Regia Aeronautica, Savoia Marchetti SM81 "Pipistrello", by pcmeneg
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The Savoia Marchetti (SIAI) SM81 was the armed bomber/transport version of the SM73 airliner. This SM81 package is partially derived from my previous S73_V20.zip, but a lot of parts were completely rebuilt. Flight dynamics, panel and gauges were designed after studying the original manuals of the aircraft and its related instruments and engines.  This archive contains four variants, each with different engines and operating procedures: the Piaggio P.X/RC15, Alfa Romeo A.R.125/RC35, Alfa Romeo A.R.126/RC34 and Gnome et Rhone 14K Mistral Major. Seven liveries are included: Five Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force) and two Spanish Nationalist Air Force. All standard animations are present and all MDLs also feature animated turrets, gondola and gun hatches. This "Pipistrello" package is completed of panel, gauges, sounds and virtual cockpit. It's optimised for FS9, but will work (perhaps with minor errors) in FSX (a bitmap file must to be replaced). Models by Stefano Meneghini, paints by Manuele Villa, flight dynamics and reference notes by FSAviator. See also "understanding the SM81.txt" for more details.

INSTALLATION
============
	--- FS2004 (FS9) users ---
1 - Unzip this archive into the Flight Simulator 9/Aircraft folder, then you will find new seven folders starting with 'S81_'  
2 - Copy or move the contents of the enclosed  'S81_effects' folder in the main Flight Simulator 9 'Effects' folder. After you can remove  the 'S81_effects' folder.
3 - Remove the 'S81_FSX_patch'  folder, it's for FSX.

	--- FSX users ---
1 - Unzip this archive into the 'Airplanes' sub-folder, then you will find new seven folders starting with 'S81_'  
2 - Copy or move the contents of the enclosed  'S81_effects' folder in the main Flight Simulator X 'Effects' folder. After you can remove  the 'S81_effects' folder.
3 - IMPORTANT, copy the 'glass_int_c.bmp' enclosed into the 'S81_FSX_patch'  folder and replace the file with the same name into ALL texture folders regarding this S81 package.
4 - You can remove the 'S81_FSX_patch'  folder.
	

Note that the 'S81_common' folder includes all common files (panel, gauges, sounds and documentation) required by each engine variation.
See Understanding the SM81.txt for more details and some detailed handling hints. Abbreviated handling notes for printing (.txt) and on screen use (.htm) specific to each version are provided. 

TIPS
====

1- All instruments are in metric units, but most also have tool-tips in English units. I suggest activating the tool-tip display option in your flight simulator.

2- The motion of the throttles is peculiar to Italian aircraft of the time, that is the movement is reversed, with the idle full forward and the maximum full aft.

3- Many gauges are close to photorealistic with minor adaptation for simulation requirements.
Several gauges employ bitmaps and code from the KEDI gau set by Hauke Keitel, some with minor modifications, renamed to prevent overwriting of the originals. 

4- Open/close the gun hatches by pressing shift-E then the "2" key or use the gauge on the engineer's sub panel.

5- Use the control gauge provided on the engineer's sub panel for turret deployment and retraction.

6- In the virtual cockpit you can move to co-pilot's seat by pressing the ctrl-shift-enter key and return to pilot's seat by pressing ctrl-shift-backspace.

7- If you have the 'Shockwave 3D Light' plug-in, refer to the 'S81_Shockwave_3D_lights.txt' file for setting (thanks to Manuele Villa)

LEGAL STUFF
===========

This model is FREEWARE, if you are going to modify and release any files you must contact me for permission. In any case please DON'T ASK ANY MONEY FOR THIS SOFTWARE.

THIS FILE ARCHIVE MUST REMAIN INTACT; YOU MAY NOT REMOVE, RECOMPILE OR UPLOAD PARTS OF THIS ARCHIVE. THIS ENTIRE TEXT FILE MUST BE INCLUDED IN ANY DISTRIBUTION.  

REPAINTS
========

Repaints are allowed without further permission, but please contact me before hand, I can provide a layered paint-kit.

HOWEVER, IF YOU REPAINT THE PLANE YOU MUST CREDIT ALL OF THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS IN YOUR TEXT FILE OR INCLUDE THIS "README.TXT".  

THE AUTHORS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT YOU MIGHT INCUR AS A RESULT OF USING THESE PRODUCTS.  YOU ASSUME THE RISK OF USE.

MODEL FILE CONVERSION
=====================

ANY MODEL FILE CONVERSION FOR OTHERS PLATFORM IS SUBJECT TO MY APPROVAL.


CREDITS
=======

- GMax model, virtual cockpit, panel, background textures and sounds by Stefano Meneghini
- Liveries, background textures and effects by Manuele Villa
- Flight dynamics by FSAviator
- Gauges by Stefano Meneghini, Manuele Villa, Hauke Keitel. 
- Picture sources of several gauges by Alex Biagi and Luca Festari of Italianwings.
- Handling notes and history by FSAviator
- Aircraft descriptions by FSAviator and Manuele Villa 
- Landing lights GMax source by Manuele Villa
- Texture of blurred propeller by Bob Rivera

Special thanks to Manuele Villa and FSAviator for help to improve realism. Thanks to Alessandro Teti for documentation.

For any questions or comments write to: pcmeneg@yahoo.it


ENJOY!

by Stefano Meneghini (pcmeneg) April 2008
