MONDAY MAIL RUN #8: Iowa City to Omaha

[Storm]

This week we return to flying the Boeing Monomail, available here:
http://tinyurl.com/storm-monomail.

Week 8: Iowa City, IA to Omaha, NE via Ankeny, IA. (Note the original flights did not stop at Ankeny; that is just for our convenience.) Depart: KIOW (Iowa City). Original airmail departure airfield. Intermediate stop: KIKV (Ankeny, with handy NDB in case of bad weather). Arrive: KOFF (Offutt AFB, Omaha). Original 1920s destination, then known as "Chamber of Commerce flying field" or more simply as "Government Field". Aircraft: Boeing model 221A Monomail only. Flight plan, maps and airport diagrams here.

This will bring us to about halfway on our recreation of the original Transcontinental Air Mail service between New York and San Francisco, that began on September 8, 1920. The Boeing Monomail was indeed used on this part of the route, albeit a little later in July 1931. (We are using the Monomail for our convenience, because of the distances we need to cover in normal group flight time.)



At our destination...

[ak416]

Interesting aircraft. I noticed the windscreen was a bit muddy, and the alpha layer on the prop had a small blemish so I touched them. Also converting all the textures to .dds. I'll upload them when it's finished if you are interested.

Edit: see below

[Storm]

Thanks for that. N404_Mike did the same thing. However, it doesn't "look better" in flight; it's just a matter of taste.

In fact I've already incorporated Mike's partial cleanup of the windshield in the latest version of the Monomail, the one you've flown and in your first screenshot. (The original, which you've not seen, we flew in Week #3 and had a windshield that was very dirty.) You've cleaned it a step further, but for me that's now much too clean, bearing in mind this would be a dirty aircraft flying in and out of dirty soft and sometimes stony surface fields - mostly grass or cinder. So after Mike's change, which you've flown, I think the windshield is already as clean as it should be, so I'll decline that change personally.

Mike also fixed the prop in the same way you have, but I didn't incorporate that in the latest version and kept the "nicks" in the prop as evidence of cinder damage. They annoyed Mike but I found it OK. Perhaps others would prefer the prop "un-nicked" (!), as you do, so you may find some takers with others who regularly fly the Monday Mail Run. Therefore please do let us know when and where you post them. Thanks again.

[ak416]

Heh, had I known the effect was intended I wouldnt have removed it I figured it was just something leftover from the port over from FS9. Instead, I'll just increase the resolution of the glass and add a similar effect to the alpha layer that will be a bit more to my liking. I like the idea of a weathered and used aircraft, but found the majority of the liveries clashed with that theme. Maybe instead I'll focus on weathering the paint, rather than cleaning the windows :friendly_wink:

[ak416]

Alright, here's the alternate texture I came up with. I tried my best to maintain look of the original while increasing the resolution so it didnt look as blocky.

You can download the file here, just drag and drop it into each texture folder you wish to use it in.

Edit: I originally uploaded the wrong texture format, if you happened to download the file within the first few minutes of me posting this, please reclick the link above and download the appropriate bmp file instead of the dds file.

Before

http://i.imgur.com/a8RZHif.jpg

After

http://i.imgur.com/LUh293O.jpg

Edit 2: I was also looking for more appropriate liveries and came across a fictional US Army livery, so I uploaded that also. It contains the alternate windscreen and converted textures. You can download that here. (Click File in the top right corner and select Download to download the .zip file)

Preview

http://i.imgur.com/GOLMZhH.jpg

Sorry for cluttering the thread with screenshots

[Storm]

Flight plans, maps and airport diagrams. This week we take a detour on our first leg toward (marginally) more interesting scenery.

As always, please click on the image, where possible, for full size pictures.

[Storm]

Reminder! Join us at KIOW at 9pm ET in your Boeing Monomail. This is unexpectedly a very important flight for our destination, Omaha. To find out why, fly with us tonight on the next leg of our reenactment of the original transcontinental airmail routes across the United States in period planes.

Tonight we'll be flying the Boeing Monomail (only), though it'll be last time we fly it for a while as next week we may switch to the WACO 10 (which you can download here: http://tinyurl.com/storm-waco).

[Karl]

Printable event description:

[Prdude62]

Here Are My Pics From Todays Mail Run.http://imgbox.com/g/2CorwtM2xp

[Storm]

Flying in formation...


Savoring the "wonderful" Iowa scenery...


In the clouds...


Irresistible bridge across Lake Red Rock...