Virtavia Handley-Page Hampden for X-Plane 12
The Handley-Page Hampden was an aircraft that was very nearly obsolete when it went into service. One of the first British bombers to see service in World War, it carried a payload similar to the Wellington and Whitley, but was much faster and more maneuverable.
It was the newest design of these three, sporting a very slender fuselage and fixed guns. It was indeed faster and more agile but the defensive armament was inadequate and was later updated. Known as the "Flying Suitcase" due to its narrow fuselage and cramped crew positions, the Hampden was nearly as fast as the Blenheim but carried 4 x the load twice as far. It was initially used in daylight raids until combat losses dictated an improvement in defensive armament as well as a switch to night ops. At night, the Hampden continued with success in raids on Germany and participated in the first "1,000 bomber" raid before being withdrawn in 1942.
This model has many improvements over its predecessor which was made for X-Plane 11 and was released at the end of 2021. The cockpit has been retained, but the exterior model is now the much-improved MSFS2020 one, with all-new textures as well as a correctly modelled TB Mk.1 torpedo-carrying variant. There are also the two new liveries from MSFS - Swedish AF and Soviet AF and the new MSFS authentic crew figures. The XP12 Hampden now supports droppable bombs and comes with 500lb and 1,000lb free-fall bombs as well as a droppable MkXII torpedo for the Hampden TB Mk.1 variant (unfortunately the torpedo has to act as a bomb due to lack of support in X-Plane). The .303 Browning nose gun can also be fired now. New engine sounds are also a feature of this new version. Sadly, it was not possible to make the Auto Controls work in XP12, however this new version is exceptionally stable and can be trimmed to hands-off flying easily.
Variants included :
- Hampden B.Mk.1 :
1) 185 Sqn., RAF Cottesmore, 1939. Early version, has leading edge slats, short exhausts.
2) 144 Sqn., RAF North Luffenham, 1942. Long exhausts, full night bomber camo.
3) 1404 (Met) Flight, RAF Coastal Command, 1943. Long exhausts, sea grey over white, unarmed Meteorological unit.
4) P5, C/n 810, Swedish Air Force, 1942. Short exhausts, unarmed trials aircraft.
- Hampden TB.Mk.1 :
5) 415 Sqdn, Royal Canadian Air Force, 1943. Short exhausts, sea grey/slate grey camo over sky.
6) 489 Sqdn, Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1944. Long exhausts, sea grey over sky.
7) 24 MTAP, Soviet Naval Air Force, 1943. Short exhausts, early RAF night bomber camo repainted with Soviet red stars.
Features :
- Super low price so everyone can enjoy it
- droppable bombs and torpedo, nose gun can be fired
- now uses the much more advanced exterior model from MSFS2020 with all-new hi-res textures
- rear cabin interior now included
- PBR materials used throughout
- VR ready
- FMOD sounds package with new 3-stage engine sounds, canopy muting, switch clicks and other unique cockpit sounds
- very detailed cockpit with numerous animations and mousable controls
- working Lorentz Instrument (uses DME/NAV1 LOC)
- animated automatic leading edge slats (185 Sqn. version only)
- new, more authentic togglable crew figures
- separate animated front and rear canopies, animated ventral hatch and bomb bay doors
- animated cowl flaps with rotary handle control in cockpit
- authentic flight model with checklist
- 27-page illustrated User Operating Manual
