Aussie Group Flights Team: Dam Buster Practice Flight

[CinnamonInk8010]

One of the most inovative and brave actions of our service men and women was the bombing of Dams in Germany during the second world war.

Many of us would have watched the Dam Buster movie that was inspired by these historic war efforts. In this event, we will attempt to carry out the typical practice mission from Scampton RAF base(EGXP) “the home of the dam busters” to the Derwent Waters Dam. Apparently this dam had many similarities to the one that was targetted in Germany. In this bombing, the bomber would approach the site, over land at 100’ above the ground to avoid being detected. When approaching the Dam, they would fly at around 60’ above the water and at the appropriate moment, judged by crude yet inovative sighting techniques, release a rotating barrel (Depth Charge) that would bounce along the water until it hit the wall of the dam, sink and explode.

In our attempt at simulating the process, we will fly the route under 500’ above the ground (watch out for power lines) and approach the Dam as they would have. Unfortunately no bombs in MSFS but the challenge of flying low for so long and the associated concentration will be sufficient to appreciate SOME of the challenges they had. I should add that they did this in the dark, which is an incredible achievement.

You can choose to be a Bomber, with a DC6 or DC3 or you can form and escort of fighter aircraft, e.g., Spitfire, Hurricane, Mustang etc. Not too realistic but in the absence of a Lancaster, this is what we have to work with.

Optional Addon Scenery:

Scampton(EGXP): https://flightsim.to/file/23137/egxp-raf-scampton-red-arrows-home-lincoln-lincolshire-england-uk

There are some C-47 (military version of DC3) repaints available on Flightsim.to.

The following movie provides some great insights to the achievment: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/35qsu9HsYos

Details to follow. Hope you can join us.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS INFORMATION IS FOR FLIGHT SIMULATION USE ONLY.

Regards, Paul

[FlyingFinn59]

Excellent Paul ! You’re so creative with these flights

[BuckshotTheo]

Great ! This is going to be exiting and good fun I’m sure.. Let’s bust that ■■■■■■ dam

[CinnamonInk8010]

ATTENTION Aussie Flight Group Participants …

Group Flight: 2023-01-03T09:00:00Z

PLEASE DO NOT SPAWN ON THE RUNWAY. ENSURE YOU SELECT THE STARTING POSITION ON THE RAMP.

NOTE: The route to the Reservoir and dam is not the actual route followed by the pilots. I was unable to determine the route so approximated the approach to the dam. The return journey is expanded to take in the surrounding scenery and add to the flight time for the event. The challenge in the event will be flying low for a sustained period and to the escort aircraft to keep tight with the bomber aircraft. After we complete the task, we can climb up to 2,500’ and enjoy the scenery as we head home.

Route: Scampton(EGXP) Broomhead Reservoir(WP1) Howden Dam(WP2) Derwent Reservoir(POI2) Derwent Dam(WP4) Ladybower Reservoir(POI3) Ladybower Res Dam(WP9) Camphill Airfield(EGHV) Chapel-en-le-Frith(WP10) Crosland Moor(EGND) Leeds Bradford(EGNM) Breighton Airfield(EGBR) Brough(EGNB) Humberside(EGHJ) Scampton(EGXP)

Take off from Scampton(EGXP)
Track 284 deg to Broomhead Res(WP1) 39nm
Track 250 deg to Howden Dam(WP2) 5.3nm
Track 189 deg to follow the Derwent Res at 60' above the water to the Derwent Dam(WP4) 1.4nm
Note: This is the target dam. Unfortunately the towers aren't modeled on the dam wall.
Follow the waypoints over Ladybower Res(POI3) to the Ladybower Dam(WP8) 2.8nm
Track to Camphill Airfield(EGHV) 3.7nm
Full Stop Landiing at Camphill Airfield(EGHV)
Take off from Camphill Airfield(EGHV)
Track 280 deg to Chapel-en-le-Frith(WP9) 6.8nm
Track 010 deg to Crosland Moor(EGND) 17.9nm
Touch and Go at Crosland Moor(EGND)
Take off from Crosland Moor(EGND)
Track 023 deg to Leeds Bradford(EGNM) 16.1nm
Full Stop Landing at Leeds Bradford(EGNM) +++ 10min Break +++
Take off from Leeds Bradford(EGNM)
Track 098 deg to Breighton Airfield(EGBR) 27nm
Touch and Go at Breighton Airfield(EGBR)
Track 139 deg to Humberside(EGNJ) 11.7nm
Touch and Go at Humberside(EGNJ)
Track 204 deg to Scampton(EGXP) 17.5nm
Full Stop Landing at Scampton(EGXP)

