Questions

[Elyeh]

DamnedRen,

PM is the private Message on the message board here.

for some reason the admin has not activated it yet?

Anyway thanks for all the info.
My Joystick is a Saitek X45


Happy Easter to Everyone

[StarOfAfrica2]

I believe PM's are off for everyone.  Dont know, cause I've never used them, but that is what the voice in my head is telling me.  And I always listen to the voice in my head.

[Flossy]

PMs - Private Messages - were disabled some time ago because they were causing too many problems; I believe some were pretty abusive.  Its a shame because they can be a very useful feature.

Welcome to Aces High, Elyeh.

[Clifra Jones]

Elyeh,

I think one of the most important things you can learn in flying (real or sims) is trim. Trim allows you to take the pressure off your controls for a given flight situation.  When your plane is properly trimmed for level flight you should be able to take your hands off the controls and the plane will continue to fly straight and level.

Trim modeling in AH can be a bit touchy. Especially in some planes. AH has added some helpful tools to deal with this.

Auto Level (X): Trims your plane to level flight
Auto Angle (SHFT-X): Trims your plane to the current climb or dive angle:
Auto Climb (ALT-X): Trims to best climb speed.

While combat trim (CTRL-X) is usefull there are time when you will find yourself fighting against what combat trim wants to do with  your plane. CT has a limited number of situations that it knows how to trim your aircraft. Therefor you should learn to use manual trim. If your flaps or gear is down CT will be fighting you as it doesn't account for flaps or gear. Learning to trim your plane for landing will make your landings easier and smoother.

CT is usefull to get your plane into trim quickly though. If your fairly level and not hard manuevering hit CT to quickly trim up your plane.

If you have an available hat switch on your stick map it to at least elevator trim and rudder trim.  Practice trimming your plane manually for different situations. One you can try is to trim for a dive.

With a lot of altitude nose your plane over into a dive and watch your G gauge, Hold the stick so the G is at 0, apply elevator trim down while easing the stick back to the center position and try to keep the G at 0 using up and down trim, when you have your plane trimmed to 0 G you should be plumitting towards the ground. When you want to pull out, apply elevator trim up until the G guage reads 1G and ease the stick back and pull out of the dive.

A 0G dive is the most efficient. Try this in a P47 and you will be amazed at how fast that big jug can pick up speed.

I read an article about landings once that went something like this.

Enter the pattern, speed to 175, TRIM. turn into the down wind leg, speed to 150, TRIM, Flaps to 30%, TRIM, Speed to 125 gear down, flaps to 50% TRIM. Speed to 100, full flaps, TRIM, turn to base leg, TRIM, Turn to approach, speed to 75, TRIM, Come over the fence cut throttle and land.

As you can see TRIM is very important.

As with everything in AH it's practice, practice. Don't get discouraged it will come. Remember that some of the pilots in AH have been doing this for years.

[daMIG]

As with everything in AH it's practice, practice. Don't get discouraged it will come. Remember that some of the pilots in AH have been doing this for years.


as Ren and others might attest, I have been doing this for years. Not getting it right for just as long  

be Patient. I just lack talent to become a full fledged dweeb. lol lotsa great ppl in here... a few dooknobs, but they add colour to the game. Ask, be patient, and practice. Someone will give you a hand, and ocassionally there .02 worth too.


"Man, I love this game, Wife Ack and all! "

[Elyeh]

Tried the Auto Climb and the auto angle but the CT keeps coming back on and over riding them.

Ok next question... Are elevators the same as flaps?
or are the elevators on the tail?

Rudders..... I have the rudder control on my throttle. Can I trim them with this control or do I also need the rudder trim?

Also what are the Ailerons?

Also When in flight I can turn left and right with the joystick and also turn with the rudder control on the throttle. Should I just use joystick or use both in conjunction?

Thank you for your answer.

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by Elyeh
Tried the Auto Climb and the auto angle but the CT keeps coming back on and over riding them.

Ok next question... Are elevators the same as flaps?
or are the elevators on the tail?

Rudders..... I have the rudder control on my throttle. Can I trim them with this control or do I also need the rudder trim?

Also what are the Ailerons?

Also When in flight I can turn left and right with the joystick and also turn with the rudder control on the throttle. Should I just use joystick or use both in conjunction?

