FS2004 Southern Airways Martin 404 SO61

This freeware package offers a historically inspired repaint set for use in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, featuring the classic Martin 404 as once flown by Southern Airways around 1961. This livery captures the distinct paint scheme applied to Southern’s fleet of 25 Martin 404 airliners acquired from Eastern, which remained in operation until May 1978. Developed by Tom Gibson, with alpha textures by Gary Harper, and designed to complement Dee Waldron’s Martin 404 base model, this add-on provides flight sim enthusiasts with a nostalgic look at mid-century commercial aviation.

Technical Background of the Martin 404 Airliner

The Martin 404 emerged in 1951 as a pressurized evolution of the earlier 2-0-2A. Known formally as the “4-0-4 Skyliner,” it boasted a stretched fuselage that allowed for more passenger capacity compared to its predecessor. Its two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines propelled it effectively on regional routes, although certain structural carry-overs from the 2-0-2 sometimes necessitated operational limitations. Still, it served reliably with various carriers, including Southern Airways, which specialized in short-haul services across the southeastern United States. Although overshadowed in some regards by the competing Convair CV-340 series, the Martin 404 carved a niche among smaller regional operators seeking a cost-effective pressurized platform.

Repaint Specifics and Authors

Enhancing the vintage charm of the Martin 404, these textures carefully replicate Southern Airways’ mid-20th-century color scheme for an immersive regional airline experience in the simulator. The Southern Textures are meticulously crafted by Tom Gibson, and Gary Harper contributed the specialized alpha textures. Their combined efforts preserve historical accuracy, ensuring subtle details—such as fuselage striping and tail markings—appear just as they did during the airline’s prime years.

Visual preview of the Southern Airways Martin 404 repaint in flight.

Installation Procedure and Configuration Notes

This repaint set requires the freeware Martin 404 base model by Dee Waldron, which is available in the Fly Away Simulation mod library. After acquiring and installing the base package, place the included texture folder named "so61" into your Martin 404 aircraft directory. To integrate the repaint properly, append the following text into your aircraft’s “aircraft.cfg” file, ensuring that you replace "xx" with the next available [flightsim] entry number in sequential order.

[fltsim.xx]
title=Martin 4-0-4 Southern
sim=M404-CB3
model=
panel=
sound=
texture=so61
kb_checklists=
kb_reference=M404_CB3_ref
prop_anim_ratio=1.76
ui_manufacturer=Martin
ui_type=4-0-4 Skyliner
ui_variation=Southern Airways (CB-3)
description=The 4-0-4 Skyliner was the 1951 pressurised and stretched fuselage equivalent of the modified 2-0-2A having been extensively redesigned to compete with the pressurised and long established Convair CV-240. Pressurisation finally allowed the power of R-2800-CB16 engines to be exploited by TWA, but EAL intended to use the 4-0-4 only over short hauls away from mountains and so they specified the R-2800-CB3 engine with no high blower. This eventually became the engine in most 4-0-4s. The 1951 4-0-4 inherited structural flaws from the original 1947 2-0-2 and was still subject to significant restrictions when carrying a large payload. Although more than twice as successful as the unpressurised 2-0-2A the 4-0-4 was structurally inferior to the later CV-340 which appeared in 1952. Crucially the USAF, by far the largest purchaser of US manufactured propliners after WW2, continued to buy twin engined propliners only from Convair and production of the Martin 4-0-4 soon ended with only 101 in airline and USCG service.

Once completed, you can launch Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 and select the Southern Airways Martin 404 variant to enjoy retro regional flights that recall this memorable era of commercial aviation. This repaint is distributed as freeware, so feel free to share it with fellow virtual pilots looking to revisit the golden age of airline travel.