The A2A Simulations Community

If in the possible event a service pack is ever produced for this product, I thought I would bring up the subject of the armor glass. The armor glass on the P-40B and C is rather unique, in that it isn't mounted perfectly straight, but is actually angled - the reason being was to prevent a problematic gun sight reticle "echo" from occuring. As it is something that is seen so often, everytime you look forward through the windscreen, it would be great to see this corrected.

That is a really interesting detail! Thanks for sharing.

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I like Thunderbolts! (Link to MySpace tribute page)


120th Fighter Wing, Montana Air National Guard

It would also be really great to see the cockpit finished in accurate/authentic interior green paint, as pictured here, and as original to production (currently it looks like a dirty/faded version of chromate yellow - which no manufacturer was allowed to keep the cockpit finished in (as chromate yellow was found to cause too much eye strain - thus interior green (of which there were some variations between manufacturer) was developed as the standard cockpit paint through all US aircraft production in WWII). Also I have been curious about if the P-40B/C really actually had the emergency landing gear system installed (as like the later models, and as provided in A2A's P-40B/C) as I haven't been able to find a photo yet of a P-40B/C cockpit with the emergency system installed (contrary to seeing it in all of the later-variant cockpits).

(Note armor glass angle again)


Note the "wood-like" appearance of the knob on the hydraulic pump lever - this is actually phenolic-resin/bakelite, an early form of plastic.

Thats interesting, I never knew that! I'd like to see it as well, maybe clickable so it can be adjusted from straight to off-center... Was it adjustable IRL, like something the ground crew could do with a wrench?

Joe

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"As it is something I see so often", I would rather have the whole thing removed including the gunsight

For civilian flying like in FSX, I'd prefer the better vision.

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No, the mounting is fixed like that, non-adjustable - you can tell by the difference in the length of the mounting brackets on either side of the armor glass frame.

Regarding civilian flying, all three of the airworthy/civilian-flown P-40B/C's are pictured within the first post - the Flying Heritage Collection P-40C, The Fighter Collection's P-40B, and the Rod Lewis/Lewis Air Legends P-40C (the most accurate/authentic restoration of them all - the one to copy if you want to "get it right") - and as can be seen, all of them have the armor plate installed.

Here are some more "behind the scenes" photos of the cockpit on Rod Lewis'/Lewis Air Legends' P-40C during rebuild (the example that was restored in New Zealand by Avspecs for Rod Lewis, now based in San Antonio, TX). The aircraft was awarded the highly sought-after Rolls-Royce Heritage Trophy at last year's Reno event, for the most authentic/accurate warbird restoration present at the event.

Note the light-fixture mounted above the main electrical panel in this photo, currently missing from the cockpit of the A2A example.



The true to the P-40B/C original/authentic flap and landing gear controls unit, in proper finish.



A nice view of the fuselage fuel tank, mounted behind the pilot's seat.



Note accurate to the P-40B/C floor and plumbing related details as illustrated in this photo.

I took a close look at that P-40 at Reno this year, it was incredible!

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The only modifications from the original aircraft, as seen in the cockpit, is the placement of two small avionics gages/units, one mounted in each of the two replica machine gun butts, so that the aircraft can be flown in today's skies. For display purposes, these can be easily removed, and authentic-appearing parts can be easily added, making the cockpit look completely original, as seen here:

(Note the gun charging handles)





Authentic detail and placards. Notice on the red placard (that should be present), it mentions that the prop should be set at 2700-rpm for landing. It also mentions not to have the landing gear down, or the cowl flaps fully open, with airspeeds above 175-mph (instead of the 160-mph that was later specified on such examples as the P-40E).

Nice Pictures!

Creative Install spot for the radio(s)!

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Drew

Great pictures! I don't think I would have noticed the armored glass angle if you wouldn't have pointed it out! Also, along with the gunsight benefits, the angle of the armor would create the effect of having "thicker" armor, since it lies at an angle... Similar to tank armor theory...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloped_armour

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Buddy Morgan



i5 2500k - Asus P8P67 Pro - G.Skill Ripjaw 8GB - EVGA GTX 570 Fermi

There seem to be 4 bolt heads where the emergency pump base would be located in the "top" down cockpit shot. Seems like the hand pump base assembly would fit perfectly over those bolts. A bit further back than in the WOP3 version, but those bolts are spaced out almost exactly to fit pump base it looks like.

also, one thing to note is that restorations are never the same as war birds, they might be as close as they can possibly get them, but there will be differences unfortunatly, its what makes period correct manuals etc etc so priceless.