Aces High's authentic flight model verified by Fester doing warbird training

[Citabria]

if your one of these flight model question of accuracy guys that posts every 5 seconds I have news for you.

Aces High has the most accurate ww2 warbird flight model I have experienced.

what is modelled is modelled very well and does not need any major adjustments.

what is not modelled is what separates anyone who plays aces high and wants to fly an entry level warbird or warbird trainer designed to behave like a ww2 fighter like the Texan in real life from being able to climb in and go flying in one without the normal training everyone with normal flying experience has to go through is this...

- wind/ turbulence crosswind takeoffs and landings, wheel and three point landings. eyeballs sitting 8-10 feet in the air with wheels on the ground is a different sight picture that you must become familiar with as well. Realistic wind and rough air is the single biggest item that AH should invest some coad time in to improve realism. if your waiting for a calm windless day to go flying your not going to be flying very often.

- aircraft systems... even cranking up a radial engine is a feat unto itself. then you have the gear and flap systems which on some variants of this particular plane you have to energize before you actually use them. getting familiarized with the actual airplane is ussually a good idea. this is beyond the scope of the game and is ommited deliberately but it is somthing that is a big deal when flying a real warbird. ask a p51 pilot how many seconds go by before they check the temperature gauges.

- Being There... there is no substitute for the full sensory perception of flying the actual aircraft in even friendly sky. Flying in actual hostile territory even after playing pretend fighter pilot in the real machinery I still can not imagine. However regardless of wartime conditions and the actual date on the calendar some aspects remain the same.

 The noise is extreme. The vibration is constant. The sound of the wind in a dive or the sensations and visual delight of not just watching but also feeling the physical forces in flight as the horizon wheels around during combinations of rolls loops and max rate turns is very addictive.
Looking directly behind you involves a lot of neck craining and headset pressed against the canopy action. its not only uncomfortable but also disorienting and difficult to actually get a good look at the guy on your six in this position with anything more than your peripheral vision. the 45 degree rear view is more akin to a six view I could do with aircraft and parachute harness on even semi loose. Sighting other aircraft at longer distances is a challenge especially on a hazy summer day. no icons out here. again a game concession by design in Aces High.

I will conclude this lecture on the high fidelity of the Aces High flight model by restating this:

What is modelled is well done. stop bickering about this aspect. trust me its good stuff.

What is not modelled is not modelled either by design or by the constraints and limits of our current desktop technology.  You could lobby for realism enhancing additions like wind weather and turbulence or more systems modelling if you feel the desire for your online experience to factor in more real world difficulties. But stop and think which one or any of these factors are fun or just difficult. I will say I like flying at sunrise more than the middle of the day and being bounced all over in any real world airplane I have flown.


Someone said pictures or it didnt happen... so here my ugly goofball mug flying this t-6 Texan. Don't worry I only have about 8 hours in it so far and I am still a noob learning the ropes.
But it is a delight to fly and do aerobatics in. Control forces are feather light and it has a wonderfully vicious accelerated stall like many of the ww2 fighters it was designed to mimic. dont be low and slow and pull back on the stick and expect good things to happen.

[Westy]

cool!  very

[Krusty]

I think most of us agree it's the best flight model in any game out there. I, personally, won't shy from bringing up the exceptions to this quality of work (i.e. the bugs, the stand-outs like the feather-leaf drop for spits, etc...), but that shouldn't detract from the quality of the total package.

It's why I still play this game, and have tried others and return here. I'm an equal-opportunity-gamer, but AH has all others beat for flight performance.

[Delirium]

I had 6 hours in a T6, many years ago when I was single and wealthy, and I concur with Fester. I can't speak for the modeling on some aircraft due to lack of experience, however.

If you need pictures 'or it didn't happen', give me a couple days as I need to dig them out.

[Beefcake]

I've played other games where a B25 could out turn a Zeke.

Yeah.


Aces High may not be perfect but it's the best by a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG shot.

