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Flight Simulating The Avro Lancaster Four Engined Bomber Sitting Behind Your Personal Computer
The day I write this I am 64 years old and so is the peace that followed World War 2. This means that I'm from "after the war", and that's the way I want to keep it! It also means that I only saw Roy Chadwick's Avro Lancaster heavy bomber in peaceful fly-by's which is a scarce enough happening anyway, considering that there are only two (!) flyable Lancasters left in the whole wide world. There's very little airtime to be shared among the enthusiastic candidates, so there are probably not even a dozen people who get to fly a real Lancaster from the left seat every once in a while.
The closest us earthbound ground hogs can come to flying a real Lancaster, is via simulation. I am dedicated to Microsofts Flight Simulator X, in which I fly "my own" version of the Lancaster bomber, a hybrid based on the "Wings of Power" version for exterior and flight model, and for the panel on just about everything up to and including not only the kitchen sink but also the bath tub, the toilet bowl and the hot water boiler (grin)!. Out of dozens of available panels and gauges that I collected during my flight simming years, I created a strictly individual panel version.
Panel redrawing required!
There are two reasons to design my own panels. Initially because there's no ready made Avro Lancaster panel available that is to my liking. Secondly because all existing panels put the pilots position somewhere in the lateral center of the cockpit, like straight behind the throttle controls. That's no good: it takes away much of the illusion or immersion. Although my real world flying experiences are sadly confined to single engined pipsqueeks like Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee, I know that Lancaster pilots did not sit with their precious crotch shoved painfully into the throttle quadrant of their Avro Lancaster bomber!
My own panels deliver a much more natural pilots position, and considerably enlarged instruments and gauges. Simulation, including flight simulation, is simply illusion - and I don't give a fig about the panel lay-out being realistic: I want it to look and feel realistic within the confines of a computer screen!!
The controls and such
In order to produce a acceptable amount of realism, flying your digital Lanc with the keyboard or mouse won't do. If you can even remotely afford it, a steering yoke is an absolute must, with a set of pedals as a perfect second. Fortunately these additions are available in a wide price range, from pleasantly strong but equally expensive, to somewhat wobbly but easily in the affordability sector of most of us.
And now I have a confession to make. Some six years ago I got the cheapest yoke and pedals that I could find, and I'm still using them without a problem and to my continuing satisfaction! In those years I must have bought for more than a couple of thousand dollars worth of other simulator expansions, but I never saw any reason for discarding my old and faithful pedals/yoke set! Sure, eventually I'll replace them, even if it is only on account of normal wear and tear from almost daily use, but it is far from necessary yet.
A red and flustered face!
I will never say that a relatively simple computer simulation like MS Flight Sim X can ever give you the joy of flying the real thing, but sometimes it comes surprisingly close. I've made many a simulated landing under conditions that turned my brow sweaty with concentration, and sweaty with almost real fear! Nor am I the only one with such experiences. I think it was around 2004 that an RAF flight crew performed an MS-simulated historic Dam Busters raid. Those fighter pilots and "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime" types left their simulator after their final flight with a healthy respect for MSFS-X, and for the good old Lancaster. You won't see them looking down on "that game" or "that old bomber" anymore!
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