************************TAILHOOK.ZIP****************************
********CARRIER LANDING QUALIFICATION PACKAGE FOR FS98**********
********INCLUDES AIRCRAFT, PANEL, AND CARRIER NAVAIDS***********
*********************BY Scott Shuford***************************

             (Use Wordpad To Print This Document) 


INTRODUCTION:

I have always been amazed at the skill and courage of U.S Navy Aviators
who can land a speeding jet on the football -  field sized deck of a 
rolling, pitching aircraft carrier at night, and in inclement weather.
A recent article in FLYING magazine inspired me to put together this
"Carrier Landing Qualification" package for FS98. The package includes
an Aircraft, Instrument Panel, and a small scenery set that adds an ILS
DME and NDB to the Aircraft Carrier Nimitz parked off San Francisco.
The T45 aircraft is an fs5.1 design by Daniel Mrawek and has been
converted to FS98, and modified for carrier landings. The instrument
panel background is from a generic military jet panel By Alexis Thambwe
and has been extensively modified to reflect the general look and
functions of the latest generation two tube EFIS panel of the T45C
aircraft currently used by The U.S. Navy, also known as "Cockpit 21".
The carrier NavAids / scenery set is an fs5.1 design by Don Heumphreus
that works great in FS98 (on my system). 


INSTALLATION: 

            AIRCRAFT: Create an aircraft folder and sub-folders in your
                      FS98 aircraft directory as follows;

                      T45A215
                          |-model
                          |-panel
                          |-sound
                          |-Texture
                      
                       Unzip the contents of t45fs98.zip and place the
                       files in the proper folders as follows;
                    
                      T45a215 - aircraft.cfg, T45a215.AIR
                          |
                          |-model - model.cfg
                          |
                          |-panel - panel.cfg,T45MAIN.bmp,T45THRUST.bmp
                          |         (these files are in t45cPanel.zip)
                          |-sound - sound.cfg
                          |
                          |-Texture - the 9 texture files (T45a215.0af
                                      thru T45a215.8af)

             PANEL: Unzip the contents of T45cPanel.zip and place the
                    T45MAIN.bmp, T45THRUST.bmp, and panel.cfg in the
                    panel sub-folder you created for the aircraft.
                    All gauge files go in your FS98 gauges folder

             
             SCENERY: Unzip the contents of sfnimitz.zip and follow the
                      install instructions in the sfnimitz.txt file.
                      (the nimitz.bgl goes in your MAIN FS98 scenery
                      folder).

AIRCRAFT NOTES:  The aircraft converted well (in my opinion) to FS98,
with the exception of a tendency to "porpoise" somewhat on autopilot
flown approaches. It is rock stable in a cruise or climb configuration.
In modifying the aircraft for carrier landings I "juiced up" the
spoilers to simulate an arrested landing. Avoid engaging the spoilers 
in flight, or you will drop like a stone.

PANEL NOTES: The panel works in 3D (on my my Monster based system)
and features a switchable (shift-2) thrust/flaps/spoiler/fuel gauge
panel, and a visible HUD display. The flaps panel can be sized and 
moved to any location on the panel. When the panel starts up in FS98,
for some reason the canopy does not quite reach the top of the flight
simulator window. To adjust this, place the mouse pointer on the main
panel, left-click and hold, then "drag" the panel upward to the desired
location. The lower edge of the panel can then be "sized" with the
doubled ended arrow to prevent the instruments from taking on a skewed
(distorted) look. This leaves a "dark" area beneath the panel which I
think nicely simulates the area under a panel where the pilot's legs
would be.

SCENERY NOTES: When starting from the carrier, select "cat-1"
takeoff position from the airports menu, because for some reason the
"long T/O" position places you over the water. Select "ignore crash"
from the aircraft settings menu or you will have a short, wet flight,
there simply is not enough room to reach normal takeoff speed on the
short deck (any of you scenery Guru's know how to simulate a catapult
launch?). The static aircraft in Don's scenery may show up in FS98,
but I don't know, I did not try to install them. Remember to select
"scenery from 6.0 and before" to see the carrier on the airports menu.

A BRIEF CARRIER LANDING TUTORIAL: Fly the approach like a normal ILS
approach. When the main gear touches down, hit the brakes and spoilers
and the aircraft will de-accellerate rapidly. I highly recommend the
use of the auto-arm feature for the spoilers (shift-/) try to touch
down on the #3 wire (this is what Navy pilots are taught I think).
"You Must Be Crazy" you are going to say, and frankly it's difficult
enough to touch down in the general area of the wires, far less to aim
for a specific one, but that's the challenge of a carrier landing eh? 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
         
                The aircraft in this package is from an original fs5.1
                design by Daniel Mrawek (t45a215.zip)

                The panel background and flaps/thrust panel in this
                package are by Alexis Thambwe and Alex Yanes.
                (atjet2.zip)

                The scenery/navaids in this package are by 
                Don Heumphreus. (sfnimitz.zip)

SPECIAL THANKS TO:   
                    Chuck Dome, for his great utilities GAU2BMP,
                    and GAUMOD98

                    Ian Donohoe, for his great aircraft dynamics
                    editor ADE98, and for his help in tailoring
                    the spoiler effectiveness of the aircraft.

I hope you enjoy using this "package" as much as I did assembling it.
Questions and comments are welcome.

Scott Shuford (N3TTN)

Shuford@erols.com