Altitude: The route to the Howden Dam is to be flown at not above 500’ AGL. Over the water is to be flown not above 60’. The remainder of the event can be flown up to 2,500’ to be clear of terrain.

Airport details

Scampton(EGXP)
Elev: 202’
RW 04/22 Asphalt

Camphill Airfield(EGHV)
Elev: 1,295’
RW 01/19 Grass
RW 10/28 Grass

Grosland Moor(EGND)
Elev: 825’
RW 07/25 Asphalt

Leeds Bradford(EGNM)
Elev: 681’
RW14/32 Cement

Breighton Airfield(EGBR)
Elev: 24’
RW 10/28 Asphalt

Brough(EGNB)
Elev: 12’
RW 12/30 Bituminous

Humberside(EGNJ)
Elev: 121’
RW 02/20 Asphalt
RW 08/26 Asphalt

Aircraft: Bomber: DC6/DC3 Escort: Spitfire/Hurricane/Mustang etc.

IMPORTANT: In the interest of keeping it REAL, please refrain from selecting inappropriate aircraft, like airliners. This only detracts from the immersion of the flight.

Seeing Aircraft Correctly: You need to do two things to ensure you can see the other pilots in the event and see them in the aircraft they selected.

Select the same server: To do this, proceed as follows:

From the Welcome Screen, click on your Username (top right)
From the list of servers, under Servers, select WEST USA

Turn off Generic Planes: To do this, proceed as follows:

From the Welcome Screen, click on OPTIONS
Click on GENERAL
With TRAFFIC selected, scroll down to the last option and set USE GENERIC PLANE MODELS to OFF

Turning off Crash/Damage:

Select Options/Assistance
Expand Failure & Damage
Disable Crash Damage
Disable Aircraft Stress Damage
Disable Engine Stress Damage
Accept the changes

Voice Room: My personal Discord server is used for voice comms. If you haven’t already joined my server, click on the below link to request access. I will set you up as a Member so you can access the server. Ensure you do this prior to the flight, as latecomers will need to wait for the next event.

Link to join the Voice Room: Discord

Note: this link is only valid for 7 days from posting.

Weather/Time: We will set the time to 8am. This will allow us to fly in daylight and choose REAL weather so that the winds are correct.

From the World Map view, click on Flight Conditions (upper right of screen)
Click on All Players, Live Traffic, Custom
Under Weather and Time, select Live Weather and move the time slide bar to show 8:00am. 
Click Close and Fly from the World Map view.

We can start departing from 09:00z. There will be no need for official radio calls. Lets just have some fun taking in the scenery and the social aspects of the event.

Turning on Points of Interest

Select Options/Assistance
Expand POI
Set Landmark Markers to ON
Set City Markers to ON
Set Airport Markers to ON
Accept the changes

Turning on Name Tags (This will assist you in following the group if you get disoriented):

Select Options/GeneralTraffic
Set Show Traffic Nameplates to On
Accept the settings

Still confused, check out the multiplayer video tutorial from SimHangar Flight Simulation: MSFS | MULTIPLAYER | How To Guide | Everything You Need To Know | Fly in events coming soon. - YouTube

Let me know if there’s anything else that I’ve missed that you need to know.,

Regards, Paul

[CinnamonInk8010]

Flight plans for the event …

Little NavMap: VFR Scampton (EGXP) to Scampton (EGXP).lnmpln (3.6 KB)

MSFS: VFR Scampton (EGXP) to Scampton (EGXP).pln (4.6 KB)

[CinnamonInk8010]

Print this flight card out for your easy reference during the flight (Note: only available up to the date of the flight): Dropbox - Flight Card.pdf - Simplify your life

[CinnamonInk8010]

Event reminder …