BAC Three-Eleven

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Garwaire
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BAC Three-Eleven

Post by Garwaire »

Greetings fellow Brits and Brit-enthusiasts!

I've recently come into the possession of the BAC Three-Eleven book by Freschi, which details a lot about an aircraft whom I'd never heard of; the 3-11.
After a frantic search of the internet and popular FSX/9 forums, I only found the files for the FS2002 version. Sadly, it does not seem compatible with FS9/X and despite many hours of researching and attempts to convert the models ... I leave empty handed.

So, I have a small request. Could anyone put me in touch with, or even take on a project to recreate the BAC 3-11 for FS9/X? No small undertaking, I understand, but I'd be eternally grateful for any assistance the community could offer.

Thanks again.

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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by DaveB »

Hi Garwaire and welcome :)

If I'm not mistaken, the 3-11 was by Toby Vickers who still pop's in here on a fairly regular basis.

Before you get your hopes up.. I think it fair to point out we have no active 'in house' modellers at CBFS anymore and the two guys that use here and DO model only make vintage era stuff not even close to the 3-11. With the high standards FSXers have come to expect (and demand) these days, I honestly can't see you finding anyone to take this on but I wish you luck ;)
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Garwaire
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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by Garwaire »

Thanks Dave

Well that certainly raises my hopes of flying one, knowing that Toby Vickers is still around. Whilst I understand that by-no-means that a 3-11 will gracing our copies of FSX, I'm glad to hear that the original creator is here on the site.

I'll have to send him a PM and see what can be done. Of course, any updates will be posted here. :)

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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by TobyV »

Hi,

Yes I am the one who created that model of the BAC 3-11, some 14 or 15 years ago when I was a university student. It was done in Aircraft Factory 99 which was originally intended for FS98 and FS2000 (at a pinch) although the models also worked in FS2002. I think it had only a 12 sided fuselage and even so I ran out of polygons before I was even able to model the flap rails! It was about 3 or 4 computers ago so not sure if I still have the files anymore.

The 3-view which I used is from a book called "Project Cancelled" by Derek Wood, which I have a copy of, but not to hand. Graziano Freschi's book is interesting with a few pictures and technical details. I think I assumed the RB211 derivative (RB211-61) would have had to have had been roughly the equivalent performance of the RB211-524 which in the end appeared first in 1977 at the output the Three Eleven would have needed and went on through the 80s in -D, -G and -H form on the B747-400 and the B767-300ER.

As Dave says, the demands of modelling nowadays are basically so complex, it might as well be a full time job, not a hobby.

Toby

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Garwaire
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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by Garwaire »

Hi Toby,

Thank you very much for getting in touch. I've been reading up on modelling for FSX and it does indeed seem rather complex - too complex for me at the moment! As far as I'm aware, its not possible to convert files from FS2000 to FSX, is it? If it is possible, if you still have the files, I wouldn't mind giving a stab and converting it for FSX/9. I think this would be more likely to produce workable results than me trying to recreate it from scratch.

If you do have the files on hand, would it be possible to send me a copy? That way I (or a very generous member of the FS community) could possibly work with it until it worked with FSX.

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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by TobyV »

As I said, it's several computers ago and since then I moved from the UK to Switzerland. It's possible those files are on a hard disc in a drawer somewhere in the UK, but I don't have them to hand. It's such a crude model by today's standards - the fuselage is only 12 sided, I think you'd be better to start again. The one thing I would say for it was that I took quite a lot of trouble to get the size and proportions correct, so despite the general simplicity of the model, what's there is more or less correct according to the 3-view that I had. I might go back to the UK mid Autumn, if I remember, I'll try to have a dig around, but not sure what one can do with AF99 projects in terms of importing into FSDS3 or GMax or whatever...

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Garwaire
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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by Garwaire »

Ah okay, I apologise - I must have missed that part about you moving! I understand your points as I've been reading up on the modelling for FSX (having been a novice to the whole palaver!) - if only modelling paid by the hour!

I appreciate any help you could provide, but please don't go out on a limb - they're probably not compatible or easily convertible as you've suggested ...

Nonetheless, I really appreciate you getting in touch and I'm honoured to have spoken with you about the 3-11. Thanks once again. :thumbsup:

If I do make headway I will, of course, keep this thread informed.

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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by TobyV »

I managed to dig out the original 3-11 projects files for AF99 from an old Win98 PC in the UK. There is, if my memory serves me correctly, even the beginnings of a 24-sided fuselage version in a separate project after someone released a patch for AF99 which lifted the limit on the number of polygons possible (from 700 or so), but that was never finished. I started a separate thread to ask if anyone knew how to convert/import these old projects into something newer, but unfortunately so far there have been no replies. I guess it's all just too old now. One potentially useful thing amongst the files I found was a scan of the 3 view from Derek Wood's "Project Cancelled" book, which is probably about the most accurate three view you will find outside of whatever might exist in the Brooklands archive.

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Garwaire
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Re: BAC Three-Eleven

Post by Garwaire »

Hi Toby, sorry I missed your reply last year. That's an interesting turn of events - great that you came across those old files, I'm sure there must be a way of converting those files, no matter how contrived. However, I'm most certainly not the one qualified enough to undertake such a feat. I wasn't aware that the 3-11 was in a Projects Cancelled book, I'll certainly have to go hunting for that book! Maybe, when I have more term, I'll be able teach myself to create such a magnificent aircraft.

Once again, very grateful for your contributions Toby. You're an asset to the community!

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