Platinum Wings Album

**Jorge** · August 19th, 2022, 14:20

All,

Since there has been interest, I thought I would document some of the work here. I've started an album so you can get an idea of what the project looks like so far.

I'll be posting more periodically, and I'll let you know here when there's more posted.

If there are parts I can post for download, I will. So far it's only some textures and aircraft updates I've done for the project so far (Northrop Alpha, Consolidated Commodore, Boeing P-12E/F4B-4, etc.) and none of the scenery. Some of the things I'll have to get permission to upload at all (Amsterdam, La Guardia, and a few others) since they are updates of others' work that involves using their models or textures. Others, like Kai Tak, should be fine when done since you can get the original files and then just copy over what you need. I'm not modifying anything original, just using parts of the original with work done by me.

I still plan on getting permissions where necessary regardless of the situation. Just common courtesy.

No timeline on releases. I'm working on a manual/PDF that can allow others to create their own version, so I won't release anything scenery-wise at all until then. I also have to clean up the xml base files I made to create the generic airports. They make sense to me, but may not make any sense to others until I explain what I did and how to use them.

Here's the link to the album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA3zen

When I post updates there I'll update the posting here.

The link is the same one on the screenshots page, so you can use that one as well if you would like.

Thanks for the support on this and I hope everyone is enjoying my work so far!

Regards,

Jorge
Miami, FL

PS: I reference "John" in some pictures. Here is the link directly to his website:

https://flic.kr/ps/c5drC

His 1939 stuff is towards the end, but ANYTHING from his site is just absolutely wonderful. His research work is unmatched from what I've seen so far.

**Jorge** · August 19th, 2022, 16:26

Last update for today. Still a lot of pics to post-process, but I wanted to get back to working on some stuff. Several things going on in parallel, so trying to concentrate on just one to get one out the door.

P-12E texture for Hawaii available now, too.

Just click on the link above and you're all set for all the pics I have so far.

Regards,

Jorge
Miami, FL

***ian elliot*** · August 19th, 2022, 22:44

Thats an amazing archive of photo's you've link'd, i can spend a whole evening with a mug of coffee or 2, going through all 393 page's. I nearly consider'd Heliopolis myself, but i cooled off the idea as Cairo area needed a lot of landclass retro surgery, and by the end of the war, there were 3 airfields which at one time or another were named Heliopolis

Great work with your project

***SgtT*** · August 20th, 2022, 01:13

Very nice, enjoyed the pics. Thank you so much for posting.

**leuen** · August 20th, 2022, 03:36

Very interesting and promising project. Thanks Jorge. It could be a highly appreciated input and expected revival to vintage flying.

Bernard

**Jorge** · August 27th, 2022, 16:50

All,

I did some post-processing of some pics I'd already taken and also made a few new ones tonight.

Posted at the album:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA3zen

More to come since I have quite a few more screenshots to process.

Jorge
Miami, FL

**Ruddman** · August 30th, 2022, 15:02

Originally Posted by Jorge

All,

I did some post-processing of some pics I'd already taken and also made a few new ones tonight.

Posted at the album:

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA3zen

More to come since I have quite a few more screenshots to process.

Jorge
Miami, FL

Great album. I love this as I use orbx textures as well.

So what’s the idea for it? Like a silver wings style with updates textures etc? But removing all the modern airports?
Do you have a particular time period in mind?
I have silver wings with many of the calclassic stuff. I sometimes add my own land class around airports as many of the cities outside of the USA are too large for that time period.

I recently downloaded golden wings and barely have had time to work on it. Frustrating to see all the modern airports etc mixed in with old airfields.

So does your upgrade kinda deal with that in certain areas?

**Jorge** · August 30th, 2022, 16:31

Ruddman,

Short answer is "Yes," it's supposed to regress the entire sim to pre-WW2 (or Jurasic Park?) by removing the default files that create the airports and their associated buildings and areas. The reason for GW3 is for the regressed landclass in general. You could use Silver Wings too, but GW3 has a more "retro" feel when it comes to the landclass as a whole. You then do the other textures to "update" the GW3 ones, and then repopulate the sim via scenery you activate in the Addon Scenery folder.

I know there are several files that GW3 installs which also should get removed if you're going to use the scenery I've come up with. Croydon is an example that would need to be manually removed in order to use mine since using an exclude would remove way too much of the surrounding area. I did mine around some of the default roads after the manual removal.

Just keep in mind that the traditional GW3 airports will look weird since my procedure also updates all the textures as described above. As a result you will have the ability to use asphalt and concrete at the airports in order to have different shades and details in my setup. All the stuff in the album is done using the "updated" textures, so it's going to look strange in a regular GW3 install.

I also made custom runway textures, which is why some of the asphalt and/or concrete looks different than what you're probably used to. Same for some of the taxiway textures and details.

I just got around to installing the CalClassic update where the taxiway markings (where used) are white instead of yellow. Little by little, things are coming together.

Still editing the PDF as well as some base files. If anyone has any recommendations or feedback on the procedure, please let me know.

Regards,

Jorge
Miami, FL

PS: I just had an "Aha!" moment after re-reading your post. If you have a "vanilla" install for ADE use of modified default airports, you can use the procedure along with Silver Wings instead of Golden Wings in order to do the era of WW2 and up to the mid-60's. The main difference would be to keep the AT, NV, and OB files intact instead of moving them. You would then have the period era with all the navaids and ATC of the post-war era without the mass airports of the default sim. Neat!

**Ruddman** · September 2nd, 2022, 19:19

I also have a golden wings install. I can always do another as well.

Because this interests me. I’d love to try it when you’ve completed the testing etc.

**Jorge** · September 3rd, 2022, 11:00

Just an update for the album. I did some organizing of it as well, but it's not noticeable.

Uploaded some shots of the generic PAA stations for flying boats at Alameda, Honolulu (Pearl City), and Wake Island (Peale Island).

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA3zen

Still need to do Midway, Guam, and Manila, but all in good time. Still putting final touches on the PDF file. It's more in-depth than I realized.

I'd like to get back at updating cfg files and textures for aircraft as well. I was working on Paul Clawson's Altair a little while ago after I did his P-12/F4B, SBU, and Commodore, so I'm taking a break from typing for a little while.

I think I have the cfg file nailed to work with the default Vega air file, so it's just a matter of trying to get the textures acceptable. Also trying to make a more usable -- if not accurate -- panel as well as using Erwin Welker's tutorial on adding static VC's to aircraft that don't have any. We'll see how it looks with the new textures. If it's too bad, I'll just go back to the original with some mdl tweaks for shine and sheen and call it a day.

Enjoy the new pics!

Jorge
Miami, FL

**Ruddman** · October 27th, 2022, 08:19

Any update on this?

**Jorge** · July 27th, 2023, 16:40

It's been so long since I've done an update that I completely forgot I'd actually done a thread for this.

The album is currently updated with three (3) new pics, so not much. These were put up last week in the Screenshots thread since I forgot this one was up.

It's an example of a typical and generic desert/remote pumping station which I've put at various places from Kirkuk in Iraq all the way to the Mediterranean following what would be the old oil pipline.

The newest pics are from H1, but it's representative of all the others -- H2, H3, K1, K2, K3, etc.

The runways are dirt or sand, and have barrels along the south side which light up at night. Not much help in bad visibility, but better than nothing. Great at night, though. At least with the little testing I was able to do last year when I was putting all of them together, anyway.

Working on making some more screenshots of the other works in progress in various areas. More time with the family and work, though, so one thing at a time.

The link above is still good. Just scroll to the bottom after the page opens.

Cheers,

Jorge
Miami, FL