Saturday, February 27, 2021

Panzer Campaigns Budapest '45 - Getting There for a Battlefield Tour (Mi piace volare con il mio MB339)

 Budapest '45 has a lot to teach about armored operations. Desperate times for the Germans, trying to relieve Budapest with a shoe string force. In this scenario I started playing (Operation Konrad), some of my tanks are still on trains, some 15 Km north of the Danube. 


Not only I'm short on tanks, but also on time. The offensive has to start immediately and there is no time to shift forces for an approach from the tank-friendly terrain in the south. Instead, I have to push tanks through hills. The hills south of the Danube (see above screenshot) are a bit of a mystery to me so I decided to take a flight and see them in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

First things first, I'm going to take an Aermacchi MB339 (military jet trainer and light attack aircraft) from the Aviano Airbase in northern Italy to the Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport  (LHBP). It's a relatively short flight and I have chosen clear weather so to see the landscape. In a next entry, I'm going to do the tour.

 

Flight plan. I chose a VOR to VOR plan. I'm planning to use area navigation (RNAV) to try out the navigation system of the MB339.

The Aviano Airbase is so close to the Alps that you can smell the mountain air.

Flaps controls are fully animated, along with some of the switches. I always forget the keybind for the parking brake and it is great to have it as a clickable in the cockpit.



I set the trim a couple of notches nose-up for take off.

The aircraft almost takes off by itself with the trim set at that position.

Getting ready to bring the landing gear up.

The navigation system shows waypoints and allows you to switch between them. But many of the buttons are non-functional.

A panoramic view of Slovenia.

The cockpit is comfortable and pleasing to the eyes. 



This a very short time after I caught the slope from the ILS system at LHBP.


Flaps half, AoA at 0.45 units, some 130 kts ... All dandy for a good landing except for the alignment. By the way, I'm running a tad low in fuel.

A very uneventful touchdown. This aircraft is so easy to fly.





Stay tuned for the actual tour. I am thinking of making a video of it.

Cheers,


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a great idea -- and didn't Patton fly over his columns as they were advancing to see the terrain? Look forward to seeing the video.

A slightly easier method to visualize the flow of the terrain is to pull it up in Google Earth and take screenshots for reference from ground level. I usually do this before taking on a scenario in Command Ops 2.

JC said...

Thanks for reading!
That's a great idea. I have to try that with the VR headset too!
Cheers,

simfront said...

Excellent Blog! I would like to thank for the efforts you have made in writing this post. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. I wanted to thank you for this websites! Thanks for sharing. Great websites!
Modelling & Simulation

Anonymous said...

How dare You!
This is cheating ��