RAF Little Staughton (2024)

PILOT'S NOTES

You’ve probably never heard of Little Staughton, but for 13 months in 1944-45 it hosted – under the utmost secrecy - two elite RAF Pathfinder Force (PFF) Squadrons: 109 who flew highly classified Oboe-equipped Mosquitos - and 582 in Lancasters.
Imagine (or here, re-create!) 50 aircraft taking off, one every 15 seconds, at least twice a week. Factor in the fuel and munitions deliveries and 2500 people that made it happen.
Following 18 months of intensive R & D, RAF Little Staughton for XPlane 12 has become the definitive WW2 Bomber Command airfield, the most accurate replica on any flight sim platform.
Whilst it is free to download for personal use, by downloading, you are agreeing to honour its copyright. All rights reserved. I’m open to co-operation with other developers. DM me if you want to explore options.
Your feedback, no-holds-barred reviews are welcomed. It’s time XPlane got serious about warbirds again and I hope this helps stir the pot.

Join us at the Military Flyer's Club too ...
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PURPOSE
• a living, dynamic, interactive memorial to those who, like my father Flt Sergeant Tom Turner, served here 80 years ago, both air and ground crew. Lest we forget.
• to stimulate the development of study level XP12 WW2 warbirds to grace its runways
• to educate and raise awareness of events that took place here

I strongly recommend you watch the trailer to complement this overview. It explains, for example, how to use the lighting system. Check out @Alpeggio review too.

The model breaks new ground by providing a number of ‘firsts’ in simulation. It is intended as a work in progress, so as memories are stirred or better information becomes available, these may be added to enhance its authenticity.

These ‘firsts’ include:
• all 173 structures from Staughton’s Air Ministry’s Record Site Plan (RSP), exactly positioned and true in dimension/texture
• fully representative Bomber Command Mk III airfield lighting system
• full inventory of munitions & target markers actually used by 109 & 582 Squadrons, replicated to show markings and textures
• both the early USAAF ‘knuckle duster’ and later, more efficient ‘drive-through’ RAF bomb dumps
• the full Motor Transport Fleet of a typical airfield, inc @FatherofSam David Brown Tractor & 3D RAF groundcrew.
• updated versions of Jacques Brault’s classic static Mosquitos and Lancasters, substantially rebuilt, lit, with animated props and completely retextured to 109 and 582 Sqn markings and nose art
• @XCodr’s Living Scenery Technology to animate aircraft and vehicles to create the motion of an operational airbase, as well as a challenge for you, the pilot
• Nav Aids, such as Chance and Pundit Lights, Inner and Main Beacons
• moving display in the Gunnery Trainer, courtesy of @Fatherofsam software mastery
• typical RAF GSE assemblage, such as staging, trolley accs and ladders
• hedge and tree lines, paths, tracks and stains in the ground are where they were, drawn from contemporary military aerial images
• as with 33EFTS Caron, it hosts colourised ‘tableux’ of air and groundcrew who served here, including holders of 2 of the 3 Victoria Crosses won by PFF. They will cast a critical eye on your efforts. Take time to find them.
• the village, shown as was in 1944, whose residents first hosted the B17s of the USAAF’s Air Depot, then the RAF’s 8 Group of 109 & 582

I’ve had Mike Garbett’s ‘Lancaster at War’ since the age of 12. I combed the 4 volumes cover to cover countless times to recreate its airfield photos inc maintenance, arming, loading, fuelling, oiling, waiting. These were complemented by over 30 other tomes on the subject. You can now immerse yourself virtually.
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INSTALLATION

<<< READ THE PILOT’S NOTES AND WATCH THE VIDEO FIRST >>>

‘PILOT’S LOCKER’ FILE
[found under 'Additional Comment' tab] Contains examples of Operational Record Books from 109 and 582, together with the Record Site Plan, the map of the airfield.

SCENERY MODEL
This is a 2GB file, so needed chunking to get past the 200MB upload limit.
Refer to the file structure image in the thumbnails. As is normal XP practice, the zip file creates a redundant ‘shell/top’ folder. The folder you want is nested below it, so drag/drop these in as follows:
• unzip ‘RAF Little Staughton’
• unzip ‘Static Aircraft’ and ‘Vehicles’ and drop these folders under ‘RAF Little Staughton’
• unzip ‘Buildings’ and drop under ‘RAF Little Staughton’
• unzip ‘Hangars’, ‘Nissens’, ‘Temp Brick’ & ‘Perm Brick’ and drop these under ‘Buildings’

ANIMATION

If you want to see aircraft and vehicles moving around the airfield, you must have @X-Codr Living Scenery LST plug in installed

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TIPS, HINTS & CHALLENGES
• study the RSP, use it as your road map. Every building had a purpose, occupants, a kettle for brewing up. The Radar Huts for example hosted the ultra-secret (on a level with Enigma) Oboe technicians, so classified that Mosquitos were hangered overnight, guarded closely with very few photographs allowed.
• take time to ‘walk’ the airfield – use the C, comma, full stop (period) and SHIFT commands to move around. Even better, use XCamera to set up some airfield cameras to watch your aircraft
• wander up the village’s high street to the church. Its gravestones are textured with the deceased.
• loiter by the airfield’s taxiway & road junctions, wait for aircraft and vehicles to pass by
• attempt the ‘long taxi’ from the western dispersal to Runway 24. Don’t get caught by the Lanc behind you. This was business as usual for the pilot.
• attempt a night landing, joining the outer circle at its most western point, following it in to the ‘LX’ identifier, turning in past the funnels, and into your dispersal.
• dial in some weather. Operations didn’t stop for wind, rain or snow, neither should you.
• the roof of the Baptist Chapel was holed by a Lancaster’s undercarriage in early 1944, taking off from Runway 30. Can you replicate it?
• peek through the Gunnery Trainer’s door to see @Fatherofsam animated targets …

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ACCURACY & AUTHENTICITY
Research and texturing were everything here. 80 years after the events, very few eye witnesses remain. Knowledge is lost daily, so it was vital to capture this rendition of what was.
I’m confident the building positions are 100% in location and dimension, based on RSP, WW2 aerial images, LIDAR scans and those structures and groundworks still remaining here as silent witnesses. I’ve walked the ground many times. Texturing is largely accurate, with educated guesses reasonably filling the gaps eg Was the Runway Control Caravan red/white or black/white? I don’t know, both colours were used.
Squadron markings, insignia and nose art are a mix of what was and what might have been. 582’s ’60 series’ and 109’s ‘HS’ are factual. Grim Reaper was a veteran of over 200 sorties. The ‘OL’ series Lancasters are drop-ins from Coningsby’s 83 Sqn, again PFF. My dad’s OL-F is included, although he arrived after the war’s close.
The Lighting model follows the requirements of the Air Min ‘Works’ volume, in colour, placement and function.
Munitions are taken from the NAVORD OP 1665, created to explain British armaments to our USAAF cousins. Insignia, triggers, fuses, textures and grunge all properly replicated.
Vehicles are fully representative, including the Matador Bowser and tanker, Fordson War Office Type 1 Fire Appliance, Austin K2 Ambulance, Austin K3 Bomb Flat, K3 Crew Truck, K3 General Purpose, David Brown Tractor (animated wheels), Brookhouse Trailer & Oil Bowser, Runway Control Caravan and Type C Bomb Trolley Mk II.
The village was substantially researched with help from Clive Burchett. All Saints Church is clothed in its own stonework.

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