«Swiss Air Lines» Douglas DC-3 C HB-IRN

Click on the picture to hear the sound of the Pratt&Whitney Twin Wasp radial engines...

«Queen Of The Night» v3.0 with new «metal finish» and landing lights

Special features:

• transparent cockpit windows (watch the pilots at work)
• unique «night look» with illuminated passenger cabin and cockpit
• all round «corner free» wheels for smooth landings

Information:

Swissair (at that time named «Swiss Air Lines») operated several DC-3's, this one was in service from 1947 to 1964. However, it was not retired then, but still served for several years in the training of new pilots. Today HB-IRN is displayed at the «Swiss Transport Museum» («Verkehrshaus») at Lucerne, Switzerland. It stands there side by side by the Swissair Convair CV990A Coronado that is also available here (by Rich Boehringer, with partly modified textures by me).

HB-IRN in front of the scenic background at the Swiss Traffic Museum at Lucerne. Note: the nose and part of one engine you can spot on the far right side of the picture belong to the Convair 'Coronado' HB-ICC.

There are documents of Swiss Air Lines DC-3's in a different livery (like two thin red stripes instead of one - see photo on left side), but the 'Queen' is made exactly after the original HB-IRN at the Swiss Traffic Museum.

The Model:

The airframe of the «Queen» is based upon John Kelley's superb «Paradise» model. My rework includes adaptions to the Swiss Air Lines «C» model, but also some general improvements. Parts that have been added or modified:

• top antennas and wiring
• DF loop housing
• flaps
• main gear wheels & tail wheel
• cockpit windows and struts
• wheel bays
• detailed surface textures of wings
• night illumination of cabin and cockpit
• gradual (dis)appearance of props and prop circles left/right
• metallic surface finish
• landing lights (Windows 95 version only)

The original «Paradise» flight model was modified by Mike Hill according to his «real life» Dakota experience. This model handles very well both in the air and on the ground.

The landing lights were added with Siggy Schwarz' «landing lights tool» using the DC-3 definition file by Barry Blaisdell. This feature is not available in the version for FS5.x.

The Swiss Air Lines DC-3 shines brightly under the sun, but it will win your heart when night falls! That's why I called it 'Queen of the Night' (which, by the way, is not the original naming).

Panel recommendation:

Back in 1995 Kenneth Kerr's Dakota Cockpit hit the panel thirsty FS5 community like thunder and immediately gained huge success. In 1996 it was the first of the VIP panels to be converted for use in FSW95. Yet, another revision of this truely classic panel is currently under way. I'm proud to have myself participated in this latest version, especially to enhance its 'photorealistic' look.