The moment I write this I am 64 years old and so is the peace that followed World War II. This means that I'm "post war", and that's the way I want to keep it! It also means that I only saw the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber in post-war fly-by's which is a scarce enough happening, considering that there are only two (!) airworthy Lancasters left in the whole wide world. There's very little airtime to be shared among the enthusiastic candidates, so there are probably less than a dozen people who get to fly a real Lancaster from the left seat every once in a while.

The closest us lowly earth dwellers can come to flying Lancasters, is via simulation. I am dedicated to Microsofts Flight Simulator X, in which I fly "my own" version of the Lancaster B1, a hybrid based on the "Wings of Power" version for exterior and flight model, and for the 2-D panel on just about everything including the kitchen sink. Out of dozens of available panels that I collected in years of flight simming, I created a strictly individual panel version.

Panel rearranging required!

There are two reasons to design my own flightsim panels. Firstly because there's no ready made Lancaster bomber panel available that looks to my liking. Secondly because existing panels put the simulated captains eyepoint somewhere in the lateral center of the cockpit, like straight behind the throttles. That's no good: it takes away much of the illusion or immersion. Although my real world flying experiences are sadly confined to light single engine aircraft like Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee, I know that Lancaster pilots did not sit with their family jewels shoved painfully into the throttle/propeller quadrants of their Avro Lancaster bomber!

My own panels show a more natural pilots position, and considerably enlarged gauges. Simulation, including flight simulation, is simply illusion - and I don't give a fig about the panel lay-out being realistic: I want it to look and feel realistic within the confines of a computer screen!!

The physical controls

In order to realize a decent level of realism, flying your simulated bomber with the keyboard or mouse won't do. If you can even remotely afford it, a steering yoke is an absolute must, with a set of pedals right on its heels. Fortunately such hardware add-ons are available in a wide price range, from very strong but equally expensive, to somewhat wobbly but easily in the affordability sector of most of us.

Concerning this subject I have a confession to make. Some six years ago I got the cheapest yoke and pedals that I could find, and I still use them without a problem and to my great satisfaction! In those years I must have bought for more than a couple of thousand dollars worth of other flight simulator hardware and software, but I never saw any reason for discarding my old and faithful pedals/yoke set! Sure, eventually I'll replace them, even if it is only on account of normal wear and tear from almost daily use, but it's not necessary yet.

A very flustered face!

I will never say that a relatively simple computer simulation like MS Flight Sim can ever give you the joy of flying the real thing, but sometimes it comes surprisingly close. I've made lots of simulated landings under conditions that turned my face red with concentration, and sweaty with almost physical fear! Nor am I the only one with such experiences. I think it was around 2004 that an RAF flight crew flew an MS-simulated famous Dam Busters raid. Those jet pilots and "Anything, Anywhere, Anytime" types left their specifically constructed after their final flight with a healthy respect for Microsofts simulation software, and for the good old Lancaster. You won't see them looking down on "that game" or "that old bomber" anymore!

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