 Finnish BC1 ,BEECHCRAFT Staggerwing  -  Readme File
 Repaint author: Leen de Jager (ROTW)
 Original aircraft authors: Laurent Claudet - Jean Sabatier (ROTW) for FLY!II

 FILE DESCRIPTION:
 File Description: This is a repaint of ROTW's original Beechcraft Staggerwing, a FLY!II aircraft. 
 
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 THE HISTORY OF THE FINNISH BLUE SWASTIKA:

 Concerning blue swastika - sign of the early Finnish Air Force - it is essential to know the following.

 The Finnish blue swastika was originally the symbol of luck of the family (*) of Count von Rosen, 
 who donated the Finnish "White Army" (during the War of Independence) it's first plane a Thulin D on 6th March 1918  
 The swastika was painted on and under the wings. 
 In honor of the Count Von Rosen it was adopted as the official national marking of the Finnish Air Forces and later on, 
 the Army.

 (*) Many people think that swastika is only the symbol of Nazi Germany, but in fact it is
 the symbol often used by ancient Persians, Indians as well as by other (ancient) nations and family`s.
 The swastika has also been used by some pilots as personal sign during WWI.
 Only after the Nazis adopted it as their emblem it became of political and ideological significance. 
 In other words, the Finnish swastika had nothing to do with the Nazi party, Nazi ideology or fascism in general. 
 After the fall of the 3rd Reich, the Finnish Defense Forces abandoned the swastika (wich had become disreputable) in 
 favor of  the new national marking; the blue and white roundel. 

 ABOUT THIS AIRCRAFT:
 The history of the first Finnish Staggerwing the BC-1.

 First Finnish Beechcraft 17 came to Finland in 1940. It was originally build for Otto Thaning, Danish pilot and consul in
 South Africa.
 This plane ( ZS-BBC ) was a C17L version and powered by 225 hp Jacobs L-4m radial.
 Thaning flew in 1939 from Cape-Town to Copenhagen.
 There he decided to sell his plane, since political situation was critical.
 Buyer was a Danish  company , Bröderne Dahls A/S, which donated it to Finland on 19th February 1940 in Malmö, Sweden. 
 On 10th March 1940 it arrived to Trollhattan, where the Finnish received it and on the same day it was flown to Finland.
 It was numbered as BC-1. BC-1 was used for liaison duties with total about 229 hours flown. 
 On  27th January 1945  it was damaged during landing and sold to Lentopalvelu OY ( Flight service Ltd ), who repaired it 
 and registered as OH-PKA.
 Finally, on December 3rd 1947 it was destroyed in a storm, when it tried to land in Halli.

 EXTRA LIVERY OPTION:
 This livery represents the BC1 with it`s original markings and is historical correct.
 For those who, however, prefer to have this Finnish livery WITHOUT SWASTIKA`s,and with modern (post-war)roundels, there is a set 
 of three graphic files in the BC1_Staggerwing zip file.
 Just place these files in the ART folder (F1Stagd17.tif, F1D17icon.pbm ,F1D17icon.act)


 INSTALLATION
 After downloading and extracting the files from the BC1_Staggerwing zip file, copy the BC1_Staggerwing.pod file to the
 FLY!II/Aircraft folder.( and for livery with roundels, F1Stagd17.tif, F1D17icon.pbm ,F1Dicon.act to the ART folder)
 Unpodding and repodding the POD will help you to minimize the contains of the ART folder.
 This can easely been done with:
 "DragPoder.exe" for Fly!2, version 1.00
 Author : Roland Herblot (France)


 ATTENTION!!!
 This repaint requires that you have the original Staggerwing-files and the original FLY2 aircraft(Stearman included) 
 installed in the FLY!II/Aircraft folder.
 

 REMOVAL
 Remove the BC1_Staggerwing.pod from the AIRCRFT folder
 and if used for livery with roundels ,F1Stagd17.tif, F1D17icon.pbm ,F1Dicon.act from the ART folder.
  
 LEGAL FACTS AND RESTRICTIONS
 This repaint is freeware and may be distributed freely so long as this readme.txt file accompanies it. 
 Copyright for this aircraft is owned by ROTW, therefore, no commercial use of this repaint is permitted. 
 No file may be used in any commercial or other published package without express written permission of the original 
 author(s), ROTW. Aircraft visual model repainting is allowed by ROTW, provided that such repaints are not sold and 
 permission obtained.

 DISCLAIMER
 This file carries no warranty or guarantee, therefore, use of this file is entirely at the user's own risk. 
 I will not accept responsibility for any damages using these files may cause.  
 Should there be any problem, please report them through the FLY! General Forum at SIMVOL AND AVSIM. 
 
  

