Radar

A few shots testing the radar, the new options in P3D make it much easier creating a basic radar, and the AN/APS-4 was fairly basic.  One tricky feature was the B-scope display which displays returns in a rectangular coordinate system, imagine a sheet of graph paper, the x-axis represents bearings and the y-axis represents range.  In the picture below the B-scope is at the bottom left, compared to the contemporary Plan Position Indicator (PPI) display on the right hand side returns closer to the aircraft are spread out horizontally. Consequently although the spit of land forms a straight line on the PPI display as it’s not pointing directly at the aircraft it bends to the right at the bottom of the display.  You can also just make out an inlet at the bottom right of the PPI display which is pointing broadly towards the aircraft, on the B-scope this forms a more or less vertical line down the screen.  More on the display formats here.

You can also track ships as shown in the next image, I’m not sure what the maximum detection range is yet as I’ve mostly been flying around coastal waters where I know I’ll find some!

The controller is modelled on the actual unit used in the aircraft, the National Air and Space Museum has a clear photo of one here.  As far as I have been able to tell on the Firefly the controller was only in the Observer’s cockpit, certainly the Pilot’s Notes don’t show a position for it in the front, consequently I’ve added it as 2-D pop-up.  Due to the limitations of P3D the only functions that actually work are the Run/Off switch, Range selector, and the Tilt knob which shows the depression of the radar but isn’t controllable.

The next thing to work on is the User Manual, hunt for any remaining oversights, and finalise the paint schemes.