORF---------Avro York 5500'
8 GATOW---------WUNSTORF---------Avro York 5500'
9 LUBECK---------GATOW-------------DC3 / Bristol freighter / Vickers Viking 3500'
10 LUBECK---------GATOW-------------DC3 / Bristol freighter / Vickers Viking 3500'
11 LUBECK---------GATOW-------------DC3 / Bristol freighter / Vickers Viking 3500'
12 FINKENWERDER--HAVEL--------------SUNDERLAND 1000'
13 FINKENWERDER--HAVEL--------------SUNDERLAND 1000'
14 FRANKFURT------TEMPELHOF---------C47 / DC4 C47 @ 4500' - DC4 @ 5500'
15 FRANKFURT------TEMPELHOF---------C47 / DC4 C47 @ 4500' - DC4 @ 5500'
16 FRANKFURT------TEMPELHOF---------C47 / DC4 C47 @ 4500' - DC4 @ 5500'
17 FRANKFURT------TEMPELHOF---------C47 / DC4 C47 @ 4500' - DC4 @ 5500'
18 WIESBADEN------TEMPELHOF---------C47 4500'
19 WIESBADEN------TEMPELHOF---------C47 4500'
20 WIESBADEN------TEMPELHOF---------C47 4500'
21 WIESBADEN------TEMPELHOF---------C47 4500'
22 WIESBADEN------TEMPELHOF---------JU52 4500' - departs last due to low speed
23 FASSBERG-------GATOW--------------DC3 3500'
24 FASSBERG-------GATOW--------------DC3 3500'
25 FASSBERG-------GATOW--------------DC3 3500'
26 WUNSTORF------GATOW--------------Avro York 4500'
27 WUNSTORF------GATOW--------------Avro York 4500'
28 WUNSTORF------GATOW--------------Avro Tudor 4500'
29 BUCKEBURG------GATOW--------------Lancastrian / Halton (Halifax) 4500'
30 BUCKEBURG------GATOW--------------Lancastrian / Halton (Halifax) 4500'"

A quick bit of practise never does any harm, and if anyone is unsure whether they might enjoy the full event, this is a great chance to find out without any pressure. I'll be on flightsim on Sunday, hope to see a few of you there.

[Allan_Lowson]

The event is getting close, so now would be a good time to download and install the scenery and FS Recorder software. It might seem a bit daunting but it all slots together neatly like an Ikea bookshelf!

The information listing the files and download links is on:

www.dc3airways.com/special_events/bal_4/bal.htm

Full navigation details will be available in about 3 weeks with files for FSnavigator, FS Commander for those who use them.

if running FSX you will need the FShost client and the port testing utility fsporttext.exe available from the following site:

www.chocolatesoftware.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=kare3sa43fvtsu6o0uam9uin04&topic=737.0

For flightsim multiplayer flights it helps to have Teamspeak 3 Client software loaded. It is available at:

www.teamspeak.com/?page=downloads

If you have Teamspeak 2, then Teamspeak 3 will happily co-exist on your system and only takes minutes to set up.

If nothing else, it helps Glen to round up pilots heading for Paris instead of Berlin - like I did in the shakedown flight last weekend!

Well it is quite easy to put the same digits into the radio for the next ndb and then the same numbers into the heading. Seeing two arrow heads on the ndb heading should have hinted the reciprocal course, but there are so many dials spinning round in the cockpit when you take off!

[Andrew Godden]

Below is from the latest email update from Glenn regarding the Berlin Airlift MP Sessions. There was a comprehensive Excel spreadsheet attached to the email covering the routes. I cannot attach the file here, so anyone wanting a copy can PM me with their email address.

Cheers
Andrew

Dear fellow flight sim enthusiast

This email is by way of a heads up of the forthcoming 4 session Berlin airlift series that will be staged over 4 consecutive saturdays from 23rd November, with each session commencing at 19:00z.

Details of the event are posted on the forums at DC3 Airways and there is a webpage with the downloads. It may look daunting at first but with a little effort of downloading (which with current download speeds won't take long in any case) it is mostly a simple case of copying across aircraft to the relevant folder and scenery to the addon scenery folder and then activating.

If you don't want all the bells and whistles of the fsrecorder traffic, which will add scores of authentic aircraft flying the corridors and soviet aircraft harrassing the transports enroute, then either opt for getting the scenery and navaids as a minimum or the very basic would be to install the navaid package and fly a route from either Hamburg, Lubeck or Schleswig into Tegel (not available for session #1 though), or Wiesbaden or Frankfurt to Tempelhof.

This event is combining pilots from the following organisations:

DC3 Airways
Flightsim.com
Bluegrass Airlines
Eagle Valley Air
Flight Ontario scenery group

It is being flown on the flightsim.com FShost server whose IP address is fsmpa.hopto.org (or use 50.75.28.229).
Comms is via their TS3 client software and the server address is also fsmpa.hopto.org.

Here is the link to the downloads page:
www.dc3airways.com/special_events/bal_4/bal.htm

and here is the link to the forum postings at DCA:
www.dcascreenshots.net/dcaforum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15598

As well as being an interesting event of itself, the added factor of having fsrecorder traffic being in the skies around your aircraft as well as simmers from other communities makes for this to be a very different and interesting event.

In a week or so an the navigation files for FSNavigator and FS Commander for the routes into Berlin will be available as well from the downloads page.

I have attached an excel file of the scale of this event showing the various routes available.

I hope that , if at all possible you will be able to take part in some, if not all, of these sessions and re-create the skies of Germany of 1948/49.
There are flights available in both DC3's and DC4's.

regards
Glen Broome
VP On-line Flying
DC3 Airways

[Allan_Lowson]

For today's multi player flight there will be a password for access too the teamspeak and FS host servers. It is quoted on the DCAirways forum post linked above.

Now off to see if this winter of our discontent can be made glorious summer by this sun of Avro York - at least from Gatow to Wunsdorf.

May have to do some tidying in the garden beforehand. SWMBO rules.