I have finally put away the virtual cans of paint. Here are a few glimpses of my version of Billy Bishop’s Nieuport 17 while the pixels are still wet.
Next step… make it fly!
Tail number B1566
In 1917, Canadian Fighter Ace, Billy Bishop, flew his Nieuport 17 in combat against German pilots, including an engagement with Manfred von Richthofen — the infamous “Red Baron”. By the end of the war, Bishop had shot down 72 enemy aircraft. Among Allied aces, he was second only to René Fonck, with 75.
As a follow-up to my replica of the Airco DH.2, I am now working to create a virtual replica of Billy Bishop’s distinctive blue-nosed Nieuport 17, with Bishop’s tail number B1566. It has been a difficult task, as the Nieuport 17 shape is particularly hard to achieve in Second Life. Prims just can’t be cut, twisted, hollowed, and otherwise tortured into the precise shapes needed. It is close, though.
I’ll have to do more research to confirm the shade of blue for the nose cowl. As the story goes, after Bishop’s fifth kill, someone brought out a can of blue paint in defiance of official regulations, which prohibited the custom paint schemes that were common among German squadrons. I would assume that the blue they had on hand would be the same colour used for the insignia and tail. In some depictions that I found, the blue was much lighter.
During my search for reference photos, I also found “Mark Miller’s 3-D Nieuport” — a page of exquisite computer renderings of the Nieuport 17. Some of it may not be accurate, however. I notice that the upper wing structure in these renderings has no hinges, and photographs from the time clearly show that the Nieuport 17 had hinged ailerons. It’s a minor detail, I suppose, but it indicates that a certain amount of creative license was taken. Regardless, they greatly helped my understanding of the Nieuport 17’s internal structure.
My own Nieuport 17 will be complete in a few weeks. After I finish building and texturing the model, I begin work on the scripts that bring it to life. After that: testing, testing, more testing, and then a couple more rounds of testing.
Now you can have your own Cubey Terra shop
Over the last couple of years, I’ve had many requests to install vendors at private airfields and skydiving facilities. So many, in fact, that I was unable to manage the network of vendors myself. It struck me that there had to be a better way to get my vendors out there.
Then… while I was in San Francisco at SLCC, someone gave a brilliant idea — give my vendors to people. Let someone else manage all the sales, and make sure that the vendor is up and running. In return, they’d get a cut of each sale. It seemed like a bright idea, but one that I kept procrastinating on, due to the complexities of supporting a network of vendors that are owned by other people.
To cut a long story short, I went ahead and built the vendor system and it has been in testing for weeks. It’s now ready to go live.
Here’s how it works: I supply you with the vendors. I can also provide kiosks, shops, hangars, and signs, if you need them. All you have to do is set them up and you have your own instant business. You get a cut of each sale, which is currently 10%. So for example, if you sell a L$1200 plane, you get L$120.
Naturally, you’ll earn more if you promote your shop with advertising and word-of-mouth. I’ll leave it up to you to work on the marketing side of things.
So, what I need are volunteers. I want aircraft enthusiasts and sales people. If you have a shop, you can add a Cubey Terra vendor. If you want to start your own business, I can provide everything you need (except the land) to get you started.
If you have a head for business and you want to try your hand at selling (arguably) the most popular skydiving gear and aircraft in Second Life, send me an instant message in-world and we’ll chat.
Merry Christmas!
To everyone who help make Abbotts Aerodrome possible — the owners, members, visitors, customers, and all of the Lindens — Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2007!
Airco DH.2 is released
It’s done! Countless hours of building, texturing, scripting, and bug-hunting are finished. The Airco DH.2 is now for sale next to the runway at Abbotts Aerodrome, as well as at SL Exchange.