[Tordon22]

I had 6 hours in a T6, many years ago when I was single and wealthy, and I concur with Fester. I can't speak for the modeling on some aircraft due to lack of experience, however.

If you need pictures 'or it didn't happen', give me a couple days as I need to dig them out.

Prove it!

[Scherf]

Fester is entirely correct, that IS one ugly mug!



I confess though, I didn't know Fester worked at the kebab place down the road.

[Traveler]

I agree, nothing like the real thing, I have a lot of war bird time.  I worked on occasion for a company that was based out of KBLM that had 16 birds that would be flown to different airshows and put on display .    The company used airline and military pilots to make the ferry runs.   It was pretty good money and hell I would have paid them.  Over a 20 year period I got hundreds of hours in P40, F4U and B25 just flying them out, parking and flying them home after the weekend.  One thing that I did learn is that the different birds flew at very different airspeeds, takeoff speeds, stall speed were very different in each of the aircraft I flew.  That is not really modeled well within the game.  I’d say that all the aircraft in the game can be flown, and landed with the same reference speeds.  

[Silat]

Prove it!

Dont make me tell him where you live:)

[Tordon22]

Ive moved actually, odd and even thousands only  

[icepac]

I'm scheduled to put together a car that is apart for my dad (mitsubishi 3000gt vr4) in a month or two and will see if I can get his opinons on some of the flight and gunnery modeling as he flew two tours of combat missions in a recip. warplane equipped with 4x20mm.

[FLS]

I'm scheduled to put together a car that is apart for my dad (mitsubishi 3000gt vr4) in a month or two and will see if I can get his opinons on some of the flight and gunnery modeling as he flew two tours of combat missions in a recip. warplane equipped with 4x20mm.

We already have at least one Skyraider pilot among the fighter pilots in the game. Your dad might enjoy the P-47.

[Shuffler]

Great post.... THANKS!

[Krusty]

the different birds flew at very different airspeeds, takeoff speeds, stall speed were very different in each of the aircraft I flew.  That is not really modeled well within the game.  I’d say that all the aircraft in the game can be flown, and landed with the same reference speeds.

I don't think that's fair, per se. They do a good job of modeling individual stall speeds, flaps stalls, power off stalls, etc. I think people in AH just don't bother to finesse a plane down as one would in real life. Heck, many/most claim that they ditch on a runway gear up to get to the tower faster. I try to land every time, personally. I notice and feel the different landings for each plane. I think they are modeled.

I think it's a matter of folks simply coming in hot because they're lazy and their lives/jobs/airframes don't depend on a textbook landing.

EDIT: P.S. You CAN land a T-6 texan hot. You CAN land a P-40 too slow... You can land any plane from WW2 at about 150mph as long as you do it right. Doesn't mean they did this in practice. I think what you see in AH is technically POSSIBLE, just wasn't done through practice/safety.

[Widewing]

I agree, nothing like the real thing, I have a lot of war bird time.  I worked on occasion for a company that was based out of KBLM that had 16 birds that would be flown to different airshows and put on display .    The company used airline and military pilots to make the ferry runs.   It was pretty good money and hell I would have paid them.  Over a 20 year period I got hundreds of hours in P40, F4U and B25 just flying them out, parking and flying them home after the weekend.  One thing that I did learn is that the different birds flew at very different airspeeds, takeoff speeds, stall speed were very different in each of the aircraft I flew.  That is not really modeled well within the game.  I’d say that all the aircraft in the game can be flown, and landed with the same reference speeds.  

There's merit in this.... Just consider that with the absence of cross winds, and very docile torque characteristics, landing is relatively easy. Dial in just 10 mph of cross wind and you'll see carnage. However, to extend your point further, getting aboard a carrier is far too easy. I can have a noob doing it consistently after little more than a couple of hours of training. Then again, I'm sure that is intentional.... If it were as challenging as it was in RL, damn few would be flying from CVs in the game. I think that HTC has to balance realism with playability to have a mass marketable product.