Thank you for your answer.

Operating controls 101

Elevators are the horizontal control surfaces on your tail section, they make your plane pitch up or down.  The rudder is the vertical control surface on the tail section.  Just think of it exactly like the rudder in a boat, except it cuts air instead of water.  Ailerons are the control surfaces out at the edges of your wings that make you bank right or left (adjusts your "roll").  So to put this in "joystick" terms, roll (ailerons) is your "X" axis, pitch (elevators) is your "Y" axis, and yaw (rudder) is your "Z" axis.

To boil turns down to the basics, in most modern single engine planes you can turn quite easily with only the ailerons.  This requires moving the entire plane in what is called a "bank" or "roll" to the left or right.  You bank the plane, and then pull back on the stick like you want to go up.  Only your "up" has become a turn to the left or right.  The rudder can be used to turn the plane (although much more slowly) while you hold it steady and level with the ailerons.  A proper turn incorporates both rudder and aileron, although the degree of rudder necessary varies from plane to plane.  You'll simply have to work out the "feel" for it yourself.  You can get by at first with only the ailerons though.  

As for the "trim"..........

In a real airplane, you have several forces acting on the plane while it is in flight.  Torque from the engine, airpressure (which varies with altitude and speed), wind direction, etc.  Obviously, what is "neutral" for these surfaces while you are taking off is not going to be anywhere close to that in the air at speed.  "Neutral" is when your flight control surfaces are set in such a way that you can take your hands off the controls and the plane would continue to fly straight and level (at least for awhile), and there would be little resistance to control operation.  Since these conditions change as you get faster and go higher, and since you dont want to have to constantly fight the plane to maintain a steady course, manufacturers developed "trim tabs" to make minor adjustments to elevator, aileron and rudder to help "balance" the plane.  Using the "Combat Trim" is basically telling the computer to control your trim for you.  It really should be called "Auto Trim", as it has nothing to do with whether or not you are in combat.  I believe the 479th have an excellent writeup on how combat trim operates on their website.  Perhaps one of them could chime in with a link to it for you.  

The "control" you referred to for your rudders is not for trim.  Its a control.  Look at it this way.  You are in a sailboat.  You have a slight current pushing you sideways.  You can turn the rudder constantly to keep correcting your drift off course from the current (which is OPERATING the rudder), or you can set it at just the proper angle for defeating the drift from the current and sail straight (which is TRIMMING the rudder).  Now if the current increases, you would have to increase your amount of trim to compensate.  Same in an airplane.  Combat trim just does that for you so you can concentrate on flying.  There are situations where it can be a problem, and you wont really learn the full performance characteristics of the plane using it, but it is helpful at first.  Even later on, it can be a useful tool if you dont rely on it for the wrong things.

[Clifra Jones]

Originally posted by Elyeh
Tried the Auto Climb and the auto angle but the CT keeps coming back on and over riding them.
 

This is a setting in your flight settings. (Can't remember where it is I'm at work). Same place you turn tracers on and off. It's called Auto combat Trim. Basically when you turn off one of the auto trims it will turn CT back on. Some like this and some dont. I feel it's a mixed bag.

Star has basically covered your other questions but again I can't stress enough how important a good understanding of trim is. My thumb is on my elevator trim pretty much constantly. If I need to make a small pitch adjustment for a firing solution i use trim not stick. it gives you more control. I also fight with a slight nose down trim. This keeps my nose from popping up when I pull up for a shot. I will also hit CT now and then during an engagement to quickly trim up the aircraft. If you touch your trim controls it will turn CT off.

Get a book or visit some of the sim sites and read up on basic flight concepts and terminology and basic flight maneuvers. Learn the theory of flight. Lift, drag, thrust, roll etc..

Then when you are ready I highly recommend Cmd. Robert L. Shaw's "Fighter Combat Tactics and Maneuvering". This is the bible of air combat. While written for the modern fighter pilots it is very applicable to AH in many ways and he touches on all aspect of air combat from WWI through modern times. The $39.95 is well work the price.

I'm no vet nor am I a trainer but I'd be happy to help you out with the basics. Look me up in the MA and shoot me a PM and we can go into the TA and have some fun.

To send a PM just type my call sign in one of the radio channels. Then call up that radio and type me a message.

Call sign "ClifRa".